issn 0409-7467 ne - niscair news 270 december 2015 r & d highlights pressure sensors encompass a...

Volume 65 No. 23 & 24 December 2015website: http://www.csir.res.in

I n T h i s I s s u e

ISSN 0409-7467

Newsletter of the CouNCil of sCieNtifiC & iNdustrial researCh

CHENNAI caved in to the onslaught of torrential rains

during the last week of November 2015. The heavy and continuous downpour continued well into the first week of December marooning vast regions of the city, crippling power supplies, flooding the Chennai international airport, Egmore and Central railway stations and the Chennai Metropolitan Bus Terminus.

The city virtually ground to a halt as its major highways and arterial roads went under water burdening its citizens with untold misery and devastation.

With its impeccable track record of emergency interventions during major calamities in the country, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was once again quick to step in with much-needed help and relief.

Even though three of its Chennai-based laboratories — CSIR-CLRI, CSIR-SERC & CSIR (Madras Complex) – were also badly affected by the extensive rainfalls, teams from several CSIR labs from other parts of the country swiftly descended on the beleaguered city with support and succor.

In The News

CSIR Responds to the Chennai Tragedy265In The News

• CSIR Responds to the Chennai Tragedy

• Dr. Harsh Vardhan Appreciates Working Strategy of CSIR-IICT

Foundation Day Ceebrations• CSIR-CSIO• CSIR-IIIMI• CSIR-NBRI

288Announcements

279 Training Programmes

281

286 Honours & Awards

270R&D Highlights• Polysilicon Piezoresistive

Pressure Sensor developed by CSIR-CEERI

• CSIR-CEERI comes up with MEMS Magnetometer

• CSIR-CEERI develops Gyroscope for MAV

Technology Transfer• NRDC Inks MoA with

CSIR-IICT Hyderabad on Technology Transfer

273

285 Events

Conferences• International Conference on

New Horizons in Biotechnology organised by CSIR-NIIST

274

Workshops/Symposia• CSIR-IICT hosts Indo-French

Seminar

278

Chennai Aerial view — massive disaster

CSIR News

CSIR NewsDECEMBER 2015266

In The News

Flood Relief – CSIR’s RoleWith the ground floor of its staff quartersinundated by water, CSIR-CLRI formed aRelief Work Team on the midnight of 30th

November 2015 ensuring the safety of theirstaff. Not only was food prepared in theCLRI Departmental canteen supplied topeople in the staff quarters, food packetswere also distributed to other people affectedas also the police and rescue teams in theKotturpuram area (behind CLRI).

On 2nd December 2015, Dr. GirishSahni, DG-CSIR directed CSIR-CFTRI tosend relief food material to CSIR-CLRI for

distribution in the surrounding areas withthe help of the CLRI relief team. On thedirection of DG-CSIR, CSIR laboratories(NEERI, NCL, IICT, CECRI, CSMCRI,etc.) also chipped in to facilitate the provisionof clean drinking water and other reliefmaterials to the affected people.

The very next day, 3rd December 2015,CSIR-CFTRI dispatched a containerconsisting of about 5 tonnes of foodmaterials (chapathi with tomato chutney,poha, cup cakes, bun, corn flakes, water &energy drinks) and another consignment of10 tonnes on 5 th December. The foodmaterials were distributed among thosestranded in various parts of the city by teamsfrom CSIR-CLRI and CSIR-CFTRI inclose tandem with city officials. Focusingon instant energy boosting foods, CSIR-CFTRI prepared gul pavate (halwa made ofwheat). Energy powder was also suppliedin packs which can be consumed by justmixing in water.

On the request of the ChennaiCorporation for supply of water sachets orbottles to nearly 25,000 people affected inthe Adyar Zone, CSIR-CFTRI immediatelydispatched water bottles, which wasdistributed along with food packets amongthe affected people in nearby old-agehomes and orphanages, and even as faraway as Cuddalore, which is about 170 kmaway from Chennai.

Chennai Airport & Railway Station

Kotturpuram-~400 mts away from CLRI

CSIR News DECEMBER 2015 267

Relief materialfrom

CSIR-CFTRI beingtransported toflooded areas


In the NewsAmong the numerous other articles

distributed by the CSIR teams among thebadly affected people were bed sheets,t-shirts, blankets, candles and matchboxes.

CSIR’s intervention, however, does notend with provision of emergency supplies.CSIR’s labs are gearing themselves up foreventualities such as spread of epidemicsonce the water starts to recede. This wouldbe ensured through the supply of hygienicand nutritive food and clean drinking water.CSIR labs such as the NationalEnvironmental Engineering ResearchInstitute (NEERI), Nagpur; the Central Salt& Marine Chemicals Research Institute(CSMCRI), Bhavnagar and the NationalChemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune havealready rushed indigenously-developedinstant water filters for production of potablewater from impure water.

The filters will be installed at locationswhere people can easily collect treated waterfor consumption. Arrangements are beingmade to buy tanks for storage of treatedwater. Once emergency measures are overCSIR plans to hand over the water filtrationfacility to the Corporation.

CSIR-IICT dedicated a bus forinstalling a unit of their indigenouslydeveloped membrane technology forwater purification that can produce1000 litres per hour to cater to the hugeneed of drinking water for the people inChennai.

In the past too, CSIR institutes haveresponded to many natural calamities likethe earthquake in Gujarat, Bihar floods,Orissa cyclone, tsunami on the eastern coast,floods in West Bengal and most recentlythe Uttarkashi floods in 2013.

Union Minister for S&T and EarthSciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, who visitedthe CSIR-Indian Institute of ChemicalTechnology (CSIR-IICT), Hyderabadappreciated the efforts of scientists ofCSIR-IICT in working in diverse areasof research and formulating them intoaction.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan Appreciates WorkingStrategy of CSIR-IICT as a Perfect Model

Accompanied by Dr. S.Chandrasekhar, Director, CSIR-IICT andDr. Ahmed Kamal, OutstandingScientist, the Minister met heads of thedepartments of CSIR-IICT, Industrymembers and budding entrepreneurs. TheMinister appreciated CSIR-IICT for itsconcerted efforts in collaboration withindustries for developing successfulmodels of technology development anddeployment.

