Indian Science Congress
Background :-PM’s inaugurates 103rd session of Indian Science Congress
Important Remarks:-
In a world of resource constraints and competing claims, we have to be smart in defining our priorities. And, it is especially important in India, where challenges are many and the scale is enormous – from health and hunger to energy and economy.
India to achieve our target of adding 175 GW of renewable generation by 2022.
We have to develop climate resilient agriculture. We must understand the impact of climate change on our weather, biodiversity, glaciers, and oceans; and, how to adjust to them. We must strengthen our ability to forecast natural disasters.
For the first time in human history, we are in an urban century. By the middle of this century, two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities. A little less than 3.0 billion people will join the existing 3.5 billion urban dwellers. And, 90% of the increase will come from developing countries.
Many urban clusters in Asia will exceed the population of mid-sized countries elsewhere in the world.
More than 50% of India will be living in urban habitats by 2050. And, by 2025, India may already have more than 10% of the global urban population.
Studies suggest that nearly 40% of the global urban population lives in informal settlements, or slums, where they face a range of health and nutritional challenges.
Cities are the major engines of economic growth, employment opportunities and prosperity. But, cities account for more than two-thirds of global energy demand and result in up to 80% of global greenhouse gas emission.
Oceans occupy more than 70% of our planet; and, over 40% of humanity and 60% of the world’s largest cities are found within 100 kilometers of the coast.
Ocean is critical to India’s future, too, with over 1300 islands, a 7500 km coastline and 2.4 million square kilometers of Exclusive Economic Zone.
Five Es
Economy – when we find cost effective and efficient solutions
Environment – when our carbon footprint is the lightest and the impact on the ecology is the least possible
Energy – when our prosperity relies less on energy; and the energy we use keeps our skies blue and our earth green.
Empathy – when our efforts are in tune with our culture, circumstances and social challenges.
Equity – when science advances inclusive development and improves the welfare of the weakest.
Indian Science Congress Association:-
The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) owes its origin to the foresight and initiative of two British Chemists, namely, Professor J. L. Simonsen and Professor P.S. MacMahon.
Indian Science through Ages-Comprehensive outlook
Prelude- This article is not meant to be remembered fully, however , if you go through it , it will help if any questions comes in this regard which we think is very likely .This gives a general perspective on how the Indian science has progressed.The dates are given to help you develop a map in mind and associate it chronologically without necessarily remembering the dates.
Ancient India:-
Astronomy:-
- Arya Bhatta’s Aryabhattiya is concise text containing 121 verses. Explained Sonar and Lunar eclipse.
- Varahamihira in Panch Siddhantika gives the summary of five schools of astronomy present in his time
Mathematics:-
- The town planning of Harappa shows that the people possessed a good knowledge of measurement and geometry. By third century AD mathematics developed as a separate stream of study. Indian mathematics is supposed to have originated from the Sulvasutras.
- Apastamba in second century BC, introduced practical geometry involving acute angle, obtuse angle and right angle. This knowledge helped in the construction of fire altars where the kings offered sacrifices
- The three main contributions in the field of mathematics were the notation system, the decimal system and the use of zero
- Brahmagupta’s Brahmasputa Siddhanta is the very first book that mentioned ‘zero’ as a number, hence, Brahmagupta is
considered as the man who found zero - Aryabhatta discovered algebra and also formulated the area of a triangle, which led to the origin of Trignometry.
- Brahmagupta the great 7th century mathematician has given a description of negative numbers as debts and positive numbers as fortunes, which shows that ancient Bharatiyas knew the utility of mathematics for practical trade.
Medicine:-
- Diseases, cure and medicines were mentioned for the first time in the Atharva Veda.
- Takshila and Varanasi emerged as centres of medicine and learning.
- The two important texts in this field are Charaksamhita by Charak and Sushrutsamhita by Sushruta.
- Sushruta was a pioneer of this surgery.The surgeons in ancient India were familiar with plastic surgery (repair of noses, ears and lips).
Metallurgy:-
- The glazed potteries and bronze and copper artefacts found in the Indus valley excavations point towards a highly developed metallurgy.
- The vedic people were aware of fermenting grain and fruits, tanning leather and the process of dyeing.
- The iron pillar in the Qutub Minar complex is indicative of the high quality of alloying that was being done.
- Textile dyeing was popular. The Ajanta frescoes reflect on the quality of colour. These paintings have survived till date.
Geography:-
- Lothal, a site in Gujarat has the remains of a dockyard proving that trade flourished in those days by sea.
