BEYOND HONOUR

 

EVERYONE welcomes the first investiture ceremony of science awards. The recognition to those making immense contribution to the cause of science in India must be celebrated. However, in an era when India is investing into research and development, innovation, and framing policies to make her mark globally in the emerging sectors, the recognition to scientists need to be more than ceremonial in nature. The award-winning scientists must be drawn into making of new policies, fine-tuning the existing ones, and also to lead the innovation or research effort in respective domains of expertise. The sets of award winners and science professionals should not be different. Also, the scientists and science teachers honoured with awards should be encouraged and supported to become entrepreneurs so that India can benefit from the science enterprises helmed by actual experts. Such an approach will go a long way in creating an ecosystem of enterprises that will become legacy organisations in due course of time on the basis of purity of values and foresightedness in vision. Efforts to launch recognition-and-entrepreneurship model at the level of different States in India, will make the approach more effective in the realm of science.

 

 

 INDIA’S back to back Olympic bronze medals have delighted the fans of hockey and also sent a positive message in the fraternity about the bright prospects in future course. Though India missed out on a chance to win a silver or gold in Paris Games, the bronze medal proved that the Tokyo Olympics success has percolated in the right places from where a new desire to excel against the best in the business has taken birth. The bronze at Paris is being hailed as a springboard for Indian hockey for a big leap. Former captain and coach Vasudevan Baskaran has termed the bronze as better than the gold medal for the sheer tenacity Harmanpreet Singh’s team showed in the entire campaign. Indeed, India played consistent hockey and looked well set to carry the burden of expectations that the Tokyo medal had brought. Baskaran has rightly pointed out India’s victory against Great Britain in the quarter-finals where the team was reduced to just ten men for almost the entire duration. The team gave their best even during the semis loss and looked extremely determined to win the bronze against Spain. It was the effort and willingness to go the distance that made this bronze medal shine brighter than gold.