The Industry participation includedrepresentatives from Piramal EnterprisesLtd., Sigma Aldrich, GodavariKnowledge Park and BDMA, BioArtisLtd., SAARUM, Alfa Life Sciences,AGTC Biotech Ltd, Alpha Enterprises,Stride Organics and Incogen. Some ofthe private sector participation wasfrom start-up companies who havelicensed CSIR-IICT‘s know-how,process and technology for furthercommercialization.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan addressing the gathering


CSIR-IICT has, over the past 70 years,been instr umental in addressingnumerous scientific challenges and hasprovided innovative solutions toproblems of Indian industries in the areaof drugs & pharmaceuticals,agrochemicals, biomaterials & deliverysystems, polymer materials for functionalcoatings, biodigesters for wastemanagement, water purification,semiochemicals, nutraceuticals, etc. Thelaboratory has been successful inproviding integrated and total solutionsfrom lab to commercial scale for specialtychemicals. Some of the recent successstories of the laboratory includetechnologies developed for hydrazinehydrate, benzaldehyde and for t-butyltoluene, anisole and their derivatives.

The Minister also met scientists ofthe laboratory who are turning intoentrepreneurs by spinning-offtechnologies that include Mg-basedecofriendly rechargeable batteries,platform for enzymes technologies forpharmaceutical and agricultureapplications, solar-powered hybrid air-conditioner, etc., developed by themunder the start-up programme recentlyannounced by the Prime Minister.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan expressedhappiness at the focus given by CSIR-IICT under the Dehradun Declarationaiming at the GOI initiatives and laudedthe R&D efforts of the laboratory underthe Make in India, Smart Cities, Swasth,Swachh, Samarth and Sashakth Bharathas per the Dehradun Declaration. Inappreciation of the laboratory’sperformance, he suggested “that this kindof a working strategy of this lab couldbe a perfect model to be replicated byother CSIR labs, because normally a hugegap is noticed between technologicaladvancement and translating them for thewelfare of people.”

Dr. Harsh Vardhan visited thevarious departments of the laboratory

and urged scientists to optimally managescientific focused activities that can bemeasurable leading to perceptible resultsin well-defined time-frames. He urged thescientific community to be moreproactive, think and produce ideas,discuss and convert the ideas into theproformas of the programs initiated bythe Government of India under theleadership of the Prime Minister.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan visitingthe facilities at CSIR-IICT

The Minister also cautioned thescientific community on the duplicationof similar work by several institutionsdue to lack of awareness. He emphasizedthat “reorientation of mind sets fromcasual to sincere by putting heart and soulis essential to considerably reduce thetimelines for deliverables”. He suggestedinternal brainstorming sessions alongwith the younger colleagues to generatea database of ideas from which a few canbe picked up for developing intosuccessful models and provide solutionsto meet the needs of the country.

The Minister, while appreciatingCSIR-IICT’s strong connect with thepublic, emphasized the importance ofreaching out the technologies developedto the society.


R & D Highlights

Pressure sensors encompass a wideapplication spectrum and are used invarious applications such as biomedical,ocean depth measurement, and aerospace.Silicon-based pressure sensors sufferfrom junction leakage at highertemperature. Polysilicon-based piezoresis-

R&D Highlights

Polysilicon Piezoresistive Pressure Sensordeveloped by CSIR-CEERI

tive pressure sensors are useful for high-temperature applications as thepiezoresistors are isolated from eachother by an oxide layer.

Pressure sensors with differentdiaphragm sizes were fabricated at theCSIR-Central Electronics ResearchInstitute (CEERI), Pilani for pressure rangeof 0-30 bar and the piezoresistors wereplaced at optimised high stress regions.This methodology allowed choosing themost suitable design with desiredsensitivity and linearity after experimentalevaluation. A custom made jig wasfabricated and the pressure sensor die(mounted on the header) was placed insidethe jig for providing the package for sensorstatic characterisation. This sensorarrangement for packaging is illustrated inFig. 1. All the sensors were characterisedat three different temperatures (-5 oC, 25oC and 55 oC). The block schematic ofthe characterisation setup is shown inFig. 2.

Fig. 2: Block diagram of pressure sensortesting setup

Fig. 1: Packaging of the pressure sensor(a) Fabricated pressure sensors

(b) Pressure sensor chip wire bonded onheader (c) Packaged sensor inside jig

with ¼ inch pressure

Sensorchip

Header

Pressureport

Top partBottom part(c)

(a) (b)

Pressurecontroller

(DH Budenberg) Temperaturechamber

(ESPEC Corp.)

DC powersupply

MultimeterOutput

Input

Highpressure

gascylinder

Specifications

Pressure range : 0-30 BarSensing : PiezoresistivePiezoresistor material : PolysiliconDiaphragm shape : SquareDiaphragm edge : 1000-1600 µmlength

Characterisation

Temperatures‘ : -5oC, 25oC& 55oC

Sensitivity : 2.31-7.22 mV/BarLinearity : 0.22-6.39 %/FSHysteresis : < 0.1 %/FS


MEMS Magnetometer is a device that canmeasure the magnetic field amplitude anddirection. In the current technologicalcontext, MEMS technology can be usedto develop sensors that are small in size,consume low power and are easy tofabricate at low cost. The ability to detectchange or variation in magnetic fieldopens a wide application spectrumranging from consumer electronics to thestrategic sector.

In line with the requirements of thestrategic sector for navigation, CSIR-Central Electronics Research Institute(CEERI), Pilani has designed anddeveloped MEMS-based magnetometerusing wafer bonding technology.

