National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has established an atmospheric monitoring station in the campus of Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT) at Palampur (H.P.) at an altitude of 1391 m for generating the base data for atmospheric trace species & properties to serve as reference for comparison of polluted atmosphere in India. At this station, NPL has installed state of art air monitoring system, greenhouse gas measurement system and Raman Lidar. A number of parameters like CO, NO, NO2, NH3, SO2, O3, PM, HC & BC besides CO2 & CH4 are being currently monitored at this station which is also equipped with weather station (AWS) for measurement of weather parameters.

This station has been dedicated to nation today by Dr. D.K. Aswal, Director, NPL and Dr. Sanjay Kumar, Director, IHBT. A number of senior scientist present included Dr. R.K. Kotnala, Head, Environmental Sciences and Biomedical Metrology Division of NPL, Mr. M.P. Goyal, Dr. S.K. Vats, Dr. Brij Lal, Dr Sanjay Uniyal, and large number of research students. Speaking on this occasion, Dr. Aswal stressed upon the need to promote quality measurements in atmospheric sciences which would help in developing appropriate policy measures for societal goods. He also underlined the need to develop synergies & interactions between all the agencies undertaking atmospheric monitoring for this purpose. Dr. Sanjay Kumar in his inaugural speech mentioned the need for setting up of such state of art monitoring systems in Himalayan region to assess the vulnerability of region’s sensitive ecosystem due to climate change & pollution. During the function, Dr. R.K. Kotnala appreciated the collaboration between the CSIR-NPL & CSIR-IHBT in setting up this state of art monitoring facility which will serve as reference station. Dr. Chhemendra Sharma provided the perspectives and objectives of the CSIR’s XII Five Year Plan Project `AIM_IGPHim` under which this facility has been established and thanked the colleagues of NPL & IHBT for their contributions. The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) has funded this project under its XII Five Year Plan projects.

 In India, air quality parameters are mostly measured in industrial and residential areas, however, data for air quality of pristine atmosphere is not available in India. NPL’s station will contribute to fill this important gap. The NPL’s station will also serve as a base station for inter-comparison of air quality monitoring equipment being used in India to improve quality of monitored data in India. As the issues of atmospheric pollution has assumed a significant proportion of social concerns, it is utmost important to ensure quality of atmospheric monitoring so as to devise appropriate policies for abatement of air pollution based on sound scientific data for their effectiveness.

NPL has undertaken activities to contribute in improving the quality of atmospheric monitoring through providing traceable measurement facilities to various stake holders in the country and the NPL ’s monitoring station is an important step in that direction. In addition, NPL is also developing calibration standards for different pollutant gases and PM10 samplers for use in atmospheric monitoring.

The pristine CAAQMS station houses calibrated state-of-the-art-equipment for the continuous measurements of ambient and greenhouse gases (CO, NO, NO2, NH3, SO2, O3, PM1, PM2.5, PM10, hydrocarbons, black-carbon, CO2 & CH4), and weather parameters. Because of Palampur’s pristine air, and the capability of the new monitoring station for detection of small amounts of pollutants, the impact of faraway pollution sources can be measured precisely. The data taken at this station during past one year shows that the pollution levels are far below the limits of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). In addition, this new station has the experimental facilities to investigate the aerosol/cloud interactions, and such investigations would be helpful in generating a better understanding of the Earth's climate system.

The data generated by pristine CAAQMS station at Palampur will act as background data for the measured pollution at various cities in the country. The generated background data will be shared with different pollution control boards and agencies in the country so that the more precise pollution mapping traceable to standard values can be done, which in turn, would assist policy decisions for the abatement of air pollutants.

The Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan released the Special Edition of “Atlas for Visually Impaired (India)” in English Braille today in New Delhi. This Braille Atlas has been prepared by National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) under Department of Science & Technology.

The Minister expressed happiness at the production of these Atlases. He said these atlases will be distributed to various schools across the country for educating the students with visual challenges.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that all departments of Government will work to implement this. Efforts are being made to make these atlases more cost effective than the current price of Rs.600/- per atlas with 20 maps now. Silk screen printing used to prepare these atlases is unique to India, he added.

In the Braille Atlas, maps are raised and embossed with simple lines and point symbols to facilitate its users to realize the location and area coverage easily distinguishable in terms of shapes and textures. The legend and reference is placed on the map in Braille script to navigate the map. About 20 maps on different themes of physical, socio-economic and cultural aspects such as river system, natural vegetation, Metropolitan cities, Roads and Railways, Food crops and cash crops have been incorporated in the atlas with write-ups on every map as ready reference. This Atlas has been bestowed with National award for S&T intervention in empowering the physically challenged by the Prime Minister on 3rd January, 2017 in Indian Science Congress held in Tirupati.

NATMO has recently walked ahead to prepare Braille atlases for visually impaired persons. NATMO’s long effort from metallic tactile maps to silk-screen printing technology to prepare a full volume of atlas is perhaps unique in the World. NATMO’s aim is to transmit scientific information in the form of maps and atlases in a cost-effective manner, as more than 50 lakh visually challenged citizens of our country are mainly from low-income group. Till date their knowledge is constrained within books and literatures. Enriched with this experience, they will be able to understand the Indian geographical contours and will be empowered with wealth of knowledge.

National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) is the premier agency of applied Geo-Spatial technology and pioneer in Thematic Mapping and Atlas Cartography under Department of Science & Technology(Ministry of Science & Technology) engaged in preparing different thematic maps and atlases and other documents on national, state, district, block level and many other monograms. The contribution made by NATMO in developing the thematic maps/ data is being regularly used by the decision makers in the entire country at districts and sub-divisions levels for implementing the developmental schemes as well as by the researchers, students and common people.

PM inaugurates Nobel Prize series

Hon’ble Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi inaugurated the Nobel Prize Series Exhibition at Science City in Ahmedabad as part of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017.

He greeted the nine Nobel Laureates present on the occasion and hoped that they would inspire the future scientists from all corners of India, who had come together for the occasion.

He said that it is an ideal platform to engage citizens to learn about solutions to global challenges we face. We will strive to make this Science City a truly attractive, world-class place for young students and science teachers from all over the country and the world to come and be inspired by the exhibits.

“Our vision in Science and Technology is to make sure that opportunity is available to all our youth. That training and future preparedness should make our youth employable in the best places. India should be a great science destination”, he mentioned.

He pointed out that scientists develop programmes on science teaching in our schools across the country. This will also involve training teachers. At the next level they have been asked to create new programmes both in skilling and high-tech training. These programmes will make you employable in the new knowledge economy and make you effective entrepreneurs and thinking scientists. You will be able to compete for positions and jobs here and anywhere in the world.

He looked forward to significant outcomes from the Nobel Prize series like  follow up of students selected through an ‘Ideathon’ competition for attending the Nobel Prize series and also their teachers, sessions for school teachers from all over Gujarat during the exhibition, stimulation of entrepreneurship locally.

The Nobel Prize series brought together large number of students, researchers, scientists from all over India who were hoping to interact with the nine Nobel Laureates who were attending the series.

India has a great potential to be a scientific power: Nobel laureates

Several Nobel laureates opined that India has a great potential to be a scientific power and should invest more in basic & fundamental researches. The themes of the dialogue were captured by artists as they were speaking to a huge gathering of scientists, students and general public as a part of the first Nobel Prize Series being held in Ahmedabad in conjunction with the biennial summit of Vibrant Gujarat.

The Programme christened as Nobel Dialogue saw active participation of nine Nobel Laureates including Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, Dr. Richard Roberts, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, Dr. Harold Varmus, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, Dr. Randy Schekman, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, David Gross, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics, Dr. Ada Yonath, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry, Dr. Serge Haroche, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics and Dr. William E Moerner Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry.

The dialogue was held in two sessions: 1. Basic or Applied Research? Fostering an Innovative Environment and 2. Local Research, Global Impact: Addressing Global Challenges. Interesting discussions ranging from getting rid of mosquitoes to tackle malaria, research for finding out new vaccines, genetic modification of food crops and the need for strengthening education particularly science education were discussed at these two sessions.

