25-Nov-2022: MoU signed between Ministry of Ayush and Department of Science and Technology

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Ministry of Ayush, Government of India and Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology & Earth Sciences today. The MoU will identify the potential areas of research to explore cooperation, convergence, and synergy for evidence-based scientific intervention in the Ayush sector and further application of these into the public health care system.

The MoU was signed by Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush and Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar, Secretary, DST in presence of senior officials from Ministry of Ayush and scientists of DST.

On this occasion, Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, thanked DST for their commitment to work with Ministry of Ayush in development of new medicines and also and validation of mechanistic aspects of therapeutics.

Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar, Secretary, DST said, “Traditional knowledge and modern science are joining hands especially in health sciences. When we bring scientist and medical practitioners of Ayush together, we are sure that we will come up with solutions, which will be available at affordable prices. I hope, this becomes one of the finest programmes in the country”

Through the MoU Ministry of Ayush and DST have agreed to jointly undertake R&D activities on scientific validation of Ayush concepts, procedures and products, create a platform for the exchange of information and bring about the application of modern science toward understanding the Ayush-related basic concepts and principles.

The Ministry of Ayush would identify thrust areas involving Ayush-related systems that require understanding the basic concepts, procedures, development of newer tools, and so on in modern sciences. Meanwhile, DST, through the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), would coordinate the implementation of thrust areas through well-chartered plans and mutual concerted actions.

Partnership with industry, R&D organizations (public/private), and government agencies/departments would be strongly encouraged. Further, the MoU will also focus on special calls for proposals under Ayush related R&D activities solicited from the individual or group of National scientists who are actively engaged in research and technology development in academic institutions, research organizations, governments agencies, and industries.

21-Jul-2022: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh says, Department of Science and Technology (DST) is implementing Cognitive Science Research Initiative (CSRI)

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is implementing Cognitive Science Research Initiative (CSRI) to foster the research in this highly interdisciplinary area by combining ideas, principles and methods of psychology, computer science, linguistics, philosophy, neuroscience, etc.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today, Dr Jitendra Singh said, in last five years, 115 individual projects, 39 Post-Doctoral Fellowships and 20 Conferences/Seminars/Workshops have been supported under CSRI.

More than 130 research papers have been published in peer reviewed journals in projects supported. Further, a National Neuroimaging Facility has been established at University of Allahabad with CSRI support. The Department has spent around Rs.103 crores to support various activities under CSRI in last five years.

The Department has started multi-centric research projects in different thematic areas to increase the number of research proposals for financial support under the Cognitive Science Research Initiative.

In last five years, around 153 projects have been supported in 18 states/UTs.

The Department of Science and Technology is collaborating with various national institutions working in the domain of cognitive science to improve the research opportunities. Some of the notable institutions are National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore; National Brain Research Centre, Manesar; All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi; Shree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences & Technology, Trivandrum; Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur; Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad; All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysuru; Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata; etc.

29-Jun-2022: Cabinet approves Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Department of Science and Technology, India and Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore on Cooperation in the fields of Science, Technology and Innovation

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was apprised of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Department of Science and Technology of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of the Republic of Singapore on Cooperation in the fields of Science, Technology and Innovation.  The MoU was signed in February 2022.

The MoU will provide a mechanism and help in creating and ecosystem that will promote innovation and entrepreneurship in both countries leading to new technology creation, manpower training, IP generation through collaboration.

The new knowledge and technology development through activities implemented under this cooperation will provide impetus to Atmanirbhar Bharat. The MoU will provide a mechanism and help in creating an ecosystem that will promote innovation and entrepreneurship in both countries leading to new technology creation, manpower training, IP generation through collaboration. The activities envisaged in the MoU will involve product development and technology exchange which may lead to generation of new enterprises and employment.

The objective of this Memorandum is to encourage, develop and facilitate cooperation between India and Singapore in fields of common interest in science, technology and innovation. Priority will be given to collaboration within any area of mutual interest that can advance progress in research, innovation and technological development including:

1. Agriculture and food science and technology;
2. Advanced manufacturing and engineering;
3. Green economy, energy, water, climate and natural resources;
4. Data science, Emerging Technologies;
5. Advanced Materials; and
6. Health and biotechnology.

Other areas of common interest will be included through mutual consent.

25-Jun-2022: DST-IISc energy storage platform moves towards enabling fast-charging solid-state batteries

Researchers have reported on an innovative interfacial engineering approach to enable fast charge-discharge rates in solid-state lithium metal batteries. They have found that nanoscopic refractory metal layers like Tungsten could improve the performance of these batteries which are crucial for purposes like electrical mobility.

Conventional Li-ion batteries employ a graphite anode, a liquid electrolyte, and a transition metal cathode. However, the liquid electrolytes are flammable and degrade at high temperatures leading to poor battery life and in extreme cases lead to battery fires. Replacing the liquid electrolyte in a conventional Li-ion battery with a ceramic solid electrolyte and simultaneously replacing the graphite anode with a metallic lithium anode could enable safer Li-ion batteries that also last long on a single charge.

However, a long-standing challenge with solid state batteries is the growth of lithium dendrites that short circuits the cells and this is accentuated during fast charging.

Based on extensive fundamental electrochemical measurements performed over several hundreds of solid-state half cells and subsequent nano-characterization, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) realized that dendrite growth was a manifestation of a deeper fundamental process: diffusive growth of lithium voids that are forming during discharge. The researchers identified that the growth of lithium voids during discharge leads to dendrite growth during charge.

The team consisting of Vikalp Raj, Victor Venturi, Varun R Kankanallu, Bibhatsu Kuiri, Venkatasubramanian Viswanathan and Naga Phani B Aetukuri found that at the edges of the microscopic voids, Li-ion currents are concentrated. The currents at these edges are around 10000 times larger than average currents in the cell. Hence it is necessary to impede void growth to prevent dendrite growth.

Experimenting with an ultrathin layer of refractory metals between the lithium anode and the solid electrolyte, the researchers noted that tungsten is an ideal candidate to impede lithium vacancy motion due to its low solubility for lithium and therefore delay void growth. They collaborated with researchers from Carnegie Mellon University to corroborate their work through computational methods.

Facilities created under the Materials for Energy Conservation and Storage Platform (DST-MECSP) program, Technology Mission Division (Energy, Water and Others), Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the DST-IISc Energy Storage Platform on Supercapacitors and Power Dense Devices has been pivotal in taking the work forward.  The work is published in Nature Materials.

