Scientific Achievements of 2023

- India joined the US-led Artemis Accords for planetary exploration
  - The Artemis Accords are a set of principles that countries agree to adhere to in their quest for peaceful and cooperative exploration of the Moon and other planets. India’s decision to join the Artemis Accords brings the space programmes of the two countries closer than ever.
- An agreement was signed between ISRO and NASA to send a joint mission to the International Space Station, the permanent laboratory in space about 400 km above the earth’s surface, in 2024. This would mean that India’s astronauts would get into space much earlier than the Gaganyaan mission of 2025.

- - LIGO-India project, a gravitational wave observatory, would be the third arm of two similar observatories in the United States which made the first discovery of gravitational waves in 2015.
  - Gravitational waves are ‘ripples’ in space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the Universe.

- - It is aimed at building a 1,000-qubit quantum computer over the next eight years. Quantum computers are not just superfast, they utilize the quantum mechanical properties of matter at a tiny scale, allowing them to perform tasks that would be impossible, or impractical, for conventional computers.
  - The launch of the National Quantum Mission allows India to join a global technology development race when it is still in its nascent stages

- - Chandrayaan-3 is the third mission in the Chandrayaan programme, a series of lunar-exploration missions developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation. The mission consists of a lunar lander named Vikram and a lunar rover named Pragyan.
  - It achieved a soft landing on the moon’s near side, near its south pole. With this, India has become the fourth country to successfully conduct a soft landing on the Moon’s surface.

- - The new station, Maitri-II, is located just a few kilometers away from the existing one, which has been operational since 1989. India has another operational station in Antarctica, called Bharati. These stations are centres of India’s growing research footprint in Antarctica, which offers pristine environments for carrying out studies in a variety of scientific fields.

- - The Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar would have three other awards — one for lifetime achievement, another for scientists of any age (Bhatnagar is meant only for scientists below 45 years), and the third to recognise team or collaborative effort.

- An apex body to provide high-level strategic direction of scientific research in the country as per recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP), at a total estimated cost of Rs. 50,000 crore during five years (2023-28).
- It will seed, grow and promote Research and Development (R&D) and foster a culture of research and innovation throughout India’s universities, colleges, research institutions, and R&D laboratories.
- The Department of Science and Technology (DST) will be the administrative Department of NRF which will be governed by a Governing Board consisting of eminent researchers and professionals across disciplines.

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