India, Germany urged to take up research on sustainability

December 07, 2010 12:36 am | Updated 12:38 am IST - CHENNAI:

M. S. Ananth, Director, IIT – Madras, Thomas Rachel, German Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research; M S Swaminathan, chairman, MSSRF; Hans Burkhardi Sauerteig, Consul-General, German Consulate, Chennai; Prof. Ernst M Schmachtenberg, Co-Chair, Advisory Board, IGCS and Max Huber, vice president, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) at the inaugural function of Indo-German Centre for Sustainability on IIT-M campus on Monday.  Photo: R. Ravindran

M. S. Ananth, Director, IIT – Madras, Thomas Rachel, German Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research; M S Swaminathan, chairman, MSSRF; Hans Burkhardi Sauerteig, Consul-General, German Consulate, Chennai; Prof. Ernst M Schmachtenberg, Co-Chair, Advisory Board, IGCS and Max Huber, vice president, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) at the inaugural function of Indo-German Centre for Sustainability on IIT-M campus on Monday. Photo: R. Ravindran

The foundation stone for the Indo-German Centre for Sustainability (IGCS) was laid on the IIT-Madras (IIT-M) campus on Monday.

Speaking after unveiling the stone, Thomas Rachel, German Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, said there was a drastic increase in demand for energy and the increase in greenhouse gases emission was causing concern. It was important for both India and Germany to take up research on sustainability.

Germany had planned to reduce greenhouse gases by 40 per cent in 2020 and 80 per cent in 2050. For this, the Federal Government had presented a new energy policy. The biodiversity challenges needed international help to take up research to find solutions, Mr. Rachel added.

Patent bank

A patent bank for sustainable development should be started, suggested agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan. Though a new set of green technology innovations had been introduced, most were covered under patents. The bank should buy the patented technologies and make them available for researchers, he said.

M.S. Ananth, Director, IIT-M, said the proposal to construct the centre was finalised in 2008 when the German Minister for Science and Technology visited IIT-M and announced ‘A new Passage to India' programme. Following this, the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, also promised to provide a matching grant for the Centre for Sustainability. “The Centre for Sustainability' will function with minimum administrative support and maximum research effort,” Dr. Ananth said.

Raffig Azzam, Coordinator, IGCS, said the Centre would take up a study of sustainable use of water, land, energy and waste. According to a study, in 2020 Asian countries would face severe water shortage.

This would result in desertification and contamination of groundwater. The Centre would launch an inter-disciplinary research, which would address these issues, he said.

The Centre would develop courses for both Indian and German students, which would be aimed at improving the level of science students in India, said Professor Max Huber, Vice-President, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The relationship between DAAD and India began 50 years ago, when the first DAAD centre was inaugurated in New Delhi, he added.

Premier institutions the world over should collaborate with each other to tackle the issue of climate change, threat to biodiversity and resource depletion, said Hans-Burkhardt Sauerteig, Consul General, German Consulate General, Chennai.

The building for the Centre would be ready in a year's time. The DAAD would contribute 3.7 million Euros per year to the centre for four years to take up research on water, land use, waste management, bio-diversity loss, climate change and related issues.

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