In the ancient world there is a great deal of give and take and reciprocal learning. India was an integral and important constituent of such interchanges of goods and ideas.
'It looked as if India had been a major player in science at that time, raising the question when and why things changed,' says distinguished aerospace scientist Professor Roddam Narasimha.
'Surely a higher standard is required when ministers speak in public to an audience that will assume they are factually correct, says Karan Thapar.
Why do Innovation Revolutions happen outside India, asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
'Some Indians take the extreme view that everything was known to our ancients, but others go to the opposite extreme and consider everything Indian was superstition and rubbish.' 'Indian science was perhaps more rational than the European science of the time.'
'There is enough proof of science-driven research in the India of early centuries,' argues Kumar Abhishek.
Are our ministers having fun at our expense? Any other explanation would suggest 'we are ruled by men whose judgement you cannot trust and whose grasp of reality is questionable,' says Karan Thapar.
It is important to approach the belief of people in ancient India's achievements with a sense of proportion, balance and empathy, argues B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Rahul is fascinated by history and ancient texts
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