Midas Communications Gets Top National Technology Award

The Finance Minister, Shri P. Chidambram has assured that the shortfall in the ploughing back of the cess levied on the import of technology to the Technology Development Board would be made good partly in the current fiscal and the rest in the next year. Speaking at the National Awards Function on Technology Day, here last night, he said that science and technology has to play a vital role in the country’s goal of achieving 7-8 per cent growth rate as envisaged in the National Common Minimum Programme. Shri Chidambram said that the concept of Bharat Nirman is not just a slogan but a powerful idea to build infrastructure in the rural areas. Appreciating the achievements made under the programme of New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative, he reiterated the Government’s commitment to support public-private partnerships.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister for Science and Technology and Ocean Development, Shri Kapil Sibal announced that the Technology Development Board through its recent initiatives would be creating an incubation seed support system to offer financial assistance to selected Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Parks (STEPs) and Technology Business Incubators (TBIs). “The basic idea of such a support system is to address the requirements of early stage financial assistance for deserving ideas/technologies and enabling some of them to successfully move towards commercialization”, he said.

Shri Sibal said that a cess was levied on import of technology and this was supposed to flow back to the TDB as a resource since its inception in 1996-97, a total amount of Rs. 916 crores had been collected and deposited in the consolidated fund of India. Of this amount TDB has been allocated Rs. 435 crores so far. He called upon the Finance Minister to help in ploughing back the shortfall committed to TDB.

Emphasizing the importance of Nano Technology which holds a promise of revolutionizing the way we live, he said that a proposal has been initiated by the Department of Science and Technology and is awaiting clearance of the Planning Commission. He also said that the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting will soon dedicate a scientific team to work on predicting the extent of damages by floods, storms surges, impacts of climate change etc. once its super computing abilities are enhanced.

A number of National Awards instituted by the Technology Development Board, National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Biotechnology, National Research Development Corporation and Department of Ocean Development were presented by Shri Chidambram.

These National Awards for successful commercialization of indigenous technology by an industrial concern was presented to Banyan Networks, Broadband Division of M/s. Midas Communication Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Chennai and IIT Madras. The award was given for the Broadband access technology developed by Banyan Networks. The Broadband profile consists of a suite of products of diverse nature used for Broadband communication. They are Broadband and Direct Internet Access System (DIAS) ADSL2+, Enterprise and carrier class Router, Metro Ethernet Gigabit Switch, Broadband Digital Loop Carrier, Remote Access Servers, LAN Switch, etc. These products are developed by a team of your engineers along with IIT, Madras, Chennai. The intellectual property is owned by IIT, Madras and Banyan Networks. The award consisted of Rs. 10 lakhs and a trophy.

The award of Rs. 2 lakhs to small scale industry unit were given to M/s. Arjuna Natural Extracts Ltd., Alwaye and M/s. Valeth Hightech Composites (P) Ltd. M/s Arjuna Natural Extracts Ltd., Alwaye have developed a technology for extracting Omega 3 fatty acid from less unsaturated fatty acids available in the raw fish oil. The product belongs to the category of nutritional supplements/health foods/ neutraceuticals. The product conforms to European Pharmacopoeia and is well received in India and abroad. Sardine oil is the raw material for the product. This small fish is mainly processed for fish meal and the oil is a by-product of the process and was earlier used only as a cheap surface coating material for country boats.

M/s Valeth Hightech Composites (P) Ltd., Chennai, is manufacturing silica tile billets based on the process technology of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. The product is of light weight having density of approximate 0.3 gm/cc containing amorphous high purity silica fibres. Its thermal conductivity is very low and has temperature resistance up to 1400 degrees C with an extremely good thermal shock resistance. These characteristics are key factors for advanced materials needful for present day space progrmmes. This is a unique high technology product.

The WIPO Gold Medal for the year 2004 went to Prof. V.K. Choudhary and Associate of Department of Bio-chemistry, University of Delhi, South Campus for the development of ”A Whole-Blood Agglutination Assay for the on-site Detection of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection (HIV)”. The invention describes a simple and rapid test for the detection of anti-HIV antibodies in blood. The test does not require any instrument or electricity or even a drop of water and as such it can be performed anywhere. Since the test results can be read by naked eyes, it is also known as Naked Eye Visible Agglutination assay (NEVA).

Dr. (Ms.) Kanika Trivedy of Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute, Mysore (A constituent Laboratory of Central Silk Board) was awarded a WIPO Gold medal for woman inventor of the year 2004 for the development of innovative Technology Package for the “Extraction of Phyto-ecdysteroid from Carryophyllaceae family of plants” for the use of advanced maturity of silkworm and uniform spinning of cocoons. Use of plant based harmone in silkworm Rearing management is expected to give a boost to Sericulture Industry in India. The technology is commercially proven and product is already in the market with the trade name “Sampoorna”.