- In the early medieval period with the development of the concept of tirtha and tirtha yatra, a vast mass of geographical information was accumulated.
- They were finally compiled as parts of Puranas. In many cases separate sthala purana was also compiled.
Medieval India:-
Biology:-
- Hamsadeva compiled Mrga-pasi-sastra in the thirteenth century which gives a general, though not always scientific account of some of the beasts and birds of hunting.
- Jahangir, in his Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, recorded his observations and experiments of weeding and hybridisation. He described about thirty-six species of animals.
- As a naturalist, Jahangir was interested in the study of plants and his court artists in their floral portraiture describe some fifty-seven plants.
Mathematics:-
- Ganitasara by Sridhara and Lilavati by Bhaskara
- Ganesh Daivajna produced Buddhivilasini, a commentary on Lilavati, containing a number of illustrations.
- Nilkantha Jyotirvid, a courtier of Akbar, compiled Tajik, introducing a large number of Persian technical terms
- Akbar ordered the introduction of mathematics as a subject of study, among others in the educational system.
Chemistry:-
Before the introduction of writing paper, ancient literature was preserved generally on palm leaves in South India and birch-bark (bhoj-patra) in Kashmir and other northern regions of the country.
During Tipu’s time, Mysore possessed a paper-making factory, producing a special type of paper that had a gold surface.
Tuzuk-i–Baburi gives an account of the casting of cannons.
Ain-i-Akbari speaks of the ‘Regulations of the Perfume Office of Akbar’. The attar of roses was a popular perfume,
the discovery of which is attributed to the mother of Nurjahan.
Medicine:-
The Sarangdhara Samhita recommends use of opium for medicines.
The rasachikitsa system, dealt principally with a host of mineral medicines including metallic preparations
The Tuhfat-ul-Muminin was a Persian treatise written by Muhammad Munin in seventeenth century which discusses
the opinions of physicians.
The Unani is an important system of medicine which flourished in India in the medieval period
Hakim Diya Muhammad compiled a book, Majinye Diyae, incorporating the Arabic, Persian and Ayurvedic medical knowledge.
The Tibbi Aurangzebi, dedicated to Aurangzeb, is based on Ayurvedic sources
Agriculture:-
Tobacco, chillies, potato, guava, custard apple, cashew and pineapple were the important new plants which made India their home in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Systematic mango grafting was introduced by the Jesuits of Goa in the middle of the sixteenth century
In the medieval period, agriculture was placed on a solid foundation by the State which brought about a system of land measurement and land classification, beneficial both to the rulers and to the tillers.
Modern India:-
Science can be defined as any systematic activity that seeks to gain knowledge about the physical world. Technology is that activity which seeks to put this knowledge to productive use.
In 1971, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) was set up to promote new areas of science and technology
Agriculture:-
ICAR(Indian Council for Agricultural Research ) has been playing a key role in the scientific education of the farmers as well as
others engaged in different sectors of agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries and forestry.
The challenges that lie ahead in agriculture are in the areas of increasing the yields of rice,pulses, oilseeds and many cash crops; initiating plantations and promoting social forestry; and shifting from agriculture based on chemical fertilizers to organic fertilizers.
M.S. Swaminathan’s contribution to green revolution is well known.
Industry:-
Two government organisations, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Defence Research and Development
Orgnisation (DRDO) cover between them a wide range of science and technology research for civil and defence purposes.
A large number of items have emerged from CSIR laboratories for industrial production, such as, indigenous agricultural machinery, chemicals, drugs and pesticides, products in the areas of food technology, furnished leather goods, glass and
ceramics, colour television, and receiver sets.
Nuclear Energy-
India’s aim is to utilise nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Since the establishment of the Atomic Energy Commission in 1948, India has made significant progress in the field of nuclear technology
In 1957, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) was established at Trombay.
Nuclear power stations have already been established at Tarapur(Maharashtra), Kota (Rajasthan), Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu), Narora (UP) and Kakrapar(Gujarat)
Space Technology:-
Launching of the first Indian space satellite Aryabhatta in 1975 and then Bhaskara I and Bhaskara II from the Soviet Union to recent Mars Orbiter Mission and Chandrayaan, Indian space capability has grown multi-fold.
Apart from this the modern achievements in Science is countless and almost difficult to jot down every details.However it is important to note down few scientists and their achievement in Modern India.
