Hindi English Translation || Editorial || A shot for science: On budget allocation for Ministry of Science & Technology

A shot for science: On budget allocation for Ministry of Science & Technology

More funding for research must be met with easing of bureaucratic (नौकरशाही, दफ्तरशाही) procedures

The Budget speech in the year preceding (पूर्व, पिछला) a general election is usually one that seeks (try, aim, attempt) to appease (खुश करना, संतुष्ट करना) as wide a swathe (a wide area of something) of society as possible. It follows that ministries that fund the bulk of research and development (R&D) too would see a healthy jump in allocation. The Ministry of Science & Technology has received an allocation of ₹16,361.42 crore this year, on paper an impressive 15% increase from the previous estimate. However, between 2021-22 and 2022-23, the Ministry had seen a 3.9% decrease. The bulk of the hike has gone to the Department of Science and Technology (DST) — ₹7,931.05 crore, up 32.1% from last year. It was ₹2,683.86 crore for the Department of Biotechnology, or DBT (a nominal (नाममात्र, न्यूनतम) hike of 3.9%), and ₹5,746.51 crore (1.9%) for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). The Deep Ocean mission (गहरा महासागर मिशन) — which includes among other components developing a deep-submersible vehicle (a deep-diving crewed submersible (underwater vessel) that is self-propelled) — and the National Research Foundation (The NRF was formulated, to make the pursuit of science, humanities, art & culture accessible and available in the language one is most comfortable with. This will strengthen the governance structure of the research-related institutions and will improve linkages between R&D, academia, and industry) have got substantially (काफ़ी हद तक, उल्लेखनीय रूप से) higher hikes than in previous years, a sign that they are the Centre’s immediate focus.

There were multiple references in the Budget speech for investing in dedicated centres for excellence (उत्कृष्टता केंद्र) in ‘Artificial intelligence (an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they have human intelligence)’ research, initiatives to scale up (बढ़ाना, बढ़ावा देना) technology to produce laboratory-made diamonds and a centre for research in sickle cell anaemia (a common inherited blood disorder). While all of these efforts could be spread out across multiple arms (department, branch, division, section) of government, none of the budgetary allocations suggests a significant scale up of basic research. As with previous governments, this government too has not succeeded in increasing the percentage of spend on research and development to beyond 1% of GDP. While different countries define R&D spends variously, a rule of thumb (अंगुष्‍ठ नियम) suggests that developed and technologically advanced countries spend over 2% of their GDP (सकल घरेलू उत्पाद) on R&D, and India, according to a 2022 estimate by the Global Innovation Index (The Global Innovation Index (GII) is an evolving project that builds on its previous editions while incorporating newly available data and that is inspired by the latest research on the measurement of innovation. The GII 2022 model includes 132 economies, which represent 94.3% of the world’s population and 99.0% of the world’s GDP in purchasing power parity current international dollars), continues to hover (मँडराना) around 0.7% despite being among the world’s largest producers of scientific literature. While funds are not the only challenge to research and development in India, the lack (कमी, अभाव) of significant raises across departments shows that the absorptive capacity (अवशोषण क्षमता) of scientific institutions in the country is limited. A major challenge continues to be research scholars (academic, intellectual, learned person; clever person, intellect) not getting promised funds on time (punctually, promptly, timely, when expected, in time) and the wait for the quality equipment required by researchers, continuing to be mired (फँसाना, उलझाना) in a maze (complex network, labyrinth, web, tangle) of bureaucratic whimsy ((fanciful & personal) impulse, urge, notion, idea, vagary, inclination). The bulk of research continues to be funded by government and the participation of the private sector has grown only incrementally (in an incremental way; gradually, in a step-by-step method). In the next few years, the government must not only increase the size of the funding pie (a whole of something that can be divided into shares) but also ease the procedures to make the most efficient use of it.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.bureaucratic (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - नौकरशाही, दफ्तरशाही
English Meaning - relating to a bureaucracy; administrative, official, procedural, red-tape, governmental.

