Success in my Habit

Monday, August 10, 2020

PM inaugurates Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra - an interactive experience centre on the Swachh Bharat Mission

 

Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi today inaugurated the Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra - an interactive experience centre on the Swachh Bharat Mission, at the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti at Rajghat, New Delhi. A tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, the Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra (RSK) was first announced by the Prime Minister on 10th April 2017, on the centenary celebrations of Gandhiji's Champaran Satyagraha. Mr Gajendra Singh Shekhavat, Minister, Jal Shakti and Mr Rattan Lal Kataria, Minister of State, Jal Shakti were present on the occasion.

Tour of Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra

The RSK has a balanced mix of digital and outdoor installations tracking India’s transformation from having over 50 crore people defecating in the open in 2014 to becoming open defecation free in 2019. The Prime Minister took a tour of the three distinct sections of the RSK. He first experienced a unique 360° audio visual immersive show in Hall 1 which provides an overview of the Swachh Bharat journey. He then moved to Hall 2 which contains a series of interactive LED panels, hologram boxes, interactive games and much more on the SBM. The Prime Minister also saw the installations in the lawn adjacent to RSK which showcase three exhibits which are synonymous with the SBM - Mahatma Gandhi leading people to the Swachhata pledge, Rani Mistris of rural Jharkhand and children swachhagrahis who call themselves Vaanar Sena.

Interaction with school students

After taking a tour of the entire RSK, the Prime Minister briefly visited the RSK souvenir centre. He then interacted with 36 school students from Delhi, representing all States and Union Territories of India at the amphitheatre of the RSK, adhering to social distancing protocols. The children shared with the Prime Minister their experiences with swachhata activities at home and at school, and their impressions of the RSK. One of them also asked the Prime Minister what his favourite part of the RSK was, to which the Prime Minister replied that he most enjoyed the portion dedicated to the inspiration of the SBM, Mahatma Gandhi.

Address to the nation

After interacting with the children, the Prime Minister addressed the nation. The Prime Minister reminisced the journey of the Swachh Bharat Mission and dedicated the RSK as a permanent tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. He lauded the people of India for making swachhata a jan andolan and urged them to continue to do so in the future. He reiterated the importance of swachhata in our daily lives, especially during our fight against the coronavirus.

And on this occasion, the Prime Minister launched ‘Gandagi Mukt Bharat’, a special week long campaign for swachhata in the run up to Independence Day, during which each day till 15th  August will have special swachhata initiatives in urban and rural India to re-enforce the jan andolan for swachhata.

Visiting the Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra

The Rashtriya Swachhata Kendra will be open to the public from 9th August from 8 AM to 5 PM, in accordance with the prescribed guidelines for social distancing and hygiene. As the number of people who may visit the RSK at a given point in time will have to be limited, no tours will be organized for students in the short term. However, virtual tours of the RSK will also be organized till such time as physical tours are possible. The first such virtual tour will be organized on 13th August with Minister for Jal Shakti, Mr Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. For ticket bookings and more information on the RSK, one may log on to rsk.ddws.gov.in. 

PM launches financing facility of Rs 1 lakh crore under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund; Rs 17,000 crore transferred by PM to nearly 8.5 crore farmers under PM-KISAN through direct benefit transfer to Aadhaar linked bank accounts; Rs 1,000 crore sanctioned to over 2280 farmer societies under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund within 30 days of receiving Cabinet approval for the Central Sector Scheme

Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi today launched a new Central Sector Scheme of financing facility under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund of Rs 1 lakh crore (US$ 14.19 billion). The scheme will support farmers, PACS, FPOs, Agri-entrepreneurs, etc. in building community farming assets and post-harvest agriculture infrastructure. These assets will enable farmers to get greater value for their produce as they will be able to store and sell at higher prices, reduce wastage, and increase processing and value addition.

Today, only 30 days after Cabinet formally approved the scheme, the first sanction of over Rs. 1000 Crore was made to over 2,280 farmer societies. The event was conducted through video conference and was attended by lakhs of farmers, FPOs, cooperatives, PACS, and citizens joining from across the country.

