Author: Science India Bureau
January 22, 2024, has become an epochal date in the life of this ancient country. The long-debated Ram Mandir at Ayodhya became a reality on this day as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the temple with the consecration of the idol at the birth place of Lord Ram. This was made possible after a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court gave a verdict on November 9, 2019, ruling in favour of the construction of a temple at the disputed site. The verdict rode on an exhaustive, scientific survey carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) that established…
Dr Akkattu T Biju, associate professor of organic chemistry at IISc Bengaluru, is one of the two winners of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Chemical Sciences for 2023. Like the other winner, Debabrata Maiti of IIT Bombay, Dr Biju too develops new strategies for pharmaceutically valuable molecules. Dr Biju was awarded the prestigious prize for his work on transition-metal-free carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bond formation reactions using aryne chemistry and carbene-based organocatalysis. His research group has used aryne chemistry to synthesise biologically important 1,2-disubstituted arenes, as well as nucleophilic heterocyclic carbene-based catalytic techniques to build various heterocyclic compounds as a…
A new non-invasive, low-cost sensor with long-term stability and a low detection limit is based on reduced graphene oxide composite with metal oxide nanoparticles, and it can detect formalin adulteration in fish at room temperature. The act of adding illicit or dangerous materials to food in order to extend its shelf life or give it a more enticing appearance is known as food adulteration. A colourless, strong gas called formaldehyde finds application in numerous industrial processes. It is also used as a food preservative in certain dishes, most notably fish in underdeveloped nations. However, because formaldehyde is a known carcinogen,…
In contemporary India, where urban children are completely divorced from the realities of rural countryside, it’s a wonder that a young, budding scientist from a privileged South Delhi background should think about bettering the lives of Indian farmers. Suhani Chauhan, currently a student of Class XI at Amity International School, New Delhi, was recently awarded the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar by the President of India, Draupadi Murmu, for her pathbreaking innovation called ‘SO-APT’, a unique solar operated agro-vehicle with portable tools. Suhani Chauhan’s innovation, the ‘SO-APT’ agri-vehicle Chauhan must have been a perspicacious child in Class VII when a…
The National Power Training Institute (NPTI) stands as a beacon of excellence in the realm of power sector training. Under the aegis of the Ministry of Power, Government of India, NPTI has earned global recognition as a pioneer in power training. With its headquarters in Faridabad, NPTI operates through a network of eleven institutes, each contributing to the nation’s quest for energy self-reliance and sustainability. Inception and Evolution Established in 1965, NPTI emerged as a response to the acute shortage of skilled manpower in the burgeoning Indian power sector. It marked the nation’s commitment to self-reliance in energy generation and…
Under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) of the Government of India, the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) is an independent specialised institute tasked with research and development, solar component testing and certification, capacity building, and the creation of solar products and applications. The technical assistance provided by NISE supplements the MNRE’s requirements to enable the country to become self-sufficient in producing renewable energy and to overcome various obstacles that arise during the National Solar Mission’s (NSM) implementation. NISE has made a name for itself in the solar energy industry by consistently creating newer technologies, creating standards,…
Dr Debabrata Maiti, a professor of chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, has been awarded the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize — the Indian national award for excellence in scientific research — for Chemical Sciences for the year 2022. He was chosen for this honour for his outstanding contributions to the development of transition metal catalysis for the transformation of organic molecules to prepare value-added materials by site-selective functionalization, an area of research that has a major impact on the agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals industries. Dr Maiti has shared the SSB prize with Dr Akkattu T Biju of IISc Bangalore.…
The last quarter of every year is the season of Nobel Prizes — inarguably the most prestigious award in the world. Beginning October, the Nobel Prizes of the year start getting announced, in the run up to the actual ceremony on 10 December, to mark the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), the Swedish scientist, businessman and philanthropist, who established the prizes. In the domain of sciences, the prizes are awarded in the fields of physics, chemistry, and medicine or physiological sciences. Despite numerous nominations since 1901, when the prizes were first given, only eight Indians have eventually been awarded…
With the theme ‘Science and Technology Public Outreach in Amrit Kaal’, the ninth edition of the India International Science Festival (IISF) 2023 will be held at the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) and the Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB) of Department of Biotechnology, Faridabad, Haryana from 17 to 20 January, 2024. The theme of the ninth edition of IISF aims to provide a platform to inspire the public at large and individuals with diverse levels of interests like students, educators, scientists, researchers, industry professionals, entrepreneurs and science communicators. At the curtain raiser ceremony of the IISF in New…
A robot created by a Bengaluru start-up called Beta Tank Robotics Private Ltd. can function in oil tanks in petroleum refineries, removing hazards for people. The project was funded by OIL India Limited’s ‘Startup Nurturing, Enabling and Handholding (SNEH)’ Flagship Programme-Start-up India Fund and was incubated at IIT Guwahati in 2009. Sludge from crude oil tanks will be cleaned by this robotic solution and pumped out of the tank. These robots can easily pass under the heating coils because of their extremely low height. The robot collects and crushes the sludge at the bottom of the tank, then pumps it…