प्रेस विज्ञप्ति

CSIR-Central Building Research Institute Roorkee, Uttarakhand Organizes Three-Day CSIR Platinum Jubilee TechnoFest

Starting with the indelible ink, the hallmark of the nation’s fabric, CSIR has left an indelible mark on every sphere of life. With an all-round approach towards R&D, CSIR reflects India in its diversity and heterogeneity. From agriculture to aerospace, bio-sensors to bio-pharmaceuticals, chemicals to climate change, drug development to deep sea explorations, earth sciences to energy, food to fragrance, glass to genomics, housing to health care, instrumentation to informatics, leather to light combat aircraft, microbes to mining to materials, optics to optical fibers, pigments to power electronics, road to robotics, sensors to solar energy, tractors to transport, UAV to under water vehicles, water to weather forecasting, CSIR has registered its presence. Swaraj, the first tractor, baby milk powder and first super computer are some of the most applauded accomplishments of CSIR.

To celebrate the 75 years of service of this proud heritage, capsule exhibitions are being organized across the country. As a part of these celebrations, CSIR-Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee is organizing a three-days CSIR Platinum Jubilee TechnoFest for students, teachers, general public and user agencies at the Institute.

The CSIR Platinum Jubilee TechnoFest was inaugurated by Dr. S.K. Jain, Director, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee and Dr. N. Gopalakrishnan, Director, CSIR-Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee. The Chief Guest witnessed a huge footfall and most significant and path breaking technologies developed by the 38 laboratories of CSIR.

In his presidential address, Dr. N. Gopalakrishnan said that the Institute is inaugurating these celebratory capsule exhibitions with a three-day CSIR Platinum Jubilee TechnoFest. The objective of the technical festival is to educate the people especially students about the various innovations and technologies developed by CSIR and upgrade their knowledgebase in new and emerging areas of science which may provide an opportunity for interaction and exchange of ideas with the scientific community.

The exhibition displays the research and development works of CSIR laboratories in every field of science including aerospace and strategic sector, agriculture and floriculture, chemicals, petrochemicals and water, ecology and environment, energy, engineering and infrastructure, food and nutrition, healthcare, IP and entrepreneurship, nurturing human resources, leather, materials, minerals and mining etc. and the technologies developed under CSIR 800.

Various technologies including indigenous civil avionics such as “Hansa”, “Saras” and “CNM-5”, critical technologies for LCA-“Tejas”, acoustic tests facility for India’s space programme like “Chandrayan-1” and “Mangalyan”, micro aerial vehicals such as “Suchan”, “Pushpak-450” and “Black Kite-300”, engineering components for space applications, early warning system for landslides, high tech indigenous system for measurement of visibility at airports to aid pilots-“Drishti”, technology for nuclear waste immobilization, sustainable ways to enhance crop yield, promising aromatic plants, pot-plants, cut flowers and medicinal herbs, affordable healthcare, paving tiles from industrial wastes, converting waste plastic to automotive fuel and petrochemicals, eco-friendly pest management, disease resistant rice fighting blight, eco-friendly furnace, post-harvest technologies, treatment and reuse of textile industry effluent, autonomous vertical profiler, indigenous autonomous underwater vehicle-“Maya”, “E-nose” for sniffing out dangerous gases, zero discharge using HRTS, “Phytorid” technology for sewage treatment, hazardous waste management, waste to bio-fuel, carbon based materials, hydrogen fuel technology, building products from Kota stone waste, solar PV-RO systems, wood substitute building materials, infant food from buffalo milk, “Ayush” drugs, phytopharmaceuticals, foot care solutions, alternate raw materials for leather, gold from electronic sap and preserving of heritage structures etc , were explained through technical charts.

Dr. Atul Kumar Agarwal and Mr. S.K. Negi, Senior Principal Scientists of the Institute are coordinating the event.

The visitors also get an opportunity to share their questions, inquisitions and thoughts through discussions with the scientific community. The exhibition saw huge crowds of general public, researchers, user agencies and visit from about 5000 students from different schools and colleges of Roorkee and surrounding areas, including Methodist Girls Inter College, Swan Public School Bhagwanpur, Adarsh ​​Bal Niketan, J.P. International School, Delhi Public School, Phoenics Group of Institutes, KL Polytechnic, Children’s Senior Academy Roorkee and Manglour, Shivalik Public School, Kendriya Vidyalaya 1, Kendriya Vidyalaya 2, Shivalik Ganges Public School, Bal Vidhya Mandir, CBRI Junior High School, KLDAV Inter College, College of Engineering Roorkee etc.

