Secretary Department of Science and Technology Prof. Ashutosh Sharma underlined the increasing attention given by India to sharing of scientific data as was evident from India’s National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (INDSAP) and an open government data portal, at the Science & Technology Ministerial Roundtable, organized in the 17^th annual Science Technology and Society (STS) Forum.

“Scientific data sharing is being considered for inclusion in the New S T I P 2020 being framed. Data is the new water, and we do want to share it as global partners,” Prof. Sharma emphasised.

The online Science & Technology Ministerial Roundtable organised on 3rd October 2020 and hosted by Japan, deliberated on the role of international R&D collaboration, social sciences & humanities, and open science. It saw the participation of S&T heads from about 50 countries around the world and explored the opportunities arising from international collaborations in science and technology to address the challenges posed by COVID 19.

Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary Department of Science & Technology who represented India at the Ministers’ Roundtable, highlighted India’s major initiatives in S&T collaboration, social sciences & open science. He said that India gives extraordinary importance to international cooperation in S&T for development and for addressing challenges of health, water, energy, environment, climate change, communication, and natural disasters.”

He spoke about India’s active S&T collaboration with over 40 countries in the world. “We are also part of all the major multilateral and regional S&T platforms and groupings such as the EU, BRICS, ASEAN, G20, Africa Initiatives, UN and OECD S&T platform as well as international mega-science projects such as ITER, TMT, LIGO and so on. Coalitions for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, International Solar Alliance and Mission Innovation are India’s global initiatives in the management of disasters and clean energy,” he added.

Prof. Ashutosh Sharma highlighted that vaccines for coronavirus are in advanced phases of trial, and India has the capacity to supply the vaccine to a major part of humanity.

The high-level ministerial meeting witnessed participation from countries like Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, India, Iraq, Russia, South Africa, and others.

The forum community highlighted critical role of S&T in fighting the current pandemic situation and agreed that strong international collaboration in the field of science & technology, cutting edge science, and open science were the most important tools to solve the current crisis and prepare for the upcoming crisis of the future.

Science and Technology Ministers’ Roundtable is held along with the STS forum every year. The STS forum aims to provide a new mechanism for open discussions on an informal basis and to build a human network that would, in time, resolve the new types of problems stemming from the application of science and technology.

The RAISE-2020 Summit, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, will witness experts likeDr. Manish Gupta, Director, Google Research, Mr. Gaurav Sharma, VP, IBM India Software Labs, Mr. BhaskarGorti, President, Nokia Software, GargiDasgupta, Director, IBM Research India and CTO, IBM India, and Mr. Henri Verdier, French Ambassador for Digital Affairs, Government of France, among others, participating on October 8 and October 9.The Government of India is organizing the Global Virtual Summit on Artificial Intelligence (AI), RAISE 2020- ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020,’ from October 5-9, 2020.

Mr. Gupta and Mr. Sharma will talk about scaling AI research to solve big societal problems. Mr. Gorti will elaborate on AI for All and will detail measures to make AI accessible. Ms. Dasgupta will talk about leveraging AI for pandemic preparedness, while Mr. Verdier will share his views on AI governance and creating an institutional mechanism for collaboration and innovation.

On October 8, the session on scaling AI research to solve societal problems will also be attended by Professor SunitaSarawagi, Institute Chair Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay, and Mr. VivekRaghavan, Chief Product Manager and Biometric architect at Unique Identification Authority of India.

Later in the day, there will be a session detailing Telangana’s story of using AI to address developmental challenges. Mr. JayeshRanjan, Principal Secretary, ITEC Department, Government of Telangana will lead the session. Ms. Sangeeta Gupta, SVP, NASSCOM, Dr. P. Anandan, CEO, Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Professor PJ Narayanan, Director, IIT Hyderabad, among others, will be in attendance.

Apart from Mr. Gorti, the session on AI for All will be attended by Mr. Balendu Sharma, Localization and Accessibility Lead, Microsoft India, and Jeffery J. Rittener, Chief Government Affairs Officer, Intel.

