New education policy will aid in problem-solving, critical thinking

Bengaluru: India has achieved considerable progress in the field of science and technology due to the early investments made in establishing the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Space Research Organisation by former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy said at a virtual press conference held to announce winners of Infosys Science Award.
“In the last 70 years, we have taken initiatives in higher education, research infrastructure. As we start seeing the benefits and solve some problems, policy makers will be encouraged to allocate a higher percentage of GDP to it,” Murthy said. India’s new National Education Policy will make education more oriented towards problem-solving and enable critical thinking, he said.

The Infosys Science Foundation on Wednesday announced six winners of the Infosys Prize for the year 2020. The annual prize, announced in six categories, recognises individuals with outstanding contributions to science and research. Prof Hari Balakrishnan from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology won in the field of Engineering and Computer Science, Dr Prachi Deshpande from the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences won in Humanities, Dr Rajan Sankaranarayanan from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology won for his work in Life sciences, Prof Sourav Chatterjee from Stanford University won in Mathematical Sciences, Prof Arindam Ghosh from the Indian Institute of Science won in physical sciences and Prof Raj Chetty from Harvard University won in Social Sciences.

Infosys cofounder Kris Gopalakrishnan said the government was increasing focus on research and innovation. “Right now is probably the best period for science research in India and there is movement from the government on increasing focus on basic research, applied research, and startups… the whole value chain,” he said.