16-Jul-2022: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh chairs the 5th joint meeting of 6 Science Ministries and departments; emphasises integrated Start-Ups and integrated R&D

Continuing with the trend initiated by him of holding joint meetings of different scientific streams in order to break the silos and evolve a synergistic integrated approach, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today chaired the 5th joint meeting of six Science Ministries and departments, including Science & Technology, Biotechnology, CSIR, Earth Sciences, Space and Atomic Energy, wherein the Minister emphasised integrated Start-Ups and integrated R&D.

During the meeting that lasted over two hours, the Minister was informed that 214 areas requiring science/technology intervention were identified and mapped from 40 odd Line Ministries for Scientific Applications and Technological Solutions by all the six science departments including Space and Atomic energy.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, the ever increasing requests from Line Ministries for scientific applications and solutions have vindicated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of involving Science Ministries and Departments to solve the technical and complex issues of General Ministries and Departments. He also called for evolving a holistic framework of budget sharing, while delivering scientific solutions and inputs to Line Ministries.

Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that in 2015, on the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an extensive brainstorming exercise was held in Delhi where representatives from different ministries and departments engaged in an intense interaction with scientists from ISRO and the Department of Space to work out as to how best the Space technology could be utilised as a modern tool for supplementing, improving and expediting infrastructural development as well as implementation of various welfare schemes.

The Minister informed that 32 Ministries and Departments approached for ‘problem statements’. CSIR will lead 20 challenge areas and participate in 46 challenge areas posed by Line Ministries as the entire exercise is being coordinated by CSIR. He also referred to different scientific applications for sectors like agriculture, food, education, skill, railways, roads, Jal Shakti, power and coal to name a few that have worked out since the launch of the initiative in September last year. Apart from other Science Departments, DBT and ISRO have also submitted their preference for leading in solution development/deployment for few challenges.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, on the lines of Central Ministries/Departments, 172 major issues have been identified by 36 States/UTs and 163 technology problems have been posed by States seeking solutions from 24 Central ministries / departments. He expressed satisfaction that within six months’ time, STI (Science Technology & Innovation) mapping exercise for all the 28 States and 8 UTs have been completed. He added that mapping of States, including NE was done in terms of innovation ranking, startup ranking, number of S&T Organizations, R&D labs, universities, Incubators, Start Ups, MSMEs, industries, Clusters, Grassroots Innovations, etc.

Dr Jitendra Singh asked all the Science Ministries and Departments to prepare in advance the agenda and themes of the breakaway sessions for the State S&T Ministers Conference to be held this year. He said, state-specific discussions could be included in the in the first ever National Science Conclave involving states, industry representatives and other stakeholders.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, before the proposed Science and Technology Communication Centre (STCC) comes into force, the success stories of all the departments must be compiled and disseminated to common people to create general awareness about India’s Scientific Prowess. He also directed that workshops on success stories must be organized at regular intervals.

The meeting was attended by Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, Secretary, DST, Secretary D/o Space, Secretary, M/o Earth Sciences, Secretary, D/o Biotechnology, Secretary, DAE, Secretary, Capacity Building Commission and representatives and senior officials of other science departments.

10-Aug-2021: Global S&T Research and Initiative

The Ministry of Science and Technology, through Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) have played a key role in developing global S&T partnerships in critical areas including energy, water, health and astronomy. India has key partnerships in the emerging areas of Science and Technology and supporting Research and Development focused to address the India specific issues related to critical areas in energy, water, health and astronomy. Major missions have been launched in the mutually agreed areas of Global Interest through regular mode and under Public Private Partnerships. All Departments under the Ministry have dedicated Programme Divisions supporting Innovations, Research Development and Demonstration (R, D & D) Projects and Capacity Building in the flagged Areas. India is a partner in many multilateral initiatives addressing global challenges such as clean energy through Mission Innovation, Anti-Microbial Resistance through Global AMR Research and Development (R&D) Hub, Grand Challenges India and others. India has emerged as a key mover of global S&T partnerships in critical areas to make the world a better and more scientific place to live in.