 

 

 

 

Date:
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Inauguration of National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute - Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (NABI-CIAB) Campus by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science and Technology & Earth Sciences, Environment, Forest & Climate Change

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology & Earth Sciences, Environment, Forest & Climate Change inaugurated the new Administrative and Research Buildings of two national institutes under the administrative control of Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India namely National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) and Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB) in Sector 81, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (Mohali), Punjab today. Dr. K. Vijay Raghavan, Secretary, DBT, Prof. Arun Kumar Grover, Vice Chancellor, Panjab University, Chandigarh, Dr. T.R. Sharma, Executive Director, NABI, Dr. Rajender Singh Sangwan, Chief Executive Officer, CIAB and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister expressed his pleasure in dedicating both the institutes to the nation, and emphasized the need for quality research work and output with optimal utilization of state-of-art equipment and infrastructure that can reach common man in a form that can be easily perceived in proper perspective. He encouraged scientists/students to exploit the biotechnological tools to address the problems related to quality of food and malnutrition with full enthusiasm and zeal getting inspiration from the legacy and contributions of champions in the field of science and technology. He urged both the institutes to address the problems of hunger & malnutrition and to bring nutritional revolution in the country through biotechnology research and innovation for Food and Nutrition Security. Dr. Harsh Vardhan also said that young researchers and students should aim big and work hard to achieve their goals with sustained efforts.

Interacting with the faculty, Dr. Harsh Vardhan emphasized the need for doing new innovations that have an immediate societal impact with the common man as the target. He counseled researchers to shift from routine to out of the box thinking and to dream big to translate their efforts to greater innovations. He also said there should be a method for scientists to work to set timeframes to achieve their targets.

NABI is the first Agri-Food and Nutritional based Biotechnology Institute, which has been set up by the Dept. of Biotechnology in the Knowledge City, Sector 81, Mohali. CIAB has been set up adjacent to NABI and is the first institute dedicated to generation of secondary agriculture bioproducts through value addition to unutilized and underutilized biomass. Both the institutes area part of agri-food cluster in the Knowledge City, Mohali along with its neighboring institutes, like; IISER, ISB, INST and Biotech Park. The campus comprises of laboratory buildings, 15 acres of land for field experiments, a large glass house, transgenic net houses, office area, housing, guest house, research scholar hostel, utilities and other requisite services. Total entire area of the campus is 50 acres. The building complex of CIAB has a total floor space of 77000 square feet built at a cost of Rs Forty three crores whereas NABI has a total floor space of 3,17,500 square feet built at a cost of Rs one hundred and thirty five crores.

The institutes apart from providing quality research in the field of agricultural biotechnology and bio processing also provide innovative technologies in the field of food processing.. Under reach to community program NABI is playing an important role in conducting motivational course to the students of local schools to increase their awareness in life sciences. Their products of nutritionally rich crops and processing of crop residues in useful products will be provided to the local farming communities to increase their income.The industry ready specialized products like high anthocyanin have already been taken by local industries under specific MOU. They are acting as nodal agencies for local organization in the areas Agri food and nutritional biotechnolgy.

Date:
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Statement of Minister of Science & Technology Regarding Upcoming Programmes of Ministry of Science & Technology

Following is the text of statement regarding upcoming momentous programmes of the Ministry of Science & Technology, laid on the table by the Union Science & Technology Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan in Rajya Sabha today:

“I stand before the house to present about an upcoming momentous programme of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences: The India International Science Festival, popularly known as ‘IISF’, which is all set to enter its third edition in October 2017. This festival of science is organised by the Ministry in association with Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA). The First IISF was held at IIT Delhi and the second edition was held at CSIR – National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi. Both were successful events and my Ministry had succeeded in its objective of ‘Propagation of science to the general masses’.

Honourable Chairman Sir, The India International Science Festival is a serious attempt to inculcate scientific temper in the general public, particularly through the participation of the youth and children, to fast-track India’s march towards technological self-reliance and scientific advancement. This festival of science highlight the government flagship programmes such as “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”, “Swasth Bharat Abhiyan”, “Make in India”, “Digital India”, “Smart Villages”  “Smart Cities” etc.

