Annual Report 2006-2007

Human Resources for Indian S&T Advancement

Advancement of S & T is a prime requisite to the building of a modern economy and society. Development of human resources to support advancement of S & T is therefore of paramount importance. Special emphasis is laid on promoting the required human resource base by organizing short-term schools/ training programmes/ awareness camps, workshops, contact programmes; supporting young scientists/ technologists with attractive fellowships or grants; and providing travel assistance for attending international workshops/ conferences, etc. During the year, a special thrust has been given to exposing school children to advanced scientific tools and technologies in order that the human talent is captured young and adequately nurtured to address the emerging challenges with the help of S & T. SERC Schools

Like the previous years, several short-term schools/ training programmes/ workshops have been conducted on various themes. Some of the schools/ training programmes/ workshops organized during the year include

• SERC School on Optical Metrology & Diffractive Optics
• SERC School on Fundamentals and Application of Cavitationally induced Physical and Chemical Transformations
• Summer School on Astronomy & Astrophysics
• 3rd SERC School in Nonlinear Dynamics
• 5th SERC School on Special functions, functions of matrix arguments - recent advances and recent applications in Stochastic processes, Astrophysics and Statistics
• SERC School on Experimental HEP
• SERC Summer School in Solid State and Material Chemistry
• Training Programme on Modelling in Resource Management & Environment through Geomatics
• 2nd Advanced Training Programme in Mathematics for Under-Graduate Students
• Training Programme on Training School on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with Thrust on Atmospheric Sciences
• Tranining Programmes in Receiver Function Technique
• Instructional workshop on Discussion Group onCconvexity in Discrete Structures
• Workshop on Graph Theory and its Applications
• Field Workshop on Geoarcheology and Human Response to Landscape Evolution
• Workshop on Elasticity Theory of Dislocation and Inversion of Ground Surface Strain Fields
• Workshop on Himalayan Earthquake
• 3rd National Workshop on Techniques in Applied Mathematics
• National Workshop on Mesoscale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes
• International Workshop on Electromagnetic Studies related to Earthquake and Volcanoes
• Workshop on Origin and Evolution of the Deep Continental Crust
• Workshop on Low Cost Automation

DST Schools on Mathematical Modeling in Earth System Sciences

The main aim of this programme is to develop manpower in mathematical modeling and computer simulation , planning & management for better understanding of processes and phenomena in Earth System Sciences (Earth , Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences). The objective has been to meet the present and future gaps in the requisite human resource base by organizing different types of inter-disciplinary and multi-institutional training activities in different parts of the country.

Seven DST advanced Training Courses / programme have been organized and about 210 candidates (Students, Research Scholars, Scientists and Teachers ,etc ) in the different fields of Earth System Sciences from all over India ( including outside of India ) have participated. In addition, seven lecture note volumes have been published and around 110 resource persons from different earth science related fields and different parts of our country have attended the events. Details of the organized courses / training etc. are as follows:

• Natural Resource Planning and Management by Institute of Science and Management, Ranchi
• Application of Remote Sensing, GIS and GPS in Natural Resource Planning and Management by D.D.U. Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur
• Applications of Geomatics in Urban Environment Management by St. Peter's Engineering College, Avadi, Chennai
• Application of Satellite Remote Sensing and GIS Technology by Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramodaya Vishwavidyalya, Chitrakoot, Satna (M.P.)
• Mineral Deposit Modelling by University of Jammu, Jammu
• Landuse Planning, Management and Sustainable Development by Udai Pratap Autonomous College Varanasi
• Modelling in Resource Management & Environment through Geomatics by University of Rajasthan, Jaipur.

Programmes like Swarnajayanti Fellowship, JC Bose National Fellowship, Ramanujan Fellowship, Ramanna Fellowship, Kishore Vaigyanik Prothsahan Yojana (KVPY), BOYSCAST Fellowship, Science Olympiad Programme, Fast Track Scheme for Young Scientists, Partial Financial Assistance (PFA) Scheme have been continued during the year 2006-07.

The Swarnajayanti Fellowship

A scientist selected for an award under the Swarnajayanti Fellowship Programme is expected to pursue unfettered research with freedom and flexibility in terms of expenditure as approved under a research plan. A selected number of young scientists, with proven track record, are provided special assistance and support for pursuing basic research in frontier areas of Science and Technology. The Fellowship is open to Indian Nationals residing in India or abroad with 30 to 40 years of age. It is tenable for a period not exceeding five years. A total of fourteen fellowships have been awarded this year. Instituted in the 50th Year of India's Independence, the Fellowship Programme has been launched to encourage young scientists to achieve standards of excellence comparable with the best in the world.

