Annual Report 2018-19 Government of India Department of Science & Technology Ministry of Science & Technology New Delhi Annual Report 2018-19 Contents Overview iii 1. S&T INSTITUTIONAL & HUMAN CAPACITY BUILDING 1 1.1 R&D Support (FIST, PURSE, SAIF) 1 1.2 State S&T Programme 8 1.3 Policy Research Cell 16 1.4 Centre for Human and Organizational Research Development (CHORD) 19 1.5 KIRAN Programme for women scientists 25 1.6 Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) 33 1.7 Swarna Jayanti Fellowship 36 2 RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT 38 2.1 International Bilateral Cooperation 38 2.2 International Multilateral and Regional S&T Cooperation 55 2.3 National Mission on Nano Science & Nano Technology 63 2.4 Mega Facility for Basic Research 71 2.5 Climate Change Programme (CCP) 77 2.6 National Super Computing Mission 93 2.7 Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (ICPS) 94 3 INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT 99 3.1 Technology Development Programme 99 3.2 Technology Missions Division (CERI & WTI) 112 3.3 Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) 126 3.4 National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board 130 (NSTEDB) 3.5 National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) 142 3.6 Science for Equity for Empowerment and Development (SEED) 170 i Annual Report 2018-19 3.7 Drug & Pharmaceutical Research Programme (DPRP) 187 3.8 Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) 188 3.9 Patent Facilitation Programme (PFP) 189 3.10 Technical Research Centre 192 3.11 Exhibitions and Fairs 197 4 AUTONOMOUS INSTITUTES 199 5 SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING RESEARCH BOARD (SERB) 250 6 TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT BOARD 259 7 STRENGTHENING SURVEY AND MAPPING CAPACITY 263 8 ADMINISTRATRION AND FINANCE 285 9 DATA CELL MANAGEMENT 290 10 AUDIT OBSERVATION 292 11 BUDGET 294 12 ABBREVIATION 295 ii Annual Report 2018-19 Overview The Department of Science and Technology (DST) functions as the nodal agency to connect science and technology sector to Government verticals. DST provides the largest extramural research and development support in the country to strengthen national S&T capacity and capability through a competitive mode to scientists cutting across institutions and disciplines. This strategically important function mutually reinforces outcomes of our country’s educational, scientific and industrial R&D initiatives and helps transform the S&T landscape of the country. While a detailed account of achievements of Department’s activities during the year is presented in relevant chapters, some of the major achievements and initiatives of 2018-19 are briefly presented in the following sections: Fund for Improvement of S & T Infrastructure (FIST) in Universities and Higher Educational Institutionsis currently operated in competitive mode of support at four levels. The financial support circumscribes four basic purposes i.e. Equipment, Networking & Computational Facilities, Infrastructural Facilities and Maintenance. Depending on the level, the total financial support is limited to Rs 1.50 Crore, Rs 3.0 Crore, Rs 10.0 Crore and Rs 20.0 Crore for Level 0, Level I, Level II and Level III, respectively. 145 proposals out of 777 were identified through the evaluation process of the Program to consider financial support of varying quantum’s at a total budget of about Rs 182.23 Crores for 5 years. “Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE)” is a proactive measure of DST to build the research capacity of performing Indian Universities.Using transparent criteria forty- four (44) performing universities have been supported ranging from Rs 30.0 Crores to Rs 6.0 Crores for 4 years’ period based on publication output in Scopus International Database. Sophisticated Analytical Instrument Facilities (SAIF) have been established in different parts of the country to provide services of the facilities of sophisticated analytical instruments. There are at present 15 Nos. SAIF Centres in the country. About 19,000 researchers from all over the country utilized and benefitted from the facilities. These SAIF Centres have analyzed more than 1,25,000 samples during the year and have generated a revenue of about Rupees 10.40 crores in this year State S&T Programme facilitates states to achieve the specific S&T objectives at their level. 28 State Councils for S&T were supported by providing grant in aid of Rs. 22.16 Crores. 