MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T Major Achievements Related to S&T from PIB Website AGRICULTURE SOIL HEALTH CARD SCHEME: As on 27.12.2016, against a target of 2.53 crore soil samples collection upto March 2017, 2.33 crore soil samples have been collected till 27.12.2016, from which 12.82 crore soil health cards are being made. Out of these, 4.31 crore soil health cards have printed and 4.25 crore soil health cards have been distributed to the farmers and remainings are under process. During 2016-17, 0.20 crore samples are to be collected from which 1.10 crore soil heath cards will be prepared. During 2014-17, 460 Soil Testing Laboratories have been sanctioned while during 2013-14 only 15 Soil Testing Laboratories were sanctioned. In addition to 460 Soil Testing Labs, 4000 mini labs have also been sanctioned to the States. DEVELOPMENT OF BEE KEEPING : Honey production has increased to 2,63,930 MT during 2016. An amount of Rs. 12.00 crores has been approved for National Bee Board (NBB) for the year 2016-17. COCONUT DEVELOPMENT: From the beginning of this financial year 2016-17, India has started exporting Coconut Oil to Malaysia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka from where coconut oil was being imported from these countries in previous years. India became first in coconut production and productivity in the world. Coconut area, production and productivity reached 1.97 million ha, 20.439 billion nuts and 10345 nuts per ha respectively. NEEM COATED UREA: In one year, Modi Government has made available 100% neem coated area in the country. Due to this diversion of unauthorized use of urea by Chemical Factories has been stopped. Now farmers are getting urea in adequate quantity. Besides this, the cost of production is being reduced by 10-15% with the use of neem coated urea. Productivity will also increase with the use of Neem Coated Urea. AGROFORESTRY: For the first time, Sub-Mission on Agroforestry has been initiated which will accelerate the programme “Medh Par Ped”. In addition, trees would also be grown as strip and intermittent plantation on farm land along with crops/ cropping system and as block plantation in cultivable waste land. Implementation of the scheme only in the states having liberalized transit regulations for transport of timber and will be extended to other states as and when such relaxations are notified by them. So far, the scheme is being implemented in 8 states.
RASHTRIYA GOKUL MISSION:
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T With a view to conserve and develop indigenous bovine breeds, Rashtriya Gokul Mission, a new initiative under National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development has been launched for the first time in the country, with an allocation of Rs 500 crore. Under the Mission, 14 Gokul Grams are being established, 35 Bull Mother Farms modernized with investment of more funds and 3629 Bulls have been inducted for genetic upgradation. Since 2007-08 to 2013-14, a meagre amount of only Rs 45 crore was spent for the development of indigenous breeds. Whereas, the current Government has in only one and a half years, upto December 2015, has approved 35 projects from 27 States and has sanctioned Rs 582.09 crore. This amount has been increased by more than 13 times in the last two years. Two National Kamdhenu Breeding Centre, one in northern region-Madhya Pradesh and other in Southern region- Andhra Pradesh, are being established in the country with an allocation of Rs 50 crores.
FOUR NEW SCHEMES FOR DAIRY SECTOR: a)
b)
PASHUDHAN SANJIVANI : An animal Wellness Programme; encompassing provision of Animal Health cards (‘Nakul Swasthya Patra’) along with UID identification of animals in milk and a National Data Base. Under the scheme 8.5 crore animals in milk will be identified using UID and their data will uploaded in the INAPH data base. This will play crucial role in control of spread of animal diseases. This will also lead to increase in trade of livestock and livestock products. ADVANCED BREEDING TECHNOLOGY: Assisted Reproductive Technique to improve availability of disease free female bovines through of sex sorted semen technology. Under the scheme 50 embryo transfer technology labs and In Vitro Fertilization labs care will be established. This will lead to exponential increase in milk production and productivity of animals in an exponential manner.
c)
NATIONAL BOVINE BREEDS(NBGC-IB):
GENOMIC
CENTER
FOR
INDIGENOUS
In developed dairy countries genomic selection is used to increase milk production and productivity for attaining faster genetic gain. In order to increase milk production and productivity of indigenous cattle, a National Bovine Genomic Centre will be established in the country. By using genomic selection indigenous breeds can be made viable within few generations. This center will play crucial role in identification of disease free High genetic merit bulls.
d)
E-PASHUDHAN HAAT PORTAL:
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T At present there is no authentic market for bovine germplasm in the form of semen, embryos, male & female calves; heifers and adult bovines. Farmers depend on middlemen for sale and purchase of quality germplasm. Breed wise information on availability of bovine germplasm is not available which is essential for promotion of indigenous bovine breeds. For the first time in the country under National Mission on Bovine Productivity E Pashudhan Haat portal has been developed. This portal will play important role in connecting breeders and farmers of indigenous breeds. Through this portal farmers will be aware about breed wise information on indigenous breeds. Farmers/breeders can sale animals of indigenous breeds through this portal. Information on all forms of germplasm has been uploaded on the portal. Immediately farmers can obtain benefits of the portal. This portal will give new dimensions to development and conservation of indigenous breeds as at present information on availability of germplasm of indigenous breeds is not available with the farmers.
Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy in two years Road map ready for 24X7 affordable environment friendly ‘Power for All’ India turned power surplus from chronic power shortage; Record capacity addition in conventional and solar power, transmission lines; Lowest ever Energy deficit Coal shortage eliminated; highest ever growth in coal production of 7.4 crore tonnes 18 states and 1 union territory already signed agreements or have agreed to join UDAY ; bonds worth Rs. One lakh crore issued Accelerating connections to 18,452 un-electrified villages ;7,779 remote villages already electrified Over 9 crore LED bulbs distributed through UJALA in 2015-16 Unparalleled transparency adopted in e-auction of Coal blocks; supplying gas to gas power plants; procurement of LED bulbs Mobile Apps : GARV, UJALA & VIDYUT PRAVAH to Empower Citizens Increase overall renewable capacity by more than 5 times from 32,000 MW in 2014 to 1,75,000 MW by 2022 Farmers benefitted through highest-ever distribution of solar pumps in 2015-16 The last two years have seen rapid progress towards Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of 24x7 affordable environment friendly ‘Power for All’ by 2022 – a mission we are working to achieve by 2019.
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T Mobile Apps to Empower the Citizens GARV (Grameen Vidyutikaran) app to help people track rural electrification and UJALA app to monitor LED distribution has brought accountability and transparency in these two programmes. Moreover, Vidyut Pravah appprovides real time information of electricity price and availability. By filling the information gap, State governments have been made accountable. World’s Clean Energy Capital India is running the world’s largest renewable energy expansion programme with a target to increase overall renewable capacity by more than 5 times from 32,000 MW in 2014 to 1,75,000 MW in 2022. By taking a leadership role in the International Solar Alliance of 121 countries and organising RE-Invest 2015, the world’s largest renewable financing meet, our government has laid the foundations for massive growth in this sector.