In the 1st edition, we achieved the ‘Guinness world record for the largest science practical session’ which is now inscribed in India’s name. IISF 2015 also provided a vibrant platform to young students, scientists and technocrats from across

India for exchange of scientific knowledge and ideas.

In the second edition of the ‘Festival of Science’ in 2016, several events like the Young Scientists Conclave, DST – INSPIRE National Camp, Science Film Festival, NGO meet, Industry-Academia Interaction were held at National Physical Laboratory , Delhi. A footfall of over 5 lakh people were recorded at the IISF 2016 with active participation of over 10,000 delegates from R and D institutions and Science organisations. The Science and technology expo showcased the achievements of over 300 institutions belonging to R and D, academics, industries and PSUs.  Apart from this a very unique event for our budding citizens from rural India was the ‘Science Village’ programme, which required our Hon’ble Members of both the houses to send 5 students and 1 teacher from their respective adopted village under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna’. I had the wonderful experience of interacting with many students from the rural India who had come to the Science Village. In fact it was very highly appreciated by many of our Hon’ble members as it imparted very effective scientific knowledge to the over 1800 students from the rural countryside. In total, 131 Members participated eagerly in the science village programme.

          Honourable Chairman Sir, last year we chose the theme as “Science for masses” and this year the theme is “Science for New India”!

IISF 2017, this year, will be held at Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI), Anna University and IIT Madras in Chennai from 13th to 16th October, 2017 in a much grander level with a large participation of common masses. This year’s Science Festival like never before have several activities for the Hon’ble Members of this house scientists, policy makers, teachers, students, S&T Organizations, educational institutions, industry and the general public. Some of the activities are as below:


1.   Science & Technology Ministers of Neighbouring Countries Conclave 
2.   Special Thematic Session on ‘Deep Ocean Research’
3.   Sensitizing Youth to Flagship Programmes of Government (SYPOG)
4.  ‘Science Village’: Parliament to Panchayat
5.   National Meet on ‘Social Organizations and Institutions’

6.   Women Scientists and Entrepreneur’s Conclave
7.   National Science Teachers’ Workshop (focusing on North East States)
8.   Industry Academia Interaction
9.   Mega Science, Technology & Industry Expo
10. India International Science Film Festival 
11. Grassroots Innovators Summit
12.  National Start-up Summit
13.  Round Table Meet on ‘Mass Communication’
14.  Attempt of Student in Guinness Book of World Records
15.  National Level Competitions
16.  Outreach Programme (Open Days) in R & D Labs
17.  Satellite Seminars 
18.  Cultural Events

Through these events the festival will be highlighting government flagship programmes and missions and would reach out to over 5 lakh citizens directly.

Honourable Chairman Sir, I am confident that the Science Festival would impart the ‘spirit of enquiry’ to the public masses which would in return benefit the nation through advanced scientific research. As I mentioned, this year also Science Village will be there and henceforth would urge all the honourable members to send the prescribed number of students from their adopted villages. An invitation letter to all the members have already been sent, to which I hope serious considerations will be made by all esteemed members of the house.

Members may avail more information about the science festival from the website: www.scienceindiafest.org. “

Date:
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
ISRO and CSIR-NPL sign MoU for time and frequency traceability services

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Department of Space and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Ministry of Science and Technology, in New Delhi today.

The MoU was signed by Shri V. V. Srinivasan, Director, ISTRAC on behalf of ISRO and Dr D K Aswal Director, NPL, on behalf of CSIR. The Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan and Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh witnessed the signing of MoU. The DG, CSIR, Dr Girish Sahni, and other senior officers were also present on the occasion.

The MoU provides for time and frequency traceability services to ISRO by CSIR-NPL.

The scope of this MoU is the rendering by CSIR-NPL, of all the necessary actions, necessary to support the following:

  • Time and Frequency Traceability services from National Time Scale of CSIR-NPL to IRNWT-I and IRNWT-II of ISTRAC/ISRO through Two-way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer (TWSTFT).
  • Time and Frequency Traceability services from National Time Scale of CSIR-NPL to IRNWT-I and IRNWT-II of ISTRAC/ISRO through GNSS CV.
  • Annual audit of IRNWT-I and IRNWT-II as per ISO/IEC 17025 for ensuring correctness and accuracy of the time traceability.

