Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi on Thursday said that the British, in the 1770s, wrote a fictitious history by using India’s astronomical findings.
In his convocation speech at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Coimbatore, he said that in 1772, the British, who had only recently begun colonisation, visited the observatory in Varanasi (Jantar Mantar), where they found that Indian astronomers had observed that Saturn had seven moons.
“Up until then, the west had only discovered the planet’s five satellites, but as per the Indian panchang predicted in 3,102 BCE, the celestial body had two more moons. But a British scientist, William Herschel, claimed the observations as his own, and the British empire wrote a fictitious history...destroyed the indigenous economy,” the Governor said.
President of Bosch Global Software Technologies, Bengaluru, Dattatri Salagame said in this unstable world, India was the answer for many challenges. “Tamil Nadu is leading in the country in human resource development, infrastructure and industries. The Gross Enrolment Ratio of students aged 6 to 18 at the all-India level was 28% in 2020, whereas that of the State was over 40%. Yet, there is a ‘sub-regional and community imbalance’ in the State,” he said.
India must become a developed country while also maintaining its ethos, values and characteristics. Enlisting the Centre’s achievements since 2016 – bridging the gender gap, producing over 100 GW of clean energy, opening the space sector to private parties, distributing COVID-19 vaccine to 150 countries etc., Mr. Salagame said, “Bharat is undergoing comprehensive resurgence... These next 25 years is the Amrit Kaal.”
He added, “India should become a developed nation by 2047, the centennial year of Independence. The country should be prosperous in technology and industry, and spirituality must also prevail, to save the world.”
