Press Release

Technology Day Commemorates India Success In Taking Science And Technology To The Service Of The Country

India is now one of the world’s fastest growing centers for S&T entrepreneurship. 

Technology for Inclusive and Sustainable Development through micro-industry models using local material

India is now one of the world’s fastest growing centers for S&T entrepreneurship, said the Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harshvardhan.  The Minister was speaking at the Technology Awards Ceremony on the occasion of National Technology Day in New Delhi today. 

Technology Day commemorates India’s success in using science and technology to address the challenges facing the country. On 11 May 1998 the Pokhran test was conducted. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared India a full-fledged nuclear state after operation ‘Shakti’ and it made India the 6th country to join the Nuclear Club. 

India is now one of the world’s fastest growing centres for S&T entrepreneurship. Start-ups and entrepreneurship are the key to a nation’s economic growth and employment.  The Ministry of Science & Technology through its various programmes have funded and supported thousands of start-ups, incubators and developed new technologies that have reached the market. In keeping with the theme of the day on Technology for Inclusive and Sustainable Development, the DST has catalyzed the development relevant rural micro-industry models.

Make in India: High-tech manufacturing in S&T is extraordinarily demanding. One collaborative effort is the successful operationalizing of India’s largest steerable optical telescope in Devastahl, Uttarakhand.

In Health Technology, the CSIR has developed Saheli the world’s first non-steroidal contraceptive pill which is affordable at 1/10 the cost of conventional pills. The indigenous clot-dissolving drug, Streptokinase saves millions of lives through an affordable alternative to cost drugs in the market. A 1-day Dengue diagnostic test developed by the Department of Biotechnology is fast and effective and has reached millions.

In Vaccines, in partnership with the health ministry DBT has recommended several new vaccines for the Universal Immunization Programme. Notable is the affordable indigenous Rotavirus vaccine now a part of the universal immunization programme. Vaccine development for Malaria, Dengue are undergoing trials.

Agriculture and Farm Technology is another mission where major success has been achieved.  The programme Biotech-KISAN (Krishi Innovation Science Application Network) has been launched in collaboration with ICAR. In each Agro-climatic zone, farmers will benefit of quality technical solutions to problem of Seed, Water, Soil and Market.  Indian Farmers now get 21 million agro-advisories that have resulted in over Rs.50,000 crores contribution to the GDP as per the NCAER report 2015

Arsenic resistance rice has been developed by the CSIR and is now being cultivated in West Bengal, thereby addressing a major problem.

Under the National Monsoon Mission, Climate and Weather forecasting have been improved. Dynamical forecast is a major advance, which allows massive data to be analyzed speedily and more reliable predictions made. Errors in cyclone forecast have been greatly reduced and deaths from cyclone have been greatly reduced

Wealth from Waste and Waste to Energy has been successfully done. A commercial plant to produce 3000 litres of ethanol from 10 tonnes of agricultural waste has been set up.  It is now being scaled- up by major Oil Manufacturing Companies. Applying the latest technology for treating flowing sewage, a pilot project has been installed at Barapullah drain in Delhi under the international collaboration with The Netherlands.

Date:
Friday, May 12, 2017
Dr. Harshvardhan confers Degrees to Engineering and Technology Graduates and Post Graduate students of Panjab University

Union Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harshvardhan today conferred Degrees to the students of Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology(Dr.SSB UICET), University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) at Panjab University and University Institute of Engineering & Technology Swami Sarvanand Giri Panjab University Regional Centre, Hoshiarpur.

Dr. Harshvardhan in his address at the Degree Award Ceremony in Chandigarh today called upon the outgoing graduates to bring laurels to the country. He said there is need for them to exhibit greater professionalism as they go into field for work.

Panjab University is one of the oldest University and was established in 1882 as University of Punjab at Lahore.

Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar University Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology (UICET) was established in the campus of Panjab University in 1958 in collaboration with Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. Since its inception in 1958, the Institute has established itself as a premier institution engaged in imparting quality technological education and research and development activities.

The University Institute of Engineering & Technology (UIET), Chandigarh is an in-campus engineering institute of Panjab University. It was established in 2002 as Constituent Institute with a vision to be a front runner in Engineering Education & Research to produce competent professionals in Engineering & Technology and offers courses at Graduate, Post graduate and Doctoral level programmes in various fields of Engineering.

More than 800 students graduate from these institutes every year. These students are technologists of tomorrow and trained to contribute towards nation building. They are motivated to work on regional problems and work hard to realize their dreams.

