How to identify the cow?

Farmers never had any problem in identifying their cattle, many were even give names like pet dogs. The problem is different with bureaucrats, bankers, insurance companies- to them all cows look the same. 

One the tourist attraction for foreigners in Delhi is sight of stray cattle and they do not miss an opportunity to take photo. Obviously governments think it is a bad publicity for the nation and regularly introduced schemes to control population of stray cattle on streets. Delhi government hired about 150 stray cows’ catchers who are supposed to bring 10 cows per day. These people know that of all the cows are removed they will eventually they will lose their job. Due to the corruption, these stray cattle often make their way back on street and are often caught multiple times.

Under PATSER we supported one project for tagging the cows with RFID, even after 15 years it is still a major issue- in 2019 under smart city project Ahmadabad had taken a project to insert RFID tags in 70 bovines per week.

Now comes Facial Recognition technology from startup Moofaram, Mantra.  Egyptian scientists have developed a computer-based technique to identify cattle using nose prints.

Independent innovator cheated - case from Sweden

Stefan Hultberg is a Swedish inventor who presented his idea about secure bank identification in 2007. It turned out that it was rather early for his idea, as the concepts of mobile apps and security did not yet go together. In 2010 Stefan made a new attempt. His idea was different, as it built mainly on software development, while the technologies banks were using at the time included sim-cards and sms communications. Stefan's company, Accumulate, started a pilot project together with the banks' jointly owned company, Finansiell id-teknik. Accumulate received some compensation for this pilot project but this was not even sufficient to cover the firm's own costs—they had no less than 15 patents registered for this solution. Stefan Hultberg suggested a licensing model which entailed that each user pay some sort of royalty fee for using the app. The banks did not agree. During this time, Accumulate had had meetings with the banks where details about how the solution worked had been revealed—including details about the source code under the protection of non-disclosure agreements. In autumn 2010 Finansiell id-teknik announced they were not interested in Accumulate's idea and that they would build their own system. Stefan Hultberg claims that this is an identical copy of the system suggested by Accumulate. In 2017 the Swedish Patent and Market Court accused Finansiell id-teknik of patent infringement. 

The lawsuit is on-going.

Modified 5G standard developed in India, adopted by ITU

TSDSI has successfully introduced an indigenously developed 5G candidate standard, based on 3GPP Technology, at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in 2019 for IMT 2020 ratification. The TSDSI-RIT incorporates India specific technology enhancements that can enable longer coverage for meeting the LMLC requirements. The TSDSI-RIT, geared mainly to address the LMLC requirements, exploits a new transmit waveform that increases cell range developed by research institutions in India (IIT Hyderabad, CEWiT and IIT Madras) and supported by several Indian companies.

(https://tsdsi.in/indias-5g-technology-tsdsi-rit-moves-another-step-forward-at-itu/

Historical milestones as narrated by Prof Kiran Kuchi,IITH:

 1. Meity funded CEWiT at IITM around 2005 (Bhaskar, Jhunjhunwala and Co.) I joined CEWIT in Jan 2008. Phase-1 of Indian crack at Standards Essential Patents (SEP) started with a 4G version of WiMax. Myself, Klutto and others at CEWIT developed first set of WiMax centric SEPs incorporated into IEEE 802.16m (4G version of WiMax) between 2008-11. WiMax did not take off and those efforts did not pay off at first.

2. 2011-2015 was a cool off period until TSDSI was born (Kumar first Chairman, Abhay Second and now Bhaskar 3rd Chairman of TSDSI). 5G NR standard development started at 3GPP 2016-18. Myself and Kultto made 30+ international trips  to push a waveform designed to have large coverage (now morphed into LMLC). It took 3-years to push this tech into 3GPP.

 3. 2018-20 LMLC (large cells + the waveform introduced by our team at 3GPP etc) concept introduced first at TSDSI SG1 then pushed through ITU by Prof. Ganti and team over 2-years, with support from TSDSI, DOT, IITs.

 4. Some 20 patents cover the essential aspects of this waveform that is now part of TSDSI ITU spec and also part of 3GPP rel-15,16/17.

 5. About 10-15 years from concept to standardization. Qualcomm and others have implemented this tech in 5G phones but Nokia and Ericsson had been adamant to include in the base station. I am sure with TSDSI spec approved at ITU. It will get into these networks as well. Another year to two before you see this on the field.

