The “Professor G.S. Visweswaran Chair” aims to promote excellence and leadership in teaching, research, and development in the area of Microelectronics & VLSI Design and the “Professor Manoj Datta Chair” will encourage and support research inGeotechnical & Geo-environmental Engineering.

“IIT Delhi takes pride in its world-class faculty and alumni who have distinguished themselves in various walks of life. It’s gratifying to see our alumni recognizing their teachers by instituting chair professor positions to honour their commitment to the profession. As a society and as an Institution, we want to see more of this. I am proud that our eminent alumnus Saurabh Mittal and a few other alumni have come forward and are setting an example”, says Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi

Dr.Visweswaran joined the Electrical Engineering Department at IIT Delhi in 1980 and retired in 2015. He is well-known for his work in analog and mixed-signal circuit design, memory design, and digital electronics. During his stint at IIT Delhi, he also served as president, board of student welfare and head, students counselling service. After superannuation, Prof Visweswaran joined IIIT-Delhi as Dean of student affairs and held that office till July 2017.

Prof Manoj Datta has been with the civil engineering department of IIT Delhi since 1980 and is now an Emeritus Professor. Prof Datta is well-known for his work in geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering and received the Lifetime Achievement Award (2017) and the Leadership award (2008) of the Delhi Chapter of Indian Geotechnical Society. He was Director, Punjab Engineering College (Deemed University), Chandigarh from 2008 to 2013 and Dean (Alumni Affairs& International Programmes) at IIT Delhi from 2004 to 2007.

Saurabh Mittal, while speaking of the two Chairs endowed by him, said, “The impact that Professors have on the lives of students during their IIT years goes beyond the classroom. Diligence, persistence, and the pursuit of excellence – all of which are hallmarks of any successful person – are honed under the guidance and high standards of our teachers. I certainly benefited immensely from their guidance during my graduate years, and it is my honour to be able to endow chairs in their names to support research excellence in their specific domain.”

Saurabh Mittal is the Founder and Chairman of Mission Holdings, which focuses on building strong operating platforms in technology, financial services, and media. Before founding Mission Holdings, Mr Mittal was a partner at Noonday, an affiliate of Farallon Capital Management, one of the world’s largest hedge funds where he was responsible for large public and private investments in the areas of Financial Services and Technology, Media, and Telecom (TMT). In 1999, Mittal co-founded Indiabulls, India’s leading financial services, and real estate conglomerate, where he served as Co-founder & Vice Chairman from inception till 2014. In 2017, he was conferred the Distinguished Alumni Award by IIT Delhi in recognition of his contributions to Corporate Business Development & Entrepreneurship.

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Keywords: Indian Institute of Technology, IIT Delhi, research, micro-electronics, VLSI design, Geotechnical, Geo-Environmental Engineering, Electrical Engineering

National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), a joint initiative of IITs and IISc, has launched new courses on Electric Vehicles and Renewable Energy, Design for IoT, Business and Sustainable Development, for the July 2021 Semester through the SWAYAM platform.

NPTEL courses give an opportunity for students to learn from the comfort of their home. The enrolments for July – Dec 2021 Semester have already commenced. The Last Date to enroll for the first set of NPTEL courses is 2nd August 2021.

The courses are taught by the faculty from IITs and IISc. Learners can enroll for NPTEL courses through https://swayam.gov.in/NPTEL.

NPTEL offers more than 500 courses completely free of cost to learners across the country in online mode. The possibility for anyone to learn anywhere and anytime has made the teaching-learning process more student-centered, and innovative. This online mode of education has also proved invaluable in the COVID-19 pandemic era.

Highlighting the unique aspects of NPTEL, Prof. VigneshMuthuvijayan, NPTEL Coordinator at IIT Madras, said,“SWAYAM-NPTEL is currently working with more than 4,000 educational institutions in engineering, arts, science, commerce, and management across the country. Students and faculty from these institutions take up NPTEL courses to upgrade their knowledge and skills. Some of the popular courses on NPTEL platform include Data Science for Engineers, courses on programming in Python, C, C++, Introduction to Machine Learning, Soft skills, Project Planning and Control, among others.”

NPTEL offers certification courses through the MOOCs format. Learners must watch videos online, submit assignments on a weekly/monthly basis and can register for an optional proctored final exam. There is a nominal fee charged towards the in-person proctored exam for the certification. Students can request for transfer of credits once they clear the NPTEL certification exam, if it is approved by the educational institute they are affiliated with.

A wide variety of courses are available on NPTEL platform across Engineering, Humanities, Basic Sciences, and Management, etc. NPTEL has received more than 1.4 crore enrolments till date. NPTEL videos have received more than one billion views so far and NPTEL channels on YouTube have more than 3.1 million subscribers.

In order to streamline the efforts of learners and to guide them to obtain expertise in an area, NPTEL has initiated the concept of ‘Domain Certification.’ A domain comprises a set of core and elective NPTEL courses. There are no additional charges/fees involved in obtaining domain certification. There are 51 domains across 12 disciplines available now and 85 learners have completed domain certification from NPTEL till date.

Age has never been a barrier for taking up courses through NPTEL. Mr. HarshwardhanPatil, a 15-year-old student from SavitribaiPhule High School, Nanded, Maharashtra, is one of the youngest NPTEL learners and has completed five certification courses through NPTEL, namely Effective Writing, Soft Skills Development, Stress Management, Biochemistry, and English Language for Competitive Exams.

Ms. Singam Nirmala Devi, an NPTEL learner from Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, said, “The knowledge I gained through the NPTEL course, ‘The joy of computing using python’ was very much helpful in getting a job as a software engineer in an MNC. Through the NPTEL courses, I was able to understand concepts of python easily and was able to answer questions asked in the interview.”

NPTEL was initiated by seven Indian Institutes of Technology (Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, Guwahati and Roorkee) along with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 2003. NPTEL is the largest provider of MOOCs in India today, with a credible proctored certification exam that clearly qualifies and differentiates the learners who do these courses.

The program was formally launched on the 23rd of July, 2021 through a virtual session. Speaking at the Program Launch, Dr. Vipin Chaudhary, Department Chair, Computer and Data Sciences Department at Case School of Engineering elaborated on how the Department is taking huge strides in nurturing world class computer scientists. Dr. Vipin who is a President’s Gold Medal recipient from IIT – Kharagpur was excited about the research opportunities students are exposed to and also the opportunities to make a global career in Computational Data Sciences. “The MS Program in Computer Science and Data Science is highly competitive. If students who are not from IT or Computer Sciences background would like to take up Computer Sciences as a masters, there are pathway programs through which they can consider moving into computer science from any other master’s programs in the University.”

Dr.Dakshinamurthy V Kolluru, President and Co-Founder of INSOFE explained the vision and philosophy behind the dual specialisation masters. Dr. Murthy further explained how the program is structured to open multiple career avenues to students who would like to be AI Specialists and ML Researchers. “We are looking at building a knowledge capital that can think of engineering solutions to solve computational challenges, problems in Data Storage, security and Privacy using Artificial intelligence” Dr. Murthy added, “The current day computer sciences student should focus on innovation – Engineering a query language that could be smarter than SQL could be a problem they would like to solve. This collaborative master’s program aims at creating students who are committed to building such intellectual capital.”

Dr. Vincenzo Liberatore, Co-Chair of the program explained the employment outlook and how students at Case Western Reserve University are getting employed at some of the world class companies. Dr. Brian Amkraut, Executive Director at Siegal Lifelong Learning added –“We are happy about the quality of the students who are joining the dual specialization masters. It is an excellent opportunity for students to master the engineering core as well as application of Data Science, AI and Machine Learning on Engineering Problems.”

The Head of INSOFE Education – Americas and the CEO of Soothsayer Analytics, Mr. Gaurav Agrawal welcomed the panel and explained how INSOFE has grown to be a trusted partner in Case Western Reserve University’s endeavour to provide masters education in various engineering fields with a blend of advanced Data Science, AI and Machine Learning Concepts.

Dr. Srinivasa Varadharajan, Dear – R&D at INSOFE explained depth and breadth at which students will master the computer science curriculum with extreme focus on Artificial Intelligence.

“There is a misconception that this is a pathway or a student exchange program” SomagiriParupalli, Vice – President at INSOFE said, “INSOFE does not control the admission or the grades or the curriculum of the program, in short, Case Western Reserve University student studies at INSOFE Campuses. We are proud that Case Western Reserve University has entrusted the responsibility of delivering the first semester at INSOFE. The conviction to quality education of the faculty and the academics team at INSOFE has ensured that we are seen as an able partner by the university.”