There will also be a session on leveraging AI for learning on October 8, which will be headlined by Ms. Shalini Kapoor, IBM Fellow, Director India Software Labs. Dr. Manish Kumar, MD and CEO, National Skill Development Corporation, Ms. IndraniChoudhary, Chief Learning Officer, Microsoft India, Mr. Manav Sehgal, Head – Digital Innovation, India/South Asia, Amazon, and Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque, UNICEF’s India representative will also attend this session.

The day will also witness a fireside chat between Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO NITI Aayog and Swedish Banker and Industrialist, Mr. Marcus Wallenberg. Running in parallel to this will be a fireside chat between Ms. Rekha Menon, Chairperson and MD, Accenture, and Mr. Abhishek Singh, President & CEO, NeGD and CEO, MyGov.

The summit will also witness on October 8, a session on the future of work, which will be led by Mr. Michal Rutkowski, Global Director for Social Protection and Labor, World Bank Group and Dr. carl Benedikt Frey, Director of Work at Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford. Dr. R. Ramanan, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission and Mr. Sridhar Vembu, Founder, ZOHO, will also attend the session.

This will be followed by a session on infrastructure for AI-led innovation, which will be headlined by Ms. Deepali Khanna, MD, Asia Regional Office, Rockefeller Foundation and Mr. Jonathan Tsuen Yip Wong, Chief of Technology and Innovation, Trade, Investment and Innovation Division at United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

Ms. Nivruti Rai, Country Head, Intel India, and Dr. Aloknath De, Chief Technology Officer, Samsung R&D, will address a session on collaboration and data driven research and decision making. This session will be led by a keynote address by Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology.

On October 9, Dr. GargiDasgupta, Director, IBM Research India and CTO, IBM India, Mr. VikramDendi, GM, Chief Product Officer, Microsoft Health Next and Mr. Arvind Sivaramakrishnan, CIO, Apollo Hospitals, among others, will address a session on leveraging AI for pandemic preparedness.

The day will also witness two fireside chats that will run in parallel. The first one will be on creating AI innovators, between Ms. Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM and Ms. Nigel Wilson, Founding Partner at Awaken AI.

The second fireside chat will be between Mr. VivekWadhwa, Fellow & Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon’s School of Engineering, and Mr. Amitabh kant, CEO, NITI Aayog.

Professor K. Vijayraghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India, Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, Mr. Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary MeitY, Dr. Neeta Verma, DG, NIC, among others will participate in a session on role of government in AI enablement.

So far, more than 45,619 stakeholders from academia, the research industry and government representatives from 133 countries have registered to participate in RAISE 2020.

From agriculture to fin-tech and healthcare to infrastructure, India is witnessing rapid integration of artificial intelligence across fields. India can become the AI garage of the world and contribute to inclusive development and growth through empowerment, by delivering cutting edge technological solutions. The RAISE 2020 Summit (http://raise2020.indiaai.gov.in/) will serve as a platform for discussion and consensus building to help create a data-rich environment, which will help to eventually transform lives globally.

About RAISE 2020:

RAISE 2020 is a first-of-its-kind, global meeting of minds on Artificial Intelligence to drive India’s vision and roadmap for social transformation, inclusion and empowerment through responsible AI. Organized by Government of India along with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and NITI Aayog, the event will witness robust participation from global industry leaders, key opinion makers, Government representatives and academia.

Shri Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Government of India inaugurated Phoolbagan Metro station of East-West Metro today i.e. on 4th October, 2020.  Shri Piyush Goyal also flagged off the first train from the newly inaugurated Phoolbgan station through video link. In his address, congratulating all for taking extra initiative to complete the work of Phoolbagan station in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic, Shri Goyal said that this extension of services from Salt Lake Stadium to Phoolbagan (a stretch of 1.665 kms) will be a great help for the commuters more so because of its proximity to Sealdah station. Terming this as a gift for Durga Puja, he also said that Metro provides the safest, cleanest and fastest transportation system in Kolkata.

He has further reassured that if land is made available and encroachments are removed then funds won’t be a constraint for implementing any Railway project.

Shri Babul Supriyo, Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change congratulated Hon’ble Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry for taking the initiative to commission this modern and beautiful Phoolbagan Metro station so early. He expressed his hope that in the coming days people will be able to commute to and from Sealdah station easily due to this extension of East-West Metro. 

Sushri Debasree Chaudhuri, Minister of State for Women and Child Development was also present in this programme and expressed her happiness for commissioning of Phoolbagan station.