At the same event, the Prime Minister also released the sixth instalment under the PM-KISAN scheme of Rs 17,000 crore (US$ 2.41 billion) to nearly 8.5 crore farmers. The cash benefit was transferred directly to their Aadhaar verified bank accounts with the press of a button. With this transfer, the scheme has provided over 90,000 crore (US$ 12.77 billion) in the hands of more than 10 crore farmers since its launch on 01 December 2018.

Interaction with Primary Agriculture Credit Societies

Prime Minister interacted virtually with 3 Primary Agriculture Credit Societies from Karnataka, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh who are among the initial beneficiaries of the scheme. Prime Minister had an engaging discussion with the representatives of these societies to understand their current operations and how they plan to utilise the loan. The societies informed the Prime Minister about their plans to build go-downs, setup grading and sorting units which will help member farmers secure a higher price for their produce.

Address to the nation

Following his interaction with the Primary Agriculture Credit Societies, in his address to the nation, the Prime Minister expressed confidence in how farmers and the agriculture sector will benefit from the scheme. He said the scheme shall provide a financial boost to the farmers and agriculture sector and increase India’s ability to compete on the global stage.

Prime Minister reiterated that India has a huge opportunity to invest in post-harvest management solutions like warehousing, cold chain, and food processing, and build a global presence in areas such as organic and fortified foods. He also mentioned that this scheme provides a good opportunity for start-ups in agriculture to avail the benefits and scale their operations, thereby creating an ecosystem that reaches farmers in every corner of the country.

Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction with the pace of implementation of the PM-KISAN scheme. He also noted that the scale of the program is so large that the funds released today have reached more people than the entire population of several countries taken together. He also congratulated states for playing an important role in the implementation and assisting farmers through the entire process from registration all the way to disbursals.

The Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Mr Narendra Singh Tomar, was also present on the occasion.

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee. The duration of the scheme shall be from FY2020 to FY2029 (10 years). Under the scheme, Rs 1 lakh crore (US$ 14.19 billion) will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with interest subvention of 3 per cent per annum and credit guarantee coverage under CGTMSE scheme for loans up to Rs 2 crore (US$ 0.28 million). The beneficiaries will include farmers, PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, FPOs, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Start-ups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects.

PM-KISAN

The PM-KISAN scheme was launched in December 2018 to provide income support by way of a cash benefit to all landholding farmers (subject to certain exclusion criteria) to enable them to fulfil their agricultural requirements and support their families. Under the scheme, the financial benefit of Rs 6,000 (US$ 85.11)/- per year is provided to eligible beneficiary farmers in three equal instalments.

A new dawn for the agriculture sector

These steps are the latest in a series of reforms taken by the Government of India under the guidance of the Prime Minister. These measures will collectively herald a new dawn for the agriculture sector in India and show the government’s commitment to championing the cause of ensuring the welfare and sustainability of livelihoods for the farmers of India.

Friday, August 7, 2020

Electronics manufacturing in India to grow 30 per cent annually for next 5 years: IT Secretary

 The electronics manufacturing is expected to increase at an annual rate of 30 per cent over the next five years and clock Rs 11.5 lakh crore (US$ 163.14 billion) additional production during this period, said electronics and IT secretary Mr Ajay Prakash Sawhney.

The exports of the electronic products are also estimated to grow in the range of 40-50 per cent annually over the next five years, he added.

"Electronics manufacturing in India has been growing quite significantly. We have registered 23 per cent cumulative annual rate of growth over past five years. Now in this journey the growth is expected to be 30 per cent year on year for next five years," said Mr Sawhney at the Invest India Exclusive Investment Forum - Japan Edition.

He added that India has seen an increase in mobile manufacturing from 6 crore handsets five years ago to 33 crore at present, and meeting over 90 per cent of country's mobile phone requirements through domestic production.

"Last year we have seen spurt of 25 per cent. In next five years, growth in exports could be 40-50 per cent year on year at a bare minimum," Mr Sawhney said.

There are around 22 domestic and international firms, including iPhone maker Apple's contract manufacturers as well as Samsung, Lava, Dixon and so forth, that have lined up with proposals for mobile phones production worth Rs 11 lakh crore (US$ 156.05 billion) over the next five years.

Union Minister Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “These proposals under the government's Rs 41,000 crore (US4 5.82 billion) production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile phone manufacturing are expected to create around 12 lakh jobs, 3 lakh direct and 9 lakh indirect employment opportunities in the country”.

