THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A strong collaboration among academia, research institutions, startups and industry is vital for innovation, said Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the year-long Golden Jubilee celebrations of CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST) at its Pappanamcode campus here on Thursday. During the event, he stressed the need to devise global strategies to set a ‘benchmark for ourselves’.
With its unique and exclusive research and development activities, CSIR-NIIST in Thiruvananthapuram has made a niche for all other centres of CSIR across India, he said. The Union Minister also suggested that CSIR-NIIST draw a roadmap for the next 25 years with a major focus on the younger talent pool which also complements Mission 2027 (Viksit Bharat). C Anandharamakrishnan, Director of CSIR-NIIST, presided over the function and Dr Sanjay Behari, Director, SCTIMST, was the guest of honour.
The Minister also laid the foundation stone for the Centre of Excellence in Ayurveda Research on the campus and also inaugurated the Centre of Excellence in Performance Chemicals and Sustainable Polymers. Both milestone initiatives mark the commencement of the year-long golden jubilee celebrations of the institute.
MoUs for technology transfers by CSIR-NIIST with Bio Vastum Solutions, Ernakulam; Sree ChitraTirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST); Science and Technology Park, Pune; Greensapio Tech, Haryana; VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram; Tata Elxsi Limited, Bengaluru; PA Footwear Private Limited, Chennai; and Ecosure Pulpmolding Technologies Ltd, Noida, UP, were also exchanged at the function.
Earlier, the Minister addressed 300 SC/ST farmers and artisans meet. They are the beneficiaries of different projects spearheaded by Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council-Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (BRIC-RGCB) and Swadeshi Science Movement-Kerala (SSM-K). Speaking at the event at the RGCB campus, the Union Minister said that the time had come for India to lead the biotechnology sector.
He said that India was now preparing for the next industrial revolution, and initiatives like Bio E3 policy would help that.
He also released two books published as part of the Science Heritage Project and launched six community projects under the Tribal Heritage Project of BRIC-RGCB and felicitated award-winning farmers.