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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched the Rs one lakh crore RDI Fund to promote private sector investments in research and development. He launched the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund at the first ever Emerging Science Technology and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC) that brings together policy makers, innovators and global visionaries to drive the government's Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. Modi also launched a coffee table book on scientific achievements of India and a vision document for science and technology. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is the nodal ministry of the RDI Fund that will operate through a two-tiered funding structure. At the first level, a Special Purpose Fund (SPF) will be established within the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), which will serve as the custodian of the Rs one lakh crore corpus. The Fund will not directly invest in industries and start ups but will channel capital to second-level fund managers, who
India will be able to address the apprehensions of the private sector globally about investments in the civil nuclear sector, which was opened up to achieve the ambitious target of producing 100 GW atomic power by 2047, Union Minister Jitendra Singh has asserted. Singh, who oversees the Department of Atomic Energy, said changes in relevant rules and legislations will have to be made to facilitate the entry of the private sector in the field of nuclear energy, which currently is under tight control of the government. "The announcement has already been made in the Union Budget, but we will have to frame rules, also possible legislation to actually move on, which will take a lot of consideration, a lot of introspection," Singh told PTI in an exclusive video interview. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech in February, announced the government's intention to amend key legislation, including the Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, to ...