Annual Report 2004-2005

International Science & Technology Cooperation

The International Science & Technology Cooperation Division deals with the International Scientific and Technological Affairs including the negotiations and implementation of Scientific and Technological Cooperation Agreements and responsibility for scientific and technological aspects of activities of international organizations. The co-operations are sought under bilateral, multilateral or regional framework modes for facilitating and strengthening interactions among governments, academia, institutions and industries in areas of mutual interest. The Division operates in close cooperation with the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian missions abroad, Foreign missions in India and UN bodies. Science Counsellors are also posted in Berlin, Moscow, Tokyo and Washington to facilitate cooperation with respective countries to which they are accredited. India currently has bilateral S&T cooperation agreements with 63 countries.

The collaborations in selected areas of mutual interest with various developed, developing / less industrialized and CIS countries are materialized through various modes of cooperation like: Exploratory missions of scientific delegations; Exchange visits of scientists for collaborative work and information exchange; Joint workshops; Fellowships/training/study visits for Indian scientists abroad and foreign scientists in India; Development and implementation of joint R&D programmes, Joint projects and collaborative R&D programmes; Support to Indian scientists to access major international research facilities abroad; Establishment of Joint Centers of Excellence; Joint preparation of state-of-the art reports etc.

In addition to the usual modes of cooperation, higher emphasis has been given, during the current year, on Establishing/setting-up of Joint Centers of Excellence; Networking Research Programmes between Indian and internationally reputed research institutions; Conclusion of arrangements for international incremental support for scientific infrastructure at Indian research laboratories; Indian participation in international research projects; Joint collaborative projects with substantial funding (beyond visits’ support); Enabling technology transfer; and conclusion of agreements with other countries on IPR. India played an active role in the regional scientific cooperation programmes.

• Bilateral programmes were implemented with ASEAN; Argentina; Armenia; Bangladesh; Belarus; Brazil; Bulgaria; Canada; China; Cuba; Egypt; European Union; France; Germany; Hungary; Indonesia; Iran; Israel; Italy; Japan; Korea (DPR); Kazakhstan; Malaysia; Mauritius; Mexico; Myanmar; Nepal; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Republic of Korea; Russia; Singapore; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Switzerland; Syria; Taiwan; Thailand; Tunisia; Ukraine; United Kingdom; United States; Uzbekistan; and Vietnam.
• Regional Programmes were implemented under South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC); BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation); and IOR - ARC (Indian Ocean Rim – Association for Regional Cooperation).
• Multilateral Programmes were implemented under STEPAN; UNESCO; TWAS; NAM S&T Centre and IBSA Cooperation.

Exploratory visits of about 50 scientists for facilitating contacts; 35 joint workshops for identifying mutual topics of interest; about 380 exchange visit based projects for collaborative work in laboratories of partner countries; about 40 major joint collaborative activities (including establishment of incremental facilities, centers of excellence, networked research, research training groups and partner groups as extended laboratories in India) were supported. About 15 visits were supported for scientists to go abroad and utilise major international research facilities. About 80 fellowships/ training stints/awards were extended to young scientists from India as well as abroad.

Visits of a number of high-level delegations for promoting S&T cooperation between India and other countries were coordinated. Some of the ministerial level visits include, visit of the German Chancellor accompanied by the Minister for Education & Research in October 2004, visit of the Chinese State Counsellor in November 2004 and Ukrainian First Deputy Minister for Education & Research in December 2004. Hon’ble Minister of State for S&T, Shri Kapil Sibal visited Serbia & Montenegro and Belarus in November 2004. Similarly, there were visits of heads of various scientific agencies abroad and from other countries towards initiation / strengthening of bilateral relations.

Highlights of some of the international scientific and technological cooperation activities are given below:

Joint Centers of Excellence

Joint centers of excellence were set up with some of the bilateral partner countries. Each of these centers is located at an Indian or foreign institution around existing capabilities and infrastructure. They are basically meant for facilitating focused and integrated interaction/collaboration between Indian and partner country institutions in identified fields of mutual interest. The activities are guided by their respective Joint Advisory Committees or such mechanisms.

Indo-French Centre on Organic Synthesis (IFCOS), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore: A seminar on Organic Synthesis and the meeting of Joint Advisory Committee took place in October 2004 at Gif-Sur-Yvette, France, resulting in information exchange on – Asymmetric synthesis, new reaction media, Organo-metallic chemistry and catalysis, Combinatorial chemistry and Bioconversions resulting in identification of new areas of cooperation like green chemistry and collaborative projects between Indian and French organic chemists.

