From agriculture to artificial intelligence, Indian science has seen a resurgence over the last one year and made notable contributions to several domains
The clarion call for Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan (self-reliant India campaign) by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has brought about a tremendous transformation in the nation's scientific landscape. The scientists from our public sector research institutions took up the call and initiated many projects in mission mode to nurture an ecosystem that promotes research and innovation.
From agriculture to artificial intelligence, Indian science has seen a resurgence during the past on year.The scientists have come out with great innovations that can compete with any in the western world. The quantum of research output produced during the Covid-19 pandemic is commendable. India became the first country to come out with a DNA-based coronavirus vaccine.
Science will gather acceptance only if it reaches the masses.In order to disseminate these research outputs to public, the India Science Channel, the national Science channel of our country, is producing a series of short movies under the category 'Science for a Self-Reliant India' since January 2021, through OTT platform.
The programmes are telecast both in Hindi and English so that they reach the maximum viewers. During the pandemic, the channel has produced several programmes to disseminate information regarding the covid research coming out from our research laboratories. Programmes like Tackling Covid-19: Masks, Diagnostic kits, Ventilator, Anindigenous Covid-19 vaccine, India's Battle for Oxygen Supply, Vaccine: India Fights Back, The Mystery of SARS-CoV-2 Mutations, Battling Covid-19: Dynamic Interventions, Covid-19 Vaccines and Road Ahead, highlighted the our efforts in tackling the deadly disease.
India has also developed an impressive track record in genomic research and biotechnology. The Department of Bio-Technology has been working on mission mode to provide a roadmap and an added impetus towards the growing field of genomics research in areas like cancer, hereditary diseases like diabetes to the sequencing of viruses like Covid-19.
The episode "India's Genomics Mission' highlights the contributions of National Centre for Microbial Resource (NCMR), which is a part of the National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, Centre for Brain Research at the Indian Institute of Science and Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad.
The episode highlights some of the flagship programmes towards making India a leader in genomic research programmes like the Genome India Project, the Human Microbiome Initiative and the National Genomic Core.
Tremendous developments have made in the field of alternative energy sources like Solar Energy.
The episode on "Solar Energy' tracks the science that propelled the indigenous photovoltaic cell and solar panel. In order to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels government has initiated e-mobility project. The 'Going Electric' focus on the movement to transition to electric vehicles in India, a critical move that will help both the environment and the economy.
The Government of India has a multipronged strategy to reduce imports by increasing indigenous production of biofuels in the Indian energy basket-like blending ethanol to petroleum by 20 per cent and biodiesel to diesel by five per cent. Multiple initiatives to increase indigenous production of biofuels have been taken up. The movie 'India's Push for Greener and Cleaner Fuel' highlights the contributions made by CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum in the field of biodiesel production.
Agriculture,including the animal husbandry sector, which is the back bone of our rural economy, also made tremendous developments to improve productivity. The programmes likes 'Improving oilseed production', 'Transforming Lives Through Temperate Horticulture', 'The Fragrance Economy' ,' The Cattle factor', High Altitude Animal Husbandry','Cold Water Fishery in Kashmir', ' India's Milk Story',etc., telecast on the channel highlighted how science is transforming rural economy.
The country has been at the fore front of developing assistive devices for the disabled. The episode 'Assistive Devices for the Disabled' explores how technology can power assistive devices that help people with disability overcome some of the barriers they face in life.
As India's urban population rapidly grows - the country faces major environmental challenges associated with the quantum and kind of waste generated each day. The waste not only has a direct impact on our health and the country's economy, but on the entire ecosystem. The movie,'India's Solid Waste Management Strategy', showcases few innovative techniques and technologies for Solid Waste Management (SWM) implemented by various municipal corporations as part of Swachh Bharat Mission.
Mobile usage in India is on the rise. By 2023, over 55 per cent of our population will be using not just any phone, but a smartphone.
The problem is that people are buying imported phones and accessories, not Indian ones, to meet our smartphone needs. The episode 'The Indian Mobile Phone Sector' track how India is upping her manufacturing capacity in the mobile phone sector.
Indian has made notable contributions in infrastructure developments especially in high altitude Roads, bridges and tunnels. They are of vital importance for a nation to grow, develop, protect and indeed become Atmanirbhar. The episode 'Sela Tunnel Project — Making the Impossible Possible' takes viewers to the Balipara-ChardwarTawang Road or BCT, which connects the hinterland to the border areas of Tibet and China. The episode also covers the Sela Tunnel Project being excavated and built at over 13,000 feet and highlights the contributions of Border Road Organization in nation building.
Science should be propagated among the children if we need to develop scientific temper in our society.Toys can be used as a perfect teaching model to promote science education among children, unfortunately most of scientific toys are imported.In the episode 'Science Through Play', the indigenous toy-making industries like Stemrobo and Smartivity are highlighted.
The future of science belongs to AI technology as it is going to transform our society. The episode 'Robotics in India' highlights the advancements made by India in this sector. The contributions of start-up companies like Gridbots from Ahmedabad, Asimov Tech from Kerala, are showcased in this episode.
The country has indeed made commendable achievements in every field of science and technology.
The India Science channel has been at the forefront in dissipating the scientific information and acts as a bridge between scientists and society. The channel within a short span of time has emerged as the most wanted source of reliable scientific content for the academic community as well as the common man. The channel also uses social media platforms effectively in its effort to make science more popular.
(Biju Dharmapalan is a popular science writer. Kapil K Tripathi is a scientist at Vigyan Prasar, New Delhi. The views expressed are personal.)