The researchers acknowledged the support from to Dr. Ranjith Krishna Pai, Scientist ‘E’ (TMD-EWO), DST and (Late) Shri. Dr. Sanjay Bajpai, Former Head (TMD-EWO), DST for conceptualizing this program which brought several essential facilities for energy research under a single roof and Dr. Anita Gupta, Head (TMD-EWO), DST, for extending it.

The team now intends to build on this advance to develop full solid-state cells that could enable charging in less than an hour, offer up to 1000 or more cycles while withstanding high temperatures of 45 ºC or higher outcompeting conventional Li-ion cells  at a cost that is at par or lower than the cost of conventional Li-ion cells.

7-Jun-2022: DST launches Geospatial Self Certification Portal

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Science and Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Earth Science; MoS of Prime Minister's Office and Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today released a book and its e-Version on 8 Years of Administrative and Pension reforms (2014-2022).

In what can be called a massive step towards liberalization of the Geospatial industry in India, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) launched the Self Certification Portal for conveying adherence to provisions of Geospatial Guidelines by Individuals, companies, organizations, and Government agencies.

The Government of India, under the aegis of the Prime Minister has been taking concrete steps to foster ease of doing business and entrepreneurship in the country, with a focus on data and technology-driven development. The release of new Geospatial Data Guidelines on February 15, 2021, by DST, was part of this vision and introduced much-needed changes to liberalize the Geospatial industry.

One of the key developments brought in by the Guidelines was the replacement of process of prior approvals, security clearances, licenses and other restrictions for the collection, generation, preparation, dissemination, storage, publication, updating and/or digitization of Geospatial Data and Maps within the territory of India with a Self-Certification Regime for conveying adherence to provisions of Geospatial Guidelines by Individuals, companies, organizations, and Government agencies. The transformative idea was realized by the Department of Science and Technology with the launch of the Self-Certification portal today.

As per the guidelines, there shall be no requirement for prior approval, security clearance, license or any other restrictions on the collection, generation, preparation, dissemination, storage, publication, updating and/or digitization of Geospatial Data and Maps within the territory of India. Individuals, companies, organizations, and Government agencies, shall be free to process the acquired Geospatial Data, build applications and develop solutions in relation to such data and use such data products, applications, solutions, etc. by way of selling, distributing, sharing, swapping, disseminating, publishing, deprecating and destructing. Self-certification will be used to convey adherence to these guidelines.

Using the Portal will essentially cut down time spent on obtaining clearances and approvals drastically for Geospatial companies, researchers, academia, and innovators for carrying out Geospatial related activities.

The Portal launch is in line with the transformative ideas & announcements in the new Geospatial Data Guidelines released by DST on February 15, 2021. The Portal has been developed in collaboration with NIC.

Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, commended the launch of Self certification portal. He said that the Portal will streamline the process of creation of Geospatial Data, Maps, products, solutions and services with self-certification regime. Earlier, this process would take up around a year’s time in prior approvals and clearances before actually starting the work on the project. This resulted in considerable loss of time, resources, and business and development opportunities. The new Self-Certification Portal facilitates all entities engaged in Geospatial data-related activities to certify themselves easily within a few minutes. Thus there is much more freedom and prospects for the industry.

Dr Srivari Chandrasekhar Secretary DST appreciated the role that the Self Certification Portal and said that it will fast-track the Geospatial related activities. The liberalized Geospatial regime would play a pivotal role to modernize agriculture, manufacturing, construction, utilities, disaster management, urban development and governance. Individual companies, organizations, and Government agencies are free to process the acquired Geospatial data, build applications and develop solutions using such data and data products by selling, distributing, sharing, swapping, disseminating, and publishing without having to wait for clearances and approvals.

9-May-2022: DST needs to invest in all sectors contributing to new & emerging challenges like Climate Change

51 years of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) sets the occasion for introspection of how far the mandate of the Department has been achieved and formulating the way forward, Secretary DST Dr S Chandrasekhar said at the 52nd Foundation Day celebrations today.

“DST was set up to build a scientific platform for funding S&T research in the country. Later, translation of research was also included in the mandate. The Department has been successful in coordinating S&T across the country through support to R&D and translation in S&T. It was successful in contributing S&T for overcoming the pandemic. However, new challenges are emerging, and the Department has to gear itself up to help the country face these challenges,” DST Secretary pointed out.

Drawing the global climate change challenge as an example, Dr Chandrasekhar said that DST needs to invest in sectors that contribute to global warming. “We need to be more sensible, more conscious to challenges and develop the best of technologies that are sustainable. We need to do our homework about how to do our work better and better,” he added.

Dr Chandrasekhar appreciated the efforts of all the divisions and the autonomous institutions, the INSPIRE (Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research) and other programmes that have ‘inspired’ stakeholders ranging from students at different levels, researchers, scholars and faculty, the women’s programmes that have touched many lives, the SERB which has helped attract talents and the TDB which has helped translation of R&D and ideas for benefits of people.

“We are fortunate to work in a sector whose effect is eternal and all-encompassing. The vaccine produced here and the technology developed here can have applications in different parts of the world. Hence we need to think of ways that can help us reach the benefits of S&T in more effective ways,” DST Secretary stressed.

Highlighting that DST has been the mother department, Dr M Ravichandran, Secretary Ministry of Earth Sciences, said that it was necessary for the two departments to work more closely and in areas where they can complement each other. 

Prizes were distributed to employees of the Department who had won the different competitions ranging from cricket to music, quiz and poetry. A cricket bat and wickets developed by NECTAR, an autonomous institution of DST, was presented to the winners of the cricket tournament.

Senior Adviser, Dr Akhilesh Gupta, Shri Vishwajit Sahay, Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser, Shri Sunil Kumar, Jt Secretary, Dr Nisha Mendiratta, Head Climate Change Programme & WISE-KIRAN Division, participated in the programme, which was attended by Directors of Autonomous institutions along with DST officials.

21-Apr-2022: Experts discuss road map for electric vehicle technologies at a brainstorming session

Leading experts discuss the R&D needs of electric vehicles and deliberated on a road map for electric vehicle technologies at a brainstorming session.

“For India to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070, it would need de-carbonization of the economy in a big way in several sectors. Transportation is one of them where transition to electric vehicles and green hydrogen will be of critical important,” said Dr. Akhilesh Gupta, Senior Advisor, Department of Science and Technology (DST). Appreciating the large participation from the diverse stakeholder groups at the session he said that DST has already done considerable work in promoting R&D in EV in the last few years. There is a need to continue such efforts.

