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January 14, 2021 (N. Delhi)
The Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, Health & Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan dedicated an Innovation Portal, developed by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) - India, an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, to the nation, in New Delhi today.
The National Innovation Portal(NIP) is currently home to about 1.15 lakh innovations scouted from common people of the country, covering Engineering, Agriculture, Veterinary and Human Health. In terms of domain areas, presently the innovations cover Energy, mechanical, automobile, electrical, electronics, household, chemical, civil, textiles, Farm / cultivation practice, storage practice, plant variety, plant protection, poultry, livestock management, nutraceuticals etc.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that credit goes to the Prime Minister for igniting the Innovation Movement and creating an Innovation Eco-system in the country during the last 6 years.He congratulated the Atmanirbhar citizens who defeated the problems and challenges through their creative potential and deployment of their innovative Science and Technology based solutions. The Minister emphasized on the growing importance of outstanding Traditional Knowledge, particularly herbal practices which stem from tribal areas, and is one of the key highlights of the Innovation Portal. He said that this Innovation Portal will help institutionalise new ideas by common people towards finding solutions to local problems.
The Minister highlighted "Best Economy is the Idea Economy and Innovative co-efficient is the most important for the progress of the country", and added that in future it will be the idea that will drive the progress of the nation. He emphasized that the Innovation Portal will create an eco-system where the Institutions will stand behind all those who can convert their ideas and innovations into entrepreneurship. He urged for a Stand-up Start-up system in the country where anyone who has the desire to innovate,should be encouraged to develop his or her ideas, irrespective of their background whether rural, tribal or anyone with formal science background.He further observed that the year 2020 was a year of turbulence like never before, and digital infrastructure of our nation has immensely grown and helped all of us. The Innovation Portal in coming days could be one of the significant contributions amongst all of our digital progress so far and would act as a bridge between people who are looking for Innovative solutions and those who had been at the helm of their evolution.He urged students, entrepreneurs, MSME's and common people engaged in a variety of occupations to take advantage of the Innovations portal and explore innovations of interest.
Dr Harsh Vardhan expressed his confidence in extraordinary commitment from common people toward innovations which would drive country's Technology Leadership and have it touch great heights in years to come. He lauded the efforts of NIF and DST in arriving at 1.15 Lakh Innovations as a starting point of this Innovations portal, which by itself is a great beginning.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST mentioned that this innovation portal is being on-boarded at a very appropriate time within the innovation eco-system of our nation, by way of coinciding with evolution of 5th National STI Policy of India. He said the future contributors to the innovation portal will stem from the focus areas of the policy, and hence it is important that eco-system of R&D and innovation be created in rural and remote areas, particularly in the North East, Islands and Tribal areas. Prof Ashutosh explained the NIF is not only engaged in scouting for ideas but also taking them forward. The Innovation Portal will help create local entrepreneurs out of grassroots ideas and will help bring ideas to the market, he said.
Dr PS Goel, Chairperson, NIFobserved that innovation portal is a saga of determination of every Indian who believed in evolving his or her own solutions to fit the needs. He urged the industry to visit the portal with an eye to develop them into products for commercialisation.
Dr Vipin Kumar, Director, NIF proposed a vote of thanks on the occasion of the launch of innovations portal.
Innovation Portal is a step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat and an excellent resource for students, entrepreneurs, MSME's, Technology Business Incubators (TBI's) and common people engaged in a variety of occupations.
Click here for background note on National Innovation Portal
January 14, 2021 (N. Delhi)
The Union Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan addressed a webinar on the theme of AtmaNirbhar Bharat organized by a media organization Swarajya in collaboration with Vedanta. Addressing the webinar, Dr Harsh Vardhan said, "AtmaNirbhar Bharat has become one of the focal areas of our government, around which all economic policies are being drawn up. Our government is focused on bridging the gap between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots and on providing equal opportunity to all Bhartiya citizens which is the real meaning of Antyodaya".
The Minister further elaborated, "AtmaNirbhar Bharat is a plan to free India from the clutches of poverty, to ensure that all Indians have equal access to not just kapda, roti aurmakaan .. but to make a qualitative change in their living by giving them access to bank accounts, 24 by 7 power, potable drinking water, housing, social security and most of all ..employment and good food leading to good and healthy living".
