Paul A. Samuelson (May 15, 1915 — December 13, 2009) has often been described as the foremost academic economist of the 20th century. Randall E. Parker, the economic historian, has called him the “Father of Modern Economics”. All this may be hotly disputed in Chicago, but in any case, Samuelson was the first American to receive the Nobel prize in economic sciences. The Swedish Royal Academy’s citation stated that he...

We need to recognise that there is no intellectual democracy; elitism in science is inevitable and needs to be promoted.  The Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman had famously said, ‘the difficulty with science is often not with the new ideas, but in escaping the old ones. A certain amount of irreverence is essential for creative pursuit in science.’ The first grand challenge before Indian science is that of building some irreverence. Our...

HAS GREEN REVOLUTION FAILED INDIA'S POOR? Green Revolution Vs Rain-fed Farming OVERVIEW: Of late India’s fabled Green Revolution has come under severe attack. Many development thinkers believe that it has unfairly skewed India’s agriculture policy in favour of the farmers whose land is already or potentially covered under irrigation. The basic criticism is that the Green Revolution has been largely irrelevant for India’s 60 per cent cultivable land which is un-irrigated. These...

India needs more science hubs. It is their inhabitants who will determine the achievements which will make lasting contributions to society.  A little over three decades ago, my parents visited my wife and me in the United States, for the first time. I distinctly remember my mother’s hurt looks when she saw me loading the dishwasher or mowing the lawn or just taking out the garbage. She wondered why, after...

Eighteen countries around the Indian Ocean Rim will participate in a United Nations-backed tsunami exercise on 14 October to coincide with World Disaster Reduction Day, the first time that the warning system set up following the devastating disaster that struck the region in 2004 will be tested, according to UN information brief. The exercise takes place in the wake of the tsunami that killed more than 100 people in Samoa...