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CIMFR-Designed First Highwall Mining in India Starts OperationAsia’s First Highwall Mining Systemhas started operation at OpencastProject-2 (OCP-2), RamagundamArea-III (RG-III) of Singareni CollieriesCompany Ltd. (SCCL) from10 December 2010. CIMFR hasprovided the extraction design while itis being operated by Advanced MiningTechnology, Hyderabad using themachine manufactured by ADDCARHighwall Mining System, USA. Themachine started extraction of the locked-up coal seams beneath the open pithighwall under CIMFR guidance andmonitoring.

Highwall mining is a new technologywhich can extend the life of opencastmines without disturbing the surfacedwellings, maintaining economy andproductivity. It is a remotely operatedcoal mining technology closely relatedto underground mining machinery. Themethod comprises extracting coal froma series of parallel entries driven in thecoal seam from the face of the highwall.These entries are unmanned,unsupported and unventilated.

CIMFR has played a vital role inadapting this new technology for Indiangeomining conditions by providingscientific extraction design for the firstthree Highwall Mining sites atRamagundam Opencast Project-2, RG-III Area, Medapalli Opencast Project,RG-I Area of M/s Singareni CollieriesCompany Ltd. (SCCL) and Quarry(SEB and AB), West Bokaro of M/s TataSteel Ltd (TSL).

Indian geomining conditions arefound to be widely different from thoseexisting in other parts of the world, with

Inauguration of HighwallMining System atOpencast Project-2,RG-III Area, SCCL

A view ofADDCAR-makeHighwall Mining Systemin operation at OpencastProject-2, RG-III Area,SCCL

Production of coal fromHighwall Mining atOCP-2, RG-III Area ofSCCL

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the existence of multiple seams andfrequently varying geology. CIMFR hadconducted a series of numericalmodelling studies coupled with empiricalapproach and decades of experience incoal mine geomechanics to come up withoptimum highwall mining extractiondesigns. The designs also considered theaspects of safety during HighwallMining operations, maximum coalrecovery and protection of surface andsub-surface properties.

Coal recovery of even up to 60%has been designed by CIMFR at theabove mining sites. In the process, novelapproaches for pillar design (web andbarrier pillars) have also beenformulated specifically for long andslender web pillars formed duringHighwall Mining operations. In thistechnology, with a total investment of Rs.125 crore, coal extraction to the tune of3000-5000 tonne per day is possible with20 to 30 skilled manpower and the capitalinvestment can be recoverable within 6months of full-fledged operation.

At OCP-2 of SCCL, Seam II is thefirst coal seam being extracted in PanelB. The machine will then extract PanelA of Seam II horizon. After completion

of extractions in Seam II, the pit shallbe backfilled to form a platform toapproach the top-most and the finaltargeted seam of the OCP-2 pit, namely,Seam I. Subsequently, the machine willbe shifted to the neighbouring MedapalliOpencast Project, RG-I Area of M/sSingareni Collieries Company Ltd. forextraction of four coal seams as per theCIMFR design methodology.

The machine has the capability ofproducing about 300 tonne per hour, witha daily production of up to 5000 tonne.This remotely operated machine isequipped with Advanced NavigationalSystem (Horta) for accurate remoteguidance in underground, sensors forinflammable gases, dust suppressors atcutting face, steering system to ensureaccurate web thickness, protectivecanopy, rock shield door, and so on. TheAmerican operators of the machine havesuccessfully trained specified Indiancrew of AMT.

The most interesting point is that themachine induces almost zero vibrationand noise into the rock mass whileextraction. This is very significant fromenvironmental point of view in contrastto the conventional mining methods,

Wax Deoiling Unit at Numaligarh Refinery Uses IIP TechnologyNRL is setting up a grassroot waxdeoiling unit using updated IIP-EILprocess know-how at a capital out layof Rs. 753.72 crores including a foreigncomponent of Rs. 86.49 crores forspecialized patent equipment likeScraped Surface DP Chillers and RotaryVacuum Filters.

The wax facility being set-up byNumaligarh Refinery, a subsidiary of

which involve blasting leading tovibration, noise and other disturbancesto the surroundings.

This technology also does notinvolve waste rock excavation foropening the coal seam, and is therefore,a very clean coal mining technology. Inaddition, it has a high standard of safetyas the rock slope overlaying the coalseam does not show any sign ofmovement or instability and theunderground excavations are totallyunmanned. For example, at places dueto unforeseen geological conditions,CIMFR had re-designed some webpillars to ensure safety and stability on along-term basis.

Overall, this new technology withCIMFR design methodology appears tohave a bright future and would go a longway in enhancing coal production in ourcountry, which is the need of the hour.A group of dedicated scientists ofCIMFR under the leaderships of Dr.John P. Loui (Project Leader), Dr. PijushPal Roy (Project Coordinator) and Dr.Amalendu Sinha (Project Advisor) isconstantly working in this innovativearea of mining to recover the hugeamount of locked-up coal.

BPCL, will have an annual designcapacity to produce 50,000 tonnes perannum of food grade paraffin wax and4500 tones of micro-crystalline wax byprocessing two waxy streams, namelyMVGO & HVGO. The design of theunit is to be based on indigenoustechnology developed at Indian Instituteof Petroleum (IIP), Dehradun. Thestate-of-the-art solvent deoiling

technology developed by IIP scientistsusing MIBK as the selective solventinvolves processing of low value waxydistillates in a series of steps comprisingfractional crystallization and filtration.

The technology was offered to NRLthrough a joint bid with Engineers IndiaLtd. (EIL), an engineering company andthe bid succeeded against stiffcompetition from International Process

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Licensers. The success achieved is theculmination of sustained efforts by IIPScientists at technology developmentthrough a large number of processstudies on different feed-stocks, processupgradation through innovations,incorporation of several novelfeatures/technological advances andalso commercialization attemptsthrough regular dialogue with oil PSUs,all these spanning nearly threedecades.

To tailor-make the process and forgeneration of required process designdata, IIP carried out a series of detailedlaboratory studies since 2000 on severalfeed-stocks including MVGO & HVGOdistillate samples provided by NRL.These studies established the suitabilityand wax potential of the feed-stocks,optimum operating conditions andprocessing scheme, filtration rates andalso the expected product wax yield &quality. Based on the findings and designdata provided by IIP, EIL had prepareda detailed feasibility report (DFR) forthe unit including configuration, flow

scheme, design specifications andeconomics of the unit indicating thetechno commercial viability of theproject.

Some salient features of the IIP-EILSolvent Dewaxing-Deoiling Technologyare: Lower solvent-to-feed ratio withprudent filtrate recycle; optimum solventdilution scheme combining delayeddilution, incremental dilution and colddilution techniques for maximum gains;controlled crystallization for largercrystals with narrow crystal sizedistribution (CSD), low specific cokeresistance and high slurry filterability;two stage filtration with balanced filtercycle and high wash efficiency; energyefficient process with built in operationalflexibility and continuous process backup.

A tripartite meeting to kick-start theproject took place at EIL House, NewDelhi on 14-15 December 2010. Themeeting was attended by topManagement Representatives of NRL,EIL and IIP including Director, IIP, Dr.M.O. Garg and Mr. U.C. Agarwal,

Scientist ‘G’ & Head of Heavy OilProcessing Division of IIP, committingIIP-EIL to a stringent schedule of 24weeks for finalization of the processpackage.

Licensing of the technology to NRLand confidence reposed by NRL-BPCLBoard in IIP-EIL technology has openedup opportunities for providing know-howfor any other new unit, which may comeup in the country and also for export ofour technology worldwide.

