Environment & Social Impact

No Severe Ozone Depletion in the Tropics

No Severe Ozone Depletion in the Tropics

A ground-breaking study led by Prof. Jayanarayanan Kuttippurath from the Centre for Ocean, River, Atmosphere and Land Sciences (CORAL) at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-Kharagpur), in collaboration with international researchers, has refuted previous claims of a severe ozone hole in the tropical stratosphere. The study provides reassurance that there is no significant ozone depletion in the tropics and no associated health threat. The recent study entitled “No Severe Ozone Depletion in the Tropical Stratosphere in Recent Decades," challenges earlier assertions of a year-round massive ozone hole in the tropics. The previous research suggested that such an ozone hole…
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IIT Kharagpur launches PUBBS: 4th Generation Public Bicycle Sharing Systems

IIT Kharagpur launches PUBBS: 4th Generation Public Bicycle Sharing Systems

IIT Kharagpur launches 4th generation “Make in India”  Public Bicycle Sharing system including a smart electro-mechanical IOT module for locking bicycles and its software. Integrated Hardware, Software and Firmware development for a fully automatic bicycle lock and a cloud-based sharing system which is freely available on a subscription basis so that the system can be setup by private individuals without specialized equipment and personnel. This project is funded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and involves pilot-scale demonstration within the IIT Campus.  Dr. Subhas Sarkar, Minister of State for Education inaugurated the Public Bicycle Share System in the…
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IIT Kharagpur develops cutting-edge technology to reduce Red Mud by Alumina refining

IIT Kharagpur develops cutting-edge technology to reduce Red Mud by Alumina refining

IIT Kharagpur and Vedanta Aluminium have developed a process to significantly reduce the generation of bauxite residue, commonly known as red mud, in the alumina refining process. The patented process reduces bauxite residue by a remarkable 30 per cent by eliminating iron values while simultaneously recovering a higher alumina yield, reducing the total organic content of bauxite during the alumina refining. The process significantly enhances resource efficiency and curbs energy consumption during refining. The project was led by the Research and Development Department of Vedanta, the country’s leading aluminium producer, in collaboration with the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering,…
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IIT Kharagpur Signs MoU with Uneverse Mobilty, a Kolkata based Startup, for the Development & Commercialization of Sodium Ion Batteries in India

IIT Kharagpur Signs MoU with Uneverse Mobilty, a Kolkata based Startup, for the Development & Commercialization of Sodium Ion Batteries in India

These Cost-Effective Batteries Will Boost the Rapid Growth Envisaged For E-Vehicles Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Uneverse Mobility Pvt Ltd, a Kolkata based startup focusing on next generation battery technology and e-mobility segments for commercialization and further development of the Sodium Ion technology. A team headed by Prof Amreesh Chandra from the Department of Physics at IIT Kharagpur have been working extensively on the development of Sodium-ion based energy solutions. They were amongst the first group of researchers in India who were funded by the Department of Science and Technology under their flagship…
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IIT Kharagpur discovers Isotopes in Fossil Trees from Deccan Trap Lavas that Indicate Wetter Future Due to Global Warming

IIT Kharagpur discovers Isotopes in Fossil Trees from Deccan Trap Lavas that Indicate Wetter Future Due to Global Warming

  Deccan Trap lava hills in Western Ghats (Left) and columnar basaltic lavas (Right) which erupted 66 million years back killing dinosaurs and most life on earth. A team of scientists from IIT Kharagpur and Academia Sinica, Taipei have indeed found evidence of triple oxygen isotopes of intertrappean fossil woods that led to very high annual rainfall during the catastrophic volcanism of Deccan trap that erupted in India about 66 million years back. The eruption drove a major mass extinction killing nearly 80% of all species of animals including the Dinosaurs. The depleted values of the oxygen isotopes suggest a…
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IIT Kharagpur Researchers Aids to Green Construction to Reduce Global Warming

IIT Kharagpur Researchers Aids to Green Construction to Reduce Global Warming

Climate change and green and sustainable growth have found top most importance in India’s G20 presidency this year. Not only India, but all the leading economies have spoken in one voice on it. To revolutionize green construction, a team from IIT Kharagpur, Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, led by Prof. T.K Bhattacharyya, Scientist Dr. Jhimli Manna, Mr. Ayan Chatterjee, and Dr. Debmallya Das have developed and patented a Nano-Engineered Graphene derivative to reduce clinker factor from cement as well as concrete which can save the CO2 emission upto 25% annually. In addition, it will help to reduce the…
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IIT Kharagpur Conducts Road Safety Training for Kolkata Police

IIT Kharagpur Conducts Road Safety Training for Kolkata Police

IIT Kharagpur conducts Road Safety Training for the officers of Kolkata Traffic Police & Transport Department, initiating capacity building in road safety through four rounds of training program. The training program was inaugurated yesterday in Police Training School (PTS), Kolkata by Shri V K Goyal, Learned Commissioner of Kolkata Police, in the presence of Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur; Shri Hari Kishore Kusumakar, Additional Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, several senior officials of Kolkata Police and experts from IIT Kharagpur. Around 200 officers of Kolkata Police are being trained by the team of faculty members from IIT Kharagpur that…
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A Study on Rising Atmospheric Pollution in Rural India

A Study on Rising Atmospheric Pollution in Rural India

Researchers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur have found increasing atmospheric pollution in rural India using Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) measurements from satellites. Prof. Jayanarayanan Kuttippurath and Research Scholar Mansi Pathak of Centre for Ocean, River, Atmosphere and Land Sciences (CORAL) of IIT Kharagpur analysed the significant impact of urban pollution on the air quality of rural India by differentiating the pollution in two zones - rural and urban - and assessing the extent of air pollution in rural India. The researchers found that air pollution is not typically an urban phenomenon but can also affects the environment in rural…
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Women’s Leadership Conclave 2022

Women’s Leadership Conclave 2022

As India enters its 76th year of Independence, it aims to reclaim its status of Vishwa Guru by 2047 where the role of women leaders is crucial in the diverse fields of our society to create a balance. With a drive to encourage women empowerment, Partha Ghosh Academy of Leadership at IIT Kharagpur organized the first of its kind Women’s Leadership Conclave from 26th to 27th November 2022 on “Women – The Backbone of Society,” in Netaji Auditorium. Eminent women guest speakers like Dr. Kiran Bedi, Ex. Lt Governor of Puducherry and a Megsaysay Awardee along Smt. Premlata Agarwal, Padmashri,…
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Devastating Aftermath of Cyclones

Devastating Aftermath of Cyclones

Isotope studies by IIT Kharagpur and Academia Sinica, Taiwan scientists shed light on how the cyclones sustain their energy. Cyclones are increasingly becoming perilous to the coastal populations of the subcontinent. Climate change due to global warming, projects that the frequency of category 4 and 5 storms (60 to >70 m/s sustained wind speed) will be doubled by the end of the 21st century. However, the question remains: why some cyclones are devastating while others are not? What controls the intensity of cyclonic winds and rains? Cyclones are gigantic vortex, 500-700 km in diameter and 20 km in height, which…
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