India and Sri Lanka to Collaborate in Sci&Tech Areas Including Waste-water Technologies, Biotech, Sustainable Agriculture, Big Data Analytics and AI

India and Sri Lanka extended the existing S&T cooperation for 3 more years, with focus on new areas like waste-water technologies, biotech, sustainable agriculture, aerospace engineering, robotics, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence, as well as industrial collaborations at the India-Sri Lanka 5th Joint Committee on S&T Cooperation held on January 20, 2022.

"India and Sri Lanka have a great legacy of intellectual, cultural, and religious interaction and relationship of more than 2500 years old. Trade and investment and cooperation in education and other sectors have gone up in recent times, and in this line, cooperation in S&T becomes very critical," said Mr. S. K. Varshney, Advisor, and Head, International Cooperation, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, India, who led the delegation from the country and was the Indian co-chair.

“This platform will provide an opportunity for discussing various other facets which are possible for collaboration in the domain of S&T. There are lot of opportunities available for bilateral cooperation. India offers fellowships like India S&T fellowship, e-ITEC and both the countries can work through a number of multilateral platforms like BIMSTEC, which they are part of,” he added.

Mrs. Deepa Liyange, Secretary, State Ministry of Skills Development, Vocational Education, Research & Innovations, Sri Lanka, the co-chair from Sri Lanka, reiterated the well-established bilateral relationship between both the countries and welcomed India’s cooperation in S&T sectors and research areas for boosting scientific knowledge in the country.

Mr. Vinod K. Jacob, Deputy High Commissioner from India in Sri Lanka, highlighted that as part of India’s "Neighborhood First" policy which guides the country’s cooperation with Sri Lanka, this meeting would help build on existing collaborative work and help these reach greater heights. He further mentioned that under the e-ITEC program, since April 2020, 550 Sri-Lankan nationals have benefitted from training in various Indian institutions in areas like biotech, medical research, renewable energy, and so on.

“S&T is a key enabler of socio-economic and sustainable development. The tools in science will enable the world in achieving the 2030 agenda of sustainable development, and it is high time we create conducive environment for S&T and innovation. A strong bilateral cooperation is extremely important for a country’s progress, and Sri Lanka looks forward to a fruitful joint cooperation programme,” Mr. Niluka Kadurugamuwa, Deputy High Commissioner from Sri Lanka in India, pointed out.

The delegates exchanged information on the ongoing S&T activities in the two countries. The Indian side presented the overall STI Policy and priority areas by showcasing the core mandates of DST, multi-stakeholder base of DST, India’s recent progress in S&T, as well as focus on securing India’s future in technology through missions like NM-ICPS, NM-QTA, Methanol mission, new initiatives like VAJRA, TARE, Vigyan Jyoti, Accelerate Vigyan. India’s international S&T engagements were also elaborated upon. The Sri-Lankan side also highlighted the scope and status of S&T in their country and its application in various areas of national importance. Organizations like National Science Foundation, Sri Lanka, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India and Industrial Technology Institute, Sri Lanka detailed on activities performed by the respective Scientific Agencies and areas of potential collaboration between both the countries.

The delegates reviewed the ongoing collaborative activities in the 9 areas spanning food technology; plant base medicines; meteorology; space research & applications, robotics & automation; industrial electronics, renewable energy; waste management; information and communication technology and discussed about the future activities.

The board mutually agreed to extend the Programme of Cooperation (POC) for another 3 years between both countries and identified new areas such as like waste-water technologies, industry and biotech, sustainable agriculture, aerospace engineering, robotics, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence to be included in the POC. The need to invite new joint proposals in S&T areas was underlined, and the group recommended conducting more webinars in the wake of the current pandemic situation for enhancing collaborative research and making collaborations stronger.

Bangalore to Test Blockchain Tech in Garbage Complaint Redressal System

Municipal Corporation of Bangalore, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), has announced that the body, along with non-profit (Citizen Involved & Technology assisted Governance) is all set to start a pilot project that will implement blockchain technology to make its Garbage-related complaint redressal systems more transparent and accountable.

CITAG, which is an all-hands-meet initiative involving active citizens to take up the issue of Solid Waste Management in the city of Bangalore, will fund this blockchain project.

The project will be funded by the fellowship that Captain Manivannan, a senior Karnataka-based IAS officer, has obtained from Harvard University.

As a metro city, Bangalore has seen unprecedented development in every angle in the past decade which has resulted in unmanageable amounts of garbage being produced each day. It is believed that Bangalore produces tons of garbage daily which is segregated into wet and dry waste largely. Landfills have reached the brim and the city’s garbage management problems are inching towards dangerous levels.