The Minister outlined, "As a step in the direction of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, we launched the Make in India initiative to drive India as a hub for manufacturing, cutting edge research and innovation. We fully understand that with industry will come greater employment for our youth, which will ignite prosperity in their lives".
Dr. Harsh Vardhan Pointed out, "We have eased norms for doing business; we are working to make our tax structures competitive, simplifying procedures and removing unnecessary regulations and placing enormous focus on technology as well". He expressed his confidence, " these efforts will directly benefit the poor of India and provide them the windows of opportunity they deserve".
Recounting the challenging circumstances of Covid pandemic, the Minister said "The Department of Biotechnology did extraordinary work in supporting the advancement of vaccine candidates and related technologies. Under "Mission COVID Suraksha - The Indian COVID-19 Vaccine Development Mission'', we focused on accelerated vaccine development through end-to-end solutions from pre-clinical development, clinical trials, manufacturing and regulatory facilitation for deployment".
"A National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID19, NEGVAC was constituted under the guidance of Hon'ble Prime Minister to monitor and decide on prioritization of population groups for vaccination, the delivery mechanism of the vaccine including tracking of the vaccination process and selection of delivery platforms. An indigenously developed Co-WIN: Digital Platform for COVID 19 vaccination delivery has also been developed", he added.
The Minister highlighted, "COVID-19 vaccination drive is also driven by 'Make in India' and both the vaccines that have received emergency authorization in India have been manufactured indigenously. We have also carried out Cold Chain Storage Assessment across the country and Cold Chain Equipment is being supplied continuously to augment the capacity at the last mile cold chain points".
Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, "I am sure that our efforts aimed at mitigation of the pandemic have parallelly strengthened our health systems upto the last mile and the same will act as a foundation for further strengthening the same to provide affordable, equitable and quality healthcare to all".
Stating that the COVID Pandemic has been an unfortunate event that has affected our lives and economies in an unprecedented manner, Dr Harsh Vardhan said, "However, we have utilized this adversity as an opportunity to strengthen our health care delivery system across the country".
"The COVID-19 pandemic also provided a compelling opportunity for R&D institutions, academia and industry to work in unison for sharing of purpose, synergy, collaboration and cooperation", he said.
The Department of Science & Technology and its various Autonomous Institutions made significant efforts to address R&D and innovation related challenges arising out of the pandemic. "Among other measures has been the formation of a National Task Force with over 20 leading scientists for formulating a National Super Model for predicting the spread of any pandemic in the future", Dr. Harsh Vardhan emphasized.
Giving further details , he said "DBT and BIRAC have been working relentlessly over the past ten months to develop effective interventions for combating the pandemic by supporting nearly 120 projects in the thematic areas of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics".
"More than 200 Indian Manufacturers have registered under National Biomedical Resource Indigenization Consortium, N-BRIC, a Make in India initiative, for facilitating indigenous manufacturing of 15 major molecular biology components and reagents", the Minister disclosed.
"Also, DBT is supporting development of nearly 15 vaccine candidates. Of these 3 vaccine candidates are in clinical trial stage and about 2 candidates are in advanced pre-clinical developmental stage", he explained.
Outlining all above efforts, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, "Amongst many other achievements, the immunoassay laboratory of Translational Health Science and Technology Institute,THSTI has been recognized by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, CEPI as one of the seven laboratories globally, for centralized assessment of COVID- 19 Vaccines".
"Five COVID-19 Biorepositories have been set up and have archived more than 40,000 samples, which are available for biomedical researchers", he said.
"On the Genomics and Therapeutics front ...PAN-India, 1000 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing was successfully completed and data is being analyzed to understand the virus", the Minister said that the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortium INSACOG has been launched, to ascertain the status of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 in the country.
He pointed out, "CSIR has galvanized its considerable strength and expertise and has been contributing to the fight against COVID-19 by developing new and improved diagnostics, drugs & vaccines and devices including ventilators", the Minister said, "CSIR has also made strides in understanding the molecular epidemiology and tracing of the viral strains in the country. It recognized early on the challenges of the disruption in the supply chain and has taken steps to circumvent the hurdles".