The JC Bose National Fellowship

The JC Bose Fellowship has been instituted this year to recognize active scientists and engineers for their outstanding performance and contribution. Open to an Indian National below the age of 60 years who is residing in India with a regular position in an institution, the Fellowship is scientist-specific, selective and granted for a period of five years. Value of the fellowship is Rs. 20,000 per month besides a fellow's regular income. In addition, it carries a research grant of Rs. 5.00 lakh per annum. Sixty nine scientists have been awarded this year.

The Ramanujan Fellowship

Ramanujan Fellowships are awarded to brilliant scientists and engineers from all over the world to take up scientific research positions in Indian universities and scientific institutions. Instituted this year, the fellowship aims at attracting scientists and engineers willing to return to India with a view to undertaking advanced research. Each Ramanujan fellow is at liberty to identify a university or scientific institution of his choice for the research work and is eligible for receiving regular research grants through the extramural funding schemes of various S&T agencies of the Government. The fellowship is open to scientists and engineers below the age of 60 years and is tenable for a period of five years. It has a monthly award of Rs. 50,000 in the first 3 years and is increased to Rs. 60,000 per month in the subsequent years. Each Fellow, in addition, receives a research grant of Rs. 5.00 lakh per annum. Nine scientists have been selected for the award of this fellowship this year.

The Ramanna Fellowship

Ramanna Fellowship aims at offering continued core support to researchers who have performed well in their ongoing basic research projects of SERC (e.g. Fast Track Scheme for Young Scientists, Women Scientists Scheme-A, SERC Individual Research Projects, Nano Science and Technology Initiative projects and Swarnajayanti Fellowship projects). Each Ramanna Fellow is entitled to a monthly fellowship along with a research grant of Rs. 10 lakh/year for a period of three years. Twenty four fellowships have been awarded so far in Chemical Sciences, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences and Mathematical Sciences.

The Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY)

Under the Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY), about 175 students have been identified during the year. For the students continuing under the Scheme, summer training programmes have been organized at several institutions. Based on scholastic performance in their respective courses of study and their performance in the summer training programmes, the scholarship have been renewed.

Better Opportunities For Young Scientists In Chosen Areas Of Science And Technology (BOYSCAST)

The BOYSCAST programme provides opportunities to young Indian scientists/ technologists below the age of 35 years, who hold regular positions in recognized S&T institutes in India to visit reputed institutions abroad, interact with scientists/technologists there, get exposure to latest research techniques and participate and contribute to the latest developments in specially chosen areas of Science & Technology. The BOYSCAST fellows selected for the year 2005-06 have joined the leading institutes abroad and started working in areas including Advanced/smart materials, Nano Science & Technology; Interface Science & Engineering; Multicriteria decision making including generic algorithms and neural networks; Earthquake engineering;

Heterogeneous catalysis; Bioinorganic and biomimetic chemistry; Site directed mutagenesis; Molecular epidemiology; Reproduction technology; Industrial microbiology; Plant microbe interaction; Crop biotechnology; Modelling for new drug development; Functional NMR/in-vivo Spectroscopy; Algebraic & geometric methods in control theory; Evolution and dynamics of Indian Lithosphere; and Seismic tomography etc.

Seventy-five BOYSCAST fellows have been selected for the year 2006-07 and are likely to join the leading institutes abroad.

Fellowships International Exposure

Young scientists from India have been assisted by providing doctoral, postdoctoral and other research fellowships instituted jointly with partner countries/ agencies. Similarly, Russian young scientists have been provided fellowships to work in Indian Institutions. The following fellowships have been made available:-

• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
• Science & Technology Agency (STA), Japan
• International Centre of Theoretical Physics, Trieste (ICTP)
• ILTP Fellowships for Russian Scientists

In addition, participation of young doctoral students has been made mandatory in the projects given under DST-DAAD programme. Fast Track Scheme for Young Scientists

In order to provide quick research support to young scientists below the age of 35 years, a new fast track mechanism has been in operation since 2000-01. During the current year, a set of 208 new projects have been sanctioned under the Scheme in various disciplines. Several interesting and significant results have been reported from the on-going projects.

