Children's death due to Indian syrup a shame: IT czar Narayana Murthy
Bengaluru, Nov 15: Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy on Tuesday said the country faces huge challenges in the field of research in sciences despite the nation achieving the feat of producing COVID-19 vaccine and inoculating the people of the country.
He said the death of 66 children in Gambia in Africa allegedly due to India-produced cough syrup had shamed the country.
He was speaking at an event to present Infosys prize to six people by the Infosys Science Foundation. The prize carries a purse of USD 1,00,000.
Lauding companies which manufactured and supplied the billion COVID-19 vaccines, Murthy said this was an achievement by any standard.
The IT czar appreciated the rollout of the new national education policy, which is based on the recommendations of professor Kasturirangan Committee.
The Infosys founder appreciated professor Gagandeep Kang and several others becoming fellows of the Royal Society in London, and professor Ashok Sen winning the Millenium prize.
"These are all encouraging and happy events that show that India is on a path of growth absolutely but we still have huge challenges," the IT tycoon said.
"There is not a single Indian institution of higher learning in the top 250 of the world university global ranking that was announced in 2020. Even the vaccines we have produced, or either based on technology from advanced countries, or based on research from the developed world. Consequently, we still have not produced a vaccine for dengue and chikungunya, which have been ravaging us for the last 70 years now," said Murthy.
"That death of 66 children in Gambia, resulting from an India-produced cough syrup has brought unimaginable shame to our country and has dented the credibility of our pharmaceutical regulatory agency," Murthy said.
However, there was a solution, which is a difficult one, and according to him, the country opted for it, he said.
According to him, experts feel that India's inability to use research to solve immediate pressing problems is due to lack of inculcating curiosity at an early age, disconnect between pure and applied research, inadequate cutting-edge research infrastructure in the higher educational institutions, insufficient grants and inordinate delays in creating incentives for research and inadequate fora for knowledge sharing with global research institutions.
The Infosys founder opined that money is not the primary resource for success in invention or innovation.
He said there were two components for success in research -- the first component is to re-orient teaching in schools and colleges towards Socratic-questioning and relating what they learn in the classroom to the real-world problems around them, rather than passing the examinations through learning by rote. The second step is for researchers to focus on solving the immediate problems. Such a mindset would inevitably lead to solving bigger challenges, he opined.
The IT industry icon said the IITs are becoming a victim of learning by rote, too. "Even our IITs have become victims of this syndrome, thanks to the tyranny of coaching classes," Murthy said.
He said nation's progress on the economic and social front depends on the quality of scientific and technological research. PTI GMS According to Murthy, research thrives in an environment of honour and respect for intellectuals, meritocracy and the support and approbation of such intellectuals from society.
"Therefore, recognising and rewarding the outstanding research efforts of researchers is necessary. By doing so, we will encourage not only other researchers, but also create role models and inspire young people to consider careers in research," Murthy said ahead of announcing the researchers selected for the Infosys Prize-2022.
He said scientific research is about curiosity, daringness, healthy skepticism and questioning status quo.
He told the gathering that the country has had a healthy run in scientific and technological progress in the last few years.
The Infosys Prize- 2022 winners are: engineering and computer Science - Suman Chakraborty; humanities - Sudhir Krishnaswamy; life sciences - Vidita Vaidya; mathematical sSciences - Mahesh Kakde; physical sciences - Nissim Kanekar, and social sciences - Rohini Pande.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
