Pariksha Saathi8th India-UK Science and Innovation Council Meets in Delhi; Genomics Centre of Excellence Opened
India and the United Kingdom held the eighth meeting of their Science and Innovation Council (SIC) in New Delhi on 12 October 2026, led by Science and Technology Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh and UK Secretary of State Jonathan Reynolds, who was in the capital the same day for the India-UK trade committee talks. The council reviewed joint research and discussed how more laboratory work can be turned into usable technologies and products. The two ministers also opened the BRIC-CDFD-ONT India Genomics Centre of Excellence, whose name reflects a tie-up between the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (part of the Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council) and the UK company Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Under a programme run by India's Department of Science and Technology with Innovate UK, eight industrial R&D projects in areas such as advanced manufacturing, power electronics and net-zero technologies have been approved and are at different stages of implementation. Artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, semiconductors, critical minerals, biotechnology and telecom were named among the priority fields, with the cooperation building on the Technology Security Initiative and the India-UK Vision 2035.
Drafted with AI assistance from the official PIB release linked above and checked against it by a second AI pass. Not line-edited by a human.
Learning context
The India-UK Science and Innovation Council has met periodically since the mid-2000s to review and expand research collaboration between the two countries, including the Newton-Bhabha Fund partnership formalised at its fourth meeting in 2014. Earlier sessions include the 6th Council meeting, held in New Delhi on 26 July 2018 and co-chaired by the two countries’ science ministers.
Reference: Department of Science and Technology’s official website
Check yourself: was this October 2026 Delhi meeting the first-ever session of the India-UK Science and Innovation Council?
No — it was the 8th meeting of a Council that has been meeting periodically for roughly two decades; for instance, the 6th meeting was held in New Delhi back in July 2018.
Revision task: note what is specifically new in this release — the Genomics Centre of Excellence — and keep it separate from the Council’s standing, recurring mandate described above.
Test yourself
At the eighth India-UK Science and Innovation Council meeting, a genomics Centre of Excellence was opened as a tie-up between the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) and which UK company?
Show the answer
Answer: Oxford Nanopore Technologies
The BRIC-CDFD-ONT India Genomics Centre of Excellence links CDFD (part of the Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council) with Oxford Nanopore Technologies; the council also noted eight DST-Innovate UK industrial R&D projects.
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