36 new projects/ programme were supported to address the State Specific S&T challenges, S&T surveys and studies in the tune of 19.40 Crore. Model Village establishment projects were initiated in the States: Uttarakhand (6), Meghalaya (3), Arunachal Pradesh (3) and Manipur (3) Five Policy Research Centers (PRC) have ben supported by DST in institutions across the countryto understand STI processes for making effective policies, strengthen them and link these evidences to policy making. iii Annual Report 2018-19 Centre for Human and Organizational Research Development (CHORD) conducts national surveys to generate and make available information on manpower as well as financial resources devoted to S&T activities. A spin-off publication of the National S&T Survey entitled ‘Directory of R&D Institutions 2018’ was published. A Draft Policy Document on Scientific Research Infrastructure Sharing Maintenance and Networks (SRIMAN) has been drafted. The annual Directory of Extramural R&D Projects for the years 2015-16 and 2016-17 have been compiled and published together during this year. Under “National Programme for Training of Scientists & Technologists working in Government Sector”, thirty-three training courses, benefitting about seven hundred and fifty scientists, were conducted under the programme. During the same period, under the Women Component Plan, eight courses, benefitting about one hundred and eighty women scientists, were conducted. KIRAN (Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing) embraces women- exclusive schemes of DST with the mandate to bring gender parity in S&T through various mechanisms. 348 projects out of 1022 applications were recommendedwith extensive as well as intensive scrutiny for support under WOS-A. Approximately 45% selected women scientists with break received Ph.D degree with the help of WOS-A during the tenancy of their project. Total 50 projects were recommended out of 720 proposal received under under WOS-B. Total of 104 women joined the 10th batch of WOS-C for one month orientation programme held at New Delhi in June 2018 followed by 11 months on-job training at various agencies located throughout the country. Indo-US Fellowship for Women in STEMM: 20 selected candidates screened out of 1102 applications visited 20 leading institutions across the United Sates for being fostered and trained in their labs Since the inception of CURIE (Consolidation of University Research for Innovation & Excellence in Women Universities) programme in 2009, eight (8) women universities have been supported to strengthen R&D infrastructure & facilities including Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, Delhi & Rama Devi University for Women, Bhubaneswar covered during this year. To establish Artificial Intelligence Facility in CURIE Beneficiary Universities, CURIE-AI is launched during 2018-19. This support was given to Six (6) women universities. It is expected that 10,000 girls are going to be benefitted with this component. Fifteen (15) pilot projects under Vigyan Jyoti were implemented in premier educational institutions in different parts of the country in which three weeks’ residential programme was conducted for meritorious girls studying in class IX and XI. Around 450 students were mentored to pursue higher studies and careers in Science & Engineering. Cognitive Science Research Initiative (CSRI) provides support for multi-centric mega projects, individual projects, Post-Doctoral Fellowship (PDF) and also facilitates infrastructure development, sharing of experiences and networking activities.44 individual projects and 12 CSRI-PDF projects have been supported during the year. iv Annual Report 2018-19 Science and Technology of Yoga and Meditation (SATYAM) aimed to foster scientific research on the effects of yoga and meditation on physical & mental health besides on cognitive functioning in not only in patients with disorders but also in healthy people. Against 3rd Call for Proposals made in 2017, DST received 214 research proposals from across the country. Out of 214 proposals received in SATYAM against 3rd call, 17 Projects have been recommended for financial support. Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) is to attract talent to the study of science from an early age and build the required human resource pool for strengthening and expanding the R&D base and the Science & Technology (S&T) system of the country. 132 INSPIRE Internship camps were organised for students of Class XI pursuing science in any school. So far, more than 1,00,000 INSPIRE-SHE Scholars have been offered the scholarships to pursue a career in sciences. 12,380 INSPIRE scholarships were offered during the year. Out of the 8000 INSPIRE Fellowships, 1000 INSPIRE Fellows received their fellowship during the year 2018-19. Besides this, 8INSPIRE Fellows, working as Senior Research Fellows, were selected for participating in the 11th HOPE Meeting in Japan and 27 INSPIRE Fellows, also working as Senior Research Fellows, were selected for participating in short-term Research Internship Programmes at various Laboratories/Universities in UK under the Newton-Bhabha Programme.