SRINIVAS RAMANUJAN (1887-1920)
He found a book ‘Orders of Infinity’ written by G. H. Hardy. He wrote a letter to him in which he mentioned 120 theorems and formulae. Hardy was quick to recognise his genius and he responded by arranging for him a passage to London. Despite his lack of required qualification he was allowed to enroll at Trinity College from where he got his Bachelor of Science degree in less than two years.
He has published brilliant research papers on Bernoulli Numbers.
Trivia- A movie is being filmed on his life called – “The Man Who Knew Infinity” now
CHANDRASEKHARA V. RAMAN (1888-1970)
Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930.He was the first Asian to receive this award.
*Read Only in case you are interested :-
Raman Effect :- When a beam of monochromatic (having single colour) light passes through a transparent substance, it scatters. Raman studied the broken light. He found that there were two spectral lines of very low intensity (strength) parallel to the incident monochromatic light. This showed that broken light was not monochromatic, though the incident light was
monochromatic. Thus a great phenomenon hidden in nature was revealed to him. This phenomenon became famous as Raman Effect and spectral lines in the scattered light as Raman Lines. While scientists had been debating over the question whether light was like waves or like particles, the Raman Effect proved that light is made up of particles known as photons.
JAGDISH CHANDRA BOSE 1858-1937
Dr. Bose is famous all over the world as the inventor of Crescograph that can record even the millionth part of a millimeter of plant growth and movement.
Besides Crescograph and other Bose instruments, his wireless inventions too antedate those of Marconi. He was the first to invent a wireless coherer (radio signal detector) and an instrument for indicating the refraction of electric waves.
HOMI JEHANGIR BHABHA (1909-1966)
Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha was a great scientist. He led India into atomic age. He is called the father of Indian Nuclear Science
DR. VIKRAM AMBALAL SARABHAI (1919-1970)
Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai is another great genius of modem India. He was the main personality behind the launching of India’s first satellite Aryabhatta.
Dr. Sarabhai had a multifaceted personality. He was a great industrialist. Today, there are many industries founded by him such as Sarabhai Chemicals, Sarabhai Glass, Sarabhai Geigy Ltd., Sara Bhai Merck Ltd. and many others.
He also helped in saving crores of rupees for India by starting the mission of manufacturing military hardware and producing
antibiotics and penicillin in India which were being imported from abroad.
DR. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM
Dr. Kalam served in Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from 1963 to 1982. At Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, he developed the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV 3), which put the satellite Rohini into orbit.
In 1982, as Director, Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), he was given the responsibility of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). He developed five projects for defence services – Prithvi, Trishul, Akash,Nag and Agni.
The light weight carbon material designed for Agni has been used to make calipers for the polio-affected. The material has
reduced the weight of calipers to 400 grams from 4 kgs. It is a great blessing for human beings. The material has also been used for making spring like coils called stents, which are used in Balloon Angioplasty for treating heart patients.
C.N. Rao:-
Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao is one of the world’s foremost solid state and materials chemists.
*Read Only if you understand – Rao was one of the earliest to synthesize two-dimensional oxide materials such as La2CuO4. His work has led to a systematic study of compositionally controlled metal-insulator transitions. Such studies have had a profound impact in application fields such as colossal magneto resistance and high temperature superconductivity. Oxide semiconductors have unusual promise. He has made immense contributions to nanomaterials over the last two decades, besides his work on hybrid materials.
NATGRID
Background :- In the wake of recent terrorist attacks in Pathankot , Govt. is mulling to revive NATGRID.
About:-
According to the existing plan, NATGRID will become a secure centralised database to stream sensitive information from 21 sets of data sources such as banks, credit cards, visa, immigration and train and air travel details, as well as from various intelligence agencies. The database would be accessible to authorised persons from 11 agencies on a case-to-case basis, and only for professional investigations into suspected cases of terrorism
NATGRID was among the ambitious slew of intelligence reforms undertaken in the wake of the Mumbai attacks of November 2008. Like NATGRID, most of these proposed reforms in the security establishment have not fully materialised.
In a data-driven, digitised world, it would be foolhardy to ignore the power of big data and its potential to provide real time tip-offs and predictive intelligence to deal with the terrorist threat.
Social media and other platforms have become recruitment sites and propaganda machines for terrorist groups, and formal banking channels are used as much as informal ones to transact terror funding.
In those same oceans of information are trends and information that could avert terrorist strikes. However, appreciation of the power of digital databases to tackle terror must be accompanied by deep concern about their possible misuse.
