Chasing the growth dream

What should be the average annual economic growth rate of an economy if its size in terms of its gross domestic product or GDP has to rise from $2 trillion to $20 trillion? And how long will it take to raise its GDP size 10 times?

These are not irrelevant questions. Addressing a recent business summit organised by The Economic Times, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared with the audience his dream of growing India's GDP size from $2 trillion to $20 trillion. Similar aspirations were echoed later at the same forum by the railways minister, Suresh Prabhu.

Leaders must dream. That is necessary and also their legitimate entitlement. But dreams alone are not enough. Dreams must be accompanied with a reality check on what they actually imply. For the $20 trillion dream to be realised, it is important, therefore, to understand the pace of growth that would be needed and for how long that pace has to be sustained.

A simple arithmetical calculation shows that India's GDP could grow to $20 trillion if the average annual economic growth for the next 25 years is maintained at 9.65 per cent. The Indian economy has grown at a rate higher than nine per cent only in about a few years in the past. And it is well-nigh impossible for any country to manage a sustained nine per cent plus growth rate consistently for 25 long years.

While it may, therefore, be logical to assume that India could theoretically grow its GDP to over $20 trillion, but it must also be acknowledged that achieving that goal would take much longer than 25 years. The bigger the economy gets, the feasible growth rate targets will have to necessarily come down. That is what happened to all economies when they exceeded a certain size. Look at what happened to the US and Japan and what is happening to China now. India will be no exception.

Recognition of such growth limitations is as important as dreaming big or planning for achieving an annual 10 per cent growth rate target. Indeed, it is important for leaders of the government to understand that growth does not happen in isolation. The global economy, a country's inherent potential, the domestic policy environment and its relative strengths and weaknesses are important elements in growth calculations.

Equally important is the need to get a sense of what a feasible rate of growth for a country should be in the context of the reality that prevails. In the Indian context, a relevant question would be: Is a five per cent growth rate now similar to a nine per cent growth rate achieved before the global financial turmoil of 2008?

In the hey days of high growth for India - between 2005 and 2007, when the economy was clocking an annual growth rate of over nine per cent, most analysts would use the global economic environment to place the India growth story in perspective. The argument then was that in a high tide all boats in the sea are lifted. India's growth momentum was thus attributed to some extent to the global economic boom and the liquidity surge. According to some estimates, at least one or two percentage points in India's overall growth were certainly due to the buoyant global economic factors.

For instance, while the global economy grew by five or a little more than five per cent in the years between 2005 and 2007, the Indian economy too clocked over nine per cent growth in each of those three years. India was then seen to be benefitting from the global economic upturn.

The question policy makers should now pose is whether the same argument should hold now as the world economy is once again in turmoil. Barring the United States, most emerging economies, Europe, Japan and other developed countries are experiencing a significant slowing of economic growth. According to some estimates, global growth will be capped at two per cent, although the International Monetary Fund is still a little bullish about the world GDP output projecting it to grow by around 3.8 per cent in 2015. But an overall slowdown seems inevitable.

In such a situation, a growth rate of five or six per cent for the Indian economy could well appear no less impressive than its performance in the 2005-07 period. After all, clocking a growth rate of 5-6 per cent without a global tide of good performance should be equivalent to a performance of nine per cent GDP growth when the global economy was firing on all cylinders. Shouldn't India's growth performance in a situation of low global tide get some credit just as the high global tide in the 2005-07 period had taken the gloss off the Indian economy's nine per cent plus growth performance.

In any case, India's dreamers of double-digit growth should now pause and recognise that the current performance of 5-6 per cent growth is not to be dismissed lightly because the global economic scenario is not too bright. Additionally, even this performance will be creditable because it is being achieved against all kinds of odds - a more stringent land acquisition law even after the latest round of amendments and a more rigorous enforcement of environment protection rules. Instead of moaning over what they mistakenly consider tepid and disappointing, they should appreciate and even celebrate India's current growth performance in spite of the adverse global headwinds. Dreaming double-digit growth or a $20-trillion economy must be rooted in a realistic assessment of the state of the economy - both in the country and abroad.

Chasing the growth dream

What should be the average annual economic growth rate of an economy if its size in terms of its gross domestic product or GDP has to rise from $2 trillion to $20 trillion? And how long will it take to raise its GDP size 10 times?

These are not irrelevant questions. Addressing a recent business summit organised by The Economic Times, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared with the audience his dream of growing India's GDP size from $2 trillion to $20 trillion. Similar aspirations were echoed later at the same forum by the railways minister, Suresh Prabhu.