In the frontier areas of Chemical Sciences, important and interesting results obtained from the ongoing projects include the following:

• A foam based protocol for preparation of CoFe2O4 and MgFe2O4 nano particles has been demonstrated. By synthesizing ligands incorporated with azo-benzene moiety, utilizing the trans-cis transformation under the UV light, and the cis-trans isomerization under visible light irradiation of these moieties, a photo -responsive gold nano particle network has been created.
• High efficient divalent europium doped (BaCaMg)5(PO4)3Cl bluish green phosphor has been developed and studied for its application to near UV LED.
• The formation of 2,5-dimercapto-1,3,4 - thiadiazole (DMcT) multilayers on Au electrode through hydrogen bonding has been demonstrated for the first time.

Under Life Sciences, a study aimed at understanding the mechanism of doxorubicin (DOX) resistance in breast cancer cell lines MCF-7, the result reveals that DOX induced ROl has been transient. DOX-resistant cells show high basal activity of NF-KB and its dependent genes expression. Through DOX inducted ROI in MCF-7 Cells, basal level of ROl has been measured from DOX-resistant cells. Higher activity of PKA, CKll, and lKK has been detected in DOX-resistant cells. Inhibition of PKA and CKll, required for p65 (RelA) phosphorylation inhibits NF-KB-dependent gene activity and thereby sensitizes the DOX-resistant cells to apoptosis. Overall, the results suggest that high NF-KB activity confers resistance to DOX and decrease in this activity by inhibiting upstream kinases sensitizes cell death. Targeting these upstream kinases to inhibit activity of NF-KB and thereby its dependent genes might be a viable strategy for effective chemotherapy.

Under Physical, Mathematical and Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, 112 projects have been approved. About six on-going projects have been rated as 'Excellent' and recommended for the award of Ramanna Fellowship.

Under the Engineering Sciences, 49 proposals have been recommended for support in areas of Embedded Control Systems, Bio-remediation, Agriculture Engineering, Material Sciences including Nano-materials, Communication, Transportation modeling etc. Partial Financial Assistance Scheme

The objective of the Partial Financial Assistance (PFA) Scheme has been to provide travel assistance to Indian Scientists willing to participate in international conferences/workshops, training programmes etc. Participation in such events is expected to facilitate their interaction with foreign counterparts so as to enable them to update their knowledge and present their research findings at International level for a better peer reviewing.

A total of 759 candidates have been supported during the year. Some of the young outstanding scientists have been given 100% travel grants. Important conferences where the scientists have participated include IUFRO World Congress, International Conference on Carbon, Materials for Advanced Technologies; International Conference on Computational Methods & Function Theory; International Conference on Plasma Science; International Conference on Green & Sustainable Chemistry; International Chemical Conference. Pilot Program on Participation of Youth in Real Time/Field Observation to Benefit Education (PROBE)

Department of Science & Technology under its IS-STAC programme has launched the scheme on Participation of youth in Real-time/ field Observations for the Benefit of Education (PROBE). The primary objective of PROBE, initiated in the States of Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, National Capital Region of Delhi, Orissa and North-East, has been to train students at school level (classes IX, X and XI) in taking meteorological observations for understanding day-to-day environment including weather. Commenced in Uttarakhand in 2003 with the goal of linking students and teachers with the scientific research community, the Scheme has made substantial progress during the year. Salient features of achievement during the year are as follows:

U-Probe

U-PROBE is being implemented in Uttarakhand in collaboration with the State Education Directorate. Under the Scheme, meteorological laboratories are being set up in 125 Senior Secondary Schools/ Government Inter Colleges of the hilly State in its remotest parts. Physical parameters such as temperature, wind speed; wind direction; rainfall; wet and dry bulb temperatures; and pressure are measured by school children and entered in computers. Weather data are stored in a PROBE database for utilization in research and planning. Six Technical Resource Centres (TRCs) set up at leading academic institutions like Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, GBPIHED, Almorah; GBPUAT, Pant Nagar; Kumaun University, Nainital; HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar; and DARL, Pithoragarh participated in a review by the U-PROBE Advisory and Monitoring Committee in August 2006. An Annual Data Book has been brought out by IIT, Roorkee for the year 2004, from the data collected by schools in Uttaranchal. A two-week Master teachers training programme cum workshop has been organized in September, 2006 at IIT Delhi and participated by teachers from schools of Uttrakhand.