The day-long brainstorming session was organized by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) on 20th April 2022 chaired by Dr. Akhilesh Gupta.

A comprehensive technology program is needed that includes the development of appropriate battery systems like a solid-state battery which can withstand the high ambient temperature in tropical regions. Besides, given the large scope of activities required to be conducted, and the need for suitable flexibility in program management, there is a need to organise research programs as special purpose vehicles that can coordinate with several industries and academic institutions,” said Dr. K Balasubramanian, Director NFTDC.

Dr. Tata Narasingha Rao, Director, ARCI analysed the various subsystems involved in the electric vehicle battery as also the assembly and manufacturing processes involved in ensuring the safety of battery systems so that they do not lead to fire safety hazards.  He also explained the immediate action required for ensuring high quality and safe battery pack. 

Presenting a comprehensive road map for technology development in India for the various electric vehicle components starting from basic research to applied research, application, engineering, and industrialization, Prof. Karthick Athmanathan, IIT Madras emphasised that considering the diversity of electric vehicle platforms and models that will be in India there is an opportunity to work at all levels and gain tremendous technology capabilities.

Mr. Sajid Mubashir, Scientist DST elaborated on the major contributions by DST in the various initiatives by the Governments of India in promoting electric mobility in the country and highlighted that the department has helped to develop the full set of Indian Standards required for EV Charging Infrastructure, and recently contributed the draft standards for Battery as a Service (also known as Battery Swapping) for Light EV like scooters and autorickshaws.

Around 200 stakeholders from ministries, R&D labs, academia, and industry, who participated in the session, discussed the need to focus on acquiring capability in the major EV subsystems like the battery, motor, and power electronics and ways to overcome the various challenges to meet the Government target to bring about a big shift towards electric mobility to reach about 30% of vehicle population by the year 2030.

29-Jun-2021: SERB-DST partners with Intel India to launch first-of-its-kind initiative to advance deep tech-based research in India

The Indian research community will soon be able to pursue industry-relevant research opportunities in the areas of deep technologies that are novel, transformative, and can have a ground-breaking impact on a national scale.

The opportunities will be offered by the first-of-its-kind research initiative called ‘Fund for Industrial Research Engagement (FIRE)’ launched by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, in collaboration with Intel India on June 29, 2021.

It will increase research opportunities in the space of Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML), platform systems, circuits & architecture, Internet of Things (IoT), materials & devices, security, and so on from edge to cloud.

“It is our vision to promote research in the upcoming critical areas of science and engineering with Public-Private Partnerships as elaborated in the draft Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2021,” said DST Secretary Prof Ashutosh Sharma, speaking at the launch.

SERB-FIRE is a novel initiative to bring together industry and academia on a common platform to exchange ground-breaking ideas and co-promote innovative research. I believe this collaboration will open many new doors for exploration in scientific research, which could make India a key player in technology-based solutions,” he added.

Prof Sandeep Verma, Secretary, SERB, emphasized that SERB-FIRE promises to bring support for strong ideations, especially in futuristic S&T thematic areas, and aims to bring expertise in academia and industry together with a new model of cooperation.

“SERB-Intel collaboration will be an excellent opportunity for the scientists to join hands with Intel and together create a stimulating atmosphere for research in science and engineering. There is a synergy that could be built upon through this programme which would be governed by industry-specific problems,’’ Prof Verma said.

The FIRE program is a joint government and industry initiative with a co-funding mechanism to promote innovative technology solutions and strengthen academic research through collaboration with key research and development (R&D) organizations in India. Having been conceived in collaboration with Intel India, it is also being extended to other industry members, which would increase its impact and reach.

Jitendra Chaddah, Country Manager, Global Supply Chain, Intel India, pointed out that FIRE is a one-of-its-kind collaborative initiative that aims to transform the culture of research in India and strengthen the technology ecosystem. This is a critical program that will lead to impactful research outcomes in key technology areas like AI, ML, cloud, edge, and security at the national and global scale.”

The program intends to select highly impactful research projects in every cycle (typically once or twice a year), which have breakthrough potential at a national or global level. It will support the best researchers in academia with funding, mentoring, and industry connect.

As the next step, the FIRE program will share a Request for Proposal (RFP) and invite the Indian research community to submit research proposals.

4-Jun-2021: DST supported climate change research being strengthened to prepare country for future

Researchers from corners of India are tracing the impact of climate change on the country, finding new ways to track the global problem, improving the projection of climate, its impact as well as vulnerability to prepare for the future.

Dehradun-based researchers have found that small-sized glaciers in Sikkim are melting at a higher magnitude as compared to other Himalayan regions in a study published in ‘Science’ conducted by the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology. Researchers from the same institute have also found that black carbon from agricultural burning & forest fire has alerted over the years may influence melting of Gangotri Glacier. A team of Scientists from IIT Kanpur has found that aerosols like black carbon and dust, which makes the Indo-Gangetic Plain one of the most polluted regions of the world, have led to increased incidents of high rainfall events in the foothills of the Himalayan Region. In another work supported by DST, IISc researchers showed that a planetary wave from the North Atlantic is capable of derailing the Indian monsoon on which the Indian economy is heavily dependent.

Climate Centres of excellence strengthen models

Centres of excellence in Climate Change in four Indian Institute of Technologies – Delhi, Bombay, Kharagpur and Madras, are working on improving climate projection models to make them more comprehensive and accurate.

The Centres of Excellence (CoEs) Centre for Climate Change, IIT Delhi, has contributed to significant improvements to the base model, moving towards development of the India Centric Climate Model (ICCM).

Connection between monsoon and irrigation practices has been established by DST Centre for Excellence in Climate Studies, IIT Bombay. They have underlined the need for representation of irrigation practices, farmer’s behavior, and vegetation- land and atmosphere interactions to improve model predictions and also develop agricultural vulnerability maps at the National level.

DST Centre for Excellence in Climate Change Impact on Coastal Infrastructure and the Adaptation strategies, IIT Madras is developing suitable climate change adaptation measures for coastal infrastructure and utilization of water resources. A technique is known as “pseudo global warming method” has been adapted and successfully used for prognostic understanding of how cyclones originating in the Bay of Bengal would behave in the near future (2025) and in far future (2075) under different RCP scenarios (a greenhouse gas concentration trajectory adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). It is predicted that cyclone damage potential will increase significantly in future. This strategic knowledge is essential for all the studies related to adaptation of coastal infrastructure, water resources management in coastal areas and preparedness of coastal communities to extreme events in the future.