Mr Sawhney further added that Japanese companies have enormous expertise and market share in capital goods which are used in the factories that manufacture electronic goods, digital displays, semiconductors, and India is looking forward to their engagement in the domestic market.

"I would say India and Japan have a tremendous complimentary position, especially in the electronics sector. It is time for us to bring in more investment from Japan into India, more technologies into India," Mr Sawhney said.

Jubilant FoodWorks enters FMCG space; sets up direct competition with HUL, Nestle

Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, which operates Domino's Pizza and Dunkin' Donuts outlets in India, announced its entry in FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) segment with a range of ready-to-cook sauces, gravies and pastes.

It has stepped into the Rs 500 crore (US$ 70.93 million) ready-to-cook condiments space, setting up direct competition with packaged foods makers including Nestle, Hindustan Unilever and Dr Oetker.

It has launched a range of sauces and pastes through its new brand 'ChefBoss' that will initially be available for consumers across e-commerce portals.

JFL senior VP (new business) Mr Vikran Sabherwal said, “Demand for ready-to-cook food products has been increasing over the last few years on account of busier lifestyles of consumers and their desire to explore different cuisines at home. During COVID we have seen an acceleration of this trend and therefore an exponential growth in demand for ready to cook products.”

The sale of these products will start soon with Amazon (National), Flipkart Supermart (NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru) and Milkbasket (NCR).

The company also plans to expand product availability by adding more e-commerce platforms as well as retailing through supermarkets and hypermarkets in the near future.

Mr Shyam S Bhartia, chairman, and Mr Hari S Bhartia, co-chairman, Jubilant FoodWorks, said, "We are delighted to enter the Indian FMCG segment with 'ChefBoss'. This brand is based on our sound understanding of the Indian consumers' taste preferences and our commitment to provide the best quality products. Our research suggests that consumers now, more than ever before, are looking to explore and add new dishes to their cooking. We believe ready to cook products that are quick and easy to make, are the right solution to aid consumers in the endeavour to broaden their culinary expertise."

Indian Railways to introduce 'Kisan Rail', a special Parcel Train from Devlali (Maharashtra) to Danapur (Bihar) tomorrow i.e. August 07, 2020 on weekly basis

 

In the Union Budget 2020-21, Minister of Finance had made an announcement ‘to build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of milk, meat, and fish’. It was also stated that the Indian Railways will set up a KISAN RAIL.

As announced in the current year’s Union Budget by Finance Minister, Indian Railways is introducing first “Kisan Rail” from Devlali to Danapur tomorrow on 07/08/2020 at 11:00 hrs from Devlali. The train will be flagged off via video conferencing by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchyati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar and Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal. The event shall be attended by other dignitaries from Maharashtra. The train will run on weekly basis with initial composition of 10 +1 VPs. The train will reach Danapur at 18:45 hrs. on next day covering the journey of 1519 kms. in 31:45 hrs.

The train will provide seamless supply chain of Perishable produce. This train is a step towards realizing the goal of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022. Indian Railways aims to help double farmers’ income with the launch of Kisan Rail. This train will help in bringing perishable agricultural products like vegetables, fruits to the market in a short period of time. The train with frozen containers is expected to build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of fish, meat, and milk.

Over Central Railway, Bhusawal Division is primarily an Agro based division. Nasik and surrounding region produce huge quantity of fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers, other perishables, onions and other agro products. These perishables are mainly transported to areas around Patna, Prayagraj, Katni, Satna etc.

This train has been provided scheduled halts at Nasik Road, Manmad, Jalgaon, Bhusaval, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Itarsi, Jabalpur, Satna, Katni, Manikpur, Prayagraj Chheoki, Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Nagar and Buxar.

The chargeable rates for major pair of stations are as under:

Freight per Tonne:

Nasik Road/Devlali to Danapur

Rs 4001

US$ 56.75 

Manmad to Danapur

Rs 3849

 US$ 54.60

Jalgaon to Danapur

Rs 3513

 US$ 49.83

Bhusawal to Danapur

Rs 3459

 US$ 49.07

Burhanpur to Danapur

Rs 3323

 US$ 47.14

Khandwa to Danapur

Rs 3148

 US$ 44.65

Indian Railways have earlier run single commodity special trains like Banana Specials etc. But this will be the first ever multi commodity trains and will carry fruits like Pomegranate, Banana, Grapes etc and vegetables like Capsicum, Cauliflower, Drumsticks, Cabbage, Onion, Chillies etc. Aggressive marketing is being done with local farmers, loaders, APMC and individuals. Demand is being aggregated. It is expected that the train will be patronised well and will be a great help to the farmers, as freight of this train will be charged as per parcel tariff of normal train (P Scale). 

