30 SEPTEMBER 2006 273 - niscair.res.in€¦ · Engineering Sciences ... Dr P.K. Nanda, Director,...

30 SEPTEMBER 2006 273

CSIR NEWS274

FICCI Award

THE Central Institute of Medicinal andAromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow, hasbeen awarded the prestigious FICCI

Award for the year 2004-2005, in the area of RuralDevelopment. The award was presented to theCIMAP Director, Dr S. P. S. Khanuja by Hon’blePrime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh at afunction of Federation of Indian Chambers ofCommerce & Industry (FICCI) held at VigyanBhawan. The award, consisting of a shield and acertificate, has been given to CIMAP for itsoutstanding work towards catalyzing ruralemployment and income enhancement throughmedicinal and aromatic plants basedentrepreneurship with special reference to CIMAP’s‘Biovillage mission’ approach of technologicalintervention.

CIMAP gets FICCI Award for Rural DevelopmentW W


SSB Prize-winners

SHANTI SWARUP BHATNAGAR PRIZE-WINNERS FOR 2006

THIRTEEN scientists have been selected for 2006 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Prize for Scienceand Technology for the year 2006. These will be presented by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Indiashortly. The winners along with the citations are:

CITATIONS

Biological Sciences

Dr Vinod BhakuniCentral Drug Research Institute,

Lucknow

Dr Bhakuni has made outstandingcontributions to our understandingthe role of noncatalytic structuraldomains and ionic interactions inregulating the functional activity ofthe catalytic domains in proteins

Dr Rajesh Sudhir GokhaleNational Institute of Immunology,

New Delhi

Dr Gokhale’s work has discovereda new family of long-chain fatty acyl-AMP ligases (FAALs) and has alsoelegantly elucidated ‘biochemicalcrosstalk’ between fatty acidsynthases and polyketide synthases,which produce diverse unusuallipids of the complex cell wall ofMycobacterium tuberculosis. Hisstudies have significantly expandedour understanding of how pathogensevolve their gene products togenerate metabolic diversity.

Chemical Sciences

Dr Srinivasan SampathIndian Institute of Science,

BangaloreDr Sampath has made outstanding

contributions in developingsupercapacitors and nano-bimetallics and their novel applica-tions.

Dr K George Thomas Regional Research Laboratory,

Thiruvananthapuram

Dr Thomas has made significantcontributions to photoresponsivenanomaterials and theirapplications.

Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean& Planetary Sciences

Dr Gufran-ullah BeigIndian Institute of Tropical

Meteorology, Pune

Dr Beig has made significantcontributions related to middle andupper atmospheric response toanthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. His prediction ofmesospheric cooling by 2 to 4k/decade has serious futureimplications.

Dr Pulak SenguptaJadavpur University, Kolkata

Dr Sengupta has madefundamental contributions to anunderstanding of grain-scalereaction mechanism and itsapplication to ultra-high

temperature regional scalemetamorphism.

Engineering Sciences

Dr Ashish Lele National Chemical Laboratory,

Pune

Dr Lele has made pioneeringcontributions by probing micro andmesostructure of polymericmaterials and relating it to themacroscopic dynamical andequilibrium properties using acombination of theory andexperiments.

Dr Sanjay MittalIndian Institute of Technology,

Kanpur

Dr Mittal has made fundamentalcontributions to the understandingof flow instabilities in the presenceof fluid-structure interactions,specially when structure is flexibleand interactions are highly dynamicand unsteady.

Mathematical Sciences

Dr Vikraman BalajiChennai Mathematical Institute,

SiruseriDr Balaji has made significantcontributions to moduli problems of

CSIR NEWS276

principal bundles over algebricvarieties, in particular on theUhlenbeck-Yau compactification ofthe Moduli Spaces of µ-semistablebundles. Further his work onholonomy groups for stable bundleson surfaces is significant.

Dr Indranil BiswasTata Institute of Fundamental

Research, Mumbai

Dr Biswas is a very productivemathematician who contributedsignificantly to algebric geometry,centering around moduli problemsof vector bundles. He is also anacknowledged expert on moduli ofparabolic bundles.

quantum theory modifies theentropy of black holes and for hispioneering studies onsupersymmetric solitons in stringtheory.

Dr Sanjay PuriJawaharlal Nehru University,

New Delhi

Dr Puri has made outstandingcontribution to understandingproblems in nonequilibriumstatistical physics, such as kineticsof phase ordering, including theeffects of confined geometries, aswell as the role of defects in phaseseparation dynamics.

CRRI signs MoU with AITS

THE Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), New Delhiand Association for Intelligent Transport System (AITS),New Delhi, have signed a memorandum of understanding

(MoU), to collaborate towards the development of a National ITSCentre of Excellence (NITS) and undertake research, consultancydevelopment and knowledge dissemination in the field. While CRRIis a premier institute for road research, AITS is a premierorganization for development of Intelligent Transport System (ITS)as well as for undertaking user-oriented research.

The MoU was signed by Dr P. K. Nanda, Director, CRRI andShri Amitabh Bajpai, President, AITS .

Dr P.K. Nanda, Director, CRRI, and Shri Manoj Kawatra, Director, AITS, exchanging the MoU documents

SSB Prize-winners/MoUs

Medical Sciences

Dr Virender Singh SangwanL V Prasad Eye Institute,

Hyderabad

Dr Sangwan has made outstandingcontribution to the application oflimbal stem cell biology to restorevision to victims of corneal injury.