Possible issues of Right to Privacy:-
When so much sensitive information about individuals is available on a single source, the potential for its misuse would dramatically go up.
The real issue lies in finding the real balance between the necessity of surveillance and right to privacy.India has seen both, tyranny of unelected and elected , and the length to which an individual can go to hold on to his/her powers.Hence , this calls for a greater caution .
The Aadhaar card is already under the scanner of the supreme court , which has kept it as a non-mandatory document.Moreover NETRA (NEtwork TRaffic Analysis) developed by DRDO is a monitoring system.
On the contrary, as much as we love our right to privacy it is undeniable that internet is used as a vehicle of terrorist propaganda ,coordination and recruitment.
Hence , to safe-guard the people, it almost became necessary on parts of the GOVT. to deploy mass surveillance system.
The most probable and best course of action would be to have an independent body/commission headed by a Supreme Court judge who should overlook the usage of data and how it is used and the commission’s recommendation and approval should be the only way for the security agency to use the data to carry out operation and persecution.
There also can be better alternative and in order to stop data abuse , independent authority seems a must.
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Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.
Globally, around 80% of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused, according to the United Nations.
This can pose a significant environmental and health threat.
In the absence of cost-effective, sustainable, disruptive water management solutions, about 70% of sewage is discharged untreated into India’s water bodies.
A staggering 21% of diseases are caused by contaminated water in India, according to the World Bank, and one in five children die before their fifth birthday because of poor sanitation and hygiene conditions, according to Startup India.
As we confront these public health challenges emerging out of environmental concerns, expanding the scope of public health/environmental engineering science becomes pivotal.
For India to achieve its sustainable development goals of clean water and sanitation and to address the growing demands for water consumption and preservation of both surface water bodies and groundwater resources, it is essential to find and implement innovative ways of treating wastewater.
It is in this context why the specialised cadre of public health engineers, also known as sanitation engineers or environmental engineers, is best suited to provide the growing urban and rural water supply and to manage solid waste and wastewater.
Traditionally, engineering and public health have been understood as different fields.
Currently in India, civil engineering incorporates a course or two on environmental engineering for students to learn about wastewater management as a part of their pre-service and in-service training.
Most often, civil engineers do not have adequate skills to address public health problems. And public health professionals do not have adequate engineering skills.
India aims to supply 55 litres of water per person per day by 2024 under its Jal Jeevan Mission to install functional household tap connections.
The goal of reaching every rural household with functional tap water can be achieved in a sustainable and resilient manner only if the cadre of public health engineers is expanded and strengthened.
In India, public health engineering is executed by the Public Works Department or by health officials.
This differs from international trends. To manage a wastewater treatment plant in Europe, for example, a candidate must specialise in wastewater engineering.
Furthermore, public health engineering should be developed as an interdisciplinary field. Engineers can significantly contribute to public health in defining what is possible, identifying limitations, and shaping workable solutions with a problem-solving approach.
Similarly, public health professionals can contribute to engineering through well-researched understanding of health issues, measured risks and how course correction can be initiated.
Once both meet, a public health engineer can identify a health risk, work on developing concrete solutions such as new health and safety practices or specialised equipment, in order to correct the safety concern..
There is no doubt that the majority of diseases are water-related, transmitted through consumption of contaminated water, vectors breeding in stagnated water, or lack of adequate quantity of good quality water for proper personal hygiene.
Diseases cannot be contained unless we provide good quality and adequate quantity of water. Most of the world’s diseases can be prevented by considering this.
Training our young minds towards creating sustainable water management systems would be the first step.
Currently, institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) are considering initiating public health engineering as a separate discipline.
To leverage this opportunity even further, India needs to scale up in the same direction.
Consider this hypothetical situation: Rajalakshmi, from a remote Karnataka village spots a business opportunity.
She knows that flowers, discarded in the thousands by temples can be handcrafted into incense sticks.
She wants to find a market for the product and hopefully, employ some people to help her. Soon enough though, she discovers that starting a business is a herculean task for a person like her.
There is a laborious process of rules and regulations to go through, bribes to pay on the way and no actual means to transport her product to its market.
After making her first batch of agarbathis and taking it to Bengaluru by bus, she decides the venture is not easy and gives up.
On the flipside of this is a young entrepreneur in Bengaluru. Let’s call him Deepak. He wants to start an internet-based business selling sustainably made agarbathis.
He has no trouble getting investors and to mobilise supply chains. His paperwork is over in a matter of days and his business is set up quickly and ready to grow.