The MoU came into force from date of signing of the agreement (today) and shall remain valid for a period of 5 years thereafter. Subsequently, the MoU will be renewed on mutual agreement between CSIR-NPL and ISTRAC/ISRO.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that scientists of two premier scientific institutions, NPL and ISRO, have made great efforts in this direction and he applauded them for their contribution. He further said that this is very important landmark and an occasion to acknowledge the great contribution of our scientists. Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi himself encourages scientists to achieve these landmarks. He elaborated that NPL has one of the five Atomic Clocks in India and the people should be encouraged to visit the laboratories and understand science and its contribution to the development of the country.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that this agreement is very important for ISRO. He said that time is very important and synchronization is essential for ISRO projects. Highlighting the achievements of ISRO, he said that one of the main achievements of the Department of Space is that we have successfully and consistently widened the space technology use to various fields. He said that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi takes keen interest in the scientific developments and does personal monitoring of these developments. He said that ISRO has achieved many milestones in the recent past e.g. successful launching of highest number of satellites, completion of 1,000 days of Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), launch of South Asia Satellite etc. He said that ISRO has already signed MoUs with various ministries and departments which is contributing to the social applications of space technology. The ISRO has signed MoU with Ministry of Agriculture for Geo-MNREGA, with Ministry of Railways for guarding the railway crossings. ISRO is also contributing to the Smart City Programme and other initiatives, he added.

Date:
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty

The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a Statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has recently launched a ‘Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty Scheme’ to connect the Indian academic and research and development (R&D) systems to the best of global science and scientists for a sustained international collaborative research. The scheme offers adjunct / visiting faculty assignments to overseas scientists, faculty members and R&D professionals including Non-resident Indians (NRI) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to undertake high quality collaborative research in cutting edge areas of science and technology including interdisciplinary areas of priority such as energy, water, health, security, nutrition, materials and manufacturing, etc. with one or more Indian collaborators of public funded academic and research institutions of India. The VAJRA Faculty should be an active researcher working in an overseas leading academic / research / industrial organization with significant accomplishments in R&D. The initial Faculty assignment is given for a period of one year extendable to subsequent years based on the collaborative outcome and interest. The residency period of VAJRA Faculty in the host institution would be for a minimum of 1 month and a maximum of 3 months every year. VAJRA Faculty is provided US Dollars 15000 in the first month of residence and US Dollars 10000 in each of the subsequent month. Presently, call for applications is made open for prospective researchers.

Sufficient fund is earmarked for the VAJRA Scheme from the overall budgetary allocation of SERB, which stands at Rs. 800 crore in BE 2017-18. This is not a centrally sponsored scheme but a Central Plan Scheme and hence no State/UT-wise allocation is made.

The scheme is launched recently on pilot basis for initial 3-4 years with a target of enrolling 50-75 VAJRA Faculty per year. A dedicated website www.vajra-india.in has been made available for wider dissemination of the scheme and a portal www.serbonline.in has been put in place for online submission of VAJRA applications.

Scientists from countries like USA, Russia, UK, France, Italy have expressed interest to undertake VAJRA Faculty assignments in India. The Scheme is open to active and accomplished scientist / faculty from all countries.

This information was given by Minister of State for Ministry of Science & Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences Shri Y.S.Chowdary in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

Date:
Friday, July 28, 2017
Science Scholarship to Women

The ‘Women Scientist Scheme’ of the Department of Science and Technology, provides career opportunities which includes fellowship to unemployed women scientists and technologists, especially those who had a break in career, for pursuing research in frontier areas of Science and Engineering. There are three major components of Women Scientist Scheme namely, i) Women Scientists Scheme-A (WOS-A) for conducting research in Basic & Applied Sciences, ii) Women Scientists Scheme-B (WOS-B) for S&T interventions for Societal Benefit and iii) Women Scientists Scheme-C (WOS-C) that enables them to become Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) professional. The fellowship amount for M.Sc, M.Phil/M.Tech and Ph.D categories are Rs.30,000/-, Rs.40,000/- and Rs.55,000/- per month respectively. The total project cost, for 3 yearsduration of these three categories, is Rs.20 lakhs, Rs.25 lakhs and Rs.30 lakhs respectively. Besides the fellowship, the total project cost also includes grant for consumables, minor equipment items, travel and contingency. The upper age limit to apply under this scheme is 57 years.

The above said scheme is also applicable to private institutions. Under this scheme, women are selected on all India basis.