Historical climate data for the Indian Ocean region has been used by Center of Excellence (CoE)- IIT Kharagpur to understand the temporal variability of wave height (SWH) over the Bay of Bengal (BoB) region for the period 1997-2015, which have been reputed international and national journals.

The temperature thresholds for survival of vectors of major Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) have been studied by the DST-ICMR Centre of Excellence for Climate Change and Vector-borne Diseases, National Institute of Malaria Research to set up a system for early warning of outbreaks for malaria and dengue. The impact of temperature on development and survival of vector of dengue (Aedes aegypti), Malaria (An. stephensi, An. culicifacies) on immature stages like eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults was studied. The most preferred breeding habitats of Japanese Encephalitis vectors were also identified in Gorakhpur.

High-risk areas have been identified by the DST-ICRISAT Center of Excellence on Climate Change Research for Plant Protection (CoE-CCRPP) for mapping the spatial and temporal distribution of diseases and insect-pests under changing climate scenarios and study host–insect-pest/pathogens interactions in relation to simulated climate variables. This will help develop adaptation strategies to minimize crop losses and weather-based plant protection advisory tools for the timely management of diseases and insect pests.

State Climate Change Cells/Centres in the 12 Himalayan States are undertaking vulnerability assessment, training programmes, public awareness, and institutional capacity building in the area of Climate Change science, impacts, and adaptation. It led to the first-ever Pan-Himalayan vulnerability profile map covering the 12 IHR States developed under the common framework, which has been widely accepted by different stakeholders for climate adaptation planning in the IHR. It has also been extended to the rest of the Indian states using the Common Framework for rest of the Indian states, which identified eight eastern states to be the most vulnerable to climate change.

Scientists from the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) have found that Information frozen in magnetic minerals can forecast climatic changes faster & more accurately

As part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), Department of Science & Technology has been entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating and implementing two national missions on climate change. These missions, the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) and National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change (NMSKCC), are being implemented through a cluster of programmes that are supporting climate change research as well as to strengthen capacity in the area and nurture future researchers in different parts of India.

Building the next generation of climate experts

In order to build capacity in the area, over 1000 scientists, experts, and 200 institutions in the country trained research students to carry on the legacy of the work. International collaborations have helped enhance this capacity and helped in the exchange of expertise in the subject.

The Government of India and the Government of Switzerland established an Indo-Swiss Joint Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), through its Indian Himalayan Climate Adaptation Programme (IHCAP) programme, has been working as a knowledge partner of DST in providing technical support for undertaking vulnerability and risk assessment, stakeholder training and public awareness programme to the 12 State CC Cells established under NMSHE. As part of this cooperation, a detailed district-wise vulnerability assessment has been carried out for all the 12 Himalayan States.

An Indo-US Fulbright- Kalam fellowship scheme was initiated during 2015-16. During 2016-17 to 2018-19, three batches of six fellows (3 each in Doctoral and postdoctoral students) were awarded the fellowships through Indo-US Fulbright-Kalam Fellowships in Climate Change for research in the subject in US universities.

The research studies and capacity building supported by the Department of Science and Technology has helped strengthen various aspects of climate change expertise in the country.

18-May-2021: DST institute develops new multiplex RT-PCR kit with novel gene targets to facilitate detection across various mutant strains of COVID 19

A newly developed multiplex RT-PCR kit has a higher accuracy of detecting covid19 across the various mutant strains of the virus responsible for the global pandemic.

As the pandemic is going through a second wave with multiple variants, the selection of target genes in multiplex RT-PCR assay is becoming critical for accurate detection of the virus.

Even though coronaviruses make far fewer errors than other RNA viruses, the mutations in S, R, and N genes often interfere with RT-PCR assay.  For example, the “variant of concern” B1.1.7 (also known as the UK variant) has a 69-70del, due to deletion of 6 bases in the RNA, which resulted in S gene drop out from RT-PCR assay.

The new multiplex RT-PCR kit developed Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), an Institute of National Importance under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India targets two SARS CoV2 genes: RdRp and ORFb-nsp14, and the human RNAse P gene as the internal control to help detect a range of mutant strains.

Various studies have shown that RdRp and ORF1b-nsp14 genes are more sensitive in detecting Covid19. In order to target the multiple variants in the second wave, using two highly accurate confirmatory genes like RdRp and ORF-nsp14, can give precise results. The ORFb-nsp14 is one of the least mutated genes in Covid19 and currently, there are no kits in the market with ORF-nsp14 as the target.

The new kit is based on multiplex Taqman chemistry, amplifying all three genes in a single reaction. The amplification time for the assay is 45 minutes, apart from the time required for the RNA isolation from nasopharyngeal swab samples. Multiplexing two confirmatory genes will help shortlist possible new variants if one of the genes fails to amplify and can be marked for sequence analysis.

ICMR has validated this kit at the National Institute of Virology, Pune, and found that it has 97.3% sensitivity and 100% specificity in covid19 detection.

SCTIMST has signed a non-exclusive license MoU with Huwel Lifesciences, Hyderabad, on 14th May 2021 to commercialize the kit.

“This unique RT-PCR kit will be a significant weapon in our fight against COVID-19 by a facile detection of SARS-CoV-2 mutations which are becoming increasingly important,” said Secretary, DST, Prof Ashutosh Sharma.

17-May-2021: DST supported ventilation system to bring relief to health workers sweating in PPE suits for long hours

Health workers may soon be relieved of sweating out long hours in heavy suffocating PPE kits to meet their busy duty schedules. A compact, economical ventilation system for PPE kits developed by a Pune based startup can prevent excessive sweating while wearing such kits.

The ventilation system when attached with the conventional PPE kits with one simple modification, keeps the health workers' well ventilated preventing not only bodily discomforts but also possible fungal diseases in the body.

Nihal Singh Adarsh, an engineering Student from Mumbai along with his startup called Watt Technovations, developed the technology called ‘Cov-Tech Ventilation System’, at RIIDL (Research Innovation Incubation Design Laboratory) supported by the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, in Somaiya Vidyavihar University.

The student of K J Somaiya College of Engineering and the founder of Watt Technovations, received the NIDHI’s PRomoting and Accelerating Young and ASpiring technology entrepreneurs (PRAYAS) grant of Rs 10,00,000 from Department of Science and Technology, Government of India for prototype development and product innovation. The startup also received Rs 5,00,000 as support from new venture investment programme jointly conducted by RIIDL & K J Somaiya Institute of Management.

