Annual Report 2003-2004

Overview

Department of Science & Technology has been playing a pivotal role in the promotion of science & technology in the country. The Department, during the current year, committed itself to:

• Increase the S&T infrastructure to meet the challenging demands in basic research, technology development, scientific services and societal development;
  
• Create suitable conditions for attracting young talent to take to research and development;
  
• Develop world-class centres of excellence in R&D in frontier areas of science and technology;
  
• Develop appropriate mechanisms for reducing the time lag between an invention and its
  commercialization;
  
• Gear S&T towards meeting the basic needs of the population (food, housing, employment
  and education) and modernizing our infrastructure in the service sectors;
  
• Exploit the crucial role the material technology plays in the national development -in
  areas ranging all the way from housing for the poor to the chips for the new computers;
  
• Harness the developments in information technology for the national efforts in all areas
  ranging from health to technology assessment and forecasting;
  
• Develop methods for forecasting and mitigation of natural disasters such as cyclones,
  earthquakes etc.;
  
• Ensure that industrial growth goes hand in hand with greater technological capability;
  
• Attract industrial investment in research and development to cope with the increased
  competition in a global market; and
  
• Popularize S&T and nurture a scientific temper among our citizens.

The salient features of the major activities of the Department during the year are highlighted
below:

The Science & Engineering Research Council (SERC) sanctioned 214 new projects under broad areas of science & engineering at a total cost of Rs. 33.73 crore. In addition, releases for 800 plus ongoing projects were also made. To intensify Research in High Priority Areas, the Council approved many high value projects. These facilities likely to be implemented in the current financial year included:

• National Facility for Geochronology & Isotope Geosciences at Pondicherry University;
  
• High Resolution X-ray Powder Diffractometer - an experimental facility for Materials
  Science applications at IACS, Kolkata;
  
• Regional Facility for Isothermal Titration Calorimetry at IIT, Mumbai;
  
• Center for Soft Computing Research at Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata; and
  
• National Facility on Stable Isotope Geochemistry at IIT, Kharagpur.

Support to the tune of Rs. 55 crore was provided by the Department under FIST Programme to Universities and Higher Educational Institutions for Improvement/ Strengthening of S&T Infrastructure. The support was provided for basic infrastructure and enabling facilities and conducive environment for promoting R&D in new and emerging areas including ready access to information systems, networking, databases and scientific journals and also computing facilities.

Sophisticated Analytical Instrument Facilities (SAIFs) set-up by the Department continued to meet the needs of the research workers in various areas of science and technology. About 6,500 users were benefited by these facilities during the year including the users from almost all the universities in the country. About 75,000 samples were analyzed at the Facilities. The SAIFs are being strengthened with the addition of new sophisticated instruments required by the research workers.

Women Scientists Scheme formulated and announced by the Department last year, has been hailed as a novel attempt to address the genuine needs of women scientists and may be the first of its kind in the world. The response to this Scheme was overwhelming. About 5000 applications were received. Finally, about 200 candidates were selected. 100 of the selected projects were sanctioned support in this year after completion of the financial formalities.

Under Nanomaterials Science & Technology Initiative - NSTI, the National Expert Committee identified a total of about 70 projects in Phase II. More technology transfers and patent filings are expected from NSTI projects.

National Science & Technology Management Information System (NSTMIS) programme continued supporting activities related to building science and technology information on national level. During the year, 15 new projects in the areas of objectives of the scheme were sponsored. Projects in areas such as Commercialisation of Patents in India, Mapping of biotechnology skills and research infrastructure, Large Scale Sample Survey on Estimation of R&D Activities (at national level) in Small Scale Industry (SSI) Sector, Priority setting in medical research in India, R&D Status of select international organizations in India, Study on R&D incentives in India were completed.

Under Instrumentation Development Programme, a number of projects were supported for the development of sensors including biosensors, electrochemical sensors etc. Some of the important projects supported were on Isolation, purification and immobilization of urease for technical development of urea biosensor; Development of biosensor with associated instrumentation for bacterial pathogen detection in water and food samples; Design and Development of Electrochemical Sensors for CO, Cl2 , SO2, H2S, NH3 & HCN; and Development of Multi-zone optical fibre based perturbation sensing system.

A total number of sixteen proposals were considered for financial support under the "Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Research" Programme during the year. Ten proposals have been recommended by the Expert Committee for funding. This includes nine Industry-Institutional collaborative research proposals and one National Facility for Genomic Services to assist in drug discovery. For socio-economic development of the country through S&T intervention, a large number of inter-disciplinary projects of multi-sectoral nature were supported in farm and nonfarm sectors at the grass root level leading to technological empowerment and capacity building of people for improved quality of life and creation of sustainable livelihoods. In this endeavour, individual projects as well as coordinated projects will help to achieve the desired results and objectives of the programme for socio-economic upliftment of disadvantaged sections of the society.

Rural Technology Parks and Integrated Village Development projects will also contribute as holistic model for development through S&T intervention covering social engineering aspects as well as involving a network of science based voluntary organizations and S&T institutions.

