• Ajay Kumar Sood, The Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the government of India, chaired a stakeholders’ meeting to address the issue of air pollution and its interplay with climate change.

• Senior officials from key ministries and environmental bodies attended the meeting, which focused on advancing science-based frameworks to manage air quality and mitigate climate impacts.

• The meeting discussed ongoing efforts under the National Air Quality Resource Framework of India (NARFI), developed by the Office of the PSA in collaboration with the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS).

Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser

• The government established the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) in November 1999. 

• 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. 

• The Office of PSA was placed under the Cabinet Secretariat in August 2018.

Functions of office of the PSA:

i) Science and technology 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 science and technology 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.

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 members from academia, industry and other important sectors.

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