The successful commercialization ofthis technology is certainly a feather inthe cap of IIP and it is also a matter ofgreat pride for the whole of CSIR as itwould be one of the biggest technologytransfer deals, fetching handsome design& licensing fee for CSIR-IIP. As perthe agreement, BPCL/NRL would payRs. 2.16 crores as licensing fee for thetechnology and Rs. 2.70 crores as feefor preparing the process designpackage to be executed jointly byIIP and EIL; a sum of Rs. 10.00 lakhswould also be payable additionally astraining fee.

Haldia SDU revamped using IIP-EIL technology IIP Dewaxing-Deoiling Pilot Plant

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IPR Protection and Registration of New Plant Varieties

Swaranjit Singh CameotraInstitute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh

Like Patent, Copyright, Trademark andIndustrial Design protection, a specialprotection for new plant varieties isavailable. This provision, given by theInternational Union for the Protection ofNew Plant Varieties (UPOV) and theTRIPS Agreement, is lesser known bymany people. The Act of UPOVConvention in 1991 gave this importantprotection to the plant breeders.

There is a debate in many countriesthat the plants developed do not satisfythe non-obvious requirement in a patentapplication system as existing techniquesare used and the new breed is obvious.Therefore, a unique “sui generis”system is utilized for the Protection ofNew Plant Varieties. The TRIPSprovides a protection for 25 years in caseof trees and vines while the protectionfor other plants is 20 years.

Traditional knowledge and folkloreare closely associated with theGeographical Indications (GI). TRIPSsystem has a provision to protect GI thatcan be further used to protect traditionalknowledge associated with goods. Manycommunities keep valuable knowledgea secret. Traditional knowledge also canbe kept a secret by a person or a groupof persons. The recognition of theimportance of protecting traditionalknowledge led to the World TradeOrganization Ministerial Declaration at

Plant variety protection

Protect my mango

Doha. The declaration asked to examinethe similarities between the TRIPSAgreement, protection of traditional

knowledge and folklore and theConvention of Biological Diver-sity. Inmost countries protec-tion is by a special

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‘sui generis’ system. This system ofprotection is very important in theprotection of new plant varieties too. Itis very important to create a massawareness of the existence of thisinteresting method of protectionavailable for the new plant varieties.

The new plant varieties can beprotected by the regular patentmechanism or by the ‘sui generis’method. Combination of these twomethods can also be utilized for theprotection of new plant varietiesdeveloped by breeders. New plantvarieties are made using the knowntechniques and thus, the ‘sui generis’mode of protection is more pertinent.The protection is of great importance tothe farmers and breeders as a lot of time,effort, funds, labour, basic material andskill is involved in creating new plantvarieties. In case these plants are notprotected, other people cannot beprevented from using these techniquesfor commercial purposes. In otherwords, if the plant breeders’ rights arenot secured, others can freely use thematerial for propagation and use theseeds for multiplication and eventuallyselling the variety commercially.

To qualify for protection, a plantmust satisfy certain requirementsnamely, newness or being novel, mustbe distinct and uniform, the variety mustbe stable and have a good denomination.The plant variety should be distinct andnot like the variety already available andit should be uniform i.e. plants of aparticular variety should be similar. Thesimilarity however, is dependent on the

propagation method. Stability of the plantvariety must be maintained afterrepeated propagation from seeds byother methods. In short, the variety mustcontinue to be distinct and uniform afterprolonged propagation. The parametersof distinctness, uniformity and stabilityare examined by technical expertsbefore the breeders are given their rights.

The breeders’ rights can preventothers from the following actions:multiplication/reproduction/production,propagation, selling or promoting sale,exporting the seeds or relatedpropagating material, importing the seedsor related propagating material and lastlystoring the new plant variety for any ofthe above purposes. These rights provideencouragement for the development ofnovel plant varieties for use in forestry,floriculture, horticulture and agriculture.Plant breeding focuses on thedevelopment of new varieties that yieldbetter fruit, have higher nutritional value,are disease resistant, have good flavouror have more pleasing colours. Thisgives good economic returns to thebreeders.

Keeping this important provision inmind, the registration of 12 crop specieswas launched on the 20 February 2007by the Ministry of Agriculture, NewDelhi. The event was organized by theProtection of Plant Varieties andFarmers’ Rights Authority. The list ofcrops for registration under theProtection of Plant Varieties andFarmers’ Rights (PPV & FR) Act 2001are Black Gram, Maize, Wheat, Rice,Sorghum, Field Pea, Kidney Pea, Pigeon

Pea, Chickpea, Pearl Millet, Lentil andGreen Gram. The protection of tress andvines is for 18 years while for othercrops it is 15 years. The farmingcommunity is exempted from paying thefees for registration of farmers’ variety.

The Act was passed by theParliament and assented by thePresident on the 30 October 2001 toestablish protection of plant varieties,give the right to farmers and plantbreeders and encourage them to developnew varieties of Plants. PPV & FR Ruleswere made in 2003 and the Protectionof Plant Varieties and Farmers’ RightsAuthority was established on the 11November 2005.

References:

Preservation of microorganisms asdeposits in Patent Applications;Swaranjit Singh Cameotra. BBRC353(4):849-50. Feb 23, 2007.

Microbial Culture Collections: TheirActivities and Importance; SwaranjitSingh Cameotra, In Microbes:Agriculture, Industry andEnvironment, pp.261-269 (2000).

Geographical Indications; SwaranjitSingh Cameotra, CSIR News—Progress, Promise and Prospects, 60,5-6, 2010.

Dr Swaranjit Singh Cameotramay be contacted at:

ssc@imtech.res.in,swaranjitsingh@yahoo.com;

Fax: +91-172-2690632/2690585

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Thermal power stations are usingpulverized coal as fuel, producingenormous quantities of ash as a by-product of combustion. Presently, thecountry is producing ash to the tune ofabout 110 million tonnes every year, outof which about 23% of ash is used.Therefore, about 77% of ash is left outas unused solid industrial waste.Similarly, a large amount of red mud isleft when bauxite is used as a rawmaterial in the manufacturing ofaluminium. Unfortunately red mud in thiscountry like other countries does not findany use and is dumped as wastematerial.

Use of ash and red mud as resourcematerial for embankment constructionnot only reduces environmental pollution,it is also helpful in promoting sustainabledevelopment by avoiding unnecessaryuse of natural soil. For laboratoryevaluation of engineering parameters,both these major industrial wastes,namely, red mud and ash were collectedby CBRI, Roorkee from a largealuminium manufacturing industry. The

8.0m

4.0m

Present red mud level

Red Mud & Ash 1:1

Existing embankment

8.0m

U/S side D/S side V:H 1:2

samples were tested after mixinghomogeneously different percentage ofash and red mud in the laboratory. Thetests were carried out to determine thegeotechnical parameters: consolidations,permeability, specific gravity, shear andindex properties etc.

An experimental program wascarried out to find the optimum mix ofred mud and ash so as to utilize the samefor the construction of embankment.Particle size analysis, Proctor densitytest, Direct Shear test, Permeability andConsolidation test were carried out inthe laboratory. The Shear test and

R&D at CBRI, RoorkeeAugmentation of Storage Capacity of Red Mud Pond at Renukut

Consolidation test were carried out usingred mud and ash in the ratios of Ash:Redmud: 50%:50%, 70%:30%, 30%:70%,60%:40% and 40%:60%.

The embankment design waschecked against slope failure andseismic stability analysis were carriedout to check the stability of theembankment. A huge quantity of red mudand ash could thus be gainfully utilized.Besides, time and money for transportinggood quality of soil and rock fragmentsfrom the borrow pit area, otherwiserequired for raising the embankmentheight, could be saved.

CLRI Signs MoU forBioprocessing of Leather

CLRI has signed a collaborative agreement on 14 January 2011with M/s. Shri Meera Labs Pvt. Ltd. (SMLPL) in connectionwith developing an enzyme formulation for commercial applicationin bio-processing of leather using a protease developed by CLRIin association with IISc, Bangalore under the New MillenniumIndian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) Programme.