Physical Sciences

Dr Atish Dabholkar Tata Institute of Fundamental

Research, Mumbai

Dr Dabholkar has established how

The SSB Prizes are given to scientists for their outstanding scientific contributionsmade primarily in India during the last five years preceding the year of the Prize.Those who are not more than 45 years of age, as reckoned on 31 December of theyear preceding the year of the Prize, are eligible. The SSB Prize comprises acitation, a plaque and a cash award of Rs 2,00,000.


T HE CentralSalt & MarineC h e m i c a l s

Research Institute( C S M C R I ) ,Bhavnagar, has signedan MoU worth Rs 1.09crore on 21 July 2006with M/s ArcheanChemical Industries,owner of Jakhau SaltWorks in Kutch, forlicensing the know howfor production ofsulphate of potash(SOP) fertilizer, refractory grademagnesia and eco-friendlybrominating reagent in anintegrated manner.

Jakhau Salt Works, which isreputed to produce the finest qualityexport grade salt in India, nowintends to manufacture theseproducts in Greater Rann of Kutchwhere natural salt bitterns areavailable in abundance.

Presently, India’s annual importof muriate of potash fertilizer (MOP)is around three million tonnes. SOPis a superior fertilizer to MOP andit will be produced at a competitivecost using CSMCRI technology.The magnesia produced will be ofmore than 95% purity, and with lowboron content. The Central Glass &Ceramic Research Institute(CGCRI), Kolkata, has evaluatedperformance of the magnesiaprepared by CSMCRI and found itquite suitable in refractory

Dr Pushpito K Ghosh, Director, CSMCRI, and Shri P B Anandam, CMD, ArcheanGroup of Industries, Chennai, exchanging the agreement documents

CSMCRI signs MoU withArchean Chemical Industries for manufacture of potash

applications. CSMCRI hasadditionally developed a process toproduce magnesia of up to 99%purity, which would be of interestfor magnesium metal production andother high-end applications. Theeco-friendly brominating reagentbypasses the production of liquidbromine and yet is capable of doingmany of the commer-ciallyimportant bromination reactions

In the above news item published on p 227 of CSIR News, 15August 2006, please note: A glass version of water-cooledmechanically tunable unpackaged pulse magnetron, with peakpower 3 MW in S-band, has been developed by the CentralElectronics Engineering Research Institute (CEERI),Pilani , [and not National Institute of Oceanograophy (NIO),Goa, as reported] in collaboration with Centre for AdvancedTechnology, Indore.The error is very much regretted.

MoUs

Corrigendum3 MW S-band Magnetron

with high bromineatom efficiency.Aforesaid processes areprotected by half adozen US patentsgranted recently andrelated PCT andIndian patent applica-tions have been alsofiled. Additionally, twomore patent applica-tions on the improvedmagnesia process havebeen filed.

The total techno-logy licensing fee is Rs 1.09 crore.The license is being given onnon-exclusive basis and annualroyalty is additionally payable. Aforeign consultant from Salt LakeCity, USA, with experience in thearea of large marine chemicalsworks, is being appointed by theparty to undertake detailedengineering based on CSMCRIprocess.

CSIR NEWS278

R&D Highlights

A view of HOBAS Aeration System

NIO participates inIndo-Norwegian Programme on Shrimp Aquaculture in

Sustainable Manner

P OND-based coastala q u a c u l t u r e ,particularly of shrimps,

has gained considerablemomentum in India due toquick r eturns from both nationaland international markets.Today, India occupies fourthposition amongst the majorshrimp farming countries in theworld. The past decadewitnessed a remarkable increasein annual shrimp production inthe country — from 35,500 toabout 113,000 tonnes, with anexport value of US $ 800 million.

Traditionally, aerators are used toincrease the oxygen content of thewater. Most of the aerators employedin aquaculture today, mix water withair either after the pump (e.g. Ejectorbase aeration) or with a propeller inopen water (e.g. Air O

2, Paddle-wheels,

etc). An innovative aeration technologydeveloped in recent past by HOBASWater Engineering has manyimproved features. The project wastaken up under the aegis of Indo-Norwegian InstitutionalCo-operationProgramme by the National Instituteof Oceanography (NIO), Goa, fromIndia and RF-Rogaland Research,Stavanger, Norwegian Institute forWater Research (NIVA) and HOBASTropical Aquaculture, Sola fromNorway, to develop and demonstratehow the new technology couldimprove the water quality and in turnresult in sustainable production underIndian conditions. The HOBAS

aeration technology mechanicallymixes air and water in order to replaceoxygen deficits, and flushes theexcreted, potential toxic, carbondioxide and ammonia. The pump alsocreates horizontal physical watercurrent in the pond when sufficientnumbers of aerators are employed andimplementation is done correctly.

A team of NIO scientistsconducted various experiments forwater quality, environ-ment,bacteriology and production incommercial shrimp ponds along theCoastal Karnataka with the HOBASaeration technology and noticed that itis capable of maintaining optimumwater quality conditions, particularlythe dissolved oxygen, healthy bacterialcounts and maintain sustainable shrimpgrowth and resulting in lower FoodConversion Ratio (FCR). Thistechnology, along with other BestManagement Practices (BMPs), seeksto help improve conditions in the pond

for better utilization of nutrients.Adoption of these technologieswill result in increasing theyields by about 20-25% for tworeasons: Due to the optimalenvironmental conditions in thepond during the productioncycle and the increasedphytoplankton production due tore-suspension of availablenutrients. The HOBAS aeratoralso showed a strong ability andhigh capacity in flushing thepossible toxic gases such asAmmonia and Hydrogen

sulphide. This technology may bereplaced or could be used inconjunction with the existing aerationtechnology for improvement inenvironmental conditions in the pond.

Few more trials of HOBAStechnology, particularly along the eastcoast of India to generate data underdifferent environmental conditionswith the active involvement ofstakeholders so that farmers gainconfidence in this new technology hasbeen proposed. NIO would beproviding R & D support tocommercialize the HOBAS technologyin India

Scientists from NIO - Dr D.Chandramohan, Shri. R.A. Sreepada,Drs P.A. Lokabharathi, S.G. Dalal, X.N.Verlecar, B.S. Ingole and a group ofyoung project assistants were involvedin evaluating this technology anddeveloping other Best ManagementPractices (BMPs) for sustainableaquaculture for last three years.


R&D Highlights

T HE National ChemicalLaboratory (NCL), Pune,continues to maintain its lead

in research in cutting edge scienceas reflected by its publications. Afew indicators:

Research Publications During 2005, NCL published

443 scientific papers in leadingjournals of the world. The averageImpact Factor (IF) per paper fromNCL has been steadily increasingover the past three years, and during2005, it was 2.067. NCL’s basicresearch is supported by over 420research fellows and post doctoralresearch associates. The laboratoryproduces the largest number ofPh.Ds in chemical sciences.

PatentsDuring 2005-06, NCL was

granted 31 Indian patents and 29US patents. It filed 45 patents inIndia and 28 patents abroad duringthe above period. Two of NCL’s USpatents, one in the area of processsafety control (U.S. Pat. 6,826,513)and the other in the area ofseparation of complex signals intocomponents (U.S. Pat. 6,208,951)have been licensed to a US company.

Technology Development andTransfer

The laboratory introduced anew product, a porous PE for ocularreconstruction after trauma causinginjuries. A new company, namedBiopore (www.biopore.in) has beenincorporated to introduce the

product commercially in themarket.

A catalytic process to produceEpichlorohydrin was licensed toAditya Birla Group (ABG). Thelaboratory met the challenge todevelop and demonstrate acommercially viable process(reaction +separation) to ABG. Thiscontract with ABG is one of thelargest in the history of processlicensing at NCL. It is envisagedthat the plant for the production ofEpichlorohydrin will come up inThailand in a few years.

An improved process wasdeveloped for the manufacture ofSilicon Chloride using an innovativereactor design and operations.The process was demonstrated tothe customer on 1 kg/h scaleusing a continuous fluid bedreactor.

A pilot plant has been set up forthe production of a family ofalkylphosphine oxide and theprocess demonstrated to thecustomer. The products are ofstrategic relevance to the country.Innovations in performing Grignardreactions on a large scale wereaddressed to in the course ofdeveloping this process on amanufacturing scale. Also, severalprocesses developed by NCL forAPI moved closer to the market.

Service RenderedThe laboratory rendered

knowledge-based services to 110customers, including 18 from outsideIndia.

Budget and RevenueNCL closed the financial year

with an external cash flow (ECF) ofRs 21.5 crore, as compared to Rs14.8 crore in 2004-05. Moreimportantly, the contribution fromindustry to ECF was Rs 11 crore,up from Rs 9.0 crore in 2004-05.NCL ranked fifth in ECF, afterNAL, NGRI, IICT and CEERI,amongst the CSIR laboratories.However, the laboratory ranked firstin ECF from industry.

Over and above, the ECF of Rs21.5 crore, NCL received, as grants,an additional sum of Rs 8.72 croreunder various Network andNMITLI programmes. Thelaboratory received from CSIR asum of Rs 45.1 crore as budgetarysupport for the year 2005-06. Thistakes the total value of NCL’soperating budget to Rs 75 crore.NCL transacted funds to the extentof Rs 100 crore in 2005-06, asubstantial increase over the lastyear. This increase in transactionshas come from productivity increaseper employee, not the number ofemployees in these functions.

New FacilitiesNCL expended a sum of Rs 11.5

crore towards capital expenditure inthe year 2005-06. Several majorfacilities were added. These includeMALDI ToF, AFM, 400 MHz NMRspectrometer, protein purificationsystem, micro array spotter andscanner, scanning electrochemicalmicroscope, fuel cell test system,CVD unit for carbon nanotubes,

National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), PuneR&D Highlights

CSIR NEWS280

R&D Highlights

small angle x-ray diffractometer, HRTEM and dual beam environmentalSEM. The laboratory is in theprocess of setting up facilities formicro reaction engineering as acapability for the future. Severalother investments towardsenhancing NCL’s researchcapabilities are also under way.

ICT FacilitiesNCL’s investments for

augmenting its capabilities inInformation and CommunicationTechnology are proceeding on track.NCL commissioned a newcommunication system at a cost ofRs 7,000,000. As the laboratorymoves to more and more web-basedsystems for its internalmanagement, security of informationbecomes of paramount importance.Security, access rights, disasterrecovery management andredundancy are all issues that arebeing looked into. NCL is in theprocess of implementing a campuswide ERP system, which will createan automated work flow for themanagement of all critical functionsof the laboratory.

InfrastructureLast year, NCL spent Rs 3.00

crore on works and services, of whichapproximately 50% was spent fromthe laboratory reserves. A new 1000KVA substation was commissionedat an estimated cost of Rs 1.00 crore.