The ‘Cov-Tech Ventilation System’ can be fastened over the waist just like a simple belt over which the traditional PPE is worn and can provide comfort to the doctors and medical practitioners working in the hospitals to treat Covid infected patients. The design of the ventilation system ensures a complete air seal from the PPE kit. It provides a breeze of fresh air to the user in a gap of just 100 seconds.

The product developed at a state-of-the-art prototyping facility at Dassault Systemes in Pune was finalised as per the medical experts' advice.

“A team of mentors and experts from RIIDL supported the startup and helped them at every stage providing a conducive environment to help the innovator give the best output,” said Gaurang Shetty, chief innovation catalyst at RIIDL.

The result was a compact, portable, and user-friendly device to provide a ventilation system for PPE suits. The Covtech Ventilation system is being used in Sai Sneh hospital, Pune and Lotus Multi- Specialty hospital, Pune and the company plans to scale up the uses by May/June.

27-Oct-2020: Union Education Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' virtually inaugurated the DST-IIEST Solar PV Hub at IIEST, Shibpur

Union Education Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' virtually inaugurated the DST-IIEST Solar PV Hub at IIEST, Shibpur today. Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, Prof. Dr. Parthasarathi Chakrabarti, Director, IIEST, Shibpur; Dr. Vasudev K Aatre, Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIEST, Shibpur; Shri Gyanesh Chaudhary, Managing Director and Vikram Solar Limited, Vikram Group, India attended the event.

Speaking on the occasion the Minister said that DST-IIEST Solar PV Hub, one of its kind in India, has been established at IIEST, Shibpur through a generous Research and Development grant from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt of India, under the aegis of Centre of Excellence for Green Energy and Sensor System at IIEST, Shibpur. He informed that in 2018, to encourage and support the cutting edge research by IIEST, Shibpur in the field of Solar Energy and Solar Cells, the DST has endowed the Institute with new Grants to create a central Hub with the name of “DST-IIEST Solar PV Hub”, which will have the world class research facilities and will act as the central node for research and developments, and dissemination of knowledge in the field of solar energy, solar photovoltaics, including fabrication, characterization and testing of solar cells, solar PV Modules and also Solar PV systems, for the entire Eastern and North-Eastern region of India.

This Hub will help in aligning the national as well as local industries, research institutes, and start-ups with the ”Make in India Mission” towards a smooth transition from fossil fuel energy to solar energy scenario, he added.

The Minister highlighted that a number of industries and research organizations in Eastern and North-Eastern regions of India which are engaged in solar energy activities are likely to be greatly benefitted from this Research Unit. Direct interactions with this DST-IIEST Solar Hub will enable the transfer of indigenous knowhow and training for the fabrication, characterization and testing of solar cells and solar PV modules and systems as no such facility is available elsewhere in this region, he added.

He said that the students and research fellows of higher education institutes of West Bengal and the entire Eastern and North eastern Region will get hands on experience in this Solar Hub .Well designed training programs offered by the Hub will also be an impetus to the Skill India Mission of the Government of India, he added. These training modules will be arranged to generate and strengthen the knowledge in the field of solar energy and solar photovoltaics so that in future they can contribute to indigenous development and usage of solar energy in India, he said.

10-Sep-2020: DST’s journey of catalyzing innovation, entrepreneurship and incubation report launched

A report on the journey of the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) in catalyzing innovation, entrepreneurship, and incubation was launched by the Secretary Department of Science and Technology, Professor Ashutosh Sharma at an online programme earlier this week.

“The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has played a significant role in fostering and nurturing the fledgling startup ecosystem by steering it through its strong network of Incubators through the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB). The last five years have been significant in bringing this to fruition, as is evident from the report,” Professor Sharma, Secretary DST, said while launching the report.

The concerted efforts of NSTEDB, DST during last 5 years for supporting innovation-driven entrepreneurship and fuelling incubation activity in institutions of higher learning has gained momentum and traction with speed and scale,” said Dr. Anita Gupta, Head NSTEDB.

Programs like National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovation (NIDHI-) initiated by NSTEDB, aligning its activities with the National Initiative of Startup India and Standup India has played a significant role in energizing the incubator led innovation value chain. It played a crucial role in strengthening the academic-led innovation and startup ecosystem in the country in last 5 years. This activation process included a range of measures like establishments of a network of technology business incubators, scouting innovations, supporting ideas to prototypes, enabling transition from being innovators to startups, provision of timely seed funding to the incubated startups, and support to scale up the startups through focused mentorship, partnerships, and networks.

These efforts have been distributed across all geographical regions of the nation. Besides, the nurturing of 3,681 startups under incubation through the network of 153 Incubators created by DST, generation of 1992 intellectual property has been reported. Further, in last five years, the cumulative direct employment generation of 61,138 and Rs 27,262 crores of economic wealth creation are the key highlights of the Impact Report. The holistic efforts of DST have also ignited the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship and added to the multiplier effect across the nation. It has also made good efforts to bring global recognition to a select group of awarded startups nurtured and supported through this ecosystem.

The report also indicates a fivefold increase in investments raised by the seed supported startups as a follow on funding from angels, venture capitals, and other stakeholders with significant valuation gains. Overall, NSTEDB approach has leveraged the technological strength of the higher learning institutes to the benefit of the startups through a network of academic incubators seeded and supported by it. It has led to an effective incubation support system that led to success of these fledgling startups.

The collective strength and power of NIDHI program, the DST Incubator network and its startups was tested successfully during the COVID 19 pandemic through the Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH) program by supporting various solutions to resolve the crisis.

The report was launched in the presence of the DST supported incubator community and the NSTEDB Team.

19-Aug-2020: 49 innovations in 5 focus areas receive Millennium Alliance Round 6 & COVID19 Innovation Challenge-Awards

The Millennium Alliance Round 6 & COVID19 Innovation Challenge-Award Ceremony, which recognized 49 innovative solutions in 5 focus sectors of India, highlighted the necessity of building a highly distributed innovation ecosystem.

Announcing that DST will be soon launching a new program to have highly distributed innovation ecosystem, DST Secretary, Professor Ashutosh Sharma said that to have a startup doing innovation it is important to have networking, support, seed money, prototyping facility and all of these facilities could be provided outside the physical space of incubators.

“DST currently supports 150 technology business incubators with over 4000 technology startups within these incubators across the country, bringing in lots of bright ideas and plans to scale up these numbers. Millennium Alliance, along with the other partners-- organisations like USAID, FICCI, DFID have been strong partners in that journey,” Prof Sharma pointed out.

