New Delhi: Professor Amartya Sen said the progress of science and human knowledge is possible only when one nation learns from another.“There is no shame in learning from others and then putting what we have learned to good use and going on to create new knowledge. This exchange of ideas and scientific dynamism is much needed. We not only need to research but also see how we can apply that new research,” said the Nobel laureate on Tuesday, January 10, in Kolkata.Professor Sen made the remarks at an event organised at the Amartya Sen Research Centre – a flagship initiative of Pratichi (India) Trust – to mark the successful completion of a pilot project on micro solar solutions in collaboration with Deeniyat Muallima College, Howrah, in Kolkata.The solar energy project to power electrical appliances and improve other aspects of daily life in a rural pocket of Howrah district was endorsed by Sen. Around two dozen young women and men in Howrah’s Domjur have been trained to use solar energy to power fans and lights and to cook food and clean water. “I am 89. I don’t know how much more of this work will I be able to see. But I have an equal right to applaud the beginning of this initiative as you do,” Professor Sen said.He said solar programmes in India can learn from similar initiatives developed and approaches being followed in Japan, South Korea, and Bangladesh. “Learning from each other about solar solutions for their transmission and wider adoption would be a path to follow,” said Sen.To drive home his point of learning from the knowledge developed across the world, Sen said, “The beginning of Indian mathematics was directly inspired by what we Indians were learning from work done in Babylon, Greece and Rome. Aryabhata, Bhrahmagupta and, subsequently, many others became experts in mathematics. Then came a time when Indian mathematics was taught in China and the Arab world. This scientific dynamism is much needed.”The Howrah solar project is supported by the local administration. “This was a pilot project. Replication in other areas involves resources. We have received queries from some places about the model,” said a Pratichi Trust member, according to the news outlet.Sen stressed the need to make the best use of natural resources. “Some other countries have natural sources of petrol and natural gas. India has a deficit there. But the amount of sunlight we get is abundant. Not many countries get it. What we have can be used to good effect… There is no shame in learning from others, and then putting what we have learned to good use, and going on to create new knowledge,” he said.