 6. I would like further add that Satish Jamadagni VP at Jio, vice chairman TSDSI, supported this effort by cosigning some 100 contributions at 3GPP, back channeling with MNCs several times. I must say that he convinced  Jio to  support this Indigenous effort. I worked very closely with him for about 4 years on this project...

PATENTING OF MICRO-ORGANISMS IN INDIA, HOME OF PIONEER Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty

Prior to 1980, Inventions pertaining to microorganisms and other biological entities were subject to product patents in India i.e patents were granted for processes and products obtained using microorganisms but no patents were given for microbes as such. Louis Pasteur received a U.S. Patent No 141072 for process of fermenting beer but no patent was given for the living entity “yeast” per say. However, in 1980, Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty developed a “genetically modified” bacterium capable of breaking down crude oil.  This property of degrading crude oil was not not found in the naturally occurring bacteria and thus this invention was thought to have significant value for cleaning up oil spills. With effect from 20.05.2003 India has started granted patents in respect of invention related to microorganisms.

When an invention involves a microorganism, completely describing said invention in the description to enable a third person put the invention into practice becomes difficult.  It would be virtually impossible to describe the microbial strain, its isolation, selection and modification to guarantee that the other person will obtain the same strain from the same environment. In such a situation, the microorganism itself will form an essential part of the disclosure and a sample of the microorganism must be deposited in a recognized institution for its availability to the public. The depositor should, in particular, ensure that the deposit is made in the name of the applicant for the patent and a sample of the microorganism is deposited to an International Depositary Authority before filing the patent application. There should be sufficient time for delays in the mail or customs formalities (if the sample is being sent by mail). If the sample is found to be non-viable by the International Depositary Authority (IDA), a replacement sample has to be provided by the applicant for the patent.

Two microbial culture collections have acquired status of IDA:

(a)    Microbial Type Culture Collection and Gene Bank (MTCC), Chandigarh, UT, India

(b)   Microbial Culture Collection (MCC), National Centre for Cell Sciences, Pune, Maharastara, India

MTCC chrages one time fee for such a deposit.

·        Non-Profit organizations: The depositor has to pay a one time fee of Rs.20,000/- PER CULTURE (Rs.15,000 deposit fee + Rs.5,000/- for making ampoules) + 18.00% GST.

·        Commercial organizations: The depositor has to pay a one time fee of Rs.25,000/- PER CULTURE (Rs.15,000 deposit fee + Rs.10,000/- for making ampoules)+ 18.00% GST.

Example: Patent Number 251658: a novel microorganism which is suitable for the production of hydrogen. This organism is a strain of Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum under the deposition number FERM BP-10793 or its variant.

The curious case of vanishing spray used in Football matches

Since the first use of vanishing spray in a Fifa World Cup match, the beautifully simplistic, potentially universal addition to the game has continued to feed into evermore leagues around the world. Pablo Silva, an Argentine entrepreneur and journalist patented it -US20120148741A1/. Allemagne was the first to start working on the problem in 2000. Both became partners in 9:15 Fair Play.  It took six years of lobbying by Allemagne and Silva, eventually resulting in the International Football Association Board, who oversee the game’s rules, approving the spray for widespread use, in March 2012. In 2013, the Club World Cup in Morocco would be the final testing ground for Fifa to grant the spray approval for the 2014 World Cup. 

As per reports financial rewards were nonexistent: “The sprays for the World Cup were given for free. Fifa only gave me two tickets for the final of the World Cup for retribution ... The inventors also charged FIFA with stealing their idea, not paying them but licensing imitations from several parts of the world...

Quoting from daily mail...Five months before the World Cup, Mr Allemagne and his Argentinian business partner Pablo Silva received a written proposal from Thierry Weil, FIFA's marketing director, offering to buy his invention for £380,000.

Mr Allemagne said: 'We didn't respond. The figure was far too low. Grandona, FIFA's finance chief, later had a conversation with Pablo in which he told him not to worry, that after the World Cup the spray would be much more, at least £30million.'...

Patents and Additive Manuafcturing

AM brings together different technologies, some of which have existed since the 1950s: computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), laser and electron energy beam technology, computer numerical control (CNC) machining and laser scanning. Applying these technologies to a variety of materials led to the start of a whole new industry at the end of the 1980s, generating a growing number of patent applications. The commercial use of AM emerged in 1987 with 3D Systems’ stereolithography (SLA), a process that solidifies thin layers of ultraviolet (UV) light-sensitive liquid polymer using a laser. The last 30 years have witnessed the growth of AM into a fully fledged industry.