NCL Innovation ParkThe erstwhile MERADO

campus of CSIR was rechristenedas NCL Innovation Park

(www.innovationpark.org) and it isemerging as a new ResourceCentre of NCL, which willhouse the Venture Center(www.venturecenter.co.in) — a newSection 25 Company that NCL willfloat shortly. The Venture Center willprovide 10, 000 sq feet fully built uplaboratory space as incubator forearly stage discoveries to beconverted to marketable products orprocesses.

In addition, the NCLInnovation Park will house severalbusiness facilitation functions as wellas independent R&D centers ofcorporate entities, either as standalone facilities or as JVs with NCL.The funding for the Venture Centerhas been tied up and will see aninvestment of close to Rs five crorein the next three years.

Deepak Research andDevelopment Foundation (DRDF)has already occupied a 7500 sq feetfacility at the Innovation Park. Thisis the first corporate R&D facilitywithin NCL campus. NCL andDRDF have signed an MoU tosynergize their activities and createmutual value.

The NCL Innovation Park willalso house the ‘Single MoleculeRepository’ of NCL. At NCL,scientists synthesize severalthousands of new chemicalstructures in the course of contractresearch and student research. TheSingle Molecule Repository willsystematically receive, catalog andarchive molecules synthesized atNCL. Techniques of data miningbased on contemporary tools ofchemo-informatics will be used for

the management of the Repository.Systems for submitting samples andfacility management will beannounced shortly.

NCL Innovation Park is thuspoised to emerge as a key ResourceCenter of NCL that will leverage thestrengths of NCL and explore newmodels of public – privatepartnerships and wealth creationwith industry.

The construction of the newbuilding in the NCL campus tohouse the laboratories of ‘Polymersand Advanced Materials’ willcommence in September 2006 andis targeted to be completed by firstquarter of 2008.

Honours & AwardsDr K.N. Ganesh won the

prestigious TWAS Award inChemistry. NCL’s team led by ShriP.P. Barve, won the CSIRTechnology Award for the year 2005,for their contributions to thedevelopment of a manufacturingprocess for ATBS, commercializedby M/s Vinati Organics Ltd. Dr U.Natarajan won the MRSI Award for2006 and Dr Guruswamy wasawarded the CSIR Young ScientistAward in Engineering Sciences. DrS. Sivaram was awarded Padma Shriby the President of India on 29March 2006.

NCL continues to attract youngscientists in areas of its interest.Several scientists joined NCL withexceptional academic credentialsand sound training in some of thebest academic laboratories aroundthe world.


Synthesis and Characterization of Cumgal Ternary Hydrotalcites asCatalysts for the Hydroxylation of Phenol

H YDROTALCITE-likecompounds comprise aclass of anionic clays or

layered double hydroxides. Thesecompounds have been receiving anincreasing attention in recent yearsbecause of their diverseapplications. Synthesis of thesematerials containing transitionmetal ions, especially copper, in thesheets is of particular interestbecause of their selective oxidationproperties. Hydroxylation of phenolto dihydroxybenzenes (Scheme 1) isan important selective oxidationreaction because both the productsnamely catechol and hydroquinonefind diverse applications e.g. asphotographic chemicals,antioxidants, flavoring agents,polymerization inhibitors and inpharmaceuticals.

Recently, S. Kannan, A. Dubeyand H. Knozinger of the Central Saltand Marine Chemicals ResearchInstitute (CSMCRI), Bhavnagar,

have reported the hydroxylation ofphenol over various copper-containing ternary hydrotalciteshaving different di- and trivalentmetal ions and claimed comparableactivity of these materials with thatof some of the zeolite-basedmaterials. In an endeavor toelucidate influence of the divalentnon-transition metal cation on thecatalytic performance, magnesiumwas chosen as a second divalentcation.

Single-phase CuMgAl ternaryhydrotalcites with different Cu/Mgatomic compositions weresuccessfully synthesized in theentire composition range studied(from 5.0 to 0.2). Orderliness of theHT-like lattice and thermal stabilityof these materials increased withincreasing magnesiumconcentration. Activity for selectivehydroxylation of phenol, using H2O2

as oxidant and H2O as solvent,increased with increasing copper

concentration while normalizedactivity showed a reverse trend. Amixed trend in the activity wasnoted with the variation insubstrate: catalyst ratio.Comparison of the activity of as-synthesized hydrotalcites with theircorresponding calcined formsindicated that the former are moreactive than the latter. A variation inthe activity trend was noted whencompared among the calcinedsamples, due to varied phasecompositions (influenced by Cu/Mgatomic ratio, as evidenced from insitu PXRD). The better intrinsicactivity for the sample with lowercopper content is attributed tobetter dispersion of the active metalion. Here Cu2+ and its facile redoxbehavior has been studied by N2

adsorption measurements, cyclicTPRO, SEM and spectroscopicmeasurements. This study has beenpublished in Journal of Catalysis,231 (2005) 381-392.

High Impact Factor Publications

CSIR NEWS282

High Impact Factor Publications

Impact Factors of NISCAIR Journals

IMPACT Factors (IF) ofselected peer-reviewedscientific peri- odicals

published world over areanalyzed and published byThomson ISI (USA) as JournalCitation Reports (JCR) everyyear. JCR providesquantifiable statistical data forevaluating the leading journalsand their impact on the globalresearch community.

