Annual Report 2001 - 2002

Scientific Research

The reconstituted Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) continued its support to research projects in challenging and promising fields of Science & Engineering. In addition, the reconstituted Programme Advisory Committees (PAC) were advised and encouraged to identify specific areas for requesting proposals from the scientific community. The Council also encouraged programmes supporting Young Scientists to take up research as a career.

The Council met thrice during the period and has approved projects in various broad areas of Science & Engineering. It also discussed various policy issues and reviewed the achievements of the new initiatives like the Integrated Science Olympiad Programme, Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY), FAST Track Scheme for Young Scientists etc. During the year under report, some of the important initiatives taken/ policy issues discussed by the Council to encourage R&D programmes are as follows:

• Evolving a "Nano Science and Technology Initiative" programme
  
• Inputs for new initiatives in the 10th Plan
  
• Review to enhance the Fellowships of Research Fellows and Associates

The Department under the SERC R&D programme sanctioned 320 projects at a total cost of Rs 4664.13 lakhs. The discipline-wise and institution-wise break-up of funds is given below:

R&D Projects sanctioned during 2001-2002

(till January 31, 2002)

Broad Area	No of Projects	Sanctioned Cost (Rs in Lakhs)
Chemical Sciences	63	1095.38
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences	31	285.68
Engineering Sciences	52	624.52
Life Sciences	136	1932.50
Mathematical Sciences	8	77.72
Physical Sciences	30	648.33
Total	320	4664.13

Some of the new projects supported are in the areas like : Organic Synthesis, Condensed Matter Physics; Materials Science & Engineering, Plant Sciences; Phase Transition; Bioorganic Chemistry, Supramolecular Chemistry, Plasma Physics, High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Lasers, Optics, Atomic and Molecular Physics Materials Chemistry, Health Science, Animal Sciences, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Organometallic Chemistry, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Mineral Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Robotics & Manufacturing Engineering and Civil & Mechanical Engineering etc. Few training programmes and SERC Schools in various front line techniques and advanced areas have been supported by the Council. These are in the areas of Soft Computing, Precision Engineering, Chronobiology, Laser-Optics Atomic & Molecular Physics, HEP, Atmospheric Modelling, etc.

During the year the Patent Facilitating Cell has filed patents abroad for 6 Indian patents filed last year. In addition, 8 new patents have been filed in India which have emanated from the SERC supported projects. Two patents that were filed in UK last year have been granted during the current year.

The reconstituted Council in its first meeting reiterated the need for IT intervention in the project receipt, processing, appraisal and monitoring mechanism. An initiative has been taken in this direction and an initial study for developing system specific application software has been conducted. The Website for the SERC (www.serc-dst.org), which was launched last year on 22nd September, 2000, has been updated and is being used extensively by the scientific community.

The contribution of Indian scientists in scientific Journals and at national and global level is being recognised by the peers and the S&T Academies by few of them getting national & international recognition. Special efforts were made to identify active scientists, particularly Young ones, and Institutions in remote areas and encouraged by providing research support and Visiting fellowships etc. Linkages have already been established between R&D projects and the Infrastructural research programmes like IRHPA and FIST programme.

Programme on Nanomaterials Science and Technology Initiatives

The Department of Science & Technology (DST), through its Science & Engineering Research Council (SERC), has identified nanaomaterials science & technology as an important thrust area of research and the SERC has already taken some initial steps in this regard by way of supporting some basic research projects in this field in some selected institutions and some goal-oriented projects on use of nanomaterials in drug-delivery systems, synthesis of Titanium dioxide from ilmenite ore etc.

The DST had already set-up an Expert Group on "Nanomaterials: Science & Devices". As a result of the deliberations of the Expert Group, the following points have emerged:-

• A good scientific base exists in the country in physics and chemistry of nanomaterials;
  
• To sustain the progress of research activities in the area of nanomaterials, there is a need for nano-scale structural characterization facilities to be set up in the country;
  
• While open-ended basic research in nanomaterials is very important (and which has been and is being pursued with the help of existing mechanisms), it is equally important to intensify efforts to generate, formulate and support end-to-end goal-oriented projects by utilising the expertise and facilities already available in the country;
  
• Considering the existing expertise and the need for application potential, the chemical route and other cost-effective routes for preparation of nanomaterials need to be focused upon. In particular, the following application-oriented areas should be chosen for intensifying promotional efforts - (a) nano sized ceramics; (b) nanomaterials in drug-delivery systems; and (c) nanotechnology for water purification system.

Taking into account the recent developments the Government has identified the need to initiate a Nanomaterials Science & Technology Mission (NSTM) in the 10th Five Year Plan. In accordance with this and to evolve a framework for the National Initiative on Nanomaterials Science & Technology, DST has already set up a National Expert Committee. Based on the deliberations of this Committee, a strategy paper has been evolved for supporting on a long term basis both basic research and application oriented programmes in nanomaterials. An advertisement for "Request of Proposals" was released and an Expert Committee has been constituted to review the proposals.

The search for end-to-end projects in the upcoming area of Nanomaterials led to formulation and funding of a project on "Targeted Gene Delivery using Inorganic Nanoparticles as Non-Viral Vectors". This project was evolved under the initiative taken in the last year.

SERC Fellowship

With a view to motivate and encourage scientists for better exposure, the SERC Visiting Fellowships are provided to undergo advanced research or specialised training through interaction with experts in well-established research institutions within the country. This is awarded for 3 months on an annual basis. Scientists upto the age of 50 years are eligible for the fellowship. During the current year, 18 scientists have been chosen for the SERC Visiting Fellowship in various disciplines, such as, life science, chemistry, geology, mathematics and engineering. Some of the institutions visited by awardees are: Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Delhi University South Campus, New Delhi; Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai; National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi; National Chemical Laboratory, Pune; Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, New Delhi; National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow; Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhuvaneshwar; and Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin.

50 student Fellowships were awarded to the undergraduate students to get first hand exposure of research in leading research labs.

The broad discipline wise details of the achievements are as follows:

Chemical Sciences

Research support to frontier areas in Chemical Sciences continued during the year. About 63 projects, costing Rs.10 crores have been funded in various areas such as Bioorganic Chemistry, Supramolecular Chemistry, Materials Chemistry, Organometallic Chemistry etc.

Organic Chemistry

Some of the projects funded are given below :

• Studies on chemical synthesis of peptides.
  
• Semiconductor mediated photocatalysed reaction of few selected organic systems.
  
• Photochemical survey and screening of oilseeds of forest origin and synthetic studies on oleochemicals.
  
• Novel acridine based probes for nucleic acids
  
• A novel synthetic design towards phenanthridone and amaryllidaceae class of alkaloids.
  
• Carbohydrate based approach to carbocyclic and heterocyclic compounds of biological importance.
  
• Synthesis and development of new biodegradable and biocompatible polymers for tissue contacting applications.
  
• Synthesis and studies of catalytically active dendrimers.
  
