Annual Report 2007-2008

Joint Research Projects

• Origin of unusual ferromagnetism and dielectric properties in the solid solution of two antiferromagnets, alpha-Fe2O3 and FeLiO3 an EXAFS Study (XAFS Beamline): These experiments were designed to understand valence state of iron and titanium thereby providing insight into origin of magnetism and dielectric properties as well as interesting coupling of magnetism-dielectric properties (IISc, Bangalore).
  
• High Pressure Study on lightly doped non-stochiometric alkali bronzes (X-Ray Diffraction Beamline): This experiment aimed at investigating structural distortions in sodium-ungsten-bronze under high pressure. This input will help in further investigation of transport behavior of these materials theoretically (BARC, Mumbai).
• Search for compressibility anomaly in Ni2MnGa and COFeSi (XRD Beamline): Mixed valence rare earth manganese oxides with perovskite type structure are extremely sensitive to external stimuli like doping, temperature, pressure, radiation, magnetic field, etc. GaCMn3, with the cubic antiperovskite type structure belongs to an intermediate class of materials between the rare earth manganites and the normal metallic alloys and is expected to show different, but interesting behaviour under compression. The investigation of the structural evolution under pressure on GaCMn3 revealed that its pressure– volume data can be fitted to two straight line segments in different pressure regions; one from 0 to 5 GPa and another from 5 to 30 GPa respectively. (BARC, Mumbai)
  

India-Trento Program for Advanced Research (ITPAR): Consequent to successful completion of ITPAR Phase - I during 2003-2006, the Agreement on ITPAR Phase II for 2007-2009 was signed on January 18, 2007 amongst its co-sponsors from India (DST) and Italy (Autonomous Province of Trento, University of Trento, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and will be implemented out of Italian annual budget of Euros 300,000 and matching grant by Indian side. ITPAR Phase II is retaining the cardinal feature of supporting joint research and technology development project based two way mobility of researchers and shared investments by co-sponsors to strengthen incremental research facilities at Indian project sites to be at par with Italian counterpart sites.

ITPAR Phase II Workplan has been firmed up during the year and comprises of five joint projects, namely:

• Theme Telecommunications: Development of advanced software technologies to analyse an understand high spatial resolution remote sensed images involving IIT, Bombay; ISI, Kolkata; Jadavpur University, Kolkata; and University of Trento.
  
• Theme Microsystems: Immobilization of nucleic acid probes and bio-molecules on silicon based substrates for biosensor applications involving IIT, Kharagpur and FBK, Trento; Development of Ion Sensitive Field Effect Transistors –ISFET based biosensor and its characterization involving CEERI, Pilani; IIT, Kharagpur; and FBK Trento; Preparation of thin films of ferroelectric BTS, BST , semiconductor Zn Te and superconductor YBCO and study their merit in use for terahertz radiation detection involving University of Hyderabad and FBK Trento.
  
• Theme Physics and Materials Science: Production and structural, optical characterization of nanocrystalline glass ceramics in bulk and waveguide format involving University of Hyderabad and University of Trento .
  
• Theme Computer Science: Distributed software engineering devoted to development of metadata extraction tools, semantic browsing, distributed systems-web service protocols and geospatial information service over mobile environments involving TIFR, Bombay; IIT, Madras, Kanpur and Delhi ;IIIT, Hyderabad; University of Hyderabad and University of Trento.
  
• Theme Nano-photonics: Fabrication (by e-beam lithography and etching, self assembly processes) and characterization (of linear, non-linear and optical properties) of polystyrene, polystyrene-silica and Si/ Ge quantum dots for photonic applications involving University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad; IIT, Kharagpur; University of Trento and CNR-Institute for Photonics an Nanotechnologies.

Joint Centres of Excellence

An MOU was concluded for establishment of Indo-Russian Centres on Technology Transfer, Laser & Accelerators, Non-ferrous, Biomedical Technology in Moscow in October 2007. The Indo-Russian Centre for Biomedical technology at Thiruvananthapuram was inaugurated on January 10, 2008 by Dr. T. Ramasami, Secretary, DST.

Already functional Centres:

i. Seven Joint Indo-Russian Centres of Excellence are continuous promoting bilateral scientific cooperation in their respective thematic area. These centres are pursuing high end science, working out new technologies and interacting with user community for possible technology transfer. These joint centres are:

• International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials, Hyderabad
• Russian - Indian Centre for Advanced Computing Research, Moscow
• Indo-Russian Centre for Gas Hydrates, Chennai
• Indo-Russian Centre for Biotechnology, Allahabad
• Russian – Indian Centre for Ayurvedic Research, Moscow
• Indo-Russian Centre for Earthquake Research, New Delhi Bharat Immunologicals & Biological Corporation Ltd, Bulandshahr

Joint Workshops

Some of the noteworthy joint workshops supported during the year were:

• Indo-Japanese workshop on “Recent Trends in Molecular Materials Research at Trivandrum (January 2008).
• Indo-Japanese workshop on “New Directions in ferroics and multiferroics”, at Kolkata (February 2008).
• Indo-Japanese workshop on “Materials to Save Humankind: The Dream, Creativity and Working Towards its Realization”, held at Tokyo, Japan (September 2007).
  
