STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh on Saturday chaired a high level meeting to review preparations for Science-20 meetings of the G 20 Summit to be held in India next year.
The meeting was attended by Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India Ajay Kumar Sood and Secretaries of all the six Science Ministries and Departments, including Science & Technology, Biotechnology, CSIR, Earth Sciences, Space and Atomic Energy.
Dr Jitendra Singh said after the meeting that all the six Science Ministries and Departments under him are fully geared up for the upcoming G-20 Summit meetings.
The Minister also welcomed the topics and subjects assigned to Science Ministries. He said, all the stakeholders will meet again with Sherpa of G-20, Amitabh Kant this week to firm up Human Resources and Experts for assigned topics.
Dr Jitendra Singh informed that apart from S-20 Summit and Side meetings, another important event assigned to DST is Research Innovation Initiated Gathering (RIIG) with side events.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the expected deliverables of the S-20 and RIIG will be Creation of better and encouraging frameworks for environmentally responsible technologies and assertion of IP sharing and technology transfers, Creation of a global ecosystem for start-up mentorship and funding, Encouragement of more mega science projects, Creation of framework for global holistic health program and mental health program, Creating common cultural dialogue for science through more engagement programs and interdisciplinary partnerships, Creation of a common digital global heritage that is accessible for all citizens.
The Science-20 Summit meeting will be held in Coimbatore from 21st to 22nd July, 2023 with the theme of “Disruptive Science for Innovative and Sustainable Growth”. The Sub-themes (side event topics) are- Non-conventional energy for a greener future, Connecting Science to Society and Culture and Holistic Health: Cure and Prevention of Disease.
Meeting schedule and venues for S-20 are as follows- Inception meeting: Pondicherry (30-31 January 2023), Side-event1: Bangaram Island, Lakshadweep (27-28 February 2023), Side-event2: Agartala (3-4 April 2023), Side-event3: Indore (16-17 June 2023).
The S-20 Secretariat will be chaired by Dr Vijay P Bhatkar of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Prof Ajay K Sood and Prof Gautam Desiraju are also eminent members of the Secretariat.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, DST will also take care of the Research Innovation Initiated Gathering (RIIG) on the subject of “Research and Innovation for Equitable Society”. The Sub-theme/ topics for RIIG gathering will be Materials for Sustainable Energy (CSIR), Scientific Challenges and Opportunities towards Achieving a Sustainable Blue Economy (MoES), Bio-resource/ Biodiversity and Bio-economy (DBT) and Eco-Innovations for Energy Transition (SERB).
Meetings schedule and venues for RIIG are the following: Inception meeting: Kolkata (9-10 February 2023), Side-event1: Ranchi (21-22 March 2023), Side-event 2: Dibrugarh & Itanagar (24-25 March 2023), Side-event 3: Shimla (19-20 April 2023), Side-event 4: Diu (18-19 May 2023) and the RIIG Summit and Research Minister meeting, Mumbai (4-6 July 2023).