Date:
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Work Starts on Cleaning the Barapullah Drain under the Project LOcal Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse) (LOTUS HR)

The Minister of Science & Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands, Mr. Bert Koenders and Lt. Governor of Delhi, Sh. Anil Baijal laid the foundation stone to mark the beginning of work on cleaning the Barapullah drain in New Delhi today. The dignitaries also present were Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Prof. K VijayRaghavan, DDA Vice-Chairman, Shri Uday Pratap Singh and the Netherlands Ambassador to India H.E. Alphonsus Stoelinga.

The highlight of the ceremony was the laying of the Foundation Stone for the on-site laboratory and pilot plant and the start of the cleaning and beautification of the Barapullah Drain with unveiling of an art work. The art work represents Indo – Dutch collaboration for the LOTUS HR project in form of two flowers - ‘lotus’ and ‘tulip’, depicting the union of Indian and Dutch strengths.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government has underlined cleaning of our rivers as a major, indeed key mission. The clean Ganga project is being personally monitored by the Prime Minster himself.

There are many available technologies to clean rivers. Their implementation must go ahead with speed. At the same time new de-centralised technologies need to be constantly developed and tested. Some new technologies could be more cost-efficient or better implementable in our context.

With this in mind, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and NWO, the Netherlands Science Agency announced a joint call for proposals for cleaning the Barapullah drain. DBT in consultation with DDA has identified the Barapullah drain, Sarai Kale Khan, in the state of Delhi for setting up on-site experimental testing lab and for the establishment of a pilot plant. DDA has leased to DBT, a land measuring 200 Sq meters for a period of 5years adjacent to the Sun Dial Park for this purpose.

After a rigorous and robust selection process on both sides, the project “Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUS)” has been finalised for setting up a demonstration plant for cleaning the Barapullah drain.

The project LOcal Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUS HR) is an Indo-Netherlands joint project funded by Department of Biotechnology(DBT), Govt of india and NWO/STW, The Govt of Netherlands. The project has stakeholders from both Academia and Industry from India and Netherlands. It is coordinated by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi with participation of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi and National Environment Research Institute, Nagpur from India while Technical University Delft is coordinating it from The Netherlands, with participation of Environmental Engineering and Water Technology Department, UNESCO, Wageningen University and its Aquatic Ecology Department. There is also commitment from industry, especially from The Netherlands, in terms of both cash and kind towards the project.

The project aims to demonstrate a novel holistic (waste-) water management approach, that will produce clean water that can be reused for various proposes (e.g. industry, agriculture, construction etc.), while simultaneously recovering nutrients and energy from the urban waste water, thus converting drain into profitable mines. Special attention will be paid to pathogen removal and removing conventional and emerging pollutants.

The project will develop an innovative pilot scale plant, suitable to cope with Indian conditions in a location specific manner. The final design of the pilot plant will be scalable and modular, to fit into the highly populated urban terrain.

The participation of end-users in the project will ensure that the demonstration site becomes a self-sustaining initiative that will not finish at the end of the project and will be taken up by the end-users. From the early start of the project, end-users (municipality, DDA, DJB, NGO’s, and companies like Shell, Hydrorock, Nijhuis, Berson, etc.) will be engaged in design at the pilot location as well as in formulation of specific research sub-questions. This will facilitate rapid adoption of the Water Resuse safety plan and the newly developed products.

Dutch and Indian companies will contribute to the project by sharing their existing technologies, which may need adjustments for becoming functional in the pilot plant. Architects like Schulte Holding will advise on incorporating these water treatment units in urban mega cities. Engineers from DDA will help in site preparation and civil construction of the pilot plant.

Date:
Thursday, May 11, 2017
DST Conclave - Press Brief

1ST PRESS BRIEF

02.05.2017

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is organizing two-day DST Conclave 2017 starting 2nd of May, 2017 in Kolkata. The SN Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Kolkata, an autonomous research institution of DST, is hosting the Conclave.

Carrying out of this Departmental exercise as a regular feature has been constantly emphasized by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Hon’ble Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences. The Conclave will showcase the achievements of the Autonomous Bodies and various R&D promotional programmes of DST vis a vis the recommendations made during the previous Conclave at Hyderabad in July 2015. Apart from these, attempt will be made to present the collective strengths of the DST R&D System in well-identified thematic areas. It is hoped that this exercise will be a harbinger of greater R&D collaboration among institutions.

The Hon’ble Minister will launch a new web portal “Online-DST” today on the opening day of the Conclave along with release of a Compendium of technologies developed by the Autonomous Bodies of DST. He will also inaugurate a state-of-the-art Clean Room with nanofabrication facilities in the SN Bose Centre on the concluding day.

Date:
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Indo-Canadian Science Programme on Clean Water Technology

The Department of Biotechnology and Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology are collaborating with The India-Canada Centre for Innovation Multidisciplinary Partnerships to Accelerate Community Transformation and Sustainability (IC-IMPACTS), to promote multidisciplinary research partnerships. Five projects addressing the issue of Clean Water Technologies are being implemented by the Departments at the total cost of Rs. 572 lakhs with matched funding from Canada.

The following technologies are being developed and envisaged as outcomes:

  1. Biosensors for detection of toxins:-  impedance-based handheld biosensors for assessment of the water quality and a nanoparticle based water treatment system to eliminate toxins and microorganisms in water. Toxins which will be detected are cyanotoxin (microcystins, anatoxins) and microorganisms (Enterococcus, Salmonella, Staphylococcus).
  2. Heavy metal detection and  removal :
  3. lastic cartridges for color based test monitoring kit for detection of multiplex heavy metal

Developing fixed bed biochar columns to remove heavy metals from waste water

  1. Biorecovery from waste water ( waste to wealth) :- Integrated pilot-scale 915 MHz MW-AOP for advanced anaerobic digestion system for resource recovery
  2. Survey to identify and explore alternatives in domestic water management:- technology and financial appropriateness of water and wastewater infrastructure in selected cities of India

These Technologies are currently being developed with the aim that these technologies will be implemented in India.  Prior art is available for the technologies being developed. The technologies are being adapted and modified for Indian conditions. Technologies developed will be taken for feasibility studies and shall be implemented on pilot scale within two years.

This information was given by Minister of State for Ministry of Science & Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences Shri Y.S.Chowdary in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

 

Date:
Monday, April 17, 2017
Survey of India proposes to re-measure the height of Mount Everest

Survey of India celebrates 250th anniversary

Survey of India completes 250 years of its service to the nation and is celebrating its achievements this year. A National Conference on, “Users’ Perspective on Geospatial Policy Framework in India” was organized by Survey of India (SoI) and FICCI, in New Delhi today. The 10th of April is also celeberated as National Survey Day.

As a part of its 250 years completion celebrations, Survey of India has proposed to re-measure the height of Mount Everest during the year 2017. India was the first country under Sir George Everest’s leadership as ‘Surveyor General of India’ to have declared the height of Mount Everest and establish it as the highest peak in the world in the year 1855. Subsequently, India once again carried out the exercise and declared the height of Mount Everest in the year 1956. After the Gorkha Earth Quake in the year 2015,various doubts were raised by the scientific community. In response to this, the Survey of India proposed re-measuring the height of Mount Everest as an ‘Indo-Nepal Joint Scientific Exercise’ along with Survey department of Nepal. The proposal has been forwarded to Nepal through diplomatic channels and the expedition will start after the formal concurrence of Government of Nepal is received.

Discussions and deliberations of all stakeholders of Survey of India products and services focussed on users’ perspective on Geospatial Policy Framework in India during the panel discussions.

The Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, said that the panel discussions and the opinion and suggestions from all the stakeholders assembled in the forum would facilitate the inclusion of wider spectrum considering present day technology scenario and developmental needs and challenges in the country, and will prove to be very useful inputs for shaping the geospatial policy paradigm in the country.

Date:
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
nakshe Portal launched by Dr. Harsh Vardhan on 250th Anniversary of Survey of India

A new web portal “nakshe” was launched by the Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi today, on the occasion of 250th anniversary of Survey of India(SoI).

Topographic maps or Open Series Maps (OSM) containing natural and man-made geographical features including terrain or topography are prepared by the SoI since its inception in 1767 and is in conformity with the National Map Policy-2005. These OSM maps have been made available for free download from “nakshe” web portal in pdf format on 1:50,000 scale through Aaadhar enabled user authentication process, in line with Digital India programme of the Government of India.

The Survey of India, the principal mapping agency of the country is celebrating its 250th anniversary this year. Origin of the Survey of India is traced back to Year 1767. It is the oldest scientific department in India and one of the oldest survey establishments in the world. Foundation for the scientific survey and mapping of the country was laid with The Great Trignometric Survey (GTS) in 19th century on this day i.e. 10th April, 1802, by noted surveyors Col. Lambton and Sir George Everest. SoI has surveyed and mapped each and every part of the country and these maps have played an invaluable role in the saga of India’s nation building and were pivotal in the foundation of almost all major developmental activities of modern India.

