Prioritize research in basic science: BITS Pilani director Dr G Raghuram
‘World needs more scientists than technicians’
Mangaluru, June 22: Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS) Pilani KK Birla Campus director Dr G Raghuram said that world is now required creative scientists who can develop technology to utilize the resources effectively, than technicians.
Delivering an endowment lecture on ‘How to prepare for future?’, organized by the St. Aloysius College Science Department here on Friday, he said that “it is a good sign that nowadays, youth are interested in research in basic science”. India should not concentrate only on skills development, but along with skills development, it should also develop the creativity and research attitude among youth. So education institutions should take up this as their priority, he advised.
Much needed skills development is possible only when four important disciplines like science, technology, engineering and mathematics are taken into consideration. The students have plenty of opportunities and they should choose the field they are interested in and achieve, he said.
“If we tapped just 1.5 per cent of the Sun light getting on the earth properly, the entire world would get the power requirement. Though we have more than 75 per cent water on the earth, we have been facing water scarcity and this problem could be solved by converting the salt water into sweet water with the help of available technology. Such inventions are the need of the hour”, he said.
Future industrial revolution would happen because of the new-age technologies. By 2034, the robots would do more than 42 per cent works. Revolutionary tools like ‘Internet of Things’ would bring a sea change in the life of people. According to a recent study, more than 94 per cent IT graduates are not employable. Only solution for this problem is to give importance to research in basic science, he said.
“Based on the new-age demands, our learning system should also be changed. Instead of solving the problem, we need to inculcate among students the curiosity and inspiration. Then a new perspective is possible to find solution for a problem”, he said.
Along with the science, humanity is also important. Learning social science, art and languages are also necessary. Youth should concentrate on interdisciplinary study and world languages. In the process of making students competent to fight in the competitive world, the society has been killing their creativity and imagination, he said.
Presiding over the programme, College principal Rev. Dr Praveen Martis SJ said that “desire, dream and determination would take a person to success. The students should develop questioning attitude. If you dream, you can work on it and achieve it”, he said.
Xavier Block director Prof John D’Silva welcomed. Registrar AM Narahari, Star College Scheme coordinator Dr Ronald Nazareth, programme coordinator Dr Narayan Bhat and others were present. Students who scored more marks in the last PU exam were felicitated on the occasion.
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SC directs President's secretary to place before her Beant assassination convict's mercy plea
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday directed President Droupadi Murmu's secretary to place before her the mercy petition of death row convict Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted in the 1995 assassination case of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, for consideration.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai, P K Mishra and K V Viswanathan requested the President to consider the plea within two weeks.
"Inspite of the matter being specifically kept today none appeared for Union of India. The bench assembled only for this case," the bench said.
"On the last date the matter was adjourned to enable the Union to take instructions from the office of the President as to by when will mercy plea be decided. Taking into consideration that the petitioner is on a death row, we direct the secretary to the President of India to place the matter before the President with a request to consider the same within two weeks from today," the bench said.
The matter will now be heard on December 5.
On September 25, the top court had sought responses from the Centre, the Punjab government and the administration of the Union Territory of Chandigarh on Rajoana's plea.
The then Punjab chief minister and 16 others were killed in a blast at the entrance of the civil secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995.
A special court sentenced Rajoana to death in July 2007.
Rajoana has said that a mercy petition under Article 72 of the Constitution was moved by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on his behalf in March 2012.
On May 3 last year, the apex court had refused to commute his death sentence and said the competent authority could deal with his mercy plea.
