Government Of Assam Science, Technology and Climate Change

 

ACHIEVEMENT REPORT OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & CLIMATE CHANGE DEPARTMENT FOR THE PERIOD 10.05.2022 TILL DATE

The Government of Assam is giving utmost priority towards application of science and technology and creating an innovation ecosystem in the state for overall development. Assam Science Technology & Environment Council (ASTEC), Assam Energy Development Agency (AEDA), Guwahati Biotech Park (GBP) and Assam State Space Appliction Centre (ASSAC) as part of Science, Technology & Climate Change Department are playing important in this endovour.

 

Assam Science Technology and Environment Council (ASTEC) :

1. Chief Minister’s Institutional Plantation Programme (CMIPP): In line with the 75^th years of Independence (Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav), the Science, Technology and Climate Change Department, Govt. of Assam initiated Chief Minister's Institutional Plantation Programme (CMIPP) a State-wide programme which was announced by the Honourable Minister Science, Technology & Climate Change on 5^th June on the occasion of World Environment Day, 2022.Chief Minister’s Institutional Plantation Programme (CMIPP)commenced with the ceremonial launching on 17^thMay,2022 at Janata Bhawan by Honourable Chief Minister Dr. HimantaBiswa Sarma. Around 2,50,000 saplings were planted under this initiative for creating awareness for collective participation in climate change mitigation.

2. 1^stParivesh Mitra Honours : The honours were given to 10 eminent personalities working in the field of environment conservation on 15^thAugust, 2022 in the presence of Hon’ble Minister, Science Technology & Climate Change Department, Govt. of Assam, at Jorhat Science Centre & Planetarium.

3. National Conclave on “Science & Technology Empowerment of Tribal Community:

To commemorate Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas (National Tribal Day) under the initiative of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, National Conclave for Science & Technology Empowerment of Tribal Community was held successfully on 11^th and 12^th November 2022 in IIT Guwahati. The event was hosted by the ASTE Council in collaboration with IITG, IASST and NECTAR. Ministry of Tribal Affairs also extended collaboration where 500 delegates including hosts of dignitaries have participated in the event. The conclave aimed at bringing out strategies and recommendations for strengthening the institutional and Human Capacity (both at community and individual levels) for the comprehensive development of Tribal Communities through Science and Technology.

            The Hon’ble Union Minister of Science and Technology & Earth Science, Dr. Jitendra Singh chaired the Inaugural Ceremony on 11^th November 2022 and Hon’ble Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Shri Arjun Munda participated as the Chief Guest. On 12^th November 2022 in the valedictory function Hon’ble Minister of Science & Technology of Assam Shri Keshab Mahanta participated as the Chief Guest.

4. Patent Information Centre (PIC) : PIC-ASTEC has facilitated the GI registration process of ‘Gamosa of Assam’. The GI for Gamosa of Assam was approved on 12^th December 2022 by the Geographical Indication Registry, Government of India.

Logo of GI- ‘Gamosa of Assam’

                

Certificate of GI- ‘Gamosa of Assam’

                                                                                                             

 

5. Inauguration of District Science Centre & Planetarium, Nalbari : Hon’ble Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated the centre on 6^th December 2022.

6. Inauguration of District Science Centre & Planetarium-North Lakhimpur : Hon’ble Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated the centre on 16^th December 2022 in presence of Shri. Keshab Mahanta, Hon’ble Minister, Science Technology & Climate Change, Assam.

 

7. A Week for LiFE : The ceremonial launching of “A week for LiFE” was held on 21^stMarch, 2023 at GMCH New Auditorium under the initiative of Science, Technology & Climate Change Department, Govt. of Assam and Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Govt. of India. The launching event was graced by Dr. HimantaBiswa Sarma, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Assam.

8. Science & Mathematics Facilitators: State Cabinet has approved continuation of services of Science and Mathematics Facilitators engaged through ASTEC on fixed pay basis till attending the age of 60 years with annual enhancement of 5 percent. Presently 30 Science Facilitators and 40 Mathematics Facilitators have been engaged in 56 High and Higher Secondary schools of the state.

9. Chief Minister’s Climate Resilient Village Fellowship Programme : As mentioned in the Budget Speech, 2022-23, the Chief Minister’s Climate Resilient Village Fellowship Programme has been successfully initiated, where, in the first phase 50 nos. of post graduate students will work in 50 villages for devising climate resilience models for those villages. 