Science & Technology DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY National Supercomputing Mission The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the launch of the National Supercomputing Mission on 25th March 2015. This is a visionary program to enable India to leapfrog to the league of world class computing power nations. The Mission would be implemented and steered jointly by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) at an estimated cost of Rs.4500 crore over a period of seven years. The Mission envisages empowering our national academic and R&D institutions spread over the country by installing a vast supercomputing grid comprising of more than 70 high-performance computing facilities. These supercomputers will also be networked on the National Supercomputing grid over the National Knowledge Network (NKN). The NKN is another programme of the government which connects academic institutions and R&D labs over a high speed network. Academic and R&D institutions as well as key user departments/ministries would participate by using these facilities and develop applications of national relevance. The Mission also includes development of highly professional High Performance Computing (HPC) aware human resource for meeting challenges of development of these applications. Science and Technology of Yoga and Meditation (SATYAM) DST has launched a new programme “Science and Technology of Yoga and Meditation (SATYAM)” in 2015-16 to rejuvenate research in yoga and meditation. Given the ever increasing prevalence of physical and mental health problems, the holistic approach of Yoga and Meditation is believed to have the potential to find beneficial treatment that is relatively safer and more cost-effective. Cutting-edge research under SATYAM will seek to identify related issues and challenges and address these to enhance human well-being. Another objective of SATYAM is to also harness knowledge obtained in academic institutions and other related agencies for finding S&T-led solutions that would enable us to cope with stress and strain associated with fast changing social, economic, environmental and professional circumstances. The programme will encourage research in two major thematic areas: (1)
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T investigations on the effect of Yoga and Meditation on physical and mental health, and (2) investigations on the effect of Yoga & Meditation on the body, brain, and mind in terms of basic processes. Technology Applications by Institute of Nano Science & Technology (INST), Mohali
(A) Waste Water Treatment: Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali, an autonomous institution of DST, is working towards the development of low cost filter for waste water treatment. They have developed low cost novel nanoadsorbent for removal of toxic metal ions as well as organic pollutant. For this, the water purification trials for removal of lanthanides, transition metal ions, arsenic and organic dyes at laboratory level have been done. The initial trial have been done on purification of real domestic waste. The following are proposed future plans : (a) Setting up the metal adsorbent pads at the bottom of the boats : INST is fabricating trapping pads for metal ions and organic pollutant removal. This will be a portable pad which can be fixed to the wall of boats and hence clean river. (b) Domestic waste treatment: In this area INST is planning to make small cartridge (low cost) which can be put at the exhaust of the sink or washing machine and then exhausted clean water will be recharged by clean water. This is kept in river cleaning concept because the most of the river waste is from waste generated from the people of the country. And if we can address these waste at the source level then we can definitely protect our river to get contaminated form human generated waste. (c) Industrial waste treatment: Since the adsorbent made by INST’s scientist are very efficient in trapping high concentration of metal ions, the idea is to put a cartridge at the exhaust of the industry and trap the waste product and for different industries, specific cartridge will be made. (d) Plans for urban and rural areas: For urban cities, it is planned to do the real time detection and removal of water impurities and its implementation in real life. It is also planned to make low cost water testing strips for rural people and small portable ca cartridge for instant water purification. (B) Development of Clinical Biomarkers: Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali, an autonomous institution of DST is developing cost effective biosensing platforms for clinical biomarkers like Cardiac serum markers (Myoglobin, Troponin I, BNP, FABP etc.) and Prostate cancer markers along with environmental pollutants such as food/water pathogens (E. coli and other enteric pathogens) and new generation pesticides. INST’s aim is to design and develop its own optical/fluorescence/electrochemical based sensors using nanotechnology approach to minimize the size of the sensor as it can be suitably used for rapid and field applications. INST is attempting to increase the specificity of our biosensor by generating our own bio-receptors (antibodies/aptamers) and immobilizing them onto nanostructured platforms in order to have enhanced sensitivity (upto sub picomolar range). The developed sensors will be highly versatile and can be used for other target analyses depending upon the kind of bio-receptor used on the sensor surface. N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T Revamping and Reorientation of Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) Scheme The INSPIRE Award component which is meant for school children from class 6th to 10th is being reoriented to align it with the national agenda of the Government and observations made by the Hon'ble Prime Minister. The programme is being modified to encourage children to visualise/analyse needs of the nation; develop critical thinking about national issues and problems pertaining to everyday life, as well as, create awareness and inspire them to devise innovative ideas to address them. Follow-up mechanism to further fine tune the best creative ideas/concepts is being put in place. The second component of the INSPIRE scheme deals with organizing Science Camps for science students of Class 11th based on their performance at the Class 10th Board examination. Through the Science Camps, these students are provided an opportunity and exposure for interaction with scientists and academicians including Nobel Laureates. Now, “Innovative Idea Writing" has been introduced on themes specific like Water, Energy, Security etc. in keeping with the current initiatives of the Government like Make in India, Swachch Bharat etc. In each Camp, the ideas are being screened for finding the 3 best innovative ideas. New Initiatives in Water and Clean Energy (a) Recognizing that Water is of fundamental importance for human development, the, Water Advanced Research and Innovation (WARI) Fellowship Program- a dynamic and transformative program has been launched on 21 September 2015 to foster long term Indo-American Science and Technology partnerships. A programme for natural water treatment and waste water treatment has also been initiated with French collaboration. UV Imaging Telescope UV Imaging Telescope developed by Indian Institute of Astrophysics is one of the payloads on ASTROSAT which has been recently launched by ISRO. Telescope has started giving images and calibration is being done by ISRO. Big Data Initiative A proposal to initiate a new scheme viz. Big Data Initiative has been prepared and is under consideration of the Department. The scheme is aligned with the Government's Digital India initiative.
Biotechnology I. Healthcare (1) India is today a leading Vaccine Manufacturing Hub: The Vaccine Grand Challenge Programme is under implementation to encourage novel and innovative vaccine related discoveries, accelerated development of candidate vaccines for which earlier leads are available, research of basic & applied nature to improvise current understanding of vaccine science and to strengthen the scientific basis for future vaccine design. R&D projects supported through VGCP are focusing on Development of candidate vaccines & Development of vaccine related technologies. Some major initiatives are: (i) Rotavirus vaccine launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister : The first indigenously developed and manufactured Rotavirus vaccine 'Rotavac.' from an Indian strain 116E was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 9th March, 2015.The indigenously developed vaccine will boost efforts to combat infant mortality due to diarrhoea. ROTAVAC developed in collaboration with Bharat Biotech under the Public-Private Partnership mode is efficacious
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T in preventing severe rotavirus diarrhoea in low-resource settings in India. ROTAVAC significantly reduced severe rotavirus diarrhoea by more than half - 56 percent during the first year of life, with protection continuing into the second year of life. Moreover, the vaccine also showed impact against severe diarrhoea of any cause. The developed Rotavirus Vaccine at $1 per dose has been cleared for market license. Potential to prevent >500K childhood diarrheal deaths. The NTAGI of M/o Health & FW has approved introduction of the vaccine in EPI in a pilot mode. (ii) Malaria Vaccine: To promote the development of vaccines against P. falciparum and P. vivax malaria, Department has provided continued support to MVDP (Malaria Vaccine Development programme)- A consortium of DBT, ICGEB, Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), PATH, EMVI and WHO-TDR. Currently MVDP is involved with developmental of malaria vaccine JAIVAC1 & JAIVAC 2 at ICGEB. (iii) Dengue Vaccine: Department is supporting the group at International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) for developing a safe, efficacious and inexpensive tetravalent dengue vaccine. The recombinant EDIII-based sub-unit dengue vaccine candidate is being developed in the form of VLPs using the yeast P. pastoris as an expression host. (2) DBT has significantly augmented the infrastructure for diagnosis & treatment of human genetic disorders in India Impact - 21 Genetic Diagnosis cum Counseling Units established o >5 lakh affected families and >1 lakh tribal families benefited - DNA typing of 25 autosomal markers in 53 ethnic groups (tribal, caste and religious communities) completed o Revealed evidence of human migration from India to SE Asia. (3) A major flagship programme on International Cancer Genome (ICG) specific to Oral Cancer is under implementation. (4) India Bio-design makes new advances Technologies developed: - 5 o Ostomy Management device; o Emergency medical alert device; o A breathable and customized cast for immobilization of the fractured limb; o Fluid extraction device; o Posture support device Technologies Transferred: - 2 o Technology for Fetomaternal Parameter Monitoring System transferred to M/s. Brun Health Private Limited, Telangana, startup Company formed by Fellows 2013 Batch. o Technology for ‘A Portable Hand Sanitization device’ transferred to M/s. Observe Design Private Limited, New Delhi. o Fecal Incontinence device technology received USFDA 510 approval for their device. Patents, Trademark, Industrial Design Filing:
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T o 6 Indian patents and 6 PCT applications filed; 6 trademark applications filed; and One design registration filed for the Accufeed Invention. o Patents have been granted in 4 countries namely Singapore, Japan, USA and Europe for the device for collecting fecal discharge in incontinent patients New initiatives: o i-Fellowship program initiated with Australia as a new international partner o BMJ Innovations launched. (5)
Major New Effort on Pre-Term Birth
II. Agriculture and Industrial: (i) Rice variety Samba Mahsuri: With the support of Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Scientists at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and Directorate of Rice Research (DRR) have jointly developed bacterial blight resistant Rice variety “Samba Mahsuri’ through Marker Assisted Selection and Backcross Breeding. The variety has so far spread to an area of 90,000 ha in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
(ii) Decoding the Wheat Genome: A strong partnership in Decoding the Wheat Genome has been built. 15 countries joined hands to complete this huge task of decoding 17,000 million bases. Indian Scientists participated in Decoding Chromosome 2A.
