The Technology Vision-2035 document has identified 12 sectors for special focus and provided a roadmap for each of them, besides plotting the future technology trajectories. The document — which was released by Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi during the inauguration of the 103rd Indian Science Congress — lists education, medical science and healthcare, food and agriculture, water, energy, environment, habitat, transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, materials, and information and communication technology as thrust areas. It has also listed a few grand challenges. Guaranteeing nutritional security and eliminating women and child anaemia has been listed as the first grand challenge. Ensuring quantity and quality water in all water bodies is the second major challenge identified by the document, which hints at the use of desalination technologies to reduce the pressure on fresh water systems and provision of 100 per cent sanitation and sewage to all houses. Securing critical resources commensurate with the size of the country is the third of the grand challenge. Providing learning centric, language neutral and holistic education to all is the fourth challenge. Understanding national climate patterns and adapting to them is reckoned to be within the potential of technological and human resources available in the country and has been accorded importance in view of its impact on agriculture. But the document states that problem of vagaries of nature has compounded due to climate change in recent decades and this cannot be allowed to continue to harm the country’s development plans. Making India non-fossil fuel based economy is listed as another grand challenge as the energy bill has bloated and could become unmanageable in future if the country’s hydrocarbon requirements are imported. A comprehensive implementation structure to deal with policies, technology development and rapid large-scale deployment of non-fossil energy in the country would have to be put in place, says the document. The other major challenges are developing commercially-viable decentralised and distributed energy for all, taking the railway to Leh and Tawang, and ensuring universal eco-friendly waste management, among others.
Source:http://www.thehindu.com/
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