On November 26, 2021, Minister of State (MoS)-Independent Charge, Dr Jitendra Singh, Ministry of Science & Technology (MoST) virtually chaired the 9th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Science & Technology Ministers Meeting.
- The Indian side called to improve the ranking of BRICS in the Global Innovation Index by strengthening cooperation in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).
- In this regard, all the member states have adopted the BRICS innovation Action Plan 2021-24, BRICS STI Declaration 2021 and Calendar of BRICS STI Activities 2022 which will act as a roadmap for cooperation.
Key Points:
i.There is a need for innovation of cost effective, affordable, accessible, sustainable and scalable scientific solutions for STI by BRICS nations.
ii.BRICS is home to 41% of the world population with an increasing share of youth. Their engagement in STI directly impacts the welfare and progress of people.
iii.India has prepared the Innovation Cooperation Action Plan 2021-2024 with support from all BRICS countries. It will pave the way for cooperation among different sectors of the innovation ecosystem.India Prepared the BRICS Innovation Action Plan 2021-24 with support from all BRICS countries .
iv.India’s Effort: Dr Jitendra Singh informed that India under “Vaccine Maitri” initiative is providing COVID-19 vaccines to countries around the world. As of 22 November 2021, India had delivered around 70.70 million doses of vaccines to 95 countries and out of these, 12.7 million doses were given to 47 countries by the Government of India. The remaining 58 million were supplied by the Serum Institute of India under its commercial and COVAX obligations.
v.India calls for BRICS to work towards rightful place in the global innovation index(GII). India’s rank in Global Innovation Index (GII) 2021 by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) improved by two spots to 46th from 48th in GII 2020. NITI(National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog, along with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), virtually hosted the India Launch of the GII 2021 and the Global Innovation Conclave in September 2021.
Participants:
Zhang Guangjun, Vice Minister of Science and Technology, China; Dr.Bonginkosi Emmanuel Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, South Africa; Marcos Pontes, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Brazil and Natalya Bocharova, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education, Russia and senior officials from BRICS countries.
Recent Related News:
India chairs the 6th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Young Scientist Forum (YSF) for the year 2021.The event was hosted by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), in collaboration with the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru (NIAS).
About BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa):
2021 Chair– India
Theme for India’s Chairship– ‘BRICS @ 15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus’