04 Oct

India and Nano Technology

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Contents

• Introduction of the Nano Mission
• Objectives of the Nano Mission
• Achievements of the Mission

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Mission on Nano Science and Technology (Nano Mission)

 Introduction

• It is an umbrella program of GoI for overall development in the field of Nanotechnology.
• It was launched in 2007 with an allocation of Rs 1,000 crore which was further extended during the 12^th five-year plan.
• It is structured in a fashion to achieve synergy between the national research efforts of various agencies in Nano Science and Technology and launch new programs in a concerted fashion.
• Department of Science and Technology is the nodal agency for the mission.

Objectives of the Nano-Mission

• Basic Research Promotion – funding of basic research by individual scientists or groups of scientists and creation of centre of excellence for pursuing this research.
• Infrastructure Development for Nano Science and Technology Research -> development of a chain of facilities across the country.
• Human Resource Development – Providing effective education and training to researchers and professionals in diversified fields. Launching of Sc./M.Tech programmes, create national and overseas post-doctoral fellowships, chairs in universities etc.
• International Collaborations – Exploratory visits of scientists, organization of joint workshops, conferences and joint research projects, facilitate access to sophisticated research facilities abroad, forge academia-industry partnership.
• Development of product and processes for national development
  • Especially in areas of national relevance like
    • • Safe Drinking Water
      • Materials Development
      • Sensors Development
      • Drug Delivery

Achievements of the Mission

• The mission has resulted into more than 5,000 research papers and some useful products like nano-hydrogel based eye drops, pesticide removal technology for drinking water, water filters for arsenic and fluride removal and nano-silver based on anti-microbial textile coating.
• India has moved from the fourth to the third position in the world in terms of scientific publications in nanoscience and technology.
• Institute of Nanoscience and Technology (INST): It is an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and technology, GoI.

Way Forward:

• Funds
• Human Resource
• Infra – R&D
• Industry-Academia collaboration
• University-University Collaboration