            On an average, per year about 400 women scientists are awarded financial support under Women Scientist Scheme. Over 30% of awardees of projects get absorbed in mainstream through regular employment. Also, more than 40% of the awardees under this scheme have been able to complete their PhD while pursuing the programme. More than 7200 research papers too have been published by these awardees.In addition, under WOS-C component of the Scheme, 169 women scientists have already cleared the patent agent examination and about 60% of them are pursuing their career in the area of IPR and are working in leading attorney firms, IP departments of govt. agencies, Multi-National Corporations and Knowledge Process Outsourcing units.  Further, 12 women scientist alumni have started either their own IP attorney firms or IP consultancy units and some are even working from home on IP assignments.

            The Women Scientists Scheme is not a centrally sponsored scheme, hence there is no State/UT –wise allocation of funds under the Scheme. However, details of funds received by women scientists based in various States during last 3 years and the current financial year are as follows –

 

States/UT

2014-15

Amount, Rs.

2015-16

Amount, Rs.

2016-17

Amount, Rs.

(1)

(1)

(3)

(4)

Andhra Pradesh

1,37,10,000/-

2,28,86,723/-

1,88,26,272/-

Arunachal Pradesh

-

-

3,00,000/-

Assam

55,45,000/-

58,80,000/-

68,65,000/-

Bihar

30,13,000/-

22,00,000/-

18,53,266/-

Chandigarh

42,28,000/-

90,19,000/-

71,29,420/-

Chhattisgarh

2,26,100/-

-

-

Delhi

3,59,68,963/-

4,78,45,835/-

3,05,37,685/-

Goa

22,55,000/-

42,88,000/-

22,40,000/-

Gujarat

1,11,79,343/-

97,66,000/-

1,79,78,004/-

Haryana

24,50,000/-

70,10,621/-

95,24,000/-

Himachal Pradesh

14,30,000/-

21,50,000/-

19,50,000/-

Jammu & Kashmir

64,75,000/-

84,21,000/-

82,07,320/-

Jharkhand

10,50,000/-

10,65,000/-

75,000/-

Karnataka

1,89,28,500/-

2,23,45,936/-

2,72,56,482/-

Kerala

82,59,323/-

1,18,60,999/-

82,56,258/-

Madhya Pradesh

60,40,000/-

82,04,795/-

1,02,78,441/-

Maharashtra

2,78,44,175/-

3,55,83,100/-

3,82,99,758/-

Manipur

31,15,000/-

53,04,000/-

49,16,346/-

Meghalaya

8,20,000/-

12,30,000/-

-

Mizoram

-

16,41,000/-

-

Odisha

91,66,000/-

1,02,56,540/-

96,40,650/-

Puducherry

10,40,000/-

10,67,000/-

-

Punjab

83,03,620/-

1,41,28,000/-

1,27,60,667/-

Rajasthan

1,88,76,479/-

3,38,95,000/-

1,40,42,240/-

Sikkim

8,70,000/-

8,00,000/-

-

Tamil Nadu

3,10,33,802/-

3,70,69,845/-

6,03,84,193/-

Telangana

2,55,85,000/-

4,35,90,778/-

5,14,82,581/-

Tripura

4,90,000/-

16,17,000/-

11,17,000/-

Uttar Pradesh

3,74,83,954/-

4,20,81,900/-

4,78,88,551/-

Uttarakhand

50,31,462/-

62,48,652/-

85,09,746/-

West Bengal

3,24,96,558/-

3,24,20,972/-

3,84,45,022/-

Central Agencies

--

--

3,49,86,500/-

Total Grant

32,35,14,284/-

42,98,77,696/-

47,37,50,402/-
 

 

This information was given by Minister of State for Ministry of Science & Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences Shri Y.S.Chowdary in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

Date:
Friday, July 28, 2017
Funds Allocation for Science Research

Government has taken several steps to promote science and scientific research in the country. Many new and innovative schemes have been initiated recently to catalyze research in areas like healthcare, information and communication, sustainable habitat, nanoscience and technology, water resources and river systems etc. Emphasis has been given to interdisciplinary areas of priority such as energy, water, health, security, nutrition, advanced materials and manufacturing, cyber physical systems etc. to meaningfully connect the research and development (R&D) undertaken in our academic and national laboratories to the sustainable development goals (SDG) of the Government. Some other measures taken by the Government to promote science and scientific research include successive increase in plan allocations for Scientific Departments, offering attractive research fellowships, strengthening infrastructure for R&D etc.

