Today most scholars, they said believed that, far from being a mere system for economic trade, services and market reorganisation, globalisation was a mega-phenomenon shaking loose, and reshaping anew aspects of life.

Inaugurating the five-day symposium at Lonavla, Dr G Srinivas, deputy secretary, University Grant Commission, Western Region, Pune, emphasised the need for injecting human values in the rapidly globalising world for the betterment of all strata of society. “Unfortunately, globalisation has made the rich richer and poor poorer which would trigger tension and violence. But a meaningful dialogue between the science and religion will humanise globalisation and remove the ill-effects of globalisation,” he said.

“Religion with its moral values and revolutionary concepts like vasudaiva kutumbhakam (the world is one family) can help address the ills of globalisation and minimise disparity between the haves and have-nots,” Dr Srinivas said.

Over 120 university and college professors, research scholars, and educationists from various parts of India and abroad attended the symposium on ‘Science-Religion Dialogue in a Globalising World.’ It was organised by Pune-based Indian Institute of Science and Religion (IISR) in collaboration with Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune, Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune, Wilson College, Mumbai, and Hislop College, Nagpur.

In his keynote address, Prof Dr Job Kozhamthadam, director of IISR, said globalisation in its deeper sense was taking mankind to a new paradigm of human progress. “In the past individual talents and action were the key to progress; today collaborative, corporate, united action by talented and committed persons is becoming fundamental for growth,” he said. “Hence, to maximise the benefits of globalisation and minimise the ill effects, there was a need to inject religious values among scientists, technocrats and business tycoons.”