India-Russia Strategic Partners

There is extensive cooperation between India and Russia in the field of science and technology. An Integrated Long Term Programme of Cooperation in Science and Technology (ILTP) was signed between India and USSR in July 1987. It was decided in April 1992 to convert the ILTP from an Indo-Soviet to an Indo-Russian Programme, while the agreement to extend the ILTP by a further 10 years until 2010 was inked during President Putin's India visit.

Integral elements of this cooperation effort comprise a joint Biotechnology Centre in India and the proposed joint Centre for Ayurveda in Moscow. Meanwhile, the Indo-Russian Centre for Advanced Computing Research at the Institute for Computer-Aided Design (ICAD) of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow is using C-DAC's PARAM 10000 supercomputer for development of various software applications of mutual interest.

Yet another indicator of the dynamism of our scientific and technological interaction is the large Indian participation in the Sakhalin-1 Project in the oil and natural gas sector at an investment of $1.7 billion. A parallel investment from the Russian side comprises the construction of nuclear power stations (2x1000 MW) in South India.

India's Science Heritage

In the Indian capital of New Delhi, many an overseas visitor is awestruck by the ancient astronomy observatories that Maharaja Jai Singh II constructed in 1728 to calculate the rotation of the sun, planets and the stars. Digging deeper, one finds that these observatories were based on astro-computational methods set out by the Indian scholar, Aryabhatta, in 476 AD. It is these principles that Bhaskara applied to astronomy in the seventh century, and which Maharaja Jai Singh II built on a thousand years later. And this is just one illustration of our vast scientific heritage.

India has over 5000 years of leadership in Ayurveda. The basic approach to healthcare under Ayurveda ranges from attention to dietary and lifestyle habits, to the use of plant-based medicine. Today there has been a growing emphasis on traditional forms of healing, which originated in India centuries ago-the Ayurvedic, Unani and Siddha systems of healthcare, along with yoga, naturopathy and meditation.

From Satyendra Nath Bose, who developed Bose-Einstein statistics, Meghnath Saha whose Theory of Thermal Ionisation forms the basis of understanding of spectra observed in astrophysics, to Ramanujam's mathematical contributions, Sir C.V. Raman's 'Raman Effect' which is important for the study of molecular energy levels, and Jayant Narlikar, who made a path-breaking contribution to the theories of the evolution of the universe, Indian scientists have left an enduring mark in the myriad fields of S&T.

Indian Science Policy

The Indian government has been consistently emphasizing on the development of science and technology as a major instrument for achieving national goals of self-reliance and socio-economic development. The Science Policy Resolution adopted by Indian Parliament on March 4, 1958, lays stress on government's responsibility to secure for the people, the benefits from acquisition of scientific knowledge and practical application of research. The policy of the government is to encourage individual initiative for dissemination of knowledge and foster programme to train scientific personnel to fulfill the nation's diverse need in agriculture, industry, defense and education. In 1983, the Indian Technology Policy Statement was formulated with the basic objective of developing indigenous technology an adoption of imported technology appropriate to nation priorities and available resources.

Scientific research in India is carried out under the auspices of the central government, the state governments and various public and private sector organizations. There are about 200 research laboratories within the ambit of major scientific departments carrying out research in different areas. State governments supplement the efforts of the Centre in areas such as agriculture, animal husbandry, etc. Substantial S&T work is also carried out at various educational institutions while R&D is also gaining momentum at many industrial establishments.

Visionary Infrastructure

Atomic Energy-Nuclear Research: India's most significant S&T advances have been in atomic energy and nuclear power. It is now capable of completing the entire nuclear fuel cycle from exploration and mining of nuclear fuel ore to power generation end management.

The Indian Atomic Energy Commission was set up in August 948 to look after atomic energy activities in the country. Its functions include: (i) Organizing research in atomic energy; (ii) Training atomic scientists in the country; (iii) Promoting nuclear research in the Commission's own laboratories as well as in universities and research institutions; (iv) Undertaking the prospecting of atomic minerals in India and extracting such ninerals for use on an industrial scale.

The Department of Atomic Energy, which was set up in August 1954, is the executive agency for implementing India's atomic energy programme. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre at Trombay, near Mumbai, which was started in 1957, is the single largest scientific establishment in the nation directing nuclear research. It houses five research reactors: 'Apsara', a 1-MW swimming pool-type reactor; 'Cirus', a 40 MW reactor; 'Zerlina', a zero-energy experimental thermal reactor; 'Purnima II', a homogeneous reactor which uses uranium-233 fuel in the form of a solution, and 'Dhruva', a 100-MW high-power nuclear research reactor. The Department of Atomic Energy has successfully used the research reactors for production of radioisotopes for advanced work in areas such as lasers, supercomputers as well as to address national security concerns.

In response to security concerns, India has conducted two sets of underground nuclear tests in the deserts of the state of Rajasthan. The first was on May 18, 1974, and the second comprising a series of five tests on May 11 and 13, 1998. These included a thermonuclear device, a fission device and three subkiloton nuclear devices.

'Cirus', the country's high-neutron flux nuclear research reactor, has completed more than 30 years of successful operation and can operate for another 15 years. India's first neutron reactor Kamini, which is being built at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic research at Kalpakkam near Chennai, is a mini pool 30-MW reactor that will also use uranium fuel.

Additionally, there are nine nuclear power reactors in commercial operation, which are the responsibility of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India. These include two boiling water reactors Tarapur and seven pressurized heavy water reactors-two each at Rawatbhata (Rajasthan), Kalapakkam (Tamil Nadu), Narora (UP), and one at Kakrapar (Gujarat). Four more reactors, two each at Kaiga (Karnataka) and Rawatbhata, are under construction.

