Science & Technology
STIP-2020

Relevance IN - Prelims (Science Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP) 2020 + steps taken by the government -schemes) + Mains (GS III awareness in the field of S&T)
What's the NEWS

• Union Minister for Science Technology, chaired the first of its kind policy consultation with the highly-skilled Indian diaspora to facilitate channels for them to contribute to India's Science Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP) 2020
• The consultation meeting was attended by Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India
• The consultation aims at generating and streamlining key ideas in the making of STIP 2020 and involving the Indian diaspora as one of major stakeholders in the policy formulation process

Steps taken by the government to engage with the Indian diaspora communities

• The VAIBHAV Summit and the recently launched dedicated, one-stop platform for S&T diaspora engagement, "PRABHASS" are some proactive steps of the Government towards this engagement.
• The scientific diaspora contributes a lot in both internationalization of science and technology development and boosting the country's technology intensity.
• India aims to connect the diaspora back to Indian scientific and economic ecosystem to accelerate the growth in STI.

Know! about STIP 2020

• The core vision of STIP 2020 is the decentralization of policy designing by making it a bottom-up and inclusive process.
• It aims to realign priorities, sectoral focus and methods of research and technology development with the goals of larger socio-economic progress.
  
• The proposed STI policy is expected to leverage the astounding progress that the STI system has witnessed in recent years
• The formulation of STIP 2020 is driven by 4 interrelated tracks, 21 expert-driven thematic groups, and focused public discussions/consultations.
• The process aims to define priority issues for the national STI ecosystem, recommendations with aligned implementation strategies, expected deliverables, and a rigorous monitoring mechanism.

Additional info
Principal Scientific Adviser

• In November 1999, Cabinet Secretariat established the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.
• The PSA's office aims to provide pragmatic and objective advice to the Prime Minister and cabinet on matters related to science, technology and innovation with a focus on application of science and technology in critical infrastructure, economic and social sectors in partnership with Government departments, institutions and industry

More about STIP 2020

• The Government of India will launch STIP 2020, a holistic and pragmatic policy dedicated to Science, technology and most importantly innovation.
• The policy aims to reorient Science Technology & Innovation (STI) in terms of priorities, sectoral focus and strategies.
• The STIP 2020 policy is initiated jointly by the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (Office of PSA) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
• A Secretariat with in-house policy knowledge and data support unit, has been set up at Department of science and Technology to coordinate the entire process.

PM-STIAC initiative

• An overarching council that facilitates the PSA's Office to assess the status in specific science and technology domains, comprehend challenges, formulate interventions, develop a futuristic roadmap and advise the Prime Minister accordingly.
• The project management team at invest India, together with the office of the PSA, will facilitate the delivery and progress of all 9 national missions under PM-STIAC.

The 9 missions under the PM-STIAC initiative
Natural Language Translation

• The mission will facilitate access to teaching and research material across all regional languages.

Quantum Frontier

• This mission will initiate work in the understanding and control of quantum mechanical system with many degrees of freedom

Artificial Intelligence

• This mission will facilitate the advancement in the field of Artificial Intelligence by engaging closely with academia and industry to develop core research capability.

National Biodiversity Mission

• The mission aims to build exhaustive documentation of countries biodiversity with cataloguing and mapping all lifeforms.

Electric Vehicles

• This mission is critical for India to reduce fossil fuel consumption and mitigate emissions by facilitating the production of Electric Vehicles (EVs) economically.

Bio Science for human health

• This mission will utilise healthy and disease samples to understand the impact of nature and nurture on human health.

Waste to wealth mission

• This mission will identify, develop and deploy technologies to treat waste to generate energy, recycle materials and extract worth.

Deep ocean exploration

• This mission will explore the deep oceans to improve our understanding of the blue frontier.

AGNIi

• This mission will boost the innovation ecosystem in the country and help commercialise innovative solutions.

Miscellaneous
Fourth edition of India Mobile Congress 2020

Relevance IN - Prelims (about IMC 2020 + about COAT)
What's the NEWS

• Minister of State for Communications, Education and Electronics & Information Technology, announced the fourth edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2020
• The IMC 2020 is scheduled for 8th -10th December, and will be held virtually this year given the ongoing pandemic.