Shri Manoj Joshi, General Manager, Metro Railway, in his inaugural address spoke about how the opening of this station will facilitate Metro commuters to go to the IT Hub in Salt Lake Sector-V, International Bus Terminal and Mela Ground in Karunamoyee, important Government offices at Central Park and the famous Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium).

Total length of this project is 16.5 kms.and the total estimated project cost is Rs.  8574.98 Cr. This will connect Howrah on the West bank of the river Hooghly with Salt Lake City on its East bank.

            The first-phase of the East-West Metro from Salt Lake Stadium to Salt Lake Sector V was inaugurated by Shri Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry, Government of India on 13th February, 2020.

Commercial services to and from Phoolbagan station will start from 05.10.2020 (Monday). Daily 48 services will run from 08:00 hrs to 19:50 hrs from Salt Lake Sector-V to Phoolbagan at 30 minutes interval.  The last service will start from Salt Lake Sector-V and Phoolbagan stations at 19:30 hrs. There will be no service on Sunday.

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 today released a Coffee Table Book on “Discovering the Heritage of Assam”, with foreword by Amitabh Bachchan and published by Penguin.

The voluminous coffee table book with pictures and photographs on glaze paper presents an absorbing compilation of heritage, faith, beliefs and traditions of different ethnic tribes and subtribes living in the largest State of the North Eastern Region.

While releasing the book, Dr Jitendra Singh congratulated its author Padampani Bora, who is by profession an officer of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS-2009 batch), but has over the years established himself as an accomplished author, specializing in the subjects reflecting diverse nuances of the North Eastern Region of India.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, while mostly it is suggested that North East should be brought closer to the rest of India, very few understand that actually there is much more that in fact the rest of India can learn from the North East. The book by Padampani Bora, he said, will help to understand the grand splendour and glory of the undiscovered facets of Assam.

Dr Jitendra Singh suggested wide circulation of the Coffee Table Book and hoped that Bora’s creation will not only remain confined to the pages of the book but would also serve as cultural and heritage ambassador of the North East for the rest of the world.

Hitting back at the opposition parties and accusing them of misleading the innocent farmers, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said today that contrary to the false propaganda being spread, as per the new legislation, the farmer can terminate the contract at any time and can withdraw from the contract agreement at any point without any penalty.

During an interaction with farmers and village representatives of Majalta area in district Udhampur in Jammu & Kashmir, Dr Jitendra Singh categorically stated that a contract agreement will guarantee the farmers to get the fixed price. Moreover, the new legislation clearly prohibits sale, lease or mortgage of farmers’ land, he said. Therefore, there is no substance in the allegation by Congress leaders that big companies will exploit farmers in the name of contract, he added.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, particularly for the farmers living in far flung and hilly areas, the new legislative arrangement will prove to be a boon. Elaborating further, he said, earlier many of the farmers harvested their crops and then reconciled to their fate of a middle man coming and picking up the entire crop and giving them a petty cost depending on his will and choice, he said.

Dr Jitendra Singh said if there is any government which has done the maximum for the farmers in the minimum time span of six years, it is the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Over the last six years, he recalled the numerous innovative reforms brought in by the Modi government which included Soil Health Card, PM KisanSammanNidhiYojna, Kisan Card, Micro-irrigation, creation of e-Mandis and FPOs.

Those who participated in the interaction included farmers from Thelora and surrounding Panchayats, representatives from village Kaley and surrounding areas. While advocate Amit Sharma conducted the interaction, others who spoke included Cap (Retd) Gopal Singh, Bishan Das and Suresh Kumar.

Hitting back at the opposition parties and accusing them of misleading the innocent farmers, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said today that contrary to the false propaganda being spread, as per the new legislation, the farmer can terminate the contract at any time and can withdraw from the contract agreement at any point without any penalty.

During an interaction with farmers and village representatives of Majalta area in district Udhampur in Jammu & Kashmir, Dr Jitendra Singh categorically stated that a contract agreement will guarantee the farmers to get the fixed price. Moreover, the new legislation clearly prohibits sale, lease or mortgage of farmers’ land, he said. Therefore, there is no substance in the allegation by Congress leaders that big companies will exploit farmers in the name of contract, he added.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, particularly for the farmers living in far flung and hilly areas, the new legislative arrangement will prove to be a boon. Elaborating further, he said, earlier many of the farmers harvested their crops and then reconciled to their fate of a middle man coming and picking up the entire crop and giving them a petty cost depending on his will and choice, he said.