Record 24016 MT Fertiliser Production during July 2020 in FACT

 The Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT), a PSU under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers is on a Turnaround path, breaking records in Production and Sales during the year.

As per a Statement of FACT, company Achieved highest Monthly ‘Ammonium Sulphate’ production during July 2020 (24016 MT), surpassing previous best of 23811 MT in January 2020.

 FACT has been manufacturing two fertilizer products NP 20:20:0:13 (Factamfos) and Ammonium Sulphate, mainly for the South Indian market.

Company could optimize its fertilizer production by implementing suitable adaptations in its operation schedule, raw material planning, logistics and product despatch, for safe operation during COVID times.

Ministry of Agriculture funding start-ups under the innovation and agripreneurship component of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana in 2020-21

The Union Government accords very high priority to the agriculture sector. In order to contribute directly and indirectly to enhancing the income of farmers by providing opportunities to them and to provide employment to youth, start-ups are being encouraged. A component, Innovation and Agri-entrepreneurship Development programme has been launched under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana in order to promote innovation and agripreneurship by providing financial support and nurturing the incubation ecosystem. These start-ups are in various categories such as agro-processing, artificial intelligence, digital agriculture, farm mechanisation, waste to wealth, dairy, fisheries etc.

DAC&FW has selected 5 Knowledge Partners (KPs) as Centres of Excellence.  These are -

  • National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad,
  • National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM) Jaipur,
  • Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) Pusa, New Delhi,
  • University of Agriculture Science, Dharwad, Karnataka and
  • Assam Agriculture University, Jorhat, Assam

24 RKVY-RAFTAAR Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs) from across the country have also been appointed. 

The following are the components of this scheme:

  • Agripreneurship Orientation - 2 months duration with a monthly stipend of Rs 10,000 (US$ 141.86)/- per month.  Mentorship is provided on financial, technical, IP issues etc.
  • Seed Stage Funding of R-ABI Incubatees – Funding upto Rs 25 lakh (US$ 35,466.02) (85 per cent grant & 15 per cent contribution from the incubatee).
  • Idea/Pre-Seed Stage Funding of Agripreneurs – Funding up to Rs 5 lakh (US$ 7,093.20) (90 per cent grant and 10 per cent contribution from the incubatee).

The institutes issue calls for application for their programmes and based on a rigorous process of selection through various stages and a training of two months, the final list of start-ups that are to be funded through grants-in-aid are finalised. Training on technical, finance, intellectual property, statutory compliance issues etc. is provided. Mentoring of start-ups through monitoring of milestones and timelines is part of the programme.

Some start-ups that are being incubated offer the following solutions -

  • Activx Animal Health Technologies branded as Vetzz, is a network of Veterinary Doctors which provides immediate connect with customers i.e. animal owners via real time tele consultation and doorstep visits.
  • SNL Innovations -  InnoFarms provides fruit and vegetable pulp processed directly at the farm using an in-house developed Monoblock fruit processing platform (on-wheels) to convert fruits to pulp with shelf life of up to 1 year with complete traceability from farm to customer.
  • EF Polymer developed an Eco-Friendly Water Retention Polymer with an aim to solve the water scarcity crisis for farmers. This start-up made a super absorbent polymer designed to absorb water in the soil, retain it for a long time, and supply to the crops as required.
  • Among the start-ups that have been selected are several start-ups led by women such as A2P Energy Solution that uses AI to track waste biomass and then works with farmers to collect it. On one side it generates additional income for farmers and on the other side A2P converts the collected biomass into Next Gen biofuels like energy pellets, green coal, and bio oil.
  • Kyari Innovations is working on mitigating human wildlife conflict pan India and internationally. They have created an innovative product called ANIDERS- Animal Intrusion Detection and Repellent System. This device works like a mechanized scarecrow that can protect farmlands from animal intrusions.
  • Agsmartic Technologies, has a vision to improve crop yield by precise irrigation and disease management though a data driven approach by using AI, IoT and computer vision. Their product Croplytics® is a combination of hardware and software solution that integrates ground sensor data and satellite imagery to translate data into actionable information for creating a precise model for irrigation.

