Midas Communication Technologies wins CSIR Diamond Jubilee Technology Award 2004
10 SCIENTISTS SELECTED FOR SHANTI SWARUP BHATNAGAR AWARD 2004
CSIR MUST ADOPT A FUTURISTIC APPROACH : KAPIL SIBAL
The “Midas Communications Technologies Private Limited” has been declared the winner of the CSIR Diamond Jubilee Technology Award 2004. The announcement was made by Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, DG, CSIR at the CSIR Foundation Day Function here today.
Midas Communication has won the award for design, development and commercialization of CorDECT WLL (Wireless in Local Loop) access system and optiMA, a Fiber-in-Local Loop (FLL) access system. Midas Communication developed these products in collaboration with TeNeT (Telecommunication and Computer Network), IIT-Madras.
The Midas systems provide a flexible solution for extending subscriber service from local exchange to a remote location near subscriber premises. The Fibre-in-the Loop system and the designed architecture carry very high bandwidth to cater to several thousand subscribers cost effectively. As a result, the systems have contributed greatly in providing affordable and cutting edge telecom solutions to interconnect the rural population through Internet and voice connectivity. These products in fact have radically contributed to transform the telecommunication services in India and abroad. They are employed by leading communication service providers in the country. The quality product has enabled company to make inroads into several countries including Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Iran, Kenya, Nigeria, Oman, South Africa, Srilanka and Russia. Continuous R&D efforts have provided Midas the competitive edge to stay ahead of others.
The CSIR Diamond Jubilee Technology Award, given annually, was instituted in commemoration of CSIR’s Diamond Jubilee in 2003. The award, like the CSIR Bhatnagar Prize in Science, is aimed to be the hallmark for superiority and distinction in technology development in the country. The award thus seeks to recognize and honour outstanding technical innovation that has contributed significantly to enhancement of national prestige. It carries a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakh, a citation and a shield.
Dr. Mashelkar also announced the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes for the year 2004. 10 scientists have been selected for the prize for their outstanding scientific contributions. They were: In Biological Sciences: Dr. Gopal Chandra Kundu of the National Centre for Cell Sciences (NCCS), Pune and Dr. Ramesh V Sonti of the Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCNB), Hyderabad; in Chemistry Sciences: Dr. Vinod K Singh of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and Dr. Siva Umapathy of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore; in Engineering Sciences: Dr. Subhasis Chaudhuri of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay and Dr. vivek Vinayak Ranade of the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune; in Mathemitical Sciences: Dr. Arup Bose of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, and Dr. Sujatha Ramdorai of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai; in Medical Sciences: Dr. Chetan Eknath Chitnis of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi and finally in Physical Sciences: Dr. Madan Rao of the Raman Research Institute (RRI) Bangalore has been selected. No Award has been given this year, in the field of Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences. The award comprises a citation, a plaque a cash award of Rs. Two lakhs.
The Third CSIR Diamond Jubilee Invention Award 2004 for school children was also announced. There was no winner of the first prize carrying an amount of Rs. 50,000/-.
The second prize of Rs. 25,000/- has been won by Apurv Mishra, Class X of De Paul School, Berhampur, Orissa for a novel attachment useful in improved process of drinking water from bottle. The third prize goes to Ms Meenal Sambhor, Class XII of Convent of Jesus and Merry, New Delhi for developing a fully computerized machine useful for applying Heena (Mehendi) on hands. The fourth prize has been shared by Ashok Kumar Pati, Class XII of Ispat English Medium School, , Rourkela, Orissa for a devise useful for checking the chalk dust during rubbing of the blackboard and Arpith Siromoney, Class XI, Sishya School, Chennai for an improved wheelchair using caterpillar treads. The fifth prize has been shared by Purshotam Bohra of Govt. BHS School, Jawad, Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh for a device useful for production of H2S gas, Khusboo Rathi, Class XI of Angel Valley Senior Secondary School, Bhilai, Madhya Pradesh for a device useful as Angle setting arms in a geometry box and Chinmay Dilip Wadodkar, Class VIII of Tiny Angel’s School, Laxmi Nagar, Nanded, Maharashtra for a process for the preparation of Herbal oil useful in prevention of dental cares.
