25-Jun-2020: Decline in Arctic sea ice does not sound good for the environment, warns NCPOR
The National Centre of Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) has found a dramatic decline in the Arctic sea ice due to global warming. The decline of sea ice has led to localized increase in evaporation, air humidity, cloud cover, and rainfall. Arctic sea ice is a sensitive indicator of climate change and has strong retaliatory effects on other components of the climate system.
In its observations, NCPOR has noted that the largest decline in Arctic sea ice in the past 41 years happened in July 2019. In the last 40 years (1979-2018), the sea ice has been declining at a rate of ‘-4.7%’ per decade, while its rate was found to be ‘-13%’ in July 2019. If this trend continues, there would be no ice left in the Arctic sea by 2050, which would be dangerous for humanity and the entire environment.
With the help of satellite data collected from 1979 to 2019, NCPOR has tried to understand the rate of surface warming and the changes in global atmospheric circulation. The study has also pointed out that the decrease of the Arctic sea ice and the increase in the duration of summer and autumn seasons have affected the local weather and climate over the Arctic Ocean and its marginal seas. Being a sensitive indicator of climate change, the loss of ice cover in the Arctic sea has had strong feedback effects on other components of the climate system such as prevention or reduction of heat and momentum, water vapour, and other material exchange between the atmosphere and the sea. The worrying element to note is that the volume of ice formation during winters is unable to keep pace with the volume of ice loss during summers.
“In the background of the global warming scenario, the study reveals that global ocean-atmospheric warming has enhanced the Arctic sea ice loss. The study demonstrated the application of satellite observations and model reanalysis data for the determinationandvalidation;the2019sea-iceextenttiedtothesecond-lowestsea-ice minimum record. Although there are no extreme weather events recorded this year, an accelerated decline in sea-ice extent and sea-ice volume in summer 2019 was dominant, and also the northern hemisphere has experienced record high-temperature rise especially during the spring and summer months,” Dr Avinash Kumar, a senior scientist at NCPOR, who is involved in the research, said.
“The sea-ice loss at this rate, concerning to all the lives on Earth, can have a catastrophic impact due to rising global air temperature and slowing down of global ocean water circulation,” he added. Led by Dr Avinash Kumar, the research team comprised Juhi YadavandRahulMohanofNCPOR,MinistryofEarthSciences,Goa.Theresearchpaper has been published in the Journal of Natural Hazards.
23-Jul-2018: India to expand polar research to Arctic Region
Three decades after its first mission to Antarctica, the government is refocusing priorities to the other pole — the Arctic — because of opportunities and challenges posed by climate change.
This month, it has renamed the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) — since 1998, charged with conducting expeditions to India’s base stations to the continent — as the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research. It’s also in talks with Canada and Russia, key countries with presence in the Arctic circle, to establish new observation systems, according to a source. Now, India only has one Arctic observation station near Norway.
Along with the Arctic, India’s earth sciences community also views the Himalayas as a “third pole” because of the large quantities of snow and ice it holds, and proposes to increase research spends towards understanding the impact of climate change in the Himalayas. It has already established a high-altitude research station in the Himalayas, called HIMANSH, at Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.
The Minister for S&T and Earth Sciences has approved the renaming of National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa to National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa.
While annual missions to maintain India’s three bases in Antarctica will continue, the new priorities mean that there will be more expeditions and research focus on the other poles. Climate change was a decisive factor in India re-thinking priorities. Sea ice at the Arctic has been melting rapidly — the fastest in this century. That means several spots, rich in hydrocarbon reserves, will be more accessible through the year via alternative shipping routes.
India is already an observer at the Arctic Council — a forum of countries that decides on managing the region’s resources and popular livelihood and, in 2015, set up an underground observatory, called IndARC, at the Kongsfjorden fjord, half way between Norway and the North Pole.
A big worry for India is the impact of melting sea ice on the monsoon. Over the years scientists across the world are reporting that the rapid ice-melt in the Arctic is leading to large quantities of fresh water into the seas around the poles. This impedes the release of heat from the water and directs warm water into the seas around India, the theory goes, and eventually weakens the movement of the monsoon breeze into India. Therefore we need more observations and stations in the Arctic countries to improve understanding of these processes.
25-Jun-2020: Shri Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurates Product Application and Development Centre at Paradip, Odisha
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan along with the Chief Minister of Odisha Shri Naveen Patnaik today inaugurated a Product Application & Development Centre (PADC) setup by Indian Oil at Paradip, through video conference.
PADC has been setup by Indian Oil at Paradip with a capex of Rs 43 crores, adjacent to its Refinery and Petrochemicals complex. There are 4 laboratories in PADC namely Polymer Processing Lab, Analytical Testing Lab, Chemical Analysis Lab and Characterisation Lab. The Technical centre is equipped with 50 latest sophisticated polymer testing and processing equipment to cater to the needs of customers and new investors. PADC, Paradip is recognized as a research centre by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt of India.