JCR for the year 2005covers about 7500 journalspublished from variouscountries. Among these, 49 arepeer-reviewed journalspublished in differentdisciplines by the government/autonomous institutions andprivate publishers in India.Nine of these 49 journals arefrom CSIR’s National Instituteof Science Communicationand Information Resources(NISCAIR) in New Delhi. Itis heartening to note that mostof these NISCAIR journalsshow an improvement interms of their IFs.

IFs of NISCAIR journalsfor the years 2005 and 2004are given in the table.

The highest IF i.e.amongthe Indian journals is that ofIndian J Biosci. i.e. 1.031. Asis evident from the Table, theoverall trend of the NISCAIRjournals has beenencouraging. The institute isstriving hard to furtherimprove the reach and thestandard of its journals.

S No Journal IF

2004 2005

1. Indian Journal of Chemistry, Sec A 0.509 0.632

2. Indian Journal of Biochemistry & Biophysics 0.308 0.505

3. Indian Journal of Chemistry, Sec B 0.476 0.446

4. Indian Journal of Pure & Applied Physics 0.399 0.495

5. Journal of Scientific & Industrial Research 0.191 0.232

6. Indian Journal of Chemical Technology 0.235 0.226

7. Indian Journal of Marine Sciences 0.150 0.202

8. Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research 0.112 0.190

9. Indian Journal of Engineering & Materials Sciences 0.087 0.160


Facilities/Meets

New Infrastructural Facilities at RRL, Bhopal

T HE Regional ResearchLaboratory (RRL), Bhopal,has enhanced its R&D

facilities by establishing TechnologyEnabling Centre, ComputerSimulation and Design Centre,Microfluidics and MEMS Centreand Computational Fluid DynamicsCentre.

The Technology EnablingCentre has been established at thelaboratory to design and developmachinery for making compositesusing industrial wastes, natural fibreand polymers, commercialize thetechnology developed and imparttraining to the users.

The main functions of theMicrofluidics and MEMS Centrewill be to develop and characterizethe Micro Total Analytical System(µ-TAS) and its application in singlemolecule analysis, and developminiaturized fuel cells for micropower generation.

The Computational FluidDynamics Centre will purseprogrammes in the areas ofsimulation, design and developmentof different mineral processing unitoperations, simulation and design ofenvironmental control technologiesand water resource modeling. TheCFD application also includesconsequence modeling of flammablematerial explosion and blast hazardanalysis by applying PHASTsoftware.

The Computer Simulation andDesign Centre’s activities willpertain to simulation of film growth,

finite element simulation of tubeextrusion and die design, analysis ofspring-back in sheet metal bending,effect of friction in hot die forging,FEM characterization of ductilefracture, casting simulation ofporthole die extrusion, applicationof artificial neural network instructural shape optimization andsimulation of nozzle pull out.

Dr R.A. Mashelkar, FRS,Director General, CSIR,inaugurated these new facilitiesrecently. He described theestablishment of these facilities asrepresentation of an ambition tolook at the natural wealth of thecountry, add value to it and developthe technologies of tomorrow. Heunderlined the need to innovate costeffective new materials from naturalresources.

While at RRL-Bhopal, DrMashelkar also witnessed theprogress of the laboratory andaddressed the RRL-Bhopal staff.The laboratory is well known for itscontributions to the areas of woodsubstitutes, building materials, sisalcomposites, effective utilization ofindustrial wastes, components/material for the automobile sector,modeling and design, cellularmaterials, light materials, tribomaterials, minerals processing,environmental modeling, etc.

Addressing the staff of RRL, DrMashelkar complimented thelaboratory for its progress,particularly in the areas of NaturalFibre Composites, Al Foam, and

CSIO Industry Meet

AN Industrial PromotionCampaign was organizedby the Rajasthan State

Industrial Development &Investment Corporation Limited(RIICO) at PHD Chamber ofCommerce and Industry at NewDelhi to discuss issues related toinfrastructure, technology, businesspotential of various sectors ofrelevance to the State of Rajasthan.The Central Scientific InstrumentsOrganisation (CSIO), Chandigarh,participated in this event and hadclose interaction with the delegates.Dr Pawan Kapur, Director, CSIO,highlighted the technologies andexpertise available in the laboratoryin the relevant areas. Technicalbrochures and other details were

Microfluidics and MEMS. Heobserved that the physical incomeof the laboratory has gone up bythree but the psychic income hasgone up manifolds through thecommitment and satisfaction ofwork being done by the scientists.

Highlighting the progress graphof CSIR during 1995-2005, DrMashelkar said, “I am dangerouslyoptimistic about the future of thecountry and it is not a hype, it is realhope. The issue is not about havingresources, the issue is about havingideas,” he said.

Earlier, Dr N. Ramakrishnan,Director, RRL, presented a reporton the activities of the laboratory.

CSIR NEWS284

Workshops

provided to thedelegates.

The eventprovided a goodforum to displaythe expertiseavailable in thel a b o r a t o r ytowards newb u s i n e s sdevelopment inthe areas ofHealth Care, IT,O p t i c a lInstrumentation,A g r i -instrumentation,etc. The responseof the visitors tothe exhibition wasencouraging whoshowed keeninterest in theabove areas.V a r i o u sdignitaries whoattended the meeti n c l u d e d ,M a n a g i n gDirector andsenior officers ofRIICO, memberof PHDIC,industrialists andb u s i n e s s m e nwilling to set uptheir new units inthe state ofRajasthan. It wasproposed thatsimilar meetswould beorganized at otherplaces also.

