IIT Madras Prof T. Pradeep, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, President of Itihaasa Research and Digital Krishnan Narayanan, Indian Academy President Prof Umesh Waghmare during the Empowering India Book launch, in Bengaluru, Sunday, Aug 20, 2023.
Credit: PTI Photo
Schools and educational institutions should adopt a culture of application-based learning to cultivate resilience in India, remarked N R Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys, during his speech at a book launch event.
The book, titled ‘Empowering India — Ideas for Action by Scientists and Engineers’, was co-authored by Thalappil Pradeep, a Chemistry professor at IIT Madras, and Krishnan Narayanan, the president of Itihasa Research and Digital. The book launch took place on Sunday at the Infosys Science Foundation in Jayanagar.
During the launch, Murthy provided the authors with various suggestions to enrich their book.
Reflecting on his conversation with a former union minister, Murthy said, “When I asked him about the importance of a financial capital, labour and raw materials in a country’s economic growth, he shook his head and said that the most important thing is none of the above but the ability of the government to take sensible, correct, corrupt-free and fast decisions.”
In light of this insight, he encouraged the authors to delve into the role of AI and machine learning in expediting decision-making within India’s public governance system.
He underscored the value of sociological research and urged the authors to explore the role of sociologists in diagnosing the causes behind India’s inability to harness its full potential.
Murthy highlighted the pivotal role of historians in a nation’s progress and advocated for the incorporation of history departments in top universities and technological institutes. These departments should concentrate on the study of successful historical cultures and extrapolate the lessons that can be gleaned from them.
Prof Umesh Waghmare, president of the Indian Academy of Sciences, also attended the event.