"We have developed FELUDA, the novel paper-based diagnostic kit for COVID-19 detection. Tata Sons, who took transfer of this unique technology, may soon start exporting these" he highlighted."The quick and easy to use RT-LAMP diagnostic kit developed in partnership with Reliance Industries, is being reviewed by ICMR". "CSIR labs have contributed significantly in understanding the prevalent viral strains, their mutational spectrum, spread and distribution across India by sequencing and analyzing about 2000 SARS-CoV-2 viral genomes".
He praised, "CSIR has also prioritized development of repurposed drugs for treatment of COVID-19 given the lack of specific drugs. CSIR developed the process technology for repurposed drugs such as Remdesivir and Favipiravir and transferred the technology to industries. Based on the licensed technology of CSIR, Cipla launched the affordable Favipiravir, which... all of you will recollect... drove market competition leading to affordable pricing". "There is no end to what all has been done in just the last ten months', the Minister said. He recounted many other achievement by CSIR and other S & T labs in fighting COVID.
The Union Minister placed it before all audience "During the pandemic, with modesty, I can claim that the world has applauded India for the manner in which we held fort and kept mortality rates at the lowest... even today we are at a mortality rate of 1.44 per cent".
He concluded by saying, "There is an immense need to further educate the public to become self-reliant. Once they know that they have got to stand on their own legs, it will electrify the atmosphere. This webinar series is a step in the right direction".
January 3, 2021 (N. Delhi)
The Nation's first indigenously developed DNA vaccine candidate against COVID-19, ZyCoV-D, by M/s Zydus Cadila has been approved by Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), for conduct of the Phase III clinical trials. The candidate has been supported by the National Biopharma Mission (NBM) under the aegis of BIRAC and the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.
Zydus Cadila completed Phase-I/II clinical trials of this DNA Vaccine candidate, in India, in more than 1,000 participants and interim data indicated that the vaccine is safe and immunogenic when three doses were administered intradermally. Based on the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee, which reviewed the interim data, the DCGI has accorded permission for conducting Phase-III clinical trial in 26,000 Indian participants.
Dr. Renu Swarup, Secretary, DBT and Chairperson, BIRAC expressed happiness and hoped that the candidate vaccine continues to show positive outcomes. Speaking on the occasion, she said, "The Department of Biotechnology, Government of India has partnered with Zydus Cadila, to address the need for accelerated development of an indigenous vaccine for COVID-19. The partnership exemplifies that such research endeavours demonstrate the Government's focus on creating an ecosystem that nurtures and encourages new product innovation with societal relevance". She also mentioned , "The establishment of the Nation's first DNA vaccine platform is an important milestone for Atma Nirbhar Bharat and a big leap forward for Indian scientific research."
January 1, 2021 (N. Delhi)
The draft of the 5th National Science Technology and Innovation Policy has been finalized and is now available for public consultation. The policy drafted through a4 track process of consultations during last 6 monthsaims to bring about profound changes through short, medium and long-term mission mode projects by building a nurtured ecosystem that promotes research and innovation on the part of both individuals and organizations.
It aims to foster, develop, and nurture a robust system for evidence and stakeholder-driven STI planning, information, evaluation, and policy research in India. The objective of the policy is to identify and address strengths and weaknesses of the Indian STI ecosystem to catalyse socio-economic development of the country and also make the Indian STI ecosystem globally competitive.
As India and the world reorient in the present context of the COVID-19 crisis, a new Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (STIP) was initiated at this crucial juncture during mid-2020. For India to march ahead on a sustainable development pathway to include economic development, social inclusion and environmental sustainability for achieving an "Atmanirbhar Bharat", a greater emphasis may be needed on promoting traditional knowledge systems, developing indigenous technologies and encouraging grassroots innovations. The emergence of disruptive and impactful technologies poses new challenges and simultaneously greater opportunities. The COVID-19 pandemic provided a compelling opportunity for R&D institutions, academia and industry to work in unison for sharing of purpose, synergy, collaboration and cooperation.
The STIP will be guided by its broad vision of achieving technological self-reliance and position India among the top three scientific superpowers in the decade to come, to attract, nurture, strengthen and retain critical human capital through a 'people centric' science, technology and innovation (STI) ecosystem, to double the number of Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) researchers, Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (GERD) and private sector contribution to the GERD every 5 years and to build individual and institutional excellence in STI with the aspiration to achieve the highest level of global recognitions and awards in the coming decade.
The new policy, STIP, revolves around the core principles of being decentralized, evidence-informed, bottom-up, experts-driven, and inclusive. Also, it aims to bring in the concept of 'dynamic policy' with a robust policy governance mechanism incorporating features such as implementation strategy, periodic review, policy evaluation, feedback, and adaptation, and most importantly, a timely exit strategy for various policy instruments.
The process so far involved nearly 300 rounds of consultations with more than 40,000 stakeholders well distributed in terms of region, age, gender, education, economic status, etc. The STIP Secretariat was coordinated, supported, and guided by the Office of PSA, NITI Aayog, and DST. The formulation process, by design, envisioned as a very inclusive and participative model with intense interconnectedness among different tracks of activities.
The draft is placed for public consultation on DST's website.
Suggestions, comments and inputs on the draft Policy may be shared by Monday the 25th January,2021 on email: india.stip@gmail.com. The policy draft is available on https://dst.gov.in/draft-5th-national-science-technology-and-innovation-policy-public-consultation
October 9, 2020
Existing opportunities for meritorious girls to nurture their interest in Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) will be expanded and a learning platform scaled to make learning relevant and foster scientific spirit among the country's youth in partnership with IBM.
The Department of Science & Technology (DST) and IBM India announced collaborations to scale up two DST initiatives--Vigyan Jyoti and Engage with Science (Vigyan Prasar), on October 8, 2020.
Vigyan Jyoti is a programme to promote STEM learning among girl students and to inspire them towards STEM careers by creating a level-playing field for meritorious girls from grades 9 to 12 to pursue STEM in their higher education, especially from the top colleges in the areas where girls are hugely underrepresented.
Engage with Science of Vigyan Prasar is another initiative to build interest and create a community of practice with students, teachers, and scientists connecting the high school students to the higher education institutions.
Announcing the collaborations Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary DST, said, "The partnership with IBM will make these programs of DST and Vigyan Prasar reach the students and teachers in interactive ways on a large scale. Scaling up of the interactive learning platform 'Engage with Science' will make learning relevant and foster scientific spirit among the country's youth, it would address the school students directly who need more knowledge outside the classroom and provide insights into an interactive way of learning, thus helping sift the useful from the useless."
"The engage with Science platform will make students interact, participate and get involved with the sampling and active consumption of S&T content, including Cloud, Big Data, etc. through the usage of digital tools," he added.
"Vigyan Jyoti initiative by DST focuses on solving the multidimensional problems associated with meager representation of women in Engineering and Technology streams in higher education by building confidence and excitement towards these streams. In 5 years from now, we want to see the proportion of girl students enrolled in engineering and technology streams increasing to one-third of the total," Professor Ashutosh Sharma pointed out.
The Vigyan Jyoti programme was launched by DST in 2019 to inspire girl students to pursue higher education and career in STEM fields. The program provides a scholarship, visit to nearby scientific institutions, science camps, lecturers from eminent women scientists, and career counseling. The program is currently implemented by Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) in 58 districts, with the participation of about 2900 students. The partnership with IBM India will strengthen the current activities and expanded to include more schools in the future. Women tech experts working at IBM India will interact inspire girl students to plan for a career in STEM under the program. This will strengthen the DST?s initiative to increase the number of women in technology fields.
"It is the need of the hour to promote gender diversity in STEM education and to create new avenues for cultivating diverse talent. The collaboration with DST will expand our STEM program to girl students pursuing 10+2 courses," said Mr. Sandip Patel, MD, IBM I/SA.
DST and IBM India aim to create a robust STEM ecosystem that nurtures critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and next-generation innovators through Inspire Awards-MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge)?a program targeting to build one million ideas rooted in science from school students. DST and IBM India will work together to further integrate and develop Science & Technology in the education ecosystem with short term courses, workshops, mentoring, and online science content communication for teachers and students in India.