 

Achievement of Assam State Space Application Centre (ASSAC) :

The Assam State Space Applications Centre (ASSAC) has started functioning since August, 2021 after curbing out the Assam Remote Sensing Application Centre from ASTEC with an objective to develop remote sensing techniques and their applications for natural resources management in the State and to provide training and consultancy facilities in Remote Sensing, GIS and GPS to the user departments and agencies.

 

1. Equipped with both visual as well as digital interpretation tools, the ARSAC (as has been previously known) has successfully completed a number of National Mission projects on Assam and other States as a Partner Institute with National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC, ISRO) and Space Applications Centre (SAC, ISRO), North Eastern Space Application Centre (NESAC) and shared the database derived using satellite data with various user agencies and line departments of Govt. of Assam. The centre has recently procured drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) to carry out real time survey and monitoring of all developmental activities by Government Departments, besides mapping and Geo tagging of Assets owned by the Government.

 

2. Assam State Space Application Center(ASSAC) has initiated Satellite-based Land Use Intelligence System for Guwahati (SLIS-G) on the recommendation of HCM, with an outlay of 4.5 cr funded by NEC. The Centre is actively working in technical collaboration with North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), Dept. of Space, Govt. of India to complete the task within the stipulated time of 1 year which is expected to be completed by March, 2024.

 

3. Assam Fisheries Resource Information System (AFISH) is being developed at ASSAC in coordination with Department of Fisheries, Govt. of Assam to help farmers with necessary advisory for increased fish production. To achieve this, ASSAC has acquired all possible technological support and facilities to create a geospatial database as well as development of information Dashboard. It is funded by Ministry of Fisheries, Government of India.

                       

4. ASSAC enabled bringing ISRO Centre to Assam for establishment of NETRA (Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis) SSA (Spatial Situational Analysis)   project with an expected invest of INR 800 Crores, thanks to HM & HCM for permitting to allot a land of 200 bigha at APGCL CPTS Chandrapur, Kamrup (M). It is first of its kind to spatial objects of as small as 15 cms within the range of 2000 KM.

 

5. Besides, ASSAC has also initiated about 24 new schemes mainly related to the creation and up gradation of geospatial database on status of natural resources, disaster management with real time data capture and assets owned by government departments with development of monitoring mechanisms for all these resources and activities.

 

 

Major achievements of Guwahati Biotech Park (GBP) :

 

1. Construction of technology incubation centre (phase i) at the permanent campus of Guwahati Biotech Park

The Technology Incubation Centre of Guwahati Biotech Park with state of art infrastructure facility has been constructed at Amingaon and was inaugurated by Hon’ble CM of Assam on May 2022 and has been mandated to promote innovation and revolutionize the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the North East Region. The Centre aims to foster and support world class innovation, dynamic entrepreneurs who want to build scalable and sustainable enterprises in Biotech and Allied Sectors.

 

2. Collaboration and partnership

To establish a close linkage and functional coordination, GBP has entered into a Memorandum of Association with the following organizations/Institutes for a myriad of activities pertaining to GBP’s operation during this period..

 

1. Numaligarh Refinery Limited
2. Royal Global University
3. USTM, Meghalaya
4. CSIR-NEIST
5. Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development
6. Atal Incubation Centre BIMTECH,Noida
7. Association of Biotech Industry Led Enterprise and Federation of Industry Commerce of North Eastern Region
8. Good Food Institute India
9. SHRM Biotechnologies Pvt. Ltd.
10. JIS University Kolkata. 
11. Pratisksha Institute of Pharmaceutical Science

 

3. Assam Biotech Conclave

Guwahati Biotech Park in association with Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati hosted the two day Assam Biotech Conclave 2022 from May 21 to May 22, 2022. The Assam Biotech Conclave is a platform to bring together various Biotech Entrepreneurs, Researchers, Academicians, Industry Professionals, Investment Bankers, Angel Investors, and the Government. The presence of the esteemed guests and speakers promises the bright future of the Biotechnology sector in North East India.