The first dialogue was introduced and moderated by the Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India Prof. K. Vijay Raghavan and the second by the Deputy Chairman, Nobel Foundation Dr Goran K Hansson. Several students and Scientists posed interesting questions to Nobel Laureates.

Dr. Venkatraman Ramkrishnan highlighted several areas of science in which India has the potential of strengthening its research base, one significant one being vaccine research. He also pointed out the necessity of linking research and education.

Dr. Richards Roberts pointed out that 125 Nobel Laureates have signed in favor of Genetically modified food crops and that opposition against them is unjustifiable as about 800 million people world over go without food every night. Dr. Randy Schekman said that India with a history of having had Nalanda University over 1000 years before the first university in other parts of the world should think of having a high quality affordable education system. The Laureates suggested that India can set up funds for undergrad students to develop their own research areas, a strategy which could direct some of the best brains towards research in their early years.

Dr Serge Haroche Nobel Prize winner in Physics underlined the importance of basic research for sustaining scientific curiosity and seeking answers to challenges that nature poses. He said that blue sky research is important, it may not cater to short term goals, needs trust and funding.

Dr William E Moerner Nobel winner in Chemistry insisted that basic and applied research could coexist and outlined the importance of curiosity driven innovative research. Dr David Gross Nobel winner in Physics pointed out that nature doesn't know the boundaries between physics, chemistry and biology and stressed the importance of dreaming big, being able to take risks & not be afraid of failure

The dialogue is part of the Nobel Prize Series, India 2017, formally inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, on 09th January. The Nobel Prize Series Science Exhibition, also inaugurated by the Prime Minister at the Science City in Ahmedabad is meanwhile attracting large number of people. The five week long Science Exhibition being set up by the Nobel Foundation, with exhibits from the Nobel Museum, Stockholm, Sweden.

As a run-up to these events, a nationwide Ideathon contest was organised that invited ideas from students that could address any challenges faced by society. The ideas were reviewed by a panel of experts and about 150 students from across the country were selected and have been invited to participate and meet with the Nobel Laureates.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed last year by Nobel Media and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India for hosting Nobel Prize Series in India for the next five years.

After this agreement, a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Department of Biotechnology of Government of India, the Government of Gujarat and the Nobel Media. Accordingly, the first of the Nobel Prize Series, India 2017 is being held as a prelude to Vibrant Gujarat to demonstrate how science and discovery underpins all enterprise and human well-being under the overall theme of “Science Impacts Lives”.

As a part of the Nobel Prize Series, India 2017 lectures are also to be held in Delhi and Bengaluru on 12th and 13th January, 2017.

 Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) entered 75^th year of existence ushering in year–long Platinum Jubilee celebrations which were inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is also the President of CSIR.

Recalling CSIR’s pioneering inventions, the Prime Minister also held an interactive session with farmers from various parts of the country and launched improved varieties of medicinal and aromatic plants, developed by various labs of CSIR which would help in transforming the rural economy by enhancing the income of farmers.

Hailing CSIR’s role in building and nurturing the nation’s scientific & technological prowess, he said that starting with the indelible ink which is the hallmark of India’s democratic fabric, CSIR has left an indelible mark on every sphere of life. He urged CSIR to create an 'Ease of doing Technology Business' platform to bring in right stakeholders so technologies reach beneficiaries. 

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is a catalyst and driver of sustainable socio-economic change through application of science and technology. CSIR has commercialized several technologies for the society and industry in the areas of food and agriculture, generic drugs, leather, chemicals and petrochemicals, biopharmaceuticals, and materials.

CSIR is recognized to be among the International leaders knowledge creation. CSIR has been ranked 12^th in the world amongst the government institutions in world according to the prestigious Scimago Institutions Rankings 2016 Report.

CSIR is granted 90% of the US patents granted to any Indian publicly funded R&D organization. The scientific staff of CSIR though constitutes only about 3-4% of India’s scientific manpower but it has an overwhelming contribution amounting to 9.6% of India’s scientific outputs.

CSIR is presently supporting around 8500 Research fellows, awarded 2251 Junior Research Fellowships and 65 Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Fellowship. CSIR is supporting more than 1000 research schemes to various universities.

CSIR is addressing national goals and Missions such as Swachh Bharat, Swastha Bharat, Samarth Bharat, Make in India, Innovate for India, Start-up India, Skill India etc.

Today, CSIR is attempting a Parivartan from Knowledge creation to Value creation. These includes emphasis on technology development and commercialization for the society, industry and the strategic sector, creation of S&T based entrepreneurship and participation in the national Skill Development initiative in addition to human resource development. Towards this, several new initiatives and policy changes are being brought in.

Some key achievements of the CSIR maturing during 2016 include:

CSIR Achievements

• CSIR’s Global Positioning as a Front Rank R&D System

CSIR has been ranked 12^th in the world amongst the government institutions in world during the said year, thus improving its previous position of being at 14^th spot for three consecutive years, according to 2016 report of the prestigious Scimago Institutions Rankings. The overall global ranking of CSIR also improved from 110 to 99^th position.

• Strategic Sector:

• Drishti Systems at Main Runway 28-10 of IGI Airport: Drishti transmissometer, a visibility measuring system provides information to pilots on visibility for safe landing and take-off operations and is suitable for all airport categories. 27 Systems installed in 10 major Indian airports across the country, in collaboration with IMD. Tata Power SED has signed Memorandum of Agreement with Tata Power SED for the supply of 54 Drishti Systems for installation in Indian Air Force Airfields; 22 units have been delivered out of which three have been installed.
• Head-Up-Display (HUD) In high-tech areas, CSIR-NAL made significant contribution by developing indigenous Head-Up- display(HUD) for Indian Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas. HUD aids the pilot in flying the aircraft and in critical flight maneuvers including weapon aiming.   
• Design and Development of Indigenous Gyrotron: Addressing the challenges of technology denial: Design and development of indigenous gyrotron for nuclear fusion reactor has been accomplished.

• Energy & Environment:

• Solar Tree: On July 22^nd a solar tree designed by CSIR- CMERI lab in Durgapur was  launched which occupies minimum space to produce clean power.  
  
  • Wax Deoiling Technology: Technology developed for recovery of wax developed in collaboration with Engineers India Limited (EIL) and Numaligarh Refinery Ltd., (NRL). Country's largest wax producing (50,000 metric ton) plant has been commissioned at NRL with investment of over Rs 600 crore.
  • Simultaneous Production of US Grade Gasoline and Pure Benzene: Technology for producing US grade gasoline and pure benzene has been developed. Plant of 700,000 tonnes per annum capacity costing Rs.160 crore was commissioned at Reliance Jamnagar Refinery.
  • Lithium Ion Battery: India’s first lithium ion battery fabrication facility based on indigenous novel materials for making 4.0 V/14 h standard cells has been established. The so developed technology on the Li-ion batteries to be commercialized soon.

• Value added Agriculture:
  
  • Medicinal and Aromatic Plants: Enhanced cultivation of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in the country brought about through development of new varieties and agro-technologies. The estimated area under cultivation is more than 3.3 lakh hectares with an estimated value of Rs 3568 crores and generated employment of 7.31 crore mandays. India leads globally in Menthol Mint production due to CSIR efforts.
  • Samba Mahsuri Rice Variety – Bacterial Blight Resistant: CSIR has in collaboration with DRR (ICAR) and DBT part funding developed an improved bacterial blight resistant Samba Mahsuri variety. It is being cultivated in ~ 90,000 hectares in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
  • Rice Cultivar (Muktashree) for Arsenic Contaminated Areas: A rice variety has been developed which restricts assimilation of Arsenic within permissible limit. The variety has been released to farmers of West Bengal.
  • White-fly resistant Cotton variety: Developed a transgenic cotton line which is resistant to whiteflies. It is expected to render it commercially cultivable in 10 years, after due regulatory clearances.
• Healthcare:
  