Indo-French Laboratory for Solid State Chemistry (IFLaSC), IISc, Bangalore: Six exploratory missions were undertaken relating to topics like Understanding electron transfer process; Design, fabrication and characterization of multi-functional glass nano / micro crystal composites; and Use of novel lithium-insertion anode materials for use in lithium-ion batteries. Joint workshop was held in December 2004 at IISc, Bangalore to evolve projects. Discussions were held for future activities possibly in the areas of Glass-Crystal nano composites; Non-linear optical applications; New developments in solid state batteries; Semi-conducting nano-materials; Spin state transition and Photo-magnetism and other topics.

Indo-Russian Centre for Ayurvedic Research, Moscow: Institute of Genomics & Integrated Biology and Russian Scientific Center of Recovery Medicine and Balneology are coordinating the activities of the center. The first meeting of the Joint Committee was held during which several activities have been identified.

Indo-Russian Centre for Gas Hydrates, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai: Nine joint projects related to Geology, Study of natural processes, Estimation of resources, Ecological aspects, Economics of exploitation, Instrumentation & Devices applicable to Gas Hydrates research were initiated.

Indo-Russian Centre for Earthquake Research, India Meteorological Department, New Delhi: Seventeen joint R&D projects were identified for coordination through the center on various related topics including, GIS based framework for Earthquake Hazard Quantification; Establishment of Multiparametric Observatory; Real-time Determination of Source Parameters; Earthquake Sources in Himalayas; Crustal and Upper Mantle Resistivity Structure; Portable seismic station etc.

Indo-French Institute of Mathematics: An MOU for establishment of an Indo-French Institute of Mathematics (IFIM) was signed on 25th September at New Delhi. It is envisaged as a virtual institute for cooperation between India and France. It will also encourage exchange of young mathematicians.

Collaborative Projects in Specific Areas

Collaboration between Indian and Partner groups/scientists are supported through joint projects supported jointly with the partner country. These are generally implemented through exchange visits of scientists involved in respective project. However, depending on the level of mutual interest and funding available, some major projects are provided with additional funding for facilities, manpower and running costs. The projects were implemented in various areas like Materials Sciences, Accelerators, Microsystems, Computer Sciences, Biomedical Technology etc. A typical list of such projects is as follows:

• Design and development of prototype of inertial & flow sensors (IIT Kharagpur & ITC-irst Trento, Italy);
• Development of Biochips for Biomedical Applications (Institute for Integrative Biology, Delhi and MGRC, Moscow);
• Fabrication protocol for growing metallic and semi-conducting nano-particles in glassy matrix for photonic applications (University of Hyderabad & University of Trento, Italy);
• Disorder trapping in rapid solidification of undercooled melts of intermetallics (Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Institute for Solid State Materials Research, Dresden, Germany);
• Joint Indo-Russian Beamline for High Pressure Physics on VEPP-4 and Joint Development of Beamline components for VEPP-4 and INDUS-2 (Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore and ISSCMC, Novosibirsk);
• Simulation of orientation pattern in self-reinforcing elastomer and thermoplastic composites relating to rheology and morphology (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and Technical University, Chemnitz, Germany);
• Development of technologies to convert low-resolution remote sensed images to high spatial resolution for quantifying & monitoring natural resources (IIT Mumbai, ISI Kolkatta & Jadavpur University and University of Trento, Italy);
• Microzonation Studies in Anjar (Kutch) using micro-tremor measurements (C-MMACS, Bangalore and IRD, Cedex, France); and
  
• Modelling the Rupture process of the Rudbar Earthquake (1990) in Northwest Iran from near Field SH-Wave Date (IIT, Roorkee and Grenoble, France).

Networking Research Programmes

India-UK Science Networking programme: 30 Indian scientists visited various research laboratories/universities in UK for one to one meeting with UK scientists and develop scientific networking with them for further collaboration.

Indo-French Networking Research Programme: Network projects were supported in the areas of priority like Environmental Sciences (including water resources, climate change, water treatment, management, quality); Organic Chemistry (including synthesis of bioactive molecules); Physics (lasers); Information Technology; and Bio-informatics (in relation to Health and to Agronomy).

Interlinking European GEANT with Indian ERNET: An-India-EU Project Proposal has been finalized on “Interlinking European GEANT (Advanced Multi-giga-bit communication network of 3500 pan European research and education institutions) with Indian ERNET (Nation-wide terrestrial and satellite based network of Indian research and education institutions) for an efficient, speedy and direct connectivity between European and Indian research community and as a test bed for catalyzing India-EU research collaboration.