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T (iii) Maize hybrid (Vivek 9) with High Quality Protein and Increased Provitamin A was developed and released. (iv) High zinc rice has been developed for the first time which has 22-24 ppm zinc and named as CGZR-1 and after all India trials would be available to farmers in another two years. (v) 12 popular rice varieties to be grown in the rain fed agri-eco systems have been developed by incorporating major quantitative trait loci (QTL) or genes for flood, drought and salt tolerance. (vi) Bread wheat and durum wheat genotypes with high micronutrient concentration in optimum soil zinc have been developed.
yield
and
high
(vii) First indigenous technology developed for commercial production of Ethanol from lignocellulosic waste: DBT-ICT Centre for Energy Biosciences established at Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai has developed Cellulosic ethanol technology. Based on this indigenous technology a demo/pilot plant designed by an Industry, India Glycol Limited with financial support from DBT-BIRAC with a capacity of 10 tonnes lignocellulosic biomass per day to produce 3000 L ethanol/day on a continuous basis. It is expected that the commercial plants based on the technology will be built in 2016, which is not far behind the technologies being implemented in the USA.
(viii) Under a Mission programme on microbial prospecting: ‘Drugs from Microbes’ Involving nine institutes and an industrial partner in a public-private partnership model, 2.50 lakhs microbes were screened for four activities i.e. anti cancer, anti diabetic, anti inflammation and anti infective activities. A total of 16123 three stars hits were obtained- Anti-infective- 5286; anti cancer-518; anti inflammation-3643; anti diabetic-6676. One New Chemical Entity with anticancer and antiinflammatory activity and 12 probable new use of compound were identified. Efforts are being made to explore the strategies for moving some of the active molecules obtained in the current program from discovery to Pre- Investigational New Drug (IND) studies, thereby creating a path of development of molecules. The Country’s largest Microbial Culture Collection Centre was set up at NCCS, Pune will 2,00,000 culture.
III. Human Resource Development (i) DBT has undertaken multiple initiatives for teaching & training in biotech education… o Star College Program 92 colleges supported
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T 10 colleges accorded star status o >1600 personnel trained under UG, PG training courses o >2000 candidates provided training in biotech industries under BITP (ii) The Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship was conceived with the idea of encouraging Indian scientists working outside the country (Indian Nationals), and who would like to come back home and pursue their research interests in life sciences and biotechnology and other related areas. During the last six years 247 overseas scientists were selected and 173 have already returned and joined various research institutes/ universities 27 scientists are likely to join in next six months. 50 scientists are selected every year. This has enriched the scientific pool of the country. IV. Societal Impact
“Women’s health, hygiene & nutrition” is the current focus under DBT’s women’s societal upliftment programme of DBT. The Department has supported major programme on cervical cancer screening, genetic disorder & counseling, pregnancy-related complications, breast cancer screening & post-operative care. While education on menstrual hygiene, cervical cancer & preventive measures were conducted in several villages involving more than 2,000 women, including school girls, around 5,000 women were offered cervical cancer screening services through village based camps. A network programme on Breast Cancer Screening was implemented in 4 districts of North-East, namely Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura with the help of Cancer Foundation of India, Kolkata. A project for awareness, counseling, screening & education to prevent genetic and congenital disorder has been implemented in West Bengal and a web based portal (www.genomegyan.com) on genetics has been developed to popularize it as a subject among medical students and physicians. Taking Science and Technology to Industry Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T
The biotech startup scenario in India was transformed by one of BIRAC’s flagship scheme called BIG (Biotechnology Ignition Grant). BIG has supported 140 entrepreneurial ideas over 5 calls at pre-proof-of-concept stage. 22 new startups were created (in 18 months) and the total number of employment generated is 231.
Providing access to high end infrastructural requirement to the biotech community in India. BIRAC through its bioincubation scheme (BISS) has supported 15 bioincubation centres across the nation and has created 124,000sq.ft of incubation space. Within these incubators, around 199 biotech start-ups are being provided support. In each of the bioincubator, BIRAC has supported a common pool of high end instrumentation that is being used by incubate and other SMEs for R&D.
17 Products, 11 Technologies, 16 Early Stage-Technologies. 2 Process Innovations, 23 IP Generated/Facilitated.
322 Start-Ups, SME, and Entrepreneurs Supported.
BIRAC Ace Fund – An Equity Fund for Accelerating Entrepreneurs was announced by Hon’ble Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences during BIRAC Foundation Function.
Products Launched/Developed: Malaria Antigen Detection Kit, Quality Wine Produced By Enzymatic Maceration of Mango Pulp, Indigenous Production of Dextranase using Ssf Technique. *****
Stem Cell Research As per the Joint Statement issued during visit of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to Japan in September, 2014, stem cell research was identified as one of the thrust areas for developing collaborative programmes between both the countries. The focus of the N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T collaboration is on developing treatments for sickle cell anemia, β- thalassemia and brain disorders and creating haplobank relevant to our population in collaboration with CiRA, Kyoto University, Japan. Accordingly the Department formulated and implemented an SFC proposal “Accelerating the application of stem cell technology in human disease” as Indo-Japan collaborative programme with four participating institutions from India, namely: inStem, Bangalore; NCBS, Bangalore; NIMHANS Bangalore; CSCR, CMC Vellore; & CiRA, Kyoto University, Japan as international partner.
Atomic Energy Following are the main highlights of the activities of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) during the year 2016:
Unit 1, (1000 MWe) of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) was dedicated to the nation on August 10, 2016 by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Russian President Shri Vladimir Putin. Unit 2 (1000 MWe) of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project achieves criticality and dedicated to the nation. Second Nuclear power reactor Unit of 1000 MWe capacity at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu achieved criticality on 10th July, 2016. This is the second 1,000 MWe pressurised water reactor to go critical in the country. The first unit at Kudankulam went critical in July 2013. The Unit 2 (1000 MWe) of Kudankulam Project was later dedicated to the Indo-Russian Partnership on October 15, 2016 during the BRICS Summit by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Russian President Mr. Vladimir Putin. Foundation laying of Units 3 & 4 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project. On October 15, 2016, laying of Foundation Concrete of Units 3&4 of KKNPP was also done by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Russian President Mr. Vladimir Putin. India-Japan Agreement for Cooperation in Nuclear Energy. Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi and the Japanese Prime Minister Shri Shinzo Abe, signed the Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy between the two countries, on November 11, 2016, which reflects a new level of mutual confidence and strategic partnership in the cause of clean energy, economic development and a peaceful and secure world. India becomes Associate Member of CERN, Geneva (November 21, 2016). India and European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) signed an agreement making India an Associate Member State of CERN. This follows CERN Council’s adoption of the resolution to this effect on September 15, 2016. The agreement was signed by Dr. Sekhar Basu, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy and CERN Director General Dr. Fabiola Gianotti in Mumbai. Participation in CERN programmes is a success story of scientific collaborations and cooperation where researchers from large number of national Institutes and Universities from India work together in forming active collaborations in the pursuit of fundamental knowledge, achieving scientific and engineering breakthrough as well as training the next generation of scientists. Cabinet grants ‘in-principle’ approval to the LIGO-India mega science proposal. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ‘in principle’ approval to the LIGO-India mega science proposal for research on gravitational waves, on February 17, 2016. The proposal, known as LIGO-India
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T
project (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory in India) is piloted by Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Science and Technology (DST). The approval coincided with the historic detection of gravitational waves a few days ago that opened up of a new window on the universe to unravel some of its greatest mysteries. India supplied indigenous teletherapy machine Bhabhatron, for cancer treatment to Bougando Medical Centre in Tanzania. The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had earlier announced the donation of the Bhabhatron II Teletherapy machine to the Centre during his visit to Tanzania in July 2016. Novel design of CO2 sorbents. Scientists at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, DAE have developed a novel design of CO2 sorbents that show superior CO2 capture capacity and stability over conventional materials. DHRUVA reactor at Trombay, producing medical isotopes, operated at full power throughout the year and touched its highest ever capacity factor since its commissioning. BARC develops kit for detection of Chromium contamination of water (August 17, 2016). BARC has developed a simple, user friendly, quick and cost effective kit for onsite determination of Cr (VI), which meets IS10500 as well as EPA criterion. It provides the much needed solution to measure the level of Chromium contamination in drinking water and tap water, lakes, rivers as well as ground water. This is yet another example of BARC’s efforts towards ‘Make in India’ campaign of the Government of India. This kit can be used for detection of carcinogenic Chromium in ground water around the Ganga belt. BARC and Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology sign MoU for joint development of Deep Brain Stimulator. As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between BARC & SCTMIST on August 12, 2016, BARC will develop the device as per specifications provided by SCTMIST and SCTMIST will be responsible for clinical trials, testing and qualification. Electronics Division, Reactor Control Division and Centre for Design & Manufacture of BARC will participate in the development of various subsystems. The 1st prototypes are planned to be available in 3 years. Hall of Nuclear Energy inaugurated in Delhi. The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the “Hall of Nuclear Power” in New Delhi on January 16, 2016. This is Northern India’s first permanent exhibition on nuclear power, built in the national capital at National Science Centre (NSC). The exhibition, titled ‘Hall of Nuclear Power – Atoms Serving the Nation’ is spread over an area of about 700 sq. m., with over 60 permanent exhibits, covering various aspects of nuclear energy, with prime focus on nuclear power plant safety and applications for human welfare, which include nuclear medicine, food irradiation, as well as several other day-to-day applications of nuclear energy. Scientific information about nuclear power generation, its basics and nonpower uses of nuclear and radiation technology has also been showcased at the gallery. The gallery is replete with the state-of-the-art exhibits, interactive kiosks, virtual tour (of a nuclear power plant in a mini theater), glasses-free 3D displays, touch-screen info panels, as well as quiz and interactive Q&A exhibits for the visitors. International Conference on “India’s role in Global Nuclear Governance”. A three-day International conference on “India’s role in Global Nuclear Governance” was organised in New Delhi from February 24-26, 2016. The conference was organized by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). This conference brings together