• Indo-Japanese workshop on “Neutrino Factories and Super beam” held at Okayama University, Japan (August 2007).
  
• Indo-Japanese workshop on “Micro/Nano Manufacturing and Production Management & Control” held at Heisei University, Tokyo, Japan (March 2008).
  
• Under DST-JST Collaboration, A joint workshop was organized on “ICT applications”.
  
• Indo-Russian workshop on Non-ferrous Metallurgy at Moscow (July 2007)
  
• Indo-Russian workshop on electro-magnetism at Troitsk (June 2007)
  
• Indo-Australian workshop on Galaxies in the local volume, Marsfield (July 2007)
  
• Indo-Australian workshop on Nanotechnology, Delhi (December 2007)
  
• Indo-German Workshop on “Modeling Chemical and Biological reactivity at IICT, Hyderabad
  
• DST-MPG Workshop on “Modern Science Management at New Delhi
  
• Indo-German Workshop on “Radio Therapy for the Future: Charged particles beams of protons, Carbon ions, and anti-protons: world scenario and needs in India
  
• Indo-Croatian workshop on Commercialization and Social Implementation of Science, Zagreb (October 2007).
  
• Indo-Australian Workshop on Research opportunities on effective technologies to increase the performance and adoption of conversation tillage, Coimbatore (August 2007
  
• Indo-Hungarian workshop on Ecology and mechanisms of desiccation-tolerant plants and vegetation in tropical inselbergs”Indian-Hungarian scientific workshop with indoor lecture sessions and field courses at Bareilli (April 2007)
  
• DST-NSF Advanced Training Institute in Nano Scale Science, Engineering and Technology: A first ever, DST-NSF Advanced Training Institute in the area of Nano scale Science, engineering and technology was organized at Chennai in January, 2008. 20 students from each side at pre Ph. D, post Ph. D and junior faculty level attended the institute. Similarly, 7 faculty from each side acted as resource person for the institute.
• Indo - Mexican Joint Workshop in the area of Seismicity and Earthquakes at UNAM, Mexico (April 2007)
• First Indo - Brazil Joint Workshop on Molecular Materials including Nano Materials at Pune (October 2007).
• First Indo - Brazil Joint workshop in the area of Infectious diseases at JNCASR, Bangalore (January 2008). The areas of infectious diseases included HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Leishmaniasis.
• Indo-Israel workshop on “Computer Vision” was organized at IIIT, Hyderabad

Participation In International Mega-Science Projects/Utilization of International Advanced Research Facilities

India has signed its intention to participate in the construction, operation and maintenance of FAIR project at Darmstadt Germany. India is to contribute in kind 3% of total construction cost of 1.8 billion euros for the PROTON-LINAC project of the FAIR project.

S&T Initiatives With Indian Diaspora: 2007-2008 STIO Program

• Under the 29 projects funded against CP-STIO Program (2006-07), visit of 15 STIOs to Indian institutions were supported.
• Under 2007-2008 CP-STIO Program, 50 collaborative project proposals in response to CP-STIO Program Call for Proposal: 2007-2008 were received. These proposals aim at sourcing Scientists & Technologists of Indian Origin Abroad (STIOs) participation and leveraging STIO’s expertise (ideas/ best practices / resources) of relevance and importance to S&T actions in the domestic context and for enhancing international presence of India.

These collaborative project proposals are predominantly related to: (i) Advanced Research in emerging frontier areas of science; (ii) Technology Development in cutting edge and critical technologies and Technology Acquisition & Customization especially in areas of societal interest; and (iii) Institutional Capacity Building for research in frontier areas of S&T. The project proposals are being evaluated and upto 20 proposals are proposed to be supported.

Indo-US S&T Forum

The Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) was established in 2000 through an intergovernmental agreement between India and the United States of America. IUSSTF is mandated to promote, catalyze and seed bilateral collaborations in science, technology, engineering and biomedical research through substantive interaction amongst stake holders in government, academia and industry in both the countries.