Indo-US Materials Research Network: A workshop of scientists from India and the USA was held to discuss the possibility of collaboration networking in the area of materials, among the institutions of India and USA.

Indian Participation in International Projects

European Research Projects (under FP6 framework): Discussions were organized through which Indian scientific community identified their interest for lateral entry in to: European Climate Change Research Projects; European Natural Disaster Research Projects; and European Road Transport Research Projects. The Joint Steering Committee will further deliberate and catalyse submission of project proposals.

Future Accelerator for Ions and Antiprotons Research in Germany: An interaction workshop between German scientists from GSI Darmstadt and Indian Accelerator and Physics community was organized to evaluate the interest and scope of Indian participation in construction of International Facility of Heavy Ions and Antiprotons (FAIR) and future physics experiments using the facility. DST and DAE signed an MoU with GSI for the preparatory phase of the FAIR project.

Utilisation of major international research facilities

Indian scientists were sponsored for utilising advanced research facilities like:

• SPring-8, Harima and KEK, Tsukuba in Japan; and
  
• Elettra, Italy

Academic Training / Study Visits / Fellowships to Young Scientists

DST-DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Project Based Personnel Exchange Programme: About 55 joint projects between Indian and German groups were supported involving upto 2 Doctoral level scientists as participating scientists. About 80 young Indian scientists were provided academic exposure through project-based exchanges.

Participation in the Annual Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students: A group of 19 young Indian scientists in the field of Physics was deputed to participate in the meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students in Lindau, Germany.

Fellowships to participate in ICTP Programmes: Under DST-ICTP Agreement, 17 Indian research scholars were awarded Fellowship to participate in 8 ICTP Scientific Events at Trieste. These fellows upto 40 years of age were from 13 Indian scientific institutions in the fields of Mathematics, Physics & Condensed Matter, Physics of High & Intermediate Energies, Medical Physics and Applied Physics.

Japanese Doctoral Fellowships: 4 Indians were nominated for RONPAKU Fellowship of JSPS for Ph.D. by dissertation.

Enabling Technology Development & Transfer

Technology Summit in partnership of CII with Russia as partner country was organized in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Russia as partner country. Around 50 Russian technology holders showcased their technologies. Indian R&D institutions and industries also showcased their technologies.13 intents for technology transfer were concluded between Russian experts and Indian industry.

An exhibition of Ukrainian technologies was organized at New Delhi in December 2004. 27 Ukrainian institutes participated and displayed hi-tech products and technologies.

Technology Route Magazine: A magazine to disseminate information about Russian technologies ready for commercialization and technology transfer to Indian industries was published on a bi-monthly basis.

Fellowships to CIS experts: Fellowships including airfares were offered to Russian and Belarusian scientists for working in India towards technology development and transfer. Indo-US High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG): The Department also participated in the bilateral meetings of the HTCG to initiate research in areas of dual use technology in the areas of Nano, Bio, Info & Defence technologies. It has been agreed to hold nanotechnology workshops in India and USA.

Indo-Israel Industrial R&D Initiative: An MoU was signed with Israel for jointly funding industrial R&D projects.

Progress in Regional Cooperation and Cooperation with Developing Countries

BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation): Hon'ble Prime Minister announced at the 1st BIMSTEC Summit held at Bangkok, Thailand on 30-31 July 2004 that India is prepared to set up a BIMSTEC Centre on Weather and Climate in New Delhi. The member countries welcomed the idea. The Core Group has prepared a Draft Concept Proposal.

ASEAN: 4th India-ASEAN Working Group Meeting was held in Singapore. The identified areas of cooperation include, Advanced Materials, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, IT, Space Science & Technology and Digital Library. Significant new activities agreed upon are: Visit of a space mission to India; market survey in NdFeB magnets; workshops on Surface Engineering and Digital Library; HRD in IT and Materials; and Networking of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Institutions.

IOR-ARC: An Indian Ocean Rim-Association of Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) Workshop on Disaster Mitigation and Management, Tropical Cyclones related issues is proposed to be held at New Delhi in March 2005.

India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Cooperation: The inaugural meeting of the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Science & Technology Ministers was held in New Delhi. It was agreed to start the activities in areas of 'AIDS, TB and Malaria', 'Biotechnology in health and Agriculture', 'Nano Science and Technology' and 'Oceanographic Sciences'.