“The Millennium Alliance shows the significance of the partnership of USAID and Indian Government and how it has broadened to bring other partners as well, each of whom brings something to the table” US Chargé D'Affaires Edgard D. Kagan pointed out. Talking about the Millennium Alliance Round 6 & COVID19 Innovation Challenge-Award, he said that this particular effort is not just about supporting innovations, but also about redoubling support to one of the most critical building blocks of US India relationship of entrepreneurship and  exchanges.”

“The Millennium alliance illustrates the way in which all the partners have transferred together expertise in Education, Health, Clean Energy, Water & Sanitation, Agriculture sectors and local innovations to countries in Africa and South Asia. It illustrates how things designed in India through this partnership have a global impact,” Sir Philip Barton, British High Commissioner to India.

In the virtually organised award ceremony organized on August 18, 2020, a total of 49 innovative solutions were awarded with a sum totaling Rs 26 crores for their innovations in 5 focus sectors in India namely Education, Health, Clean Energy, Water & Sanitation, Agriculture and sectors having global focus with pilot projects being run in South Asian and African countries like Nepal, Rwanda, Uganda, Bangladesh, Kenya. Also, 16 innovators were awarded in the category COVID 19 Innovation Challenge. These awarded innovations were selected after a rigorous evaluation process undertaken by FICCI with the help of the program partners and subject matter experts.

The award ceremony was organized in the presence of dignitaries and representatives from its partner organisations -- Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), UK’s Department for International Development, Facebook and Marico Innovation Foundation.

Speaking at the ceremony Shri Ajai Chowdhry, Chair, FICCI Start-up Committee, and Founder, HCL said, “Millennium Alliance responded to the urgent need of COVID19 innovations by launching a focused call to provide funding to support Indian startups whose technologies could be quickly deployed to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. More than 400 innovators applied for the call within a span of three weeks”.

The Millennium Alliance is an innovation-driven and impact-focused initiative leveraging collaborative resources to identify test and scale Indian innovations that address global development solutions. It is a consortium of partners (Public-Private Partnership) including the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), Facebook and Marico Innovation Foundation. The program is currently running in its sixth year and has played a catalytic role in providing funding, capacity building, and business development support to Indian social enterprises.

6-May-2020: DST INSPIRE Faculty develops nanomaterials having energy storage application & optical sensors for water pollution control

A recipient of the INSPIRE Faculty Award instituted by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Govt. of India. Dr. Ashish Kumar Mishra, Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, has made significant achievements in developing nanomaterials based supercapacitors to achieve high energy density and power density of supercapacitors, along with his group.

Increasing energy demand due to the growth of human population and technological advancement poses a great challenge for human society. High energy density of supercapacitors suggests that constant current can be withdrawn for longer duration without recharging. Hence automobiles can run longer distances without charging. Supercapacitors can be an alternative for such purposes.

Dr. Mishra and his research group at IIT (BHU) have developed a reduced graphene oxide (rGO) at a moderate temperature of 100°C with high capacitance performance. The production process is a cost-effective one, making it suitable for commercial purposes. This work has been published in Materials Research Express.

The group which works on carbon (Carbon Nanotubes, Graphene) and metal dichalcogenides (MoS2, MoSe2, etc.) nanomaterials based supercapacitors to achieve high energy density and power density of supercapacitors, have also developed a novel green approach for synthesis of Iron-based nano-catalyst, which can be used for large scale production of Carbon Nanotubes.

In addition to energy storage, Dr. Mishra’s group is also working on optoelectronic applications of nanomaterials. In this context, they are working on developing novel nanostructures of carbon and metal dichalcogenides semiconductors for photodetection and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Through this work, they have demonstrated excellent photodetection behaviour of different architectures of nanoscale MoS2 for the detection of visible light. The high photoresponsivity obtained in this work can be useful to develop ultrafast detectors for signalling purpose. The work has been published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.

The SERS can help detect harmful molecules present in water at ultra-low concentrations. His group has successfully demonstrated detection of Rhodamine 6G (R6G), an organic laser dye up to lowest limit of sub-nano-molar concentration using rGO and MoS2 nanomaterials. This work has been published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C. They have also examined the nonlinear optical response of the material developed, which suggests that some of these materials can be used to develop protectors for high power light sources like lasers.

Their focus on energy and optoelectronics devices paves the way for the development of cost-effective and efficient devices, which can be used for energy storage application. Their findings make way for materials which can be used as advanced photodetectors and also be used as optical sensors for water pollution control.

23-Apr-2020: Antiviral nano-coatings to be upscaled for making triple layer medical masks & N-95 respirator to combat COVID 19

As part of Nano Mission programme, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has approved support for upscaling an antiviral nano-coatings developed by Professor Ashwini Kumar Agrawal of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi for use as appropriate material for producing anti-COVID-19 Triple Layer Medical masks and N-95 respirator in large quantities.

Silver is known to have strong antimicrobial activity against bacteria, viruses, fungus, and so on. Professor Agrawal developed N9 blue Nano-silver at SMITA Research Lab, IIT Delhi, under the nano mission project, and will be carrying out the upscaling work in association with two industrial partners Resil Chemicals Pvt Ltd. Bangalore and Nanoclean Global Pvt Ltd., New Delhi.

Resil chemicals will provide N9 blue nanosilver. Nanoclean Global will provide face masks and PPE materials for the application of nanocoating and will help in the design and fabrication of samples at their facilities.

"DST has initiated and nurtured nanoscience activities in the country in the last two decades producing quality human resources, infrastructure and knowledge in this globally competitive area. Today India stands 3rd globally in the number of scientific publications in nanosciences. The use of  highly effective antimicrobial nanoparticles on PPEs, masks etc. is a useful application that will provide an extra layer of protection for the high risk settings, such as for the medical workers", said Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST.

Prof Agrawal, along with his team, proposes to evaluate antiviral properties of this compound against COVID-19 in association with AIIMS, New Delhi, and ILBS, New Delhi. The N9 blue nanosilver, which is a highly potent antimicrobial agent, will be further modified to form nanocomplexes with Zinc compounds to achieve a synergistic effect. Subsequently, these nanomaterials will be applied as coatings on facemasks and other PPEs to improve their ability to protect the wearer from accidental contamination from COVID-19 virus droplets. The researchers will evaluate the shelf life of the coatings and their efficacy with different storage conditions such as temperature, humidity, and time and prepare facemasks and PPEs and provide these for field trials.

