• The 27th meeting of the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology & Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC) was chaired by Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the government of India, at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on January 21.

• Along with the PM-STIAC members, the meeting brought together key government officials, industry players, health professionals and academicians to discuss cell and gene therapy (CGT) in India.

• PM-STIAC members emphasized the broad potential of CGT in treating various disorders, including cancer. They highlighted the need for a national mission on CGT to drive advancements in the field.

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.

• It was established in August 2018.

• 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.

• The council oversees the implementation of these interventions by concerned S&T departments, agencies, and other government ministries. 

• PM-STIAC also mandates formulation, convergence, collaboration, coordination, and implementation of multi-stakeholder policy initiatives, mechanisms, reforms, and programmes. 

These initiatives are aimed at:

i) Synergising collaborative science and technology.

ii) Enabling future preparedness.

iii) Formulating and coordinating science & technology missions.

iv) Providing an enabling ecosystem for techno entrepreneurship.

v) Driving innovation, and technology, developing innovation clusters.

vi) Fostering effective public-private linkages among other responsibilities.

Objectives of PM-STIAC:

• Synergising science and technology collaborative research with various stakeholders both in central and state governments.

• Facilitating future preparedness in science and technology emerging domains.

• Formulating and coordinating major inter-ministerial science and technology missions.

• Ensuring an enabling ecosystem for technology-led innovations and entrepreneurship.

• Solving socio-economic challenges for sustainable growth by innovations and technology-based solutions.

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

• Developing innovation clusters with multiple stakeholders including academia, industry and government.

• Skilling in current and futuristic technologies.

Missions being shaped under PM-STIAC:

i) One Health Mission

ii) National Quantum Mission

iii) Artificial Intelligence

iv) Electric Vehicles

v) Waste to Wealth

vi) Deep Ocean Exploration

vii) Accelerating Growth of New India’s Innovations (AGNIi)

viii) Natural Language Translation.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store