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T scholars working on global nuclear governance in India and abroad to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the emerging nuclear governance architecture. It focuses on how India can play a more proactive role as a driver of new ideas on the subject. National Symposium on “Public Education on Radiation Safety”. A National Symposium on “Public Education on Radiation Safety” was held in New Delhi on February 16, 2016. A book on “Radiation Safety Management” was also released. MoS Dr Jitendra Singh stressed upon the urgent need to start a country wide awareness campaign to educate the public about the enormous peaceful benefits of nuclear energy and to clear the air about the apprehensions which sometimes come in the way of setting up of new atomic and nuclear plants under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). 8th Nuclear Energy Conclave. The 8th Nuclear Energy Conclave was organised by India Energy Forum in New Delhi on September 30, 2016. The Theme of the Conference this year was “Meeting the Non-Fossil Energy Targets through Nuclear Power”. The Conclave focussed on advanced technologies for safer and cleaner fossil energy leveraging domestic engineering/manufacturing/construction capabilities, advancement of technology within the country, Safety and Regulation. ****
Health and Family Welfare 1. The Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) is aimed at reducing maternal and infant mortality rates through safe pregnancies and safe deliveries. The national programme will provide special free antenatal care to about 3 crore pregnant women across the country in order to detect and prevent high risk pregnancies. The nationwide programme will provide fixed day assured, comprehensive and quality antenatal care to pregnant women on the 9th of every month. Pregnant women can now avail of a special antenatal check-up in their second or third trimesters at Government health facilities provided by gynecology specialists/ physicians with support from private sector doctors to supplement the efforts of the Government sector. These services including ultrasound, blood and urine tests will be provided in addition to the routine antenatal check-ups at the identified health facility/outreach in both rural and urban areas. One of the aims is to identify and follow-up on high risk pregnancies in order to reduce MMR and IMR. 2. MAA-Mother’s Absolute Affection A nationwide programme launched in an attempt to bring undiluted focus on promotion of breastfeeding and provision of counselling services for supporting breastfeeding through health systems. The programme has been named ‘MAA’ to signify the support a lactating mother requires from family members and at health facilities to breastfeed successfully. The chief components of the MAA Programme are Community awareness generation, Strengthening inter personal communication through ASHA, Skilled support for breastfeeding at delivery points in public health facilities, and monitoring and award/recognition.
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T 3. Introduction of new vaccines a) Rota virus vaccine: In order to prevent the morbidity and mortality in children due to rotavirus, Rotavirus vaccine was introduced in Universal Immunization Programme in a four states initially i.e. Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh in April 2016 as recommended by the Expert Committee constituted for the same. b) Adult JE vaccine: Japanese Encephalitis vaccination was expanded in adult population of districts with high disease burden of adult JE. Recently, 21 high burden districts from Assam, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have been identified for adult JE vaccination. Adult JE vaccination campaign activity has been completed in 3 districts of Assam (Darrang, Nagaon and Sonitpur) and selected blocks of 3 districts (Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar) of West Bengal and campaign is ongoing in selected blocks of 6 districts of Uttar Pradesh. 4. Mission Indradhanush
Second phase of MI continued in Jan 2016 in 352 districts. Phase III was implemented from April to July 2016 in 216 districts of the country.
During all the three phases, (as on 1st August 2016, 2.08 crore children have been vaccinated of which 54.5 lakh children have been fully immunized. In addition, 55.4 lakh pregnant women were vaccinated against tetanus toxoid.
According to Integrated Child Health and Immunization Survey 2016, full immunization coverage has increased by about 5-7% after the launch of mission Indradhanush.
Swasth Bharat Mobile application - “Swasth Bharat Mobile Application” to empower the citizens to find reliable and relevant health information. The application provides detailed information regarding healthy lifestyle, disease conditions (A-Z), symptoms, treatment options, first aid and public health alerts. The application “Swasth Bharat Mobile Application” is an Android based mobile application, which can be installed on any device with Android OS version 2.3 or above. The application will be launched soon for other popular platforms.
ANM Online application (ANMOL)-ANMOL is a tablet-based application that allows ANMs to enter and updated data for beneficiaries of their jurisdiction. This will ensure more prompt entry and updation of data as well as improve the data quality since the data will be entered “at source” by providers of health services themselves. Since the Application is Aadhaar-enabled, it will help in authentication of the records of field workers and beneficiaries.
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T E-RaktKosh initiative- It is an integrated Blood Bank Management Information System that has been conceptualized and developed after multiple consultations with all stakeholders. This web-based mechanism interconnects all the Blood Banks of the State into a single network. The Integrated Blood Bank MIS refers the acquisition, validation, storage and circulation of various live data and information electronically regarding blood donation and transfusion service. Such system is able to assemble heterogeneous data into legible reports to support decision making from effective donor screening to optimal blood dissemination in the field. DISEASE CONTROL (a) Tuberculosis
500 Cartridge Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (CBNAAT) machines inducted in the TB programme. The CBNAAT is a revolutionary rapid molecular test which detects Mycobacterium tuberculosis and rifampicin drug resistance, simultaneously. This test is fully automated and provides results within two hours. It is a highly sensitive diagnostic tool and can be used in remote and rural areas without sophisticated infrastructure or specialized training. Until 2015, 121 CBNAAT sites are functional in the country largely providing decentralized testing for detection of DR TB. With the availability of these additional 500 machines, access to rapid quality assured diagnosis of DR TB and TB will be ensured in all the districts of India either directly or through a linkage by specimen transport mechanism. Additionally, the programme will be able to use this highly sensitive state-of-art technology for diagnosis of TB among key populations like children, PLHIV and extra pulmonary TB patients.
Bedaquiline was launched as part of the RNTCP. The drug is a new anti-TB drug for treatment of MDR-TB. This new class of drug is a diarylquinoline that specifically targets Mycobacterial ATP synthase, an enzyme essential for supply of energy to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and most other mycobacteria. This drug is indicated for use in the treatment of drug-resistant TB. Bedaquiline has been introduced at six identified tertiary care centres across India. These sites have advanced facilities for laboratory testing and intensive care for patients. Bedaquiline will be given to multi-drug resistant TB patients with resistance to either all fluoroquinolone and/or all second line injectables and extensive drug resistant TB.
(b) HIV/AIDS control Third line ART programme for People Living with HIV launched The life-saving third line ART costs nearly Rs. 1.18 lakh per patient per year. Providing these free would not only safe lives but improve
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T socioeconomic conditions of the patients. This initiative brings India’s ART programme at par with programmes in the developed countries. (c) Control of Communicable diseases (Malaria, Dengue, Chikungunya, Kala-Azar) 1. The National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) was launched on 11th February 2016. Preventive measures by source reduction, engineering methods, use of Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLIN), Indoor Residual Spray (IRS), repellents, early case detection, complete treatment are part of the strategy. 2. The Ministry provided Technical Guidelines to the States for prevention and control including vector control and also uploaded these guidelines on National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) website www.nvbdcp.gov.in. 3. Focused IEC/BCC activities were carried out at National and State level with media mix strategies focusing on source reduction and personal protective measures. A user friendly Dengue App “India Fights Dengue” has been launched on 7th April, 2016. 4. ‘National Dengue Day’ was observed on 16th May 2016 throughout the country. ‘Strategy and Plan of action for Effective Community Participation for Prevention and Control of Dengue’ has been shared with the States/UTs uploaded on the NVBDCP website. 5. Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) were involved in source reduction activities (emptying containers to prevent breeding of vector mosquitoes) for Dengue prevention and control. The Ministry also provided funds to the States/UTs for prevention and control of Vector Borne Diseases including Dengue to implement the public health measures. 6. Also Kala-azar is targeted for elimination by 2017 and Lymphatic Filariasis by 2020 and as of now eliminated in 502 out of 625 endemic blocks (80%) in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. (d) Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) The programme aims at providing early diagnosis and management of common NCDs, build capacity at various levels of health care facilities for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of common NCDs.