Never mind that the business is built on aggregation of small sellers who will not see half the profit .
Is this scenario really all that hypothetical or emblematic of how we think about entrepreneurship in India?
Between our national obsession with unicorns on one side and glorifying the person running a pakora stall for survival as an example of viable entrepreneurship on the other, is the middle ground in entrepreneurship—a space that should have seen millions of thriving small and medium businesses, but remains so sparsely occupied that you could almost miss it.
If we are to achieve meaningful economic growth in our country, we need to incorporate, in our national conversation on entrepreneurship, ways of addressing the missing middle.
Spread out across India’s small towns and cities, this is a class of entrepreneurs that have been hit by a triple wave over the last five years, buffeted first by the inadvertent fallout of demonetization, being unprepared for GST, and then by the endless pain of the covid-19 pandemic.
As we finally appear to be reaching some level of normality, now is the opportune time to identify the kind of industries that make up this layer, the opportunities they should be afforded, and the best ways to scale up their functioning in the shortest time frame.
But, why pay so much attention to these industries when we should be celebrating, as we do, our booming startup space?
It is indeed true that India has the third largest number of unicorns in the world now, adding 42 in 2021 alone. Braving all the disruptions of the pandemic, it was a year in which Indian startups raised $24.1 billion in equity investments, according to a NASSCOM-Zinnov report last year.
However, this is a story of lopsided growth.
The cities of Bengaluru, Delhi/NCR, and Mumbai together claim three-fourths of these startup deals while emerging hubs like Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, and Jaipur account for the rest.
This leap in the startup space has created 6.6 lakh direct jobs and a few million indirect jobs. Is that good enough for a country that sends 12 million fresh graduates to its workforce every year?
It doesn’t even make a dent on arguably our biggest unemployment in recent history—in April 2020 when the country shutdown to battle covid-19.
Technology-intensive start-ups are constrained in their ability to create jobs—and hybrid work models and artificial intelligence (AI) have further accelerated unemployment.
What we need to focus on, therefore, is the labour-intensive micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME). Here, we begin to get to a definitional notion of what we called the mundane middle and the problems it currently faces.
India has an estimated 63 million enterprises. But, out of 100 companies, 95 are micro enterprises—employing less than five people, four are small to medium and barely one is large.
The questions to ask are: why are Indian MSMEs failing to grow from micro to small and medium and then be spurred on to make the leap into large companies?
At the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME), we have advocated for a National Mission for Mass Entrepreneurship, the need for which is more pronounced now than ever before.
Whenever India has worked to achieve a significant economic milestone in a limited span of time, it has worked best in mission mode. Think of the Green Revolution or Operation Flood.
From across various states, there are enough examples of approaches that work to catalyse mass entrepreneurship.
The introduction of entrepreneurship mindset curriculum (EMC) in schools through alliance mode of working by a number of agencies has shown significant improvement in academic and life outcomes.
Through creative teaching methods, students are encouraged to inculcate 21st century skills like creativity, problem solving, critical thinking and leadership which are not only foundational for entrepreneurship but essential to thrive in our complex world.
Udhyam Learning Foundation has been involved with the Government of Delhi since 2018 to help young people across over 1,000 schools to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.
One pilot programme introduced the concept of ‘seed money’ and saw 41 students turn their ideas into profit-making ventures. Other programmes teach qualities like grit and resourcefulness.
If you think these are isolated examples, consider some larger data trends.
The Observer Research Foundation and The World Economic Forum released the Young India and Work: A Survey of Youth Aspirations in 2018.
When asked which type of work arrangement they prefer, 49% of the youth surveyed said they prefer a job in the public sector.
However, 38% selected self-employment as an entrepreneur as their ideal type of job. The spirit of entrepreneurship is latent and waiting to be unleashed.
The same can be said for building networks of successful women entrepreneurs—so crucial when the participation of women in the Indian economy has declined to an abysmal 20%.
The majority of India’s 63 million firms are informal —fewer than 20% are registered for GST.
Research shows that companies that start out as formal enterprises become two-three times more productive than a similar informal business.
So why do firms prefer to be informal? In most cases, it’s because of the sheer cost and difficulty of complying with the different regulations.
We have academia and non-profits working as ecosystem enablers providing insights and evidence-based models for growth. We have large private corporations and philanthropic and funding agencies ready to invest.
It should be in the scope of a National Mass Entrepreneurship Mission to bring all of them together to work in mission mode so that the gap between thought leadership and action can finally be bridged.