Dr. Kishore Paknikar

We often ask whether a scientist has enough funding, equipment, students and laboratory space. We rarely ask whether the scientist has enough security, belonging, recognition, freedom and purpose. Yet the second set of needs may ultimately determine what the first set produces. After all, a scientist is also a human being. Behind every publication, patent and discovery is a person who needs health, rest, relationships, security, appreciation and meaning. Scientific passion does not repeal...

India cannot become a scientific power by funding laboratories while burdening scientists with the very bureaucracy that prevents them from using them effectively. Indian science presents a curious paradox. We celebrate our scientists for achieving remarkably good results with limited resources. But how much more could they achieve if they did not also have to spend so much time and energy dealing with the system? This question came to my mind while reading NITI Aayog’s recently released...

AI generated image During the global semiconductor shortage, production of cars worth lakhs of rupees was disrupted because manufacturers could not obtain tiny chips costing a fraction of the vehicle's price. Factories slowed down, deliveries were delayed, and something smaller than a fingernail suddenly became a matter of national economic concern. There is a lesson here that goes far beyond semiconductors. A country may have the money to buy a technology and still discover that it cannot...