The structure was a resonant beamfixed at its four supporting arms. SEMimage of the fabricated structure isshown in Fig. 1. The resonant frequencyof the device was characterised usingLaser Doppler Vibrometer (PolytecMSA-500) by electrically exciting it.

Fig. 2 shows the frequency responsecharacteristic of the device with andwithout the presence of magnetic field.The resonant frequency was found to be

CSIR-CEERI comes up withMEMS Magnetometer

Fig. 1: SEM image of the released structure

Fig. 2: Frequency response characteristics

Fig. 3: Vibration mode of the device characterised using LDV

Specifications

Beam Length : 496 µmBeam Width : 46 µmThickness : 3 µmCavity : 2 µmHole : 8 µm x 8 µmChip Size : 2.4 mm x 2.4 mm

~108 kHz from the vibration mode ofthe str ucture, as depicted in theFig. 3.

0.5

0.45

0.4

0.35

0.3

0.25

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0.550 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140

Frequency (kHz)

Dis

plac

emen

t (nm

)

Without fiels

With fiels


R & D Highlights/Technology Transfer

Under the CSIR network project, a taskto develop gyroscopes for Micro AirVehicle (MAV) was taken up by CSIR-CEERI in collaboration with CSIR-NAL. The biggest challenge of theproject was to reduce the operatingvoltage of the device to less than 3.3 V.

At the end of an extensive R&Dactivity, a two-gimbal torsional gyroscopestructure was designed to overcome thelimitat ion of current surfacemicromachining process, allowing it tobe excited with desired voltage levels andincreasing its sensitivity to angular rate.The device was fabricated by SU-8 basedUV-LIGA process having 8 µm thickNi-Fe as the key structural layer.

CSIR-CEERI develops Gyroscope for MAV

The SEM images of one of thefabricated devices are shown in Fig. 1.The prototype was also characterised foramplitude and phase spectral responsesusing Laser Doppler Vibrometer (PolytecMSA-500).

The resonance frequencies of driveand sense oscillators were observed atabout 8.24 kHz and 7.76 kHz, respectivelyagainst the mode-matched designfrequency of 8 kHz as shown in Fig. 2.This device can operate at less than 1 Vunder vacuum condition.

Fig. 1: (a) Complete SEM image ofthe fabricated device (b) Closer SEM image

Fig. 2: (a) Frequency response of drive oscillator(b) Frequency response of sense oscillator

8

6

2

4

0

Frequency (kHz)

Velo

city

(deg

/s)

Velo

city

(deg

/s)

0

1

2

3

4

5 10 15 20 25 30 5 10 15 20 25 30Frequency (kHz)

(a) (b)ExperimentalAnalytical

ExperimentalAnalytical

Specifications

Technology : UV-LIGAChip size : 4 mm x 4 mmOuter width of the : 484.46 µmstructureOuter length of the : 828.43 µmstructureThickness of the : 8 µmstructureAir-gap : 3 µmResonance frequency : 8 kHzOperating voltage : <3.3 V


The National Research Develop-ment Corporation (NRDC), anenterprise of the Department ofScientific & Industrial Research,Ministry of Science & Technology,Govt. of India, New Delhi hasentered into a Memorandum ofAgreement (MoA) with the CSIR-Indian Institute of ChemicalTechnology Hyderabad (CSIR-IICT)for marketing the inventions/innovations, patents, formulations,know-how/processes developed byCSIR-IICT and also collection ofPremia and Royalties arising fromthese activities.

CSIR-IICT during its seventyyear journey has made its mark as adynamic, innovative and resultoriented R&D organization inchemical and allied sciences andtechnology. It has emerged as areliable destination of chemical andbiotech industries and its clientelespans all corners of the globe. Theresearch efforts during the seventyyears sojourn with science hasresulted in development of severalinnovative processes for a variety ofproducts necessary for humanwelfare such as drugs, agrochemicals,food, organic intermediates,adhesives, materials etc.

In terms of research outputs,CSIR-IICT has an outstandingrecord in research publications,patents and technology packages. Itpresently occupies the top spot in

Technology Transfer

NRDC Inks MoA with CSIR-IICTHyderabad on Technology Transfer

Chemical Science research in Indiain all such research performancemetrics. The main strength of CSIR-IICT is its rich pool of scientists andPhD students numbering over 600.CSIR-IICT has active collaborationswith several countries includingFrance, Germany, UK, Switzerland,Italy, USA, Australia, Japan, Koreaetc., and several students havebenefitted from various exchangevisit and post-doctoralopportunities.

CSIR-IICT has generated a largenumber of technologies, know-how/processes which can be transferredto industr ies for commercialexploitation and for social benefits.Under this MoA, NRDC will workwith CSIR-IICT to commercialise/transfer the technologies developedby CSIR-IICT.

Chairman & Managing DirectorNRDC Dr. H. Purushothamannouncing the MoA said thatNRDC has been serving the nationfor more than six decades indevelopment, promotion andcommercialisation of technologiesemanating from R&D organizationand academia. It has so far licensedtechnologies to more than4800 entrepreneurs/companies inthe country in almost all sectors ofindustry and provided technicaland financial assistance for filingabout 1700 patents in India andabroad.


Conferences

The International Conference on NewHorizons in Biotechnology 2015 (NHBT-2015) was organized by the CSIR-National Institute for InterdisciplinaryScience and Technology (NIIST),Thiruvananthapuram jointly with BiotechResearch, India (www.brsi.in) duringNovember 22-25, 2015 featuring the latestdevelopments in the frontier areas ofbiotechnology, including industrialbiotechnology, biofuels and bioenergy,agricultural biotechnology, bio-technology in diagnostics andtherapeutics, biotechnology inenvironmental remediation and wastemanagement at Hotel Residency Tower,Thiruvananthapuram.