Dr Jitendra Singh said if there is any government which has done the maximum for the farmers in the minimum time span of six years, it is the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Over the last six years, he recalled the numerous innovative reforms brought in by the Modi government which included Soil Health Card, PM KisanSammanNidhiYojna, Kisan Card, Micro-irrigation, creation of e-Mandis and FPOs.

Those who participated in the interaction included farmers from Thelora and surrounding Panchayats, representatives from village Kaley and surrounding areas. While advocate Amit Sharma conducted the interaction, others who spoke included Cap (Retd) Gopal Singh, Bishan Das and Suresh Kumar.

India has crossed a landmark milestone. The active cases has been maintained the below the 10 lakh mark for 14 days unabated.

The Centre-led strategies of “TEST TRACK TRACE TREAT TECHNOILOGY” have been followed by the State/UT governments, as part of the Whole of Government approach. Early identification of the cases through aggressive and accessible countrywide testing combined with other measures such as prompt and efficient tracking and tracing of the contacts have borne results. The Centre has issued the Standard Treatment Protocol which has ensured a standardised standard of treatment and cure across various hospitals and health facilities, public and private.

India’s total recoveries stands at 55,86,703 today.

The higher number of single day recoveries has resulted in sustained increase in the national recovery rate, currently pegged at 84.34%.

75% of new recovered cases are recorded in 10 States and UTs. Maharashtra alone has contributed more than 15,000 to the new recovered cases followed by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh with more than 7,000 cases each.

 The second edition of Indian Navy (IN) – Bangladesh Navy (BN) Bilateral Exercise Bongosagar is scheduled to commence in Northern Bay of Bengal on 03 October 2020. Exercise Bongosagar, whose first edition was held in 2019, is aimed at developing inter-operability and joint operational skills through conduct of a wide spectrum of maritime exercises and operations. In the upcoming edition of Exercise Bongosagar, ships from both navies will participate in surface warfare drills, seamanship evolutions and helicopter operations. 

              This exercise will be followed by the 3rd edition of IN – BN Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) in Northern Bay of Bengal from 4 to 5 October 2020, wherein IN and BN units will undertake joint patrolling along the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). Conduct of CORPATs has strengthened understanding between both the navies and instituted measures to stop conduct of unlawful activities.

Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kiltan, an indigenously built Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette and INS Khukri, an indigenously built Guided-Missile Corvette are participating along with Bangladesh Naval Ship (BNS) Abu Bakr, a Guided-Missile Frigate and BNS Prottoy, a Guided-Missile Corvette. In addition to ships, Maritime Patrol Aircraft from both navies and integral helicopter(s) would also be participating in the exercise.

          India and Bangladesh have a close, long-standing relationship covering a wide spectrum of activities and interactions, which has strengthened over the years. The people of India and Bangladesh also share close cultural bonds and a shared vision of democratic society and a rules-based order.

            This edition of Exercise Bongosagar assumes greater significance since it is being conducted during Mujib Barsho, the 100th birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

             Exercise Bongosagar  and IN – BN CORPAT will be undertaken over three days and reflects the priority that Indian Navy accords to Bangladesh Navy as part of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region).

 The second edition of Indian Navy (IN) – Bangladesh Navy (BN) Bilateral Exercise Bongosagar is scheduled to commence in Northern Bay of Bengal on 03 October 2020. Exercise Bongosagar, whose first edition was held in 2019, is aimed at developing inter-operability and joint operational skills through conduct of a wide spectrum of maritime exercises and operations. In the upcoming edition of Exercise Bongosagar, ships from both navies will participate in surface warfare drills, seamanship evolutions and helicopter operations. 

              This exercise will be followed by the 3rd edition of IN – BN Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) in Northern Bay of Bengal from 4 to 5 October 2020, wherein IN and BN units will undertake joint patrolling along the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). Conduct of CORPATs has strengthened understanding between both the navies and instituted measures to stop conduct of unlawful activities.

Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kiltan, an indigenously built Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette and INS Khukri, an indigenously built Guided-Missile Corvette are participating along with Bangladesh Naval Ship (BNS) Abu Bakr, a Guided-Missile Frigate and BNS Prottoy, a Guided-Missile Corvette. In addition to ships, Maritime Patrol Aircraft from both navies and integral helicopter(s) would also be participating in the exercise.

          India and Bangladesh have a close, long-standing relationship covering a wide spectrum of activities and interactions, which has strengthened over the years. The people of India and Bangladesh also share close cultural bonds and a shared vision of democratic society and a rules-based order.

            This edition of Exercise Bongosagar assumes greater significance since it is being conducted during Mujib Barsho, the 100th birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

             Exercise Bongosagar  and IN – BN CORPAT will be undertaken over three days and reflects the priority that Indian Navy accords to Bangladesh Navy as part of Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region).

A noble initiative of associating Divyang people with Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan was launched by Union MSME Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari with distribution of mobile Khadi selling units in his Parliamentary Constituency of Nagpur on Gandhi Jayanti today. Shri Gadkari distributed E-rickshaws to 5 divyang people through video-conference. These beneficiaries will be able to sell various Khadi products like Khadi fabric, readymade clothes, food items, food spices and other locally made products in nearby villages. Another 5 mobile Khadi selling units will be distributed in next few days.

Shri Gadkari lauded the initiative of KVIC saying this would empower the Divyang people by creating sustainable livelihood opportunities. At the same time, he said, this will increase the sale of Khadi and thus prompt higher production by Khaid artisans. He said efforts will be made to distribute at least 500 such mobile selling units to divyang people in every district of India.

“This is the first-of-its-kind initiative in the country by KVIC. With these mobile selling units, our Divyang brothers will be able to earn a respectable and sustainable livelihood. As they will go to different villages selling Khadi products, it will also increase the reach of Khadi to a larger population,” Shri Gadkari said.

In another initiative that will create local employment to Khadi Silk artisans, Minister of State for MSME, Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi laid the foundation of a Silk Production cum Training Center at Choudwar in Odisha. This is the first such unit in the state that will produce high quality Tussar Silk yarn.

On this occasion, Shri Sarangi said this was a major step towards empowering the local artisans and increasing the silk production in Odisha. He said Odisha is known for producing high quality Silk; however, for want of a local Silk production and training center, the raw material had to be procured from outside. “This will not only be helpful in training our artisans but create sustainable employment too,” Shri Sarangi said.

KVIC Chairman Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena, who also joined the event through video-conference, said the Silk production cum training unit will be a big boost to the Silk activities in the state and assured that the unit will start functioning in the next two to three months.

Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), an apex industry body have embarked upon a new three-year initiative jointly for Tribal Entrepreneurship Development’. The program was kick-started today by the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda through Video conference. ASSOCHAM has been designated as one of several Centres of Excellence which are partnering with Ministry of Tribal Affairs to carry out special projects related to socio-economic development of Tribals.

Shri Arjun Munda during his key note address called upon all the stakeholders, including the industry members, to join in the efforts of developing the potential of the tribal communities and building their capacities to enhance their contribution in socio-economic growth thus fulfilling the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat given by the Prime Minister. He said that a country can only become self – reliant when its people will be made self- reliant. Citing various initiatives of his Ministry, he emphasised how these programs would understand and enhance the untapped potential and skills of rural and tribal communities, and provide possible solutions for their livelihood. With this new initiative of ASSOCHAM, he hoped to position and develop tribal offerings in national and International market and in turn create better livelihood opportunities for tribal artisans.

Shri Deepak Khandekar, Secretary, Minister of Tribal Affairs while sharing his views on tribal entrepreneurship said that the tribal communities have a great knowledge and skills and the entrepreneurship development initiatives would make them realise about their inherent strength so that they can available vast opportunities available with them so that they can use their skills and establish commercial ventures.

Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani President, ASSOCHAM, said that more than 4.5 lakh SMEs are directly or indirectly currently associated with our organization. Through this Centre of Excellence, value addition, technology advance and marketing of tribal products would be facilitated to the tribal communities in a more effective and efficient manner. The ‘Tribal Entrepreneurship Development Programme’ would optimize the contribution of tribal population to the growing economy of our country and support India’s vision of becoming Atmanirbhar. He urged all members to come forward and collaborate with the Ministry to adopt a village near their factories in collaboration with Ministry.

