False nationalistic pride has no place in science, said Chandrashekar Khare, Professor of Mathematics at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Speaking to The Indian Express at the sidelines of the Indo-European Conference on Mathematics at Savitribai Phule Pune University, Prof Khare Wednesday said that ideas from all over the world had to be incorporated while doing scientific research.
Responding to a question about how it could be ensured that research funding goes to useful science and not questionable projects, he said, “False nationalistic pride has no place in science. Ideas from all over the world need to be incorporated. We need to be able to differentiate between what is real science and what is not. We have to make sure that money is spent towards real science.”
As the University Grants Commission (UGC) has mandated 5 per cent of the total credits in the curriculum for courses on Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), Prof Khare questioned whether IKS should be given primacy in education systems.
He said, “Why should the IKS be the main thing? Madhava had some ideas about calculus 200 years before Newton, yes. Ramanujan was a star of not just Indian but world mathematics. There are a lot of things that are great in India and can be taught. I am a big fan of Indian classical music. But that does not mean we are where we should be in mathematics; we are much behind. I would say that in the 1960-70s, we had a much better place in mathematics than we have now.”
He noted that this was not a story of decline or doom, but of unrealised potential. “As early as the 1960s and 70s, India—despite being a far poorer country—had already reached genuine international peaks in pure mathematics, most notably at institutions like TIFR. That early success makes the present moment striking: fifty or sixty years on, one would reasonably have expected higher and more consistent levels of achievement.”
Prof Khare also remarked that Indian mathematics today is broader and more democratized, with many more researchers working across a wider range of institutions and fields. However, what is still missing is the regular reproduction of the kind of world-class peaks achieved earlier. “The central issue is not talent, which is abundant, but sustained commitment, especially long-term public investment in basic science. With the right level of support, the promise is clearly there, waiting to be fully realized,” he said.
Khare was born in 1967 in Mumbai. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Cambridge in the UK, and his master’s and PhD at the California Institute of Technology. He worked at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in India from 1995 and moved back to the US in 2005 to teach at the University of Utah and then at his current institute, the University of California, Los Angeles. He is an expert in number theory and recently launched a memoir titled Chasing (a) Conjecture.
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The Indo-European Conference on Mathematics is jointly organised by the European Mathematical Society (EMS) and The Mathematics Consortium (TMC), India, with SPPU and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune.
Soham Shah is a Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Pune. A journalism graduate with a background in fact-checking, he brings a meticulous and research-oriented approach to his current reporting.
Professional Background
Role: Correspondent coverig education and city affairs in Pune.
Specialization: His primary beat is education, but he also maintains a strong focus on civic issues, public health, human rights, and state politics.
Key Strength: Soham focuses on data-driven reporting on school and college education, government reports, and public infrastructure.
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
His late 2025 work highlights a transition from education-centric reporting to hard-hitting investigative and human-rights stories:
1. Investigations & Governance
"Express Impact: Mother's name now a must to download birth certificate from PMC site" (Dec 20, 2025): Reporting on a significant policy change by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) following his earlier reports on gender inclusivity in administrative documents.
"44-Acre Mahar Land Controversy: In June, Pune official sought land eviction at Pawar son firm behest" (Nov 9, 2025): An investigative piece on real estate irregularities involving high-profile political families.
2. Education & Campus Life
Faculty crisis at SPPU hits research, admin work: 62% of govt-sanctioned posts vacant, over 75% in many depts (Sept 12, 2025): An investigative piece on professor vacancies at Savitribai Phule Pune University.
"Maharashtra’s controversial third language policy: Why National Curriculum Framework recommends a third language from Class 6" (July 2): This detailed piece unpacks reasons behind why the state's move to introduce a third language from class 1 was controversial.
"Decline in number of schools, teachers in Maharashtra but student enrolment up: Report" (Jan 2025): Analyzing discrepancies in the state's education data despite rising student numbers.
3. Human Rights & Social Issues
"Aanchal Mamidawar was brave after her family killed her boyfriend" (Dec 17, 2025): A deeply personal and hard-hitting opinion piece/column on the "crime of love" and honor killings in modern India.
"'People disrespect the disabled': Meet the man who has become face of racist attacks on Indians" (Nov 29, 2025): A profile of a Pune resident with severe physical deformities who became the target of global online harassment, highlighting issues of disability and cyber-bullying.
Signature Style
Soham is known for his civil-liberties lens. His reporting frequently champions the rights of the marginalized—whether it's students fighting for campus democracy, victims of regressive social practices, or residents struggling with crumbling urban infrastructure (as seen in his "Breathless Pune" contributions). He is adept at linking hyper-local Pune issues to larger national conversations about law and liberty.
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