The conference brought togetherleading scientists and technologists fromindustry and academics in the area ofbiotechnology and allied subjects toshare their thoughts and views on varioustopics and to develop possiblecollaborative linkages in cutting-edgeareas of biotechnology. The conferencewas a mega event and one of the seriesof such events organized every year byBRSI headquartered at CSIR-NIISTTrivandrum.

Conferences

International Conference on New Horizons inBiotechnology organised by CSIR-NIIST

The conference was attended by about600 delegates from across the world. Theline-up of speakers consisted ofinternational experts such as PatrickHallenbeck from University of Montreal,Canada; Robin Anderson from the USDepartment of Agriculture; MohamedTaherzadeh from University of Boras,Sweden; GR Castro from University ofLa-Plata, Argentina; Claude-GuillesDussap from University Blaise Pascal,France; Michael Bott from Institute ofBio and Geo Sciences, Germany; AndresFloto from University of Cambridge,UK; DJ Lee from National TaiwanUniversity Taiwan; Hao Huu Ngo fromAustralia; Christian Larroche andPhilippe Michaud from PolytechClermont Ferrand, Institut Pascal, France;Michael Herrmann from Germany, etc.

Some renowned Indian scientistswho attended the Conference includedCS Nautiyal from NBRI, Lucknow; DrDB Sahoo, IBSD, Imphal; RS Sangwan,CIAB, Mohal; Javed Agrewala, IMTECHChandigarh; S Venkata Mohan, CSIR-IICT Hyderabad; T Bhaskar, CSIR-IIP,Dehradun; Pramod Wangikar, IITBombay; IS Thakur, JNU, New Delhi; SNUpadhyay, BHU, Varanasi; SwaroopSarangan, Reliance Industries Ltd, etc.

The conference was also attended byIndia’s leading industrial R&D houses.There were 24 technical sessions,organized into three parallel sessions eachday with a total of 106 invited lectureson the most advanced topics in differentdisciplines.

The conference was inaugurated on22nd November at 5.30 pm in the Galaxy,Hotel Residency Tower. In his welcomeaddress, Prof. Ashok Pandey, Chairman,A glimpse of the opening session


NHBT-2015 mentioned that the NHBTforum, which was holding its sixth editionof four-yearly Biotechnology Conferencebeing organized by CSIR-NIIST incollaboration with the Biotech ResearchSociety, India has been extremelysuccessfully in attaining its aims ofdisseminating the knowledge anddeveloping networking and collaborationacross the globe, not only for scientificR&D but also for industrial linkages.

In his inaugural address, Dr.Ajayaghosh, Director, CSIR-NIISTinaugurating the conference emphasisedthe need for need-based research, whichaddressed the welfare of the society atlarge. Dr. K. Madhavan Nampoothiri,Convener, NHBT-2015 provided thedetails of the scientific programme andDr. Rajeev Sukumaran, Co-Convenerprovided the details of the social

Dr. A. Ajayaghosh inaugurating the Conference

Prof. D.J. Lee addressing the delegates

programmes and generalinformation. Subse-quently, NHBT-2015abstracts book and BRSIYearbook 2015 werereleased by the dignitarieson the dais.

Prof. D.J. Lee,Chairman, IFIBiop, Prof.C.G. Dussap CharterPresident, IFIBiop andProf. D. Madamwar,President, BRSI felicitatedthe gathering. Subse-quently, the annual awardsfunction of the BRSI washeld in which awardsunder different categorieswere declared and givenaway by the dignitaries onthe dais.

Prof. Datta Madamwar addressingthe delegates

Release of BRSI Yearbook 2015


Conferences This was followed by theinauguration of the mini-exhibition byDr. Ajayaghosh, Prof. Lee and Prof.Dussap in the lobby of the hotel, whichshowcased the stalls from Elsevier UK,Kash Biotech, Hi-Media, ResearchcoBooks, and Crescent. This was followedby a cultural programme in whichstudents from Gulbarga, Patiala andTrivandrum presented various classicaland cinematic dances, including a group

song by the CSIR-NIIST TeamBiotechstudents.

The highlights of the conferencewere two major symposia – one onBiomass and biorefineries, and the secondon Mycobacterium and infectious diseases.

The former addressed the globalchallenges in energy and the role of plantbiomass based renewable fuel alternativesand the futuristic bio-refinery conceptsto herald a global carbohydrate economy

to break free from thepetroleum crux to attainsustainability and a greenerworld. The latter addressedtuberculosis and otherinfectious diseases, whichhave particular relevance tothe developing andunderdeveloped nations.This covered various topics,including the latestbreakthroughs in theunderstanding of thesediseases, and the currentand futuristic interventionsusing cutting edge bio-technology.

Besides these two majorsymposia, the conferencewas unique in having anindustry-young researcherinteractive session on 25th

November 2015 where thebudding young researchershad an opportunity to

Inauguration of the exhibition A glimpse of the exhibition

BRSI Annual Awards

Overseas Fellow award Dr. Sunil Kaul, AIST, JapanHonorary Fellow Prof. Kasturi Datta, JNU New DelhiFellow Dr. R.S. Prakasham, CSIR-IICT Hyderabad,

Prof. R.S. Verma, IIT Chennai &Dr Shailendra K Saxena, CSIR-CCMBHyderabad

Life-Time achievement award Prof. S.N. Upadhyay, BHU Varanasi &Prof. P. Gunasekaran, MKU Madurai

Woman Scientist award Dr. K. Pandima Devi, Alagappa University,Karaikudi

Young Scientist award Dr. Amit Mishra, Devi Ahilya University,Indore

AU-CBT Excellence awards Mr G.N. Nikhil, CSIR-IICT Hyderabad;for research scholars Ms Leya Thomas, CSIR-NIIST,

Trivandrum; Nagarajan Raju, IIT Chennai &Mr Suresh Babu, CSIR-IICT Hyderabad

Malaviya Memorial award Prof Rintu Banerjee, IIT Kharagpurfor Senior Faculty

Malaviya Memorial award Dr. Rajesh Rastogi, Chulalongkornfor Young Faculty University, Bangkok, Thailand


interact with the top industryrepresentatives to address their queriesand concerns. This session was moderatedby Dr. Narayanan Suresh, Group Editor,Biospectrum and had Dr. SwaroopSarangan, Reliance Industries Ltd,Mumbai; Priyangshu M. Sarma, BTTechnologies, Guwahati and MrMahendra Savadikar, HTBS, Pune aspanellists.

