Archive for February 2012
Bangalore to get Indias fastest supercomputer
28 February 2012
BANGALORE: India’s fastest supercomputer will soon be housed in Bangalore. Sources with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and CSIR Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation (CSIR C-MMACS) told Express, on the eve of National Science Day, that the yet-to-be-named high-performance computing system will be used for genome informatics, geo-science informatics (earth, ocean and atmosphere) and engineering sciences (aerodynamics of planes, development of smart materials and computer-aided drug design)……
Read more: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bangalore-to-get-indias-fastest-supercomputer/234370-60-119.html
NEERI to help safe water project
25 February 2012
NAGPUR: WORRIED AT increasing ground water pollution across country, the Government of India has finalised establishment of Centre of Excellence for water quality at National Environmental Engineering Institute (NEERI) here. As part of proposal, NEERI will set-up two zonal offices, one each specialised for Fluoride (Delhi) and Arsenic (Kolkata) issues, informed Dr Satish Wate, Director, NEERI, recently.This Citizen Journalist talked to Scientist and Head Water Technology and Management Division, and it said, “Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has chosen NEERI, owing to its specialised work force……
Read more: http://www.waterworld.com/index/display/news_display/1611895796.html
CSMCRI to set up TFC RO membrane mfg plant
25 February 2012
BHAVNAGAR: Safe and clean water would be much cheaper now as Bhavnagar’s Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) is going to set up a plant in Bhavnagar.
The 2,000 sqm/day thin film composite (TFC) reverse osmosis (RO) membrane and spiral modules manufacturing plant will come up in Chitra Industrial Estate here in Bhavnagar.
New Delhi-based Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) sanctioned the project to CSMCRI, which is one of the constituent laboratories of CSIR……
Natural solution to mosquito menace
25 February 2012
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: One night of sleeping with a mosquito coil switched on produces the effect of smoking around 75 to 137 cigarettes.
Chemicals from a vaporiser may just be more harmful than a mosquito bite. But ignoring the 400 breeds of mosquitoes in Kerala, most of which are bad news on the health front, is not an option.
…. “There are 400 breeds of mosquitoes in India and Kerala is the only state which has all the 400 breeds,” says John Thomas, CEO, Strategi Labs.
“When I had trouble with the vaporisers I contacted the CIMAP (Central Institute of Medical and Aromatic Plants) and enquired if they have a natural chemical-free solution. It happened that they had such a repellent, which would work for two hours.
So I tied up with the scientist there to see if we could extend the use to 8-12 hours. It was a very difficult project because every monsoon, there will be a new breed.”………
China far ahead of India in science: PM
26 February 2012
Washington: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who vowed last month to more than double India’s R&D spending to $8 billion a year by 2017, has expressed concern over countries like China overtaking India in the field of science.
“Over the past few decades, India’s relative position in the world of science had been declining, and we have been overtaken by countries like China,” Singh declared in an interview with America’s top “Science” magazine. ….
Read more: http://zeenews.india.com/news/technology/china-far-ahead-of-india-in-science-pm_760661.html
CSIR-NEIST and USTM sign MoU to make NE technology vibrant
24 Februar 2012
JORHAT: An MoU was signed between CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST) and University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM) and other institutions under Education Research & Development Foundation (ERDF) here on Friday.
“Since CSIR-NEIST and ERDF are both working towards the goal of regional development through focused attention on the youth of the region, it was felt that synergizing their efforts and endeavours would multiply their achievements in manifold ways. CSIR-NEIST and ERDF will partner in all development activities, share resources and organize regular programmes, in which scientists from CSIR-NEIST will work together with the faculty and research scholars of USTM & ERDF institutions and evolve new strategies for joint action to make the region science and technology vibrant,” P G Rao, NEIST director said……
Expert explains ways to keep cancer at bay
25 February 2012
If you are one of those who tend to avoid garlic, broccoli, ginger, pomegranate or carrots, then you may have to do a rethink.
For the chemicals that give these fruit and vegetables their character — phytochemicals — are the ones that save you from many types of cancer. These various compounds give foods their color, taste and smell.
This was revealed to a large number of people who attended a cancer awareness symposium organized by the Riyadh-based Association of Indian Researchers & Scientists (AIRS) Thursday night. The topic of the symposium was “Cancer: A major health issue worldwide.
The symposium was addressed by renowned Indian cancer specialist Dr. Yogeshwar Shukla, deputy director and head of Proteomics Laboratory at the CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research…..
Read more: http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article579276.ece
Simple sensitive TNT detection
23 February 2012
Indian scientists have created a gel that gives a fluorescence response when exposed to particles of explosive trinitrotoluene – better known as TNT. By adding the gel to filter paper, they have shown how to make a cheap system for quick and easy TNT detection that is nonetheless highly sensitive.
……Ayyappanpillai Ajayaghosh and his team at the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology in Trivandrum decided to investigate whether fluorescent gels could be used to detect TNT. They used OPVPF, a perfluoroarene based gelator known to form arene-perfluoroarene interactions in a brick wall arrangement. The team suspected that such an organisation might result in fluorescence quenching by the electron deficient aromatic TNT molecules…..
Read more:http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2012/February/tnt-explosives-detection.asp
Sustainable development depends on extra-ordinary energy efficiency : Dr Roy
23 February 2012
KOLKATA: “Extra-ordinary Energy Efficiency is the key word for sustainable growth,” Dr. Siddhartha Roy, Director if Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB) said today while inaugurating a ‘National Seminar on Biotechnology for Sustainable Development’ in Kolkata. The two-day informative national seminar is organized by the Biuotechnology department of the Heritage Institute of Technology Kolkata to ponder over the way biotechnology can play a greater role for the sustainable development of the mankind….
India’s “Science for All” Academy
In 1905, Sir William Osler, the most influential physician of his time, stepped down from the medical faculty of Johns Hopkins University at the age of 55. At his farewell, he emphasized that the “effective, moving, vitalizing work of the world is done between the ages of 25 and 40—these 15 golden years of plenty.” Many of us, who are old but still active like myself, may like to strongly disagree. But the power of the creative prime in this age group is irrefutable. Therefore, when the Global Young Academy was established in 2010 to catalyze the formation of national Young Academies that promote leadership by a country’s most outstanding scientists aged 30 to 40 (www.globalyoungacademy.org), it was enthusiastically applauded by the international science community. One country that urgently needs a Young Academy is India, a nation of 1.2 billion people, 55% of whom are under 25 years old. What would be a good design for a Young Academy of India?…..
Read more: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/335/6071/891.full
CSIR in the news.. 