In the other collaboration launched alongside, IBM will work with Vigyan Prasar?an autonomous body under the DST to help India's science popularization agenda through several strategic initiatives, including 'Engage With Science'. This is an interactive platform that will be built on top of the India Science Over-The-Top (OTT) platform to encourage and inspire high school students to pursue Science & Technology (S&T) for a career. As part of the collaboration, IBM will run the day-to-day activities of the program, including student workshops, seminars, and leverage its expertise to mentor the students. The platform will make students interact, participate and get involved with the sampling and active consumption of S&T content, including Cloud, Big Data, etc. through the usage of gamification tools and AI/ML components.
'Engage With Science' will actively engage with schools, shoot interactive programmes in the school premises, provide windows of recognition, and glorification to select teachers of S&T subjects. The programmes, when aired on India Science channel, shall, in turn, create a fan following and community creation around teachers and schools.
October 9, 2020
NEED OF THE TECHNOLOGY:
The contamination of fluoride and iron in drinking water is increasing day by day. Iron is the most abundant trace element in human body, responsible for accomplishment of vital biological functions such as gastrointestinal processes and the regulation of body temperature. But when iron level in water is beyond 0.3 ppm (as per WHO guideline), it shows several adverse effects including liver disease, irregular heart rhythm and neuronal disorder etc.
Similarly, restricted dose of fluoride ( less than 1.5 ppm, as per WHO guideline) in drinking water is required for proper strengthening of teeth and bones in human body. But intake of excess fluoride can affect human health profusely by causing dental and skeletal fluorosis initially, which leads to a crippling malady in the long run. About 60-70 million people of India have been indicated to be at excess (fluoride) F? threat. According to the report by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, the groundwater in more than ten thousand five hundred rural habitations distributed in various states of India are found to be contaminated with elevated fluoride concentration. Therefore, there is a need of affordable water purification technology for fluoride and iron removal.
CSIR-CMERI for the very first time has come up with a dual solution (excess F- and Fe3+ mitigation from ground water).
The present invention reveals about proper design and subsequent development of an integrated, low-cost, commonly available multi-adsorbent based community level (high flow rate) water purification system for effective and simultaneous removal of fluoride and iron (below WHO permissible limit) in an efficient manner from contaminated water.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention relates to an integrated approach towards design and development of a community level water treatment plant with high flow rate (10,000 litre/hr) to remove fluoride and iron from contaminated water bodies and the process thereof.
Schematic adsorbent packing in FRP vessels Three FRP (Fibre Reinforced Plastic) made vessels of specific dimensions has been set up here in series with each other, which are: i) Chamber-I (oxidation chamber), ii) Chamber-II (Iron removing filter) and iii) Chamber-III (Fluoride removing filter). The oxidation chamber contains manganese oxide enriched ores within the permissible limit, which act as an oxidising agent (screens out metal contaminants like Fe2+). The Iron removal filter contains naturally abundant lowcost adsorbent materials such as gravels and treated sand of specific diameter.
Lastly, the Fluoride removal filter also contains several low cost adsorbent materials viz. activated alumina, ferrite impregnated activated alumina (FIA, a patented product from CMERI) and zinc impregnated activated charcoal (patented product from CMERI) in sequential manner to mitigate the residual fluoride from groundwater. A hypochlorite dosing pump with dosing in proper proportions and micron filter are installed in line with the mentioned vessels for disinfection of targeted contaminated water. Hypochlorite is used in permissible range in place of chlorine gas for safety reasons. To meet the high demand of fluoride free cost effective drinking water focus was to achieve 10,000-12,000 litre/hour flow rate of the purified water. The flow is being continuously monitored by installing a flow meter. The developed plant is successfully able to mitigate iron from an initial concentration of ~9 ppm to less than 0.3 ppm (safe limit of Fe as per WHO guideline) and fluoride from initial ~12 ppm to <1.5 ppm (safe limit of F- as per WHO guideline).