Shri Arvind Kumar L. Patel of Sahajanand Laser Technology, Ahmedabad, was awarded R. 1.50 lakhs (Rupees one lakh and fifty thousand only) for the development of Laser Mapping & Planning of a Rough Diamond to identify impurities and micro cracks and to judge maximum volume and mass that can be obtained from a rough stone. It uses three cameras to map a stone os that 3D data can be achieved and maps at regular rotation of 1.8 degree giving precise and accurate mapping. 26 units have been sold and cost fo the system is Rs. 1 to 2.5 lakhs (Corian model) and Rs. 11 to 13 lakhs (Diagnose model).

Dr. Banwari Lal of the Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi, was awarded Rs. 1.50 lakhs (Rupees one lakh and fifty thousand only) for the development of Oilzapper to eliminate crude oil spills and manage oily sludge. The inventor based on a bacterial consortium has developed the know-how for oilzapper capable in bioremediation of oil spill sites. The oilzapper can bio degrade all the fractions of crude oil and oily sludge. The product is found to be cost effective and environment friendly.

Dr. Bansi Dhar Malhotra and Associates of National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi and Dr. N.B. tulsani, Ex-Scientist, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi were jointly awarded Rs. 1 lakh (Rupees one lakh only) for the development fo Digital Blood Glucose Analyzer for the estimation of glucose in blood. The indigenously developed simple hand held electronic device required just one drop of blood and yield the blood glucose in about 40 seconds. It can measure blood glucose from 40 mg/dl to 600 mg/dl.

Dr. Debabrata Basu and Associate of Central glass & Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata, were jointly awarded Rs. 1 lakh (Rupees one lakh only) for the development of Process for Production of Porous Ocular Implant from synthetic Calcium Hydroxyapatite. This new development has revolutionized the treatment procedure after enucleation/evisceration surgery and rehabilitation of the anophthalmic patients. This indigenous implant is much cheaper compared to the imported one.

Shri Vinod Manukhlal Sheth and Associates of Madhu Silica Pvt. Ltd. , Bhavnagar, were jointly awarded Rs. 75,000/- (Rupees Seventy five thousand only) for the successful development of cost effective process for the Manufacture of Abrasive Silica used in GEL tooth paste formulations. The technology is commercially proven and the product is already in the market competing with the imported product.

Dr. Balakrushna Padhi and Associates of National Aluminium Company Ltd. Damanjodi, Orissa, were jointly awarded Rs. 75,000/- (Rupees Seventy five thousand only) for developing a process for the treatment of industrial alkaline waste water (sodic condensate) for removal of aluminium ions from condensate containing trace amount of sodium aluminate by ion exchange method for boiler use. A plant based on this technology has been successfully commissioned to treat 50 cubic meter per hous of the sodic concentrate to the boiler feed water at NALCO.

Dr. Mukesh Kantilal Shah and Associate of Electrical Research & Developmetn Association, Vadodra, were jointly awarded Rs. 75,000/- (Rupees Seventy five thousand only) For the development of enhancement of short circuit level of low tension air circuit breaker by optimizing contact dynamics. By this invention, the short circuit breaking capacity of the L.T. Air Circuit Breaker of 250 A to 1250A, 415 V rating ie enhanced from 32 kA to 50 Ka and the short time withstand capacity of 50kA for 1 second.

Dr. U.K. Revankar and Associate of LRDE, Bangalore, were jointly awarded Rs. 75,000/- (Rupees Seventy five thousand only) for the development of low sidelobe microstrip antenna array or man-portable radars. This is a compact, light weight, high gain and wide frequency bandwidth antenna array used for detection of targets in Manportable Radars—in 10-15 km range in X-band. The antenna consisting of 512 square patch elements has been productionized by BEL, Bangalore and integratedwith the radar system.

Shri Surmeet Singh Sethi of Thane, were awarded Rs. 75,000/- (Rupees Seventy five thousand only) for the development of bicycle saddle-unisex model, incorporating unique feature capsulated air column to achieve higher level of comfort to the riders by providing encapsulated air column, dual density foam and dent shape in the saddle. The newly designed saddle is an ideal solution to the medical problems faced by both male and female riders caused due to prolonged cycling.

Dr. Ishwar Kumar Garg, Ex. Sr. Research Engineer of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana and Shri Sarbjeet singh panesar of Dashmesh Mechanical Works, Sangrur (Punjab), were jointly awarded Rs. 60,000/- (Rupees sixty thousand only) for the design and development of tractor operated paddy straw—chopper-cum-spreader. The machine with new concept has been able to solve the problem of straw management and minimizes the number of tillage operations.

Shri rupakula Sudhakar and Associates of Central Research Institute for Dry Land Agriculture, Hyderabad & Shri Indravarapu Srinivas, Krishna Milk Union Project, Vijayawad, were jointly awarded Rs. 40,000/- (Rupees forty thousand only) for the development of a need based user friendly low cost device banA fibre extractor. This device is a user friendly fibre extraction device and replaces the tedious & cumbersome manual extraction process which reduces drudgery and enhances fibre production adding additional income to banana cultivators.