The launch of the portal was followed with a curtain raiser of SoI Geo-portal and Web Services Platform and a panel discussion on Geospatial Paradigm in India that deals with the users’ perspective on Geospatial Policy Framework in India. A technical presentation on development of the Geoid model for country was also made.

Minister of State for the Ministry of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Shri Y.S. Chowdary, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Dr. Ashutosh Sharma, Surveyor General of India Dr. Swarna Subba Rao and several other scientists and professionals of Geospatial Industry were present on the occasion.

Date:
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Global R&D Summit 2017 Paves Way to Nurturing R&D and Innovation Ecosystem in the Country

Bengaluru, 6th April: The Global R&D Summit 2017 opened in Bengaluru on the 6th April to explore the potential of research and development in catalysing economic cooperation and social development. With the Government of Karnataka as the State Partner and Russia as the country partner, the event opened with addresses from several dignitaries from the government and leading industry representatives about the increasing focus on innovation and the efforts being made to establish India as an R&D hub. The summit is organised by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Mr. Shekar Viswanathan Chairman, FICCI Karnataka State Council, Vice Chairman & Whole-time Director Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd., stressed on the need and relevance of R&D and innovation as a crucial leg to growth and development.

Talking about the R&D ecosystem and innovation in the country Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, spoke about how India is pacing towards increased focus on innovation. He added that over the coming years, India plans to become the third largest R&D hub in the world, after China and U.S.

“Today, DST is supporting over 100 business incubators that are in turn helping over 2000 startups. Over the course of time, we plan to double these numbers as innovation is expected to grow exponentially in the next five years” Mr. Sharma said.

Shri Gaurav Gupta, the Principal Secretary at Dept. of IT, BT and S&T, Govt. of Karnataka, gave insights on how the state through its policies is leading the R&D space and is spurring investments in the field of innovation. He added that the state, which aims to be the hub of innovation, has also conducted several rounds of discussions with various countries to nurture the R&D capabilities of Bengaluru.

“The city has made certain great strides that have brought several large funds as foreign investment into the country. The mature ecosystem of Bengaluru has attracted several MNCs to invest in the city to conduct their R&D operations here that would in turn lead to enhancing their global strategies,” Shri Gupta said.

Mr Fomichev Oleg Vladislavovich, State Secretary-Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, spoke of the long running India-Russia partnerships and particularly stressed on the need to extend the collaborations in developing R&D capabilities for various sectors.

Mr. Phil Shaw, the Chief Executive of Lockheed Martin India said, “R&D is crucial in India, which is pushing innovation. Through our programs, we aim to help projects that bring forth a societal impact.” He particularly stressed on the India Innovation Growth Programme that Lockheed Martin have been running jointly with other partners since the last 10 years.

The Summit also witnessed the launch of FICCI-Edelman Knowledge Reports on ‘Towards Making Bengaluru as R&D Capital of India’ and ‘Harnessing private Sector Investment in R&D’.

The addresses concluded with FICCI R&D Awards Distribution which saw several winners gaining accolades for their spectacular innovations.

Date:
Friday, April 7, 2017
Science & Technology Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan says that the Prime Minister has confidence in youth to give the country a great advantage

NRDC Meritorious Invention Awards were presented by the Minister for Science & Technology Dr. Harsh Vardhan today

The Minister for Science & Technology Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that the Prime Minister has a lot of confidence in the youth to give the country a great advantage now.  Speaking after presenting the Meritorious Invention Awards of National Research Development Corporation(NRDC) in New Delhi today, he said that in this context the Prime Minister looks forward for a new India by 2022.  The Minister said that due to demographic dividend of the country, the next 5-10 years are expected to be a kind of golden era for the country.  He urged all to move with a great self-confidence and zeal to achieve the glory that is due for India.  He said that there is a need for greater innovation in institutes like NRDC.

Secretary, DSIR and DG, CSIR Dr. Girish Sahni, said that the NRDC with its good track record should further forge ahead to be a leader for taking the technology to the people particularly that which do not have sufficient financial support. 
 
The National Research Development Corporation (An Enterprise of DSIR, Ministry of Science and Tech., Govt. of India) was organising its 43rd NRDC Meritorious Invention Awards Ceremony & Conference on “Leveraging Innovation Ecosystem for Accelerating Startups”.

The aim of the event is to encourage the inventiveness and inculcate the spirit of invention in the country by giving them awards for meritorious activities in various fields. Various stakeholders, including governments and the scientific and academic communities, were present on this occasion.