The Mission Innovation (MI) is a global initiative of 22 countries and the European Commission (on behalf of the European Union) catalyzing investment in research, development and demonstration to make clean energy affordable, attractive and accessible for all. Mission Innovation was launched during 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in November 2015, in presence of Hon’ble Prime Minister, India along with world leaders. Department of Biotechnology is the nodal agency for coordinating national efforts in clean energy R, D & D and implementing various activities in close collaboration with DST and other line ministries. India, During Phase I played crucial role in MI Activities at global level by participating through DBT, DST and CSIR in eight Innovation Challenges and co-leading three challenges (Smart Grids, Off-Grid access to Electricity and Sustainable Biofuels). India has set up Clean Energy International Incubation Center to provide support to start-ups for providing the most impactful clean energy solutions for the societal good.

Building on success of last five year’s joint efforts, India along with other MI members has also agreed to continue its commitment for phase 2.0 for another 5 years through the Missions and Platforms for translating knowledge into deployable solutions.

The Government of India has taken up strong national and international research programs to address COVID-19 related challenges, primarily focused on basic research, diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines development in close collaboration with industries and start-up companies. The pandemic has provided a unique opportunity for India to harness the indigenous bio-manufacturing capacities for the global good. Considering the availability of a safe and efficacious vaccine for COVID-19 for effective control of the pandemic, the Government of India is supporting vaccine development and manufacturing activities through both national efforts and international partnerships. Currently, in India, 03 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 have been approved for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). Besides these, about 04 vaccine candidates are in clinical stage of development and 01 candidate is in advanced pre-clinical stage of development. Many other vaccine candidates by industry and academia are in pre-clinical and early stages of development. India is one of the few countries in the world which has a promising pipeline of vaccine candidates of different platforms in various stages of clinical development. Under the Partnerships for Advancing Clinical Trials (PACT) initiative, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) partnered closely with the Ministry of External Affairs for strengthening clinical trial capacities in neighboring countries. DST is making Interventions on Yoga and Meditation on mental health of students, healthcare workers and senior citizens during the pandemic. Yoga-based rehabilitation program for COVID-19 patients etc. are some of the unique engagements of India in comparison to other countries in tackling the pandemic. CSIR has supported projects for development of the needed Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) molecules for standardizing the process, scale-up and establishing production line of these molecules for the development of Vaccines for COVID-19. Apart from this, many bilateral and multilateral collaborative joint calls for COVID-19 across multiple platforms have been undertaken.

3-Aug-2021: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh says, Government is promoting Science and Technology (S&T) with emphasis on emerging areas and their application for the development and support to the weaker sections of society

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today said that the Government is promoting Science and Technology (S&T) with emphasis on emerging areas and their application for the development and support to the weaker sections of society through various Schemes and Programmes being implemented by the Ministry of Science & Technology through Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

In a statement laid on the table of the Rajya Sabha today in reply to a question pertaining to “Mission Innovation”, the Minister said, Department of Biotechnology has supported 64 projects in last 5 years and nearly 39,000 rural, SC/ST and women population including youth have been benefitted through the implementation of the projects in agriculture and allied sectors. Ministry is also engaged in focused translational research in emerging disciplines to make the technologies affordable and accessible to the weaker sections of the society. Some of the focused emerging areas are Clean Energy, Drug Development and Diagnostics, Nanotechnology, Vaccine research and few others.

DBT has also launched a Special Program on Bioresource Technology Clusters.  9 Clusters have been established so far. It is also implementing a scientists-farmers partnership scheme named as Biotech-Krishi Innovation Science Application Network (Biotech-KISAN), Under this programme, so far 36 Biotech-KISAN Hubs have been established covering all 15 agro-climatic zones in the country. The activities of the programme have been implemented in 112 Aspirational Districts and have benefitted over 2,00,000 farmers directly or indirectly.