WORKING PRINCIPLE:
The CSIR-CMERI developed Fluoride and Iron removal system is comprised of three staged purification system. The first FRP make vessel (Chamber-I)is for rapid removal of precipitated iron. The next one(Chamber-II) is one of the most crucial chambers for removal of the left over iron from the contaminated water.In final stage fluoride will be removed from contaminated ground water by 'fluoride removal unit' (Chamber-III), where the adsorbents will fulfil the purpose of fluoride mitigation.
UNIQUENESS OF THE PRESENT PLANT:
September 30, 2020
The Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhantoday launched CSIR Technologies for rural development under a joint initiative of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) and Vijnana Bharti (VIBHA). The event was organized through online platform on the occasion of CSIR-NISTADS 40th Foundation Day, here.The technologies released included:
The Minister also released CSIR-NISTADS e-Compendium and e-Coffee Table Book, on the occasion.
Dr. Shekhar C Mande (DG-CSIR, Secretary, DSIR, GOI), Padma Bhushan Shri Vijay P. Bhatkar (Chairman-National Steering Committee, UBA), ProfRam Gopal Rao (Director, IIT Delhi), Prof. Virendra K. Vijay (National Coordinator, UBA), Dr. Ranjana Aggarwal (Director, CSIR-NISTADS) were among the speakers throwing light on the synergy among science and technology interventions and rural upliftment. Various stakeholders including famous dignitaries, science experts, field experts, all Regional Coordinating Institutes and Participating Institutes of UBA, non-profit organisations, UBA volunteers, villagers and farmers of the adopted villages also participated in this programme organized with a purpose to enable the outreach of CSIR rural technologies to society.
A tripartite MoU to this effect was signed by the three parties on 28th July 2020 at CSIR to work jointly for post-COVID fast track action plan to create livelihood opportunities in rural areas, particularly for the people who have returned to their native villages in the lockdown period.
Over the years CSIR has developed several appropriate technologies which could be deployed in rural areas for development and livelihood generation and achieving sustainable development goals. These technologies will now be disseminated to society through the Higher Education Institutional network of UBA and local chapters of VIBHA. CSIR-National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (CSIR-NISTADS) is acting as a nodal CSIR Lab to establish linkages between CSIR laboratories, UBA, VIBHA, and stakeholders.
In his keynote address, Dr Harsh Vardhan congratulated CSIR-NISTADS on their 40th Foundation Day, and said, "they have been involved in exploring continuously the interface between Science, Technology and Society and have played an important role in science policy research in CSIR and at National Level also". Stating that "appropriate intervention of Science & Technology can play a crucial catalytic role in bringing equity and equality in the process of development", Dr Harsh Vardhan said that "Corporates, Research agencies, Organizations working with medium, small, and cottage level entrepreneurs, voluntary social organizations, NGOs, and socially cognizant citizens need to partner on a common platform to address various problems affecting the lives of millions". He said, "the challenges that we would be facing need actions at several levels, and we need to explore and reinvent innovative approaches for actions from different stakeholders that include not just Government agencies but also voluntary social organizations, NGOs, Corporates, Entrepreneurs, academicians & Scientists and constructively supplement these efforts".
He highlighted that "Unnat Bharat Abhiyan" is a flagship programme of Ministry of Education conceptualised and launched in IIT Delhi, with a vision of transformational change in rural development processes by leveraging knowledge institutions to help build the architecture of an Inclusive India."Unnat Bharat Abhiyan now constitutes 45 Regional Coordinating Institutions (RCIs) and 2,614 Participating Institutions (PIs). Till date, a total of 13,760 villages have been adopted under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan", he added.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan expressed his confidence that "the agencies known for its knowledge, grassroot presence and technical competency, like IIT Delhi, VIBHA and their joining hands with CSIR can prove to be very useful for deployment of indigenously developed technologies by CSIR in rural areas". He called for "greater synergy among innovative scientific solutions and tradition knowledge systems so that the fruits of this combination reaches to the every person, every village to for betterment of their lives and development of the country."