According to the project, which is expected to begin in the first week of June, the complaints regarding garbage can be posted online and the reactions as well as satisfaction to the steps taken to address his/her complaint will be visible to public online. Here, the blockchain will ensure the level of transparency as it is not centralized and this in turn will put some pressure on officials who have to deliver on the ground so that it reflects online.

Based on the success of the pilot project, the BBMP will decide if it will be expanded.

Related Reading - 5 Incredible Blockchain IoT Applications

Randeep D, BBMP Special Commissioner, said in a statement to The News Minute, "CITAG approached us with a proposal that they would develop a blockchain-based complaints grievance system at their own cost. Blockchain technology will make it tamper-proof. So all players on the platform can see actions that have been taken regarding a complaint. There is a lot of data integrity and transparency involved in having such a blockchain-based helpline. Different stages of the redressal will be visible to everybody.

Based on the success of the pilot project, the BBMP will decide if it will be expanded.

BBMP is the fourth largest Municipal Corporation in India being responsible for a population of 6.8 million in an area of 741 Sq. Km, according to Wikipedia.

CITAG intends to use technological innovations to tackle the issues of Solid Waste Management by involving citizens of Bengaluru and government bodies as well. CITAG aims to create an effective and sustainable ‘Participative Governance Platform’, that ensures transparent and accountable systems.

Source - The News Minute

[Top Image - Hari Adivarekar]

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Waste Ventures solving India's Garbage problem

Garbage is one of the main factors which affects the beauty and hygiene of our country and the situation only worsens every year with the growing population. Finally, it seems someone has taken note of the situation and is working hard to make India a garbage less country.

Waste Ventures India Pvt Ltd. is an international social enterprise which has an aim of creating sustainable solid waste management systems in tier 2 and tier 3 cities across India. The company is based out of New Delhi.

Waste Ventures was founded by Parag Gupta, a serial social entrepreneur in 2011. He has bachelors from the University of Chicago and masters from Harvard Kennedy School. Having worked hard globally on innovative solution to public policy issues, he was drawn to the urgency and impact of solid waste management. He then ended up creating a blueprint for commercially viable developing world solid waste management.

Waste Ventures has pioneered a unique model in India for solid waste management which includes door-to-door collection, environmental waste processing as well as carbon credits. The model has already been tested in several states of the country and has been created in collaboration with waste management organisations from across the world.



In order to create a new paradigm of financially viable and environmentally sustainable waste management, Waste Ventures has tried to involve all the stakeholders in the system which include existing waste organisations, municipalities/ RWAs as well as private investors.

Waste Venture has also taken up developing a household collection system in Motihari, Bihar as a part of its direct implementation services. The project involves collecting waste directly from households who pay a monthly fee. The waste collected is then processed through anaerobic compositing and the recyclable materials are separated and recovered. It is entirely a privately run project funded and executed in collaboration with Waste Ventures Charities for knowledge management and data gathering on the operations of the project.

Waste Ventures has a phenomenal team with experience from both corporate, social enterprise and non-profit sector who is working hard to give India an image makeover. The company has some 44 projects lined up this fiscal. In future, it has plans of expanding to 10 Andhra Pradesh municipalities.

Waste Ventures solving India's Garbage problem

Garbage is one of the main factors which affects the beauty and hygiene of our country and the situation only worsens every year with the growing population. Finally, it seems someone has taken note of the situation and is working hard to make India a garbage less country.

Waste Ventures India Pvt Ltd. is an international social enterprise which has an aim of creating sustainable solid waste management systems in tier 2 and tier 3 cities across India. The company is based out of New Delhi.

Waste Ventures was founded by Parag Gupta, a serial social entrepreneur in 2011. He has bachelors from the University of Chicago and masters from Harvard Kennedy School. Having worked hard globally on innovative solution to public policy issues, he was drawn to the urgency and impact of solid waste management. He then ended up creating a blueprint for commercially viable developing world solid waste management.

Waste Ventures has pioneered a unique model in India for solid waste management which includes door-to-door collection, environmental waste processing as well as carbon credits. The model has already been tested in several states of the country and has been created in collaboration with waste management organisations from across the world.



In order to create a new paradigm of financially viable and environmentally sustainable waste management, Waste Ventures has tried to involve all the stakeholders in the system which include existing waste organisations, municipalities/ RWAs as well as private investors.

Waste Venture has also taken up developing a household collection system in Motihari, Bihar as a part of its direct implementation services. The project involves collecting waste directly from households who pay a monthly fee. The waste collected is then processed through anaerobic compositing and the recyclable materials are separated and recovered. It is entirely a privately run project funded and executed in collaboration with Waste Ventures Charities for knowledge management and data gathering on the operations of the project.

Waste Ventures has a phenomenal team with experience from both corporate, social enterprise and non-profit sector who is working hard to give India an image makeover. The company has some 44 projects lined up this fiscal. In future, it has plans of expanding to 10 Andhra Pradesh municipalities.