Expenditure and infrastructure cannot be the only measures of education. Learning outcomes and retention rate—a measure of quality education, are both poor in India.  A multi-pronged approach to meet the deficits needs to be adopted.

The human race fights innumerable diseases. Scientific innovations and new findings help the human race to keep ahead in the war against ill-health. We bring to you few project summaries that is an imperative read for all.

Termed as a future superpower, India is taking huge strides in science and technology with novel and innovative research projects. These innovative projects can prove to be vital for the betterment of humankind. We bring ten such projects which are indeed intriguing.

While rising temperatures have been observed for most parts of the world’s oceans, a few areas such as the north Atlantic have instead experienced cooling.

A possible impact of climate change in the upper atmosphere could be the excessive trapping of infrared radiation by the Earth’s lower atmosphere, which can leave much less reflected or emitted heat for the upper atmosphere, making these layers colder.

Causing the death of over 100,000 marine mammals and millions of fishes and birds annually, plastic waste dumped into the ocean has emerged as the biggest waste problem of planet Earth. While over 50 per cent of the ocean area is free of any national jurisdiction, increased ocean plastic is moving the world towards a global catastrophe.

The environmental challenges thrown up by non-biodegradable polyethylene bags, bottles and other materials call for urgent recycling solutions. Widely used plastics can take more than 400 to 1000 years to completely decompose. To solve the issue of aggravating plastic waste, National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has developed an innovative technology to fashion plastic tiles out of refuse. The technology offers a sustainable solution to the long battle of plastic waste management.

India is the largest jute producer in the world, accounting for almost 55 per cent of the total world produce of jute. West Bengal is accountable for over 90 per cent of the jute production in the country. Jute however, is facing a decline in production in recent years due to low returns. A team of CSIR-NPL scientists have developed an innovative solution for value addition of waste biomass jute sticks as an alternative to burning so that farmers can augment their income and reap benefits from the sowing of jute.

A lifeline for rural India, a new solid state refrigerator developed by CSIR-NPL scientists promises to store food and drugs at low temperatures to provide hygiene and health while running on battery or solar-powered cells.

Ending India’s dependence on imported technology, researchers of CSIR-NPL have developed the indigenous long afterglow phosphor (LAP) powders and paints that serve as a source of light in dark and provide life-saving markings during an emergency.