• Utilization of oleofin metathesis and ring closure metathesis towards synthesis of antitumor alkaloids and natural products.
  
• Synthesis and reactivity of rationally designed enediynes of biological importance.
  
• Towards the synthesis of antibiotics, pentenomycins and streptozolines
  
• Stereoselective total synthesis of anti-tumor antibiotics.
  
• Studies on radical cyclisation towards the total synthesis of tricycylic furoterpenes.

The following are the significant results obtained from ongoing projects:

• A novel approach has been adopted for designing extremely low band gap polysquaraines with intense near IR absorption and high intrinsic conductivity. The conductivity of these polymers could be modulated by varying the length of alkyl side chains. This is one of the simplest non-oxidative polymerization strategies for the synthesis of extremely low band polymers that are soluble and intrinsically semiconducting.
• New fluorescent ionophores for Cu(II) and Pt(II) have been synthesized which can be used as sensors for estimation of these metal ions.
• An attempt has been made towards developing new methodology and one-pot synthesis of various compounds employing (trimethylsilyl) methylenetriphenylphosphorane. Their potential as useful intramolecular C-1 synthon has been realized and implemented for the first time.

Special initiatives have been taken to invite proposals in few identified areas. These are:

• C-H bond activation
  
• Hybrid and pseudo natural products
  
• Chemistry in supercritical and ionic liquids
  
• Polymorphism in molecular crystals
  
• Structural and functional mimicry of biosystems

Inorganic Chemistry

Some of the major projects funded are:

• Exploration of chemotherapeutic metallo-drugs through binding of DNA by coordination complexes of transition metals.
  
• Designing ligands for selective extraction of potassium ion from bittern
  
• Photochemical supramolecular assemblies and metallodendrimers as light harvesting antennas
  
• Development of chelating ionophore based chemical sensors for arsenic determination.
  
• Supramolecular associations in organotellurium compounds and utility of organotelluriums in organic/organometal synthesis and as possible imaging agents.
  
• Activation of molecular oxygen
  
• Magneto-structural studies on copper(II) complexes of bio-inorganic relevance.
  
• EPR spectroscopy and reactivity studies of immobilized transition metal macrocyclic complexes.
  
• Supramolecular chemistry of cryptands
  
• Supramolecular fullerene chemistry: Synthesis of fullerene hydroxamic acids and their analytical applications.
  
• Multimetal separation from Titania wastes by solvent extraction.

Some interesting results obtained from ongoing projects are:

• First ever successful synthesis of silicophosphonate (vide supra) have been made. This compound will be useful as a molecular precursor for synthesis of soluble models for silicometalophosphate (SMPO) materials such as SAPO.
• 1,3-Diderivatives of p-t-butylcalix[4]arenes leading to amide bonds have been synthesized for the first time using amines having additional binding groups, and also aminoacids of bio importance both in their carboxyclic ester and carboxyclic acid forms. The metal ion complexes of these molecules are expected to be the potential model systems to mimic bio-inorganic reactions of metallo-enzymes.
• New macrocyclic compounds and ligands bearing N2P2 skeleton have been synthesized and novel reactions of P(III) azides and isocynates have been discovered.
• It has been demonstrated for the first time that several imino-N donor ligands other than substituted 1,10-phenanthrolines are capable of yielding photoluminescent mononuclear and dinuclear copper(I) complexes. It has also been shown that introduction of an amono N into the coordination sphere of copper(I) in combination of imino N's allow retention of its emitting behaviour.

Physical Chemistry

Some new projects funded are:

• Demonstration of intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell (ITSOFC) operating below 800^oC
  
• Preparation and characterization of nanometer size particles of complex metal oxides for high energy density capacitors
  
• Analysis of electronic properties of nanoclusters of semoconductors - development of semiconductor based integrated photocatalytic systems
  
• Interfacial charge transfer and electrocatalytic characteristic of metal filled carbon nanotabular membranes
  
• New photophysical probes for organized assemblies: Synthesis and photophysics
  
• Single molecule spectroscopy with polymers
  
• Fluoro probe-spacer-receptor systems: Photoinduced electron transfer and fluorescence signalling of metal ions
  
• Photoinduced electron and energy transfer of some organic molecules in biologically relevant organized media.
  
• Synthesis, structure, electric transport and magnetic properties of ruddlesden-popper type phases
  
• Magnetic studies of technologically important nanocrystalline ferrites and metal nitrides
  
• Computer simulation studies of drug-DNA binding - a free energy analysis

Some interesting results obtained from the ongoing projects are:

• Pulsed Nozzle Fourier Transform Microwave Spectrometer has been fabricated which can be used to get microwave spectrum of weakly bound complexes with high sensitivity and resolution, simultaneously. These spectrometers are not commercially available and few laboratories around the world have fabricated locally. The time domain signal was obtained using the home-built spectrometer from OCS molecule.
• A supersonic jet laser-spectrometer based laser-induced fluorescence detection system has been built which can measure vibronically resolved electronic spectra of molecules and weakly bound van der Walls complexes at very low temperature in the gas phase. Conformational studies of flexible molecules where conformational preferences are influenced by weak non-classical p-hydrogen banding interactions have been made.
• Electronic and magnetic properties of mixed valent vanadates were extensively studied. The formation of several new organic-inorganic hybrid salt of polyoxovanadate clusters have been reported.
• Extensive time-dependent quantal wave packet calculations were carried out to investigate the dynamical resonances in collinear HeH2+ and its isotopic invariants HeHd+ and HeDH+. Eigen-functions were characterized in terms of local modes at low energies and hyperspherical modes at higher energies.
• The third order, Outer Valence Green Functions and quasi-particle decouplings of the dilated electron propagator have been derived and implemented for the first time.
• Synthesis of several modified mesoporous molecular sieves and also encapsulated transition metal coordination complexes in large pore zeolites have been made and characterized extensively. Some of the molecular sieves and modified zeolites have potential application for the synthesis of organic intermediates for drugs and agrochemicals

SERC School on "Concepts in Chemical Dynamics" was organized at IIT, Chennai and a Workshop on Catalysis was held at IIT, Kharagpur.

Physical Sciences

A number of projects in several emerging areas of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science, Plasma Physics, High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Lasers, Optics, Atomic and Molecular Physics were supported during the year. To monitor the progress made in the ongoing projects, presentations were regularly organized before the respective Programme Advisory Committees.

Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science

The projects supported in Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science were:
Boson localization : A density-matrix renormalization group study; Non-locality in equilibrium and non-equilibrium systems; Preparation of highly textured WS2 thin films by inexpensive chemical techniques and their physico-chemical characterization; Swift heavy ion induced mixing at the interface; Surface chemistry and electronic structure of impurity doped nano crystals; Investigation of unoccupied electronic structure by inverse photoemission; Formation of ordered, superlattice films of colloidal nanoparticles by organization at the air-water interface; Theory for structure and freezing of molecular liquids; Swift heavy ion induced microstructural modifications and their characterization in solid dielectrics; Development of Supercapacitors using polymer electrolytes with large area carbon and conducting polymer electrodes; Relaxational dynamics in a complex landscape; An investigation on formation and melting of charge ordered state in rare-earth manganites; Evaluation of the magnetic properties of substituted perovskite-type rare earth manganates: FC and ZFC studies; Fabrication of grain boundary junction (GBJ) thin films of manganites and magnetic multilayers for physical studies and device applications; Optical, magneto-optical properties and fermi surface of rare-earth compounds; Energy dispersive experiments using gamma-rays and identification of gamma-emitting radionuclides (Phase-I); Relaxation dynamics of charge carriers in fast-ion-conducting glasses; A new approach for memory effect in ferroelectric liquid crystal material based on charge accumulation phenomenon; Electrical and magnetic studies in alkali titanate fine ceramics and derivatives; Materials analysis and characterization by X-ray powder diffractometer; Structure property relationships in some magnetic and semiconducting materials; Measurement of high resolution and magnetic Compton profiles of some technologically important materials (phase - II); Nonlinear optical processing and coherent transient effects in unmagnetized and magneto-active semiconductor quantum wires and quantum dots;

Some of the significant and interesting results obtained in ongoing projects were as follows:

• A dc and rf sputtering unit has been set up and high quality thin metallic films and multilayers have been deposited in a project at Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata. The interfacial structure of these multilayers has been studied by x-ray reflectivity and scanning probe microscopy techniques. The growth parameters for various materials have been calibrated. A set up in the vacuum chamber for heating the substrate during the growth process has also been developed.
• A Photothermal Deflection Spectroscopy (PDS) system to record absorption spectrum in the range 400nm to 2200nm has been set up at the Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi. Several samples of ion implanted and amorphous semiconductors have been studied.
• A number of ternary borate glasses have been prepared at Bangalore University by the quenching technique. Ternary borate glasses of size 0.8 cm dia x 0.4cm long and 0.8cm dia x 1cm long have been prepared with a special mould and such samples have been found suitable for elastic measurements.
• A two-staged, metal thermostat having a temperature stability of ±44mK, over a period of more than hour, and long-term stability of ±80mK, over a period of 6 hours, at 70°C has been built in a project at IISc., Bangalore. The best stability attained was ±34mK, for 20 minutes or more. Employing this sensitive piece of equipment, a series of investigations have been carried out to unravel the nature of special Critical Points (signifying the limit of reappearing or re-entrant phases) in multicomponent liquid systems, especially those containing electrolytes. A secondary goal has been to explore surface or interfacial phenomenon that is connected directly or indirectly to the bulk liquid-liquid transitions that occur in these systems. Among the several interesting results obtained are the discovery of a mean-field multicritical point on the critical locus in a ternary liquid mixture of 3-methylpyridine (MP) plus water (W) plus sodium bromide (NaBr) via light scattering measurements at a concentration of ~17% mass fraction of NaBr.

Plasma, High Energy, Nuclear Physics, Astronomy & Astrophysics and Nonlinear Dynamics

The projects funded in these areas were :

Some aspects of low-energy hadronic physics; Development of optical observational facilities for photometric observations; Simulation studies related to quark gluon plasma by PHENIX at RHIC; Laser matter interaction using short pulsed laser; Self-focusing and its consequences in intense laser plasma interaction; Studies for future Linear Collider; Strangeness physics of hypernuclei and neutron stars; Weak pion production from nucleons and nuclei; Physics beyond the Standard Model; Integrable and chaotic dynamics of certain two coupled nonlinear systems.

4 SERC Schools viz. Preparatory SERC School in Theoretical High Energy Physics (Utkal University, Bhubaneswar); Main SERC School in Theoretical High Energy Physics (Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar); SERC School in Nuclear Physics (Panjab University, Chandigarh); and, School on Physics of Beams (BARC, Mumbai) were organized.

Some significant results obtained in the ongoing projects were as follows :

• As part of an ongoing project at the Nuclear Science Centre, New Delhi, a Radioactive Ion Beam facility has been developed for the first time in the country. The 7Be radioactive ion beam produced at NSC is, perhaps, the best in the world in terms of beam size and purity, in this energy range. Experiments are in progress using this beam.
• In a project at the SN Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata, physics of accretion of matter onto a non-rotating black hole has been studied. The existence of subsonic and supersonic flows has been demonstrated together with evidence for shocks.
• In another project at Panjab University, Chandigarh, studies on the dynamical behaviour of a number of physically interesting models have been carried out to demonstrate that stochastic resonance is a generic phenomenon. Attempt has also been made to develop a quantifier of stochastic resonance in terms of hysteresis loop area.
• As part of another project, a 3-channel photometer has been developed and mounted on the 104cm State Observatory Telescope at Nainital for the purpose of observing variable light curves from stars such as d Scuti and white dwarfs. Observations carried out at the State Observatory with this equipment have added to the statistics of pulsating stars, particularly in the northern hemisphere. These studies will stimulate our theoretical understanding of fields such as astro-seismology by confronting steller pulsation models with valuable observational data. In about two years of its operation, about 150 stars have been observed with this instrument and several new candidates of pulsating stars have been discovered in the northern hemisphere. The State Observatory is likely to continue adding new candidates to the pulsating star inventory. This work has also attracted international attention and participation.
• At RRL, Thiruvananthapuram, the dynamics and rheology of suspensions of spheres in simple shear flows have been studied. Evidence of chaos and existence of low-dimensional chaotic attractors in fluctuations of rheological parameters have been found. Model equations have also been constructed for prediction of these parameters and reasonable agreement with simulation data has been found. This novel application of nonlinear dynamics techniques to rheological problems has potential for industrial applications, e.g. in slurry transport.

As part of the Cross Disciplinary Plasma Science (CDPS) programme to generate cross-disciplinary projects at the interface of plasma physics and other areas of science and engineering, the following projects were funded:

• Understanding the microscopic nature of plasma process induced damage and its correlation to CMOS device performance and reliability; Formation of ultra shallow junction and nitride gate oxide for silicon based semiconductor devices using plasma immersion ion implantation; Investigations on the reaction kinetics of silane glow discharge plasma at high frequencies;Plasma diagnostics in synthesizing c-BN by inductively coupled plasma CVD.
• The search for end-to-end projects in the upcoming area of Nanomaterials led to formulation and funding of a project on "Targeted Gene Delivery using Inorganic Nanoparticles as Non-Viral Vectors".

Lasers, Optics, Atomic and Molecular Physics

The following projects were supported in the above mentioned areas:

Studies on spatial-coherence spectral filters and their applications; Study of morphology dependent resonances in microcavities and their effects on laser action in Xanthene dyes; Laser electron acceleration in dense plasmas; Laser interferometric study of solutal transport and kinetics of crystal growth in an aqueous solution; Crystal growth and characterization of organic nonlinear optical materials: N-alkylpyridinone derivatives; Interferogram analysis techniques; Growth of large size and high quality single crystals of POM, MAP, NPP, TCP and L-PCA organic materials and their characterization for nonlinear applications; Growth and characterization of some novel metalorganic nonlinear optical crystals.

