Gangan Pratap has been having too much fun with data on India's standing in the world of science and science funding. The following two figures taken from his most recent publications in Current Science should go a long way in demolishing the spurious claim that a shortage of 'the spirit of adventurism' is what stands between India and S&T superpower status.
The first figure is a comparison based on two variables: (a) the proportion of researchers (defined as FTER, Full Time Equivalent Researcher) in the population and (b) proportion of GDP spent on R&D:
The second figure is a comparison based on (a) percentage share in world GDP and (b) percentage share in S&T output. This figure packs a lot of data since it tracks the progress of each country (or group of countries) during the period 1995-2007.
I see your point.
ReplyDeleteYet there is a lot we need to improve upon. Yes we have had a rising contribution in the world GDP because of our S & E output. But how much? We have risen from 1 % to 2 %, when China has gone up from 3% to 6% and EU & USA have stayed at 25%!
More importantly we need to increase the FTER/population and that will increase the government funding. Or it can also be the other way around.
There is a lot to think about here. I will write to you soon. Thanks for the posts.