Schenatic diagram of red mud pond Embankment

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International Workshop on, Earthquake PrecursorStudies – Scenarios and Future Directions

An International Workshop wasorganized by the National GeophysicalResearch Institute (NGRI), Hyderabadduring 25-27 November 2010 onEarthquake Precursor Studies–Scenarios and Future Directions. TheWorkshop was attended by InternationalExperts from Japan, New Zealand,Switzerland, Russia and Mexico inaddition to more than 50 participantsfrom various research institutes, IITs,government departments anduniversities within the country. ThisWorkshop is the first major event in theGolden Jubilee Year of NGRI.

The two-day Workshop deliberatedon recent developments on earthquakeprecursor studies in the country andelsewhere in the world. There were 24presentations made during the Workshop

covering the status of precursory studiesglobally, besides specific cases and theirreview. Discussions were held on thestudies initiated by NGRI a decade agoon water level monitoring in deepboreholes, radon emission, seismic,gravity and magneto-telluricmeasurements and their relationshipwith earthquakes.

A program on earthquake precursorstudies relevant to Indian contextinitiated by the National Task force ofthe Department of Science andTechnology, Government of India wasalso discussed in detail. In the paneldiscussions, the experts opined that inspite of the pessimism on the topic ofshort-term earthquake prediction, effortshave to continue to gather observationsof geophysical, geochemical and

atmospheric precursors combined withdevelopment of new hypothesis basedon physical justification and statisticalsignificance.

The efforts in relation to Multi-Parametric Geophysical Observatories(MPGO) in Himalaya and Koyna regionwere highly appreciated. A Program onsuper deep borehole in the seismicallyactive Koyna region in Maharashtra tounderstand the earthquake genesis bymaking direct observations in thehypocentral region initiated very positiveresponse from the delegates, thoughsome scientists felt that a little moreunderstanding of the region will greatlyhelp prior to the start of drilling. Thethree-day Workshop ended with somespecific suggestions on precursor studiesto be continued in future in our country.

Delegates of the International Workshop on, Earthquake Precursor Studies-Scenarios and Future Directions held atNGRI. Prof. Harsh Gupta, Chief Patron of the Workshop along with Foreign and Indian delegates are seen in the first row.

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NEERI Participates in Bharat Nirman – Public Information CampaignPress Information Bureau,Ministry of Information andBroadcasting, Govt. of Indiaorganized Bharat Nirman– Public InformationCampaign during 28-30January 2011 at Ramtek todisseminate information inrural areas. The NationalEnvironmental EngineeringResearch Institute(NEERI), Nagpur partici-pated in this campaign andexhibited its varioustechnologies related to safedrinking water, while informing aboutemployment opportunities for the ruralpeople.

The Hon’ble Minister of SocialJustice & Empowerment, Govt. ofIndia, Shri Mukul Wasnik inauguratedthis event and took keen interest inthe technologies developed by NEERI.The following technologies were

Rural people at the NEERI pavilion; Interacting with them isDr. D B Satpute, Scientist, NEERI

Hon’ble Minister Shri Mukul Wasnik praising the NEERI technologies havingpotential to create employment opportunities for the rural people

Hon’ble Minister of Social Justice and EmpowermentShri Mukul Wasnik being introduced to the NEERI technologies

exhibited during this event: NEERI-ZAR: Portable Instant WaterFilter; Essential Oil from Waste CitrusPeels; Low-Cost Fish Feed UsingBy-Product and Nutritious FoodIndustry Wastes; and Domestic DrinkingWater Defluoridation Unit –NEERMAL.

Er. S. P. Andey, Inventor of NEERI-

ZAR and Dr. D. B.Satpute, Inventor of thetechnology related torecovery of essential oilfrom waste citrus peelsexplained about thesetechnologies to the ruralpeople. Mr. P. S.Kumbhare, Scientist, R&DPlanning Unit; Ms.Poonam, WaterTechnology &Management Division;Ms. Amruta Damle,Applied Aquatic

Ecosystem Division; Mr. Dileep,Environmental Materials Division; andMr. R.M. Deshpande, Technical Officer,R&D Planning Unit also took part in thisexhibition. Er. S. P. Andey, Scientist,Water Technology & ManagementDivision delivered a lecture on, SafeDrinking Water Supply for RuralAreas.

PUBLIC CAMPAIGNS

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CGCRI Celebrates its Diamond JubileeThe Central Glass and CeramicResearch Institute (CGCRI), Kolkatalaunched its year long Diamond JubileeCelebrations with pomp and grandeur on4 September 2010. This gala event wasinauguarated by Shri Prithviraj Chavan,the then Hon’ble Minister of State forScience & Technology and EarthSciences and Vice-President, CSIR.Among other important dignitaries, Dr.

J. J. Irani, Director, Tata Sons andEx-MD, Tata Steel was the Guest ofHonour, while Prof. Samir K.Brahmachari, Director General, CSIRand Secretary-DSIR and Dr. SrikumarBanerjee, Secretary-DAE andChairman-AEC, Govt of India, who isalso the Chairman of CGCRI’sResearch Council, graced the functionas Distinguished Guests.

India’s renowned Orthopaedicsurgeon, Padma Vibhushan Dr. K. H.Sancheti, Director of Sancheti Instituteof Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation, Pune;Prof. Siddartha Roy, Director, IndianInstitute of Chemical Biology (IICB),Kolkata, Dr. S. Srikanth, Director,National Metallurgical Laboratory(NML), Jamshedpur and Dr. S. Basu,Chairman, Nuclear Research Board

GlimpsesGlimpsesGlimpsesGlimpsesGlimpsesof theof theof theof theof the

Diamond JubileeDiamond JubileeDiamond JubileeDiamond JubileeDiamond JubileeCelebrationsCelebrationsCelebrationsCelebrationsCelebrations

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were among the important guests. TheFunction began with traditional lightingof lamp by the dignitaries including theHon’ble Minister, who also released theCGCRI’s maiden logo and a souvenirfor the Diamond Jubilee.

In his Welcome Address, Prof.Indranil Manna, Director, CGCRIretraced the Institute’s journey over 60years and highlighted a few notableachievements. Prof. Manna alsonarrated the recent success stories ofCGCRI concerning the specialty fibreand glasses, prosthesis and implants,non-oxide ceramic components, waterpurification plants and FBG basedsensors. He declared that CGCRIwould soon set up a water purifier plantin the Taki Municipality close toBangladesh border in West Bengal witha capacity of 30,000 gallons per hour.He spelt out CGCRI’s priorities inthe forthcoming 12th Five year Planperiod including a supra-institutionalproject on specialty glasses and networkprojects on bio-prosthesis, structuralceramics, nano-coatings and newceramics for energy and environmentalapplications.

Prof. Manna informed that theInstitute would soon initiate an M.Tech/Ph.D. Programme in Glass andCeramics under AcSIR. CGCRI hasrecently instituted a new system ofidentifying and rewarding talents indifferent categories of staff in order toinspire and motivate the internal staffmembers to perform and achieve. In hisAddress, Dr. Srikumar Banerjee hailedCGCRI for the supply of RSW glassesto BARC. He stressed the need of

transferring the technology to a jointventure company for continuous supplyof RSW glasses to the reprocessingplants of DAE. Dr. Banerjee remindedthat fundamental studies on glass wereas essential as the applied projects. Inthis connection, he announced that DAEwould actively consider the proposal ofDirector, CGCRI to establish a CGCRI-DAE Advanced Technology Cell inCGCRI.

