Annual Report 2003 - 2004

International S&T Cooperation

The Department is vested with the mandate to identify, initiate, facilitate and promote international cooperation with different nations in the emerging and frontier areas of science and technology under bilateral, regional or multilateral framework mode. This is achieved through a systematic effort in promoting interaction between governments, academia, institutions and industries, primarily in the fields of science and technology with specific focus on areas of common interest and activities, culminating into mutual benefit. These objectives have been accomplished by adopting an underlying philosophy of ‘give and take’ approach with a reciprocal arrangement that benefits both India and the partner country. The principal vehicles of cooperation employed were as follows:

• Support exploratory visits to identify trends and specific areas of mutual interest.
• Promote exchange and dissemination of information and scientific opportunities through joint workshops, seminars and symposia, etc.
• Create a comprehensive database and reference source of Indian Diaspora and other scientists with the aim to establish linkages and interaction leading to S&T collaborations.
  
• Exchange of scientists and technocrats through the medium of fellowships.
  
• Facilitate and promote joint collaborative projects and programs under S&T rrangements.
  
• Extend avenues for training in specialized areas of R&D with thrust on providing access to ‘big facilities’.
  
• Facilitate cooperation in R&D leading to transfer of technology and product development.
• Establish or cause to establish joint Centres of Excellence in advanced areas of R&D in India or abroad.
• Networking of Centers of Excellence on a trans-disciplinary level.

A website was launched to provide better access to the scientific community both in India and abroad on the programmes and activities being undertaken in this area. The website could be accessed at www.nstmis-dst.org.international/index.asp.

Bilateral Cooperation

Australia

A Memorandum of Understanding on scientific collaboration between DST and the Australian Department of Education, Research and Training (ERT) was concluded in October 2003.

Belarus

The bilateral programme of cooperation has been implemented through exchange of scientists in project mode in the field of nano powders for hydrogen storage, microelectronics, etc. In order to establish linkages between institutions in Belarus and India, a specific fellowship programme has been launched.

Brazil

A meeting between the representatives of the Ministries of Science & Technology of India and Brazil was held in October 2003 before the first session of the Indo-Brazil Joint Commission. It was agreed to prioritize activities in areas like Biotechnology, Ocean Science & Technology, Building Materials and Technologies and Metrology.

Bulgaria

The Second Session of Indo-Bulgarian Joint S&T Committee was held in Sofia in October 2003. In this meeting, five research projects were recommended for implementation.

A Bulgarian delegation participated in the joint workshop on Electron Beam Technology and Applications organised at BARC, Mumbai during November 2003.

Canada

An Indo-Canadian workshop on Fuel Cells was held at Vancouver, Canada, in which 5 Indian scientists participated. First meeting of the Indo-Canadian Joint S&T Committee was held at Agra during November 2003.

China

A formal MoU between DST and NSFC was concluded during the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to China. This MoU is addressed towards promoting basic sciences research with the involvement of the academic sector at large.

France

• Joint Indo-French Laboratories

Two Indo -French laboratories in chemistry have been set up at IISc, Bangalore in the areas of organic synthesis and in solid-state chemistry.

The Department also supported the organization of an Indo-French Seminar on New Trends in Organic Chemistry in November 2003 at IISc, Bangalore as an activity of the Indo-French Centre for Organic Synthesis.

• Programme of Cooperation in Science and Technology

In order to strengthen collaboration in S&T between India and France, an intergovernmental Programme of Cooperation in Science and Technology (POC) for the period 2003-2005 was signed in March 2003.

An Indian delegation led by Secretary DST participated in the 9th Meeting of the Indo-French Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation held at Paris during November, 2003. It was agreed that cooperation in ICT, Nanotechnology, Water, Mathematics, Neuroscience & Biotechnology should be given priority.

• Indo-French Centre for Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR)

The Scientific Council of IFCPAR held its 31st Meeting at Montpellier, France in May 2003.

The Scientific Council of IFCPAR held its 32nd Meeting at Goa during October 2003. The Scientific Council recommended support for 9 projects. The recommended projects are in the areas of Life & Health Sciences, Pure and Applied Physics, Pure and Applied Chemistry and Material Sciences.

Germany

Twenty young Indian scientists in the field of medicine and physiology and related biomedical subjects were sponsored to participate in the annual meeting of Nobel Laureates and students in Lindau.

The Indo-German Committee on Science & Technology, in its 5th meeting held in Berlin, recommended that the bilateral cooperation be taken to a higher level by launching some major flagship collaboration in the fields of nano-materials, machine translation and synchrotron.

