NINE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MISSIONS

March 7, 2019

The Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) has launched nine mission of national importance, including those on artificial intelligence, quantum computing, electric vehicles and deep ocean exploration.

About: 

  • The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India has held 4 meetings of the PM-STIAC since October 2018 and key national missions emerged from the discussions, which are being driven by the PM-STIAC through the PSA’s office. 

  • Each mission is being led by a lead Ministry and will engage international and national institutional partners, young scientists and industry. 

List of Nine Science and Technology Missions: 

  1. Natural Language Translation: The mission will eventually enable access to teaching and research material bilingually i.e. in English and one’s native Indian language. 

  2. Quantum frontier: This mission aims to initiate work in control of the quantum mechanical systems. 

  3. Artificial intelligence: This mission will focus on efforts that will benefit India in addressing societal needs in areas such as healthcare, education, agriculture, smart cities and infrastructure, including smart mobility and transportation. 

  4. National biodiversity mission: This mission will include a comprehensive documentation of India’s biodiversity with the potential for cataloguing and mapping all lifeforms in India including associated cultural and traditional practices. 

  5. Electric vehicles: This mission is critical for India to reduce fossil fuel consumption and mitigate emissions by making Electric Vehicles (EVs) economically viable and scalable. 

  6. BioScience for Human Health: The primary goal of the mission is to construct comprehensive reference maps of genomes and to understand the dynamics of how exposure to different environments have impact on our bodies. 

  7. Waste to Wealth: The goal of the mission is to identify, develop and deploy technologies to treat waste to generate energy, recycle materials and extract worth. 

  8. Deep Ocean Exploration: The purposes of this mission is to scientifically explore the deep oceans towards improving our understanding of the blue frontier. 

  9. AGNIi: This mission aims to support the national efforts to boost the innovation ecosystem in the country by connecting innovators across industry, individuals and the grassroots to the market and helping commercialise innovative solutions. 

Source : PIB