A School on "Quantum Physics and Information Processing" was held at TIFR, Mumbai.

The following interesting results were reported in ongoing projects :

• A laser cooling experiment has been done with a Rb magneto-optic trap (MOT) at I.I.Sc., Bangalore. In addition, a novel wavemeter based on a stabilized diode laser has been built for measuring the wavelength of the tunable laser very accurately. Fine structure splitting in Rb has been measured using the wavemeter and a second diode laser very precisely. The technology for stabilized diode lasers has been developed.
• In another project at I.I.Sc., Bangalore, using time resolved resonance Raman (TR3) spectroscopy, studies have been made on electron transfer, transient intermediate kinetics and structure-reactivity relationship. Time resolved resonance Raman (TR3), ab initio Hartree-Fock (HF) and density functional theoretical (DTF) studies on photogenerated transient states of perfluoro-p-benzoquinone (Fluoranil, FA) have been carried out. Intercalation of inorganic complexes to DNA has also been studied using resonance Raman spectroscopy to understand the nature of binding and charge transfer interactions.
• A HPLC-LIF system has been set up at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal to detect and record the fluorescence spectra of individual components, in a highly complex, multi component physiological sample, in ultra trace quantities. Sensitivity of sub picomoles has been achieved using microlitre amount of highly diluted body fluids like saliva and serum. Investigations have also been carried out with samples from oral cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer subjects. A Raman spectroscopy method has also been established for optical pathology of malignant tissues. Statistical evaluation of the data for oral cancer has shown the method to be capable of over 90% sensitivity and specificity.
• A laboratory model of a tomographic microscope has been fabricated at I.I.Sc., Bangalore. A prototype microscope is also being built around an Olympus Magnum microscope. This propotype microscope would be a handy tool for factories producing thin film-based integrated optics wave guide.
• In a project at Calcutta University, Kolkata, an appropriate global optimization strategy for lens design has been developed. A computer software package which will help decide on a "globally" optimum structural design has also been developed.
• In another project at Calcutta University, Kolkata, inert gas broadening of electronic transition in oxygen in the near infrared region has been measured. The measurement of line shape has also been performed with the acetylene (?1 + ?3) mode vibrational transition for self and N2, O2, air and He collisions.
  

Life Sciences

Health Sciences

The Department has been continuing support to the programs/projects in the health sector keeping in view global issues & health associated problems of the country. During the year the PAC has examined 90 new proposals and monitored progress of 56 ongoing projects, 53 new projects have been supported by the Department. The projects supported are broadly in the areas of Neurophysiology, Endocrinology, Parasitology, Ophthalmology, Nephrology, Immunology, Genetic disorders, Oncology, Cancer therapy, Tumor biology, Malnutrition, Cardiology, Relaxation therapy (Meditation), Drug delivery system, Reproductive biology etc. Some important observations/ results on on-going projects along with areas in which new projects have been initiated are given below:

• A non-invasive device using in-vivo proton NMR spectroscopy has been established for detection of breast cancer. The technique permits non-invasive detection of metabolic (biochemical) differences between tumors and normal tissues and can also be used to monitor response to different treatment regimens during chemotherapy, tumor behaviour & progression pathophysiology. Several projects have been initiated to study molecular mechanism of tumorogenesis and malignancy. Results of the studies on role of prolactin (PRL) hormone in malignancy revealed that PRL induce release of IL-12 by monocyte/macrophages indicate that hormone play an important role in regulation of Th1 response. In another project on tumor regression, Cytokines IL-12 type act as natural immunostimulants as elevated levels of IL -12 type have been demonstrated in the host regressing the tumour.
• Studies are under progress to investigate the molecular basis of esophageal carcinogensis. An expression profile for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in the Indian population has been described for the first time giving evidence for complex alterations of gene expression of group/families of genes or individual genes. In another study on tumor metastasis, there is correlation noted between increase in metastatic potential and increase in concentration of gangliosides in the cell surface of B16- melanoma cells. Some of the projects have been initiated on cell cycle regulation, p53 expression, apoptosis, lethal mutation induction, characterization of oncogenes & environmental factors in the process of carcinogenesis. Chemoprevention by synthetic or dietary compounds has received growing attention as an effective means of cancer control. A project has been initiated to explore the chemopreventive potential of neem, garlic, tomato & turmeric as preliminary studies on extracts of these plant products have shown effective chemopreventive activity.
• Tumor cells secrete sufficient amounts of the angiogenic growth factor, (VEGF) to initiate and promote angiogenesis, thereby contributing to tumor progression. To unravel the molecular mechanism(s) of inhibition of angiogenesis by Butyric acid (BuA), a study has been initiated as BuA is known to inhibit angiogenesis.
• In a recent study a successful experimental model of allergen induced asthma in guinea pigs has been developed which can be used for carrying out studies on pathogenesis, biochemical changes and for evaluation drugs for the management of asthma. It has been demonstrated in guinea pigs that excessive salt consumption increases airway reactivity and prevention of asthma. This has important implication in developing strategies for prevention and treatment of asthma.
• Another project has been initiated to study the role of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) from gram negative bacteria in inducing apoptosis of phagocytic cells. Owing to the localization of OMPs on the bacterial surface (which comes in contact with the host first) have been considered as important antigens in the induction of specific protective immune response against infection by gram -ve bacteria. In a recent study attempts have been made to characterize the new secretogenic toxin of the Vibrio cholerae to understand its pathogenesis. Vibro cholerae non-01, strain have been demonstrated to be most virulent strain in causing the disease.
• In a study, on analysis of M. tuberculosis gene expression and host cytokine response in pulmonary and extra pulmonary TB reveals that dev R gene is most virulence in case M. tuberculosis. This gene has two components dev R dev S and has been demonstrated for the first time with the aim of design of drugs targeting dormant bacilli. Several new projects have been initiated to understand immune responses in leprosy, filarial and Leishmania infections with the aim of developing effective vaccine strategies and immunoprophylaxis/immuno diagnostics. Some of the studies are oriented towards understanding the basic mechanisms of intracellular trafficking pathway in Leishmania as well as in leprosy and Th1 response after neonatal priming in Leishmania. Another group has characterised B-cell hybridoma against viral antigen, namely rinderpest viral haemagglutinin proteins H. The hybridoma has been shown to generate T-helper and T-cytotoxic response in syngenic animals.
• Wilson's disease (WD) is an inherited disorder of metabolism causing copper overload leading on to irreversible hepatic or neurologic involvement and death. A study of the genetics of WD in India has been initiated for early diagnosis of presymptomatic disease among relatives of patients. Early diagnosis and prompt institution of copper chelation therapy can cure this disease.
• Another project has been initiated to understand molecular mechanism of pathophysiology of acute pancreatics. Results of the study would give information on early diagnosis of the problem at cellular level to assess the severity of acute pancreatitis and hence be of prognostic value. Results of the study on dietary fiber (DF) such as wheat bran and guar gum besides having beneficial role in improving diabetic status in terms of blood sugar, urine sugar, urine volume etc., also have a beneficial role in controlling diabetic nephropathic state. This was examined by measuring glomerular filtration rate . Butyric acid a product of dietary fiber fermentation also showed promising results in improving diabetic status.
• Studies on the structure function relationship of human follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) using disulphide peptides of its B subunit have been initiated. In another project studies are under progress to maintain isolated epithelial cells from normal rabbits in culture on free floating rat tail collagen matrix.
• Large bone defects commonly encountered during arthroplasties, tumour or spinal surgeries require large amount of graft material for treatment. Autografts are limited in quantity and procuring them produce morbidity and other complications. Allografts are a viable option to treat these skeletal deficiencies. To assess the feasibility and usefulness of fresh frozen allografts in these conditions a bone bank facility has been established with fresh frozen femoral head allografts harvested from live donors after careful screening to rule out disease transmission, to facilitate reconstructive surgery in various surgical specialities. The option of using allograft in reconstructive surgery would ease the difficulty a surgeon faces when massive or large bone grafts are required. This bone bank is one of its kind in the entire Northern India.

