If implemented as envisaged, the National Research Foundation — whose creation was approved by the government Wednesday — has the potential to address most pressing issues in Indian science and significantly improve India’s research output. K VijayRaghavan, former Principal Scientific Advisor to the central government, said it could be a “major landmark” for science in India. The NRF is supposed to fund, promote and mentor research in higher educational institutions, but these are only the basic objectives. There are a number of other ways in which it is expected to improve the environment of scientific research in the country. One...