Reported By:
| Edited By: Kanchan Srivastava |Source: DNA |Updated: Aug 26, 2013, 07:40 AM IST
After anti-superstition crusader Dr Narendra Dabholkar’s murder, the question arises if our scientific institutions failed to reach society. Or scientific achievements didn’t impress people who still believe fake babas, superstitions and black magic...
Dr Dabholkar’s death is a setback for the whole country, including the scientific community... TIFR is disseminating knowledge to children and society. We are educating them so they are able to decide what is rational and scientific and what is not. But yes, science has not reached society to that extent which eradicates all those evils.
Why progressive movement is yet to take off in India despite huge scientific and technical advancements?
Educational and research institutes can educate people, but for progressive movement, which requires a change in mindset, other institutions and society have to come forward.
You think anti-superstition law will help here?
I hope it would. However, I am yet to see the contents and provisions of that bill.
Why do we need fundamental research in sciences?
Fundamental research provides a base for all kinds of research. Without it, you can’t develop technologies.
But youngsters are not interested in research. They prefer technology and other courses which offer good jobs
The scene is changing. Government has stared programmes and institutes to attract bright scholars from rural India.
There is no dearth of jobs in research field now.
TIFR is preparing unique telescopes for ISRO’s satellite mission, Astrosat, for next year. What is so special about them?
We spent almost five years to develop three telescopes. These telescopes can send images captured in three different frequencies in X-ray region (non-visible range). Till now, no country could develop such telescopes.
What is the status of the Large Hadron Collider at Geneva which launched the world’s biggest experiment in 2008 to search the Higgs Boson (God particle) of which TIFR was also a part?
The experiment was successful as physicists have been able to locate Higgs Boson which remained elusive since ’60s... Currently, large Hadron Collider is under up-gradation for next experiment...
A serious debate is on across India regarding ill effects of mobile phone radiation. Why is TIFR is not conducting any research in this area?
I don’t have an answer to this question. We do conduct research on other radiation but, yes, we have not taken up mobile [phone] radiation.
Youngsters who aspire to join basic science research complain about tough selection procedure at TIFR due to few seats. Any plan to increase intake?
Due to the skewed hostel facility in Mumbai, we’re unable to increase intake here. But with an upcoming campus in Hyderabad, we will eventually be able cater to 1,500 students on one campus.
TIFR is one of the best research centres of basic sciences in the world but the Nobel prize remains elusive. Why?
We don’t focus on prizes while doing research. Researchers are committed to the work.