Apart from the above mentioned 6 start-ups, there are many more with innovative solutions to improve the farming eco system and augment farm household incomes.

In all, a total of 346 start-ups in the agriculture and allied sectors are being funded for a sum of Rs 3671.75 lakh (US$ 5.21 million) in this phase. This fund will be released in instalments. These start-ups were trained for two months at 29 agribusiness incubation centres (KPs and RABIs) spread across India. These start-ups will lead to employment to youth. Besides, they, directly and indirectly, will contribute to enhancing the income of farmers by providing opportunities to them.

For more details on Agri-entrepreneurship, RKVY website: https://rkvy.nic.in may be visited.

Thursday, August 6, 2020

BYJU's acquires code training app WhiteHat Jr for US$ 300 million

BYJU’s, an online education platform, has acquired Mumbai-based education technology (edtech) start-up WhiteHat Jr in an all-cash deal worth US$ 300 million. This marks BYJU’s entry into the fast-growing computer code training segment targeted at high school and college students.

It is company’s fifth and largest acquisition to date. Osmo, a maker of educational games, was last acquired by it for US$ 120 million in its first-ever purchase of a US company in January 2019.

WhiteHat Jr. is a coding platform that was founded in November 2018. It aims to provide students with computer coding skills and targets pupils from classes 9-12. It helps kids aged 6 to 14 years build commercial-ready games, animations, and apps online using the fundamentals of coding. The company offers four levels of courses including beginner, intermediate, advanced, and professional.

Recently, WhiteHat Jr had announced their plans to expand to other global markets like Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand and already has a presence in the US market since February 2020.

This acquisition will help BYJU’s expand its portfolio and increase the course offerings on the platform for school students in India. It has plans to make further investment into WhiteHat Jr’s technology platform, product innovation while expanding the teacher base to cater to demand from new markets, according to a company statement.

“Technology is at the centre of every human interaction today and we had set out to create a coding curriculum that was being delivered live and connected students and teachers like never before. Integration with a visionary company such as BYJU’S will help take this idea to new heights and help unleash the remarkable creative potential of kids at a global scale," Mr Karan Bajaj, founder, WhiteHat Jr.

“Empowering children with the right future skills has always been part of our vision at BYJU’S and coding fits well into this. WhiteHat Jr’s coding product capabilities, combined with our pedagogy, expertise and scale, will help expand our learning offerings for school students," added Mr Byju Raveendran, chief executive, BYJU’s.

Goa joins MyGov Citizen Engagement Platform; 12 states had already launched their MyGov Platforms

Dr Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister of Goa, launched the MyGov Goa portal, on 4th August 2020 in an online event making Goa join the MyGov Citizen Engagement Platform for enabling participative governance. “MyGov Goa portal will go a long way in strengthening public participation in the governance process and allow the state to connect to nationwide audience allowing citizens to participate in different forums and give their view/inputs on government policies/schemes,” he said at the launch.

MyGov (mygov.in), the Government of India’s citizen engagement and crowdsourcing platform, aims to promote active citizen participation in governance and policymaking. Since its launch on 26th July 2014, MyGov has adopted multiple engagement methodologies like discussions, tasks, innovation challenges, polls, surveys, blogs, talks, quizzes and on-ground activities by innovatively using internet, mobile apps, IVRS, SMS and outbound dialling (OBD) technologies. MyGov user base has expanded to more than 1.25 crore and millions of citizens engage with MyGov on its social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter. MyGov has also recently launched its channels on new age Apps like Share chat and Roposo. MyGov’s Helpdesk on WhatsApp and Newsdesk on Telegram has greatly augmented Govts communications on COVID-19.

In order to engage with citizens at the State level, MyGov has enabled state instances to crowdsource ideas and creative content for state specific initiatives in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) mode. 12 states had already launched their MyGov platforms State Instance, namely, Maharashtra, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. With consistent efforts of MyGov Team and respective state government’s support, the initiative has been a great success and is able to efficiently achieve its objective.

