Category: Science & Technology

** India’s solar capacity: Milestones and challenges

How far has India progressed on its goal to achieve 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030? What are some of the obstacles that the domestic solar industry faces?

The story so far: India added a record 10 Gigawatt (GW) of solar energy to its cumulative installed capacity in 2021. This has been the highest 12-month capacity addition, recording nearly a 200% year-on-year growth.

India has now surpassed 50 GW of cumulative installed solar capacity, as on 28 February 2022. This is a milestone in India’s journey towards generating 500 GW from renewable energy by 2030, of which 300 GW is expected to come from solar power.

India’s capacity additions rank the country fifth in solar power deployment, contributing nearly 6.5% to the global cumulative capacity of 709.68 GW.

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** IIT Kanpur-incubated start-up’s composting machine converts waste to manure in 10 days

Taking a step towards sustainable and efficient waste management, Agnys Waste Management Private Limited, a start-up incubated at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, has developed an automatic composting machine that can convert waste to manure in just 10-20 days.

The start-up has named the machine BHOOMI which is an acronym for Bio-composting of horticulture & organic waste into manure indigenously.

** Bengaluru Metro’s First Vinyl-Wrapped Train Flagged off . Marks 75 Years of Independence

The first Metro train in Bengaluru with its exterior wrapped completely in vinyl was inaugurated on Friday from Platform 2 of the Kempegowda Metro station towards Kengeri on its Purple Line.

This initiative by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to commemorate 75 years of Independence was flagged off by its Managing Director Anjum Parwez at 10.15 am.

** Jharkhand undergrad illuminates village with his power-packed ‘jugaad’

The handmade turbine is now generating 5KW electricity, which is illuminating the streets and a temple in the village.

 Troubled by frequent power cuts, Kedar Prasad Mahto, a 33-year old undergraduate in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh, succeeded in making a turbine on a rivulet flowing near his village through ‘jugaad’ after 18 years of hard work.

** Open House showcases student innovations at IIT-Madras

60 projects developed by various teams of students were featured at the event

The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras’ Centre for Innovation (CFI) held its annual Open House, featuring over 60 innovative student projects. The event showcased autonomous vehicles, rockets and the electric Formula racecar developed by the student team Raftar.

The CFI is a round-the-clock innovation lab with 13 clubs, four competitive teams and over 700 members, who apply their engineering knowledge to come up with products.

Institute director V. Kamakoti, who launched a new website for the CFI on the occasion, said the CFI not only provided a platform for young innovators to showcase their creations but also served as an inspiration for other young students to innovate.

Nilesh Vasa, dean of students, said the student-driven facility inspired students to work creatively and collaboratively. The CFI team Abhiyaan’s autonomous vehicle ‘Bolt’, team Abhyuday’s rocket, team Avishkar’s hyperloop, a sports science and analytics project in collaboration with Sports Science Centre of Excellence, a bird diverter project in partnership with the Wildlife Institute of India and projects on blockchain technology were on display.

Prabhu Rajagopal, faculty advisor of CFI-IIT-Madras, said nearly 10% of the students of the institute are engaged with the CFI, cutting across the undergraduate-postgraduate divide. Quite a few teams and projects had graduated to form start-ups, making Open House the largest calendar event of the CFI and showcasing the best student projects of the year.

Asokan Tondiyath, faculty advisor of team Anveshak, said the team had steadily progressed in the past three years and was in the process of making ‘Foresight’ with custom-made wheels, a lightweight manipulator and a state-of-the-art electronic system.

Among the new developments is the chennaiwaterlogging.org platform that enables users/public to report details such as location of floods and water depth and add photos of waterlogged sites with a description. These reports are used to develop a real-time flood map.

A group of students have converted an electric golf cart into an autonomous shuttle. Team Abhyuday has qualified for the Spaceport America Cup, an annual international event for intercollegiate rocketry teams, in its first attempt. It is the first across IITs to qualify for such an event.

** IIT Madras researchers develop new technique to provide high resolution ultrasound images

The research could facilitate better diagnosis of diseases, detection of minute abnormalities and better real-time image-guided biopsy procedures and treatment monitoring applications.

“This research could potentially facilitate several applications like early detection and better diagnosis of diseases, detection of minute abnormalities within human body like renal stones, better real-time image-guided biopsy procedures and treatment monitoring applications,” Arun K Thittai, Professor, Department of Applied Mechanics, IIT Madras, told PTI.

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** After port terminal deal, Adani group bags power projects in Sri Lanka

India’s Adani Group has signed a deal for two large power projects in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, six months after it bagged a strategic port terminal project in Colombo that it is now executing with majority stakes.

** Indian scientists discover strategy to synthesise novel solid adsorbents for CO2 capture

Amidst the growing attempts to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the Indian scientists have discovered a strategy to synthesise novel solid adsorbents for CO2 capture and utilisation.

Although several industrial advancements have already been demonstrated, none of the technologies can provide an economically viable and complete CO2 capture and utilization solution. Therefore, fundamental research on novel solid adsorbents might offer a critical material for CO2 capture and CO2 utilisation.

Professor Rahul Banerjee’s group at IISER-Kolkata, with support from Department of Science & Technology, Government of India under Mission Innovation programme, has demonstrated a strategy to synthesise novel solid adsorbents, especially for CO2 capture and CO2 utilisation.

** IIT-Madras and Walmart Global Tech to work on research, skilling of students

The association is expected to help further empower the teams, collaborate on digital innovation and strengthen the education ecosystem in the country, says Walmart’s global chief technology officer

The Indian Institute of Technology – Madras and Walmart Global Tech have tied up to improve research in new areas of technology. The collaboration will be in the areas of continuing education and projects for corporate social responsibility for the chain stores’ India operations.