(IGP) GS Paper 1 - General Science - "Science & Technological Development in India"

Integrated Guidance Programme of General Studies for IAS (Pre) - 2013

Subject - General Science
Chapter : Science and Technological Development in India

New Science and Technology Policy 2003:

The policy outlines the approach to S & T governance, optimal utilisation of existing physical and knowledge resources, development of innovative technologies, systems and technologies for mitigation and management of natural hazards, generation and management of intellectual property and creation of awareness amongst general masses about the use and benefits of science and technology.

Department of Science and Technology:

The Department of Science and Technology was set up in May 1971 with the objective of promoting research in new areas and to play the role of a nodal department for organising, co-ordinating and promoting science and technology activities in the country.

Research and Development Programmes:

The Department of Science and Technology has been playing a crucial role in identifying and promoting front-line and priority areas on Research and Development (R&D) in various disciplines of science and engineering. This support is provided through (Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) an advisory body consisting of eminent scientists and technologists draw) from academic institutions like IITs, universities, national laboratories and industry. The Council through its advisory committees, assists the Department not only in peer reviewing the proposals but also identifies newer and inter-disciplinary areas of R&D for concerted efforts.

For Detail Description, Analysis and More MCQs of the Chapter Buy this Study Notes:

Meteorological Services:

(The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) was established in 1875). It is the National Meteorological Service and the principal Government agency in all matters relating to meteor
The IMD has a network of 40 RADARS installed throughout the country. Under modernisation scheme of RADAR network, one S-Band, Doppler Weather Radar Metero 1500S imported from Germany was installed at Visakhapatnam.ology, seismology and allied subjects.

Survey of India:

Survey of India (SOI), the national survey and mapping organization under the Ministry of Science & Technology was set up in 1767).

National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation

While Survey of India meets the national needs in cartography, some specialised thematic maps required to meet the needs of the specific users are taken care of by the National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO), operating under the Department.
It also concentrates its attention in a number of areas to integrate resource maps with other relevant socio-economic data and represent them in spatial forms, useful for development planning.

Autonomous Scientific Institutions:

The Department of Science and Technology provides grants-in-aid to the following 19 autonomous scientific research institutions engaged in frontier areas of research in basic and applied sciences : (i) Bose Institute, Kolkata; (ii) Agharkar Research Institute, Pune; (iii Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram; (iv) Indian Association for the Cultivation of Sciences, Kolkata; (v) Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune etc.

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research:

The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), is a part of the Ministry of Science and Technology with the mandate for indigenous technology promotion, development, utilization and transfer.
DSIR implements the Plan scheme “Technology Promotion, Development and Utilization (TPDU_ Programme” apart from coordinating the activities of two autonomous bodies, namely Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Consultancy Development Centre (CDC) and two public sector undertakings, National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) and Central Electronics Limited (CEL).

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research:

CSIR an ensemble of 37 national laboratories and 39 outreach centres, spread across the length and breadth of India.
CSIR-800: The programme has a mission, that is to increase per capita income by Rs. 15.00 per day of the target group which 800 million people of India living in the bottom half to the development pyramid). The focus areas are ‘affordable health’, ‘sustainable energy’, ‘waste to wealth’, ‘potable water’, low-cost housing’ and ‘empowering masses’. In first of its new endevours, CSIR has launched ‘Soleckshaw’, an optimally designed, pedal operated-moto-assisted, zero carbon emission urban transport vehicle.

Major Initiatives in Information Technology:

National e Governance Plan (NEGP)

The Nation e-Governance Plan was approved by the Government on 18th May, 2006.
The NeGP consists of 27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs), which are currently at different phases like conceptualization, design, implementation and post-implementation.

State Data Centres

State Data Centre is one of the three core infrastructure components of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of Govt. of India. Under the SDC Scheme, it is proposed to established Data Centres across the 28 States and 7 Union Territories.

e-District

e-District is a State Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan. The Project aims to target certain high volume services currently not covered by any MMP under the NeGP and undertake back-end computerization to enable the delivery of these services through Common Service Centres.

National Service Delivery Gateway (NSFG)

Centre of Development of advanced Computing (C-DAC) has built and deployed NSDG (National e-governance Services Delivery Gateway) and NSD (National Services Directory) which is the second Mission Mode Project to have gone live since 14th August 2008.

National Knowledge Network

Government has decided to establish a National Knowledge Network (NKN) with scalable multi-gigabit capabilities which will connect 1000 covering the universities, research institutions, libraries, laboratories, hospitals and agricultural institutions across the country.

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing:

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) is premier R & D organization of the Department for carrying out R & D in IT, Electronics and associated areas.
C-DAC commissioned a supercomputing system called PARAM ‘’Yuva” in November 2008. Its Rmax (sustained performance) is 37.80 Teraflops and Rpeak (peak performance) is 54.01 TFs. It ranked 68th in the list of TPP500 supercomputers announced in November 2008 at Supercomputing Conference ‘SCO8’ held at Austin, Texa, USA.

National Informatics Centre:

The National Informatics Centre (NIC) is the nodal S & T organisation of the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology for facilitating the process of e-Governance in the country. NIC has scored many firsts in the field of informatics development & networking for decision support in the Central Government Departments, 28 State Governments, one National Capital Territory of Delhi and 6 Union Territories, and about 611 District administrations at sub-state level. It is the only organization in India to provide total informatics support to the Ministers and Departments of the Central, State Governments, District Administration and other Government bodies.

Autonomous Institutes and Public Sector Undertakings:

National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi: The Institute continues to make inroads into basic research related to the immune system with a commitment that the knowledge gained would contribute to newer and more effective ways of addressing the health needs of the country. During the year more than 50 peer reviewed manuscripts and 5 reviews have been published. The Institute continued with the concept of ‘end-to-end’ research in the biosciences and have signed MoU with Astra Zeneca India, Bangalore, and Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Ahmedabad on a technology related to novel molecules that inhibit Mycobacterial Fad D proteins and can have the potential as anti-mycobacterial drugs.
National Centre for Cell Science, Pune : The Centre has emphasis on R&D activities in the areas of cell biology including stem cell biology, signal transduction, cancer biology diabetes, infection and immunity and chromating architecture and gene regulation. The national cell repository supplied 1154 cell lines to 128 scientific institutions in India.
Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderabad : The Centre of DNA Fingerprinting and Giagnostics (CDFD) is an autonomous organization funded by the Department of biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India CDFD has been providing services for DNA fingerprinting, diagnostics, new born screening and boiinformatics based modern high-technology DNA-based methods, of direct benefit to the public, as well as in performing fundamental research of international standards in frontier areas of biological science. CDFD also has a Sun Microsystem’s Centre of Excellence in Medical Bioinformatics.
National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), Haryana : The National Brain Research Centre was established to create a Centre of Excellence in Brain Research with state of art facility in the country to consolidate, network and undertake basic research of high caliber in neuroscience and also to generate highly trained human resources.
National Institute for Plant Genome Research (NCPGR), New Delhi : The National Institute for Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), New Delhi (previously a National Centre) is engaged in plant genomic research with focus on structural genomics and functional with application genomics. It is working on Genomics of certain crops and manipulation of genes / genomes to breed improved varieties of food and industrial crops such as Chickpea, Catharanthus, Potato, Lathyrus, Rice, Sweet Potato and Cassasva.