The Nuclear Fuel Complex at Hyderabad fabricates fuel elements required for pressurized heavy water reactors. It also produces enriched uranium fuel elements from imported uranium hexafluoride for the boiling water reactors at Tarapur.

Heavy water is an essential input for pressurized heavy water reactors, and is used both as a coolant and a moderator. There are eight heavy water producing plants at Nangal, Baroda, Tuticorin, Kota, Talcher, Thal, Hazira, and Manugum.

India is today the seventh nation in the world, and the first developing nation, to have mastered fast-breeder technology. The other six nations are Russia, Germany, Japan, US, UK and France. The Indian Fast-Breeder Test Reactor has been designed completely by Indian scientists using indigenous mixed carbide fuel with plutonium and natural base instead of enriched uranium. This paves the way for using our vast thorium resources through breeder reactors that will produce power and fuel in the 21st century.

Meanwhile, India's growing experience in nuclear technology has resulted in improving the performance of its nuclear power plants. During 1999-2000, gross electricity generation crossed 12,000 million units and the average capacity factor of the plants improved from 60 to 80 percent.

Information Technology: The Pune-based Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) recently unveiled its third computer hardware breakthrough with the 100gigaflop, PARAM 10000 supercomputer. With the development of the country's first supercomputer, India joined a select club of six advanced nations that have achieved this milestone.

The development of 'PARAM' promises the creation of a seamless computing platform for super computing at an affordable price in the international context. It has a wide array of applications - oil reservoir modeling for enhanced oil recovery, seismic data processing for drilling oilwells, satellite image processing for resource exploration and disaster management, geographical information systems for cartography and mapping, weather forecasting for agriculture, computational fluid dynamics for space research, finite element modeling for design of large and complex structures, and Very Large-Scale Integrated Circuit (VLSI) design for the semiconductor industry.

The nation is also emerging as one of the largest software exporters in the world. Our government has targeted an implementation plan to make India an IT superpower by the end of this decade and achieve a target of $50 billion in software exports by 2008.

IT now impacts on everyday life, for instance, in eGovernance, to speed up disposal of legal cases as well as to help rural folk get the best price for milk! Indian software skills have been instrumental in fixing the Y2K problem in computer networks throughout the world as well as the computer-controlled train movement of the London Underground.

Space Research: The nation's space programme took off with Russia's invaluable assistance. It is executed through the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), National Remote Sensing Agency and Physical Research Laboratory. The successful launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) has propelled India to an elite club of five nations and sets the stage for launch of commercial satellites. The launch site at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh is deemed second only to Kourou in Guyana for launching geo-synchronous satellites.

Marrying space technology with defense capabilities, Indian scientists have developed missiles with varying payloads which are conventional and nuclear capable. These include Prithvi, the surface-to-surface missile; Nag, the anti-tank missile; Akash, the medium-range surface-to-air missile, and Trishul short-range surface-to-air missile.

The Indian space programme has also been developing space technology for application in varied fields such as broadcasting, telecommunications, meteorology, resources survey and management. The INSAT (Indian National Satellite) system now covers most of these activities. The development of communication satellites has helped link up with remote regions of the country. The Satellite Instructional Television Experiment beamed up specially structured TV programmes to direct reception sites in far-flung villages across the country. Our indigenous remote satellites have helped discover new underground water resources, warn authorities of depleting forest cover, provide data on ocean wealth and uncover hidden minerals and oil sources.

Oceanography: India's 6,200-km long coastline holds an abundance of natural and mineral resources. Today, India is also the only developing nation in the world to get pioneer status under the UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (1983). The nation has also carried out several expeditions in the Antarctica with the help of a permanently manned on-location base, thereby acquiring a consultative membership of the Antarctic Treaty in 1983.

Pharmaceuticals: India is fast emerging as a world leader in the manufacture of bulk drugs as well as 'frontier' research by combining its ancient medical and health knowledge with modern medical technology. Along with rediscovering the medicinal properties of neem and turmeric, Indian companies cracked the western monopoly of the hepatitis-B vaccine with the release of an indigenous recombinant DNA-based vaccine. Our ability to produce crucial drugs at competitive prices will help challenge the patent regimes of western drug conglomerates.

To counter bio terrorism, Indian scientists also recently unveiled a new anthrax vaccine with a substantially reduced toxic effect on the body.

Agricultural Research: The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is the nation's premier institution for conducting agricultural research. It comprises 47 central institutes together with 160 regional stations, four national bureaus, 30 National Research Centres, 10 Project Directorates, and 80 All-India Coordinated Research Projects. Contributions in scientific and technological research have induced a phenomenal transformation in Indian agriculture from subsistence-type into commercial farming.

Industrial Research: Over the years, a strong S&T infrastructure base has been established in the country. This covers a chain of national laboratories, specialized centres, various R&D and academic institutions, training centres, etc., which continuously provide expertise, technically trained manpower and technological support to the industry.

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research: The CSIR with its network of laboratories and research institutions is a major node in Indian scientific and industrial effort, and supports research at universities and other centres of learning. CSIR's role is associated with the work relating to natural resources survey, roads, buildings, and public utility services like sanitation, water supply, waste disposal and industries.

When India became independent in 1947 after centuries of colonial domination, the 'second wave' of the industrial revolution had all but passed her by. By the turn of the century, however, India is once again one of the few elite countries to have developed a geosynchronous satellite and supercomputer even as it has made rapid strides in applied nuclear research, information technology, space remote sensing, biotechnology, electronics and oceanography.