2.preceding (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - पूर्व, पिछला
English Meaning - previous, prior, earlier.

3.nominal (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - नाममात्र, न्यूनतम
English Meaning - very small, minimal.

4.substantially (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - काफ़ी हद तक, उल्लेखनीय रूप से
English Meaning - considerably, appreciably, significantly.

5.centre of excellence (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उत्कृष्टता केंद्र
English Meaning - a place where highest standards are followed/observed.

6.scale up (phrasal verb)

Hindi Meaning - बढ़ाना, बढ़ावा देना
English Meaning - step up, boost, escalate; increase, expand.

7.Gross domestic product (GDP) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - सकल घरेलू उत्पाद
English Meaning - a measure of economic activity in a country. It is the total value of a country’s annual output of goods and services.

8.rule of thumb (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - अंगुष्‍ठ नियम
English Meaning - a general estimate. It is not scientific or exact. This expression comes from using body parts as units of measure.

9.hover (verb)

Hindi Meaning - मँडराना
English Meaning - remain at a level.

10.lack (noun)

Hindi Meaning - कमी, अभाव
English Meaning - absence, unavailability, non-existence, scarcity, shortage.

11.absorptive capacity (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अवशोषण क्षमता
English Meaning - an organisation’s ability to identify, assimilate, transform, and use external knowledge, research and practice.

12.mire (verb)

Hindi Meaning - फँसाना, उलझाना
English Meaning - involve in a difficulty; mix up, entangle, embroil, catch up.

13.meet with (phrasal verb)

Hindi Meaning - मिलना, सामना करना
English Meaning - receive a particular situation.

14.appease (verb)

Hindi Meaning - खुश करना, संतुष्ट करना
English Meaning - satisfy, fulfil, gratify, meet.

15.Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - गहरा महासागर मिशन
English Meaning - a mission mode project to support the Blue Economy Initiatives of the Government of India. Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) will be the nodal Ministry implementing this multi-institutional ambitious mission. The Deep Ocean Mission consists of the following six major components.

16.shot (noun)

English Meaning - booster; boost, stimulus, fillip, support.

17.ease (verb)

English Meaning - facilitate, make easy, assist, help.

18.seek (verb)

English Meaning - try, aim, attempt.

19.swathe (noun)

English Meaning - a wide area of something.

20.mission mode project (MMP) (noun)

English Meaning - project that has clearly defined objectives, scopes, and implementation timelines and milestones, as well as measurable outcomes and service levels.

21.deep-submersible vehicle (DSV) (noun)

English Meaning - a deep-diving crewed submersible (underwater vessel) that is self-propelled.

22.National Research Foundation (NRF) (noun)

English Meaning - The NRF was formulated, to make the pursuit of science, humanities, art & culture accessible and available in the language one is most comfortable with. This will strengthen the governance structure of the research-related institutions and will improve linkages between R&D, academia, and industry.

23.artificial intelligence (AI) (noun)

English Meaning - an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they have human intelligence.

24.sickle cell anaemia (SCD) (noun)

English Meaning - a common inherited blood disorder.

25.arm (noun)

English Meaning - department, branch, division, section.

26.Global Innovation Index (GII) (noun)

English Meaning - The Global Innovation Index (GII) is an evolving project that builds on its previous editions while incorporating newly available data and that is inspired by the latest research on the measurement of innovation. The GII 2022 model includes 132 economies, which represent 94.3% of the world’s population and 99.0% of the world’s GDP in purchasing power parity current international dollars.

27.scholar (noun)

English Meaning - academic, intellectual, learned person; clever person, intellect.

28.on time (phrase)

English Meaning - punctually, promptly, timely, when expected, in time.

29.maze (noun)

English Meaning - complex network, labyrinth, web, tangle.

30.whimsy (noun)

English Meaning - (fanciful & personal) impulse, urge, notion, idea, vagary, inclination.

31.incrementally (adverb)

English Meaning - in an incremental way; gradually, in a step-by-step method.

32.pie (noun)

English Meaning - a whole of something that can be divided into shares.