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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Prez nod for FIR against AAP's Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain in Rs 2,000-cr classroom 'scam'
New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu has given her approval for the registration of an FIR against AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in an alleged scam of Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools, sources said.
In 2022, the Delhi government's vigilance directorate recommended a probe into the alleged scam and submitted a report to the chief secretary.
The President has given her approval for registering the FIR against Sisodia and Jain in connection with the alleged scam during their tenures as ministers in the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government, the sources said.
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), in a report dated February 17, 2020, highlighted "glaring irregularities" in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools by the Public Works Department (PWD).
The President's approval came under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act that pertains to "enquiry or inquiry or investigation of offences relatable to recommendations made or decision taken by public servant in discharge of official functions or duties".
Reacting to the development, senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP of carrying out a witch-hunt against its political rivals.
The BJP has no interest or intention to fulfil the promises it made to the people of Delhi. Its only agenda is to carry out a witch-hunt against its political rivals to stifle the voice of people, the former minister said in a statement.
The BJP-led central government has already decided to prosecute every political adversary of the party and grant approvals to move the case forward but it should wait for the judicial process to begin, he said.
In July 2019, BJP leader Harish Khurana and then AAP rebel MLA Kapil Mishra, now a minister in the Delhi government, lodged a police complaint about the alleged scam.
According to a report prepared by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Delhi government, the complainants alleged that there was a scam worth over Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms and school buildings in Delhi. The work was done at a highly inflated cost by the Delhi government.
The alleged scam involves the construction of around 12,748 classrooms.
The ACB report said the total expenditure incurred for constructing the classrooms and school buildings was around Rs 2,892.65 crore. They were allegedly constructed at the rate of Rs 8,800 per square feet, whereas it was common knowledge that the average construction cost (even for a builder of flats) was around Rs 1,500 per square feet.
The total cost for constructing a classroom and school building, according to the tender awarded, was allegedly around Rs 24.86 lakh per room, whereas such rooms are easily constructed in Delhi at around Rs 5 lakh per room, it said.
The prices were increased almost five times to defraud the taxpayer by siphoning off money from the public exchequer in the garb of construction cost, the report said.
Even for a 5-star hotel, top ultra-luxury quality construction is around Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,500 per square feet, it said.
The complainants submitted a copy of documents in which information received under the RTI Act in respect of the construction of 18 classrooms in the Govt Girls Senior Secondary School, Nathupura, Burari (school ID:-1207111) revealed that they were constructed at a cost of Rs 12 crore, the ACB report said.
