Unfair and inappropriate criticism of Indian Mars orbiter expense in the context of Indian poverty
I had missed this article in Nov. 2013 but it got republished again at firstpost.com recently, http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/mangalyaan-success-heres-why-western-criticism-to-indias-mars-mission-is-blatant-racism-215704.html. IMHO, the article does go overboard (especially the racism bits in the article) in some of its sarcasm aimed at the critics of India's Mars orbiter project, Mangalyaan, but it does tear down the criticism with solid arguments too.
Some notes and comments:
The article referred to a UK media article which refers to critics of British aid to India who are "angered" by India's Mars mission. The firstpost.com article states that the Indian economy is (around) 1 trillion pounds and is dismissive of the British aid to India of 300 million pounds.
[Ravi: If the figures given above are correct then this British aid is insignificant and simply doesn't matter to India as a whole. What a great & positive change in India's fortunes in two to three decades! When I started working in 1984 (three decades ago) India was so dependent on foreign aid that no decent Indian media outlet would have dared to publish an article looking down upon foreign aid in this dismissive manner.]
...
The firstpost.com article refers to the (European) renaissance period and said that similar type of criticism could have been made of Newton, Michelangelo and Da Vinci too!
[Ravi: That is a valid argument, IMHO. Feudal Europe had huge levels of poverty with some people leading lordly/kingly lives, I believe. So an argument somewhat similar to the Western critics, could be made that Newton, Michelangelo and Da Vinci should have worked directly on poverty alleviation efforts instead of science and/or art.]
The article takes the case of the USA's first moon landing in 1969 when the USA was battling "Vietnam war, civil rights, inflation, unemployment".
...
The article mentions that the Indian Mars Orbiter mission cost Rs. 450 crores. It states "the Indian central government budget is 17 lakh crores" [Ravi: A lakh is one hundred thousand. A crore is a hundred lakhs i.e. ten million.]
[Ravi: According to the above figures, the Mars Orbiter mission expense is 0.45 % of Indian central govt. budget. The key point is that one must look at these expenses in terms of percentages of Indian government expenses. Poverty alleviation must get the lion's share but science & technology including space research must get its share too. The spin-offs from these govt. funded research & development activities may generate huge financial returns for the country in future and thereby help the country to better address issues like poverty alleviation. Further, it is a competitive world, including in the vital security and defense area, as recent events in Iraq & Syria clearly show to anybody who wants to understand such matters as they stand today. So not allocating suitable percentage of govt. funds to R & D including space research would be a grave blunder which may even endanger the future of India.]
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A couple of email correspondents shared their view on a mail related to the above contents (and were OK with me sharing it).
First correspondent:
We should worry less about what others say and be more convinced that what we are doing makes sense and is right.
Yes, we should do a whole lot more about our poverty (and make sure the money is not creamed off by greedy politicians and administrators). That does not mean we should not also do exciting things like launching Mangalyaan which give us things to look up to.
Second correspondent (slightly edited):
At the time of the launch, the ISRO chairman was asked by one of the journalists, (perhaps an Indian) the following question:
"450 crores on such a mission, when so much could be done with it for the people with that kind of money? Do you think we are channeling it in the wrong direction? Can we afford this kind of luxury in the name of pride?"
The ISRO chairman's answer was a classic. It was around Diwali time and he said this:
" Do you know how much money we Indians spent on fire crackers this Diwali alone: Rs 10,000 Crores !!"
...
This single act announces the arrival of India as a country which can think of things other than Roti, Kapda and Makaan.
Another event, though now not so successful, which at that time rattled the western world was the Rs. 1 Lakh Tata Nano. That time too many western newspapers wrote scathingly about it.
...
After all India is playing the game by the rules that the world set for everyone, how can they cry foul now !!!
-----
Some notes and comments:
The article referred to a UK media article which refers to critics of British aid to India who are "angered" by India's Mars mission. The firstpost.com article states that the Indian economy is (around) 1 trillion pounds and is dismissive of the British aid to India of 300 million pounds.
[Ravi: If the figures given above are correct then this British aid is insignificant and simply doesn't matter to India as a whole. What a great & positive change in India's fortunes in two to three decades! When I started working in 1984 (three decades ago) India was so dependent on foreign aid that no decent Indian media outlet would have dared to publish an article looking down upon foreign aid in this dismissive manner.]
...
The firstpost.com article refers to the (European) renaissance period and said that similar type of criticism could have been made of Newton, Michelangelo and Da Vinci too!
[Ravi: That is a valid argument, IMHO. Feudal Europe had huge levels of poverty with some people leading lordly/kingly lives, I believe. So an argument somewhat similar to the Western critics, could be made that Newton, Michelangelo and Da Vinci should have worked directly on poverty alleviation efforts instead of science and/or art.]
The article takes the case of the USA's first moon landing in 1969 when the USA was battling "Vietnam war, civil rights, inflation, unemployment".
...
The article mentions that the Indian Mars Orbiter mission cost Rs. 450 crores. It states "the Indian central government budget is 17 lakh crores" [Ravi: A lakh is one hundred thousand. A crore is a hundred lakhs i.e. ten million.]
[Ravi: According to the above figures, the Mars Orbiter mission expense is 0.45 % of Indian central govt. budget. The key point is that one must look at these expenses in terms of percentages of Indian government expenses. Poverty alleviation must get the lion's share but science & technology including space research must get its share too. The spin-offs from these govt. funded research & development activities may generate huge financial returns for the country in future and thereby help the country to better address issues like poverty alleviation. Further, it is a competitive world, including in the vital security and defense area, as recent events in Iraq & Syria clearly show to anybody who wants to understand such matters as they stand today. So not allocating suitable percentage of govt. funds to R & D including space research would be a grave blunder which may even endanger the future of India.]
--------------------------------------------------------
A couple of email correspondents shared their view on a mail related to the above contents (and were OK with me sharing it).
First correspondent:
We should worry less about what others say and be more convinced that what we are doing makes sense and is right.
Yes, we should do a whole lot more about our poverty (and make sure the money is not creamed off by greedy politicians and administrators). That does not mean we should not also do exciting things like launching Mangalyaan which give us things to look up to.
Second correspondent (slightly edited):
At the time of the launch, the ISRO chairman was asked by one of the journalists, (perhaps an Indian) the following question:
"450 crores on such a mission, when so much could be done with it for the people with that kind of money? Do you think we are channeling it in the wrong direction? Can we afford this kind of luxury in the name of pride?"
The ISRO chairman's answer was a classic. It was around Diwali time and he said this:
" Do you know how much money we Indians spent on fire crackers this Diwali alone: Rs 10,000 Crores !!"
...
This single act announces the arrival of India as a country which can think of things other than Roti, Kapda and Makaan.
Another event, though now not so successful, which at that time rattled the western world was the Rs. 1 Lakh Tata Nano. That time too many western newspapers wrote scathingly about it.
...
After all India is playing the game by the rules that the world set for everyone, how can they cry foul now !!!
-----
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