Prof. S. K. Brahmachari, hailedCGCRI’s contributions to the strategic,industrial, societal and academic sectors.He reminded how CGCRI could dojustice to these difficult and demandingactivities, which on one side necessitateshigh quality science and on the otherside, demands knack to the technologyassessment, development andimplementation in the competitivemarket. Prof. Brahmachari explainedthat CSIR has launched CSIR-800programme to remain relevant to the 800million poor masses of the Country. Hehailed Acharya P.C. Roy, whose 150th

birth year falls this year and said thatAcharya became entrepreneur at theage of 32 by launching BengalChemicals. Congratulating CGCRI onthe 60th birthday, he reminded theemployees of CGCRI about their futuretasks and milestones to achieve in orderto establish this Institute as the leader inGlass and Ceramics.

In his lecture, Dr. K.H. Sanchetiexplained that with further enhancementin life expectancy, bone ailments arelikely to increase. He lauded the fruitfulinteraction of his Institute with CGCRI.He made a presentation showing

beneficiaries of CGCRI’s prosthesistechnology, who had undergone surgeryunder his supervision. Dr Sancheti wasfelicitated with a memento by theHon’ble Minister.

There were also presentations byorganizations: IFGL, Kolkata; NEST,Cochin; OCL, Bhubaneswar; RCI,Hyderabad; H.R. Johnson, Mumbaiand Entech, Kolkata who hadsuccessfully implemented CGCRItechnologies in the recent past. TheGuest of Honour, Dr. J. J. Irani, said thatsmall countries like France and Britaincould dominate the world because oftheir early developments in science &technology.

In his speech as Chief Guest, theHon’ble Minister lauded thecontributions of CGCRI in the areas ofBioceramics, Fibre optics, Specialityglass and Refractories. The Hon’bleMinister advocated that the clusteredapproach adopted by DGCSIR was awelcome strategy to streamline theactivities of CSIR laboratories andachieve the desired goal. The Ministerlauded the DAE-CGCRI cooperation asa classic example of a success story.He congratulated CGCRI on itsDiamond Jubilee year and hoped that theInstitute would contribute strongly totransform India into a scientific andtechnological leader.

The Minister also addressed themedia in a press conference andinaugurated an exhibition and twofacilities namely, Bioceramics Buildingand the Fibre Fabrication facility. Anewly built gymnasium of CGCRI wasalso inaugurated.

DIAMOND JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS

CSIR NEWS84

Prof. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan Delivers Reliance LEAP Lecture at NCLNobel Laureate Prof.Venkatraman Ramakrishnan fromMRC Laboratory of MolecularBiology, Cambridge, Englanddelivered the Reliance LeapLecture on, The Structural Basisof tRNA Selection by theRibosome at National ChemicalLaboratory (NCL), Pune on 18December 2010. The LeadingExperts Access Programme(LEAP) lecture was jointlyorganized in partnership withIndian Institute of ScienceEducation and Research (IISER),Pune and Reliance Industries Ltd.

Prof. Ramakrishnan in his talkexplained his Nobel Prize winning workof determining the high-resolutionstructure of ribosome that synthesizesproteins in the cells of organisms. Hestarted with explaining the centraldogma of information flow from DNAto protein. The translation of geneticcode is done in small particles calledribosome present in cells. Ribosomeconsists of a large and a small subunit.It was known that certain organismsdeposit ribosome as 2-D crystals.

During 1970s Ada Yonath, whoshared the Nobel Prize with Prof.Ramakrishnan, started efforts tocrystallize ribosome. Initially growncrystals were poorly diffracting. Byscreening ribosome from severalorganisms, good crystals of large subunitcould be grown. Similarly, the techniqueof freezing crystals at liquid nitrogentemperatures helped to collect better X-ray diffraction data. Prof.Ramakrishnan, on moving to UK, tookup the structure determination of small

subunit of ribosome. The availability ofsynchrotron radiation and the techniqueof anomalous dispersion have helped‘phasing’ the reflections from ribosomecrystals. His group at MRC laboratory,Cambridge, UK made severalmodifications in ribosome to improve thecrystal quality.

Prof. Ramakrishnan also mentionedthat X-ray detectors based on the CCD- a discovery which won the 2009Physics Nobel Prize,greatly helped in hisresearch. Although thefunction of ribosomewas understood, Prof.R a m a k r i s h n a nexplained to theaudience how thechemistry behind theerror-free synthesis ofprotein could beunderstood using high-resolution structure.Mechanism of action ofseveral drugs also couldbe deciphered. Prof.

Ramakrishnan mentioned that thestructure they determined was thatof prokaryotic ribosome andrecently, the structure of eukaryoticribosome also has been published.

While interacting with thestudents, Dr Ramakrishnanencouraged them to study all thesubjects of basic sciences such asphysics, chemistry, biology andmathematics. He noted that thestudents pursuing career inphysical sciences avoid biology andthose interested in life science shunmathematics. He also advised the

students to pursue the research careerin subjects of their choice and notbecause of external compulsions suchas status, pay-packets, rewards etc.,

Dr. Sourav Pal, Director, NCLwelcomed Prof. Ramakrishnan and theaudience. Dr. R. A. Mashelkar, formerDG-CSIR introduced Prof.Ramakrishnan. Dr. Pal also proposed theVote of Thanks. The lecture wasattended by a large number of students

from NCL, IISER-Pune and other

Dr. R.A. Mashelkar introducing Prof Ramakrishnan to the audience

Prof Ramakrishnan delivering the talk

LECTURES

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Prof. Dumesic delivers L. K. Doraiswamy Endowment Lecture at NCLProf. James Dumesic, Department ofChemical and Biological Engineering,University of Wisconsin, Madison USAdelivered Prof. L. K. DoraiswamyEndowment Lecture on, CatalyticApproaches for Conversion ofBiomass to Liquid Fuels andChemical” at the National ChemicalLaboratory (NCL), Pune on 15February 2011. Dr. L. K. Doraiswamyendowment lecture is a joint programmebetween NCL and Iowa StateUniversity (ISU), USA. The selectedinternationally recognized scientist orengineer delivers lectures both at ISUand NCL.

Prof. Dumesic began his talk withthe environment and political issuescreated by the dependence of fossil fuelsthat result in global warming and nationalsecurity combined with diminishingpetroleum resources that are causing thesociety to look for other renewablesources of energy and chemicals.

Prof. Dumesic presented anintegrated catalytic approach for theconversion of carbohydrates to specificclasses of hydrocarbons for use as liquidtransportation fuels. He briefed on theprocess that produced liquid organicstream containing mono-functionalcompounds such as alcohols, ketones,carboxylic acids and heterocycles. Theapproach can be used to provide reactiveintermediates for the lower volume buthigher value chemicals and polymermarkets. He also showed the conversionof solid cellulose to liquid hydrocarbonsinvolving the intermediate production oflevulinic acid.

Prof. Dumesic shared his

experiences of working with theformation of aqueous solutions oflevulinic acid through the intermediateformation of g-valerolactone to anorganic liquid stream that spontaneouslyseparates from water that is enriched inpentanoic acid and/or 5-nonanonedepending on the reaction conditions.This organic layer, he said, serves as asource of chemicals and can beupgraded to hydrocarbon fuels.

Prof. Dumesic gave routes forconversion of biomass to fuels by givingexamples of biofuel productionstrategies. Forest waste on gasificationis converted to syn gas which is usedfor Jet fuel, Corn stover on fast or slowpyrolysis is used in diesel and gasoline,switch grass on saccharification throughliquid phase processing producesenzymatic fermentation to give ethanolthat is widely used as cellulosic ethanoland many other products are also derivedin the process. Prof. Dumesic thendescribed the strategies for producingliquid fuels and achieving C-C Couplingreactions. Prof Dumesic also discussed

how partial removal of oxygen combinedwith simultaneous production of wateris achieved.