The fund allocated to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) / Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for agriculture research and education during XI and XII Plan were Rs 10325.76 crore and Rs 13786.58 crore respectively. The Government, with the aim of developing and promoting scientific technology to increase agricultural production of the country, has established “National Agricultural Research System (NARS)” in various states including Uttar Pradesh. The names of State/UT where the ICAR Research Institutes/ All India Coordinated/Network Research Projects have been set up including Uttar Pradesh, are given below:

1. Andaman & Nicobar

2. Andhra Pradesh

3. Arunachal Pradesh

4. Assam

5. Bihar

6. Chhattisgarh

7. Delhi

8. Goa

9. Gujarat

10. Haryana

11. Himachal Pradesh

12. Jammu & Kashmir

13. Jharkhand

14. Karnataka

15. Kerala

16. Madhya Pradesh

17. Maharashtra

18. Meghalaya

19. Nagaland

20. Odisha

21. Punjab

22. Rajasthan

23. Sikkim

24. Tamilnadu

25. Telangana

26. Uttar Pradesh

27. Uttarakhand

28. West Bengal

This information was given by Minister of State for Ministry of Science & Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences Shri Y.S.Chowdary in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Date:
Friday, July 28, 2017
Encouraging Scientists to Take Research Work

Government has taken several measures to encourage young scientists to undertake research work. The schemes / programmes are designed to identify promising young researchers with innovative ideas and provide them with training and research opportunities in niche areas of basic science and engineering. Some of the notable programmes of the Ministry targeted at young scientists include: Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE), National Postdoctoral Fellowship (N-PDF), Early Career Research Award (ECRA), Research Associateship, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Fellowship Schemes etc. These schemes provide a platform for young scientists to develop as independent researchers; and thereby elevating the S&T landscape of the country.

Ease of funding, speed of delivery, attractive fellowships etc. are some of the characteristics of the young scientist research programmes. The funds allocated/released exclusively for young scientist research programmes during 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and the current year by the Ministry of Science and Technology are Rs. 807.6 crore, Rs. 1083 crore, Rs. 1322.9 crore and Rs. 248.4 crore (first quarter of FY 2017-18) respectively.

The required age group for obtaining benefit from the following popular young scientist schemes are: upper age limit of 35 years with relaxation of five years to applicants belonging to SC/ST/OBC/Physically Challenged/Women categories for N-PDF; upper age limit of 37 years with relaxation of three years to applicants belonging to SC/ST/OBC/Physically Challenged/Women categories for ECRA; upper age limit of 35 years for CSIR Fellowship Schemes and upper age limit of 32 years with relaxation of three years to applicants belonging to SC/ST categories for INSPIRE Faculty Scheme. A number of quality publications in high impact journals and patents have emanated from the Young Scientist’s projects. The schemes have helped many young researchers in the progress of their career in S&T, got appointment in academic and research institutions and received recognitions in the form of awards, fellowship in science and engineering academies.

CSIR provides Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Fellowship to certain top ranking JRF- National Eligibility Test (NET) qualified candidates to nurture the budding scientific talent and to nourish the objective of pursuit of scientific research. Thematic Fellowship programmes in Solar Energy, Building Energy Efficiency Higher & Advanced Network, Bioenergy and Water Research have been initiated by DST to support young faculty and research scholars for conducting research in US R&D and academic institutions.

This information was given by Minister of State for Ministry of Science & Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences Shri Y.S.Chowdary in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Date:
Friday, July 28, 2017
Work Starts on Cleaning the Barapullah Drain under the Project LOcal Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse) (LOTUS HR)

The Minister of Science & Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands, Mr. Bert Koenders and Lt. Governor of Delhi, Sh. Anil Baijal laid the foundation stone to mark the beginning of work on cleaning the Barapullah drain in New Delhi today. The dignitaries also present were Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Prof. K VijayRaghavan, DDA Vice-Chairman, Shri Uday Pratap Singh and the Netherlands Ambassador to India H.E. Alphonsus Stoelinga.

The highlight of the ceremony was the laying of the Foundation Stone for the on-site laboratory and pilot plant and the start of the cleaning and beautification of the Barapullah Drain with unveiling of an art work. The art work represents Indo – Dutch collaboration for the LOTUS HR project in form of two flowers - ‘lotus’ and ‘tulip’, depicting the union of Indian and Dutch strengths.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government has underlined cleaning of our rivers as a major, indeed key mission. The clean Ganga project is being personally monitored by the Prime Minster himself.

