• Ajay Kumar Sood has been appointed as the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the government.

• Sood, a member of the Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (PM-STIAC), has been appointed to the post for a period of three years to succeed renowned biologist K. VijayRaghavan.

• Currently, he is an honorary professor in IISc Bangalore.

Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser

• In November 1999, the Cabinet Secretariat established the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the government of India. 

• The PSA’s office aims to provide pragmatic and objective advice to the PM and Cabinet on matters related to science, technology and innovation with a focus on application of science and technology in critical infrastructure, economic and social sectors in partnership with government departments, institutions and industry. 

Functions of office of the PSA:

i) S&T fundamentals with applied research in collaboration with multiple stakeholders, both in central and state governments.

ii) Enabling future preparedness in emerging domains of science and technology.

iii) Formulating and coordinating major inter-ministerial S&T missions.

iv) Providing an enabling ecosystem for technology led innovations and techno-entrepreneurship.

v) Driving innovation and technology delivery towards solving socio-economic challenges for sustainable growth.

vi) Fostering effective public-private linkages for driving research and innovation.

Former Principal Scientific Advisers:

• Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (November 1999 - November 2001)

• Dr. R. Chidambaram (November 2001 to March 2018)

• Prof. K. VijayRaghavan (April 2018 - April 2022).

Key initiatives of the Office of the PSA

PM-STIAC

The Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) is an overarching council that expedite the PSA’s Office to appraise the status in specific science and technology domains, comprehend challenges, formulate interventions, develop a futuristic roadmap and advise the Prime Minister accordingly.

The PM-STIAC aims to facilitate, through its missions, the process of collaboration and focus needed to solve complex problems in a reasonable time-frame.

Nine national missions are identified through discussions. They are:

1) Natural Language Translation

2) Quantum Frontier

3) Artificial Intelligence

4) National Biodiversity

5) Electric Vehicles

6) BioScience for Human Health

7) Waste to Wealth

8) Deep Ocean Exploration

9) Accelerating Growth of New India’s Innovations (AGNIi).

Empowered Technology Group (ETG)

Established with the approval of the Union Cabinet, the Empowered Technology Group (ETG) aims to proactively lay down, coordinate, and oversee national-level policies relating to:

i) Procurement and induction of technologies 

ii) Research & Development (R&D) in technologies that require large outlays in resources, both financial and human.

iii) Render sound and timely advice for determining direction and trajectory of government's R&D and technology development programmes.

ETG is supported by Technology Advisory Group comprising 10 members from academia and 10 members from industry.

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