While summarizing his talk, Prof.Dumesic said that his emphasis is on thedevelopment of a process wherein hecan offer a complete process toindustries, though most of his work isstill in the nascent stage and requires alot of effort to make it attractive toindustries.

Dr. S. Pal, Director NCL welcomedProf Dumesic and remembered DrDoraiswamy’s contribution. Dr. V. V.Ranade, Head, Catalytic Reactors andSeparation Unit, NCL, introduced Prof.Dumesic to the audience. Prof. Dumesicis a recipient of many Awards andHonours in the field of catalysis andchemical engineering. He has beenrecognized with the Colburn Award andWilhelm Award from the AmericanInstitute of Chemical Engineers, theEmmet Award from North AmericanCatalysis Society and ResearchExcellence Awards from the New Yorkand Michigan catalysis societies, besidesPolygon Award for Excellence inTeaching at the University of Wisconsin.

Prof Dumesic delivering the talk

Dr Ranade introducing Prof. Dumesic to the audience

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NBRI Organizes Rose and Gladiolus ShowThe National BotanicalResearch Institute (NBRI),Lucknow organized theAnnual Rose and GladiolusShow on 22-23 January2011. Clusters of cut flowerpots, showing the entirespectrum of splendid flowersvying with each other fortheir intrinsic beauty werepresent on the lush greenlawn of NBRI. Theenthusiastic crowd wasseen all over the showground during the two-day show,admiring the riots of colours andspectrum of splendid rose and gladiolusflowers. Despite the severe cold waveduring the month of January, a totalnumber of 63 exhibitors participated inthe show with 697 entries. The numberof entries and exhibitors last year were47 and 446 respectively.

This year the Best Rose of theShow and Best HT Red Rose of theShow have been awarded to HALAccessories Division, Faizabad Road,Lucknow. Award for Best HTBicoloured/Blended Rose of the Showand Best HT Pink Rose of the Showwere lifted by Vice Chancellor, BanarasHindu University, Varanasi. Award forBest fragrant HT Rose of the Showand Best HT Striped/Streaked colouredRose of the Show were lifted by CentralNursery, Kendriya Paudhshala,Horticulture Unit, BHU Varanasi.Executive Engineer, Irrigation NirmaanKhand, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Udyan,Lucknow won Best HT Yellow Rose of

the Show and Director, CIMAP,Lucknow, bagged Best Gladiolus Spikeof the Show.

A total number of 26 running cups/shields/trophies along with 290 prizes(First - 89, Second - 88 and Commenda-tion- 113) were given to the winners.HAL Accessories Division, Lucknowstood first by winning 9 Cups/Shields/Trophies followed by Shri MirzaMuqtadir Beg, Member, Adhunik PushpUtpadak Kalyan Samiti, Kakori,Lucknow whobagged 3 Cups/S h i e l d s /Trophies.

N B R Idisplayed 75rose varieties, 42g l a d i o l u svarieties and 15house-plants inthis show.Number ofc o m m e r c i a lvarieties of

Gladiolus were displayed inthe show with the catchytitles like Triple Delight,the Dancing Fragrance,Let Me Bloom, Sea Shore,You Fascinate Me,Ranglal Hai Lal BahadurKa, Shanti Ka Pratik,Taren Zameen Par, PranAur Prem, Mulk Ke AmanChain Ka Pratik, etc.

This year, NBRI hasreleased a new gladioluscultivar Sydney Percy-

Lancaster in recognition of Percy-Lancaster’s outstanding contribution toIndian Horticulture particularly in NBRIBotanic Garden. The specialty of thiscultivar is that the colour of the floretsis very soft and soothing. This cultivaris suitable for bedding purpose beingmedium in height and spike length. Forthe benefit of general public, this year,under its rural development programmeand extension activity, NBRI alsodistributed pamphlets mentioning

Dr C.S. Nautiyal, Director, NBRI delivering the Welcome Address

(From left) Dr C.S. Nautiyal, Shri Sanjay Agarwal and Dr Mukesh Gautam releasingthe Extension Bulletin: Gladiolus Ki Vyavasayik Kheti

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information about gladiolus and rosecultivation. NBRI has also displayedinformation pertaining to the varioustechnologies available forcommercialization.

The Chief Guest of the PrizeDistribution Function, Shri SanjayAgarwal, IAS, Principal Secretary,Agriculture, Agriculture Education &Research, Sugar Industries & CaneDevelopment Department, Govt. ofUttar Pradesh, Lucknow and Guests ofHonours, Dr. Mukesh Gautam, Director(Agriculture), Directorate of Agriculture,Lucknow, Smt Manju Nautiyal, Principal,City Montessori School, Jopling RoadBranch, Lucknow, Smt. Sonia Agarwaland Smt. Ragini Gautam gave away atotal of 24 running cups/shields/trophiesalong with 223 prizes to the winners.

At the start of Prize DistributionFunction, Dr. C. S. Nautiyal, Director,NBRI while welcoming the Chief Guestand Guests of Honour said that NBRIhas been organizing flower shows everyyear. He said that NBRI with the helpof UP State Agriculture Department hadapplied Biofertilizers and Biopesticideson 1.2 million hectare, which has savedaround Rs. 100 crores chemicals andincreased the crop yield to 15-30 percent.NBRI has so far developed 20 newvarieties of Gladiolus, which are popularamongst the Gladiolus growers.Similarly, NBRI has also beenmaintaining well-documentedgermplasm collection of 250 cultivars ofroses in the ‘Rose Garden’ at the BotanicGarden. On this occasion, an extensionbooklet entitled Gladiolus KiVyavasayik Kheti (in Hindi) wasreleased by the Chief Guest, Shri Sanjay

A : Best fragrant HT Rose of the ShowB : Best HT Pink Rose of the ShowC : Best HT Pink Rose of the ShowD : Best HT Red Rose of the ShowE : Best HT Striped/Streaked coloured Rose of the ShowF : Best Rose of the Show

Agarwal for the benefit of gladiolusgrowers.

Shri Sanjay Agarwal, the ChiefGuest, while appreciating the efforts

taken by the organizers of the show saidthat NBRI has an important role to moveforward its R&D activities in floriculturefor the benefit of farmers and expressed

FLOWER SHOWS

Photo-1: Prize winning entries of roses under different classes

CSIR NEWS88

his willingness to join hands withNBRI for the benefit of farmersof Uttar Pradesh. Dr. MukeshGautam, Guest of Honour saidthat he was happy to note thatfloricultural activities at NBRIhave a great societal value andis providing livelihood to a largenumber of farmers in villages.He suggested that a Gosthi/Meeting could be organized toplan a strategy for promotion ofexport of floricultural crops.

Group photograph of prize winning competitors

CSIR Programme on Youth for Leadership in Science (CPYLS)The primary objective of CPYLS is to build a scientific attitude in students at an impressionable age and instill in them asense of pride in the achievements of Indian science. Highlights of this two-day event held recently at IICB, NEIST andNISCAIR are presented here:

Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Kolkata

CSIR Programme on Youth for theLeadership in Science for the year 2010(CPYLS-2010) in West Bengal wascoordinated by the Indian Institute ofChemical Biology (IICB), Kolkata. TheProgramme was held during 29-30December 2010 at the IICB and CentralGlass & Ceramic Research Institute(CGCRI), Kolkata. The CentralMechanical Engineering ResearchInstitute (CMERI), Durgapur alsoorganized a similar programme during27-28 December 2010. One hundred

and thirty students from the CBSE andWBBSE Boards were invited, out ofwhich 107 students accepted theinvitation to attend the Programme.Among them 94 students opted for IICBand CGCRI, Kolkata while 13 studentschose CMERI, Durgapur.