Single Crystal X-ray Diffractometer Users’Workshop at NCL

THE National Chemical Laboratory(NCL), Pune, organized a three-day ‘Bruker-AXS single crystal X-ray

diffractometer users’ workshop 2006’ in therecent past. The workshop was sponsoredby Bruker AXS, The Netherlands. NCL wasthe first laboratory to acquire SMARTAPEX 1:1 CCD single crystal X-raydiffractometer with latest technology. Thereare eight such single crystal X-raydiffractometers in the country and thenumber is growing. The purpose of theworkshop was to give hands-on experienceon the latest softwares to the users and alsoto discuss the problems faced byresearchers. This was second workshop inthe series and the first one was organizedat Indian Institute of Science (IISc),Bangalore. About forty participants fromIITs, CSIR laboratories, R&D institutes anduniversities from various parts of thecountry attended the workshop.

Dr (Smt.) Vedavati G. Puranik, Scientist,Center for Material Characterization,NCL, in her welcome speech, shared her

experience on SMART APEX with theaudience. Dr B.D. Kulkarni, DeputyDirector, NCL, inaugurated the workshop.Prof. T.N. Guru Row, Chairman, Solid Stateand Structural Chemistry Unit, IISc,Bangalore, delivered the inaugural talk on‘Charge density analysis on molecularcrystals: Insights into intermolecularinteractions’.

In his inaugural address Prof. Guru Rowspoke about one-electron properties,intermolecular interactions in terms of theatoms in molecule, visualizing mappingelectron densities etc. He explained thepossibility of collecting the precise andaccurate data at low temperature with thehelp of SMART APEX single crystal X-raydiffractometer. He elaborated the use of‘atom in molecule’ approach with specialemphasis on improvements in chargedensity models. He also illustrated thedevelopments in both experimental andtheoretical techniques to interpret andanalyze the nature of weak intermolecularinteractions. He also showed the appearance

of a “region of overlap” tosegregate hydrogen bondsfrom van der Waalsinteractions based on thecriteria proposed by Kochand Popelier. He gave theexamples of coumarin andits derivatives foridentifying differences inenergy surfaces inconcomitant polymorphs.

In another invited talk,Prof. A. Nangia, School ofChemistry, CentralUniversity, Hyderabadspoke on ‘Conformational,concomitant polymorphs:Dr Leo Starver, Application Scientist of Bruker-AXS B. V., The Netherlands,

giving hands-on training


Fifty Years of NBRI

Multiple molecules, kinetic andthermodynamic factors, andpolymorph control’. Starting with theimportance of polymorphism inorganic crystals and pharmaceuticals,Prof. Nangia discussed differenttypes of polymorphism and methodsof establishing it. He elaborated onthe Host-Guest inclusion compounds,H-bonding and intermolecularinteractions and how they can bedifferent in different polymorphs.Usefulness of various methods likePowder X-ray, TGA and DSC toidentify different types of polymorphswas shown with the help ofexperiments carried out in his lab. Hetouched upon the controversy innaming solvated crystals andpseudopolymorphs. He also showedthe fundamental understanding ofcrystallization and newpharmaceutical phases in a verysimple way.

The hands-on training using latestsoftware was organized at thecomputer laboratory of DigitalInformation Resource Center ofNCL. Dr Leo Starver, ApplicationScientist of Bruker-AXS B. V., TheNetherlands, conducted the trainingprogramme. The users discussed thelatest results obtained in theirlaboratories and also the problemsfaced while solving the difficultmolecular structures. Solving of thetwinned crystal structures andhandling of disordered structures wasexplained during the technicalsessions. There were four shortpresentations by the participantsgiving the novel results from theirinstitutes.

Dr Mohan Bhadbhade, Scientist,Center for Material Characterization,NCL, proposed the vote of thanks.

NBRI Golden Jubilee VolumeFifty Years of R & D Service to the Nation

THE National BotanicalResearch Institute(NBRI), Lucknow, has

played a pivotal role inundertaking advanced researchand converting the plantresources into valuable andusable commodities. Thisinstitute has completed 50 yearsof its existence. A Golden JubileeVolume entitled ‘Fifty Years of R& D Service to the Nation’ wasreleased at the finale function,which gives a brief account of the50-year journey of the institutefrom its inception to the presentday.

The volume has beenauthored by PalpuPushpangadan, SudershanKumar and Vinod KumarKochhar.

NBRI owes its origin to thegolden era of the great Nawabsof Lucknow during the first halfof 19th century. It was renamedas the GovernmentHorticultural Garden during theBritish rule. In 1932 this publicpark was transformed to aBotanic Garden which wasrechristened as NationalBotanic Garden (NBG), in 1948.NBG was taken over by CSIRon 13 April 1953 and laterrenamed as National BotanicalResearch Insitute (NBRI) in1978. Since then the institute hasgrown in to a state-of-the-artnational laboratory, promotingresearch in the fields ofe t h e n o p h a r m a c o l o g y ,

biochemistry, environmentalsciences, biotechnology,conservation biology,cytogenetics, floriculture,genetic engineering, molecularbiology, plant biodiversity, plantbreeding, taxonomy and treebiology etc.

The R & D activities ofNBRI were reorganized in 1999so as to keep pace with thecurrent global trends. It hastaken several new initiatives togive emphasis on three moderntechnologies – biotechnology,information technology(biodiversity informatics) andherbal technology. It is now wellrecognized at national andinternational level as one of thebest centre of herbal technology.It has also been engaged inscientific evaluation of herbaldrugs.