MS in Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence is the fourth program in the list of dual specialisation programs offered by Case Western Reserve University and INSOFE. Mechanical Engineering with AI and Robotics, Civil and Environmental Engineering with AI and Machine Learning in addition to the Biomedical Engineering with Digital Health Analytics were offered starting Summer 2020. The students of these STEM Category programs study their first semester in India and then go to Case Western Reserve University to complete their subsequent course work. The students can get unto 25% assured scholarship and get an education waiver for GRE and TOEFL.

About INSOFE

INSOFE is a world-class research, consulting, and education institution with a focus on baking Data Science ways of solving problems in many domains like healthcare, supply chain, financial markets, and robotics.  It is present in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai in India and has partner university programs in France, USA, UK, and Canada. In addition, the institute works with global enterprise leaders extensively helping them adopt data science in their organizations.

• INSOFE’s unique aspects:
• 70+ Faculty
• 4 products, 75 patents, 1000+ publications, 100+ conference proceedings
• 100+ enterprise training events per year and
• 6000+ Alumni

INSOFE specializes in

• Creating innovative academic programs in applications of data science in various domains.
• Researching the changing roles within the enterprise due to the proliferation of Data Science
• Create & offer suitable intervention driven hands-on programs for each of these roles.
• Conducting research, building IP, innovating products and consulting with companies to help solve some extremely challenging real-world problems.

About Case Western Reserve University

With more than 125 years of experience, the Case School of Engineering at Case Western Reserve University is rooted in collaborative research and experiential learning. Students inquire, discover and create alongside distinguished faculty, and build a global professional network while attending classes in one of the most culturally robust communities in Cleveland.

Ranks Among Top Private research Institutions in USA.  Accredited by Higher Learning Commission

• Founded in 1826
• 17 Noble Laureates
• 12,000 Students from 81 Different Countries
• 20000+ Alumni

In IMO, a total of six students from India had participated.  Pranjal Srivastava of Bengaluru secured the Gold Medal. This is the second time he has secured a gold medal in IMO. He had secured the earlier one in 2019. He has become the first Indian student to win 2 Gold medals at the IMO.

The other winners are;  Anish Kulkarni of Pune (silver), and Ananya Ranade, also of Pune, Rohan Goyal of New Delhi, and Suchir Kaustav of Ghaziabad (Bronze). Anish missed the Gold medal by just one point.

The selection of the team was carried out through a two-stage procedure. The first stage consisted of a nationwide examination called Indian Olympiad Qualifier in Mathematics (IOQM) in which over 17,352 students appeared. This examination was conducted by the Mathematical Teacher’s Association in 175 centres across the country. And the second stage – Indian National Mathematical Olympiad (INMO) examination held for 1266 students, was conducted at 25 centres across the country by the Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research (TIFR)’s Homi Bhabha Centre For Science Education (HBCSE), which is the national coordinator for science olympiads.

The usual practice of four stage procedure was reduced to just two stages this year due to the unprecedented situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Olympiad effort is supported by the National Board for Higher Mathematics, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India.

In IBO, four students from India  participated and all of them secured medals. While three – Anshul Siwach of Panipat, Haryana, Dhiren Bharadwaj of Hisar, Haryana, and Naman Singh of Jaipur bagged the silver medal; Swaraj Nandi of Bhubaneswar bagged the bronze medal.

The contest consisted of two computer-based exams: The first celebrated the 500th anniversary of the journey of the Portugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan who circumnavigated the earth for the first time (1519-1522). The exam had 8 parts, each of which focused on one halt of Magellan in different parts of the world. It consisted of questions covering areas such as plant biology, zoology, ecology and biotechnology. The second exam had challenging questions encompassing all areas of biology including contemporary issues such as global warming and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prof. Anwesh Mazumdar of HBCSE, said, that the students took the exams from their respective homes under thorough continuous video monitoring by both IBO organisers and HBCSE. The selection and training processes had to be curtailed and modified heavily this year to avoid risk of infection to students. “We are happy that the students did very well even under these trying circumstances to maintain India’s record of an excellent performance at the olympiads.”