The Minister for Science and Technology and Ocean Development gave away several awards on this occasion.
The Shield for Engineering Technology was awarded to the team of National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore for “design, prototype fabrication and successful flight-testing of multi-role light transport aircraft –SARAS. Dr. M.S. CHIDANANDA on behalf of ‘Team NAL’ received the Shield for Engineering Technology.
The Shield for Process Technology was awarded to Regional Research Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram for “development and commercialization of swing technology for processing fresh/dry spices for flavour, oleoresin and active compounds”. The team associated with the development comprised Dr. C. Arumughan, Dr. M.M. Sree Kumar and Dr. (Mrs.) B. Sankarikutty.
The “Swing Technology” relates to recovery of fresh flavours, active principles, oil and oleoresins from the fresh spices by avoiding peeling and drying during any stage of processing. Thus it enables recovery of volatile flavour and active principles as well as helps in higher recovery of oil. The technology successfully integrates processing of fresh spices as well as dried spices in the same plant where only dried spices were processed through a conventional process earlier. A plant based on the technology has been set up in Manipur for processing fresh ginger.
The Prize for Chemical Technology was awarded to CSMCRI for “development and scale of high flux thin film composite reverse osmosis membrane technology and its application for water desalination and purification”. The team comprised: Drs. V.J. Shah, (Ms) S.V. Joshi, J.J. Trivedi, C.V. Devmurari, A. Prakash Rao, N. Pathak, P.A. Patel, A.A. Patel, N.K. Waghani, T.B. Gohil, K.J. Anjana, K. Eswaran and P.K. Ghosh. Drs. V.J. Shah and (Ms) S.V. Joshi on behalf of CSMCRI Team received the Prize for Chemical Technology.
The Prize for Engineering Technology was awarded to NIO for “developing a system for quantitative estimation on the seafloor roughness parameters using multi-beam echo sounding at high acoustic frequency range”. The team comprised: Drs. Bishwajit Chakraborty and Vijay Kodagli.
The recipients of CSIR Young Scientists Award 2004 were: Biological Sciences – Dr. Debasis Dash, GN Ramachandran Knowledge Centre, for Genome Informatics, Institute of Genomics & Integrated Biology, Delhi; Chemical Sciences – Dr. Pradyut Ghosh, Analytical Science Discipline, Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Gujarat; Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences - Dr. Umesh Chandra Kulshrestha, Analytical & Environmental Chemistry Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad and Dr. Bibhuranjan Nayak, Mineral Processing Division, National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur; Engineering Sciences – Dr. Kalarical Janardhanan Sreeram, Chemical Laboratory, Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai and for Physical Sciences – Dr. Divi Haranath, Electronic Materials Division, National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Sibal said that we should reinvent our scientific institutions to meet the challenges of future. He listed some major achievements of Indian Science e.g. the successful inaugural flight of SARAS and the development of a new molecule to combat Tuberculosis and said there is a critical need of ensuring the right type of working environment to excel in research. He reiterated the role of public-private partnership and said that industries must come forward to fund research and development activities. While lauding the role of CSIR, Shri Sibal asked CSIR to also give impetus to vital sectors of economy e.g. textiles, agro-industry, Bio-fuel, sugar industry, automobile and electronics. “Reinvention and innovation should be the key word for CSIR”, the Minister said.
Delivering the CSIR Foundation Day Lecture, Dr. A.S. Ganguly, Chairman of ICICI One Source Limited said CSIR has become a key player in the Bio-technology advances by supporting Biotech entrepreneurs and helping the Indian pharmaceutical industries to modernize and become globally competitive. Dr. Ganguly said that CSIR has to recognize its role in solving some critical problems facing the country namely, water, primary education, and health. He said, barring a few key areas e.g. Information Technology, Bio-Technology and Pharmaceuticals, the Research and Development record of the rest of the Indian Industry remains patchy. This will be forced to change in the face of challenges of globalisation, he said.
(Release ID :4038)