A full fledged modernBioinformatics Division has alsobeen set up recently with latestinfrastructure and state of artfacilities. The details of recentdevelopments in this division areInternational Legume Databaseand Information System(ILDIS), UK – As regional centrefor ILDIS for South Asia. TheDivision holds World Databaseof over 19,000 legumes; GlobalBiodiversity Facility (GBIF) –signing an agreement withGBIF. NBRI has beenrecognized as the GBIF-Indianode for sharing digitized datavia internet; Investing in Nature

CSIR NEWS286

Biology Group has also donepioneer work in selection,evaluation and tree improvement ofwood fuel tree and shrub agroforestry species suitable for difficultand degraded sites. An ‘Eco-educationCentre’ and a novel touch and smellgarden for the visually impairedpeople has been also developed.

Growth Indicators of NBRIThe institute has showed growth

in cutting edge areas of herbaltechnology, biotechnology includingmolecular biology and geneticengineering, IT-biodiversityinformatics and other associatedarea of plant science researches.

NBRI has affiliation with almostall reputed universities in India. Asmany as 42 Ph.D. degrees have beenawarded and 823 research paperspublished during 1999-2004. NBRIscientists have been continuouslyachieving awards and recognitionsfrom various bodies of internationalrepute. The growth in developmentof new products and technologiesresulted in a significant growth inaward of patents of 53 (18 awardedand 35 filed).

The growth in new herbalproducts development area ismarked by herbal beer, herballipstick, herbal hair dye, herbal oralhealth products, herbal healthprotective kits, nutraceuticals,functional food, Bt cotton and neem-based products.

Technologies for SocietalBenefits§ Cultivation of ornamentals,

betelvine, and Jatropha curcus(bio diesel plant)

§ Dehydration of flowers andfoliage

§ High-tech low-cost nursery andtree plantations

§ Organic cultivation ofvegetables, medicinal plants andother economically importantplants

§ Development of high yieldingvarieties of medicinal and othereconomically important plants(eg poppy, Amarnath)

Industrial Technologies§ Anti-cough, anti-tussive and

throat soothing herbalformulations

§ Anti-microbial biofertilizerstechnology

§ Antipyretic formulation§ Bacillus based microbial

technology§ Bio-diesel from Jatropha curcus§ Biofertilizers§ Bt cotton for insect resistance§ Extraction of neem oil,

development of neem-basedpesticides, fertilizers and otherproducts

§ Fruit-based herbal health drink§ Herbal dry colours§ Herbal health protective

nutraceuticals formulations§ Herbal oro-dental cure§ Luv stick (herbal lipstick)§ Nbir soft (herbal soft drink)§ Nbira (herbal fermented drink)§ Neem-based dental cure§ Nutraceutical products (14)

(IIN-India), NBRI signed anagreement with BGCI, to launchIIN-India; and Nodal Centre forAsia-Pacific Tradiditional Medicine& Herbal Technology Network(APTMNet) – Department of Ayush,Government of India has identifiedNBRI as India’s Nodal station forAPTMNet. Besides internationalcollaborative R & D programmesthe bioinformatics division hasinitiated many nationalprogrammes; Recognized centre ofBTIS NET programme, by DBT,Government of India; A database ofIndian plants and herbariumspecimens on internet andnetworking of herbaria of CSIR; andCSIR network project on TKDL fordeveloping a database of 1500 plantsused in Ayurveda.

The institute has established aField Gene Bank for the rare,endemic and threatened (RET)plant species of Indo-Gangeticplains. A separated gene bank ofneem genetic variants collectedfrom different parts of the countryhas also been established. Theinstitute is also recognized for itsleadership in conservation andsustainable utilization of biodiversityand sustainable use of plant geneticresources as envisaged in the UNConvention of Biological Diversity(CBD).

Over the years it has alsodiversified its activities to meet theS & T information need of differentsectors of the society. Reclamationand development of the sodic soilsat Banthra was a pioneering effortin this regard. This area has nowbecome a man made forest with fullysustainable eco-system. Biomassresearch Centre and Biomass

Fifty Years of NBRI


Appointments

§ Safe eco-friendly, healthprotective herbal coloursand aroma

§ T r i c h o d e r m a - b a s e dmicrobial technology

Future VisionThe NBRI will function as

referral centre on mattersrelated to biodiversity CBD,WTO and access & benefits-sharing issues, biodiversityinformatics at national andinternational levels and with thefollowing vision:

1. To be a premier nationaland international centre onplant science research anddevelopment in the areas ofplant biodiversity,conservation andsustainable utilization ofnon-crop and wild PlantGenetic Resources (PGR),bioprospecting, biofuels,biodiversity informatics andplant biotechnology.

2. To be a prime catalyst inconversion of plant wealthin an ecologically sound andeconomically rewardingmanner.

3. To develop as a nationalreferral center for allknowledgebase related toplant biodiversity.The volume gives a completeview of NBRI’s past, whichforms the pedestal uponwhich NBRI stands todayas a beacon of light for othercompeting institutions ofthe world.

D R Krishna N.Ganesh, whohad been the Head of

the Organic Chemistry(Synthesis) Division at theNational ChemicalLaboratory (NCL), Pune,since March 1994, has beenappointed the First Director of thenewly established Indian Instituteof Science, Education and Research(IISER), Pune.