Leaders must dream. That is necessary and also their legitimate entitlement. But dreams alone are not enough. Dreams must be accompanied with a reality check on what they actually imply. For the $20 trillion dream to be realised, it is important, therefore, to understand the pace of growth that would be needed and for how long that pace has to be sustained.

A simple arithmetical calculation shows that India's GDP could grow to $20 trillion if the average annual economic growth for the next 25 years is maintained at 9.65 per cent. The Indian economy has grown at a rate higher than nine per cent only in about a few years in the past. And it is well-nigh impossible for any country to manage a sustained nine per cent plus growth rate consistently for 25 long years.

While it may, therefore, be logical to assume that India could theoretically grow its GDP to over $20 trillion, but it must also be acknowledged that achieving that goal would take much longer than 25 years. The bigger the economy gets, the feasible growth rate targets will have to necessarily come down. That is what happened to all economies when they exceeded a certain size. Look at what happened to the US and Japan and what is happening to China now. India will be no exception.

Recognition of such growth limitations is as important as dreaming big or planning for achieving an annual 10 per cent growth rate target. Indeed, it is important for leaders of the government to understand that growth does not happen in isolation. The global economy, a country's inherent potential, the domestic policy environment and its relative strengths and weaknesses are important elements in growth calculations.

Equally important is the need to get a sense of what a feasible rate of growth for a country should be in the context of the reality that prevails. In the Indian context, a relevant question would be: Is a five per cent growth rate now similar to a nine per cent growth rate achieved before the global financial turmoil of 2008?

In the hey days of high growth for India - between 2005 and 2007, when the economy was clocking an annual growth rate of over nine per cent, most analysts would use the global economic environment to place the India growth story in perspective. The argument then was that in a high tide all boats in the sea are lifted. India's growth momentum was thus attributed to some extent to the global economic boom and the liquidity surge. According to some estimates, at least one or two percentage points in India's overall growth were certainly due to the buoyant global economic factors.

For instance, while the global economy grew by five or a little more than five per cent in the years between 2005 and 2007, the Indian economy too clocked over nine per cent growth in each of those three years. India was then seen to be benefitting from the global economic upturn.

The question policy makers should now pose is whether the same argument should hold now as the world economy is once again in turmoil. Barring the United States, most emerging economies, Europe, Japan and other developed countries are experiencing a significant slowing of economic growth. According to some estimates, global growth will be capped at two per cent, although the International Monetary Fund is still a little bullish about the world GDP output projecting it to grow by around 3.8 per cent in 2015. But an overall slowdown seems inevitable.

In such a situation, a growth rate of five or six per cent for the Indian economy could well appear no less impressive than its performance in the 2005-07 period. After all, clocking a growth rate of 5-6 per cent without a global tide of good performance should be equivalent to a performance of nine per cent GDP growth when the global economy was firing on all cylinders. Shouldn't India's growth performance in a situation of low global tide get some credit just as the high global tide in the 2005-07 period had taken the gloss off the Indian economy's nine per cent plus growth performance.

In any case, India's dreamers of double-digit growth should now pause and recognise that the current performance of 5-6 per cent growth is not to be dismissed lightly because the global economic scenario is not too bright. Additionally, even this performance will be creditable because it is being achieved against all kinds of odds - a more stringent land acquisition law even after the latest round of amendments and a more rigorous enforcement of environment protection rules. Instead of moaning over what they mistakenly consider tepid and disappointing, they should appreciate and even celebrate India's current growth performance in spite of the adverse global headwinds. Dreaming double-digit growth or a $20-trillion economy must be rooted in a realistic assessment of the state of the economy - both in the country and abroad.

Chasing the growth dream

What should be the average annual economic growth rate of an economy if its size in terms of its gross domestic product or GDP has to rise from $2 trillion to $20 trillion? And how long will it take to raise its GDP size 10 times?

These are not irrelevant questions. Addressing a recent business summit organised by The Economic Times, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared with the audience his dream of growing India's GDP size from $2 trillion to $20 trillion. Similar aspirations were echoed later at the same forum by the railways minister, Suresh Prabhu.

Leaders must dream. That is necessary and also their legitimate entitlement. But dreams alone are not enough. Dreams must be accompanied with a reality check on what they actually imply. For the $20 trillion dream to be realised, it is important, therefore, to understand the pace of growth that would be needed and for how long that pace has to be sustained.

A simple arithmetical calculation shows that India's GDP could grow to $20 trillion if the average annual economic growth for the next 25 years is maintained at 9.65 per cent. The Indian economy has grown at a rate higher than nine per cent only in about a few years in the past. And it is well-nigh impossible for any country to manage a sustained nine per cent plus growth rate consistently for 25 long years.

While it may, therefore, be logical to assume that India could theoretically grow its GDP to over $20 trillion, but it must also be acknowledged that achieving that goal would take much longer than 25 years. The bigger the economy gets, the feasible growth rate targets will have to necessarily come down. That is what happened to all economies when they exceeded a certain size. Look at what happened to the US and Japan and what is happening to China now. India will be no exception.

Recognition of such growth limitations is as important as dreaming big or planning for achieving an annual 10 per cent growth rate target. Indeed, it is important for leaders of the government to understand that growth does not happen in isolation. The global economy, a country's inherent potential, the domestic policy environment and its relative strengths and weaknesses are important elements in growth calculations.

Equally important is the need to get a sense of what a feasible rate of growth for a country should be in the context of the reality that prevails. In the Indian context, a relevant question would be: Is a five per cent growth rate now similar to a nine per cent growth rate achieved before the global financial turmoil of 2008?

In the hey days of high growth for India - between 2005 and 2007, when the economy was clocking an annual growth rate of over nine per cent, most analysts would use the global economic environment to place the India growth story in perspective. The argument then was that in a high tide all boats in the sea are lifted. India's growth momentum was thus attributed to some extent to the global economic boom and the liquidity surge. According to some estimates, at least one or two percentage points in India's overall growth were certainly due to the buoyant global economic factors.

For instance, while the global economy grew by five or a little more than five per cent in the years between 2005 and 2007, the Indian economy too clocked over nine per cent growth in each of those three years. India was then seen to be benefitting from the global economic upturn.

The question policy makers should now pose is whether the same argument should hold now as the world economy is once again in turmoil. Barring the United States, most emerging economies, Europe, Japan and other developed countries are experiencing a significant slowing of economic growth. According to some estimates, global growth will be capped at two per cent, although the International Monetary Fund is still a little bullish about the world GDP output projecting it to grow by around 3.8 per cent in 2015. But an overall slowdown seems inevitable.

In such a situation, a growth rate of five or six per cent for the Indian economy could well appear no less impressive than its performance in the 2005-07 period. After all, clocking a growth rate of 5-6 per cent without a global tide of good performance should be equivalent to a performance of nine per cent GDP growth when the global economy was firing on all cylinders. Shouldn't India's growth performance in a situation of low global tide get some credit just as the high global tide in the 2005-07 period had taken the gloss off the Indian economy's nine per cent plus growth performance.

In any case, India's dreamers of double-digit growth should now pause and recognise that the current performance of 5-6 per cent growth is not to be dismissed lightly because the global economic scenario is not too bright. Additionally, even this performance will be creditable because it is being achieved against all kinds of odds - a more stringent land acquisition law even after the latest round of amendments and a more rigorous enforcement of environment protection rules. Instead of moaning over what they mistakenly consider tepid and disappointing, they should appreciate and even celebrate India's current growth performance in spite of the adverse global headwinds. Dreaming double-digit growth or a $20-trillion economy must be rooted in a realistic assessment of the state of the economy - both in the country and abroad.

India world's second most trusted nation

Moving up the ranks, India emerged as the second mosttrusted country in the world in terms of faith reposed on its institutions even as globally trust levels fell, says a survey. As the world’s rich and powerful gather in the Swiss resort of Davos, a study by  Edelman found that general level of trust in institutions among college-educated people around the globe were at levels not seen since 2009 in many of the markets it surveyed.

Trust in institutions in India has improved sharply in 2015 with the country moving up three notches to the second place among 27 nations.

While the number of "truster" countries are at an all-time low of six in 2015 including UAE, India, China and Netherlands, the number of "distruster" countries has grown significantly to 13 including Japan, Russia, Hong Kong, South Africa and Italy.

Brazil, Malaysia, France and the US are among the 8 "neutral" nations as per the trust index, the survey said.

India, which last year saw BJP-led NDA government storming to power at the Centre, stands tall.

According to the report, an "alarming evaporation of trust" has happened across all institutions, reaching the lows of the Great Recession in 2009.

Trust in government, business, media and NGOs in the general population is below 50 per cent in two-thirds of countries, including the US, UK and Germany, it said.

From fifth most trusted in 2014, India has now become the second-most trusted in 2015 with a score of 79 per cent in the barometer. The study has put India Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image on the first page.

The list is topped by UAE with 84 per cent trust. Indonesia (78 per cent), China (75 per cent), Singapore (65 per cent) and Netherlands (64 per cent) are the others that have recorded highest levels of trust.

Globally, the overall trust index was down a percentage point from the previous year at 55 per cent. Trust levels in major developed economies, such as the United States, Germany and France, hovered around 50 per cent.

The barometer shows waning trust in non-governmental organisations, media and business. Trust in government recovered somewhat but politicians remain the most distrusted group assessed at 48 per cent. Interestingly, trust in politicians in India has grown to 82 per cent in 2015 from 53 per cent a year ago.

Government was the only institution to gain trust in 2015, driven by improvements in 16 countries, including India.

In terms of NGOs in India, trust was almost flat at 74 per cent from 75 per cent. Also, while trust in media has fallen in more than half of the countries, India appears to have scored well on that front too with 76 per cent in 2015 vis-a-vis 71 per cent in 2014.

PM's climate change council discusses emission reduction in farm sector

A proposal to have a 'climate change' budget subhead, on the lines of a gender budget, incorporated in the national accounts and the annual Budget documents of the Union government was floated at a meeting of the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change. The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was held on Monday.

It was the first meeting of the council after it was reconstituted under the National Democratic Alliance government. The meeting also discussed a proposal from the agricultural ministry to look for opportunities to reduce emissions from the agricultural sector. This proposal, if accepted, would take India away from its current and long-standing view that the farmers and the poor should not be burdened by permitting expensive greenhouse gas emission reduction steps in the agricultural sector. India has so far fought hard at the international forums to protect the agricultural sector from any emission reduction steps even in mid-term future.

The proposal though, sources said, did not suggest an alteration of the international position at the moment and only asked that three steps be taken at the moment in the domestic arena and more opportunities for emission reduction and adaptation to be assessed for future.

The proposal for each ministry separately and distinctly reflecting its budget for climate changeactions did not see a detailed discussion, three people present at the council meeting told Business Standard. It did lay out that each ministry should review its work to separately reflect actions that would add to either adaptation or mitigation actions under the climate change framework.

The council also undertook a review of the existing national actions plans on climate change and agreed to launch three new initiatives as well as new missions besides the existing eight. A critical review of the exiting missions also highlighted that the country was lagging behind on some of these, such as the green India mission for afforestation. The lack of finances to support the missions as well as the state-level action plans were brought to attention. A review of the plans had already been conducted by the executive committee of the council, which is headed by the principle secretary to the prime minister. The environment secretary made a presentation on the status of these missions.

The prime minister suggested setting up a consortium of countries on solar energy, which could collaborate on to produce new technologies in the sector. He also suggested that the green India mission focus on agro-forestry with regulations encouraging farmers to sow and harvest trees in their fields and earn from the process. While a proposal for a separate Wind mission, along the lines of the existing Solar mission was also made, the prime minister suggested combining the two, several people at the meeting told Business Standard. Multiple sources at the meeting said that the PM made around a dozen specific interventions during the meeting on various issues pertaining to climate change.

This included a detailed inquiry by him in to the existing energy efficiency mission and the new initiative to expand it substantially. New sectors such as railways, heavy vehicles and additional industrial units in each of the sector are to be added rapidly over years to expand the mission to cover almost 50 per cent of the total commercial energy use in the country.

A proposal to start a national water efficiency mission to reduce the water use intensity in commercial domestic and industry sector was also approved at the meeting. Besides this, the health ministry proposed to start a mission to study the impacts of climate change on health and the environment ministry to expand its existing work on coastal management and emergency response plan to all the coastal states.

The council, in a departure from its work under the UPA government, also discussed the outcomes of the recently concluded Lima round of UN climate talks and its implications for the crucial Paris agreement to be signed by the end of this year. Previously, the council was restricted to reviewing domestic policy on climate change. A majority of the council members, including concerned ministers expressed concerns about getting locked in to an ex-ante review of India's domestically determined targets under the Paris agreement. They also discussed the shape and contours of these targets that India plans to provide by June to the UN climate convention, which would be incorporated in the Paris agreement by the year-end.

These targets, or Intended Nationally Determined Contributions as they are referred to, are currently under preparation based on inter-ministerial discussions.

