New Delhi
(Press Information Bureau)

Main Fields - Green Technologies, Climate Change, Monsoon and Cyclone Forecasting

India and US will work on some of the frontline areas for focused collaborative research. These include development of green technologies and collaborative research in addressing the challenges of climate change, monsoon and cyclone forecasting and analysis, weather forecasting and crop management, Wheat Genome Sequencing; Human Genetic-Genome Analysis; Stem Cell Research; Nano Biotechnology; Plant breading Technologies and Food Security; Micro-electronics and Material Science and Technology, Nano Science and Technology and Supercomputing.

Addreressing INDO-US Science and Technology Innovation Expo here today, Shri Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences said, “ Larger objective of the cooperation between the two countries should be to ensure for people of both the countries better standards of life in larger freedom.” He said that those who believe in common values of human freedom, dignity, democracy, justice and the rule of law, must stand together, work together and triumph together in meeting the various challenges that we fare in common. Sh Ashwani Kumar said, “New opportunities for both the countries are fast emerging to nurture and foster a bi-directional entrepreneurial ecosystem by adopting some of the best practices and successful models based on the concepts of ‘mind to market’. Since its inception in March 2007 the India Innovation Growth Program has led to the synergy of more than 100 business transactions between India and USA with an estimated economic value of over Rs. 350 crores (US$ 77 million). Similarly, the Stanford India Biodesign program has resulted into 20 patents being filed and several proto-types of affordable bio-medical devises and technologies developed which are at various pre-commercialization stages.

National Innovation Council (NIC) whose focus is on equitable growth is facilitating the setting up of 40 industry and university innovation clusters across the country to seed innovations; it is working on creating a $ 1 Billion Inclusive Innovation Fund on a PPP model to drive and catalyse the creation of an eco-system of enterprise. Giving details of initiatives between the two countries, the Minister informed, “Concrete steps have been taken towards Indo-US Bi-national S&T Commission, Indo-US S&T Endowment Fund, Indo-US High Technology Cooperation Group, the DST – NSF Programme of Cooperation for Scientists and Engineers, Indo-US S&T Forum, Indo-US Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Centre etc.