Annual Report 2009-2010 - Ministry Of Earth Sciences

iii) “Study of Contamination of Earth (Soil and
Ground Water) through Leaching of Sewage
Waste from Heavily Loaded Unlined Drains
in Delhi” to Amity University which intends
to estimate the possibility and extent of soil
and ground water contamination through
leaching of sewage waste from heavily loaded
drains of Delhi.
iv) “L-moments Based Regional Extreme
Rainfall and Flood Frequency Analysis for
Hydro-meteorological Sub zones 2(b) and
2(c) of India” to be implemented by NIT
Silchar. The outcome of the project will help
to estimate return periods of floods, using
L-moment methods for each of the identified
homogeneous regions. The information
of estimation of return period is required
by design engineers for any infrastructure
development over NE region.
v) Monsoon Driven Changes as Preserved in
Marine Sediments off Gujarat and Konkan
Coasts During the Past 20 Kyr” to be
implemented by IIT Kharagpur. The proposal
aims to reconstruct past Indian monsoon
variability at high resolution using sediment
cores from the eastern Arabian Sea.
10.3 Building Indigenous Capability
through Joint Developmental Projects
The Ministry of Earth Sciences and CSIR are
working jointly in the field of Meteorological and
Oceanic Sciences and Technology and supporting
specific projects of direct relevance to MoES
through joint funding, a specific NMITLI project
on mesoscale modelling for monsoon related
weather predictions. Phase II had been funded.
A second NMITLI joint project on Biofuel from
Marine Microalgae has been recently agreed upon.
10.4 Human Resource Development &
Capacity Building
IIT Delhi
Under the existing MoU for sponsored M Tech
and PhD programmes in the field of Earth &
Atmospheric Sciences, the first batch of M Tech
students will graduate by the end of 2009-10.
IISc, Bangalore
To encourage research in Earth Sciences and also
to augment capacity building in the field of Earth
Sciences, a project proposal entitled “Research,
Education & Manpower Development in the
Discipline of Earth Sciences” to Indian Institute
of Science (IISc), Bangalore. The aim of the
proposal is to strengthen the infrastructural
facilities for earth science research and training
at the newly created Centre for Earth Sciences at
IISc Bangalore apart from initiating an M Tech
Programme.
10.5 Establishment of MoES
Distinguished Chair Professorship
i) Under the established Sir Gilbert Walker
Distinguished Chair Professorship Programme
Prof. T. N. Krishnamurti, FSU, USA visited IIT
Delhi during December 2009 as the first MoES
Chair Professor.
ii) MoES Panikkar Professorship has been
established under the aegis of NGRI,
Hyderabad for carrying out research in the
field of earthquake including microzonation,
precursors, tsunami, palaeotsunami, tectonics
etc. Prof. Harsh Gupta is the first Professor
under this scheme.
10.6 Awareness and Outreach
Programmes
In order to propagate and bring awareness about
the programmes and achievements among the
public, students and user communities, the
Ministry participated in major National and
International exhibitions held in India and
supported Seminars, Symposia, Workshops and
various National Science Centres of National
Council for Science Museum and States Council
for Science and Technology of Governments
of Himachal Pradesh, New Delhi, Jammu &
Kashmir, etc. The “Earth Day” is celebrated with
the participation of school children, screening
62 Ministry of Earth Sciences : Annual Report 2009-10