PADC will act as incubation centre for new entrepreneur development in and around Odisha in the field of Plastics. The centre will render assistance to customers and investors in product and application development for polymer finished products such as molded furniture, houseware, wovensacks for packaging cement, fertiliser, healthcare applications like baby diaper, personal protective suit, mask etc. The centre will carry out testing and developmental activities for investors of Paradeep Plastic Park and other clusters like Balasore and Khurda. The centre will impart requisite product and process training to the prospective and budding investors including hand holding activities for plant set-up, selection of machinery and material. PADC will provide quality assurance, complaint handling, customer support, benchmarking studies, new & niche grade development and application development activities.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Pradhan said, “Fueled by the Honorable Prime Minister’s vision of Mission Purvodaya of ensuring eastern India-led national growth, centre and Odisha Government are working together to ensure development of Odisha. The state holds immense potential in petrochemicals, steel, mines and coal, Aluminium, tourism, textile, Agri entrepreneurship. Government of India is committed to promoting entrepreneurship in Odisha across sectors which will lead to large scale job creation.”
“The world class facility inaugurated today will ensure availability of raw material, facilitate entrepreneurs in petrochemicals sector and provide training to the prospective and budding investors. This centre-of-excellence will help in creating several new employment and self-employment opportunities for the Odia youth, women and hardworking workforce and will further boost state’s revenue and economy. This is a big milestone in the development of Odisha, and will contribute to the making of an Aatmanirbhar Odisha and subsequently contribute to the overall vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”
Chief Minister, Odisha, Shri Naveen Patnaik expressing happiness at the inauguration said, “This centre will not only perform a pivotal role in developing new material and innovative applications, it will also help investors to set up manufacturing units in plastic and polymers sectors. "He said that IOCL has been acting as an anchor in development of plastics and polymer industry in the state, and the new Centre will further support the innovation and entrepreneurship in the area.
26-Feb-2018: CSIR signs MoU with IORA: CSIR-CIMAP to host coordinating center on medicinal plants
Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) has entered into a MoU with the Regional Center for Science and Technology Transfer (RCSTT) of Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) for designating Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow (CSIR-CIMAP) as Coordinating Center on Medicinal Plants.
The MoU was signed by Prof. Anil Kumar Tripathi, Director CSIR-CIMAP and Dr. A. Sedrpousan, Director, IORA-RCSTT. The Indian delegation was led by Dr. Girish Sahni, DG, CSIR and Secretary, DSIR. The delegation also attended the 31st Khwarizmi International Award Ceremony which was addressed by H.E. Dr. Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The IORA Center at CSIR-CIMAP will establish a database on the important medicinal plants, their value added products, related experts and industries of the IORA member states and organize meetings and training programmes to promote trade, commerce and scientific exchanges to complement the strength and limitation of the member states.
The IORA is an association of 21 countries and 7 dialogue partners which have identified 6 areas of cooperation including medicinal plants.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Girish Sahni, Director General, CSIR mentioned the strength of CSIR in several areas of Science and Technology in which CSIR has developed expertise and contributed in solving hundreds of problems of people. He invited a delegation of scientists and business houses to visit CSIR labs in India to explore the possibilities of partnerships between CSIR labs and Iranian industry.
Dr. Nokwe expressed the hope that the Coordination Center will promote cooperation in the area of traditional knowledge related to medicinal plants for the welfare of the people of IORA member states. She also indicated that this will provide an opportunity for two important member states of IORA (India and Iran) to enhance cooperation between them.
The Iranian side emphasized the historical importance of this initiative and expressed their happiness and optimism on this new initiative. This is a major development to boost the relationship between India and Iran.
Mr. Sanjay Panda, Joint Secretary (IOR), Ministry of External Affair, Government of India emphasized the importance of this initiative and the role India plays in Indian Ocean region. In view of the importance India attaches to its role in IORA, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India has committed it's support towards the establishment and operationalization of the proposed coordination center at CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow.
14-Jun-2020: CIMAP announces photography competition on medicinal and aromatic plants
Medicinal and aromatic plants have always grabbed public attention. Some of them are incredibly beautiful and some are not commonly found. Their intrinsic value to the health and well-being of human beings and animals has also been well established over the years. At the same time, not many of us are fully aware of the usefulness and medicinal value of most of these plants. In an effort to create awareness about the usefulness of these plants, the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic plants (CIMAP) has announced a photography competition on medicinal and aromatic plants. Through this competition, CIMAP also wants to convey the message of conservation of these medicinal plants.
The theme of the competition is ‘Know your Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs)’. The winners will receive cash awards of Rs. 5000, Rs. 3000, and Rs. 2000 for first, second, and third prizes, respectively. In addition, there will be consolation prizes of Rs. 1000 each for another 10 entries.
The competition is open to all Indian amateur and professional photographers. Up to three photographs may be submitted for each entry. Indigenous plants are preferred and the Institute has requested to avoid images of very common horticulture or ornamental plants.
Each photograph should have correct Latin and vernacular name of the plant and its medicinal and aromatic importance in about 20-30 words. Only the original digital images will be accepted but entries have to accompany with colour prints printed on an A4 page and unmounted. Digital image entries must not be less than 3 MB size with minimum resolution of 300 dpi. The images should be in JPEG or TIFF format and the display resolution should be 1086 x 768 and the longer side should not be more than 1086. The raw image files might be asked for at a later date if screened for awards.
The participant has to make a self-declaration that the images have been shot by the person sending the mail for gaining entry into the competition. The copyright of winning images will remain with the photographer, but CIMAP will have the right to exhibit the entries and use them in publicity materials for the promotion of medicinal and aromatic plants.
The winners will be chosen by judges nominated by the Director, CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow. The decision of the judges will be final. The winners will be announced on the Annual Day of CSIR-CIMAP.
Digital images should be e-mailed at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The last date of submission of the entries is June 30, 2020. For further details of the competition, one can visit www.cimap.res.in.