There are many available technologies to clean rivers. Their implementation must go ahead with speed. At the same time new de-centralised technologies need to be constantly developed and tested. Some new technologies could be more cost-efficient or better implementable in our context.

With this in mind, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and NWO, the Netherlands Science Agency announced a joint call for proposals for cleaning the Barapullah drain. DBT in consultation with DDA has identified the Barapullah drain, Sarai Kale Khan, in the state of Delhi for setting up on-site experimental testing lab and for the establishment of a pilot plant. DDA has leased to DBT, a land measuring 200 Sq meters for a period of 5years adjacent to the Sun Dial Park for this purpose.

After a rigorous and robust selection process on both sides, the project “Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUS)” has been finalised for setting up a demonstration plant for cleaning the Barapullah drain.

The project LOcal Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUS HR) is an Indo-Netherlands joint project funded by Department of Biotechnology(DBT), Govt of india and NWO/STW, The Govt of Netherlands. The project has stakeholders from both Academia and Industry from India and Netherlands. It is coordinated by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi with participation of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi and National Environment Research Institute, Nagpur from India while Technical University Delft is coordinating it from The Netherlands, with participation of Environmental Engineering and Water Technology Department, UNESCO, Wageningen University and its Aquatic Ecology Department. There is also commitment from industry, especially from The Netherlands, in terms of both cash and kind towards the project.

The project aims to demonstrate a novel holistic (waste-) water management approach, that will produce clean water that can be reused for various proposes (e.g. industry, agriculture, construction etc.), while simultaneously recovering nutrients and energy from the urban waste water, thus converting drain into profitable mines. Special attention will be paid to pathogen removal and removing conventional and emerging pollutants.

The project will develop an innovative pilot scale plant, suitable to cope with Indian conditions in a location specific manner. The final design of the pilot plant will be scalable and modular, to fit into the highly populated urban terrain.

The participation of end-users in the project will ensure that the demonstration site becomes a self-sustaining initiative that will not finish at the end of the project and will be taken up by the end-users. From the early start of the project, end-users (municipality, DDA, DJB, NGO’s, and companies like Shell, Hydrorock, Nijhuis, Berson, etc.) will be engaged in design at the pilot location as well as in formulation of specific research sub-questions. This will facilitate rapid adoption of the Water Resuse safety plan and the newly developed products.

Dutch and Indian companies will contribute to the project by sharing their existing technologies, which may need adjustments for becoming functional in the pilot plant. Architects like Schulte Holding will advise on incorporating these water treatment units in urban mega cities. Engineers from DDA will help in site preparation and civil construction of the pilot plant.

Date:
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Survey of India proposes to re-measure the height of Mount Everest

Survey of India celebrates 250th anniversary

Survey of India completes 250 years of its service to the nation and is celebrating its achievements this year. A National Conference on, “Users’ Perspective on Geospatial Policy Framework in India” was organized by Survey of India (SoI) and FICCI, in New Delhi today. The 10th of April is also celeberated as National Survey Day.

As a part of its 250 years completion celebrations, Survey of India has proposed to re-measure the height of Mount Everest during the year 2017. India was the first country under Sir George Everest’s leadership as ‘Surveyor General of India’ to have declared the height of Mount Everest and establish it as the highest peak in the world in the year 1855. Subsequently, India once again carried out the exercise and declared the height of Mount Everest in the year 1956. After the Gorkha Earth Quake in the year 2015,various doubts were raised by the scientific community. In response to this, the Survey of India proposed re-measuring the height of Mount Everest as an ‘Indo-Nepal Joint Scientific Exercise’ along with Survey department of Nepal. The proposal has been forwarded to Nepal through diplomatic channels and the expedition will start after the formal concurrence of Government of Nepal is received.

Discussions and deliberations of all stakeholders of Survey of India products and services focussed on users’ perspective on Geospatial Policy Framework in India during the panel discussions.

The Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, said that the panel discussions and the opinion and suggestions from all the stakeholders assembled in the forum would facilitate the inclusion of wider spectrum considering present day technology scenario and developmental needs and challenges in the country, and will prove to be very useful inputs for shaping the geospatial policy paradigm in the country.

Date:
Tuesday, April 11, 2017

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