Corporates urged to finance R&D projects from CSR funds

CSIR-NGRI chief scientist Mahendra Darokarn asserted that the premier research institute was very capable of delivering industry-relevant scientific solutions and was also open for collaborations with the corporates, on Wednesday.

Participating in the ongoing ‘One Week One Lab’ programme at the institute in the presence of several scientists and others, he invited them to allocate their respective CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) funding for research and development initiatives of the institute.

Director of the institute Prakash Kumar shared insights of the 62-year journey and highlighted the wide array of services provided by CSIR-NGRI to its diverse stakeholders and the nation. He also gave a glimpse of the recent research activities and future research directions.

Earlier, former Director Harsh K Gupta described the journey of the setting of the seismological observatory at the institute conforming to the specifications of the worldwide standard seismograph network. He spoke about the several geo-scientific studies carried out like the air-borne and ‘Borehole Seismic’ measurements. These studies have highlighted the recurring and swarming of the earthquakes and tectonic framework of the region.

National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) director Prakash Chauhan observed that the scientific fraternity could learn about the Indian Lunar exploration programmes in great detail. He spoke about the exciting findings and discoveries from the Chandrayaan Missions. The latest Chandrayaan Mission – 3 had confirmed the presence of hydration on the Moon.

Texas University distinguished professor V.P. Singh said water security is one of the grand challenges that mankind is facing at present. For this, several geo-scientific studies are being carried out, and the recent developments in data science, tools of analysis, and advanced modelling technologies resulted in various emerging fields like social hydrology, echo hydrology, remote sensing hydrology, etc.

Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru’s associate professor Atreya Ghosh talked about the reconstruction theory of plate tectonics, the rapid flight motion of the Indian plate and so on. With the help of supercomputers and numerical simulations, one can understand the challenges mentioned earlier in a better way, she said.

Top officials and scientists from various organisations like the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), Geological Survey of India (GSI), NMDC, ONGC and others participated in the scientific sessions, said a press release.