Given the experience of past projects and programmes under Special Component Plan (SCP) Scheme, it is proposed to develop coordinated programme on scientific rearing of smaller animals and poultry birds, management of organic waste, some of the exclusives artisanal trades such as carcass collection and processing, foot wear making, masonary, etc. will be accorded top priority.

In order to promote knowledge driven and technology based entrepreneurial ventures, the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) supported 300 Entrepreneurship Awareness Camps (EACs), 40 Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs), 40 Technology based Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (TEDPs), 40 Faculty Development Programmes, 10 Science & Technology Entrepreneurs Parks, 15 Technology Business Incubators (TBIs), 29 Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Projects and Skill development training through S&T for 5000 Persons.

A number of programmes were supported for Science & Technology Communication and Popularization among the masses. These included: A 5-part film on the work and life of Prof. Birbal Sahni; Training in Science Writing/ Journalism; Training Workshop on Disaster Management; etc.

The calendar year 2004 is being celebrated as 'Year of Scientific Awareness'. A Nation wide programme built around spreading scientific awareness among masses is planned during the year.

Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) continued to support projects aimed at developing methodologies for building and promoting the use of spatial data management and analysis technologies in local area planning. The District Database Centers are expected to develop as Geo Spatial Information Hub to District Authorities. New NRDMS database centers are being set up in Karnataka/UP/ Uttaranchal and Jharkhand States. The Health Information System will be operational for State level Health Officials with the help of National Institute of Health and Family Welfare. R&D projects under the programme on "Bio-geo Database for Himalayas" for Kumaon and Garhwal Regions in Uttaranchal were evolved and supported to build-up spatial database on natural resources, socio-economic and flora and fauna to develop strategies for better management of ecological system. R&D projects under coordinated programme on landslide hazard mitigation have been supported to undertake detailed investigations on geological/geotechnical aspects of landslides. This would help in determining the factor of safety of the selected slopes which in turn would help in designing the suitable preventive measures.

Under International S&T Cooperation, New Agreements of Cooperation were signed with Laos, Mozambique, Serbia & Montenegro, Nigeria, Seychelles, Switzerland and Ukraine. MoUs were signed with Australia and Canada; and POCs with Mozambique, Sudan, Syria, Slovenia, Czech and Slovak Republic, Oman etc.

Support was extended to joint Indo-French Centres on Organic Synthesis and Solid State Chemistry; Joint workshops on Organic Synthesis, New Developments in Solid State and Materials Chemistry; and Research Network programme. Under Indo-USA (DSTNSF) Programme, support was provided to about 20 joint projects; 2 Joint Workshops and establishment of Indo-US Materials Research Network.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) continued strengthening its Weather Observation System and Earthquake Monitoring Facilities by acquiring and installing state-of-art equipment. IMD continuously provided short range and long range weather forecasts. It also started an Interactive Voice Response Service known as "Weather on Telephone". In this service, weather information is broadcast in regional languages in addition to Hindi & English. Also, broadcasting of the weather data and processed products was started using World Space Asia Star Satellite.

National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) continued to produce, in real time, the best possible weather forecasts for country. Through research and development, new data, techniques and algorithms have been inducted into operations for improving the quality of forecasts. Dissemination of forecasts from NCMRWF to AMFUs and preparation of agro-advisory services for farmers will remain an important task for the Centre. In recent years, several other new users and new applications have come up based on the NCMRWF global/regional model forecasts.

The Survey of India (SOI) continued fulfilling its responsibility of providing a variety of maps for expeditious and integrated development of the country. Besides, it has also been carrying out Geodetical and Geophysical Surveys and allied research work in the areas of tidal, gravity, geomagnetic and project surveys for tunnel alignment, crustal movement and dam deformation studies etc.

The Science & Technology Academies in India continued supporting Human Resource Development Activities and also helped in the dissemination of knowledge through various seminars/conferences/workshops and bringing out professional scientific journals/proceedings.

The Autonomous Institutions under DST continued to support activities in the areas of their expertise such as Life Sciences, Physical Sciences (including Optics, Liquid Crystals, and Theoretical Physics etc.), Palaeobotany, Materials Science, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Tropical Meteorology, Medical Technology, Industrial Products/ Processes, Himalayan Geology, Human Resources Development etc. The specialized institutes such as TIFAC, NABL and Vigyan Prasar continued to support activities related to VISION 2020 Programme, Commissioning of Technology Assessment/Technology Forecasting/Techno-Market Survey Reports, Laboratory Accreditation, and Popularisation of Science & Technology among the masses etc. NABL took-up a challenging task of Accreditation of Clinical Laboratories in the Country.

In order to harness the benefit of Bamboo which flowers after a considerable time gap and to take these benefits to the society, a mission mode project entitled "National Mission for Bamboo Applications" is under way. The Mission, will support activities such as manufacturing high quality bamboo based composites/ flooring boards; manufacturing high quality bamboo flooring in different colours (shades), sizes, configuration and finishes to meet customers choices; prototype innovative structures, utilising bahareque (Latin America) style construction being constructed in Assam, and a model of housing for tea garden workers utilising bamboo and bamboo composite material; shelter clustered housing project; development of new composite material - glass-bamboo hybrid sandwich composites suitable for use in many application areas; & design & development of hot press with two axis pressing.