NCR-Probe

The NCR-PROBE has been launched in the 56 schools of the National Capital Region of Delhi. Honb'le Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences has inaugurated the first Workshop on NCR-PROBE participated by students from six Defence schools of Delhi, where Meteorological Laboratories have been set up. Six Technical Resource Centers have been established in academic institutions in Delhi to guide schools and educate children about meterology and environment. First Teachers Training Programme of One Week duration for NCR-PROBE School Teachers has been organized in July 2006 at IIT Delhi. Workshop cum Student Awareness Programs on Meteorological Observations and Education have been organised in a select groups of schools of NCR, Delhi.

TN-Probe

The TN-PROBE program has been launched in the southern coastal parts of Tamilnadu. The Aditanar College of Arts & Science, Virapandianpatnam, Trichendur District has been identified as the Technical Resource Centre. Sixteen schools in the coastal districts of Kanyakumari, Triunelvelli and Thoothukkudi have been identified. These schools are proposed to be equipped with computers and meteorological instruments for School Meteorological Laboratories. First Workshop as Educational programme of teaching Weather and Environmental Study to the coastal school students and teachers has been organised in Jan.- Feb. 2007 at Aditanar College of Arts & Science, Thiruchendur. The TN-PROBE activities are expected to create a scientific temper among the students of the schools and help local fishermen access on-line weather information.

Orissa-Probe

ORISSA-PROBE has been initiated in the state of Orissa well-known for its proneness to weatherrelated epidemics and disasters like drought-related forest-fires, floods, and tropical cyclones. Three Technical Resource Centres are being set up at Department of Marine Sciences, Behrampur University; Regional Research Laboratory, Bhubaneswar; and Kalinga University of Science & Technology for installing basic meteorological instruments in 45 schools of the region.

NE-Probe

NE-PROBE program has been initiated in the Darjeeling Hills (West Bengal) of the North-Eastern Himalayas. Twenty schools have been identified in the hills for establishing School Meteorological Laboratories. Bose Institute, Kolkata has been identified as the Technical Resource Centre. Empowering Youth Through Geo-Informatics & Participation in Local Area Development (EYGIPLAD)

In order to empower the rural youth in the technologies of Geo-Informatics in local problem solving and build their capacity in modern technologies related to watershed management, the above project has been developed in collaboration with Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), an autonomous organization with the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India.

Objectives of the project include building up of the technological capacity of selected volunteers of NYKS in Geo-Informatics for local problem solving related to natural resources & watershed management, preparing spatial resource profiles of the selected blocks/watersheds, developing an information generation mechanism focused on watershed management, evolving an institutional mechanism for linking the activities to local level planning for sustainable livelihoods.

The project has been initiated in the following zones of the country:

The programme is being implemented in two phases:

a) Creating awareness among the volunteers in application of Geo-Informatics to local level development planning including hands-on training with a focus on watershed management technologies

b) Implementation of a small project by the volunteers at the identified watershed Creating Awareness About Applications of Geo-Informatics for Local Problem Solving

As a part of the Year of Scientific Awareness - 2004, an initiative has been launched under the NRDMS Programme of DST to create awareness about utility of maps and Geo-informatics for local problem solving

The Resource Books in regional languages

Village Topography Map at 1:25,000.	Clip of satellite imagery of the same village at 1:25,000.

among rural school children. The sub-programme, named as 'Creating Awareness about Application of Geoinformatics for Local Problem Solving' has been implemented in four selected districts in each of the states of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal. Students of classes VII, VIII & IX from rural schools of the selected district have been the target groups. A standard method for project development, implementation and impact analysis has been developed. As resource materials for creating awareness, tool kits and resource kits have been developed and distributed among the students. Each tool kit contains one combined Global Positioning System (GPS) and Altimeter and a resource kit contains a resource book on Geo-informatics in the respective regional languages, a village topography map at 1:25,000 scale and a clip of the satellite data for the corresponding village in the same scale.

The children have learned to update the topographic map from satellite imagery and used it for local problem solving. During the Year, the Sub-programme has created awareness amongst 18,000 school children and 113 teachers in the selected States. An Impact Analysis has been carried out to assess the change in the level of awareness, perceptions relating to decision-making in local resource management and knowledge about the subject among the selected children. Science Olympiad Programmes

The Indian teams again performed well in the International Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology Olympiads. The medal tally this year has been as follows: Mathematics - 5 bronze and 1 Honourable Mention; Physics - 2 gold and 3 bronze; Chemistry - 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze; and Biology - 3 Silver and 1 bronze medals.