The Mission Innovation is a global initiative of 22 countries and the European Commission (on behalf of the European Union) catalysing investment in research, development and demonstration to make clean energy affordable, attractive and accessible for all.  Mission Innovation was launched during 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in November 2015, in presence of Hon’ble Prime Minister, India along with world leaders. India has played pivotal role in Mission Innovation programs, by participating in various areas of Clean Energy Innovation Challenges through collaborative projects and also supporting start-ups at their early stage of innovations.

Building on success of last five years joint efforts, India along with other MI members has also agreed to continue its commitment for phase 2.0 for another 5 years through the Missions and Platforms for translating knowledge into deployable solutions.

Funds Allocated, released and utilized under Mission Innovation during each of the last three years-

Government has allocated funds to R&D projects under Smart Grids engaging various Indian and Foreign institutes and industries. Department of Science & Technology is supporting R & D Projects on Smart Grid at various National Institutes, Universities, IITs in collaboration with partnering institutes from Canada, Norway, UK, Germany, USA, Australia, Italy. Government has allocated Rs. 4.05 crores to support the projects on smart grids, also committed an amount of Rs. 18 Crore for India-Sweden Collaborative Industrial Research & Development Programme 2020 on Smart Grids. A total of eleven projects have been supported for R&D on Smart Grid.

21-Sep-2020: Schemes of the Ministry of Science & Technology to provide attractive avenues and opportunities to Indian researchers residing in foreign countries to work in Indian Institutes and Universities

The Ministry of Science & Technology has formulated following schemes to provide attractive avenues and opportunities to Indian researchers who are residing in foreign countries to work in Indian Institutes and Universities.

1. Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty Scheme: This Scheme is to bring overseas scientists and academicians including Non-resident Indians (NRI) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to India to work in public funded Institutions and Universities for a specific period of time. The scheme offers adjunct / visiting faculty assignments to overseas scientists including Indian researchers to undertake high quality collaborative research in cutting edge areas of science and technology with one or more Indian collaborators.
2. Ramanujan Fellowship: This Fellowship provides attractive avenues and opportunities to Indian researchers of high calibre, who are residing abroad, to work in Indian Institutes/Universities in all areas of Science, Engineering and Medicine. It is directed to scientists and engineers below the age of 40 years, who want to return to India from abroad.
3. Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship: The programme is to encourage scientists (Indian Nationals) working outside the country, who would like to return to the home country to pursue their research interests in Life Sciences, Modern Biology, Biotechnology, and other related areas.
4. Biomedical Research Career Programme (BRCP): This program provides opportunity to early, intermediate and senior level researchers to establish their research & academic career in Basic biomedical or Clinical & Public Health in India. These fellowships are open to all eligible researchers who wish to relocate or continue to work in India.
5. Scientists/ Technologists of Indian Origin (STIO) in Indian research Laboratory: There is a provision to appoint Scientists/ Technologists of Indian Origin (STIO) on a contractual basis at Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) laboratories to nurture a research field in their area of expertise.
6. Senior Research Associateship (SRA) (Scientist's Pool Scheme): This scheme is primarily meant to provide temporary placement to highly qualified Indian scientists, engineers, technologists, and medical personnel returning from abroad, who are not holding any employment in India. The Senior Research Associateship is not a regular appointment, but is a temporary facility to enable the Associate to do research/teaching in India while looking for a regular position.

Ministry of Science and technology does not keep track or estimates the number of Indian scientists, who leave India to work in other countries. However, to avoid brain drain Ministry of Science and Technology is promoting global level of research through implementation of various competitive schemes / programmes such as Core Research Grant, Research fellowships such as JC Bose and Swarna Jayanti fellowship etc. There are some special schemes for young scientists e.g. Start-up Research Grant, National Postdoctoral Fellowship etc. for making them independent and motivate them to remain in the country. Towards gaining global competitiveness Ministry of Science is also connecting Indian Research with Global research through International bilateral and multilateral S & T cooperation with about 80 countries and various multilateral organizations/agencies.