Assistance: India helped Mauritius in setting up their IPR cell. India also continued support to maintain the Mauritius Radio Telescope facility and training of S&T personnel.

Indo-African relations in S&T: Bilateral negotiations were held with Algeria, Ethiopia, and Kenya towards conclusion of S&T Agreements. Discussions were taken up with Uganda for following up the agreement with a programme of cooperation. Hon'ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for S&T and Ocean Development visited Uganda and Kenya.

Indo-Latin American relations: Initiatives were taken to improve cooperation with Latin American countries. Activities with Argentina, Mexico and Brazil were continued. Agreements with Chile and Colombia are ready for signing and a programme of cooperation with Peru is being finalized.

New Mechanisms of S&T Cooperation vis-à-vis national S&T programmes / Opportunities for foreign scientists in Indian S&T programmes

Max Planck Partner Groups in Indian Institutions: A new DST-Max Planck Society MoU was concluded. The first mechanism to be supported under the MoU will be setting up of Max Planck Partner Groups in India around young scientists who have spent at least one year in a Max Planck Institute, jointly by DST and Max Planck Society for carrying out front line basic research of interest to Indian and Max Planck Institutions upto 5 years.

Lateral entry of European partners in Indian Scientific Agencies sponsored Indian Research Projects such as those in automotive sector have been identified for dissemination by the European Commission- Hydrogen propulsion (combustion) and electronic control of hydrogen IC engine; Tailor-welded blanks and hydroforming of auto components, Advanced electric hybrid vehicle technologies, Fuel cell hybrids, Technology for recycling automotive components, Inspection and maintenance of vehicles, Open standards for telematics platforms and e-toll collection.

S&T Initiatives with Indian Diaspora

As part of the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, DST organized the technical session on "Connecting Scientists, Technologists of Indian Origin Abroad -STIOs with Indian Scientific Engineering and
Technical Professionals/Societies" with emphasis on forging STIOs connection in fields of Hydrocarbons, Materials Technology & Engineering Sciences and Physical Sciences. A programme to support joint project-based visits of 20 STIOs per year for S&T initiatives was drawn. This is expected to facilitate connectivity of STIOs with Indian S&T institutions and gaining from their experience and expertise. Website for "Registration of STIOs" (http://stio.nic.in) has resulted in over 500 persons visiting, over 200 registering from across 30 countries and 40 of them consenting to share their expertise.

Joint Workshops/Seminars

Joint workshops are used as an effective mechanism to exchange information with scientists from partner countries; identify mutual topics of interest; and jointly formulate collaborative programmes. Especially, interaction with international scientific community in cutting edge areas of S&T is indispensable. Towards this objective, joint workshops have been organized between Indian and foreign scientists in frontier areas, namely: Applications of biomarkers to protect human & environmental health (UK); Industrial Mathematics (UK); Environmental and Therapeutic Applications of Nano-biotechnology and Genomics (France); R&D-Industry Interaction (France); Innovation (France); Biomaterials (Australia); Synthesis and modification of Nano-Structured Materials by Energetic Ion Beams on Nano-structured materials (Germany); Medi-Informatics (Russia); Biomechanics (Germany); Biotechnology in Medicine (Tunisia); Advanced Materials (Japan); Plastic and Advanced Composite Materials (Russia); Manufacturing Sciences (Japan); Organo Metallic Catalysis (USA); Radiation Physics (USA); Stem Cell & Tissue Engineering (USA); Earthquake Engineering - Seismic Evaluation of Retrofit of Reinforced Concrete Buildings (Taiwan); and Management of Technology and Innovation (ASEAN).

Joint Committee Meetings for review and renewal of programmes of cooperation

In order to identify areas of mutual interest, agree upon modes/periodic executive programmes, implementation modalities, review the progress and take measures for promoting/re-orienting cooperation programmes for mutual benefit of all concerned, Joint S&T Committees or Scientific Councils or Working Groups are established and convened on a regular basis alternatively in India and the partner countries. DST as nodal agency, coordinates with the Indian scientific agencies and institutions and convenes the joint meetings in liaison with partner nodal agencies. Such meetings were held with Russia, China, Myanmar, Syria, Canada, Hungary, Poland, Belarus, Slovenia, Ukraine, Thailand and Iran.

New Agreements: Serbia & Montenegro

New Dialogues initiated

Singapore: Visit of a 6-member team to Singapore enabled initiation of a dialogue with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A STAR) for strengthening bilateral S&T cooperation. Inputs were provided to the Indian Ministry of Commerce for suitable inclusion in draft Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement.