"NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DAY"-TWO CONTRASTING REPORTS

National Technology Day was "celebrated" in India on May 11, 2010 and it is usually an occasion to "brag" about technological "achievements" made by the country in different spheres of national development. Those entrusted with development of technologies for food processing and preservation are not to be left behind in this "bragging" business and the two supposedly premier food technological institutions located at Mysore had their trumpets blown at high decibel strength to make sure that their voices are heard at right quarters that count. According to the reports appearing in the reputed Bangalore based news paper Deccan Herald of May 12, 2001, both the above institutions made elaborate arrangement to ensure that adequate coverage is given to what they have to say. Here is some excerpts from the paper for the benefit of the readers of this blog to decide about the credibility of these public funded food R & D organizations. First the civilian set up for food research in the country and part of the speech delivered on the occasion, quoted verbatim from the above paper.

"Director CFTRI, Dr V Prakash on Tuesday said that holistic approach is needed to understand issues like volcanic ash and many other natural disasters. He was delivering presidential address at National Technology Day celebrations 2010 at CFTRI premises in the city. Prakash said that there are several scientific evidence to say that global warming is happening at alarming rate. It has resulted in increased temperature and it can be easily checked at home or offices. But the problem is beyond that. Of every one degree Celsius rise in temperature in soil surface, there is 10% decrease in agriculture yield. This sprouts great concern for future's loss in crop production and also productivity. This apart, loss of surface water, loss of microbial population in the soil vanishing inter crop pattern, changing systems of agriculture aggravates the woes. Prakash said about 50000 liters of water will be lost annually if the leakages from the taps were not plugged. It calls for immediate need for minimizing the use of energy and also expenditure."

What food technology or the CFTRI has to do with the issues raised in the rambling exposition above is not clear. One can only guess that the purpose of the function was more to project the "wide knowledge" of the speaker beyond the realm of food technology, rather than highlighting the institutional strength. Probably the above speech has all the hallmarks of the Inter Country Panel on Climate Change of the UN (IPCC), recently disgraced because of the fudging of its climate change report. One can only pity the fall from grace of an institution founded, nurtured and established by eminent food scientists of yesteryear which contributed significantly to the development of food industry till early nineteen nineties.

In contrast the report emanating from the defense sector R & D set up is indeed interesting, revealing and informative to citizens in this country regarding the efforts put in by the scientists and technologists there in developing newer products for the army personnel. According to the reporter of the News Paper, the exhibition was able to arouse interest amongst the citizens of Mysore though many were disappointed by the absence of arrangements to offer some of the new products for tasting. Though seeing is believing, actual tasting is convincing.

"Aloe Vera based performance enhancement drink, spiced aloe squash, frozen chicken shreds, frozen mutton shami kabab, mutton sandwiches, protein bars, meal equivalent bars, fiber bars, appetizer bars, nutraceutical bars. This is not a list of menu from any hotel. But these items were put on exhibition by the Defense Food Research Laboratory in Mysore on Tuesday as part of National Technology Day.---DFRL highlighted achievements of food scientists in the field of food technology and their efforts to provide nutritious food for the soldiers guarding the country's borders in extreme weather conditions".

Indeed the exhibition provided an insight into its activities since 1961. To what extent the technologies developed here have been commercialized or estimate of production by the industry using these technologies are questions that should have been posed by the critical press corps who covered the above program. Of course some of the technologies appear familiar because they were cited earlier also but on the whole this institution has projected its strength in the area of its empowerment through public funding. It may be a different issue if some of the products developed were never accepted by the Jawans for whom they were intended.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DAY-THE ANNUAL ROUTINE!

National Technology Day was 'celebrated' on Monday, May 11. 2009 in India and many functions were organized to remind us that technology has done wonders for the country, to confer honors on so called 'achievers' and make grandiose declarations without any intention to implement the same. No doubt scientific institutions like Atomic Energy Commission, ISRO and a few others have creditable achievements to show for the large investments made on their projects with tax payers' money. But a major part of the scientific establishment has not covered themselves with glory by their pedestrian work and mediocre achievements. Why GOI wants a day to be set apart in the name of technology defies any rationality. Probably GOI thinks that earmarking one day in an year for eulogizing about technology in many platform speeches will make up for the lack of solid achievements this country can boast of. The word technology means different things to different people and there is not much awareness about the role technology has played in shaping human society as we to day, let alone appreciate what potential technology has in improving the quality of life on earth.

Besides National Technology Day which falls on the day in May 1998 when India declared its entry into the exclusive Nuclear Nations Club through the Pokhran explosion of the ingeniously developed atomic device, there are 16 more earmarked days in an year to celebrate various events including Army Day, Central Excise Day, Science Day, Sports Day, Air force Day, Farmers Day and others. Globally there are 44 designated days by different world bodies to commemorate different events and India has thus 61 special days, including its own, to "celebrate" providing scope for many 'photo-op' occasions for people to indulge in verbosity. No body has any quarrel regarding such events provided they are used for introspection, review of past achievements, identify shortfalls of targets and initiate action to achieve well laid objectives, in stead of indulging in self glorification and self congratulation for under performance.

According to a recent report Indian science and technology community is sliding into a state of utter despair with the politics and corruption gnawing at its seams. Public funded scientific and technological institutions, controlled by Delhi, invariably play the political game forgetting their core constituency, viz scientific endeavor. Appointments to head S & T Institutions are no more based on merits and performance but by sycophancy and wire-pulling. Political indecision seem to have made several such institutions headless during the last six months! Awards, Rewards, Incentives, Promotions and Compensation are not decided through rational and logical selection procedures but by 'net-working' and appropriate 'connections' at Delhi. The S & T Ministry is invariably headed by any one but a scientist or a technologist!

Against such a background there are glimpses of hope when one comes across some of the programs in place to encourage excellence in S & T in the country. The National Innovation Foundation (NIF) is endowed with Rs 1.5 crore per year for bringing to surface innovative ideas from the grass-root level. Of course this is a minuscule provision for a country of the size of India but still can be a spark for much bigger programs later. Unfortunately these funds remain frozen for the last 9 years for reasons not very clear. NIF started well and its early endeavor was able to identify 10000 new ideas, new innovations and traditional knowledge of significance. It is estimated that the large population of technology students in various Schools, Institutions and Universities work on thousands of technology projects every year as a part of their courses but there is no mechanism by which these projects can be upgraded into workable innovations that would have benefited the country. Even 1% of this idea pool, if pursued could have resulted in thousands of new products. During the celebration of Technology Day in the past, firm resolutions and declarations were made to increase the S & T expenditure equal to 0.5% to 2% of GDP by those heading the ministry but pathetically it remains still at less than 0.1% of GDP, indicating the lack of commitment to S & T by the country. It is time that those at the helm of affairs think beyond Pokhran and Chandrayan and put in action concrete plans to energize grass-root scientific workers to achieve quantum jump in our performance in this field and be counted as a formidable force in S & T in the global landscape.


V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/