DG, IIPA Sh. SN Tripathi stressed how the Atam Nirbhar Bharat initiative is connected to the teachings of father of Nation who always emphasised the role of tribals and rural India in Nation building.

Mr. Deepak Sood, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM, said, “In a bid to promote and support entrepreneurship across Indian tribal communities, efforts are underway in connecting agriculture and forest produce with markets using technology, creation of self-help groups, empowering women, and creating self-sustainable enterprises. The ‘ASSOCHAM will strive to explore avenues of promotion to create a robust tribal brand identity and in the process – build and enhance the entrepreneurial capabilities of the tribal artisans.”

Dr Navaljit Kapoor, Joint Secretary, MoTA delivered a presentation and briefed about several projects undertaken by the Ministry in collaboration with States, Trifed, and reputed Government and Non-Government Organizations spread over country and also discussed various models of entrepreneurship development undertaken with these partner organizations, designated as Centre of Excellences.

Ms. Meenakshi Sharma ASG, ASSOCHAM briefed about the project, where in 1000 tribal artisans would be identified under this initiative and would be helped to create a unique brand identity with a differentiated value proposition and connect with the potential customer base through exhibitions, Virtual road shows and explore participation of the entrepreneur’s in major events across the country and internationally.

To mark the ‘Launch of Tribal Entrepreneurship Development Programme’, ASSOCHAM also conducted a webinar titled, ‘Khadi: Symbol of independent Atmanirbhar Bharat’to commemorate the birth of Mahatma Gandhi and to celebrate upliftment, inclusion and empowerment of our underprivileged, marginalized and impoverished communities. The discussion focused on the urgency to promote and support entrepreneurship of the tribal communities in the country. Shri Vineet Agarwal, Sr. Vice President, ASSOCHAM, Dr. Atul Kochhar, CEO, National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH), Dr. Manish Pande, Director & Head, Project Analysis & Documentation (PAD) Division, Quality Council of India, Dr. Manu Gupta, Co- Founder Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) along with other senior industry players shared their views on the tribal development .

More than 300 participants across the country including Officers from State Government, TRI, various partner organisation working with Ministries and Mentors from GOAL program along with Officers of Ministry, IIPA and ASSOCHAM attended the event through vedio conference.

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under Ministry of Steel  has supplied the majority portion of steel in the construction of the Atal Rohtang Tunnel, which will be inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi tomorrow. SAIL has supplied more than 9000 Tonnes of its quality steel, out of the 15000 Tonnes of steel used in the entire project. The tunnel is set to become the world’s longest road tunnel at an altitude of above 3,000 metres. The Company has once again partnered in building a vital infrastructure for the Nation and making India stronger.

Union Minister for Steel and Petroleum & Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan complimented SAIL and said, “This tunnel will be of great significance to the locals as well as for strategic movements. It will boost connectivity of the Spiti Valley. This is an achievement considering the very challenging conditions of the construction site and weather. SAIL has supplied a large quantity of steel for this project. It has always come forward and supplied steel for national requirement and in future also will continue to do so”.

An all-weather tunnel, Atal Tunnel will connect Manali to Lahaul and Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh throughout the year. The 9000 Tonnes of steel supplied by SAIL consisted of around 6500 tonnes of TMT, 1500 Tonnes of Structurals and 1000 Tonnes of Plates for fabricating Beams and small quantity of SAIL GP/GC sheets for constructing stations and control rooms.

Shri Anil Kumar Chaudhary, Chairman, SAIL commented, “SAIL has always committed itself and will continue to be in the service of the Nation. It is a proud moment for the Company to have partnered in such an important project for strengthening India. The new facilities at SAIL are also adding to our capacities and expertise in fulfilling every domestic requirement. As India moves forward in becoming Atmanirbhar, SAIL will participate in producing the strong steel needed to fuel every infrastructural need of the Nation”.

“The need of the hour is to ensure more youngsters develop interest in Science. For that we must get well-versed with science of history and history of science”, said Prime Minister Sh Narendra Modi today while inaugurating the Vaishvik Bhartiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) Summit, a global virtual summit of overseas and resident Indian Researchers and Academicians.