During the year, a training workshop has been organized on the production of transgenic and gene knockout animals . Fifteen young and mid career scientists were trained on technology for transgenic and gene targeting for the production of knockout animals. Using this technology mouse models for genetic diseases and also for delineating in-vivo function of specific genes can be generated for research purpose.

Animal Sciences

In the area of Animal Sciences twenty six projects pertaining to mammalian ecology, biodiversity among various fauna, vertebrate reproduction, bioremediation of chemical pollution, bioacoustics, fish nutrition, bioactive substances from marine animals etc. were sanctioned. A few of these projects, particularly on ecological behaviour of mammals and reptiles are generated through interaction meetings.

A few of the projects that were supported include the following:

Biology of South Indian anuran tadpoles; establishment of fat body heterogenity and identification of storage protein receptor; Identification and application of fern constituents for the control of Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera litura; Ecology and conservation of the Indian grey wolf Canis lupus pallipus in some selected habitats in Maharashtra; Status, distribution, food and feeding of Malabar spiny dormouse (Platocanthomys lesiurus blyth) in the Western Ghats of Kerala; Induced resistance to root-knot nematodes by phyto-chemicals on plants with special reference to suppression of nematode reproduction; Faunal survey and population dynamics assessment of northeast Indian amphibians; Role of pheromones in buffalo reproduction; Taxonomy of freshwater nematodes of Aligarh and adjoining areas; Elimination of anti-nutritional factors to improve the nutritional quality of aquafeeds; Gene expression of Arginine vasotocin and its receptors in the brain and shell gland in relation to reproduction/egg laying; Isolation and identification of bioactive substances from polychaete annelids of west coast and screening for their biopotentiality; Effects of altered salinity and pH on developmental gene expression in amphibian embryos, histoenzymatic analysis and fibre type composition of locomotor muscles of aquatic burrowing and arboreal frogs; Biochemical and functional implications of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids on the mammalian male reproductive system; Study of distribution, ecology, reproduction and development of tree frogs of Meghalaya with special reference to Cherapunjee; Spatial and macro distribution of benthic macro invertebrate community in tropical mountain streams of Garhwal region; Porcupine (Hystrix indica karr) feeding behaviour and ecology in cultivated palm ecosystems in Western Ghats of Karnataka; Investigation of factors responsible for luteal dysfunction leading to retarded embryonic development in Cynopterus sphinx; Vermiculture technique for the remediation of agricultural soil contaminated by tannery industrial effluent near Ranipet industrial town; Isolation and purification of c-reactive protein from Achatina fulica and evaluation of its biochemical and functional properties; Localisation of prey by the gleaning bats Megaderma lyra; Ecology and demographic changes among bats of the Thar desert with special reference to Jodhpur, Bikaner and Jaisalmer; Reproductive biology of lepidopteran crop pests with special reference to the functional regulation of male accessory reproductive glands; Ecology and management of leopard in Gir lion sanctuary and national park; Pleiotropic effects of selection for circadian traits in Drosophila; Ecology, status and conservation of lesser known mammals in neglected habitats of Karnataka; Heavy metal toxicity effects on calcium regulating endocrine glands and blood constituents in teleost.

The projects which were sanctioned earlier, have made impressive progress. Thirteen such projects were monitored during this year. One out of which was rated outstanding, five each very good and good. Two projects were rated satisfactory. Some important results obtained in these projects are mentioned below:

• The proposal on forensic entomology has come out with a directory of insects associated with various stages of rottening carrion, reproductive biology of parasitoids which has potential for biocontrol of the aphid pests of Brassica, are under study, the acoustic signals of avian species has come out with observation that unlike previous belief even female Magpie robin deliver song and often initiate singing prior to pair formation. Mushroom Bodies (MB), part of brain, have been demonstrated to be involved in olfaction of associated memory. In the process of delineating the organizational structure of MB, four major groups of neurons are observed. One of the PI has demonstrated the role of neurotransmitter methionine-enkaphalin in regulating hemolymph sugar level in selected crustaceans. It also regulates reproduction.

A five year cycle of Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) School on Chronobiology, a subject which study adaptation among animals in relation to time, has been approved to cultivate the intensive research in the Universities.
Plant Sciences

In the area of Plant Sciences, several projects have been supported during the year: These projects include some application oriented R&D projects also. These are :

Biodiversity assessment of Ganoderma species, genus Astragalus, ferns of Western Ghats of South India and Pedicularis (Scrophulariaceae) as well as taxonomic revision of Indian Zingiberaceae, Pedicularis, biosysmatics of water Lilies of India, morphogenic and taxonomic studies on Commelinaceae of peninsular India, biomonitoring of tree biology and forest ecology in tropical dry evergreen forest on Coromandal coast of South India, ecology of landscapes of Vindhyan Highlands, tree line dynamics in highland Himalayas and biodiversity in Glossopteris flora with reference to paleoenvironment and paleogeography of Eastern India, lower Gondwana basins and bioinventoring of Trichomycetes-Arthopod gut dwelling fungi in India.

Production and application of fungal tannases in biotransformations, fungal treatment for removal of textile dyes, bioactive compounds from Streptomycetes and Seaweeds, production and characterisation of amylopollutanase, immunological characterisation of defense related protein in tea, biocontrol agent for rice disease management, botanical pesticides for management of pests in stored food grains, selection of efficient strain of frankia for Sea buckthorn growing in Eastern Himalaya, genetic enhancement of cultivated lentils, Cynobacterial blooms and secondary metabolites, mechanism of potassium toxicity in microcystis, molecular characterization of rice stress 100 family of genes/proteins, phototropic mutants of tomato, post harvest changes in senesencing betal leaf etc.

Some important observations on on-going projects are mentioned below.

