Early warning systems in Himalayan States

Context: The National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research has begun field studies to put in place an early-warning system in the Himalayan States.

About CSIR

• The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), known for its cutting edge R&D knowledge base in diverse S&T areas, is a contemporary R&D organization.
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• CSIR is funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology and it operates as an autonomous body through the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

Organisational Structure:

• President: Prime Minister of India (Ex-officio)
• Vice President: Union Minister of Science and Technology (Ex-officio)
• Governing Body: The Director-General is the head of the governing body.
• The other ex-officio member is the finance secretary (expenditures).
• Other members’ terms are of three years.

CSIR Advisory Board:

• 15-member body composed of prominent members from respective fields of science and technology. Its function is to provide science and technology input to the governing body.
• Member terms are of three years.

Significance of CSIR:

Strategic Sector:

• Drishti transmissometer: It is an Indigenous – Innovative –Cost-effective visibility measuring system that provides information to pilots on visibility for safe landing & take-off operations and is suitable for all airport categories.
• Head-Up-Display (HUD): CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) developed an indigenous Head-Up- display (HUD) for Indian Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas.
  • HUD aids the pilot in flying the aircraft and in critical flight manoeuvres including weapon aiming.
• Indigenous Gyrotron: Design and development of indigenous gyrotron for nuclear fusion reactors have been accomplished.
• A gyrotron is a vacuum electronic device (VED) capable of generating high-power, high-frequency THz radiation.

Energy & Environment:

• Solar Tree: It was designed by CSIR- The Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) lab in Durgapur. It occupies the minimum space to produce clean power.
• Lithium-Ion Battery: The Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI), Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu, has set up the first indigenous Li-ion fabrication facility that has applications in defence, solar-powered devices, railways and other high-end usages.

Agriculture:

• Samba Mahsuri Rice Variety: CSIR in collaboration with ICAR developed an improved bacterial blight-resistant Samba Mahsuri variety.
• Rice Cultivar (Muktashree) for Arsenic Contaminated Areas: A rice variety has been developed which restricts assimilation of Arsenic within the permissible limit.
• White-fly Resistant Cotton Variety: Developed a transgenic cotton line which is resistant to whiteflies.

Healthcare:

• JD Vaccine for Farm Animals: Vaccine developed and commercialized for Johne’s disease (JD) affecting Sheep, goats, cows and Buffalo so as to immunize them and increase milk & meat production.
• Plasma Gelsolin Diagnostic Kit for Premature Births, and Sepsis-related Deaths to diagnose premature birth and sepsis.
• GOMED: A programme called GOMED (Genomics and other omics technologies for Enabling Medical Decision) has been developed by the CSIR which provides a platform for disease genomics to solve clinical problems.

Food & Nutrition:

• Ksheer-scanner: It is a new technological invention by CSIR-Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CEERI) to detect the level of milk adulteration and adulterants in 45 seconds at the cost of 10 paise.
• Double-Fortified Salt: Salt fortified with iodine and iron has improved properties developed and tested for addressing anaemia in people.
• Anti-obesity DAG Oil: Oil enriched with Diacylglycerol (DAG) instead of conventional triacylglycerol (TAG) developed.

Water:

• Aquifer Mapping of Water Scarce Areas: Heliborne transient electromagnetic and surface magnetic technique-based aquifer mapping was carried out in six different geological locations in Rajasthan (2), Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
• Understanding the Special Properties of Ganga Water: An assessment of water quality & sediment analysis of Ganga from different parts being done.

Waste to Wealth:

• Non-toxic radiation shielding materials utilizing industrial waste like red mud (from aluminium industries) and fly ash (Thermal Power Plants) developed which have been accredited by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) for application in diagnostic X-Ray rooms.
• Waste Plastic to Fuel: Process for conversion of waste plastics to gasoline/diesel or aromatics developed.

Traditional Knowledge Digital Library:

• CSIR has established the first-ever ‘Traditional Knowledge Digital Library’ in the world. It is accessible in five international languages (English, German, French, Japanese and Spanish).
• CSIR successfully challenged the grant of patent in the USA for use of Haldi (turmeric) for wound healing and neem as an insecticide on the basis of traditional knowledge.
• Genome sequencing: CSIR completed the sequencing of the Human Genome in 2009.
• Computing: Flo solver, India’s first parallel computer was built in 1986. Flosolver’s success triggered other successful parallel computing projects in the country such as PARAM.
• CSIR envisages a vision of CSIR@2030 as to “Enhance quality of life of the citizens of India through innovative Science and Technology, globally competitive R&D, by developing sustainable solutions and capacity building to fulfil dream of Aatmanirbhar Bharat”.
  • This vision of CSIR is aligned to the Government of India’s vision for the next 25 years ‘Amrit Kal’ when independent India becomes 100 years old.

About NGRI:

• The National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), a constituent research laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was established in 1961 with the mission to carry out research in multidisciplinary areas of the highly complex structure and processes of the Earth system and its extensively interlinked subsystems.
• NGRI is situated in Hyderabad.
• The research activities fall broadly under three themes:
  • Geodynamics, which revolve round investigating and modelling fundamental aspects of the Earth system and processes.
  • Earthquake Hazards, which encompass features on the surface and subsurface of crust which may potentially endanger lives and properties through catastrophes like earthquakes and
  • Landslides as well as deterioration in pollution levels of groundwater and soil, changes in climatic conditions and associated environmental issues.
• The Institute is structured into seven major R&D Groups and twenty one Activities, which include expertise in a variety of geophysical, geochemical, geological techniques like Seismology, Magnetotellurics, GPS, Paleo-seismology, Structural geology, Controlled source seismics, Gravity and Magnetics, Geochemistry, Geochronology, Paleomagnetism, Planetary geology, Geomagnetism, Airborne geophysics, Shallow subsurface geophysics and Rock Mechanics, Hydrochemistry, Paleo-environmental studies and Modelling and simulation of Earth processes.

About Early warning systems in Himalayan States

Application:

• Against major and sudden floods, rockslides, landslips, glacier lake bursts and avalanches and to prevent Chamoli kind of disasters in future.

Significance:

• These instruments are crucial for the safety of large infrastructure projects and hydroelectric power plants in this region.
• The NGRI has started utilising Machine Learning to detect these observations faster than the normal approach because time becomes crucial during a warning.

Source: The Hindu