Hungary

Following the 5th meeting of the Indo-Hungarian Joint S&T Committee in New Delhi, twelve joint research projects are being implemented in the areas of Earth Sciences, Medicine, Chemistry, Biology, Superconductivity and Food Technology.

Italy

A new S&T Agreement between Government of India & Government of Italy was signed in November 2003 on the sidelines of the 4th India-EU Summit. Pursuant to the 5th Session of Indo-Italian Joint Committee on S&T Cooperation, a new model of bilateral cooperation, namely, India-Trento Program for Advanced Research (ITPAR) has been launched in July 2003 between Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italian Province of Trento and DST.

Japan

Under the India-Japan Cooperative Science Council Program, the seventh meeting of the India Japan Science Council was held in Delhi, which approved 8 new projects and 5 joint workshops/ seminars in the identified priority areas. Cooperative activities continued through 7 ongoing joint projects, 4 joint workshops and 1 Asian Academic Seminar on ‘Modern Biology’.

Kyrgyzstan

A meeting of Indo-Kyrgyz Working Group on S&T was held in New Delhi during November 2003. Both sides also agreed to renew the Programme of Cooperation in Science & Technology for the years 2004-2006 with a view to promote exchange visits of scientists and technologists.

Malaysia

Bilateral workshops on Advanced Materials, Bioinformatics, and Traditional Medicines took place in India during the period under review. Discussions are underway to organize a workshop on Vaccines Development in Malaysia.

Mozambique

A Science & Technology agreement between India and Mozambique was concluded in May 2003 at New Delhi during the visit of Mozambican President to India.

Myanmar

The 3rd Meeting of Indo-Myanmar Joint Working Group for Scientific and Technological Cooperation was held in November 2003 at Yangon.

Portugal

The First Meeting of Indo-Portuguese Joint S&T Committee and Indo-Portuguese Working Group on Ocean Science & Technology was held in Lisbon, Portugal during March 2003. A Programme of Cooperation (POC) in S&T for the period 2003-2005 was also renewed.

Russia

Integrated Long Term Programme of Cooperation in Science & Technology (ILTP) is a widespread and well- knit S&T cooperation programme between India and Russia. The ILTP Joint Council, in its 11th meeting held in Bangalore, approved 43 new projects for inclusion and 88 projects for continuation.

In addition to ILTP, Indo-Russian cooperation is facilitated through Indo-Russian Working Group on Science & Technology. 8th meeting of the Working Group was held in Moscow which reviewed progress made under various Sub-Working Groups on Agricultural Research; Biotechnology; Building Materials; Industrial Realisation; Meteorology; Metrology, Standardization and Certification; Medical Sciences; Oceanography and Seismology.

Seychelles

During the visit of the Vice President of India to the Seychelles, a MOU on S&T collaboration was signed at Mahe, in September 2003 to strengthen cooperation in the fields of science and technology including ocean research.

South Africa

Support continued for seven ongoing joint research projects in the subject areas of Chemical Sciences, Materials, Geology, Astronomy, Radio-Electronics, etc.

Sudan

The 2nd Indo-Sudanese Workshop on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants was held at NBRI, Lucknow during November 2003. Seven scientists participated in this workshop from Sudan.

Switzerland

During the state visit of Swiss President in November 2003, the bilateral agreement on Science & Technology Cooperation has been concluded and it has been agreed to intensify cooperation between the scientists and institutions of India and Switzerland.

Syria

A POC in S&T cooperation for the period 2003-2005 was signed at Damascus during visit of Prime Minister to Syria in November 2003. Some of the areas agreed for collaboration are science policy, technical policy, biotechnology, information technology and R&D industry linkages.

Turkey

The S&T Cooperation Agreement between DST and Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) was concluded at Ankara, Turkey during the visit of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India to Turkey during September 2003.

Ukraine

The Indo-Ukrainian Joint S&T Committee during its third meeting approved fourteen new projects for implementation under the on-going Programme of Cooperation in the areas of Metallurgy, Materials Science, Earth Sciences, Cosmology and Food Technology.

United Kingdom

Under the new “India-UK Science Networks” scheme, proposals for one to one meeting between Indian and UK young postdoctoral scientists and for organisation of joint workshops were invited. A number of proposals have been received under both the programs and will be implemented after the screening process is over by early 2004.

Hon’ble Minister of State for S&T led a delegation to UK during July 2003 in connection with the Great Arc Festivals organized to commemorate the completion of 200 years of cooperation between the Survey and Mapping organizations of both countries. Subsequently, Hon’ble Minister for S&T visited UK during October 2003 in connection with the “Celebration of Great Arc” held in London.