Shri Venkatapathy T., Lakshmi Narayan’s Crossandra Centre, Koodapakkam, Pondicherry, were awarded Rs. 40,000/- (Rupees forty thousand only) for the development of new varieties of ornamental crossandra through the principle of conventional breeding technique (crossing & selfing), including mutation using gamma and UV radiation and inducing mutation with chemical mutagens like EMS, MMS, Sodium azide and colchicines. The variety had been transferred to large number of farmers in southern rural India.

The National Award for Technology Business Incubator for the year 2004 was given to JSS Academy of Technical Education, NOIDA- Science & Technology Entrepreneurs Park. The JSSATE-STEP was established in 1999 with an objective of adding value to not only the technology graduates of the JSS Academy but also to the large number of small and medium enterprises in the region. The STEP has also set up an Information Technology Business Incubator (ITBI) in the year 2000 to nurture start-ups in information technology and IT enabled services.

Shri Chidambram also give away the Biotech Product and Process Development and Commercialization Award-2005 to 5 individuals/companies. They are :

1. Shanta Biotechnics Ltd. for developing Shanpoetin-India’s first recombinant human erythropoietin.
   
2. Bharat Biotech International Ltd. for development vaccines and biotherapeutics for the benefit of the masses.
   
3. Prof. P.N. Rangarajan for transferring recombinant Hepatitis B vaccine technology to Biological E. Ltd., Hyderabad leading to production of BEVAC>
   
4. The team from the Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai headed by Dr. J. Raghava Rao and members namely Dr. P. Thankikaivelan, Mrs. Saravanabhavan, Mr. S. Ramalingam and Dr. Balachandran Unni Nair for developing an environemtn friendly biobased leather processing alternative to the conventional chemical processing.
   
5. Dr. Chitra Mandal, Deputy Director, Indian Institute of Chemcial Biology, Kolkata for her contribution in medical science both in applied and basic research encompassing mainly th fields of immunochemistry and diagnosrics immunology, specifically glyco-immunology.
   

The Ocean Science and Technology Development Award 2004-05 was given to Prof. M. Ravindran, former Dirctor of National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai for his outstanding contributions in the few of Ocean Science and Technology.

Shri Chidambram also released four products on the occasion. These were:

1. Fiberglass technical fabrics are manufactured by M/s Vishnu Fabrics Private Ltd., Srivilliputtur, which has been provided loan assistance of Rs. 425 lakhs by TDB against the project cost of Rs. 1485 lakhs. Self adhesive fiberglass mesh tape is made of fiberglass mesh and is compounded with adhesive latex/polymer coatings. This material is used in buildings, runways, roads and embankments. The company has obtained repeat orders from many countries in Europe and the Middle East. The company owns an Indian process patent.
2. Steel Strips Wheels Ltd., Dappar (District Patiala), has developed an improved process and is manufacturing wheel rims for car, tractors and multi-utility vehicles through its in-house R&D efforts. This improvement is expected to result in improved design that will save cost and enhance fuel efficiency. TDB has agreed to provide a loan assistance of Rs. 498 lakhs against the project cost of Rs. 1455 lakhs.
3. M/s Mak Controls and Systems (P) Ltd, Coimbatore, have developed (i) Special purpose electrical rotating machines of 100 to 900 Hz, 6 to 180 KVA Generators. And (ii) Low pressure, high volume oil free screw compressor for aircraft jet engine air starting system. These are used in the manufacture of Ground Power Units and supplied to commercial airlines and Defence Services. The project has been completed a total cost of Rs. 799.38 lakhs against which TDB’s loan is limited to Rs. 250 lakhs.
4. Drinking water purifiers, based on membrane filtration technology, for virus free filter water, have been manufactured by M/s Membrane Filters (India) Pvt. Ltd., Pune. The technology has been developed by National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. The purifier works on hydraulic pressure from overhead tanks and is thus not dependent upon electricity. The design being of modular concept, the capacity can be increased from 1 ltr/minute to 4 ltrs/minute. The cost of the project is Rs. 129 lakhs. TDB has provided a loan of Rs. 40 lakhs.

Shri Sibal released two books on the occasion. There are CSIR Profile-2005, a compendium of landmark achievements of CSIR in diverse aspects of R&D and Tsunami a useful book for creating mass awareness about key issues related to the occurrence of Tsunami.

Shri Sibal also released a documentary film “Uday”—The Dawn . Way is a visual depiction of success and achievement of the Technology Demonstration Projects in the milk sector in Agro food processing under the IFAC’s flagship programme “Technology Vision 2020”.

The Reva-NXG (for next generation) concept car was showcased on the occasion. The two-seater NZG is powered by a 37kW AC induction motor and runs off sodium nickel chloride batteries rather than the more common lead acid cells. With an independent four wheel suspension, atop speed of 120 km/hour and a maximum range on one charge of 200 km, the car is expected to have the best endurance among electric personal vehicles today. The basic car was designed and manufactured at the Bangalore plant of the company. Its futuristic body was conjured up by Shri Dilip Chhabria, the well-known Indian car designer an Encore Software (makers of the Simputer) provided the state-of-the-art digital dashboard-a wireless tablet that uses a touch screen display and integrates all vehicle functions as well as Internet access.

Source : Ministry of Science & Technology
Date : May 12, 2005