• Ø In a recent study at Regional station, Palode of National Research Centre for Oil Palm, the technology to utilize oil palm factory wastes for edible mushroom production has been standardised. Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.) and Summer white mushroom (Calocybe indica) can be commercially grown on mesocarp waste in thatched mushroom sheds. Technology for bulk production of paddy straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) using bunch refuse in interspaces of mature oil palm plantations was evolved.Technology is being demonstrated to the local people for income generation by bio-utilization of oil palm factory waste.
• In another ongoing project the diversity of seaweeds of Chilka lake has been studied and their economic importance has also been evaluated. Agar and Carrageenan, (important polysaccharides used in various industries) have been extracted from Gracilaria and Grateloupia. Efforts have been initiated to commercially utilize these species at local level for rural employment.
• In a study on role of DNA methylation in gene silencing in plants, a methylated DNA-binding protein has been identified from tomato seedlings by south-western hybridization. The protein bound specifically to CpG rich DNA. The binding was found to be stimulated by methylation of the DNA probe (Figure C). Similar proteins from vertebrate systems have been found to play a role in repression of gene expression in a methylation-dependent manner. Such protein may have a role in gene silencing in plants.

Biochemistry, Biophysics, Molecular Biology and Microbiology

The projects on Biochemistry, Biophysics, Molecular Biology and Microbiology were considered by the Department for extra-mural support. The proposals supported relates to structure of biomolecules, mutations, application of microbes in preparation of biodegradable plastics and functional analysis of cellular components, gene expressions etc. A few of the sanctioned projects in the area of Biochemistry and Biophysics are given below.

Microbial production of Biodegradable plastics from Cheese Whey; Metal transport in wall-less mutants of Neurospora Crassa; Isolation, Purification and characterisation of an extreme halophilic, Thermostable protease from halophilic bacteria; Functional Analysis of calcium binding protein from rice; Optimisation of enzyme-based synthetic reactions in non-aqueous media; X Ray diffraction studies on the recombinant capsids formed by deletion and substitution mutants; Structure of DNA topoisomerase I Gene of Leishmania donovani; Folding and aggregation patterns of glycated proteins; Characterisation of a male specific chromosome condensation protein from the strain in Drosophila melanogaster.

Some of the projects sanctioned in the broad area of Molecular Biology are:
Regulation of Human Cathepsin L Expression by 5' Untranslated regions of its mRNA species; Role of osteopontin on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 expression, cell migration and extracellular matrix (ECM)-invasion in melanoma cells; Identification and characterization of a novel lymphoid specific protein SMAR1: possible role in V(D) J recombination and autoimmunity; Functional analysis of identified gene trap clones in blood vessel formation, Identification of transport factors for transfer RNA on Leishmania mitochondrial membranes; Structure-Function and mechanistic studies on KpnI restriction-modification system; Studies on cellular function of a novel dimeric bacterial hemoglobin (Vhb): Site directed mutagenesis of oxygen-binding heme-pocket of VHb and its implications on protein function; Molecular and functional analysis of mutants in the IP3 receptor gene of Drosophila melanogaster; Transcription by RNA polymerase III:, Studies on the role of rotavirus protein kinase NSP5 in selective viral mRNA translation; Nuclear target of cyclic AMP signalling pathway involved in transcriptional regulation of cyclins during the cell cycle in Candida albicans Role of human positive cofactor 4(PC4) in transcriptional regulation and diseases; Molecular dissection of interactions that regulate DNA mismatch repair; Molecular studies with natural isolates of Entamoeba histolytica and Entamoeba dispar; Guanylate cyclase and No-cGMP transduction signaling in a lower eukaryote like Leishmania; Plant microtubule dynamics-A novel target for herbicides and antiparasitic drug development.

Few interesting observations from projects, which are under implementation, are given below:

• An investigator has carried out extensive work on lectins, lectins-carbohydrates interactions and protein hydration. The studies have led to elucidation of the role of water molecules in protein carbohydrate interactions. The structure of lectins from peanut, winged bean Jack-fruit, garlic lectin have been determined. Studies on protein hydration and its consequences were pursued using approach involving water mediated transformation with lysozyme and ribonucleases A as model systems. These studies establish a relation among hydration, mobility and enzyme action. The studies using water-mediated transformation are expected to be extended to more complex sytems such as haemoglobin.
• A new line of work invloving DNA enzymes was initiated. Specifically the crystal structure of E. coli uracil DNA glycosylase in complex with a proteinaceous inhibitor has been determined. This study is expected to lead to extensive investigation of DNA enzymes especially from Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
• An investigation on "molecular mechanism of Drug resistance in Kala Azar patients" has reported that a DNA sequence is being amplified within several unresponsive isolates and by transfection experiment has established a link between drug resistance and this sequence. This isolated fragment when amplified confers antimony resistance.

Achievements reported from few projects completed during the year are as follows:

• In one of the projects, study on interaction of transcription activator protein C with DNA and RNA polymerase was undertaken. The study has resulted in elucidation of a novel mechanism for transcription activation. Some aspects of 'C' protein structure have also been understood. It has been found that the protein is very hydrophobic and mg++ mediated conformational changes are necessary for the protein to bind to DNA. The project has generated reagents and tools and the results obtained are of great significance in the area of regulation of gene expression and transcription activation mechanism. Moreover the information on basic molecular aspects has led to explore the application potential.

Engineering Sciences

Engineering Sciences Programme initiated since Seventh Five Year Plan is a multi-disciplinary R&D promotion programme within the scope of Science & Engineering Research Council (SERC). The objective of the Programme is to promote basic and applied research in frontline areas of engineering and technology in the various academic and research institutions, in collaboration with industry and user agencies (where applicable), and to transfer resulting technologies for industrial and developmental activities.

The programme objectives cover a range of disciplines within engineering sciences such as chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, materials development, manufacturing technologies, robotics etc. The individual research programme may address one or more namely, health, bio-medical, transportation, fuel efficiency & emission control, water management, structural engineering, building technologies, manufacturing and process industry etc.

The specific objectives are:

• To promote research in newly emerging and frontier areas of engineering including multidisciplinary fields.
  
• To promote research capability in relevant areas of engineering and technology taking into account capability of the host and collaborating institutions.
  
• To set up advanced research facilities for carrying out R&D activities.
  
• To conduct SERC (Engineering) Schools in emerging areas of technologies.
  
• To develop software and knowledge based expert system for various engineering applications.
  
• To develop technologies for products and processes in collaboration with industry for import substitution and technology advancement.
  
• To develop technologies of relevance to the country in collaboration with industry and subsequent technology transfer.

Facilitation and support of R&D work in laboratories and institutions in the country have resulted in several publications in national and international journals. Projects in the nature of applied research have resulted in products and processes, some of which are under transfer to industry and user agencies. A brief summary of activities initiated under various programmes under Engineering Sciences are given in the on going.