There were about 400 posterpresentations in three days, which coveredareas including industrial biotechnology,biofuels and biorefinery, environmentalbiotechnology, food and agriculturalbiotechnology, medical biotechnology,basic and applied molecular biology andbioinformatics.

Best posters in each session receivedthe Elsevier poster awards or BRSI posterawards. The major work presented in theconference would be published in thespecial issues of leading journals –Bioresource Technology, Renewable Energy andBiologia.

The closing session of the conferencewas held at 4.30 pm on 25th November2015, in which some 425 delegates werepresent. Dr. Sheel Nuna, DirectorGeneral (India), Queensland Universityof Technology, Australia was the guestof honour.

During the session, the Best paperawards (2014) for 10 top cited authorsfor Bioresource Technology wasannounced by Dr. Katherine Eve,Executive Publishing Editor, Elsevier,who also gave away the Elsevier BestPosters awards to the winners. NHBTBest Poster awards were given by Dr.Sheel Nuna and Dr. Ajayaghosh. Prof.Datta Madamwar announced IITMumbai as the venue for the XIIIConvention of the BRSI to be heldduring December 8-11, 2016.

Prof. Pramod Wangikar, as theconvenor of the convention made apresentation on the outline and plans and

Industry-Young Researchers Interactive session panelists (from Left) Swaroop Sarangan,Narayanan Suresh, Mahendra Vadikar and P.M. Sarma

Dr. Sheel Nuna addressingthe delegates in the closing session


Seminars

Prof. Ashok Pandey giving the concludingremarks in the closing session

invited the members of the Society toattend it. The conference came to a closewith concluding remarks from Dr. A.Ajayaghosh and Prof. Ashok Pandey.

The conference was participated andsupported by the International Forum forIndustrial Bioprocesses (IFIBiop);International Organizat ion for

Biotechnology and Bioengineering(IOBB); world’s leading scientificpublishing house – Elsevier, UK;Department of Science and Technology,New Delhi; Department ofBiotechnology, New Delhi; Kerala StateCouncil for Science Technology andEnvironment, Trivandrum; State Bank ofTravancore, Trivandrum; Springer;Anchrom Enterprises (I) Pvt. Ltd.,Mumbai; Biotech Express, New Delhi;Crescent Lab Equipments, Cochin;Eppendorf India Ltd; Hi-mediaLaboratories Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai; InexusBiotech Pvt. Ltd., Chennai; InkarpInstruments Pvt. Ltd.; InvitrogenBioservices India Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore;MARS Bioanalytical Pvt. Ltd., Delhi;Reliance Industries Ltd., Mumbai;Researchco Books & Periodicals Pvt. Ltd.,Delhi; Sisco Research Laboratories Pvt.Ltd., Mumbai; Thermo Fisher ScientificIndia Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai. Kash Biotechwas the media partner for the conference.

The CSIR-Indian Institute of ChemicalTechnology (IICT) organized a four-dayIndo-French seminar on Catalysis forGreen and Sustainable Chemistr y.Inaugurating the seminar on 4 November2015, Dr. Mukesh Kumar, Director, IndoFrench Centre for the Promotion ofAdvanced Research (IFCPAR), NewDelhi, enumerated the IFCPAR’s role inpromoting bilateral cooperation betweenIndia and France in Science &Technology.

The Indo French Centre for thePromotion of Advanced Research(IFCPAR) receives funding from theDepartment of Science & Technology(DST), Government of India and theMinistry of Foreign Affairs, Government

Workshops/Symposia

CSIR-IICT hosts Indo-French Seminar

of France. As the new director of thiscentre, he reiterated his commitment toaccelerate the growth of the Centre inpromoting collaborative researchbetween India and France in cutting edgeScience and Technology with Make inIndia concept. A conference abstractbook was also released by him on thisoccasion.

While Prof. S. Chandrasekaran,honorary professor, Indian Institute ofScience (IISc), Bangalore presided overthe function, Dr. B. Mahipal Reddy, ChiefScientist & Head of Inorganic andPhysical Chemistry division at CSIR-IICTand also the Indian Coordinatorwelcomed the gathering and detailedabout the theme of the seminar. It was


also informed that the seminar wasdedicated to two most distinguishedscientists from India and France, namely,Bharat Ratna Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalamand Nobel Laureate Prof. Yves Chauvin,who died recently.

Prof. Pierre Dixneuf, the FrenchCoordinator explained the genesis of theseminar and the participation of expertsfrom Industry, R&D and Academic

institutions on the chosen research topicsto be deliberated at this seminar.

There were 35 lecture presentationson topics primarily focused on recentadvances in catalysis science andtechnology for sustainable development.Development of sustainable processes isincreasingly perceived as one of the mostfeasible ways to mitigate global warmingand diversify the energy sources.

A two-day training programme onmaking of agarbattis (incense sticks)based on CSIR-CIMAP technology usingpowder of waste flowers was organisedon 26 and 27 October, 2015 in villageSethumadai situated in Karmadai ForestRange, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Thetraining programme was sponsored bythe Tribal Co-operative MarketingDevelopment Federation of IndiaLimited (TRIFED), Ministry of TribalAffairs, Government of India. Thirtytribal (Irula tribe) women took part inthe training.