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Keywords: International Mathematical Olympiad, IMO, International Biology Olympiad IBO, Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research, TIFR, Homi Bhabha Centre For Science Education, HBCSE, science olympiads, Department of Atomic Energy, DAE,

Lauding theinitiative launched by IIT Delhi, Prof K. Vijay Raghavan expressed hope that GRIP will result in the development of several innovative solutions for society.

Activities proposed as a part of this new initiative includes Social Immersion, a programme in which group of students will visit communities located in smaller towns and villages to immerse in social environments for a substantial time (one week to months) to study, understand and identify local needs and challenges, which can be addressed by the students when they return to the Institute campus.

“The immersion programme provides an opportunity for students to put themselves in the shoes of end-users and to co-create solutions which are likely to succeed. This programme also acts as a pipeline of ideas, which students and student teams can address as a part of semester-long design and innovation courses already available to them,” said Prof. PVM Rao, Head, Department of Design, IIT Delhi who is coordinating the initiative.

Another component of the GRIP initiative includes Grassroots Innovation Programme in which students and student teams will be allowed to work on semester-long or year-long projects on finding novel solutions to grassroots problems identified by them.

The needs/problems on which students are expected to work can be from one of the two routes:Students or student teams have identified the problem/need and validated it as a part of prior social immersion programme. Secondly, IIT Delhi student(s) who come from diverse regions of the country, identify problems/challenges being faced in their local communities (in their villages, towns and semi-urban settings).

The GRIP initiative will provide physical, intellectual, and financial resources to the students to carry out these projects.To implement the above programmes, existing courses and schemes of the Institute will be leveraged. In this way students will have an opportunity to earn academic credits for their efforts. The programme can synergize with other programmes of the Institute, which include UBA, RUTAG, NSS, ENACTUS, etc.

“There are many students who have shown interest in addressing the unmet needs in their own neighbourhoods.Further, students are enthusiastic to participate in proposing and validating novel solutions that respond to the local situation and the interests and values of the communities involved. The GRIP initiative is aimed at providing resources to the students who want to help the society by solving its problems,” said Prof V. Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi.

IIT Delhi and HoneyBee Network (HBN),a volunteer based network that seeks innovative ideas and traditional knowledge produced at the grassroots level by individuals and communities and disseminates them to the wider ecosystem, have joined hands to groom students as torchbearers of social and grassroots innovation through GRIP programme.

Prof. Anil K. Gupta, Coordinator of Honey Bee Network said,“For the GRIP initiative, the Honey Bee Network will act as one of the facilitators to connect IIT Delhi students and faculty with local communities and environments.”  He further said that the social immersion and shodh-yatras will give an opportunity for students to learn from grassroots innovators and also to add value to their efforts.Students who do immersion in earlier years will have additional opportunity to address some of the needs identified by them as their course projects.

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Keywords:PSA, Grassroots, Innovation, GRIP,IIT, Societal problems, Rural,Semi-urban,Development, Society

The formation of small molecular clusters of sub-3nm size is technically called aerosol nucleation, and subsequent growth of these newly formed clusters to the large sizes is called atmospheric new particle formation (NPF). NPF occurs everywhere in the terrestrial troposphere, and therefore it is a large source of aerosol numbers to the atmosphere. Though extensively studied globally using field observations, laboratory experiments and modelling approach, it is largely unexplored in India.

Scientists from the University of Hyderabad measured neutral sub-3nm particles for the first time at an urban location in India. Dr Vijay Kanawade and Mr Mathew Sebastian used AIRMODUS nano Condensation Nucleus Counter (nCNC) to measure particle size distribution in the size range of 1 to 3 nm.

In the study supported by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) under Climate Change Programme Division, they conducted continuous observations since January 2019 at the University of Hyderabad campus site and reported the formation rate of small molecular clusters in sub-3nm size regime, where aerosol nucleation triggers. This work has been recently published in the journal ‘Atmospheric Environment’.

The research showed that a pool of sub-3nm particles is often present in the atmosphere, but how fast these clusters grow depends on various factors. The scientists observed that only half of these events showed newly formed molecular clusters growing past 10 nm size. Thus particle size distributions display a conventional banana-shaped aerosol growth, which is indicative of regional NPF event.