 

4. Biotechnology Policy for the state of Assam

The Biotechnology Policy for the State of Assam 2019-2022 has been for another five years 2022-2027.The Biotech Policy focuses on developing biotech infrastructure, improving biotech education, research and innovation, advancement in technology and entrepreneurship support, development of biotech industry, introducing business support cells, managing accreditations and quality certifications, Single Window Clearance through Nodal Agency, North East Vision Group on Biotechnology, and Centre of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Applied Biotechnology.

 

5. Nidhi prayas centre

Department of Science & Technology, Government of India has approved setting up of a NIDHI PRAYAS CENTRE at Guwahati Biotech Park. A Grant-in-Aid of Rs 1.09 Crore has been successfully sanctioned in favor of Guwahati Biotech Park. The Centre will focus on enabling translation of an innovative idea into a prototype in Biomedical, Agri Business and Biotechnology Sector.  Under NIDHI PRAYAS, Guwahati Biotech Park will identify Five Startups who are at Prototype stage and provide them grant of Rs. 10 Lakhs each.

Guwahati Planetarium (GP) :

1. One 3D Theatre Hall has been constructed in the Planetarium premises and inaugurated by the Hon’ble Minister, Science Technology & Climate Change on the 30^th November 2022.

2.  Several Hands-on-training, Workshops on Basic Observation Astronomy, Public Outreach

Programmes as well as Sky Watching programmes on special events like eclipses  etc. held during the year to motivate in the Astronomy and Space Science and for inculcation of Scientific temperament.

 

     3.  A record amount of Revenue of Rs.59.99 Lakh was deposited in the Treasury as        

          Govt. Revenue by the Guwahati Planetarium in the last Financial Year 2022-23 which is

          all time highest since inception of the Planetarium in 1994.

 

Jorhat Science Centre & Planetarium (JSC&P) :

Jorhat Science Centre and Planetarium, a scientific hub in the Upper Assam has been trying to harness the scientific interest for the societal benefit. For decades now, JSC&P has donned the mantle of this bridge between the common people and science through its various indoor and outreach activities. Thus, during the period i.e from 10^th May, 20222 till date, JSC&P had been able to encourage the common masses specially the students in promoting science & technology  for development of the State, which are evident through the achievements that are mentioned below:

1. Inauguration of the Innovation hub: The Innovation Hub, Jorhat was inaugurated at JSC&P, Jorhat on 15^th August, 2022 by Sri Keshab Mahanta, Hon’ble Minister, Science & Technology Department & under the esteemed presence of Sri Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, Hon’ble M.P in Rajya Sabha, Sri Topon Kr Gogoi, Hon’ble M.P, Jorhat, Sri Hitendranath Goswami, Hon’ble MLA, Jorhat, Ms Kimnei Changsan, Director, ASTEC, GoA, & Sri Indranil Sanyal, Director, NE Zone, NCSM, GoI. It proves to be an wonderful platform for the students of schools & colleges to showcase their innovative ideas into creative projects. Till date 30 nos of students of various schools of Jorhat districts have enrolled in the Innovation Hub, JSC&P & nearly more than 3000 students of different districts of Assam are benefitted by visiting the Innovation Hub.

 

2.  Gramya Gyan Vigyan Yatra-2022:     As a new unique & innovative programme, JSC&P has launched a programme entitled “Gramya Gyan Vigyan Yatra-2022” that started its ^1st journey from 2^9th September, 2022 from a very remote & rural school stationed at Merapani named Kachamari High School. This programme proved to be a boon for the students of provincialised rural schools, as through this programme quite successful to reach a greater number of student community of rural areas for dissemination of scientific knowledge by organising total 15 nos of programmes in different districts of Upper & Middle Assam as Jorhat, Golaghat, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Dhemaji etc. Its main objective is to bring the amazement of science to the doorstep of rural school students, where the Mobile Science Laboratory (V)  was a part of the programme as well as students are also able to view the night sky through the modern & fully developed telescope.

 

3. Implementation of science popularisation programme: JSC&P had always tried to reach the scientific as well as student community by implementing various science popularisation programme, both outreach as well as indoor such as All Assam Science Debate Competition, Upper Assam Science Drama Festival-2022 etc. Through these programmes, JSC&P had been able to reach to a greater student community & been able to create scientific temperament by making it more interesting to learn science in a fun way & expressing their views in the field of science.