Training Programmes

Training to Tribal Women onAgarbatti-making on CSIR-CIMAP Technology

Inaugural session in progress

Tribal women learning agarbatti making techniqueTraining session


Training Programmes

A group of tribal women with packed agarbattis

The programme was inaugurated byDr. T.S.K. Meenakshisundaram,Chancellor of Avinashligam Universityand Chairman, Avinashilingam JanShikshan Sansthan (AJSS), Coimbatore.Shri V. Ramanathan, Regional Manager,TRIFED, Bangalore and Dr. T. J.

Renganathan, Vice Chairman, Shri V.Balasubramanian, Director and Smt. S.Suriyakala, Programme Officer, AJSS,Coimbatore were also present.

Dr. R.P. Bansal, Principal Scientistand Dr. A.K. Singh, Consultant, CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow conducted thetraining. All the participating tribalwomen took keen interest in learning ofagarbatti making technique throughhand-rolling followed by perfuming andpackaging.

TRIFED will be promoting the largescale manufacturing and marketing ofagarbattis for providing additionallivelihood opportunity to the tribalwomen besides contributing to the‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ through theimplementing agency AvinashilingamJan Shikshan Sansthan (AJSS), Coimbatore.

Science teachers from eight secondaryand higher schools from Goa as well asMangalore participated in the “FacultyTraining and Motivation” programmeconducted at CSIR-National Institute ofOceanography (CSIR-NIO), Goa from17th to 20th November 2015. The purposeof this programme was to

Training for Science Teachers at CSIR-NIO

re-energize teachers, expose them todifferent fields of Oceanography, hands-on research experience and increasedknowledge about the world of oceans.

The training consisted of lecturetopics such as coastal zone management,underwater cultural heritage, and latesttrends in biotechnology. The programme


included demonstration of scientificequipments as well as laboratory visitsincluding marine archeology museumwith artifacts from ancient maritimeequipments. The teachers took part ingroup discussions and also conductedmock role play on environmental issues.Researchers working in independentlaboratories provided pro bono mentoringin diverse fields of oceanography.

The programme which is funded bythe Council of Scientific and Industrial

Research (CSIR), New Delhi, is an annualoutreach programme of CSIR-NIOunder which 170 teachers from variousschools across Goa have been trainedsince its inception in 2004. Dr S. W. A.Naqvi, Director, NIO congratulated theparticipants and awarded the certificatesduring the concluding session. Dr MariaBrenda L. Mascarenhas Pereira, SeniorScientist, HRM, NIO, and thecoordinator of the programme proposedthe vote of of thanks.

CSIR-Central Scientific InstrumentsOrganisation (CSIO), Chandigarhcelebrated its Foundation Day on 30October 2015. Dr. P. S. Goel, HonoraryDistinguished Professor, AntrikshBhawan, ISRO, Bangalore, and FormerSecretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences,Government of India, New Delhi gavean inspiring and motivating FoundationDay Lecture entitled I am anEngineer…Am I?

Dr. Goel started his career initiatingactivity on Satellite Altitude ControlSystem for spinning RS-1 satellite atTrivandrum and later moved toBangalore as part of Aryabhatta Projectteam. He was Chairman, SpacecraftSystem Advisory Board for IRS-1;Project Engineer, AOCS for APPLE;and Associate Project Director ofINSAT-2. He was also Head, ControlSystem Division; Group Director ofAOCS; Deputy Director, Mission andControl Area; Associate Director ofISAC; and Director, ISRO SatelliteCentre (1997-2005). He was also Secretary,Ministry of Earth Sciences (2005-2008),Government of India and later ChairmanRAC, DRDO.

Foundation Day Celebrations

CSIR-CSIO Celebrates its Foundation Day

In the CSIO Foundation Day lecture,Dr. Goel stressed that engineering is notjust a degree, not just a means of problemsolving or just doing research, but itinvolves all the above leading to findingsolutions to problems that exist, and thatdo not seem to exist. He said thatengineering is about changing life, its

Release of Annual Report (2014-15) by Dr P.S Goel (Centre), Honorary

Distinguished Professor, ISRO, Bangaloreon the occasion of CSIR-CSIO FoundationDay. Other dignitaries are Prof. R K Sinha,

Director, CSIR-CSIO (Left) andDr. C. Ghanshyam (Right), Chief Scientist,

CSIR-CSIO, Chandigarh


Foundation Day Celebrationsperception and its meaning and is a wayof life, it reflects in every day actions. Itmay or may not result in big changes; butit is a mindset “to change”. Heemphasized that there is a need to createthe mind of an engineer in engineeringeducation, not a job seeker with highremuneration. He encouraged theparticipants by saying that, “There is amagician in you, wake it up and let it freeto show a trick or two, to the world.”

Later, Dr. P.S. Goel also released theannual report of CSIR-CSIO 2014-15.

Prof. R.K. Sinha, Director, CSIR-CSIO while welcoming the Chief Guesthighlighted the aims and goals of CSIOand its contribution in the field ofScience and Technology. Prof. Sinha alsopresented an overview of the on-goingprojects and future plans of the

organisation. While releasing the ‘AnnualReport” of CSIO he said that thelaboratory has traversed a long journeyand is celebrating its 56th Foundation Day.He also informed about new heightsachieved in Head-up Display technologyand the plans to make variants fordifferent types of aircrafts. He talkedabout the development being carried outin the areas of Agrionics, Biomedicalapplications, Photonics and Geo-seismicinstrumentation. Prof. Sinha thanked theindustry for coming forward to take thetechnologies from CSIO likeElectrostatic Sprayer and ElectronicStethoscope this year.

The function concluded with aformal vote of thanks by Dr. C.Ghanshyam, Chief Scientist, CSIR-CSIO, Chandigarh.