The team found a strong positive correlation between sub-3nm particle concentrations and sulphuric acid concentrations, confirming the potential role of sulfuric acid in the formation of sub-3nm particles. While NPF often starts with sulphuric acid in the atmosphere, sulphuric acid alone fails to explain observed particle formation and growth rates in the atmosphere. Other vapours such as ammonia, amines and organics play a crucial role in the growth of newly formed particles. Moreover, these newly formed particles did not always grow to large sizes, and the team hypothesized that the particle growth was limited by lower concentrations of condensable vapours such as organic compounds, calling for research using state-of-the-art instrumentation to understand the mechanisms driving NPF in diverse environments across India.

Figure 1. Scatter plot of hourly averaged particle formation rate of 1.4 nm particles (J_1.4) versus sub-nm particle concentrations (N_sub-3nm) as a function of sulfuric acid concentrations ([H₂SO₄]_proxy) for Type-I (open circle) and Type-II (plus sign) NPF events in Hyderabad. The mean values of J_1.4, N_sub-3nm, and [H₂SO₄]_proxy for other sites in diverse environments across the globe are also plotted for comparison. * indicates winter-time measurements. The colour scale shows the concentration of [H₂SO₄]_proxy.

The Institute’s Board has given its approval for the conversion of the Centre for Energy Studies into a Department of Energy Science and Engineering.

The new department is expected to provide a much-needed focus and visibility to the teaching and research activities of the Institute in the field of energy as it deserves for achieving the seventh sustainable development goal of meeting increasing energy requirements at affordable price in an environmentally sustainable manner and effectively contribute to the initiatives towards energy transition at the global level.

The department would offer suitable academic programmes in the field of energy to prepare required manpower at all levels, attract the best faculty, students and staff and provide a platform for active and effective collaboration among faculty colleagues across the Institute and with other Institutions, IIT Delhi statement.

Besides continuing with three existing M.Tech. programmes (including one sponsored by the International Solar Alliance for working fellows from different countries) presently being offered by the Centre for Energy Studies, the new department would offer an undergraduate degree programme i.e. B.Tech. in Energy Engineering starting from academic session 2021-2022 with an intake of 40 students qualifying JEE (Advanced).

Speaking of the new B. Tech. programme, Prof. K.A. Subramanian, Head, CES, said,“There is a critical need to nurture manpower with the capacity to flexibly respond to various energy and environment related challenges in a holistic manner with required foresight and vision. The B. Tech. programme in Energy Engineering is designed to equip the students with the necessary knowledge and skills to take up the energy sector challenges being faced by the humanity – improving energy access, supply quality and reliability as well efficiency of utilization, de-carbonization, lowering cost of energy supply etc.”

The B. Tech. course curriculum is designed to lay a core foundation with a wide basket of electives in the area of energy as it aims to produce next generation leaders to contribute to the energy transition initiatives through core industry, academia and all other stakeholder entities. Besides highly unique sector specific skills the students are expected to possess other competencies such as environmental awareness and profound understanding of sustainability concepts.

Graduates of the B. Tech. programme are likely to find the best technical jobs in core energy sector and in organizations engaged in a variety of activities pertaining to climate change, energy transition, energy access and security etc.  and will also be apt candidates for higher studies in leading national and international institutions.

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Keywords: Indian Institute of Technology, IIT Delhi, Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Energy, Science, Engineering, DST, TDB, SERB, MHRD, S&T, R&D

Current COVID-19 treatments simply manage symptoms while the body fights off the infection with its immune defence system. There are, as yet, no confirmed antiviral drugs that can stop the virus from replicating. One route to neutralising any virus is to attack its proteins; such an approach holds true for the COVID-19 virus as well and scientists across the globe are involved in studies to elucidate the structure and functions of these proteins to understand the viral disease and develop drugs that are effective against the virus.

“From a conformational or ‘shape’ point of view, several proteins contain ordered and intrinsically disordered regions. These classical conformations are in the proteins in the SARS-CoV-2 virus as well. The structure of non-structural protein 1 (NSP1) is composed of 180 amino acids. The first 1-127 region has been experimentally shown to form an independent structure by Clrak, Green & Petit from University of Alabama. However, there was no experimental proof given by any group on the 131 to 180 amino acid regions of this NSP1 protein, which plays a key role in suppressing the host immune system. With the support of Circular Dichroism spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics Simulations our group at IIT Mandi has deciphered the conformation of this region in isolation.”, explained Dr. Rajanish Giri, Assistant Professor of Biotechnology, IIT Mandi.