May their tribe grow: Tiger population rises to 2,226

Tiger population in the country is estimated to be around 2,226, a rise of over 30 per cent since the last count in 2010, according to the latest census report released on Tuesday.

The total number of tigers were estimated to be around 1,706 in 2010. Tiger population had dipped to an alarming 1,411 in 2006 but has improved since then.

Releasing the country wide tiger assessment report for 2014, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar termed it as a “success story” and noted that while the tiger population is falling in the world, it is rising in India.

“Most of the tigers in the world are presently in India. 70 per cent of the world’s tigers are now in India. We have the world’s best managed tiger reserves.

“When we last counted the tigers, it was 1,706. The latest estimation shows there are 2,226 tigers. We must be proud of our legacy. We have increased by 30 per cent from the last count. That is a huge success story,” Mr. Javadekar said.

He said that India has unique photographs of 80 per cent of tigers while stating that around 9,735 cameras were used in the estimation. He claimed that nowhere in the world, so many cameras have been used for such an exercise.

The report said that the total estimated population of tigers was somewhere around 1,945-2491 (2,226) as per 2014 report while as per the 2010 report, it was between 1,520 and1909.

The third round of country level tiger assessment using the refined methodology of doubling sampling using camera traps has recorded an increase in tiger population.

“In 2006, the mid value of such a (once in four years) snap shot assessment using the same methodology was 1,411, in 2010 it was 1706 and now in 2014, it stands at 2,226. This is an increase of almost 30.5 per cent since the last estimate,” an official statement said.

Officials said that a total of 3,78,118 sq km of forest area in 18 tiger states were surveyed with a total of 1,540 unique tiger photo captures.

Tiger population has increased in several states like Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerela, officials said.

Mr. Javadekar credited the combined efforts of officers, forest guards, community participation and scientific approach for the rise in tiger population.

“That is why we want to create more tiger reserves. This is a proof of India’s biodiversity and how we care for mitigating climate change. This is India’s steps in the right direction which the world will applaud,” he said.

Talking about human-animal conflict, the Environment Minister said that “proactive” steps will be taken in this regard.

“We must ensure animal-human conflict does not happen. We have proactively decided that we will create more grasslands and water storage in forest areas so that animals can live well,” he said.

He said that problem was more acute where elephants were concerned.

While in case of tigers it was seven deaths, around 100 people had died in such conflicts with elephants.

“We have to avoid this... If we put all deaths of human-animal conflict, it becomes 300 and more which means we are losing one person per day and that should not happen. We are taking new initiatives,” he told reporters later.

The third round of independent management effectiveness evaluation of tiger reserves has shown an overall improvement in the score of 43 tiger reserves from 65 per cent in 2010-11 to 69 per cent in 2014, officials said.

An economic valuation of six tiger reserves done for the first time has provided quantitative and qualitative estimates of benefits accruing from tiger reserves which include ecological, economic, social and cultural services, they said.

A compendium on the profile of tiger reserves was also released besides a report on corridors and a book on tiger dynamics. Several tiger reserves were also recognised for excelling in select thematic areas.

Memories of Jawaharlal Nehru

An eminent scientist and educationist recalls the various facets of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, as empathetic listener, concerned politician, and a keen observer of science

In the summer of 1945 when I was in a summer camp of the Students’ Congress on the bank of the river Ravi in Lahore, Jawaharlal Nehru came to the city after being released from jail. We all went to the railway station to receive him. I could not get anywhere close to him and was pushed to the edge of the large crowd gathered outside the railway station. A platform had been built and Nehru stood at the centre, trying to quieten the very large crowd while attempting to persuade it to allow some of the distinguished friends to join him on the central stage. I was a little amused at his belief that the dense crowd could be so persuaded. But pretty soon, I found that Nehru had disappeared in the middle of the crowd, and using his brief baton streaking a path through which he managed to get Dr. Khan Sahib (Khan Abdul Jaffar Khan) to walk through to the central stage! This impressive accomplishment was done through a magical persuasion of the crowd. I began to feel that he did have a special relation with people in numbers.

The same afternoon Jawaharlal, responding to our invitation, came to visit us in our study camp. We eagerly gathered in a small tent which was furnished with a table and a chair for him. He started chatting with us as he walked in and was escorted to the single chair and we all sat on the floor in front of him. Our secretary walked next to his chair and pulled out a large sheet of paper on which he had written the welcome address he had prepared. We were all eager to hear how he would address this supreme leader of India and share his desire of joining him in our struggle for Independence. He looked at him and declaimed in a vibrating voice making flattering references to him, and stopped, because he saw Nehru rising from his chair. Nehru ordered him to stop and said that he had not come here to listen to this nonsense. “Sit down and let us talk,” he said. The speed at which he dispensed with formalities struck us, as did his passion and seriousness. “We have a war of independence to fight.” I do not remember everything he said, but I do remember we were all ready to walk with him ...