21-Apr-2020: TIFAC explores best methods to revive Indian economy post COVID-19

The Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), an autonomous technology think tank under the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, by virtue of its mandate of thinking for future, is preparing a white paper to strategize revival of post-COVID 19 Indian economy.

This document would mainly focus on strengthening Make in India initiatives, commercialization of Indigenous technology, developing a technology-driven transparent Public Distribution System (PDS), efficient rural health care delivery, reduction of import, adoption of emerging technology domains like AI, Machine Learning, Data Analytics and many more. It will be soon submitted to the decision-making authorities of the Government.

The entire globe has come under one umbrella to fight against COVID-19.  The pandemic outbreak is affecting the human life of both developed and emerging economies, with the impact spread over almost all sectors ranging from manufacturing to trade, transport, tourism, education, healthcare, and so on. The extent of the economic impact will depend on how the pandemic outbreak unfolds and also the containment strategy of any Nation.

"Navigating the way ahead with the COVID-19 virus requires precise insights into the actions that minimize adverse impact on human health while maximizing the socio-economic wellbeing. Thus, an analysis of desirable technology-related interventions and their impacts in different sectors is one important piece of information for decision making", said Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST.

TIFAC’s team of scientists from a range of disciplines is exploring the best methods to revive the Indian economy and reduce the impact on it post COVD 19. They are also designing future strategies to face similar situations.

India, so far, has taken a set of well thought out steps to control this pandemic, lockdown at the initial stage being a significant one. All Government departments, research institutions, civil society bodies, and, more importantly, citizens of India have joined hands to offset the impact of COVID 19 to the maximum extent possible. This recent effort by TIFAC will help in showing a way ahead to strengthen the Indian economy post-COVID-19.

6-Apr-2020: DST supported healthcare startup developing rapid test for detection of COVID-19

The Department of Science & Technology has funded ‘Module Innovations”, a Pune based healthcare startup working on point of care diagnostics to build up on its platform technology for rapid diagnosis of diseases to develop a product for detecting COVID 19 with a 10 to 15 minute test.

Using the proven concept from its flagship product USense, Module is now developing nCoVSENSEs (TM) which is a rapid test device for detection of antibodies that have been generated against the COVID 19 in the human body.

With the current stage that India is in, doing a mass screening is of extreme importance. With the rapid test device it will be possible to confirm infection in patients and also determine whether an infected patent has recovered and also identify the stage of infection in the patients.

The current confirmatory method of Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) though a gold standard is costly, takes longer time and needs trained manpower. This new rapid test will help manage the problem in a more efficient way at a lesser cost.

"While not being a substitute for the PCR based confirmatory technique, the tests based on the detection of antibodies are being deployed globally for the purposes of rapid mass screenings that take some of the burden off from limited number of PCR machines, and help in the formulation of strategies and decision making, among other things", said Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology.

The nCoVSENSe test is aimed at detecting the IgG and IgM antibodies generated in the human body upon the onset of viral infection and is targeted against the Spike proteins making it specific for COVID 19.

The startup is planning to deploy the test in a time of 2-3 months after due validation with national agencies. This in future will also help determine people who have recovered and assign them front line jobs. The test could also be used to screen patients and passengers at airports, railway stations, hospitals and many such settings thus safeguarding us for any future outbreak as well.

While the feasibility of the technology has been proved, the Proof of concept (PoC) and Prototype illustrating functionality of product are to be demonstrated.

6-Apr-2020: DST invites short-term proposals for developing antiviral Nano-coating and Nano based material for scale up by industry and startups to combat COVID-19

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) using the Science and Engineering Board (SERB) portal invites ideas in the form of short-term proposals for developing antiviral Nano-coating and new nano based material for use in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which can be transferred to a partnering industry or start-up for scale up. Such Nano coatings could contribute immensely in the emerging health care requirements in India’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. This call is for bringing the Academic groups and relevant Industrial Groups together for submitting proposals to DST’s Nano Mission. It encourages multidisciplinary efforts and collaboration with industrial partners for scaling up production within a year.

The invitation calls for development of Antiviral Nano-coatings for producing anti-COVID-19 Triple Layer Medical masks and N-95 respirator or better masks in large quantities and PPEs for safeguarding health care workers against COVID-19.

The industry contribution could include either manpower support, or support partly for testing of nano-coating to meet the EU or US standards.

The proposals will be screened for suitability and scope followed by a peer-review on a first come first evaluation basis. The items developed and transferred to industry will need to meet the International standards and may facilitate development of appropriate Indian Standards too for ensuring quality of the nano-coating based product. The last date for submission of proposals is April 30, 2020.

The details of the call for proposal is available at www.serbonline.in .

4-Apr-2020: DST funded startup develops chemical free silver based disinfectant to fight COVID 19 pandemic

Weinnovate BioSolutions, a Pune based startup supported jointly by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT), has come up with a non-alcoholic aqueous-based Colloidal Silver solution uniquely made from its NanoAgCide technology for disinfecting hands and environmental surfaces.

This liquid is noninflammable and free of hazardous chemicals and can be an effective sanitizer to prevent the spread of the infection through contact – the prime method of transmission of the pandemic, thereby protecting health professionals and other infected people.

The colloidal silver solution of Weinnovate Biosolutions, which is based on the ability of the silver nanoparticles to prevent the synthesis of viral negative-strand RNA and viral budding, is free from hazardous chemicals and has no risk of inflammability compared to alcohol-based disinfectants.

The solution has undergone lab testing, and the manufacturers have received the test license. Preliminary work on synthesizing colloidal silver in a small scale and scale-up batch upto 5 liters has been conducted with reproducibility.

“We are aiming to manufacture primarily a minimum of 200 liters of colloidal silver solution per day with our manufacturing set up to cater to the demand of hand sanitization and disinfection. With our solution, we are positive to reduce the number in infection spread and helping India to be infection-free,” said Dr. Milind Choudhari, one of the founders of Weinnovate Biosolutions.

"Nanoparticles are  rapidly emerging as effective solutions to a variety of issues related to COVID-19, from theranostics (therapy plus diagnostics) to disinfection to imaging. The relevance of nanoparticles is owing to their size (less than 100 nm), which is comparable to  that of COVID-19 virus, and a plethora of functionalities such as targeting and drug delivery that can be tailored", said Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology

Silver nanoparticles have been found to be an effective antiviral which act against many deadly viruses like HIV, Hepatitis B, Herpes simplex virus, Influenza virus, and so on. Recent reports have suggested the role of Glutathione capped-Ag2S NCs (Silver nanoclusters) in inhibiting the proliferation of Coronavirus by preventing the synthesis of viral negative-strand RNA and viral budding. Research by scientists like Shingo Nakamura of National Defense Medical College Research Institute, Saitama, Japan, suggests Ag NP-based materials will be able to prevent the contact infection of health care workers (HCWs), besides preventing patient infection. Thus colloidal silver on which the technology of the sanitizers of Weinnovate Biosolutions is based can help arrest Covid -19 spread by blocking the RNA replication and infectivity by blocking the surface glycoproteins. An Indian patent has been filed for the process of making of colloidal silver, and a test license for making hand sanitizers and disinfectants has been granted.

