19-Oct-2020: CSIR-IHBT makes history by introducing asafoetida (Heeng) cultivation in Indian Himalayan region
Due to efforts of CSIR constituent laboratory, Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Palampur, a historical shift in farming practices is in the offing with farmers of the remote Lahaul valley in Himachal Pradesh taking up cultivation of asafoetida (Hing) to utilize vast expanses of waste land in the cold desert conditions of the region. CSIR-IHBT brought in seeds of asafoetida and developed its agro-technology.
Asafoetida is one of the top condiments and is a high value spice crop in India. India imports about 1200 tonnes of raw asafoetida annually from Afghanistan, Iran and Uzbekistan and spends approximately 100 million USD per year. Lack of planting material of Ferula assa-foetida plants in India was a major bottleneck in cultivation of this crop. The first seedling of asafoetida was planted by Dr. Sanjay Kumar, Director, CSIR-IHBT on 15th October, 2020 at farmer’s field in village Kwaring of Lahaul valley to mark initiation of cultivation of asafoetida in India.
Since asafoetida is a major condiment in Indian cuisines, team CSIR-IHBT made relentless efforts for introduction of this important crop in the country. The institute introduced six accessions of seeds from Iran through ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBPGR), New Delhi in October, 2018. ICAR-NBPGR confirmed that in the past thirty years, this has been the first attempt for introduction of asafoetida (Ferula assa-foetida) seeds in the country. CSIR-IHBT raised the plants of heeng at CeHAB, Ribling, Lahaul & Spiti, H.P. under the vigil of NBPGR. The plant prefers cold and dry conditions for its growth and takes approximately five years for the production of oleo-gum resin in its roots, therefore cold desert areas of Indian Himalayan region are suitable for cultivation of asafoetida.
Raw asafoetida is extracted from the fleshy roots of Ferula assa-foetida as an oleo-gum resin. Although, there are about 130 species of Ferula found in the world, but only Ferula assa-foetida is the economically important species used for the production of asafoetida. In India, we do not have Ferula assa-foetida, but other species Ferula jaeschkeana is reported from the western Himalaya (Chamba, HP), and Ferula narthex from Kashmir and Ladakh, which are not the species that yield asafoetida.
Recognizing the efforts of the Institute, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh announced the introduction and cultivation of Heeng in the state in his budget speech, on March 6, 2020. Consequently, MoU between CSIR-IHBT and State Department of Agriculture, Himachal Pradesh was signed on June 6, 2020 for a joint collaboration for the cultivation of heeng in the State. A capacity building program was organized for officers of the State Department of Agriculture from July 20 to 22, 2020 in which twelve officers from different districts of Himachal Pradesh participated.
Further, CSIR-IHBT scientists also organized training programs on asafoetida cultivation and laid out demonstration plots in villages of Madgran, Beeling and Keylong in Lahaul valley of Himachal Pradesh in collaboration with officers of State Agriculture Department for establishment of seed production chain and cultivation of asafoetida at commercial scale.
5-Aug-2020: Hydro-Meteorological Hazards Risk Reduction
National Institute of Disaster Management, Ministry of Home Affairs in collaboration with India Meteorological Department organised a webinar series on “Hydro-Meteorological Hazards Risk Reduction”. The webinar series include four webinars focusing on issues apropos of ‘Thunderstorms and Lightning’, ‘Cloudburst and Floods’, ‘Cyclones and Storm Surges’ and ‘Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events’. The webinar series exhorted on enhancing human capacity in terms of better understanding of Hydro-Meteorological Hazards Risk and effective collaborative actions, by implementing Prime Minister’s 10-point agenda and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, for reducing the risk and enhancing the resilience of affected communities and surroundings.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai inaugurated the first webinar on “Thunderstorms and Lightning” of the webinar series. In his address, Shri Rai highlighted the major interventions carried out by the Government of India’s departments/agencies for reducing the adverse risks of Hydro-Meteorological disasters. He also emphasised on focusing the collaborative short and long term mitigation and reduction measures to diminish the adverse impacts of these disasters.
The webinar series was addressed by dignitaries including Shri G.V.V. Sarma, Member Secretary, NDMA; Dr. Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Science; Dr. V. Thiruppugazh, IAS, Additional Secretary, NDMA; Major General Manoj Kumar Bindal, Executive Director, NIDM; Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General, IMD; Shri S N Pradhan, IPS, Director General, NDRF and Prof. Surya Parkash, Head GMRD, NIDM. The renowned speakers also included Shri Sharad Chandra, Director (FFM), CWC; Prof. Kapil Gupta, IIT Bombay; Dr. R. K. Jenamani, Scientist-F, IMD; Shri B. P. Yadav, Head Hydromet, IMD; Dr. D. R. Pattanail, Scientist-F, IMD; Dr. Soma Sen Roy, Scientist-F, IMD; Sh. Anup Karanth, World Bank, and Ms. Sunitha Devi, Scientist E, IMD.
