A Shot for Science

February 3, 2023

Context:

In the Budget presented recently, the Ministry of Science & Technology has received an allocation of ₹16,361.42 crore this year, on paper an impressive 15% increase from the previous estimate. However, the Ministry had seen a 3.9% decrease between 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Current status of spending on Research and Development

The Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) as the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) is around 0.7%.
According to a report (2020) prepared by the Department of Science and Technology (DST):
- Out of the funding allocated to R&D in 2017-18, 61.4% of the amount went to DRDO (31.6%), Departments of Space (19%) and Atomic Energy (10.8%) together.
- Approximately 37% was allocated to the general R&D agencies.

Need to focus on R&D:

R&D helps in development of new technologies, or improving the efficiency of existing processes .
It would improve research outcomes and contribute to economic growth.

Impediments faced by the R&D sector

Low Funding: According to a 2022 estimate by the Global Innovation Index, India continues to hover around 0.7% despite being among the world’s largest producers of scientific literature.
Delay in Disbursal: There are often variations in the announcements of budget speech and actual provisions made.

Additional Information:

Deep Ocean Mission: It focuses on studying and exploring the deepwater bodies in our country for undiscovered minerals, stones, living or non-living creatures.

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Image Credits: Times of India

Sickle Cell Anaemia: It is a blood disorder in which the size of red blood cells begins to change. Rather than the original round shape, these red blood cells become sickle-like and cause blockages in the blood vessels.
This is a genetic disease in which the body ceases to produce blood. This causes a severe blood shortage in the body, which causes a slew of other issues.

News Source: The Hindu