 “VAIBHAV Summit 2020 celebrates Science and Innovation from India and World. I would call it a true sangam or confluence of great minds, through this gathering we sit to form our long lasting association for empowering India and our planet”, he said.

Shri Narendra Modi said, Government of India has taken numerous measures to boost scientific research and innovation as science is at the core of its efforts towards socio-economic change.

Prime Minister referred to India’s immense efforts towards development of vaccines and executing the vaccination programme.

He said, the long break in vaccine production is broken. In 2014 four new vaccines were introduced into our immunization programme. This includes indegineously developed rota vaccine.

He mentioned about ambitious mission to eliminate tuberculosis in India by 2025, which is five years before the global target.

Shri Narendra Modi referred to the National Education Policy 2020 which was brought in after three decades and after nation-wide detailed consultations and deliberations. The policy aims to boost curiosity towards science and gives much needed boost to Scientific Research. It provides open and broadbased environment to nurture young talent.

 Prime Minister mentioned about the pioneering space reforms of India which will create opportunities for industry and academia.

Mentioning about Indian partnership in Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, CERN and International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), he highlighted the importance of scientific research and development efforts at global level.

He also referred to India’s major missions on supercomputing and cyber physical systems. Talking about fundamental research and applications in areas of artificial intelligence, robotics, sensors, and big data analysis, he said that this will boost the startup sectors and manufacturing in India.   

He mentioned about the 25 innovation technological hubs already launched in India and how it would further boost the startup ecosystem.

He said , India wants top quality research to help its farmers. He praised Indian scientists for increasing the production of pulses and food grains.

Prime Minister said when India progresses the World progresses.

Prime Minister said that VAIBHAV presents a great opportunity to connect and contribute; when India prospers, the world also takes a lead.  Calling VAIBHAV as a confluence of great minds, he said that these efforts will help create an ideal research ecosystem, merging tradition with modernity to create prosperity. These exchanges will certainly be useful and will also lead to useful collaborations in teaching and research. These efforts of the scientists and researchers will help create an ideal research ecosystem. 

Prime Minister mentioned that Indian diaspora are the excellent ambassadors of India at the world stage. The summit should look forward to realising the dream of building a secure and prosperous future for the coming generations. India wants top-class scientific research to help our farmers. This summit will lead to useful collaborations in teaching and research. The efforts of the Indian diaspora will help create ideal research ecosystem.

In VAIBHAV summit, more than 3000 overseas Indian origin academicians and scientists from 55 countries and about 10,000 from India are taking part and it is being organized by 200 Indian academic institutes and S&T departments, led by Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India. Around 700 overseas panelists from 40 countries and 629 resident panelists from eminent Indian academia and S&T departments will deliberate on 18 different verticals with 80 sub-topics in 213 sessions. 

The deliberations will be held from 3rd October to 25th October 2020, with consolidation of outcomes on 28th October. The summit will conclude on the occasion of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Jayanti i.e. 31st October 2020. The initiative involves multiple levels of interactions among the overseas experts and Indian counterparts over a month-long series of webinars and video conferences. 

The broad S&T areas that will be discussed during the summit includes computational sciences, electronics & communication, quantum technologies, photonics, aerospace technologies, medical sciences, biotechnology, agriculture, material & processing technologies, advanced manufacturing, earth sciences, energy, environmental sciences, and management.

The aim of the summit is to bring out a comprehensive roadmap leveraging the expertise and knowledge of global Indian researchers for addressing emerging challenges for universal development. The summit will reflect on the collaboration and cooperation instruments with academia and scientists in India and abroad. The goal is to create an ecosystem of Knowledge and Innovation in the country through global outreach.

Principal Scientific Advisor Prof K. Vijayaraghavan and 16 overseas panelists from different countries viz. USA, Japan, Australia, UK, France, Singapore, Republic of Korea, Brazil and Switzerland, working in different domains such as computing & communication, sono-chemistry, high energy physics, manufacturing technologies, management, geo-science, climate changes, microbiology, IT security, nano-materials, smart villages, and mathematical sciences  interacted with the Prime Minister during the inaugural session.