The key take away from the webinar series consists of the fact that at present occurrences of Hydro-Meteorological events are quite predictable in terms of time and space through the technological capacity of nodal agencies. IMD and NIDM will further enhance the forecasting abilities that will help to acquaint the occurrence of Hydro-Meteorological events in advance with more precision and will aid the relevant stakeholders and communities to take the appropriate prevention and mitigation measures.
5-Feb-2020: NIDM organizes Conference On Disability-Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction
The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), organized “National Conference on Disability-inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction: Pathways for Inclusion and Action for Resilience” here today. The one-day conference was organized in collaboration with the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), as a run up to National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) in May 2020. The event was focused to bring together the stakeholders from Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and disability inclusion to deliberate on actions and strategies for mainstreaming disability-inclusion in DRR process.
Presiding over the function, Shri Kamal Kishore, the Member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), highlighted the need for development of a holistic approach for disability-inclusion in DRR. He emphasized on the empowerment of the persons with disabilities for inclusion in disaster risk reduction. He also emphasized on mainstreaming of disability inclusion in local level actions.
Presenting the Special Address, Shri S.N. Pradhan, Director General, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) emphasized on the need of training of the first responders of disaster management to achieve disability-inclusion. He explained the challenges faced in rescuing disabled victims during disaster scenarios.
Delivering the welcome address, Major General Manoj Kumar Bindal, Executive Director, National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), highlighted the present gaps in disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction and he also prioritized the need of capacity building programs for mainstreaming disability inclusion at all levels.
Addressing the inaugural session, Dr. K.V.S. Rao, Director, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), Government of India (GoI), also emphasized on the involvement of all the stakeholders in the decision-making process. He highlighted the scope of development of assistive devices and technologies with an aim to empower the persons with disabilities.
The inaugural session was followed by three technical sessions: “Disability inclusion in DRR: Need for a Holistic Approach”; “Mainstreaming Action in Local level Action” and “Participation of PwD’s in Disaster Risk Reduction Process”. Several eminent speakers from the field of DRR and disability-inclusion like Shri Mihir Bhat and Dr. Asha Hans among others shared their views and experience to pave the way forward for building disability-inclusive resilient development. Senior officials and representatives from various departments of various states and NGOs participated the conference. The valedictory for the conference was addressed by Smt. Shakuntala Gamlin, Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), and Shri G.V.V Sarma, the Member Secretary, NDMA.
22-Sep-2019: NIDM to organize a Workshop on Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA)
The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) is organizing one day National workshop on Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) on 23rd September 2019.
National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), undertook the study for developing a scientific tool on Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), under the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP).
The focus of this workshop is to disseminate the outcome documents of the study to all the relevant stakeholders so that the same may be utilized by them as a reference document while preparing the memorandum for submission to the MHA in post disaster phase. The workshop will also discuss the issues and challenges faced by States in assessment of damage and loss along with the capacity gap for undertaking such detailed exercise.
All the nodal officers for Disaster Management from the relevant Central Ministries/Department and Principal Secretaries of Disaster Management and Resident Commissioner of all the States and UTs have been invited for participants in this workshop in addition to officers from Ministry of Home Affairs and National Disaster Management Authority. Representatives from UNDP, World Bank, ADB, WHO, FAO, WFP, NGOs and multilateral organizations have also been invited.
22-May-2018: Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu lays foundation for NIDM’s southern campus
The Vice-President of India Shri Venkaiah Naidu laid the Foundation Stone of Southern Campus building of the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) at Kondapavuluru Village, Gannavaram Mandal, Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh.
The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) is a premier institute of the Government under Ministry of Home Affairs. The NIDM, in pursuance of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014, has established a Southern Campus in Andhra Pradesh. An interim setup of NIDM Southern Campus is currently operating in the State from Andhra Pradesh Human Resource Development Institute (APHRDI) Campus at Bapatla, Guntur. The State government has allocated 10 acres of land to NIDM for establishment of its permanent Southern Campus at Kondapavuluru Village. The Central Government has approved construction of the South Campus at a total cost of Rs. 36.76 crores.
