22nd October 2014 Mumbai, India
Last week I had a fantastic opportunity to visit one of India’s most renowned centres of excellence – Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Mumbai , along with my colleagues Tom Wells and Vijay Iyer. The TIFR is funded by the Government of India’s Department of Atomic Energy. Its main campus is located in Mumbai […]
26th September 2014 Mumbai, India
Last month, Tom and I visited the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. First, we met with Prof. B. Ravi in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Prof. Ravi was part of the Indian delegation I led to the UK in June this year to participate in a 4-day programme on distributed manufacturing, which was jointly […]
10th September 2014 Mumbai, India
Last month, I visited the sprawling and leafy campus of the Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI), located on Tumkur road in Bengaluru, along with my colleague, Venkatesh (UKTI). The CMTI was established in 1965 with support from the then Czechoslovakian government. The institute falls under the ambit of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and […]
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13th August 2014 New Delhi, India
This month, Professor Balaram stepped down as Director of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) after nearly a decade at the helm. He was also recently in the UK to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of York, recognising his enormous contributions to science. I caught up with him, just prior to his departure […]
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30th July 2014 Bangalore, India
Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) is a huge concern globally and the day when common ailments and minor injuries can kill someone is not far away. The recent WHO report (AMR Global Report on Surveillance) also provides data on the very high rates of resistance in common bacteria such as E.coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus. These […]
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10th July 2014 New Delhi, India
Set on the outskirts of Puducherry, the former French colony which retains a significant Gallic flavour and hosts some seriously warm weather at this time of year, is the Jawaharal Nehru Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER). I visited the institute earlier in the month with my colleague, Vimal Subramanian, to understand what […]
2nd July 2014 New Delhi, India
Recently, I visited the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune, with my colleague Vishakha Chandhere who is based in Pune. As a Bangalorean, I was struck by how similar Pune and Bangalore felt – both cantonment towns with a significant military presence, relatively cooler than their surrounds, lots of trees and a […]
10th June 2014 Mumbai, India
Kachchh – a tortoise-shaped land situated in the north of Gujarat is a paradise for geologists, environmentalists, and biodiversity enthusiasts! Last month, I visited two Kachchh based institutions located in Bhuj – KSKV Kachchh University and Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology (GUIDE) – in the dry, blazing summer heat! I met with Dr. M. G. […]
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5th June 2014 Mumbai
I often remember those days when I accompanied my grandparents to our sugarcane farm and wondered how do these tall sticks of cane become those lovely sugar crystals? Who does this magic? Well, my questions were answered recently when I visited the Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) in Pune. I met the Director General, Shivajirao C. […]
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12th May 2014 Mumbai, India
Recently, I visited the CSIR-Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) in Bhavnagar, Gujarat along with Dr. Philip Earis from the Royal Society of Chemistry. The CSMCRI used to be the erstwhile Central Salt Research Institute, which was inaugurated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1954. It’s been nearly 60 years and the institute is […]