This virus has sixteen non-structural proteins (NSP1–NSP16), of which, the NSP1 plays a vital role in the pathogenicity (ability to cause disease) of the virus.  The NSP1 disrupts the proteins of the host cell and suppresses its immune functions. Its importance can be understood by the fact that it is also called the ‘host shutoff factor’. Particularly Nenad Ban and colleagues have found that if the C-terminal region of NSP1 i.e. 131-180 residues are removed from NSP1 then NSP1 is unable to stop the translation by ribosomes. It is therefore important to understand the molecular mechanisms, biophysical interactions, and chemistry of the interplay of the NSP1 with the host cell.

“Earlier in 2020, we have shown through bioinformatics studies that NSP1 C-terminal region has intrinsic disorder propensity between 0.4 to 0.5 scales, i.e. very close to borderline of intrinsic disorder prediction. However, without experimental studies we were not sure that this 131-180 amino acid region is actually an intrinsically disordered protein region. Generally, these regions are unfolded in solution but are folded into particular conformations when binding with specific molecules or partners inside the host cells”, said Dr. Giri.

The IIT Mandi team has experimentally studied the structural conformations of SARS-CoV-2 NSP1 under various conditions – in an organic solvent, membrane mimetic environment, and inside liposomes. Using analytical techniques such as circular dichroism spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and molecular dynamics simulations, the researchers have shown the dynamic changes in the conformation of the IDR of the NSP1, in response to its surroundings, due to hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions between the protein and the environment.

“Our finding provides valuable insight into disorder-order conformation of the NSP1 C-terminal region (residues 131-180) of the SARS-COV2 virus under various environments, which will help in understanding the broader aspect of NSP1 and its interactions with binding partners that are currently unknown”, said Dr. Giri.

Understanding the conformational structure and associated functions of key viral proteins such as the NSP1 can eventually help develop therapeutics that can target these proteins and stop the virus in its tracks. Studies such as those conducted by Dr. Giri and his co-workers can bring this approach closer to reality.

This study has been published in the journal ‘Current Research in Virological Science’, in a paper co-authored by Dr. Giri and his research scholars, Mr. Amit Kumar, Mr. Ankur Kumar and Mr. Prateek Kumar, along with Dr. Neha Garg from the Banaras Hindu University.

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Keywords: Protein structure, COVID-19, Coronavirus, Indian Institute of Technology, IIT Mandi, Antiviral, therapeutics, ICMR, MoHFW

IIT Delhi

Optics and photonics is the study of the fundamental properties of light and harnessing them in practical applications. To list a few, the areas covered under optics and photonics include Optical imaging, Optical metrology, Sources and detectors of light, Lasers, Fiber optics, Optical communication, Optical sensors, Colour of light, Vision optics, Remote sensing, Illumination, Diffractive optics, Adaptive optics, Holography, Fourier optics, Optical image processing, Opto-electronics, Optical data storage, Optical computing, Microscopy, Bio-medical optics, Nonlinear optics, IR optics, Terahertz optics, Photonic circuits, Nano-photonics, Plasmonics, Ultra-fast optics, Photonic quantum technologies etc.

The Optics and Photonics Centre, IIT Delhi will seek collaboration with establishments such as the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and industry to undertake R&D in the areas of importance for them. DRDO is already collaborating in this area through a vertical in Photonics in the Joint Advance Technology Centre (JATC) at IIT Delhi.

“As the spread of photonic technology and its usage is increasing, there would be many opportunities for such collaborations including setting up of start-ups. Apart from this, the Centre will play a pivotal role in the near future development of photonics-based quantum technologies, for next generation computing, secure communications etc.Sustained linkages with industry will also be developed and established,” said Prof Joby Joseph, Coordinator, Optics and Photonics Centre, IIT Delhi.

On the teaching side, the Centre will focus on doctoral and postgraduate programmes including special programs for industry professionals. Innovation and translation of research into products would be very important for the Centre. It will also encourage and help students in entrepreneurial efforts and connect them with suitable investors through due processes at the Institute.

