Tag Archives: transfer of technology

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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pulls up DRDO, asks it to focus more on research and development

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“I would like to see equal fervour among innovators, among startups, among those who want to do something for defence related activities,” Sitharaman said | Photo Credit: ANI

 Nov 27, 2018 | 21:26 IST | ANI =TIMESNOWNEWS.COM
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Nirmala Sitharaman opined that there is keenness among a lot of young minds to come back to India from abroad owing to the growth of startups in the country.
New Delhi: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday pulled up the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and asked it to focus more on Research and Development (R&D) and exploit the opportunity and support being extended by the central government. Speaking at the launch of the Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti, which aims at increasing intellectual property right (IPR) to reduce the transfer of technology and dependence on foreign companies, the defence minister said, “DRDO should focus, in fact, refocus on R&D and it should be on toes to make themselves nimble to innovations.”

She also called upon all stakeholders to step up, as more was “needed to be done to nurture innovation in Defence, which could be translated into a commercially viable solution.” Sitharaman further said that the present ministry hierarchy should break the traditional barriers to identify, motivate and support people who are “capable to innovate, fabricate and manufacture in-house.”

Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Sitharaman opined that there is keenness among a lot of young minds to come back to India from abroad owing to the growth of startups in the country. “I would like to see equal fervour among innovators, among startups, among those who want to do something for defence related activities,” she said. Crediting Secretary of Defence Production Dr Ajay Kumar for the mission Raksha Gyan Shakti, Sitharaman observed that this operation is giving the “impetus needed for moving towards innovating for defence.”

“Defence is always seen as a very difficult area to come in with a commercialised product in hand. Defence is seen as an area in which probably much transparency doesn’t prevail when you want to buy a thing when you want to procure it for the purpose of defence. We need technical requirement for defence, be it of quality, be it of certain standards for performance or be it a necessity for use,” she explained. Sitharaman also stressed on the hesitancy of innovators to approach the Defence Ministry for the commercialisation of their products.

“Anyone who wants to innovate or anyone who wants do anything towards commercialising some product, which is patented hesitates to approach defiance related sectors. They would rather go to food industry due to preconceived notion that it is very difficult to even break in and then have a dialogue and then see that there is a possibility of commercially producing something that the defence might need,” Sitharaman added.

“Each time an innovation is patented the innovator may not be interested in producing it. You need to find somebody to produce it on a commercial scale. We make sure to facilitate it, make finances available and find a market for it,” the defence minister said.

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Bio-toilet choked with complaints

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By Pradip R Sagar | Published: 28th October 2017 The Sunday Standard
NEW DELHI: Forget about missiles or battle tanks, the country’s premier defence research agency DRDO’s bio-toilets are getting blocked with major glitches. Indian Railways, the toilets’ main user, is getting hundreds of daily complaints from passengers from its 17 zones, and its top officials can’t find a solution.

Dr Y Ashok Babu, a senior microbiologist who was part of the E-loo project, has questioned the technology used and has written to the Defence Minister and Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). He claims the imported bacteria worked perfectly well in the laboratory but not in Siachen, for which a solar panel heating system was added to accelerate the ‘digestion’ process. He says the bio-toilets, which are nothing but gobar gas plants, involve no technology and can be built by a village mason. He claims that officials conspired with some vendors to fool people; they just added bacteria from Antarctica, which is available in cow and buffalo dung.

A senior Railway official involved in the procurement of the bio-toilets from DRDO said, “Nowhere in the world are such toilets used in rail coaches except in India.” In response to an RTI, Railways authorities revealed no study was carried out before installing the toilets in coaches. “These toilets are not approved by UIC (international union of railways) or any other Railways Standard Organisation,” he said.
Claiming to be a ‘big failure’, Railways officials said 95 per cent of these toilets are faulty. The Railways planned to install 2.5 lakh toilets in all coaches by October 2, 2019.

The bio-toilets were invented by Gwalior-based Defence

Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) and Tezpur-based Defence Research Laboratory (DRL) to decompose biological waste generated by soldiers in high-altitude regions such as Siachen and Ladakh in 2012. After the Ministry for Rural Development—which spent Rs 1,000 crore for the project—the Railways has become its biggest user. The DRDO has made the transfer of technology agreement with 56 companies, which are producing bio-toilets at a cost of Rs 15,000 to Rs 75 lakh. DRDO officials refused to comment when contacted.

Loo-se ends

Indian Railways, the toilets’ main user, gets hundreds of daily complaints from passengers
Railways officials said
95 per cent of these toilets are faulty
Railways planned to install 2.5 lakh toilets in all coaches by October 2, 2019

The project cost Rs 1,000 cr
E-loo uses anaerobic microbial bacteria to decompose and convert biological human excreta into usable water and gasses

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DRDO’s bio-toilets raise a stink

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By Hemant Kumar Rout Published: 13th August 2016 – The New Indian Express
BHUBANESWAR: The much-hyped bio-toilets invented by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and installed in railway coaches, public places and colonies seem to have sparked of a controversy with some senior scientists raising voice against the functioning and technology which allegedly uses cow dung instead of imported bacteria.

Developed by Gwalior-based Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) and Tezpur-based Defence Research Laboratory (DRL), both laboratories of DRDO, the bio-toilets, fondly known as ‘E-loo’, use anaerobic microbial bacteria to decompose and convert biological human excreta into usable water and gasses.
DRDO e looThough initially, the bio-toilets installed in high-altitude regions such as Siachen and Ladakh performed as expected for a certain period, now many of them are reportedly abandoned or unused for obvious reasons leading to objections from the armed forces.
While the DRDO said the anaerobic bacteria have been imported from Antarctica and can effectively function in extreme conditions and temperature ranging from -6 degree Celsius to 50 degree C, a group of DRDO scientists claimed that the imported bacteria cannot survive in high temperature.

“Since such type of anaerobic bacteria are abundantly available in cow dung, the cattle waste is now being used in bio-toilets while the research organisation is hoodwinking the people in the name of technology development by wasting crores. Like the bio-toilets, the normal septic toilets also have a perfect anaerobic environment with the only difference being addition of cow dung in the name of inoculum culture in the former,” they said.

According to senior DRDO scientist Dr Y Ashok Babu, who has lodged a complaint with the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) seeking a probe into it, the imported bacteria worked perfectly well in the laboratory but did not work efficiently in the Siachen region, for which a solar panel heating system was added to accelerate digestion process.

“There is no requirement of specific bacteria in the normal temperature and local bacteria in the septic tank will do the same task more efficiently if cow dung is added to it. The technology is a farce which allows a handful of greedy business people to earn crores of rupees,” the complaint stated.

DRDE Director Dr Lokendra Singh, however, refuted the allegations. He said the cow dung is used only to multiply the bacteria brought from Antarctica, which can survive in Indian conditions. “Actually the cow dung used in the toilets is not the cattle waste but the bacteria which are transported through it. The toilets are working perfectly for which the Railways has given bulk orders,” he claimed.

The DRDO has so far made the transfer of technology (ToT) agreement with 56 companies which are producing bio-toilets at a cost ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 75 lakh depending on the volume of population using it and quality of materials.

Singh informed that while already 40,000 bio-toilets have been installed in railway coaches, additional 80,000 toilets are to be installed shortly. Besides, around 20,000 E-loos have been placed in colonies, urban areas and villages. The Indian Railways has planned to install 2.5 lakh toilets in all coaches by October 2, 2019

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