Materials, Mining & Mineral Engineering

Some important observations/ finding in projects funded under this PAC are given below:

• A laboratory size horizontal continuous casting machines has been designed and fabricated at IIT, Mumbai. This machine has been commissioned and successful casting of 50 mm x 50 mm steel billets has been demonstrated.
• Formation of porous silicon layer on p-type silicon has been extensively investigated. Porous silicon based (primitive level display devices) have been fabricated at Jadavpur University, Kolkatta. Further studies on influence of formation parameters on electro-luminescence efficiency of PS are in progress.
• Basic investigations carried out at CECRI, Karaikudi, on use of micro-organisms in inhibition of corrosion in under water structures have shown encouraging results. As a follow up a more focused and quantitative study is under formulation.
• Sulphate and carbonate based electrolyte materials have been developed and tested at Nagpur University, for use as solid electrolytes and electrode for solid state sensors for carbondioxide and sulphurdioxide.
• Surface modified tin oxide, zinc oxide, and zirconium oxide with high sensitivity and controlled selectivity for sensing reducing gases, mainly LPG and Ammonia have been developed and tested at NCL, Pune.
• Tough, strain tolerant omogeneous alumina-alumina, alumina-zirconia-alumina, zirconia-zirconia, and heterogeneous alumina-zirconia toughened alumina multi layered laminated ceramic composites have been developed at CGCRI, Kolkatta. Glass polymer laminated multi layer composites with enhanced failure resistance have also been developed.
• Detailed current, velocity and magnetic field measurements have been carried out at IIT, Kanpur, in simulated multi anode Hall cell (akin to that used for extraction of aluminium metal) using Woods metal and sophisticated mathematical model with capability to predict magneto hydrodynamic behaviour in electrically driven melt flows has been developed.
• Extensive experimental studies carried out at IISc, Bangalore, on free sintering and sinter forging of nanocrystalline ceramics and ceramics composites, have led to further understanding of phenomena responsible for inhibition of grain growth and densification in these materials. Several activation energy parameters for creep and densification have also been determined.
• High purity aluminium nitride powders, whiskers, and platelets, have been successfully synthesized at CGCRI, Kolkatta, using an innovative process to obviate the difficulty of homogeneous mixing of the reactants in carbothermal reduction.

Chemical Engineering

Few important observations/ finding in projects funded under this PAC are given below:

• Studies have been carried out on selective delignification of pulp with the help of laccase enzymes and the preliminary results have been found to be very encouraging. An appropriate and optimum use of such enzymes is likely to reduce overall chemical consumption significantly with same or better level of other properties like brightness, viscocity and physical strength. After doing the necessary optimisation work, the process is likely to be patented and implemented at industrial level.
• The existing micro nutrients fertilizers are found to be highly water soluble resulting in high teaching losses. Moreover, a number of formulations are to be used to cater to the requirements of individual nutrients. To overcome this problem new formulations are being developed wherein iron, manganese and molybdenum can be combined as a single fertilizer and made available to plants on a slow release pattern. Results from actual field trails on paddy yields obtained so far show encouraging results. Equipment design for the production of these fertilizers is under progress for carrying out bench scale experiments before the process is ready for commercial application.
• New microporus absorbents have been developed with higher selectivity and capacity for the separation of Nitrogen, Oxygen and Argon from air. The better performance could be achieved by modification of zeolite surface with multivalent rare earth cations, introduction of metal clusters and complexes inside zeolite cavities and control of zeolite pore apertures. These adsorbents are presently being used to fabricate a portable unit for generating oxygen/nitrogen through PSA/VSA mechanism, for multi-purpose uses like houses, hospitals and food preservation application.
• The effect of ultrasound has been studied on various reactions systems, which has been found very effective. This includes experiments on precipitation of arsenic from water which is greatly facilitated by ultrasound field even at neutral pH. More experiments are being carried out to achieve reduction of arsenic from water to WHO limit to 0.02 ppm and optimise the process. This would have significant relevance for making arsenic free water available to poor people in the affected areas of West Bengal.
• Preliminary work has been carried out to achieve process intensification with the use of centrifugal field and has been found to enhance reaction rates by an order to 8 in the range of 400 to 1000 g. Presently the concept is being tried on a more complicated reactor which will eventually lead to substantial reduction in reactor size and reaction time, thereby increasing throughput significantly.
• An improved model has been developed to predict membrane parameters like structure and transport properties without the need of experimentation. The output in the form of 3 computer programmes will be useful to other researchers working in the area of membranes.

Mechanical Engineering & Civil Engineering

Some important observations/ finding in projects funded under this PAC are given below:

• More than twelve demonstration micro hydel projects based on indigenous cross flow turbine completed in collaboration with State agencies, in capacities ranging from 10 kW to 2x 100 kW during the plan period. Related equipment such as, electronic load controller and induction motor- based alternators are also developed.

During the year one more project in Tirbin (50 kW). Arunachal Pradesh was also commissioned.

• Reliability and field evaluation of a fuel efficient, low emission, two-stroke SI engine has been completed in IISc, Bangalore. The technology transfer/development of the engine is being taken up with for automotive and non-automotive applications.
• A project on development of instrumentation system for condition monitoring of rotating machine in power plants is in progress as a multi- institutional project with CSIO, Chandigarh as the nodal agency. IIT, Delhi and IIT, Kanpur will develop with knowledge based systems and, BHEL R&D, Hyderabad will provide the necessary industry interface.
• Six coordinated projects in the area of development of technologies for hydrogen generation handling and utilization certificate has been initiated. The projects are progressing well and the next phase of activity will be formulated by the core group on hydrogen technology set up for the purpose. The programme is carried out collaboration with TIFAC and other institutions in the country.

Electrical, Electronics & Computer Engineering

Some important observations/ finding in projects funded under this PAC are given below:

• Under the project Fabrication of Optical Waveguide Power Splitter on Silicon Substrate for Optical Fiber Communication at North Maharashtra University, Jalgoan has indigenously developed and installed in the clean room laboratory facilities such as Vertical Metallorganic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MOCVD) System : for the growth of II-VI group compound materials, mainly for the growth of ZnSe crystal. This material is widely used for the fabrication of blue lasers and LEDs ; Thermal Tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) CVD System: thin films of SiO2 have been deposited by decomposing the organic chemical, Tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) between temperature range of 650- 750 0C in the atmospheric pressure CVD reactor; Liquid Phase Epitaxy (LPE) System : developed for the group III - V compound semiconductor crystal growth especially to make the quantum well structures; Impurity Diffusion system : to diffuse the impurities in semiconductor materials under gaseous phase; A mask aligner assembled manually which can align x, y, z and q, with traveling microscope to align wafer and mask. The Computer Aided Design Tools software's are developed for designing of optical waveguides and various optical devices like Semiconductor Lasers, Optical Power Splitters / Combiners, Modulators, couplers, demultiplexers etc. Four Patent on the PECVD (Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) system are under consideration by the Patent Facilitation Cell (PFC) of DST.
• Under a project at IIT-Delhi, a study and design of algorithm for Hidden Surface Removal has been carried out alongwith Hidden Surface Removal problem in Dynamic scenes as well as design implementation for walkthroughs. Several novel results have been obtained during this project implementation. The algorithm of Hierarchical Oct-tree developed as part of the project has been transferred to M/s Escosoft Ltd.. Escosoft is planning to incorporate the algorithm in their Graphics engine. The process of copyright application of the Hierarchical Oct- tree Algorithm and software is currently being conduced by IIT-Delhi.
• Project entitled "Bilingual (Devnagari & Bangla) OCR System Development" at Indian Statistical Institute, has developed bilingual Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system with better skew correction technique and segmentation of script region from non-script region like logo, tables, graphics and halftone pictures. Which performs script recognition of Bangla and Devnagari (Hindi), the most popular scripts of the Indian sub-continents, and also document tilt correction, script line, word and character segmentation, character recognition. The system is able to process real-life books in Bangla and Hindi. The correct character recognition rate is more than 97% on good laser print out on a good quality paper. Technology has been transferred by ISI, Kolkata to C-DAC Pune for development and commercialization of OCR and integration of OCR Software in the C-DAC's language software products.
• Under a project on Design, Development and Control of Permanent Magnet Machines at IIT Delhi in collaboration with Kirloskar Electric Company Ltd (KEC) as industry partner, the analog controller for Permanent Magnet Brushless (PMBL) motor is commercialized by collaborating industry and presently used for CNC applications. The digital controller using DSP TMS320F240 is also developed and it can also be used in applications such as CNC application, air-conditioning etc. The digital controller for PMBL motor is under consideration for acceptance and final modifications with Kirloskar industry.
• A Text to Speech System for Malayalam supported at International School of Dravidian Linguistics, Xavier's College, Thiruvananthapuram has been successfully developed. Using a Parser, the Malayalam script, which is known to be non-linear, is converted into a linear one. The numberzals are converted into the equivalent words and the whole text is voiced by using a synthesizer.
• Project on New Electrical System for Stand alone Micro-hydel based Power Generation supported at IIT Delhi has resulted in successful development of electronic load controller Self Excited Induction Generator (SEIG) to be driven by a micro-hydel turbine. SEIG consists of an appropriate capacitor bank connected across the terminal of an externally driven induction machine. In a micro hydel system, the input energy is almost constant and is available of free of cost, hence the control system is made simple by keeping its output constant by using an electronic load controller. The load controller makes the system operate at a single operating power point by diverting the excess power to a resistive load bank called dump load. For compensating the reactive power requirement of the system, a thyristor based switching capacitor scheme is used with SEIG. The total system using 7.5kW, 415V, 3-phase, 4-pole induction machine as SEIG and the associated controllers has been extensively tested in the laboratory both with a simulated micro hydle turbine and with pump as turbine, which has shown promising results and gives confidence for the field implementation. Two patents are already filed on this. A developed system is under installation at the micro-hydle site at Shringeri near Bangalore. With linkages of R&D Institutions like IIT Delhi, Industry and user agencies like TIDE, Bangalore, the field implementation of project shows great potential based on which units of different ratings (5-100kw) can be replicated and installed.
• Under the project "Application of formal Languages in computing environments" at IIT Madras new models of grammar systems and automata are defined and studied and application to network load modeling, image compression, computer imagery and DNA computing shown.
• Project "Design & Development of fault tolerant circuitry to improve the reliability of solar PV modules and arrays" has explicitly dealt with the improvement of reliability by active redundancy which involves use of interconnection circuitry in the modules. It has been established that the Bridge-Linked (BL) circuitry excels over others. The modules based on this circuitry have been fabricated in the conventional plant of industry, without any change of process or manufacturing unit. The BL modules can be retrofitted to replace the conventional modules and / or used in conjunction with the conventional modules, and product is being considered for patent by PFC DST.

Robotics & Manufacturing

The PAC continued its support to projects in this important area. During the period, 21 projects were sanctioned covering various topics. Along with this, the PAC also monitored few on-going projects. Some interesting observations have been noted in projects that are mentioned below:

• A project related to Micro-welding using fused deposition scheme being implemented at IIT Kanpur. A patent application has been filed under this project.
• Project at IIT-Chennai which relates to Centre-less grinding with variable speeds. A patent application has also been filed under this project.

Apart from this, 2 SERC Schools have been organized in the area of "Precision Engineering" at PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore & IIT Chennai. The 3rd School in this series has been planned at IIT-Kanpur.

Earth System Sciences

The Programme Advisory Committee on Earth Sciences (PAC-ES) was reconstituted in the month of April 2001 with 13 members from different disciplines of Earth Sciences. The PAC held its two meetings and considered 25 projects. Out of these, 6 were recommended for approval and 6 for reformulation. Two more meetings are likely to be held during the period and about 30 new/on-going projects are expected to be considered for financial support / technical evaluation. Besides this, the Committee has also taken up and finalised a number of policy issues. Some of the highlights on the progress/achievements related to this programme are as below:-

New Projects Sanctioned

18 new projects were sanctioned during this period such as (1) High Resolution studies on the Holocene Climate Changes and Monsoon Variability in the Kumaun, Garhwal Himalaya; (2) Biostratigraphy, paleoecology boundary events and sea level changes of the tertiary sediments of Nagaland State, India; (3) Ammonide chronology in the oxfordian-early Kimmeridgian interval in Kutch along with reinforcements of intrabasinal Zurassic chronostratrigraphic boundaries (4) Sequential Evolution and diagenesis of Upper jurassic - cretaceous Succession ( Jhuran - Bhuj Formations ) of Kachchh mainland , Gujarat - An Integrated Sedimentologic and Geochemical Approach (5) Outcrop sequence stratigraphy of cretaceous sediments of Tiruchirappalli area (6) Facies, biomat and metazoan life: Semri Group, Eastern Son Valley (7) Early tertiary vertebrate faunas from Rajasthan: Paleogeographic implications (8) Provenance and palaeoenvironmental studies of pre-and syn - orogenic Cenozoic stratigraphic sequences in parts of Naga Hills, Northeast India (9) Cretaceous megafloral and coprolotic-derived plant assemblage from the Deccan trap associated sedimentary sequences in the Dongargaon -Pisdura area Maharashtra (10) Global optimization of joint inversion of geophysical data sub surface information (11) Facies, Sequence development pattern and clues for depositional tectonics in parts of Mid to Late Proterozoic Chattisgarh Supergroup, Central India (12) Influence of Lesser Himalaya Dhauladhar Ranges on evolution of the foreland basin in Kangra Valley, Punjab re-entrant (13) Skeletal calcareous algae from cenozoic sediments of Kuchchh, Gujarat and their implications on reconstruction of paleoenvironments (14) Lower Palaeozoic Acritarch Bio - stratigraphy of the Kinnaur Tethyan basin (15) A high resolution study of loess/dunal deposits of Gujarat with Emphasis on the Palaeocli