Archive for March 2012
Use white toppingfor roads: Scientist
29 March 2012
Engineers of the Municipal Corporation were given a presentation on the new techniques available for the construction of roads. Binod Kumar, a scientist from the Central Road Research Institute, made the presentation.
Kumar said white topping should be used for construction of the roads. Instead of laying of roads of bitumen, those of concrete could be laid. With white topping, the temperature of the city would come down by around two degrees. The life of the road would be around 30 years while those made of concrete are to be recarpeted every five years. The cost of the road, however, increases by 25 per cent…..
Read more: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/use-white-toppingfor-roads-scientist/929736/
CSIO holds programme on youth for leadership in science
27 March 2012
CHANDIGARH: he Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO), Sector 30, on Monday organised a programme on youth for leadership in science.
Addressing the students, Prof K L Chopra, former director, IIT Kharagpur & IRDEA Chair professor, emphasized that science must change the quality of life. He encouraged the students to develop scientific approach through proper guidance…….
Neeri meet to assess enviroment impact
27 March 2012
NAGPUR: With increasing awareness about environment, society in general and environmental activists in particular have become conscious about the impact of industrial and other development projects.
With a view to equip its own scientists with latest tools and techniques of Environmental Impact and Risk Assessment (EIRA) and scientists from different parts of the country, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (Neeri) is organizing a three-day international conference from Wednesday…..
Read more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/12420295.cms
Engineers told to make eco-friendly products
25 March 2012
JAIPUR:
Chemical engineers have been asked to come up with environment-friendly and sustainable products. The products must on the one hand have specific properties that the scientists look for and, on the other, be environmentally sound, said speakers at a conference on “Technological advancement in chemical and environmental engineering” held at the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, over the weekend.
“The challenge is to find ways to preserve the planet and to clean up the environment,” said Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute Director Chandra Shekhar, the chief guest at the inaugural session. “Today knowledge is increasingly becoming interdisciplinary and solutions to the problems of the industry call for convergence of different branches of science, engineering, technology and computation,” he said……
Read more: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article3221707.ece
Need for new TB drugs
25 March 2012
Public sector participation in discovering, developing and making a drug available at affordable prices may be the only way to find new cures for diseases like TB, says Pof Samir Brahmachari on the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day
Tuberculosis (TB), a raging problem in Europe and Americas till early 20 century, now predominantly affects the developing world where it continues to be a major health problem and is making in roads even into the developed world. Globally, a TB associated death happens every 20 seconds. India has 20 per cent of the global burden of TB. TB is one of the leading causes of mortality in India, with nearly 1000 deaths a day….
Read more: http://www.thehindu.com/health/policy-and-issues/article3220027.ece
Indian universities trail Chinese in research
24 March 2012
NEW DELHI: Deep chasm separates centres of higher learning in two Asian giants
Chinese higher education institutions are three times ahead of their Indian counterparts in research performance, a new comparative study has shown, exposing the deep chasm between the centres of higher learning in two Asian giants.
The top 20 Indian institutes producing doctoral students are way off behind Chinese universities and institutes producing PhDs, according to an analysis by CSIR National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources, here…..
Read more: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/236970/indian-universities-trail-chinese-research.html
Students burn midnight oil to find new TB drug
24 March 2012
KOZHIKODE: Sajeev R, a PG Diploma Cheminformatics student of Malabar Christian College (MCC), has not gone home from his college lab for the last five days.
He, along with other researchers in the Cheminformatics centre, has been logging in more than 18 hours a day on their computer which is linked to the Garuda series of supercomputers based in Bangalore and Pune.
They are building computational models for TB drug discovery by screening millions of chemical molecules to select a limited few, which show promising anti-TB characteristics as part of the Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) initiative led by Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)…..
CSIR-OSDD Partners with TB Alliance to bring New TB Drugs to India
23 March 2012
In advance of World TB Day and on the heels of news of outbreaks of deadly drug-resistant TB in India, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which provides scientific and industrial R&D that maximizes the economic, environmental and societal benefits for the people of India, announced today a Memorandum of Understanding between its Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) initiative and the TB Alliance, an international non-profit organization which develops new, faster-acting, and affordable TB drugs…..
Read more:
City innovator makes MIT Technology Review’s India TR35 list
23 March 2012
A young Chandigarh innovator, Priyanka Sharma, has been chosen to the MIT Technology Review’s India TR35 list of young Technology Innovators under 35 for 2012 for developing plastic biochip electrochemical sensor for immuno-sensing applications
During her assignment at CSIR-funded Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Chandigarh, the 28-year-old researcher looked at developing inexpensive, reliable testing techniques for effective field monitoring of toxic molecules in agricultural products….
CRRI roped in for BRT study
22 March 2012
NEW DELHI: A week after the Delhi high court ordered the city government to carry out a fresh study on the effectiveness of the bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor, Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) has been approached to conduct the study. A senior government official said, “A basic level meeting has already been held with CRRI, where the terms of reference for the study were discussed. By March 30, the agreement should be finalized.” Sources said the study period was six weeks, with CRRI expected to submit the report by May 1…..
CSIR in the news.. 