Smt Jennifer Monserrate, Minister of Information Technology, Government of Goa, expressed her views on MyGov Goa and stated that MyGov Goa portal will encourage people of the state to share their thoughts, ideas and suggestions with the Government in areas related to various policies, programs, schemes etc.

Shri Abhishek Singh, CEO MyGov India, spoke about how MyGov had become a preferred platform for promoting active participation of citizens in Governance and development.

Citizens may enrol on www.goa.mygov.in and share opinions, ideas, and suggestions with the Government.

Equipment-free, a simple paper-strip based naked-eye fluoride ion detection and quantification kit in drinking water to evade Fluorosis-based disorders

Fluorosis is a crippling disease resulting from deposition of fluorides in the hard and soft tissues of body due to excess intake of fluoride through drinking water/food products/industrial pollutants over a long period. It results in dental fluorosis, skeletal fluorosis, and non-skeletal fluorosis. Easy detection of fluorides in water can help preventing the public health hazards.

Scientists from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, have developed an equipment-free fluoride ion detection and quantification in drinking water with the naked-eye. It can be operated by non-experts for household use to evade Fluorosis-based disorders.

The technology developed by Dr Jayamurugan Govindasamy and his team involves a push-pull chromophore based on 2,3-disubstituted 1,1,4,4-tetracyano-1,3-butadienes (TCBDs) that changes colour upon exposure to fluoride ion. The identified chromophore (C3-phenyl, C2-urea functionalized TCBD) is the result of a systematic study seeded by the Early Career Research (ECR) Award and further supported by the Ramanujan Fellowship grant of DST received by Dr Govindasamy. The results were recently published in the Journal of Organic Chemistry. The researchers designed urea as an unusual donating moiety instead of traditional donor moieties, such as amines, to obtain better optoelectronic properties. The charge-transfer (CT) property that arises through-bond in aniline donor is usually quenched due to photoinduced electron transfer (PET) mechanism. Whereas upon introducing urea as an electron donor, the CT exhibited both spaces as well as through bond due to “Field-effect”. Thus, partial overcoming of PET process, which led to white light emission.

Later, they extended its applicability in sensing of biologically relevant fluoride, as it is well known that fluoride can bind with urea via H-bonding interaction. Thus, the combination of the push-pull chromophore with urea turned out to be an ideal system for the same. The INST scientists have optimized the synthesis of this chromophore in the laboratory scale

Furthermore, the design and synthesis can be slightly modulated to increase the sensitivity from 3 ppm to less than 1 ppm. Currently, the INST team is working in this direction. The major cost involves only the synthesis of the chromophore, making it affordable and accessible.

Currently available, commercial kits for F– detection need analytical methods, mainly spectrometers (mobile or static). Some colorimetric detection kits are available, but they have some handling issues like work only with pH<1 (use of HCl), etc. The kit developed by the INST scientists’ scores above these in its ease of usage.

Although a vast number of reports are available for chromogenic and chromo-fluorogenic receptors in solution, only a limited number of reports which studied solid-phase detection. However, all those receptors suffer some drawbacks such as they generally exhibit color change only in organic medium and inorganic fluoride source, competing for affinity towards other anions such as acetate and phosphate, with a relatively high minimum detection limit of 10–30 ppm, work only with concentrated HCl, use of metals, delayed response, etc. while some works only with UV-lamp and chemically treated paper.

The non-planar push-pull chromophores sense fluoride ion with the naked eye in both solutions- as well as solid-phases.

The invention has been protected by filing the patent (202011028595). This work was supported by DST-SERB through the Early Career Research Award and Ramanujan Fellowship to Dr Jayamurugan Govindasamy.

Several companies sell solution-based photometric as well as colorimetric sensor kit, including few Indian companies. However, there is no single product based on low-cost paper-strip available to bring down the cost of the kit as well as easy handling by layman.

Currently, one German company sells a paper-strip test kit for detection of HF with sensitivity of upto 20 ppm that too works only with hydrochloric acid (pH<1). This kit developed by INST can be used by non-expert, with high sensitivity up to 3 ppm in aqueous/DMSO 1:1 condition and with only DMSO upto 1 ppm and free of dangerous chemicals and equipment.