The CSIR-Indian Institute of IntegrativeMedicine (IIIM), Jammu celebrated its58th Foundation Day on 1 December2015. The Laboratory was established in1941 as a research and production centre,known as the Drug Research Laboratoryof J&K State and was later taken overby the Council of Scientific & IndustrialResearch (CSIR) of the Govt. of India

CSIR-IIIM Celebrates Foundation Day

on 1st December 1957 and re-namedRegional Research Laboratory, Jammu. Inview of its core strength in naturalproducts based drug discovery, themandate of the Institute was redefinedin 2005 and its name was changed to theIndian Institute of Integrative Medicine(IIIM).

A simple and impressive function wasorganized in the IIIM auditorium tocelebrate the IIIM Foundation Day. Prof.Shannon B. Olsson, a distinguishedfaculty member of the National Centrefor Biological Sciences (NCBS),Bangalore, was the chief guest of thefunction. She delivered the FoundationDay lecture entitled, Naturalist-InspiredChemical Ecology.

In her lecture, Prof. Shannonexplained that a century ago, ourunderstanding of nature was dominatedby naturalists but today we can assess andmanipulate living systems at the genetic,


molecular and physiological levels. Shehypothesized that by uniting thesemodern scientific techniques with naturalobservations, we can truly understandthese biological processes in the contextof the natural world where the chemicalecology is the ideal forum to create themodern naturalist.

Prof. Shannon also stated thatChemical Ecology is a vast and highlyinterdisciplinary field, incorporatingeverything from proteomics to molecularbiology to neuroscience. Her researchfocused on comparative approach tounderstand how animals parse thecomplex natural chemical environmentto generate decisions.

Earlier, Dr. Ram Vishwakarma,Director, IIIM Jammu, introduced Prof.Shannon B. Olsson as a leading scientistof international repute who at NCBS isinvolved in setting up NICE: NaturalistInspired Chemical Ecology, which of

fers a mult idisciplinary approachspanning chemistry, neuroethology,evolutionary biology, animal behaviorand engineering.

On this occasion, students fromdifferent colleges and schools in the citywere taken on a guided visit to the variousresearch divisions and medicinal fields ofthe institute. The Scientists and Technicalstaff demonstrated their indoor and fieldresearch activities to the visitors.

Mr Abdul Rahim, Head PMEpresented the vote of thanks and MsNeelam Sharma conducted theproceedings.

Later in theevening, a colourfulcultural programmewas also performedby the children ofRRL High Schooland research scholarsof IIIM.


Events

The CSIR-National Botanical ResearchInstitute (NBRI), Lucknow celebrated its62nd Annual Day on 25 October 2015.Prof. J.P. Khurana, Delhi UniversitySouth Campus, New Delhi was the ChiefGuest while Dr. V.P. Kamboj, FormerDirector, CSIR-Central Drug ResearchInstitute, Lucknow, was the Guest ofHonour on this occasion.Dr. C.S. Nautiyal, Director of CSIR-NBRI welcomed the guests andpresented the annual report of theInstitute for the period 2014-15. Dr.Nautiyal informed about the variousactivities and achievements of theInstitute during the last one year.

CSIR-NBRI Celebrates 62nd Annual Day

Prof. J.P. Khurana in his Annual Daylecture A molecular framework of light controlof plant development , discussed theimportance of light in the life of plantsand its role in regulat ing variousdevelopmental phases of plant life,including seed germination, plant growthincluding plant height and flowering. Heelucidated the role of phytochromes andcryptochromes in the complex molecularframework involved in light signalling. Heemphasised that this intricate network oflight signalling components interact withall the important pathways which regulateexpression of various genes thateventually regulate plant responses.Leveraging this knowledge will helpunravel the as yet unresolved mechanismsof light signalling and responses in plantsystems, he concluded.

Dr. V.P. Kamboj in his presidentialaddress complimented NBRI for itsefforts and achievements, especially inutilizing the natural resources throughmodern scientific technology andproviding its benefits to the society. Heurged the need to develop agro-technologies for various plants being usedfor the manufacturing of various plant-based products, so that high qualitymaterial can be made available to theindustry. He emphasised the role offarmers in the selection and breeding ofvarious crops through their traditionalknowledge and practices.

On this occasion, the Annual Report,Annual Hindi Magazine (Vigyanvani) anda book on Bougainvillea were releasedby the dignitaries. A new variety ofBougainvillea, named “APJ AbdulKalam”, developed by CSIR-NBRI, wasalso released. The occasion was alsomarked by the launching of an anti-diabetic herbal product ‘BGR-34’,developed jointly by CSIR-NBRI and

Release of the CSIR-NBRI Annual Report2014-15

Release of the Annual Hindi Magazine“Vigyanvani”


Release of a new variety of Bougainvillea,named “APJ Abdul Kalam”, developed by CSIR-NBRI

CSIR-CIMAP, for commercial manu-facturing and marketing by M/s AimilPharamaceuticals Pvt Ltd, New Delhi.

Scientists and students of theInstitute, who have published their

research work in journals with highimpact factors, were felicitated on thisoccasion. Dr. D.K. Upreti, Chief Scientistproposed the vote of thanks.

Launching the anti-diabetic herbal product ‘BGR-34’,developed jointly by CSIR-NBRI and CSIR-CIMAP, for

commercial manufacturing and marketing by M/s AimilPharamaceuticals Pvt Ltd, New Delhi

Every year, on Gandhi Jayanthi, theCSIR-CECRI Club, Karaikudi organizesa Shramdhan. This year, under theguidance of Dr. M. Jayachandran, ChiefScientist, CSIR-CECRI, a large numberof CECRI staff and their familymembers, students and teachers fromKendriya Vidyalaya and volunteersparticipated actively.

Dr. Jayachandran called upon theaudience to strive for societal causes. Hestressed on the need for a cleaner andgreener nation. He said that Parents andTeachers should sow the seeds of socialresponsibility and inculcate the habit ofcleanliness among the youngergeneration.

Events

Shramdhan-2015 at CSIR-CECRI

Dr. Jayachandran paying homage tothe Father of the Nation


Honours & Awards

Honours & Awards

CSIR-IICB Scientist Selected Associate Editorof Royal Society of Chemistry Journal

Dr. Surajit Ghosh, PrincipalScientist, CSIR-IndianInstitute of Chemical Biology,Kolkata, has been selected asAssociate Editor in theprestigious Royal Society ofChemistry Journal RSCAdvances.

After completing his MSc in OrganicChemistry in 2000, Dr. Ghosh moved toSyngene International Pvt. Ltd (BioconGroup) and worked as a Scientist till July2004. Subsequently, he moved to theIndian Institute of Technology, Kanpurin 2004 for his doctoral studies in the areaof Peptide Self-assembly and oncompletion of his PhD thesis work in2008, he joined as postdoctoral fellow atthe European Molecular BiologyLaboratory, Heidelberg, Germany withDr. Thomas Surrey, where he worked onorganization of microtubule andmolecular motor proteins till December2010.

Dr. Ghosh joined CSIR-IICB in 2011in the Department of Organic and

Medicinal Chemistry. AtCSIR-IICB, his group isworking in the interface ofchemistry and biology with afocus on developing smallmolecule and peptide basedanti-Alzheimer’s and anti-cancer therapeutics. Dr. Ghosh

and his group have already developed afew peptides which show significantneuroprotection and currently they aretrying to develop more potentialmolecules in this field. His group hasmade some advances in developing smallmolecule and peptide based anticancertherapeutics and trying to develop variousplatforms using surface modificationtechniques for studying protein-proteininteractions, mechanism of intracellularcargo transport and targeted drug delivery.

He is a recipient of BASF and DBTWellcome Trust Travel grant award,BIOCON Tribute award, EMBLPostdoctoral Fellowship, Alexander vonHumboldt Fellowship and RamanujanFellowship.

Sapling plantationCleaning in progress

Later, he administered the ‘SwachhBharat’ oath to the audience. There was aprocession of students and teachers with

slogans on the importance of greeneryand cleanliness. Many saplings were alsoplanted in the campus.


Dr. V. Jayathirtha Rao, Chief Scientist,Crop Protection Chemicals Division,CSIR-Indian Institute of ChemicalTechnology has been nominated by theGovt. of Telangana, as member,Telangana State Pollution ControlAppellate Authority.

CSIR-IICT Scientist wins Innovation Award

Dr. J. Vatsala Rani, Senior Scientist,Fluoroorganics Division, CSIR-IndianInstitute of Chemical Technology haswon the top 30 “Innovator’sCompetition” for DST-LockheedMartin India Innovation GrowthProgramme 2015 for her innovationtitled “Futuristic eco-fr iendlyrechargeable Mg battery”.

CSIR-IICT Scientist Nominated to TelanganaState Pollution Control Appellate Authority

He has a number of recent publicationsin high esteemed international journals likeChemical Communication, ACS ChemicalNeuroscience, Dalton Transactions , SoftMatter, Macromol Biosci., RSC Adv.,ChemBioChem etc. and among them fiveworks have been highlighted on the cover

of the journals. His contribution at CSIR-IICB in the last four and half years hasbeen recognized by various national andinternational scientific communities andreceived invitations for delivering talksat various national and internationalconferences.

The prestigious CDRI Award 2015 forExcellence in Drug Research in LifeSciences category has been awarded toProf. Rinti Banerjee, IIT Bombay forher work on “Trigger ResponsiveNanoparticles for Drug Delivery”.

In the Chemical Sciences category,the award has gone to Dr.Ramakoteswara Rao Jetti, MylanLaboratories, Hyderabad for his workon “Novel Solid Forms of ActivePharmaceutical Ingredients”.

CDRI Awards 2015

Dr. Rao will have to deliberate onappeals against the orders of theTelangana State Pollution ControlBoard under the provisions of thePollution Control Board Acts. Histenure is for a term of two years.

As part of this programme, shewould be sponsored for a visit toSilicon Valley and Stanford School ofBusiness, California, USA. Theinnovation is also part of the 10innovations selected by IC2 Institute,University of Texas at Austin, USA forcommercialization.


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AnnouncementsCOUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT GROUP

CSIR Complex, Library Avenue, Pusa, New Delhi 110 012

2016 CSIR Young Scientist AwardsThe Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) invites nominationsfor the CSIR Young Scientist (YS) Awards for the year 2016. The awards are tobe given for research contributions made primarily in India.

The nominee should be a regular scientific staff of CSIR system holding apost of Junior/Trainee Scientist or above (Previously Scientist ‘B’ or above inGroup IV) and should have joined the CSIR laboratory on or prior to26th September 2015. The age of the nominee should not be more than 35years as on 26th September 2015.

The YS Awards are given annually in the following disciplines: (1) BiologicalSciences, (2) Chemical Sciences, (3) Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and PlanetarySciences, (4) Engineering Sciences, and (5) Physical Sciences (includinginstrumentation). The YS Award comprises a citation, a cash award ofRs 50,000 (Rupees fifty thousand only), and a plaque.

Nominations addressed to Scientist Incharge, SSB YSA Unit, HumanResource Development (HRD) Group, CSIR Complex, LibraryAvenue, Pusa, New Delhi 110 012 should be sent as per the prescribedproforma (original + one copy) latest by 31st January 2016. A CD/DVD/USB flash drive is also required containing digital photograph (in JPEG format),duly filled proforma and significant publications (in PDF format) of the nominee.

The details of the YS Award and the prescribed proforma for nomination maybe obtained from the above address or may also be downloaded from thewebsite: www.csirhrdg.res.in

COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC ANDINDUSTRIAL RESEARCH

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT GROUPCSIR Complex, Library Avenue, Pusa, New Delhi 110 012

NOMINATIONS INVITED

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