Under national programme for prevention and control of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and stroke (NPCDCS), 356 district NCD cells and 356 district NCD clinics have been established.
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T
103 cardiac care units, 71 day care centres and 1871 CHC level NCD clinics have been setup.
The tertiary care cancer centers (TCCC) scheme, 20 state cancer institutes (SCI) and 50 TCCCS envisaged
So far five (10) TCCC and six (10) SCI have been supported with financial assistance under the scheme.
AYUSH facilities and methodologies and yoga integrated with NPCDCS services
Scientific study commissioned to document impact of yoga on diabetes (SVYASA University and HLL).
AYUSH CELEBRATION OF 1ST NATIONAL AYURVEDA DAY: The Ministry of AYUSH celebrated the First National Ayurveda Day on 28th October, 2016 by organizing the daylong Seminar on Ayurveda & Diabetes. A Seminar on theme “Ayurveda for Prevention and Control of Diabetes” was organized during the celebration of National Ayurveda Day at Constitution Club of India, New Delhi. A documentary film on ‘Ayurveda and diabetes’, “A Protocol for prevention and Control of Diabetes through Ayurveda” and a Compendium of selected research papers on Ayurveda for diabetes care were released during the Seminar. “Mission Madhumeha through Ayurveda” was also launched for prevention and control of diabetes through Ayurveda. NATIONAL AYUSH MISSION: The Government of India has approved and notified National AYUSH Mission (NAM) on 29.09.2014 which envisages better access to AYUSH Services; strengthening of AYUSH educational institutions, facilitate the enforcement of quality control of Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani & Homoeopathy (ASU &H) drugs and sustainable availability of ASU & H raw-materials in the States/UTs during 12th Plan. The National AYUSH Mission (NAM) inter-alia makes provision for the following:-
o o o o o o o o
Co-location of AYUSH facilities at Primary Health Centers (PHCs), Community Health Centers (CHCs) and District Hospitals (DHs). Up gradation of exclusive State Government AYUSH Hospitals and Dispensaries. Setting up of up to 50 bedded integrated AYUSH Hospital. Upgradation of State Government Educational Institutions. Setting up of new State Government AYUSH Educational Institutions including Yoga and Naturopathy in the State where it is not available. Strengthening of State Government/ Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy (ASU&H) Pharmacies and Drug Testing Laboratories (DTL). Cultivation and Promotion of Medicinal Plants. Provision has also been kept for flexible components under.
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T NAM for which 20% of the resources have been earmarked, an amount of Rs. 331.01 Crore has been released to 33 States/UTs during 2015-16 under NAM. Further, till date an amount of Rs 290.09 Crore has been released to 28 States/UTs during 2016-17.
Human Resource Development ShaGun a web portal (from the words Shaala and Gunvatta) is being developed by Ministry of HRD. It has two components i.e. one is a Repository of best practices, photographs, videos, studies, newspaper articles etc on elementary education, State /UT wise. These would be in the public domain with the purpose to provide a platform for all stakeholders to learn from success stories of each other. This would also instill a positive competitive spirit among all the States and UTs. The second part is regarding the online monitoring of the SSA implemented by States and UTs and will be accessed by Government Officers at all levels using their specific passwords. It comprises questionnaires, related to various interventions under SSA and the performance of the State, which will be filled in by the States and UTs. There are 122 Reports which will be automatically generated from the data filled in the questionnaires. These Reports, along with the success stories in the Repository, will create an online platform which can be viewed by officers in the Department, PMO, Niti Aayog etc., to see the status of implementation of the SSA and the elementary education in all States and UTs. The Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA) It is also under the SSA, was launched by Late Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. This aims to motivate and engage children of the age group 6-18 years, in Science, Mathematics and Technology by observation, experimentation, inference drawing and model building, through both inside and outside classroom activities. Schools have been adopted for mentoring by Institutions of Higher Education like IIT’s, IISER’s and NIT’s. In some States students have been taken for exposure visits to factories, research hubs; science and mathematics clubs are being formed at the school levels, students are participating in competitions and exhibitions to showcase their innovations in Maths, Science and Technology. School Location Mapping: A website has been enabled which shows the location of all the schools on a map of India. The schools can be searched by name, location, UDISE code etc. The school report card has been integrated with the coordinates of the schools. 18 States have achieved more than 95% coverage of their schools and against a total of 15,22,925 schools (as per UDISE 2015-16), 11,96,117 schools (78.54%) have been mapped. Shaala Siddhi School Standards and Evaluation Framework and its web portal were launched on 7th November 2015. It is a comprehensive instrument for school evaluation leading to school improvement. Developed by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), it aims to enable schools to evaluate their performance in a more focused and strategic manner and facilitate them to make
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T professional judgments for improvement. The objective is to establish an agreed set of standards and benchmarks for each school, by focusing on key performance domains and their core standards. The web portal for the framework will enable all schools to engage in self-evaluation in the 7 key domains under the Framework. The results of the evaluations will be available on a public platform along with the School Report card. In the Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting to consider the Annual Work Plan & Budget of the States/UTs for the year 2016-17, States and UTs have been advised to implement Shaala Siddhi programme for all schools. 25 States/UTs covering nearly 9000 schools have implemented Shaala Siddhi so far. Shaala Darpan: The “Shaala Darpan Project” to cover all the 1099 Kendriya Vidyalayas was launched on 05.06.2015. The objective of this project is to provide services based on School Management Systems to Students, Parents and Communities. Under School Information Services, the following list of services will be enabled i.e., School Profile Management, Student Profile Management, Employee Information, Student Attendance, Leave Management, Report Cards, Curriculum Tracking Custom, SMS Alerts for Parents / Administrators on student & teacher attendance. During the current financial year 2016-17, 3224 schools have been approved for implementing School Management Project on pilot basis in States/UTs with total outlay of Rs. 393.445 lakh. This will help in ensuring better and transparent administration in the schools. e- PATHSHALA It is a single point repository of e-resources containing, NCERT textbooks and various other learning resources. It is a joint initiative of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Govt. of India and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) developed for showcasing and disseminating all educational eresources including textbooks, audio, video, periodicals, and a variety of other print and non-print materials.
Students, Teachers, Educators and Parents can access e-Books through multiple technology platforms i.e. mobile phones and tablets (as e-pub) and from the web through laptops and desktops (as Flipbook). e-Pathshala also allows user to carry us many books as their device supports. Features of these books allow users to pinch, select, bookmark, highlight, navigate, share and make notes digitally. N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T GIS MAPPING: To ensure universal access to schools including secondary schools within a reasonable distance of any habitation and without any discrimination, the Geographic coordinates of school along with the school information available in UDISE is being uploaded on the school GIS Web enabled platform i.e. http://schoolgis.nic.in. All states have conducted GIS mapping and shared geographical coordinates of schools with the NIC except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. This mapping is linked to the UDISE database to ensure that every school is mapped and is backed by a detailed school report card based on UDISE information. This effort of developing web enabled platform about school information (Spatial and Non Spatial data) will add to the quality of planning and better utilization of resources available under SSA and RMSA. As on 30.11.2016, against the total of 15,22,925 schools (as per UDISE 2015-16), 11,96,117 (78.54%) schools have been mapped on GIS portal. Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) India IMPRINT INDIA is a Pan-IIT and IISc joint initiative to develop a roadmap for research to solve major engineering and technology challenges in ten technology domains relevant to India. IMPRINT INDIA aims at direct research in the premier institutions into areas of social relevance.
Under this, 10 domains have been identified which could substantially impact the living standards of the rural areas: (1) Health care technology, (2) Energy security, (3) Rural urban housing design, (4) Nano technology, (5) Water/river system, (6) Advanced materials, (7) Computer science and ICT, (8) Manufacturing technology, (9) Advanced security and (10) Environment/climate change. The research in each of these areas is being coordinated by one IIT. More than 2600 research proposals have been submitted by scientists in the the priority area of these domains. These have been examined by eminent scientists and 892 proposals have been shortlisted for consideration. http://imprint-india.org/ and 259 proposals for Rs. 595.89 Cr have been approved for implementation. Uchchtar Aavishkar Abhiyaan The Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY) was launched to promote industry-specific need-based research so as to keep up the competitiveness of the Indian industry in the global market. All the IITs have been encouraged to work with the industry to identify areas where innovation is required and come up with solutions that could be brought up to the commercialization level.