The Inaugural Function was held atthe Meghnad Saha Auditorium atCGCRI, Kolkata, on 29 December 2010.At the outset, Dr. Asish K. Sen,Coordinator, IICB, briefly described thepurpose of the CPYLS programme,

which was followed by the WelcomeAddress by Prof. Indranil Manna,Director, CGCRI. He spoke on theachievements of Indian scientists andcontributions of CSIR and CGCRI toIndian science. While encouraging thestudents to opt for basic science, heemphasized that students should interactmore with the scientists.

Prof. Siddhartha Roy, Director,IICB, in his speech said that the futureleaders of science should be constructivethinkers. They should also be capable

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of thinking ahead of time. In thisconnection he talked about thecontributions of Prof. J. C. Bose, Prof.S. N. Bose and Acharyya PrafullaChandra Roy in Indian science.

Prof. Bikash Sinha, PadmaBhushan, Homi Bhabha Professor, Dept.of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India, andChief Guest of the occasion, inspired thestudents through his illustrious speech.He said that leadership could be bothorganizational and individualistic. Hementioned the contribution of LordRutherford for his organizationalleadership and also about one of thegreatest scientists of the 20th century,Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac who madefundamental contribution to earlydevelopment of Quantum Mechanics.He also spoke about Homi J. Bhabha,

Prof. C. N. R. Rao, and Prof. MeghnadSaha.

Prof. Sinha said that students mustbe able to show their creative thinkingand originality. They must be able tocommunicate in English as it is the globallanguage for science. To inspire thestudents he gave a short presentation onthe variable cyclotron and other facilitiesat Variable Energy Cyclotron Center,Kolkata and CERN, France. Dr. AnoopMukhopadhyay, Convener, CGCRI,delivered the Vote of Thanks.

During the two days programme,Prof. Indranil Manna, Director, CGCRIdelivered a lecture on, Nano-StructuredMaterials Aimed for Structural andFunctional Applications. This wasfollowed by an interactive session whereProf. Manna, along with Prof. Kankan

Bhattacharyya, Director, IACS, Kolkata,Prof. P. P. Chakrabarti, Dept. ofComputer Science & Engineering, IITKharagpur, and Prof. BimalenduBhushan Bhattacharya, Senior VisitingScientist, S. N. Bose National Centrefor Basic Sciences, Kolkata,participated.

Dr. Suvendra Nath Bhattacharyya,Scientist, IICB, delivered a veryilluminating lecture on ‘ModernBiology: A Journey TowardsMolecular Understanding of Life‘.After the lecture, there was aninteractive programme with the studentsand the scientists of CSIR-IICB. Thestudents’ participation was spontaneousand the programme overshot the timelimit.

During the two days programme, the

A view of the CPYLS at IICB

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students were taken to differentlaboratories for demonstration of the on-going activities at IICB and CGCRI. Aprogramme on career opportunities wasalso arranged which was chaired by Dr.Subrata Ghosh, Head, BiotechnologyDept. East India Pharmaceutical Works,Kolkata. The other panelists were Dr.

Somenath Chattopadhyay, ex-VicePresident of Exide India and Advisor,IICB, Kolkata and Dr. S. N. Kabir,Scientist, IICB. The programme washighly appreciated by the students andtheir parents/guardians and the responsewas overwhelming.

A ‘Science Show’ presented by the

North East Institute of Science & Technology (NEIST), Jorhat

The North East Institute of Science &Technology (NEIST), Jorhat organizeda two-day CSIR Programme on Youthfor Leadership in Science (CPYLS) fortalented school students of NorthEastern states at its premises during5-16 December 2010. The Programmewas inaugurated at its auditorium underthe presidentship of Dr R C Boruah,Scientist-in-charge, NEIST, whereDr K K Deka, Vice Chancellor,Dibrugarh University and Dr MLakshmi Kantam, Scientist, IndianInstitute of Chemical Technology(IICT), Hyderabad, attended the

Function as Chief Guest and Guest-of-honour respectively. Besides NEISTfraternity, the Function was largelyattended by distinguished guests, invitees,participating students along with theirescorts, guardians and members of pressand media.

Delivering the Welcome Address,Dr R C Boruah urged upon thestudents to build scientific temperamentfor taking leadership in science both atthe national and international level.Dr L Nath, Scientist F & the Programmecoordinator gave a brief introductionabout the programme, its objectives

and said that the programme isconducted annually for the benefit ofstudents from CBSE, ICSE and differentSate Boards. He also said that theprogramme is actually conducted intwo phases of which the second isconducted for few selected studentsout of the participating students ofPhase I.

Dr K K Deka VC, DibrugarhUniversity, in his Inaugural Addresslauded the CSIR initiative andparticularly NEIST for organizing suchan educational programme for thetalented school students of this region.

The participating students along with Director, NEIST, Dr P. G. Rao and the organizing committee

Birla Industrial and TechnologicalMuseum (BITM), Kolkata was alsoorganized in the evening, which wasenjoyable and was appreciated by theparents and the students. During theValedictory Session, the students andguardians spoke of their experiences andparticipation certificates were distributed.

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He further congratulated the studentsfor the enthusiasm shown by theirpresence and encouraged them to takefull potential of it. Dr Kantam, Scientist,IICT, Hyderabad in her speech alsoencouraged the students to do goodscience and contribute to nationdevelopment. Later the programme wasconducted in several sessionscomprising of scientific lecture byNEIST scientist, visit to the differentlaboratories of NEIST, students meetscientists, practical training wherestudents performed several projectsunder the guidance of NEIST scientistsand semi-extempore speech competition.After the hectic two-day activities, the

valedictory function was held at NEISTauditorium under the presidentship ofDr P G Rao, Director, NEIST where MrArun Kumar, IAS, Secretary, Indian OilDevelopment Board (IODB), Govt. ofIndia, attended the Function as the ChiefGuest.

Dr Rao in his Welcome Addressexpressed his hope that through theProgramme the students must havereceived a better understanding ofscience. Mr Arun, Kumar, IAS,Secretary, IODB, Govt. of India whileaddressing the students encouragedthem to cultivate inquisitive attitude intheir life towards science. He alsoexpressed his appreciation for the

students for their active participationand congratulated the prize winners aswell as the participants of the semi-extempore speech competition held.

Earlier Dr L Nath, ProgrammeCoordinator, gave a brief report of thetwo-day programme and the prizewinners of the semi-extempore speechcompetition were suitably awarded asDr J C S Kataky, Scientist G &Coordinator of the competitionannounced their names. Later thestudents, escorting teachers andguardians shared their experience, viewsand observations about the programme.The Function concluded with Vote ofThanks by Mr B C Saikia, Scientist.

National Institute of Science Communication AndInformation Resources (NISCAIR), New Delhi

The two days CSIR Programme onYouth for Leadership in Science(CPYLS) was organized by the NationalInstitute of Science Communicationand Information Resources (NISCAIR)during 9-10 February 2011. TheProgramme was attended by sevenmeritorious students from variousschools of Delhi and Uttar Pradeshalong with their parents. Er Anuj Sinha,Director, Vigyan Prasar and Consultant,DST presided over the InauguralFunction as Chief Guest. The dignitarieson the dais were Mrs Deeksha Bist,Scientist G & Coordinator, CPYLSand Dr K. Y. Kavathekar, Scientist G.

The Programme was inauguratedby lighting the lamp jointly by theChief Guest, Er Anuj Sinha and MrsDeeksha Bist along with the invitedstudents. The Function was attended by

all senior scientists of NISCAIR. MrsDeeksha Bist, Coordinator CPYLS,NISCAIR in her Welcome Addressintroduced the gathering about the themeof the Programme. She outlined theimportance of science in today’s worldand encouraged young students todiscover science as an exciting,rewarding and fulfilling career. Duringher address, she described the CPYLSobjective: Building up the scientifictemper at an early age and to instill asense of pride in the achievements ofIndian science through the unique ‘handholding’ efforts made by CSIR adoptingCPYLS.