During the year under report, IUSSTF has launched several new bilateral programs some of which are in partnership with government agencies, industries and professional societies. These include:

• Indo-US Centers of Research Excellence with SERC, DST
• Indo-US Research Fellowships with SERC, DST
• Technology Entrepreneurship Program with DST & INTEL

Global Faculty Colloquium at UC- Berkeley
- Regional Training Program & National Curriculum workshop
o Stanford-India Biodesign (SIB) Fellowships with DBT
o American Physics Society-IUSSTF Visiting Professorship & Student Visitation
o American Society for Microbilogy-IUSSTF Professorships
o MIT-IUSSTF Student Internships
o HP Innovate 2008
o Agilent Technologies Clean Air Challenge for Schools

In addition, several large collaborative activities drawn from the inter-governmental strategic declarations were seeded by IUSSTF through a top down intervention by identifying and bringing together focused scientific groups from both countries. Some of these special initiatives include:
(i) Biogeochemical Flux Monitoring Network in India (Indo Flux)
(ii) Instrumented Aircraft for Land Falling Tropical Cyclones
(iii) Stanford – India Biodesign Program
(iv) Health Science and Technology Initiative
(v) Linear Collider Technology
(vi) Indo US Collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE)

Besides, the large canvas of activities supported by IUSSTF through three award making cycles during the year under report has created several new opportunities and dimensions in collaborations through holding of nearly thirty bilateral symposium and workshops covering a wide spectrum of thematic and application areas. Indo-US Frontiers of Science Symposium (FOS-2007) and the planned Indo-US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium (FOE-2008), both at Irvine, California has provided a unique platform to the best and brightest young minds from India and US to interact and show case cutting edge scientific pursuits across disciplines through a designed interactive format.

Indo-French Centre For The Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR/CEFIPRA)

Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research was established jointly by Government of India and the Government of France in 1987 under Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860. The Centre since then has been undertaking a variety of activities for the Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR) between the two countries on a equal cost sharing basis. The activities undertaken by IFCPAR during 2007-908 are described in following paragraphs:-

• Collaborative Research Projects
  
  The Centre provides funding for collaborative research projects in Science & Technology which are jointly implemented in Indian and French Institutions. Several areas of research in basic as well as applied topics of mutual interest such as, Pure and Applied Mathematics, Computer and Information Sciences, Life and Health Science, Pure and Applied Physics, Pure and Applied Chemistry, Instrumentation, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Material Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Water, Biotechnology, Information & communication Technology have been identified. Seventy projects are ongoing at present.
  
  
• Workshop/Seminars/Symposia
  
  Joint seminars, workshops and symposia are organised each year on topics of mutual interest. During the period under report, five workshops were held.
  
  
• Industrial Research Committee
  
  With a view to putting science to the service of the society by linking research institutions and industry, a second line of activity was launched a few years back. The Industrial Research Committee of CEFIPRA has continued its efforts towards nourishing the programme with encouraging and delightful results.
  
  
• Exchange Visits
  
  The Centre provided travel support, arranged visa, foreign exchange, etc. to about 150 Indian and French scientists for project related activities during the reporting period.
  
  
• Research Papers
  
  On an average about 100 research papers published jointly in international scientific journals with a good impact factor result from the collaborative effort each year.
  
  
• Second India France Quiz
  
  The “India-France Quiz” for school going children of the two countries has been revitalised. The idea is to promote awareness among the youngsters of the two countries about each other’s culture. Conduct of an “On Line Quiz” had been implemented with highly encouraging response. Nearly 3000 students participated in an online quiz organized for the second time in India on 15th October 2006. Of these, 8 students were finally selected who later visited France for a period of two weeks during May 2007.
  
  

Centre For Science and Technology of The Non-Aligned and other Developing Countries (NAM S&T CENTRE)

During the last one year (April 2007 – March 2008) the Centre for Science and Technology of the Non- Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre) implemented a range of scientific programmes and activities. These included (i) 6th International Workshop–cum-Training Course on ‘Microelectronics: Micro- and Nano-Electronics and Photonics’ at COMSATS, Islamabad, Pakistan in April 2007; (ii) International Roundtable on ‘Lightning Protection’ at Colombo, Sri Lanka in May 2007; (iii) International Workshop on ‘Herbal Medicinal Plants and Traditional Herbal Remedies’ at Hanoi, Vietnam in September 2007; and (iv) 5th International Workshop on ‘Enhancing Change through Science Centres’ at Johannesburg, South Africa in February 2008. Twenty two scientists and professionals from India participated in these programmes out of 380 participants from 33 countries. The Centre also brought out 5 scientific publications during the period, viz. (i) ‘Understanding and Forecasting of Monsoons’, edited by Prof. P. N. Vinayachandran; (ii) ‘The Enhanced Role of Science Centres and Museums in Developing Strategies’ - Proceedings of African Regional Conference on the same subject held at Lusaka, Zambia in January 2006, edited by Dr. Vinay B. Kamble iii) ‘Plant Tissue Culture & Transformation Techniques’, edited by Dr. Balram Sharma; (iv) ‘Advances in Natural Products: Importance in Health and Economy’, edited by Dr. Zaheer Ahmed and Prof. Ashana Dar; and (v) ‘Crop and Forage Production Using Saline Waters’, edited by Prof. Mohammad Kafi and Prof. M. Ajmal Khan. Besides these publications, the quarterly Newsletter of the Centre was continued to be brought out for wide dissemination of the S&T news from the developing world.

The Government of Cambodia conveyed its decision to join the NAM S&T Centre as a member bringing the total membership of the Centre to 41. Besides this, the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) University, Vellore joined the NAM S&T-industry Network of the Centre as its 11th member.