CSIR, UBA, Vijnana Bharti have planned to work jointly on a framework for scientific intervention to create sustainable livelihood opportunities in the rural clusters under synergy of S&T Organizations (CSIR/DST/DBT/DRDO etc), VIBHA and UBA. It began with strengthening the network, where R&D organizations and institutions to take the role of nodal agencies who provide solutions to the felt need of the communities in the country. UBA nodal centers- RCIs are the solution facilitators and are the link that build capacities and connect to the solution seekers (community, farmer etc.) and solution disseminators such as Development agencies, Institutes, NGOs, and Panchayati Raj Institutions etc.
CSIR-National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies(NISTADS), New Delhi is one of the constituent laboratory of CSIR. It is devoted to a study of various aspects of interaction among science, society and state and exploring continuously the interface between Science, Technology and Society. Currently, the faculty comprises of highly qualified faculty members drawn from a variety of academic disciplines. This intellectual diversity is the mainstay of the institute. The Institute has core competence in Science and Technology policy Research mainly addressing the concerns and problems of developing countries. The institute, s strength mainly lies in Interdisciplinary research teams, multi-discipline in faculty, long experience of field research.
Vijnana Bharti(Vibha): VIBHA, a science movement with swadeshi spirit, has a greater role to play. Swadeshi Science Movement was started in Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru by some eminent scientists under the guidance of Prof. K. I. Vasu. One of the founding principles of VIBHA is? Swadeshi Movement with modern sciences adapted to national needs.
September 26, 2020
On the occasion of CSIR Foundation Day, Avra Laboratories, a leading pharmaceutical company founded by Padmabhushan Dr A. V. Rama Rao, announced today that it would establish three research chairs at CSIR to support and recognize exemplary work in the field of translational research. The chairs, will provide a three-year fellowship to selected scientists to recognize and advance their efforts. Dr S. Chandrasekhar, Director, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology and Dr Amol A. Kulkarni, Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory have been awarded the fellowship for the period 2020-2023.
As part of their Corporate Social Responsibility program, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), has agreed to extend generous funding support to Establishment of one Makeshift Hospital in Himachal Pradesh and a COVID Testing Centre at Ladakh at a cost of over a crore".
The prestigious CSIR Diamond Jubilee Technology Award for the year 2019 is conferred on Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL), Pune for the technological advancement it has made in the production of 'Fructo-oligosaccharides' (FOS), also known as FOSSENCE which being 100./0 soluble dietary fiber caters to the growing base of health and lifestyle-conscious consumers.
CSIR celebrated its 79th Foundation Day at its premises here today. Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Health and Family Welfare and Vice President, CSIR presided over the event. While, Dr. Shekhar C. Mande, DG, CSIR & Secretary, DSIR (Department for Scientific & Industrial Research) and Mr. A. Chakraborty, Head, HRDG, were present on the occasion, all CSIR labs and several others joined the event through various social media platforms.
September 23, 2020
Department of Biotechnology (DBT), facilitated Transfer of Technology of novel Brucella vaccine viz. Brucella abortus S19 delta per vaccine, through Video Conferencing (VC), earlier this week and an MoU was signed. This vaccine was developed by ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute (ICAR-IVRI), Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh through a Network project on Brucellosis supported by DBT in which a gene was knocked out from Brucella abortus S19 strain.
This vaccine has confirmed protection against virulent challenge in experimental mice model conducted at IVRI, Izatnagar and in buffalo calves conducted at National Institute of Animal Health, an institute of Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The developed vaccine is also found to have DIVA compatible. Brucella abortus S19 delta per vaccine can play an important role in National Brucellosis Control Programme initiated by Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India.
Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease which causes production losses in livestock. The disease induces abortion at the last stage of pregnancy, infertility and other reproductive problem which causes losses in production of milk and meat. Globally the disease is reported in approximately half a million human population every year. In India huge population involved in dairy farming is directly affected with the Brucellosis.
The technology of vaccine was transferred by BIRAC to M/s Hester Biosciences Pvt. Ltd. in the presence of Secretary, DBT; DG, ICAR; AHC, DAHD; Director, IVRI; Dr. Pallab Chaudhury, Inventor; Dr.Aun Rawat Adviser, DBT; MD, Hester Biosciences Pvt. Ltd., and representatives of Agrinnovate, BCIL etc.