IIT Delhi has been known for its contributions in Optics in India and abroad. Many faculty members in Physics Department, Electrical Engineering, Centre for Sensors, Instrumentation and Cyber Physical System Engineering (SeNSE) and several other academic units are engaged in Optics &Photonics R&D.Over the years, four faculty members of the Physics Department have been recognized with the coveted Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for their work in optics and photonics.

Prof. Anurag Sharma, JC Bose Fellow, Dept. of Physics, IIT Delhi said, “The Centre will synergize and significantly enhance the activities in Optics and Photonics at IIT Delhi. This is particularly important in view of the strong interdisciplinary nature of the subject.”

Optics and photonics have become extremely important today as enabling technologies, and have immense applications in diverse fields such as communication and information processing; quantum information and computing; energy harvesting and green energy; lighting- particularly solid-state lighting; imaging- particularly bio-imaging; and several engineering fields- aerospace, civil and environment, agriculture, micro-nano fabrication, automotive engineering, research and industrial instrumentation, surveillance and offence in the military.

Many agencies such as the DRDO, CSIR, DAE, Department of Space and industries are increasingly turning towards optics and photonics for technological solutions.

Many new application areas are emerging day-by-day. In recognition of the importance of this, the UN declared 2015 as the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies and since 2018, May 16 is celebrated as the International Day of Light.

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Keywords: R&D, Innovation, Ooptics, Photonics, Indian Institute of Technology, IIT Delhi, Optics and Photonics Centre, light, Optical imaging, Optical metrology, Lasers, Fiber optics, Optical communication, Optical sensors, Remote sensing, Illumination, DRDO, CSIR, DAE, ICMR, Joint Advance Technology Centre (JATC)

Didymocarpus is a genus belonging to the plant family Gesneriaceae (commonly known as ‘African Violets’) and its members are distributed from Western Himalayas to Sumatra. Most of these species are narrow endemics and require specialized habitats to survive, thus acting as an indicator of pristine habitats. There are 106 currently known species of this genus, of which 26 are present in Northeastern states of India.

The newly-described species Didymocarpus vickifunkiae (Gesneriaceae) is currently known from only three locations in Mizoram and considered as an endangered species. It is an epiphyte (plants that grow on trees) and produces light pink flowers during the monsoons. The species is named in honour of Late Dr. Vicki Ann Funk, a renowned Botanist who worked at Smithsonian Institute, USA.

The study is an outcome of extensive fieldwork across northeast India coupled with rigorous study of past collections kept in herbariums across the world, say IISER Bhopal statement. This study has been published in Systematic Botany journal in a paper co-authored by Prasanna N.S., Research Scholar, and Dr. Vinita Gowda, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, IISER Bhopal.

“Northeast India is home to highly diverse flora because of its unique biogeographic placement as part of two biodiversity hotspots: the Indo-Burma hotspot and the Eastern Himalayas, said Dr. Vinita Gowda.”

The new discovery brings new insights into the unique evolutionary trajectory of flora in this region of India. Beyond the academic desire to document biodiversity, finding the ‘missing pieces’ of the biodiversity puzzle are important in designing conservation approaches to protect the fragile ecosystem of such hotspots, say researchers.

Because of its complex geology and climatic conditions, Northeast India, is home to a diverse flora and fauna. However, much of it remains poorly documented. The IISER Bhopal team was studying the evolution and biogeography of Didymocarpus plants. While collecting the plants for study, authors stumbled upon a plant which was distinct from all botanically known plants. After critical examination of the morphology, published literature and past collections that are preserved in the natural history museums in India and UK, they described it as a new species.

The biodiversity in this region of the country is poorly known due to low priority in research, inaccessibility and remoteness, challenges that are being tackled by research groups such as the Tropical Ecology & Evolution (TrEE) lab. The team combines traditional processes of taxonomy with modern methods such as molecular phylogenetics to unravel the biodiversity of the Northeast and place it in the context of the larger Asian landscape.

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Keywords: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, IISER Bhopal, New species, Plant species, African Violets family, Biodiversity, Northeastern region, Western Himalayas, Didymocarpus vickifunkiae, Gesneriaceae, Endangered species, Epiphyte