Lok Sabha Question No. 6285 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-04-12
Subject: Research and Development
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.6285 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12/4/2017

## RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

†6285. SHRI BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA:

Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY òãðìððÐð ¡ðøÜ ÑßðøÌðð÷ò±ð¨îó Ùðüëðó be pleased to state:

(a) the details of the remarkable progress made in the Science and Technology (S&T) sector in the country during the last three years;

(b) the global ranking of the country in the said sector along with the details thereof;

(c) the targets set in this regard for the current year; and

(d) the details of the action plan formulated in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND MINISTER OF STATE

## IN THE MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES

## (SHRI.Y. S. CHOWDARY) òãðìððÐð ¡ðøÜ ÑßðøÌðð÷ò±ð¨îó ÙðüëððâðÚð Ùð÷ü Üð¸Úð Ùðüëðó +ÉÉè® ÑðöÆãðó òãðìððÐð ÙðüëððâðÚð Ùð÷ü Üð¸Úð Ùðüëðó

## (gÉÉÒ ´ÉÉ<Ç. AºÉ. SÉÉèvÉ®ÉÒ)

(a) Remarkable progress has been made in the Science and Technology (S&T) sector in the country during the last three years through collective efforts of Departments/Agencies such as Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Space, Department of Atomic Energy, Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO). Special thrust has been given in technology development and commercialization for the society, industry and the strategic sector, creation of S&T based entrepreneurship and participation in the national Skill Development initiative. Significant progress has been reported in sectors namely, Space  Technology,  Energy  &  Environment,  Advanced  Materials,  Value  added  Agriculture,  Healthcare,  Food  & Nutrition, Water, Waste to Wealth, Skill development etc. Noticeable progress has been made in implementing the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) of DST in partnership with Ministry of Communications and Information Technology  (MeitY) to  build  capacity  and  capability  in  supercomputing.  Significant  progress  has  been  reported from  programmes  of  MeitY  in  the  area  of  new  radio  interfaces  for  5G,  narrowband  IOT,  Cloud  Radio  Access

Networks (RAN) etc. (b) Though there are reports of outcome based ranking of countries in certain disciplines of S&T, no authentic and  acceptable  ranking  system  is  developed  to  assess  performance  of  countries  in  sectors  of  varied  nature  in  a global platform. However, India is positioned well in many areas including strategic sectors. Indian's leadership in Space S&T was demonstrated by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) with a launch of a record high of 104 satellites  in  one  go  on  a  single  rocket.  CSIR  is  recognized  to  be  among  the  international  leaders  in  knowledge creation and it is ranked 12 th  in the world amongst the government institutions. Sixth position of India in scientific publications, 3 rd  in nanoscience and technology and in Chemistry demonstrate the progress of basic research in the country. A report of Springer Nature has indicated that India is ascending towards world-class science and our country is at 13 th position globally on an index of world-class scientific journals.

(c) & (d):  Several R&D projects have been identified for implementation in the current year. DRDO is targeted to implement several projects including EM gun powered by a capacitor bank, polymeric coating for mitigation of blast effects, bioremediation technology, scaling laws for explosion in tunnel etc. to scale up its activities. About 30 High Tech Skill/Training programmes are being launched by CSIR for imparting skills to over 5000 candidates annually. The skill development programmes cover areas like Leather Process Technology; Leather Footwear & Garments;  Paints  &  coatings  for  corrosion  protection;  Electroplating  &  Metal  Finishing;  Lead  Acid  Battery maintenance;  Glass  Beaded  Jewellery  /  Blue  Pottery;  Industrial  Maintenance  Engineering;  Internet  of  Things (IoT); and Regulatory - Preclinical Toxicology. Ministry is addressing national goals and Missions such as Swachh Bharat,  Swastha  Bharat,  Samarth  Bharat,  Make  in  India,  Innovate  for  India,  Start-up  India,  Skill  India  etc. Appropriate action plan is formulated to implement these Programmes with known timelines and targets.

- ********