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T Under the UAY, it is proposed to invest Rs. 250 crores every year on identified projects proposed by IITs, provided the Industry contributes 25% of the project cost. For the year 201617, (92) projects for Rs. 285.15 Cr have been approved for implementation. SWAYAM PRABHA
The SWAYAM PRABHA has been conceived as the project for telecasting high quality educational programmes through 32 DTH channels on 24X7 basis. Every day, there will be new content of at least (4) hours which would be repeated 6 times a day, allowing the student to choose the time of his convenience.
The DTH Channels will cover: (a) Curriculum based course contents covering diverse disciplines such as arts, science, commerce, performing arts, social sciences and humanities subjects, engineering, technology, law, medicine, agriculture etc. in higher education domain (all courses would be certification-ready in their detailed offering). (b) School education (9-12 levels) modules; for teacher training as well as teaching and learning aids to children of India to help them understand the subjects better and also help them in better preparedness for competitive examinations for admissions to professional degree programmes. (c) Curricula and courses that can meet the needs of life-long learners or Indian citizens in India and abroad. (d) IIT-PAL - to assist the students in the Classes 11 and 12 aspiring to join IITs by encouraging scientific thinking and conceptual understanding critical to answer the 'tough' questions of JEE Advanced, so that good quality students enter the portals of IITs. The four channels under this would be on Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
SWAYAM
SWAYAM is an indigenous (Made in India) IT Platform for hosting the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) with a capacity to revolutionize the education system by providing best quality education covering all the subjects and courses being taught in the high schools, colleges and universities in the Country using the IT system to the students even in the remotest corner of the Country.
SWAYAM would provide High quality learning experience-using multimedia on anytime, anywhere basis and provide one-stop web location for interactive e-content for all courses from School to University level.
M/S Microsoft has been entrusted with the responsibility for creating the IT platform. Beta (β) Version of SWAYAM Portal has been launched on 15.08.2016. For creation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), 8 National MOOCs Coordinators (NMCs) have been appointed with the responsibility to identify the best teachers for preparation of the material for the MOOCs. Total 262 Online Courses has been repurposed in SWAYAM format by NMCs till November 2016
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T
University Grants Commission (UGC) has vide Gazette Notification dated 19 th July, 2016, notified Regulation, 2016 regarding ‘Credit Framework for Online Learning Courses through SWAYAM’. Accordingly, a student studying at a recognized institute anywhere in the country and having cleared the Online Course through SWAYAM, shall be awarded Credits and the credits earned by such a student shall be transferred from the Host Institute to the Parent Institute where the student is studying. However at present, such students through online learning delivered on SWAYAM platform can earn the Credits only up to 20% of the total courses in a Semester.
This would allow any student in the country to take the courses offered by the best teachers on SWAYAM, thereby bridging the academic deficit experienced in the backward areas thereby, raising the overall standards of higher education in the country.
BHUVAN - RUSA PORTAL
The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed a mobile application for uploading geo-tagged photographs and associated details captured by the educational institutions, on Bhuvan-RUSA portal as a part of implementation of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) funded works. This application for geo-tagging of institutions under RUSA is a location based service. The total number of points of RUSA funded works that have been geo tagged by the higher educational institutions till date is 4176 in 32 States/UTs. These points are reviewed at the State level and the National Mission Directorate for acceptance. The mobile geo tagging App of RUSA covers the following attributes: construction work or equipment, institution name, new or upgraded work, type of work, current stage of work, percentage completed, completion date, bank name, account number, amount released and amount utilized.
Earth Sciences During 2016, many significant achievements have been made on providing weather and climate services. Many observational campaigns have been taken up as special atmospheric observations help us to understand model deficiencies and to improve the models. To address the issue of better measurement and understanding of small-scale processes that drive the variability, seasonality and predictability in the South Asian Monsoon, a large-scale joint IndiaUK observational campaign was carried out during the period June-July 2016. The campaign involved the deployment of UK’s BAe-146-301 atmospheric research aircraft with sophisticated scientific instruments and India’s Sagar Nidhi and Sindhu Sadhna research ships. An observational campaign to understand different physical features of Fog and factors responsible for its genesis, intensity and duration was initiated during December 2016 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and at ICAR-IARI in New Delhi. These observations will be useful for improving model forecasts.
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T
(a)
(b)
(a) Dr Harsh Vardhan, Dr Alexander Evans and UK & Indian scientists with the Research Aircraft to study monsoon variability. (b) Tether Sonde Balloon Observations up to 1000 m were taken during 3 to 23 January, 2016. A high resolution global deterministic weather prediction model has been commissioned for generating operational weather forecasts at a horizontal resolution of 12km. With this, MoES has attained the same capability as in USA in using high resolution weather prediction models. Many major improvements have been made in data assimilation for the ingestion of data from the Indian and International satellites in numerical models. Under the Monsoon Mission, operational dynamical model systems have been implemented for extended range and seasonal forecasts. For the first time, forecasts on different time scales during the hot weather season (April to May) including heat waves were issued by the India Meteorological Department. The Climate Centre at IMD Pune has been now recognized as the Regional Climate Centre by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) for providing regional climate services. A State-of-the-art Earth System Model(ESM) has been implemented to study the climate change aspects and develop future regional climate change scenarios at 25 km resolution and conduct climate impact assessment studies. The ESM will be the first climate model from India to contribute to the forthcoming sixth IPCC climate change assessment process. The quality of weather services saw noticeable improvements achieved in skills of Heavy Rainfall Forecasts and tropical cyclone forecasts. Presently around 19.5 C million farmers are being directly benefitted by the agro-meteorological services of IMD. For the recent cyclone Vardah, accurate predictions were provided almost 3 days in advance, helping to save thousands of lives. The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) monitored 29 earthquakes of magnitude ≥ 6.5 MW during the period 1 January - 31 October 2016. Out of these 29 earthquakes, 2 significant earthquakes have occurred in the Indian Ocean region. These earthquakes could not generate any Tsunami and hence no threat bulletins were issued for India.
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T INCOIS continued to provide forecasts on the state of the oceans, the PFZ advisories and species specific advisories for a wide spectrum of users. The ocean state forecasts were also provided before and during the launch day of Re-usable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and also to the research vessel Sagar Manjusha from Chennai to the landing point of RLV in the Bay of Bengal. On 27th July 2016, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences dedicated the Search and Rescue Aid Tool (SARAT) to the Nation during the XV National Maritime Search and Rescue (NMSAR) Board. In addition, an experimental version of SARAT was used to provide Search And Rescue support to all the concerned in connection with the missing AN 32 aircraft, which was reportedly missing off Chennai on 22 July 2016. SARAT- The Search And Rescue Aid Tool dedicated to the Nation during the XV National Maritime Search and Rescue (NMSAR) Board meeting held in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on 27 July 2016. To facilitate the indication of eco-sensitive zones, potential fishing zones, fishing avoidance zone during the event of oil spill, the third version of online oil spill advisory was inaugurated at the 21st National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOSDCP) meeting held at India International Centre, Delhi on 5 August 2016. In 2016, INCOIS deployed 23 ARGO floats in the Indian Ocean having sensors to collect the physical parameters, of which 11 were equipped with both physical and biogeochemical sensors. Currently, over 732 active floats are actively working in the Indian Ocean of which 136 were deployed by India. So far, more than 340856 temperature and salinity profiles, 18993 dissolved oxygen and 7614 Chlorophyll profiles were collected by Argo floats in the Indian regions. HIMANSH National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences established a high altitude research station in Himalaya called HIMANSH (literally meaning, a slice of ice), situated above 13,500 ft (> 4000 m) at a remote region in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. This station is equipped with instruments such as Automatic Weather Station, Water Level Recorder, Steam Drill, Snow/Ice Corer, Ground Penetrating Radar, Differential Global positioning System, Snow Fork, Flow Tracker, Thermister string, Radiometer etc. Water Level Recorders were installed at five locations along with a stretch of 130 km of Chandra River in Western Himalaya for hydrological balance/modeling. Glaciers were monitored for mass balance, dynamics, energy balance and hydrology.
IndARC-II in the Arctic IXth Southern Ocean Expedition was launched on-board Oceanographic Research Vessel MV Agulhas [South African vessel] from Port Louis, Mauritius during December, 2016. The observations will be made upto Prydz Bay, the coastal waters of India's third station in Antarctica "Bharati'.
