Chandrayaan-3 Will Mark India's Quantum Leap: Jitendra Singh

Hyderabad: Union minister of state (independent charge) for science and technology Dr Jitendra Singh on Thursday said Chandrayaan-3, ISRO’s planned third lunar exploration mission scheduled for launch on Friday, will herald India's quantum leap in the global arena.  After India's success story of Covid vaccine, it will be the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which will reiterate India's indigenous capabilities and also firmly place India as a global player, he said.

Speaking at the 11th India Alliance Annual Conclave 2023 held here, Singh said, the Indo-UK Science Conclave being held on the eve of Chandrayaan-3’s launch proves that India’s partnership is sought increasingly by developed countries across frontier sectors of science and technology.

India Alliance is a partnership between Department of Biotechnology (GoI) and Wellcome Trust, UK, with a focus on building strong biomedical research human resources in India at a scale where the country can make a global impact.

Singh said the impactful journey of India Alliance over the last 15 years has strengthened the research and funding ecosystem of India and enabled successful interventions in the biomedical and clinical research ecosystem in the country.

In 2019, on the completion of 10 years, India Alliance launched the Team Science Grants and Clinical/Public Health Research Centres to find solutions to problems of modern society requiring interdisciplinary and collaborative research.

He said India Alliance has played a major role in increasing the retention of research talent in India, created a positive impact on Indian researchers' career progression, professional development, in addition to catalysing an increase in capacity building, impact on technology, policy and practice. It also invested in building capacity for research management in Indian research institutions. It has benefitted more than 589 research scientists with its pan-India approach and has funded 137 organisations across 48 Indian cities, he said.

Singh said the schemes have brought in collaborations from the USA, UK, Australia and France, thus helping make Indian science and research competitive with global standards.

The conclave will also delve into critical discussions on public engagement initiatives and explore the potential of artificial intelligence in healthcare, fostering collaboration, and networking to address key challenges and unlocking new opportunities for innovation and progress.