Er Anuj Sinha, in his InauguralAddress, emphasized igniting the passionof science in young minds and itsrelevance in the context of InternationalYear of Chemistry, 2011. He talked

about the importance of Chemistry inour day-to-day life. While addressingstudents he focused on the alarmingchanges in climate due to pollution,which has directly affected humanbeings. He emphasized, throughexamples and real stories, on theimportance of science. He madehis presentation more interactive byinviting students to fill up the gaps in hisslides based on their interest/understanding of various scientific fields.He encouraged students to analyzetheir thoughts and relate them withtheir passion to have a constructivefuture. He also appreciated the interestof participating students in variedscientific fields. The Inaugural Sessionconcluded with Dr K Y Kavathekar,Scientist G proposing the Vote ofThanks.

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National Science Library (NSL), Mrs V.V. Lakshmi, Head, NSL & NationalScience Digital Library (NSDL)described the services provided,especially for the students. She alsodiscussed about e-journal consortiumand open-access (OA) initiatives ofNSL for research students. Mr AshokKumar Chawla, Head, TranslationDivision interacted with students andwith a brief PowerPoint presentationexplained the activities and servicesavailable at S. V. Marg Campus ofNISCAIR.

The Valedictory Function (at S. V.Marg Campus) was presided by MrsDeeksha Bist, Coordinator CPYLS,along with other senior scientists fromNISCAIR. Mrs Bist in her speechinspired the young students to opt forscience and technology for their career.All the participants expressed theirviews and appreciated the Programme.Mrs Bist felicitated the participatingstudents with certificates andcomplimentary set of books fromNISCAIR. The programme concludedwith the Vote of Thanks proposed byMr Ashok Chawla, Head, TranslationDivision.

In the Introductory Session, Mr G.Mahesh, Scientist EII briefed studentson various scientific activities beingcarried out at both the campuses ofNISCAIR. He highlighted the role ofNISCAIR in dissemination of scienceand as repository of scientificknowledge. The introductionwas followed by a theory session on“Growth of Science in Indiaafter Independence” by Mr HasanJawaid Khan, Editor, Science Reporter.

The theoretical session wasfollowed by an interactive session onthe latest project carried out atNISCAIR, “Science Communicationthrough Multimedia” by Shri GauharRaza. After these sessions, the CPYLSparticipants visited the divisions ofNISCAIR. In Art and Graphics Section,Mrs Neeru Sharma interactedwith students on the application ofmultimedia in information science andtechnology and showed them theformatting of popular science magazinesand books. In the Printing Section, MrNagpal and Mr Pramod Sharmademonstrated various steps involved inthe printing process and the actual4-colour printing on the machines.

Students also visited the Raw MaterialHerbarium Museum (RHM) whereDr H. B. Singh, Head, RHM discussedwith the students about variousexhibits of the museum on naturalproducts.

On the second day, the studentswere taken to National PhysicalLaboratory (NPL), CSIR to visit theTime & Frequency Division to see the“Atomic Clock”. Dr A. Sen Gupta,Scientist H, NPL demonstrated anddiscussed the importance ofmaintenance of Indian Standard Time atglobal level. He also showed the on-going experiments being conducted in hislab on standardization of time withrespect to frequency. After tea, MrsKanika Malik, Scientist C delivered alecture on the “Importance ofIntellectual Property Rights inScience” explaining the importance ofIPR as a tool for the development of anation.

In the afternoon, the students visitedNISCAIR, S. V. Marg Campus.Mr Mukesh Pund, Scientist EIIexplained about SAARCDocumentation Centre (SDC) and therole of NISCAIR in it. On their visit to

CPYLS

The participating students along with the organizing committee

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Platinum Jubilee Award to CFTRI ScientistDr. K. S. M. S. Raghavarao, Head, Food EngineeringDepartment of Central Food Technological ResearchInstitute (CFTRI) has been bestowed with theprestigious Platinum Jubilee Award in ChemicalEngineering by the Institution of Engineers (India). Dr.Rao received the honour in recognition of his eminenceand contribution in the field of Chemical Engineering.Dr. M. P. Sukumaran Nair, Chairman, ChemicalEngineering Board, Institution of Engineers (India) andDr. Ashok Misra, Chairman, Intellectual Ventures andformer Director, IIT, Mumbai presented the Award toDr. Rao at the 26th National Convention of ChemicalEngineers held on 22 October 2010 at Bangalore.

With a Ph.D. from the University Institute ofChemical Technology (UICT), Mumbai, Dr. Raghavaraohad a brief stint of Post-doctoral research at NationalInstitute of Standards and Testing, USA before joiningCFTRI in 1990. The Award is the latest in the list ofnational and international recognition received by Dr.Rao for his achievements in the field of Biotechnologyand Food Engineering.

Dr. K. S. M. S. Raghavarao, Head, Food Engineering, CFTRI being felicitated byDr. M. P. Sukumaran Nair, Chairman, Chemical Engineering Board, Institute of

Engineers (India) and Dr. Ashok Misra, Chairman, Intellectual Ventures and FormerDirector, IIT, Mumbai on being conferred the Platinum Jubilee Award in

Chemical Engineering by the Institute of Engineers (India.) Members ofKarnataka State Centre of Institute of Engineers look on

Japanese Spice Research Society Felicitates CFTRI ScientistDr. K. Srinivasan, Senior Scientist, CFTRI was recentlyfelicitated by the Japanese Society for Spice Research with a Medaland a letter of appreciation for his contribution to Spice Research.A world renown spice researcher, Dr. Srinivasan was invited bythe Japanese Society for Spice Research to present a specialtalk on, Spices for Taste and Flavour: Functional FoodIngredients with Multiple Health Effects, at the Global COESpecial Seminar held during 12-13 November 2010 at theUniversity of Shizuoka, Japan on the special occasion of 25th

Conference of the Japanese Society for Spice Research. Dr.Srinivasan was felicitated by Dr. Tatsuo Watanabe, Chairpersonof the Japan Society of Spice Research and Dr. Yasuyuki Imai,Programme Director of Global COE Programme, University ofShizuoka, Japan. Dr. Srinivasan receiving a medal from Dr. Matsuo Watanabe,

Chairperson of Japan Society for Spice Research

HONOURS & AWARDS

CSIR NEWS94

NCL Receives ICC Acharya P. C. Ray Award forDevelopment of Indigenous Technology

National Chemical Laboratory(NCL), Pune received theAcharya P. C. Ray Award forDevelopment of IndigenousTechnology for the year 2009from Prof. M.M. Sharma at aFunction organized at Mumbaion 30 September 2010. This isthe most prestigious AnnualAward by the Indian ChemicalCouncil (ICC) instituted in1964.

NCL has successfullydeveloped a technology for theproduction of Acrylamidotertiary butyl sulfonic acid (ATBS).ATBS, a water-soluble monomer, ismainly used as a comonomer in polymersused for enhanced oil recovery (EOR),paints and coatings, water treatmentchemicals and as a co-monomer in acrylicfibre for more efficient dye-pick up.

The process chemistry as well asthe basic engineering for the process

was developed at NCL. This processwas consequently commercialized by M/s. Vinati Organic Limited (VOL),Mumbai at their Lote, Chiplun complex.Present capacity of ATBS is beingexpanded by VOL from 10,000 tons perannum (TPA) to 18,000 TPA to makeVOL the largest producer of ATBS inthe world. The process developed at

NCL and implemented byVOL is novel and costeffective. The continuousprocess produces granulardispensing form of ATBS.NCL’s process is protected byfour patents. This work wasperformed at NCL by a teamlead by Shri Prashant Barve.