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T Ministry of Earth Sciences signed a 15-year contract with the International Seabed Authority (ISA), for exploration of Poly-Metallic Sulphides (PMS) in Indian Ocean. The contract was signed by Dr. M Rajeevan, Secretary, MoES and Mr. Nii Allotey Odunton, Secretary General, ISA. The ISA is an institution set up under the Convention on Law of the Sea to which India is a Party. Ministry of Earth Sciences submitted an application to International Seabed Authority for extension of contract for exploration of Polymetallic Nodules (PMN) for a further period of 5 years (2017-22). The contract signed with International Seabed of Authority for exploration of Polymetallic Nodules on 25th March 2002 is expiring on 24th March 2017. The PMN programme is oriented towards exploration and development of technologies for eventual extraction of nodules lying on the seabed at 4000 to 6000 m water depth from the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) allocated to India by UN. India is presently having an area of 75,000 square km, located about 2000 km away from her southern tip. Indigenously developed 500 m depth rated shallow water/polar remotely operated vehicle (PROVe) was successfully deployed, in the Andaman coral Islands and the vehicle was successfully maneuvered in the undulating reef terrain to record high quality underwater visuals of coral reef biodiversity with spectral irradiance.
Defence Maiden Sea trials of Kalvari - First Scorpene Class Submarine:Under the Project 75 Scorpene programme six conventional submarines are being built in India with foreign collaboration. ‘Kalvari’, the first of the Scorpene class submarines, being built at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd Mumbai (MDL), went to sea on 1 May under her own propulsion for the first sea trial, off the Mumbai coast. During the sortie, a number of preliminary tests on the propulsion system, Auxiliary Equipment and Systems, Navigation Aids, Communication Equipment and Steering gear were conducted. Various Standard Operating Procedures were also validated for this new class of submarine. The submarine is presently under going advanced/ deep dive trials and is likely to be commissioned in early 2017. COMMISSIONING/ LAUNCHING/ TRIALS OF SHIPS, SUBMARINES AND AIRCRAFT INS Kadmatt:INS Kadmatt, second ship of Project 28 (P-28) class Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvettes, indigenously designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house organisation, Directorate of Naval Design and constructed by M/s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited, Kolkata, was commissioned at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam on 7 Jan.
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T De-Induction of Sea Harrier and Induction of MiG-29K Fighter Aircraft in INAS 300:The Sea Harriers of Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS 300) were given a farewell at INS Hansa, Goa on 11 May. The rich legacy of Sea harriers would continue as the baton was passed on to the crew of MiG-29K squadron who have been successful in seamlessly integrating the fighters with INS Vikramaditya in the shortest possible time. INS Tarmugli:The Indian Navy commissioned the highly manoeuvrable Fast Attack Craft INS Tarmugli at a ceremony at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam on 23 May. Based at Visakhapatnam under the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Andhra Pradesh), the craft would be deployed for coastal patrol and surveillance operations along the East Coast. Mormugao - Second ship of Project 15B launched:Another significant milestone in the indigenous warship design and construction programme of India was achieved with the launch of the Guided Missile Destroyer, Mormugao,the second ship of Project 15B,on 17 Sep, at Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai. With a launch weight of 2844 tonnes, the vessel made its first contact with water during the launching ceremony. INS Chennai:INS Chennai, a P 15A Guided Missile Destroyer, was commissioned into the Navy by the Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai on 21 Nov. The event marked the formal induction into the Navy of the third and the last of the three ‘Kolkata’ class destroyers, indigenously designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house organisation, Directorate of Naval Design and constructed by Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai. Rafale Acquisition deal: The much awaited Rafale deal with France was signed on 23 September in New Delhi under which France will provide 36 Rafale fighter jets to India. The twin-engine, multi-role aircraft will be capable of carrying out various combat missions like Air Defence, Ground Attack, Reconnaissance, Anti-ship strikes etc. ‘Tejas’ Induction:The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) ‘Tejas’ was inducted into No. 45 Squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on 1 July. The Squadron will operate from Bangalore for nearly two years, before it moves to its designated location at Sulur near Coimbatore. It is the first fighter Squadron to be a part of the Southern Air Command of IAF headquartered at Thiruvananthapuram. DEFENCE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION (DRDO) Agni – V Successfully Test-Fired:Agni-V, the Long Range Surface-to-Surface Ballistic Missile was successfully flight tested by DRDO on 26 December from Dr. Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha. The full range test-flight of the missile further boosted the indigenous missile capabilities and deterrence level of the country. All the Radars, tracking systems and Range Stations tracked and monitored the flight performance and N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T all the Mission objectives were successfully met. This was the 4th test of Agni-V missile and the second one from a Canister on a Road Mobile Launcher. Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) ‘Tejas’:Indigenously developed LCA is an advanced technology, single seat, single engine, supersonic, light weight, all-weather, multi-role, air superiority fighter designed for air-to-air, air-to-ground and air-to-sea combat roles. During the year, ‘Tejas’ made its international debut in January 2016 with participation in the Bahrain International Air Show. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) handed over the first two Tejas aircraft to IAF at a ceremony at ASTE Bengaluru on 1 July 2016 which will make up the ‘Flying Daggers’ 45, the name of the first squadron of LCA. Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) System: The AEW&C system consists of sensors mounted on an aircraft, for locating and providing early warning of airborne and sea surface targets and hostile emissions. All the mission systems have been integrated on the first two aircraft and the developmental trials are in advanced stage of progression. The system integration on the third aircraft is under progress. The installation of the ground systems namely Mission Planning and Analysis Station (MIPAS), Operator Training Station (OTS) and Automatic Test equipment have been completed. Ground Exploitation System (GES) is being integrated with Integrated Air Command and Control Station (IACCS). Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAV ‘Rustom-II’: Rustom-II, a multi-mission Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is being developed to carry out the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) roles for the three Armed Forces with an endurance of 24 hours. During the year, taxi trials commenced from 8 August. DRDO also successfully carried out the maiden flight of Rustom-II from Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), ChitradurgainNovember. Surface-to-Air Missile ‘Akash’ :The medium range surface-to-air missile ‘Akash’ has been developed and inducted into IAF and Indian Army. During the year, Akash Army version,user exercise was carried out. The total production orders placed by Services for eight squadrons of IAF and two regiments of Indian Army for Anti-Missile System amounts to approximatelyRs. 23,900 crore. Indigenous development of the system has given impetus to the Defence industrial base in the country. DRDO has also undertaken two new projects of Akash this year. Anti-Tank Missile ‘PROSPINA’: ‘Nag’ is a third generation anti-tank missile (ATM) with 'Fire & Forget' and 'Top Attack' capabilities, which can be used in day and night. It is deployed on a specially modified Infantry Combat Vehicle (ICV) BMP-2 vehicle 'NAMICA'. During the year, guided flight tests of ‘Nag’ were carried out with the objective of demonstrating range capabilities of IIR Seeker during worst time of the day in summer environment.