United States of America

DST continued to work closely with the National Science Foundation of USA as a part of its S & T Cooperation Program and fifteen new joint projects in the frontier areas of nanomaterials, stellar astronomy, molecular biology, materials & metallurgy, earth sciences, computer science and weather & climate studies were initiated. Five joint projects initiated during 1999 have also been successfully completed.

A planning meeting between DST & NSF was held in New Delhi during June 2003 towards establishing an Indo-US Materials Research Networking.

DST was a lead participant in the three meetings of the Indo-US High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) established by MEA to identify research in areas of dual use technology pertaining to Nano, Bio, Info & Defence technologies. Joint projects with publicprivate partnership are to be initiated under this cooperation plan.

As a follow-up of a workshop on Weather & Climate Modeling, supported by the Indo-US S&T Forum, an agreement between NCMRWF, India and NCAR, USA was entered into to take up joint research projects on global, mesoscale and cloud-scale modeling, including data assimilation and forecasting based on state-of-art technology for which deliberations were held in Delhi during November 2003.

Indo–U. S. S & T Forum

The fifth Governing Body (GB) Meeting of the Forum was held in Washington D.C. during August 2003 under the Co-chairmanship of Secretary, DST and S & T Adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State.

The Governing Board approved the initiation of four new programs, including Visiting Professorship, Frontiers Symposium, Internship Programme and Exploratory Travel Grant under the aegis of the Forum.

Vietnam

A joint workshop on Biotechnology was held in India in August 2003 and another on Science, Technology & Innovation Policy was held in Hanoi in November 2003.

Regional Cooperation

BIMST-EC

A BIMST-EC Workshop on Tropical Cyclone was held in New Delhi during March 2003, with a view to share experience, knowledge, technology and to develop better projects for understanding and prediction of the weather systems in these countries.

SAARC

The third meeting of the SAARC Technical Committee on Science & Technology was organised in New Delhi in November 2003.

Multi-Lateral Cooperation

European Union

Indian research entities feature in about 40 proposals under Sixth EC Framework Program (EC FP6) Call for Proposals in 2003 spread out in thematic priorities of Sustainable Development; Global Change & Ecosystem; Food Quality & Safety; Information Society Technologies; Life Sciences, Genomics & Biotechnology for Health; etc.

Preparatory to 1st Meeting of India-EC Steering Committee on S&T Cooperation, official talks between EC DG-Research and DST were held in Delhi during October 2003. Principal mode of cooperation, to be promoted, will be European Integrated Project (IP) & Network of Excellence (NE) Proposals as ‘Joint Projects’; Marie Curie Early Stage Research Training (EST), Marie Curie Incoming International Fellowships (IIF) & Outgoing International Fellowships (OIF).

IBSA

A trilateral cooperation named India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Forum has been initiated after the meeting between the Foreign Ministers of India, Brazil and South Africa in June 2003 in Brasilia.

ICTP Fellowship Program

Within the framework of DST-Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Agreement for Enhanced Cooperation in S&T, Indian scientists were co-sponsored for participation in ICTP Conferences & In-house Research Programs in fields of condensed matter physics, mathematics, high-energy physics and particle physics.

NAM S&T Centre

The Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre) implemented a range of scientific programmes and activities. Efforts were made to give more focus to the reports on the S&T developments in the third world. The Centre also strengthened its website www.namstct.org. An academic audit document of the activities undertaken by the Centre during last 10 years was prepared with a view to delineating a road map to build the Centre as a strong and sustainable organization.

UNESCO

• Science & Technology Policy Asian Network (STEPAN)

Science & Technology Policy Asian Network -STEPAN is a UNESCO based program involving S&T policy makers, practitioners, analysts and researchers from 18 Member States in Asia-Pacific region.

In its capacity as the present STEPAN Regional Secretariat, DST hosted the STEPAN Coordination Board Meeting at New Delhi during April 2003, which agreed for carrying out flagship activities during 2003-2005.

• 32nd UNESCO General Conference

Secretary, DST chaired the Meeting of Natural Sciences Sub-Commission of INC for Cooperation with UNESCO held in New Delhi during August 2003 to recommend Indian interests for cooperation in science with UNESCO. During 32nd UNESCO General Conference’s-Commission III-Natural Sciences, deliberations held in Paris in October 2003, Indian Draft Resolution was accepted which called upon UNESCO to encourage disaster preparedness through risk evaluation and knowledge building. It also solicited UNESCO cooperation to augment networking of India’s Centre of Excellence, Earthquake Risk Evaluation Centre for exchange of experience in earthquake risk evaluation and disaster preparedness & regional initiatives for earthquake and other risk reduction in Asia.

