 bill no 65 of  2017 the academy of scientific and innovative research (amendment) bill, 2017 by shri raghav lakhanpal , mp a billto amend the academy of scientific and innovative research act, 2011be  it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—short title and commencement1 (1) this act may be called the academy of scientific and innovative research(amendment)  act, 2017513 of 2012(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification,in the official gazette, appointamendment of section 42 in section 4 of the academy of scientific and innovative research act, 2011, in sub-section (1), after clause (i), the following clause shall be added at the end, namely:—10"(j) develop and integrate in its courses alternative models to animals in scienceand technology research, which shall include, inter alia, research in natural sciences, life sciences and medical sciences" statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe academy of scientific and innovative research act, 2011 was enacted to establish an academy for furtherance of advancement of learning and prosecution of research in the field of science and technology the act lays down the objectives of the academy which include the advancement of science, dissemination of advance knowledge, innovation in teaching and teaching processes and imparting instructions in areas not ordinarily covered in regular academic institutions in indiahowever, the research pertaining to alternative models to animal testing has not progressed in india, whereas leading institutions of science and technology world over are moving toward alternative models for instance, harvard university's wyss institute is developing an approach known as "organs-on-a-chip" in which human cell cultures are subjected to dynamic forces (eg lung cells "breathe") and subsequently display properties that are very similar to those seen in vivo in humansindia has been a signatory to the mutual acceptance of data (mad) agreement of the organisation for economic co-operation and development (oecd) since 2011 the oecd contains a number of non-animal alternatives for uptake by any of its member countries or mad signatory countries however, the consideration of uptake of these alternatives have been close to nil in india with the advent of alternatives in a larger way in the near future owing to the development of alternatives worldwide and the requirements of indian law, ie, section 17(2)(d) of chapter iv of the prevention of cruelty to animals (pca) act, 1960 requires that "experiments on animals are avoided wherever it is possible to do so"however, the lack of awareness in the developing technology for non-animal alternatives in india prevents our scientific institutions from progressing in this field the bill, therefore, seeks to amend the academy of scientific and innovative research act, 2011 with a view to allow an institution of national importance such as the academy of scientific and innovative research to develop and integrate in its courses the alternative models to animals in research and development of science and technologyhence this billnew delhi;raghav lakhanpalmarch 7, 2017 annexure extract from the academy of scientific and innovative research act, 2011 (13 of 2012)    4 (1) the objects of the academy shall be to—objects of academy(a)    (b)    (c) conduct courses in, and integrate into its courses, inter-disciplinary and multidisciplinary areas covering natural sciences, life sciences, mathematical and computational sciences, medical sciences, engineering, applied art, humanities, social sciences, law relating to these areas and interfaces thereof;     ———— a billto amend the academy of scientific and innovative research act, 2011————(shri raghav lakhanpal, mp)gmgipmrnd—5191ls(s3)—27-03-2017