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T Space An unprecedented seven missions launched, all successful Successful maiden test flights of Reusable Launch Vehicle and SCRAMJET The year 2016 was very eventful for the Indian space programme which scored very prominent and significant successes in launch vehicle, satellite, applications and space exploration domains. The year saw an unprecedented seven launch vehicle missions all of which were successful. Eight ISRO satellites, four student satellites and 22 foreign satellites were launched by these missions. The year 2016 also saw two successful advanced launch vehicle technology initiatives of ISRO – the Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLVTD) and SCRAMJET technology demonstrator – which had their maiden test flights. Additionally, the highly successful Mars Orbiter Spacecraft of India completed two years in its orbit around Mars and India's ASTROSAT multi-wavelength observatory successfully completed one year in orbit. Launch Vehicle and Satellite Missions of ISRO:
1.1. PSLV-C31/IRNSS-1E Mission: In this flight, the workhorse launch vehicle PSLV launched IRNSS-1E, the fifth satellite of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation, on January 20, 2016. 1.2. PSLV-C32/IRNSS-1F Mission: In this flight, which was its 34th, PSLV launched IRNSS-1F, the sixth satellite of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation, on March 10, 2016. 1.3. PSLV-C33/IRNSS-1G Mission: In this flight, PSLV launched the seventh and the last satellite IRNSS-1G of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation on April 28, 2016. With this, the space segment of the IRNSS is fully deployed. IRNSS signals are now available and trials with the receiver system are in progress. The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated IRNSS to the nation as ‘NavIC’ (Navigation Indian Constellation). This is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland. IRNSS provides two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS) provided to all users and Restricted Services (RS) - provided to authorised users only. 1.4. Reusable Launch Vehicle – Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD): India’s first winged body aerospace vehicle, RLV-TD i.e. Reusable Launch VehicleTechnology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), was successfully flight tested on May 23, 2016. From the peak altitude of 65 km, RLV-TD began its descent followed by atmospheric re-entry at around Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound). After successfully surviving a high temperature of re-entry, RLV-TD successfully glided
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Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T down to the defined landing spot over Bay of Bengal. In this flight, critical technologies such as autonomous navigation, guidance & control, reusable thermal protection system and re-entry mission management were successfully validated. 1.5. PSLV-C34/Cartosat-2 Series Mission: On June 22, 2016, PSLV-C34 successfully launched 20 satellites in a single mission. It included India’s CARTOSAT-2 series of satellite (weighing 727 kg) as primary payload and two academic institutes’ satellites, namely, SWAYAM and SATHYABAMASAT and 17 satellites (total weighing 555 kg) of foreign customers from Canada, Germany, Indonesia and USA as co-passengers. 1.6. GSLV-F05/ INSAT-3DR Mission: On September 08, 2016, GSLV-F05, India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, equipped with the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS), successfully launched the country's weather satellite INSAT-3DR. INSAT-3DR is a follow-on meteorological satellite to INSAT-3D. This launch is significant, considering that fact that this is the third consecutive success of the indigenous CUS, which signified the country’s successful assimilation of the complex cryogenic rocket propulsion. The satellite carries two meteorological payloads, viz., 6 channel imager & 19 channel sounder. It also carries a Data Relay Transponder (DRT) and Satellite Aided Search and Rescue (SA&R) payload to provide continuity to INSAT SA&R services. The satellite has started providing services to the weather and meteorological community in tandem with INSAT 3D that is already in the orbit. By virtue of these 2 satellites in orbit, the country gets weather updates every 15 minutes which is yet another unique service from space. 1.7. Successful Flight Testing of ISRO's Scramjet Engine Technology Demonstrator: The first experimental mission of ISRO’s Scramjet Engine towards the realisation of an Air Breathing Propulsion System was successfully conducted on August 28, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. TheScramjet engine designed by ISRO uses Hydrogen as fuel and the Oxygen from the atmospheric air as the oxidiser. This marked the maiden short duration experimental test of ISRO’s Scramjet engine with a hypersonic flight at Mach 6. ISRO’s Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV), which is an advanced sounding rocket, was the solid rocket booster used for the test of Scramjet engines at supersonic conditions. ATV carrying Scramjet engines weighed 3277 kg at liftoff. India is the fourth country to demonstrate the flight testing of Scramjet Engine. The successful technology demonstration of air-breathing Scramjet engines in flight by ISRO during the year was a modest yet important milestone in its endeavour to design and develop advanced air breathing engines including engines for ISRO’s future space transportation system
2.
PSLV-C35/SCATSAT-1: By successfully launching SCATSAT-1 satellite carrying a scatterometer for wind vector measurement into the required polar Sun Synchronous
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Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T Orbit in its PSLV-C35 mission on September 26, 2016, the PSLV facilitated continuity to Oceansat-2 Scatterometer, which completed its service in March 2014. The wind vector at sea surface information facilitated by SCATSAT-1 is used in weather prediction models and helps in accurate prediction of cyclone track. This launch of PSLV had yet another unique achievement of placing satellites in 2 different orbits and also the longest of the missions that lasted for more than 2 hrs 15 mins after lift-off. In this mission, engine multiple restart experiment of upper stage of PSLV was also demonstrated.
2.1. PSLV-C36/Resourcesat-2A: In its 38th flight, PSLV successfully launched RESOURCESAT-2A satellite on December 07, 2016 into an 822 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit. This was PSLV’s 37th consecutive success. The 1235 kg RESOURCESAT-2A is a follow on mission to Resourcesat-2 and intended to ensure data continuity to the users for land and water resources applications. The satellite is configured with three-tier imaging capability consisting of three solidstate cameras, viz., LISS-IV, LISS-III and an Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS). 2.2. GSAT-18: The 3405 kg communication satellite GSAT-18, launched on October 06, 2016 by European Ariane V, carries a total of 48 transponders in Ku-band, Cband and Ext C-band for providing continuity of services and has further augmented the transponder capacity. 3.
Disaster Management Support (DMS):
3.1. Uttarakhand Forest Fire: The Uttarakhand state witnessed episodic fire incidents during the last two weeks of April 2016. Recurrence of fire incidences is common in the hilly state in summer season. Satellite data based temperature anomalies were used for the detection of active fire locations. About 1600 active forest fire locations were recorded during 24th April to 4th May 2016. The burnt area was also assessed using Satellite data. The information on a near-real time basis was disseminated to Forest Survey of India, State Forest Departments, NDMA and SMS on fire alerts were sent to the identified forest officials of Uttarakhand. All Fire alerts were also published on BHUVAN geoportal. The most affected districts were Nainital, Pithoragarh, Champawat, Almora, Pauri and Tehri Garhwal. 3.2. Floods occurred in Assam and Manipur states during 2016. Three waves of floods were reported in Assam; first during fourth week of April, 2016, second on 21st June, 2016 and third on 4th July, 2016. Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Sibsagar, Charaideo, Dhemaji and Karbi Anglong districts were affected. Heavy premonsoon rains lashed Manipur during the last week of April 2016 and Imphal, Thoubal and Bishnupur districts were reported to be affected. The information on flood inundation was disseminated to the Central and respective State Government departments, State Relief Commissioners and nodal Ministries. 4.
Mars Orbiter Mission: India’s first inter-planetary mission completed two years in its orbit around Mars. The health parameters of Mars Orbiter spacecraft are normal and all
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T the five payloads are sending useful data. The Mars Colour Camera has produced more than 530 images so far, one of which has appeared on the cover page of the November 2016 issue of the National Geographic Magazine. The spacecraft successfully negotiated ‘whiteout’ geometry during May 18 - 30, 2016 using onboard autonomy. The archived data is now made public for free download and scientific research through ISRO’s website. More than 1.75 Lakh hits and about 40 GB data was downloaded in just 2 weeks. ISRO has also launched MOM Announcement of Opportunity (AO) programmes for researchers in the country to use the MOM data for R&D. The success of Mars Orbiter Mission has showcased India’s technical capability in exploring planetary bodies and has motivated India’s student and research community in a big way.
5.
ASTROSAT Mission: ASTROSAT, India’s first multi-wavelength observatory has completed one year in orbit as of September 2016. An Announcement of Opportunity (AO) was made in June 2016 for Indian researchers to explore the universe using data from ASTROSAT. As a part of one year completion of ASTROSAT in orbit, a one-day workshop was organised at Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune on Sept 29, 2016, to highlight the technical and scientific achievements of this satellite. The first scientific set of results and the future scope of the satellite were presented during the meeting.
6.
Space technology based tools in Governance & Development: Space technology applications, derived through synergistic use of earth observation, communication & navigation satellites and complemented with ground-based observations, play a key role in harnessing the benefits of space technology for socio-economic development in the country and improving the quality of life of citizens. Satellite-based Earth Observation is a cost effective means of obtaining essential and reliable data on our Earth. Such data on natural resources have become an integral part of planning and implementation of action plans for managing land & water resources, developing urban & rural infrastructure, monitoring weather & climate, protecting environment including disaster risk reduction. The capabilities of satellite communication are also exploited for delivering societal applications towards education & health, connectivity, skill development and livelihood sustenance. Space technologybased applications & tools are being increasingly used in governance and development for enabling planning, periodic monitoring, mid-course correction, evaluation of developmental activities and scientific decision making in various sectors right from agriculture, urban & rural planning to disaster risk reduction. Department of Space is working closely with various Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments towards maximizing the use of space technology in the various areas viz. Natural Resources Management, Energy & Infrastructure, Disaster & Early Warning, Communication & Navigation, e-Governance & Geo-spatial Governance and Societal Services. Many flagship programmes namely, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation; Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana; Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN S&T Yojana; National Mission for Clean Ganga, Digital India & MGNREGA are also utilizing space-based tools. ISRO is focusing on providing assured services through data continuity, improved connectivity & location-based services and enabling proactive user engagement through institutionalisation of space applications and capacity building. In a nutshell, ISRO is enabling the space applications in tune with the requirements of Ministries/Departments to enhance functional effectiveness, facilitate planning and decision making to improve governance and development.
N NACHIKETA
Faculty of S&T, Environment And Disaster Management