The NIDM’s Southern Campus would be focusing more on ground level issues, district and local planning, last mile connectivity and mainstreaming disaster management into Sustainable Development Goals through its training and capacity building programmes as relevant to the region.
The NIDM Southern Campus will function to support the overall goal of resilience and capacity building of various stakeholders through its programs. There will be programs designed and developed with special emphasis on the disasters specific to southern States. The South Indian geography plays a vital role in designing the NIDM programs specially Coastal Areas, Rocky terrain of Deccan Plateau and Western Ghats. It would be vital for the NIDM Southern Campus to focus more on the needs of South India hazard profile and develop it as a Centre for Excellence for this region.
India is a signatory to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) adapted by the United Nation’s member states and the Prime Minister’s 10 point agenda on Disaster Risk Management is aligned to its strategy and ground implementation. Capacity Building including training - education, research, knowledge management and mass awareness hold the key to success in achieving the targets of Sendai Framework as understanding disaster risk, enhancing disaster preparedness and “Build Back Better” still remain the most important input in saving lives, property and environment from natural and man-made disasters. NIDM has taken big strides in building the capacity of stakeholders, but the gaps, demand and expectations are huge. Hence, partnership, collaborations and networking across geographies, states, institutions and international agencies and private player are the need of the hour.
A two-day National Workshop on “Forging Partnership: Capacity Building for DRR” also began yesterday at Vijayawada to bring the multiple stake-holders, agencies, donors and governments to deliberate, discuss and share experience and to explore cooperation opportunities. The aim of the workshop is to discuss and deliver a roadmap for making India a disaster resilient country by enhancing and building the capacity of the state institutions by encouraging partnerships between the various stakeholders. International and National experts and senior officials would be participating in addition to National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) officials, State Disaster Management Authority (SDMAs) and State Disaster Management Institutes (SDMIs), NGOs and professionals working in the areas of disaster management.
14-Jul-2020: Low-cost supercapacitor from industrial waste cotton & natural seawater electrolyte can help energy storage
Scientists at the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), an autonomous organization of the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India have developed a simple, low-cost, environmentally friendly, and sustainable supercapacitor electrode derived from industrial waste cotton which can be used as an energy harvester storage device. For the first time, natural seawater is explored as an environmentally friendly, cost-effective, scalable, and alternative aqueous electrolyte, which may replace the existing aqueous-based electrolytes for the economic fabrication of supercapacitor.
Supercapacitor is a next-generation energy storage device that has received extensive research attention owing to advantages such as high power density, long durability, and ultrafast charging characteristic as compared to conventional capacitors and lithium-ion batteries (LIB). Among the four main components of supercapacitor electrode, electrolyte, separator, and the current collector, the first two are the pivotal components, which directly determine the electrochemical behaviour of the supercapacitors. The fabrication cost of electrode materials, as well as electrolytes, should be reduced because these two components account for major portion of the device manufacturing cost.
In search of a cost-effective material for making affordable supercapacitor devices, scientists at ARCI have converted industrial waste cotton (Trash) into highly porous carbon fibers (Treasure) by activation process and then utilised the porous carbon fibers to make high-performance supercapacitor electrodes.
In the recent research published in Energy Technology, scientists at ARCI demonstrated the feasibility of using seawater as natural electrolyte for the fabrication of aqueous-based supercapacitor devices which shows great potential for practical implementation. The study found that natural seawater-based supercapacitor exhibited maximum capacitances at a current density of 1 Ag-1. In addition, seawater-based supercapacitor shows very good durability upon 10,000 charge-discharge cycles with 99 % of capacitance retention and 99 % of Coulombic efficiency (efficiency with which charge is transferred in a system facilitating an electrochemical reaction).
The research team’s new, sustainable and green supercapacitor device shows great potential for practical application, and perhaps most importantly, the integrated solar cell with seawater-based supercapacitor as low cost, eco-friendly, efficient and self-powering device. The successful demonstration of the device revealed that solar-powered supercapacitors can not only store the electrical energy but also overcome the drawbacks of the intermittent nature of the solar irradiation. Hence, the integrated solar cell with supercapacitor can be used as an energy harvester storage device due to their long cycle life and maintenance-free power supply.
“The large-scale use of renewable energy requires creation of matching capacity for inexpensive electrical energy storage. This study provides a solution for fabrication of super-capacitors from such abundant materials as waste cotton and seawater! It is an excellent example of the creative science for the sustainable, green processes embedding principles of waste-to-wealth,” said Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST.