Prime Minister Says India Must Improve Its Science and Research Capacity
January 4, 2012, 3:58 pm
India’s prime minister pledged to increase public spending on science, saying that China has surpassed India in its research output. Speaking Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Indian Science Congress Association, Manmohan Singh, said he wanted to increase spending on research and development from 1 percent of GDP to at least 2 percent, according to a government statement. In the last few years India has taken steps to improve its research capacity with decent results—India has moved from the country ranked 15th in terms of the number of publications in peer-reviewed journals in 2003 to ninth in 2010. But Mr. Singh said India “cannot be satisfied with what has been achieved” and needs to “do much more to change the face of Indian science.” India also needs to ensure there is a major increase in investment in research and development by industry and expand international collaboration, he said.
via chronicle.com
And how do these ambitions square with the Indian government's revision of promotion criteria so that an assistant professor needs to put in 12 years of service before being eligible for consideration? If India really wants to compete on the world stage it needs to reward excellence ... fast.
I've just heard from a young friend working in India (PhD from a leading US university - high flyer in his department in India) who is now planning to leave academic life for industry.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/78269/ugc-sets-norms-promotion-teachers.html