Know! about India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2020

• This prestigious event, jointly organized by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAT)
• It will see 50+ participating countries, 110 + Global Speakers , Start-ups, with over 15000 expected visitors over the three day programme.
• This year IMC's theme is going to be - "Inclusive Innovation - Smart I Secure I Sustainable".
• IMC 2020 would aim to promote Atmanirbhar Bharat (Make In India - local manufacturing and to push for 'Make for World') , foster international regional cooperation, inspire Satat Bharat - Sanatan Bharat (Digital inclusivity in connecting nearly 6 lakh villages with optical fiber and sustainable development), promote Samagra Bharat - Saksham Bharat (entrepreneurship & innovation), drive foreign and local investments, encourage R&D in the Telecom and Emerging Technology sectors and to facilitate supportive regulatory & policy frameworks.

Know! more about IMC

• It is considered as the largest Digital Technology Forum in Asia
• IMC has established itself as a leading platform for bringing together the industry, Government, academia, and other ecosystem players to discuss, deliberate and display the latest industry technology trends around major themes such as SG, Artificial Intelligence (Al), Internet of things (loT), Data Analytics, Cloud and Edge Computing, Open source tech, data privacy and cyber security, Smart Cities and automation.
• India Mobile Congress is one such platform, where the efforts of the Indian Government and the Telecom Industry are given an apt showcase to not just our nation, but to the world at large.

Cellular Operators Association of India (COAT)

• COAI was constituted in 1995 as a registered, non-governmental society.
• COAI's vision is to establish India as the global leader of mobile communications infrastructure, products and services and achieving a national tele density of 100 per cent, including broadband.
• The association is also dedicated to the advancement of modern communication and towards delivering the benefits of innovative and affordable mobile communication services to the people of India.

Miscellaneous
DRDO Developed Fire Detection and Suppression System (FDSS) for Passenger Buses

Relevance IN - Prelims (about FDSS and CFEES)
What's the NEWS

• Raksha Mantri witnessed the demonstration of Fire Detection and Suppression System (FDSS) developed by DRDO for Passenger Buses at DRDO Bhawan
• Demonstrations were given on Water Mist Based FDSS for Passenger Compartment and Aerosol Based FDSS for engine fire.

Fire Detection and Suppression System (FDSS)

• DRDO's Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES), Delhi has developed the technology, which can detect the fire in passenger compartment in less than 30 sec and then suppresses it in 60 sec thereby reducing the risk to life and property to a significant extent.
• The FDSS for passenger compartment comprises of a water tank of 80 litre capacity, a 6.8 kg nitrogen cylinder pressurized to 200 bar installed at appropriate location in the bus and a network of tubing with 16 number of atomizers inside the passenger compartment.
• The FDSS for engine comprises of aerosol generator with which the fire suppression could be achieved within 5 sec of the system activation.

Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES)

• CFEES has unique competency in the areas of fire risk assessment, fire suppression using different extinguishing mediums, modelling and simulation.
• They have developed system for Battle tanks, ships and submarines.
• The active fire protection system has been developed by CFEES as a defence spin-off technology for providing a solution to the fire incidents in passenger buses.

Science & Technology
Saffron bowl of India extends to the North East

Relevance IN - Prelims (about saffron + geographical locations)
What's the NEWS

• The saffron bowl, which was so far confined to Kashmir, may soon expand to the North East of India.
• Plants from seeds transported from Kashmir to Sikkim and acclimatized there are now flowering in Yangyang in the Southern part of the North-East state.

Know! about the saffron production in India

• Saffron production has long been restricted to a limited geographical area in the Union territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
• Pampore region, in India, commonly known as Saffron bowl of Kashmir, is the main contributor to saffron production, followed by Budgam, Srinagar, and Kishtiwar districts.
• Saffron has traditionally been associated with the famous Kashmiri cuisine.
• It's its medicinal values were considered as part of the rich cultural heritage of Kashmir.
• As saffron growing was confined to very specific areas in Kashmir, its production remained limited.
• Though the National Mission on Saffron focused on several measures to improve its farming, the measures were still limited to the specified areas of Kashmir.

• North East Centre For Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR), an autonomous body under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India supported a pilot project to explore the feasibility of growing saffron in North East region of India, with the same quality and higher quantity.
• The Botany and Horticulture department of Sikkim Central University carried out tests to understand the soil and actual pH conditions of Yangyang of Sikkim and found it comparable to saffron growing places of Kashmir.
• The matching of climatic and geographical conditions between Pampore (Kashmir) and Yangyang (Sikkim) led to the successful sample farming of Saffron in Yangyang.

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