4-Apr-2020: NIF invite innovative citizens to participate in Challenge COVID-19 Competition (C3)

At a time when the country is facing a great crisis due to the Corona pandemic, National Innovation Foundation – India (NIF), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India has come up with a call inviting innovative citizens to participate in its Challenge Covid-19 Competition (C3).

All interested innovators are welcome to participate with their creative ideas and innovations for problems or issues like reducing transmission of Corona virus through original creative ideas, innovations, which can supplement the efforts of the government in slowing or eliminating the spread further, innovative ideas which can make activities like sanitising one’s hands, body, home items, and home, public places wherever required more interesting and effective, supply and distribution of essential items to people specially the elderly living alone like ideas for the door-to-door supply of essential products and services which obliterate the need to move out of the home.

Ideas are also invited for gainful engagement of people at home, healthy food for nutrition and boosting immunity specially at the time of lockdown when raw materials are limited, (Personal Protective Equipment) PPE’s and rapid diagnostic testing facilities for capacity building of healthcare, rethinking contactless devices for the post-Corona implementation, varying needs of the different segment of the population during COVID-19 like differently-abled, people with special needs and mentally challenged population.

Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology said, "NIF is a rather unique institution with a strong focus and experience in scouting and facilitating inclusive and grass-roots innovations driven by citizens. The initiative being launched will not only create awareness, but will intimately engage a wide cross-section of society with diverse backgrounds in providing and implementing solutions."

The selected technological ideas and innovations will be supported for incubation and dissemination. The details of ideas and innovations may be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  & http://nif.org.in/challenge-covid-19-competition with complete details about the person (Name, Age, Education, Occupation, Address, Contact Number, Email) and details about the idea/ innovation (including photo and video, if any). The C3 announced on March 31, 2020, will accept entries on a rolling basis until further notification.

25-Mar-2020: Glaciers in Sikkim are losing mass faster than other parts of the Himalaya

Scientists from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun an autonomous research institute for the study of Geology of the Himalaya under the Department of Science and Technology, have found that glaciers in Sikkim are melting at a higher magnitude as compared to other Himalayan regions.

The study published in Science of the Total Environment assessed the response of 23 glaciers of Sikkim to climate change for the period of 1991-2015 and revealed that glaciers in Sikkim have retreated and deglaciated significantly from 1991 to 2015. Small-sized glaciers in Sikkim are retreating while larger glaciers are thinning due to climate change.

Compared to other Himalayan regions, the magnitude of dimensional changes and debris growth are higher in the Sikkim.  A major shift in glacier behavior has occurred around 2000. Contrary to the western and central Himalaya, where glaciers are reported to have slowed down in recent decades, the Sikkim glaciers have shown negligible deceleration after 2000. Summer temperature rise has been prime driver of glacier changes.

To understand the various parameters of Sikkim Himalayas glaciers such as length, area, debris cover, snow-line altitude (SLA), and how they respond to global warming Scientists from WIHG selected 23 representative glaciers from this region. A detailed and rigorous literature survey related to the study was carried out to assess the existing knowledge in the subject. Thereafter, representative glaciers well spread over the study area were selected based on multiple criteria such as size, length, debris cover, slope, aspect, and so on. Then, the multi-temporal and multi-sensor satellite data covering selected glaciers was procured. The team analyzed the results and compared with existing studies, and the impact of various influencing factors was systematically explored to understand the glaciers state.     

The behavior of glaciers in the region is heterogeneous and found to be primarily determined by glacier size, debris cover, and glacial lakes. Though a generalized mass loss is observed for both small (less than 3 km square) and large-sized glaciers (greater than 10 km square), they seem to adopt different mechanisms to cope with the ongoing climatic changes. While the first adjust mostly by deglaciation, the latter lose mass through down wasting or thinning.

The Sikkim glaciers have been poorly studied till now, and field-based mass balance measurements have been limited to only one glacier (Changme Khangpu) and for a short period (1980-1987). The studies are regional in nature and do no give emphasis on individual glacier behavior. Besides, most of the existing measurements in this region have been focused on length/area changes only. Velocity estimations have also been extremely rare.

This study, for the first time, studied multiple glacier parameters, namely length, area, debris cover, snowline altitude (SLA), glacial lakes, velocity, and down wasting, and explored interlinkage among them to present a clear picture about status and behavior of glaciers in the Sikkim.

Accurate knowledge of magnitude as well as the direction of glacier changes, as highlighted in the present study, can lead to awareness among common people regarding water supplies and possible glacier hazards, particularly to those communities that are living in close proximity. The study can provide ample baseline data on glacier changes and systematically explore the causal relationship between glacier parameters and various influencing factors. A clear understanding of glacier state will help orienting future studies as well as taking necessary measures. 

22-Jun-2017: Department of Science and Technology launches VAJRA (Visiting Advanced Joint Research) Faculty scheme.

 The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a Statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has launched a ‘Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty Scheme’ to connect the Indian academic and research and development (R&D) systems to the best of global science and scientists for a sustained international collaborative research.

The scheme offers adjunct / visiting faculty assignments to overseas scientists, faculty members and R&D professionals including Non-resident Indians (NRI) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to undertake high quality collaborative research in cutting edge areas of science and technology including interdisciplinary areas of priority such as energy, water, health, security, nutrition, materials and manufacturing, etc. with one or more Indian collaborators of public funded academic and research institutions of India.

The VAJRA Faculty should be an active researcher working in an overseas leading academic / research / industrial organization with significant accomplishments in R&D. The initial Faculty assignment is given for a period of one year extendable to subsequent years based on the collaborative outcome and interest. The residency period of VAJRA Faculty in the host institution would be for a minimum of 1 month and a maximum of 3 months every year. VAJRA Faculty is provided US Dollars 15000 in the first month of residence and US Dollars 10000 in each of the subsequent month. Presently, call for applications is made open for prospective researchers.

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

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

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