Dr Ganesh (born 1953) aftersecuring a Ph.D. (1977) from DelhiUniversity, proceeded to theUniversity of Cambridge, UK, wherehe worked for his second Ph.D.(1980) in chemistry. On his returnto India in 1981, he joined theCentre for Cellular and MolecularBiology, Hyderabad, where heestablished a microsynthesis facilityfor oligonucleotide synthesis. Hemoved to NCL in 1987 to establisha bioorganic chemistry researchgroup. He has used a judiciouscombination of bioorganic andmedicinal chemistry concepts withsynthetic organic chemistry andbiophysics to address some of thechallenging problems in DNAmolecular recognition. His mainresearch interests are in the area ofchemical modification of DNA andRNA from the point of Nucleic acidtherapeutics and diagnostics.Conjugation of polyamines to DNAand PNA to influence their cellpermeation properties, synthesis offluorescent DNA for diagnostics anddesign/study of conformationally

Dr Krishna N. Ganesh appointedDirector of IISER, Pune

constrained PNA analogues asnew class of antisense agents,DNA/PNA-drug/prote ininteractions, molecular originof triplex stability andmechanical properties ofcollagen, DNA/PNA

nanotechnology are some of theongoing projects in his laboratory.

He has published around 140interdisciplinary research papers ininternational journals of repute andguided 21 students for the Ph.D.degree.

Dr Ganesh has received anumber of scientific recognitionsincluding the prestigious ShantiSwarup Bhatnagar Prize inChemical Sciences (1998),Millennium Medal of Indian ScienceCongress (2000) and Silver medal ofChemical Research Society of India(2004). He is a Fellow of the threemajor Science Academies in India—Indian Academy of Sciences,Bangalore, Indian National ScienceAcademy, New Delhi, and NationalAcademy of Sciences, India,Allahabad. In 2005, he was awardedthe Third World Academy ofSciences Medal (TWAS Medal) inChemical Sciences.

He is currently holding theprestigious J.C. Bose Fellowship ofthe Department of Science andTechnology, New Delhi. Dr Ganeshis a Member of the EditorialCommittee of Chemistry, An AsianJournal, launched by Verlag Chemiein 2006.

CSIR NEWS288

Honours & Awards

Prof Ashok Pandey winsThomson Scientific Award

P ROF. AshokPandey of theR e g i o n a l

Research Laboratory(RRL), Thiruvanantha-puram, is one of the fiveresearch professors fromIndia to receive the‘Thomson CitationLaureate Award’ — anhonour bestowed in recognition ofgroundbreaking and influentialcontribution to, andaccomplishments in research anddevelopment (R&D) worldwide. Theother awardees are: Prof.Kalyanmoy Deb, Indian Institute ofTechnology, Kanpur (ComputerScience); Prof. Gautam R. Desiraju,University of Hyderabad,(Chemistry); Prof. C.N.R. Rao,Jawaharlal Nehru Centre ofAdvanced Scientific Research,Bangalore, (Materials Science) andProf. Ashoke Sen, Harish ChandraResearch Institute, Allahabad(Physics). Prof. Pandey has beengiven the award in Biology andBiochemistry. The awards werepresented by Thomson Scientific’sExecutive Vice President, KeithMacGregor, in a function held in TajResidence in Bangalore on 27 July2006.

For selecting the awardees,Thomson Scientific team looked forthe most highly cited authors among

the Indian scientists inspecific industry categoriesduring 1996-2005. Toqualify for the award, oneof the criteria was that theresearchers had to have atleast four papers in the topone per cent according tothe scientific community.The number of times those

papers were cited in other academicworks, the total number of papersthat the researchers had written andthe citation index of the papers werealso taken into consideration.

These awards reflect thegrowing influence that IndianR&D specialists are having uponthe global R&D community. Withits highly educated workforce, Indiais being increasingly recognizedfor its innovative skills — a factreflected by the growing number ofIndian research paperscontributed (from 75,923 in1996-2000 to 98,558 in 2001-2005)and the worldwide citations toIndian research (from 113,824in 1996-2000 to 221,563 in2001-2005). According to ThomsonScientific, the Awards’ organizerand part of The ThomsonCorporation, India has thethird highest rate of increase intotal citations in the world, afterChina and South Korea, during2001-2005.

POGO-SCORFellowship to

Dr Mangesh Gauns

DR Mangesh Gauns,Scientist at the NationalInstitute of Oceanogra-

phy (NIO), Goa, has beenawarded the POGO-SCOR Fel-lowship for training inmicrozooplankton grazing andflow cytometry analysis of marinepicoplankton, under the supervi-sion of Dr Michael Sieracki, atBigelow Laboratory for OceanSciences, Maine, USA. The Part-nership for Observation of theGlobal Oceans (POGO) and itspartner, the Scientific Committeeon Oceanic Research (SCOR),award the fellowship to promotetraining and capacity buildingleading towards a global observa-tion scheme for the oceans. Thefellowship provides travel costand a stipend for three months atthe host institute.

Dr Mangesh has over 21 re-search papers to his credit andhas received several other awardsand honours in his short career.

Printed and Published by V.K. Gupta on behalf of National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (CSIR),Dr K.S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi -110 012 and printed at NISCAIR Press, Dr K.S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi -110 012

Editor: Dr B.C.Kashyap; Associate Editors: Meenakshi; Vineeta Singhal; Editorial Assistant: Neelima Handoo;Design: Pradip Banerjee; Sarla Dutta; Production: Kaushal Kishore

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