S&T Initiatives with Indian Diaspora

DST in association with Ministry of External Affairs, commissioned the website, “Science & Technology Professionals of Indian Diaspora” with its address http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/ stio; http://stio.nic.in in July 2003. This website targets web-enabled registration and networking of Scientists and Technologists of Indian Origin Abroad (STIOs) with Indian academia, research laboratories, industry, entrepreneur and enterprises, with the overall objective of strengthening and enhancing India’s S&T excellence and global competitiveness.

DST coordinated the 2nd Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) session on “Creating Technology Corridors with STIOs” held in New Delhi during January 2003. Enhancing India’s technological competence in automotive R&D; nanoelectronics & nanodevices; and drugs & pharmaceuticals through STIOs cooperation were identified.

S&T Wings at Indian Missions Abroad

Germany, Bonn

Some of the major highlights of Indo-German Cooperation in the field of S&T facilitated and coordinated through the Science Wing were as follows:

• 5th Meeting of the Indo-German Joint Committee on S&T
  

Secretary, DST led the eight-member Indian delegation to Germany during September 2003 for the 5th Meeting of the Joint Committee. The possibilities of further intensifying cooperation through newer modes of cooperation were reviewed.

• Asia Pacific Week (APW) in Berlin with India as focus country

During September 2003, the biennial Asia-Pacific Week event was conducted in Berlin, with India as the focus country.

• Joint Scientific Workshops

Three scientific workshops were organized in the year 2003.

• DAAD / IIT Master’s Sandwich Programme

59 students at M. Tech. level from IITs in India arrived in Germany in September 2003 to undertake their 9 months research project.

• Bilateral visits to Germany

Under the umbrella of Indo-German S&T programme, the year 2003-2004 witnessed a large number of visits from Indian side.

• Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Germany

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India visited Germany (Berlin & Munich) in May 2003 and carried forward the agenda of Iyndo-German partnership in the field of academic and scientific research.

Japan, Tokyo

The S&T Wing facilitated the visits of RONPAKU Postdoctoral Fellows under the JSPS Exchange Programme, exchange of visits under JSPS-INSA Agreement and IJCSP, and the Indian experimentalists at High Energy Beam Line at SPring-8. Information on the research work going on in India on a particular poultry breed called ‘Aseel’, which has its origins in India, was provided by the mission.

• Delegation Visit and Meetings

A 7-member delegation of Indian scientists attended the India-Japan Cooperative Science Programme organised by the IJCSP at Yokohoma during October 2003.

Russia, Moscow

The 8th meeting of Indo-Russian working group on Science & Technology was held in Moscow during May 2003. The Working Group expressed satisfaction on the ongoing activities under various thematic scientific interaction forums for technology innovation and commercialization and made recommendations for establishing Science & Technology Center to facilitate coordination of technology transfer, creation of joint ventures and high technologies.

During the summit level meeting between the Indian Prime Minister and Russian President, MOUs and Protocols were signed on creation of Indo-Russian Centre for Earthquake Research; Protocol between DST and Russian Academy of Sciences on Scientific cooperation, to develop and enlarge mutually beneficial cooperation between scientific institutions and scientists in India and Russia; MOU on Indo-Russian Centre for Gas Hydrates and an agreement between Indian National Science Academy and Russian Sciences Academy to facilitate scientific exchanges.

USA, Washington

Realizing a great potential for strengthening and diversification of Indo-US S&T cooperation, a number of delegations visited USA and interacted with government officials, scientists, professionals, academicians and renowned personalities of Indian origin in key areas.

S&T Wing received the following delegations and their meetings were coordinated:

• 5th Meeting of the Governing Body of Indo-US S&T Forum was held in Washington DC during August 2003.
• A delegation of Ministry of Communication and Information Technology met experts of NIST on the issue of cyber security and agreed to develop Common Criterion Peer Assessment Process.
• Indo-US High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) meeting was held with senior officials of the US Department of Commerce during July 2003.
• A 10-day interaction meeting between US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) of India was conducted during September 2003 to enhance future cooperation in Nuclear Safety and Code Sharing on Radiological Protection.
  
• During June 2003, the first meeting of the Indo-US Joint Working Group on HIV/STD Prevention Research was organized between scientists of National Institute of Health (NIH) and Indian delegation, led by DG, ICMR.
  
• A high-level Indian delegation led by Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, participated in the Ministerial Meeting and Technology Showcase on International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy.
  
• S&T Wing is coordinating between National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NC-CAM) and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to strengthen Indo-US Cooperation in Indian System of Medicine (AYUSH –Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) through joint R&D activities in drug development and by offering short accredited courses on Ayurveda in US Medical Schools.