 Initially, AM was almost exclusively used for producing prototypes, and it soon became well 

established in that field. It has since been deployed to make end-products, and this is where the sector reveals its strongest growth potential. AM can provide complex intermediate components and final products that in the past could only be made by hand or by several consecutive work steps. As almost any geometric form can be produced by AM, the technology is now used predominantly for small series of highly complex components. However, the shift from prototyping to end-product manufacturing requires further development in the sectors of hardware, e.g. printers and printing methods design and print software as well as materials used in printing.

Twenty-five companies accounted for about 30% of all AM patent applications filed with the EPO between 2000 and 2018. They include large companies from a range of sectors, including transportation, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, information technology, electronics, imaging and consumer goods, as well as pure 3D-printing specialists such as Stratasys, 3D Systems and EOS. The US and Europe dominate the ranking, with 11 US companies and eight European companies in the top 25 applicants. Of the top European applicants, five are German companies.

Download report.

Patents and COVID innovations

COVID Crisis unleashed creativity of Indian Researchers and Innovators like never before. Is India becoming an Innovation nation?  

Here, we look at basics of IPR and some of the COVID 19 innovations.

India announced draft guidelines for Drones

The Draft UAS Rules goes on to categorize UAS into the following:

1. Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (i.e. UAS piloted from a remote pilot station)
2. Model Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (i.e. UAS operating without payload and used for educational or experimental purposes only within visual line of sight)
3. Autonomous Unmanned Aircraft System (i.e. UAS that does not require pilot intervention in the management of the flight)

Copy of gazetted notification available.
Analysis read : http://www.nishithdesai.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Html/Hotline/200701_REGTECH_M_Future_of_drones_in_India_UAS_rules_2020.html

Blogging and Copyright law

Most bloggers wish to achieve great things with their blogs. However, it’s useful to know that fame (or notoriety) can leave you at the mercy of digital thieves looking to make a quick buck off of your hard work. Although you don’t need to be paranoid, it’s good to know which avenues for redress are available to you if someone does try to nab your stuff. Additionally, the golden rule applies when considering using someone else’s work on your blog; treat their work as you would have your own work treated.

Read the post from Natalie Mootz.

Vinod Khosla: Technology Benefiting Society

E-NNOVATE 2020 -Virtual Innovation fair

COVID 19 research at IITS

Consolidated information on all IITs available. The list includes

• personal protection care equipment
• testing kit
• sanitization
• medical equipment/ robots
• surveillance
• treatment
• data analysis/AI.

CDOT GPON Technology- developed, patented globally and transferred to industry- but not a success story

C-DOT's GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) technology offers an excellent mix of triple play services (voice, data & video) to end users. This is an indigenous development of C-DOT and offers advantages in terms of appropriateness for Indian environment, Innovation & local manufacturing. Current technology delivers a downstream data rate of 2.5 Gbps and an upstream data rate of 1.25 Gbps on a single fibre over a distance of up to 60 Kms. One optical fiber from OLT can be shared with up to 128 users. Signals from the OLT to the ONT are encrypted (secure) and then broadcasted to workstation devices. Signals from the workstation devices are then multiplexed back to the OLT.

In 2011, Indian Minister for Communications and IT Kapil Sibal,  transferred Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) Technology to seven telecom manufacturers in public and private sectors – Indian Telephone Industries Ltd. (ITI), Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), VMC Systems Ltd, United Telecoms Ltd. (UTL), Sai InfoSystem (India) and S M Creative Electronics Ltd . In addition, Technology transfer agreement has also been signed with Tejas Networks Limited for customized development and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL). US patent (Patent number: 10567075) for GIS based centralized fiber fault localization system was filed in 2016 and received in 2020.

