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Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad
By Our Staff Reporter
Dr. Rau was delivering a speech titled "Science in the 21st Century -- Challenges for Liberal Democracies in a Globalised World'' at the University of Hyderabad on Wednesday at a gathering of scientists, researchers and students. Many in the audience had been former grantees of the Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation and the German Academic Exchange Service. Quoting extensively from Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen's works, Dr. Rau said that "the key yardstick of quality of life is freedom.'' In striving for freedom and democracy, the human race has found a universal ideal, he said. Science has a central role to play in achieving human freedom, whether from the "scandal of hunger'' or the "terrible consequences of exploitation.'' Science and scientists could not remain confined to "self-absorbed way(s) of thinking'' and "ivory towers'', he warned and reminded the scientists present that their research has a social and political dimension. The phenomenal advances in science, especially biotechnology and space research, had raised fundamental questions regarding man's treatment of nature and the definition of "progress.'' Were "fashions'' with maximum financial backing becoming dominant in scientific research? Were scientists dealing only with the "luxury'' problems of a few? Were the problems of the poor and vulnerable being neglected, he asked. Dr. Rau argued that a dialogue alone between people and cultures could ever hope to answer such questions. "We would also need to see whether science was increasing our freedom or was it actually putting greater constraints on us." He interspersed his speech with appreciative comments on Indian scientists and invitations to Indian students to study in Germany. He also made subtle comments on "the tough battle for the world's scarce oil resources'' and cautioned against neglecting the "justified interests of nations'' in the focus on global disarmament. He praised the quality of Indian scientists and the country's achievements in science and technology. He expressed happiness that there were 40 Indo-German university partnerships and 1,500 joint research papers had been published by Indian and German scientists. He said that both countries had much to gain from increased scientific cooperation and listed health, aerospace, information technology, biotechnology, environmental research and materials management as the special areas of interest. He laid special stress on environmental research and said that all scientific acumen should be focussed on finding the precise causes and consequences of climate change. Increasing energy efficiency by greater use of renewable and non-polluting energy is of paramount importance, Dr. Rau said. He called for greater use of energy sources, which "do not affect peace in the world.'' The German President also interacted with scholars who had visited Germany under fellowships and exchange programmes. Later in the day, leading scientists from both countries made presentations on different aspects of collaborative science.
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