My brother ’s interaction

I had once visited Shahdara in Delhi to listen to Nehru speak. I found the way to get to the lecture venue. It was pretty disorganised and very crowded. The bus service was almost non-existent. We waited a long time for Nehru to appear and after he finished speaking, we started trying to find a bus back to New Delhi, a rather difficult enterprise. As night descended, I was concerned for my mother waiting at home; she would worry that I would lose my way in the then riot-torn Delhi.

“Nehru could talk to scientists with great ease. There were deep friendships with people like Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai and some others”

When I finally reached home at about 1.30 a.m., I learnt that my brother, Omi, decided that the only sensible way of finding out the time at which the function in Shahdara got over was to somehow get the time from the Prime Minister himself. The Prime Minister was available on call and gracious enough to respond personally and give assurance of help to the boy in case he needed it.

Omi remembered that there was a big public telephone booth near India Gate. He took out a chawani from his pocket and dialled the number of the Prime Minister. When it was answered by a “hello,” Omi immediately asked, “Is this Panditji’s home?” The answer was immediate, “Yes, brother, this is Jawaharlal speaking. Tell me what’s the matter.”

The Prime Minister understood my mother’s worries and appreciated Omi’s clever way of finding when his brother could be expected to return home. Omi was told to wait another half-hour and get back if I had still not returned ...

At the Kingsway refugee camp

Unaccompanied by any security, Nehru visited the refugee camp in Delhi to express his pain and unhappiness at the terrible attack on occupants of the servants’ quarters of the neighbouring infectious diseases hospital.

Nehru was convinced that the attack and the killing was most likely by some of the refugees in the camp. Steeped in sorrow and anger, he shouted, “I feel like blowing this camp into smithereens.” He sat down and started talking to the refugees in quiet words asking them if it was to perpetuate violence that everyone had fought for Independence. He even went on to observe that he thought the people were not worthy of Independence at all if such behaviour was to continue. He also said that a lot of people were ashamed of the violence but also deep in pain. After that there was calm in the camp as Nehru had shared the grief of the refugees. But then one boy stood up and started shouting, asking, ‘What do we do when our people are getting killed and continue to get killed?’ at which Nehru held him tight and shook him and asked if retaliation would ensure the violence stops. At least someone should have the maturity to cease violence. Then he embraced the boy and sat down for a quiet talk...almost a quiet cry together ...

Contribution to science

Nehru could talk to scientists with great ease. There were deep friendships with people like Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, Hussain Zaheer and some others. He pioneered the scientific temper movement. You do not have to be doing quantum mechanics or electromagnetic theory to have a scientific temper, though it might help. It implies greater freedom to be different, less constraints and more freedom to fly. It also demands that all points of view might have ab initio rights, prejudice has less chance to reign and seniority need not always rule.

Nehru visited the Ooty Cosmic Ray Laboratory without fanfare or publicity, accompanied by party colleague K. Kamaraj. The visit happened because I had enquired the Director of my Institute, Dr. Homi Bhabha, whether he would like to invite and accompany the Prime Minister to our laboratory. Dr. Bhabha said it would be nice if I sent an invitation to the Prime Minister. So I sent him a hand written note, as suggested.

On the day of his visit there was no formal reception or speeches. They entered the large dark room in which our cloud chamber was operating. We laid a couple of stools for them to sit right before the chamber and I started explaining what we were doing and why. And then Nehru asked what the project was about and what its outcomes would be.

It was my turn to talk a little about high energy interactions of cosmic rays; coming from the far reaches of our galaxy and beyond, they would occasionally collide with nuclei of our instruments, revealing the nature of their interaction in production of other fundamental particles. Some of these particles were new, and lived only for a short time, decaying in our instrument to reveal their properties. This charming set of events was shown to the two distinguished visitors through a couple of cloud chamber events.

Thanks to Nehru’s emphasis on self-reliance, it created a deep influence on the growth of science even in non-independent countries.Yash Pal is former Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University. The article is an edited excerpt from a speech he recently delivered at the 75th session of the Indian History Congress.)