S&T Policy
After many centuries, India has a chance today to participate on a level playing field in the upcoming technological revolution. Scientific research has today evolved into a multi-trillion-dollar cooperative enterprise for achieving economic and societal advancement, unlike in antiquity when it was limited to a connoisseur’s pursuit.
Big Science
A tectonic shift is occurring in the science landscape, wherein newly-developed nations are audaciously investing in frontier scientific research at par with developed nations. India is game to join this new wave of advancement, but its research-funding mechanisms are deficient. Can Indian philanthropy endow indigenous R&D?
disaster preparedness
However low on probability, when it comes to the security of the nation and the world, we should be prepared even for doomsday. Meteorites can fall anytime, anywhere, sometimes stealthily and lethally. The government of India apparently does not recognise this canon. For some time now, I have been advocating
space policy
Space exploration is not only a scientific endeavour but now has a geoeconomic and geopolitical dimension to it. India cannot confine its infrastructure development goals to roads, railways, housing and lavatories; it would have to include mineshafts and mine-rakes on asteroids, space stations deep in space, and manned colonies
space defence
How prepared is India for threats from space? Catastrophes originating from outer space are no fiction. They are recognized as potential and credible threats by nations motivated to defend both the Earth and their national interests. So these nations are continually tracking comets and asteroids, deploying space missions to visit
Instead of inviting foreign corporations to India to create a manufacturing base, Modi can use his Silicon Valley experience to build a similar research and development foundation in India for indigenous high-tech companies. A strategic space megaproject could be the start of this much-needed push. When he visits
The UN’s Transparency and Confidence Building Measures for Outer Space Activities to address terrestrial anti-satellite weapons have spawned schismatic instruments such as the EU’s International Code of Conduct and a Sino-Russian treaty. India must weigh its national interests before agreeing to these drafts. A move to
At a time when China has invested substantially in its space projects and Russia is invigorating its space exploration, India too must develop a strategically-designed programme. The successful launch of the Mars Orbiter Mission should give New Delhi enough reason to increase India’s space footprint. The Indian Space
An increase in the global demand for rare earth elements, used in high-technology industries, coupled with limited supplies on Earth, has accelerated extra-terrestrial exploration. International cooperation and competition for these space-based resources will determine the next human footprint and race in space. With the increase in the
In the past few years, the political map of Antarctica, a region rich in mineral-fuel resources, has changed immensely. How can the ongoing geopolitical polarization in this region have unfavourable global effects in the long run? Even after 50 years of peaceful multilateral research initiatives, various nations would still
What hinders India's exploration program is a lackadaisical approach to space research and development by the policymakers, says Chaitanya Giri. India stands at the crossroads of its space exploration endeavour. With a mission to Mars not far away, India now intends to join an elite group of nations