‘Maths won’t matter, India to become a $5-tn economy’
NEWDELHI: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal became the target of social media trolls and opposition politicians on Thursday for erroneously mentioning Albert Einstein instead of Isaac Newton, who was born more than two centuries earlier, as the discoverer of gravity.
Goyal, addressing a meeting of the Board of Trade, said India’s ambition of becoming a $5-trillion economy should not be looked at as a mathematical issue; math did not help Albert Einstein discover gravity, he said.
“Do not get into the calculation that you see on television; if you are looking at $5-trillion economy then you have to grow at 12%, but today it is 6-7%. Do not get into the maths..those maths never helped Einstein discover gravity. If he had only gone by structured formula and what was past knowledge, I do not think there would have been any innovation in this world,” the minister said.
Goyal soon clarified his remarks and blamed “some friends”’ for creating a mischievous narrative.
“The comment that I made had a certain context. Unfortunately, some friends have sought to remove the context, pick up one line and create a very mischievous narrative. One line is being misinterpreted,” he added.
The minister’s remarks came on a day the Congress had been planning to start a nationwide campaign blaming the government for an economic slowdown.
The social media handle of the Congress on Twitter said: “Einstein did not require maths to discover gravity, but Sir Isaac Newton did. FYI, maths is also required to Fix The Economy.”
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted: “Yes, Mr. Minister. Einstein did not need maths to discover gravity since Newton already had. Now wait for HRD minister to say that long before Newton our ancients knew all about gravity (or has he already?) With such ministers, only God can Fix The Economy.”
Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury added his bit.
“The govt shouldn’t wait for an apple to fall on its head before it realises that the Math about the economy is all bad. It doesn’t even need an Einstein (due apologies to Newton) to tell us that. Instead of focusing on distant dreams, minister would do well to focus on reality,” Yechury tweeted.
Press Trust of India contributed to this story.
INDIA LOOKS TO BENEFIT FROM OPPORTUNITIES CREATED BY THE TRADE WAR THAT’S FORCED BUSINESSES TO LOOK FOR NEWER MARKETS UNAFFECTED BY TARIFFS