NCL has been therecipient of several ICC(ICMA) Awards. The currentAward is the fourth PC RayAward being bestowed onNCL. NCL, has during the past

decade, successfully transferred manyinnovative processes to the IndianChemical Industry, resulting in productswhich have found global markets.In recognition of this achievement,ICC also conferred a special citation onVOL for successfully commercializingthe technology for ATBS developed byNCL

Shri P.P. Barve (second from left) receiving the Award fromProf M.M. Sharma

Dr. Srinivas Hotha Selected for the SwarnaJayanti FellowshipDr. Srinivas Hotha of the Division of Organic Chemistry, National Chemical Laboratory (NCL),Pune has been bestowed with the prestigious SwarnaJayanti Fellowship for 2009-2010 in thesubject area of Chemical Sciences. Dr. Hotha is honoured for work on glycochemical biology.

Dr. Hotha has earlier received the Young Scientist Awards from CSIR and INSA. He will bethe second recipient from NCL to be awarded with this Fellowship from the Department of Scienceand Technology (DST), New Delhi. Dr. Hotha has creatively used gold catalysts to synthesizeglycosides from carbohydrates, which could be useful as biological probes.

During this Fellowship, Dr. Hotha would be extending the concept further by developing novelstrategies for glycoconjugates synthesis. This work has resulted in more than 30 research papers

in peer reviewed and internationally reputed journals. The Fellowship provides research and travel support for five years toDr. Srinivas Hotha.

HONOURS & AWARDS

APRIL 2011 95

Prestigious Double Fellowship Awarded toDr. P. G. Rao, Director, NEIST, Jorhat

Dr Paruchuri Gangadhar Rao,Director, NEIST, has beenelected for the prestigiousFNASc 2010 by NationalAcademy of Science India. TheFellowship has been awarded atthe 80th Annual Session of theNational Academy of ScienceIndia.

Dr Rao was also elected for the Award of Fellow of AndhraPradesh Academy of Science (FAPAS) and the same was awardedby the Akademi in recent past during A P Science Congress and AnnualConvention of APAS.

The Awards came as a morale booster for the scientific communityof NEIST as a whole. The members of the staff of NEIST extendedtheir hearty congratulations to the Director upon his covetedachievements.

Dr. U. S. N. Murty HonouredDuring the 4th AnnualConvention of Association ofBiotechnology and Pharmacyheld recently organized atThapar University, Patiala,Dr.U.S.N. Murty, Head,Biology, Indian Institute ofChemical Technology, (IICT),Hyderabad was awarded withFellow of Association ofBiotechnology and Phar-macy for his distinguished anddedicated service to theprofession of Biotechnology and pharmacy.

Dr Murty has also been awarded ‘Gold Medal’ for his best lecturein National Conference on “Emerging Trends in Biopharmaceuticals– Relevance to Environment and Health” that was organized jointlyby the Department of Biotechnology, Thapar University andAssociation of Biotechnology and Pharmacy at Thapar University,Patiala.

NGRI scientists Drs. N. S. K. Murthy,and V. Ananda Rao (both retired) DewashishKumar, K. K. K. Singh and Shakeel Ahmedreceived H. S. Pareek Award-2010 in recent pastduring the 51st Annual General Meeting ofGeological Society of India at Banguluru for theirpaper entitled, Use of Electrical ResistivityTomography in Delineation of VariousGeological Structural Features and Formationsin Different Terrain. They received the Awardfrom Prof. K. S. Valdiya, INSA Golden JubileeResearch Jawaharlal Nehru Center for AdvancesScientific Research, Bangalore.

The Award winning paper deals with anexperimental study using Electrical ResistivityImaging (ERI), which was carried out in coalmining areas near Dhanbad, Jharkhand State.India, assessing the feasibility of finding the barrierthickness and water-logged area in undergroundcoal mines. The ERI technique uses high-densitydata acquisition both laterally and vertically due tothe advantage of multiple number of electrodes.

Along with ERI, mise-à-la-masse (also calledcharged body) technique was also employed atone of the promising sites to find out theconnectivity of water-logged areas and detectionof these old workings from the surfacemeasurements. The interpreted 2D resistivitysections have clearly indicated the water bearingzone(s) along the profile, which was confirmedwith the water level measurements in the nearbyborewells.

H. S. Pareek Award-2010

Dr. U. S. N. Murty, Head Biology is receivingFellow of Association of Biotechnology and

Pharmacy” from Dr. Abhijit Mukherjee Director,Thapar University, Patiala

(Left to right) Dr. N. S. K. Murthy, Dr V. Ananda Rao(both retired), Dr Dewashish Kumar, andProf. K. S. Valdiya presenting the Award

HONOURS & AWARDS

CSIR NEWS96

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Three Scientists of National GeophysicalResearch Institute (CSIR) Hyderabadreceived the prestigious NationalGeoscience Awards-2009 for theirsignificant contributions. The Awardswere presented by Shri M. Hamid Ansari,Honorable Vice President of India in thepresence of Shri Dinsha J. Patel, Hon’bleMinister of State (Independent Charge),Ministry of Mines.

Dr. Syed Masood Ahmad, Scientist‘G’, working in Paleo-climate researchgroup, has generated several new climaticrecords from the North Indian Ocean andthe Indonesian Seas, which are crucial inunderstanding past climate variability andtheir forcing mechanisms. His work onstrontium and neodymium isotopes interrigenous sediments of the Bay ofBengal has shown a connection betweenthe Northeast (winter) monsoon andNorth Atlantic Oscillations (NAO) usingstable carbon and oxygen isotopes fromfossil foraminifera and corals respectively.He has demonstrated the importance ofneodymium isotopes in planktonicforaminifera to infer regional climatic and

National Geoscience Awards-2009 to three NGRI Scientistsmonsoonal changes in the Bay of Bengal.In recognition of the outstandingcontribution in the field of Geo-Environmental studies, NationalGeoscience Award - 2009 is conferredupon Dr. Syed Masood Ahmad.

Dr. M. Ravi Kumar, Scientist ‘F’,working in the Seismology group hasmade significant contributions towardsdevelopment of modern and innovativetechniques in the field of seismology andapplied them to high quality broadbanddata. His study has unravelled the relationbetween the deep structure of thegeological provinces and their evolutionthrough time.

Dr Kumar’s research work related tolithospheric thickness of the gondwanafragments has conclusively brought outthe relatively thin nature of the Indianshield region thereby resolving anoutstanding geodynamic issue pertainingto the causative mechanism for the unique‘fast drift of the Indian plate’ duringMesozoic time. His work on shear waveanisotropy forms the first significant studyof the mantle deformation of the Indian

plate using digital data. In recognition ofhis outstanding contribution in the fieldof Applied Geophysics, NationalGeoscience Award-2009 is conferred uponDr. M. Ravi Kumar.

Dr. D.Venkat Reddy, Scientist ‘F’,working with Paleo Seismology group hascontributed significantly in the field ofground water, solving differenthydrological problems for the last 25years using innovative tools likeenvironmental isotopes, hydrochemicaltracer and carbon-14 dating. He wasinstrumental in postulating and testing ofthe environmental chloride mass balancemethods for groundwater rechargeprocesses, soil gas radonemanometry,delineation of potential groundwaterbearing fracture zones in hard rockterrains and assessment of percolationefficiencies of artificial rechargestructures in different geological terrains,which are relevant to societal development.In recognition of the outstandingcontribution in the field of GroundwaterExploration, National Geoscience Award-2009 is conferred upon Dr. D. Venkat Reddy.

(Left) Dr. Syed Masood Ahmad, Scientist ‘G’, (centre) Dr. Ravi Kumar, Scientist ‘F’ and (right) Dr. D V Reddy, Scientist ‘F’, receiving the National GeoscienceAward-2009 from Shri M. Hamid Ansari, Hon.Vice President of India in the presence of Shri Dinsha J.Patel, Hon. Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Mines

HONOURS & AWARDS