World-class universities with a focus on basic research in the field of science is the need of the hour to make India a global leader again, Department of Science and Technology former secretary P. Rama Rao has said.
Delivering the Prof. Kotcherlakota Rangadhama Rao memorial lecture at Andhra University on Wednesday, he said, “both in the U.S. and India, the citizens have freedom of the highest order. But, the U.S. is the leader in science and technology while India is lagging behind. The reason is we don’t have world-class universities that encourage basic research.”
Nuclear physics
Prof. Rama Rao, an alumnus of Andhra University, said the nuclear physics department in AU was set up by Swami Jnanananda, was known across the globe in those days. Prof. Rangadhama Rao had set up a lab which was visited by several Nobel laureates.
He spoke at length about the growth of science, especially nuclear physics, during the 20th Century and concluded his lecture with the quotation of Rabindranath Tagore—All branches of knowledge are unified at a deeper level of understanding. Prof. C. Shantamma recalled the contributions late prof. Rangadhama Rao to the university and to the cause of higher learning in the field of nuclear physics. “Spectroscopy was his focus area and facilities were established here for conducting research in NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy,” she said.
AU Vice-Chancellor G. Nageswara Rao said all efforts were being made to make the university a world-class university.