  • JD Vaccine for Farm Animals: Vaccine developed and commercialized for Johne’s disease affecting Sheep, Goat, Cow and Buffalo so as to immunize them and increase milk and meat production.
  • Plasma Gelsolin Diagnostic Kit for Premature Births, and Sepsis related Deaths: A new kit is being developed to diagnose pre-mature birth and sepsis.
  • Genomics and other omics technologies for Enabling Medical Decision – GOMED: Genetic diseases, though are individually rare, cumulatively affect a large number of individuals. A programme called GOMED (Genomics and other omics technologies for Enabling Medical Decision) has been developed by the CSIR which provides a platform of disease genomics to solve clinical problems. The present portfolio includes over 80 genes and sequencing of mitochondrial loci for mitochondrial disorders. In a short span of 9 months which encompassed the proof-of-concept stage, GOMED has catered to over 600 patients from across the country.
• Food & Nutrition:
  
  • Ksheer-scanner: The Ksheer Scanner, a new technological invention by CSIR-CEERI detects the level of milk adulteration and adulterants in 45 seconds at the cost of 10 paise, thereby putting adulterators in the milk trade in notice was launched on 20^TH February. 50 systems have been deployed at diaries across Goa, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. A hand-held device “Ksheer Tester”, a mini version of Ksheer-scanner has also been developed.
  • Double-Fortified Salt: Salt fortified with iodine and iron having improved properties developed and tested for addressing anaemia in people. To be launched in the market soon.
  • Anti-obesity DAG Oil: Oil enriched with Diacylglycerol (DAG) instead of conventional triacylglycerol (TAG) developed. To be launched in the market soon.
• Water:
  
  • Aquifer Mapping of Water Scarce Areas: Heliborne transient electromagnetic and surface magnetic technique based aquifer mapping carried out in six different geological locations in Rajasthan (2), Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
  • Understanding the Special Properties of the Ganga Water: Assessment of Water Quality & Sediment Analysis of Ganga from different parts being done.

• IWaste to Wealth:

• Non-toxic Radiation Shielding Material for X-ray Protection: Non-toxic radiation shielding materials utilizing industrial waste like red mud (from aluminum industries) and fly ash (Thermal Power Plants) developed which has been accredited by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) for application in diagnostic X-Ray rooms.
• Waste Plastic to Fuel: Process for conversion of waste plastics to gasoline/diesel or aromatics developed.

• Skill development: CSIR is building a structured large scale Skill development Initiative using the state of the art infrastructure and human resources of CSIR. About 30 High Tech Skill/Training programmes are being launched for imparting skills to over 5000 candidates annually. The skill development programmes cover the following areas: Leather process Technology; Leather Footwear & Garments; Paints & coatings for corrosion protection; Electroplating & Metal Finishing; Lead Acid Battery maintenance; Glass Beaded Jewellery / Blue Pottery; Industrial Maintenance Engineering; Internet of Things (IoT); and Regulatory – Preclinical Toxicology.

Recently an Agreement has been signed between CSIR and Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Caste Co-operative Finance Corporation Ltd. (APSCCFC) for Skill training and Entrepreneurship in Leather Sector. The initiative is set to benefit 10,000 Scheduled Caste Candidates from Andhra Pradesh, creating income generation assets to the households and thus enabling social and economic development. An investment of Rs. 30.00 Crore is being made by APSCCFC in next 2-3 years.

CSIR’s participation in the India International Trade Fair (IITF) at Pragati Maidan marked showcasing of various technologies in healthcare, leather, petrochemicals, aeronautical engineering, drinking water, solar power, and energy and agricultural sector. The CSIR pavilion bagged the Gold medal among all government ministries and departments.

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), a constituent lab of CSIR, organized the India International Science Festival, (IISF) which brought together more than 500 Einstein enthusiasts in the iconic scientist’s trademark garb, complete with his wig and moustache. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Science and Technology Dr. Harshvardhan were prominent visitors to the festival with its focus on “Science for the Masses”.