Date:
Monday, March 27, 2017
Dr. Harshvardhan inaugurates the 1st Grand Challenges India (GCI) Meeting

GCI partnership ushers in a new wave of Innovative Solutions to issues inextricably linked to Social Impact
 

Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan presided over as Chief Guest and inaugurated the 1st Grand Challenges India (GCI) meeting here today. The meeting is being hosted by the Program Management Unit at BIRAC (PMU-BIRAC) from 21st to 24th March, 2017 and is jointly supported by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and Wellcome Trust.

The Grand Challenges India (GCI) is a mission-directed research initiative, collaboratively launched in 2012 under the umbrella of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the DBT and BMGF. As India transitions from Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals, the GCI partnership has ushered a new wave of innovative solutions to help address issues that are inextricably linked to social impact. This aims to achieve the said goals by reconnecting Science to People and available scientific data & evidences to the societal problems for finding tangible solutions.

Programs such as Grand Challenges India are providing global innovators and researchers a fantastic platform to collaborate and progress through the innovation ecosystem by developing their ideas and concepts. The PMU- BIRAC manages the complex portfolio of managing grants. The GCI provides financial support in the form of grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts to support the advancement of the GCI mission to enhance health, extend healthy lives, and reduce the burdens of poverty.

Addressing the distinguished gathering, Dr. Harsh Vardhan noted that the Department of Biotechnology and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have set up a very important strategic partnership, which is working towards funding innovative solutions to societal problems not only within India but also has a reference to the developing nations. Such partnerships bring together the strength of organizations and it is important to note that through this partnership, this initiative has been able to address issues around healthcare, sanitation and human development including nutrition and maternal child health brining nearly 45 organizations working together with a joint commitment. Shri Goyal also expressed great amount of confidence that Government of India reposts in the young scientific community and the seniors.

The GCI covers all kinds of health and developmental priorities, ranging from maternal and child health, infectious diseases, vaccines, point-of-care diagnostics, agriculture, food and nutrition to other related arenas of developing nations as per individual requirements. Most importantly, this partnership signifies a convergence between Indian and global priorities and synergistic new initiatives of the Government such as Swachh Bharat, Start-up India and others, Shri Harsh Vardhan added.

On the occasion, the Minister also released the booklet ‘Grand Challenges India – Our Journey so Far’, which describes the various achievements and success stories under the initiative including the 17 innovations across India that the GCI funds.

In his keynote address, Prof. K. VijayRaghavan, Secretary DBT and Chairman BIRAC, informed that Grand Challenges India, through PMU-BIRAC, supports flagship initiatives like All Children Thriving, Agriculture & Nutrition, Reinventing Toilets and the Healthy Birth Growth & Development Knowledge Integration (HBGDki) focusing on addressing stunting and physical, immunological and cognitive development with a particular focus on South Asia. He said that Governments, research experts, innovators are a facilitator to show multiple proofs of principle for various societal problems, which then need to be scaled up by the collaboration of efforts of all stakeholders to widely apply the demonstrated solution to the problem affecting all stakeholder cohorts.

GCI promotes scientific and technological advances which aim to find solutions to key health and development challenges through research and innovation, by funding Indian researchers. Projects are selected based on national and societal need and transparent calls are made for proposals seeking the best ideas. Under this initiative, the DBT and the Gates Foundation have pledged an investment of up to US$25 million each, over a period of 5 years.

Dr. Steven Buchsbaum, Deputy Director, Discovery & Translational Sciences, BMGF said that Grand Challenges not only seeks new ideas and new innovators to solve problems, but to be careful in defining the important problems worth solving. The GCI partnership with BIRAC provides India leadership for two goals - defining important problems to solve for India and India leadership in identifying ideas and innovators from the country to solve problems for both India and the world.

Dr. Renu Swarup, Senior Adviser, DBT and Managing Director, BIRAC said that through this meeting and future collaborations, the partners aim to build momentum for health and development initiatives via innovations and to foster scientific collaboration among national and international groups and researchers.

Other dignitaries present at the event were Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Secretary, Department of Health Research and Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr. Nachiket Mor, Country Director, India Office, BMGF, Dr. Shirshendu Mukherjee, Mission Director, PMU-BIRAC and other distinguished senior national and international personalities from the Ministry, BMGF, Wellcome Trust, USAID and Grand Challenges Innovators from Brazil, Canada, Bangladesh, Korea, South Africa, Kenya, Switzerland.

Date:
Wednesday, March 22, 2017

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