Adoption of GPON in enterprise environment was studied by Stanislav Milanovic. Applied GPON based POLs in the enterprise environment enabled the convergence of voice, data and video onto a single strand of single mode fiber, which reduced the network infrastructure hardware to a fraction of what is required in terms of cabling and electronics in the conventional Ethernet approach. The solution not only enabled easier maintenance, but also improved efficiency with regard to end user-related, adds, moves and changes. Deployed GPON based POLs in the enterprise environment extended service to any stationary Ethernet end point. It enabled the delivery of reliable and highly secure unified network providing IP voice, data, and any type of video over a single fiber. It also increased the size of the network building block which greatly simplified enterprise network deployment, operation, and management. The solution supported energy conservation, since the optical LAN infrastructure utilized passive components like optical distribution hubs and fiber plant that required no power or cooling, resulting in significant energy savings. Implemented POLs provided immediate return on investment and a low total cost of ownership compared to copper-based LANs.

GPON Vs EPON

EPON and GPON have their own advantages and disadvantages. GPON is better than EPON from the performance index. However, EPON has the advantage of time and cost. GPON is catching up and looking forward to the future broadband access market. GPON will be more suitable for customers with high bandwidth, multi-service, QoS and security requirements and ATM technology as the backbone. For cost-sensitive, QoS, security, less demanding customer base, EPON has become dominant.

EPON began massive deployments in Japan and  South Korea. In 2005, China Telecom started EPON field trial in 4 provinces to learn how to deploy EPON. Interoperability is critical for the success and deployment of  EPON widely, so China Telecom started IOP research in 2005. In 2007 CTC achieved large scale and all‐round chip and system  EPON IOP the first time in the world (3 chip vendors, 10 system  vendors). For operators with 1G EPON-based deployments — particularly Korea Telecom, Japan‘s NTT DOCOMO access, China Telecom and China Unicom, 10G EPON is quickly becoming the next-generation technology of choice for providing both asymmetric and symmetric 10 Gbps services. 10G EPON equipment shipments and revenue continue to grow, driven currently by China Telecom, which is in the process of upgrading a portion of its first-generation 1G networks to provide more bandwidth to multi-dwelling units, or MDUs.

EPON technology matured with Chinese Telecom service providers active participation. What about Indian Scenario?

venture debt in India

Venture debt was introduced in India 15 years ago. However, it has gained traction in the last decade. In these years, the Indian debt market for startups has been dominated by the likes of funds such as Alteria capital, Innoven capital and Trifecta capital. These firms combined have deployed approximately $300 mn (INR 2,200 crores) in startups such as Bigbasket, Curefit, Ninjacart, Dunzo and Lendingcart to name a few. In the last 6 years itself, approximately $4 bn of debt has been deployed across 150+ deals in India.  

Read article on Venture Debt in Economic Times prime (subscription required).
Also covered by Invest India. More at kauffman. And a legal perspective from Illinois.

Will COVID change peoples behavior in India?- Nudge theory

There are comments that Indians will be better disciplined- follow Q, do not litter garbage etc after COVID19. 

Expectations are based on Nudge theory.

According to Thaler and Sunstein , a nudge is:

any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives. To count as a mere nudge, the intervention must be easy and cheap to avoid. Nudges are not mandates. Putting the fruit at eye level counts as a nudge. Banning junk food does not.

Richard Thaler bagging this year’s Economics Nobel for his work on behavioural economics has shone the spotlight on the ‘Nudge Theory.’ Thaler’s and Cass Sunstein’s 2008 book Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness has had a wide impact with some governments even setting up ‘nudge units’ in their countries.Humans, being not-so-rational, often need encouragement or intervention — a nudge — to get going and do what’s best for the country or society at large. The ‘Nudge Theory’ recognises this behavioural trait. It says that people, rather than being forced, can be encouraged and influenced to pursue or desist from certain actions through nudges. Nudges are not mandates. So, while there is encouragement, there is no compulsion to comply and people have the freedom to choose other options.

Applying nudges is that public policy makers might thus supplement – or, perhaps, even replace traditional regulation with nudges to influence people’s everyday choices and behaviors in cheaper, less invasive, and more effective ways. That is, nudging seems to offer policy makers an effective way to influence citizens’ behavior without further restricting freedom of choice, imposing mandatory obligations, or introducing new taxation, or tax reliefs.

Public policy examples of ‘Nudge’ at work include automatic enrollment of employees into pension schemes in the UK and the opt-out system for organ donation in Spain. By making the optimal choice the default option for all citizens, these nudges have helped improve public participation in these programes.

Government of India’s Measures to Boost Business, Improve EoDB & Welcome FDI During COVID-19

The spread of Covid-19 in India and its mitigation plan of 40 day nationwide lockdown from 25 March 2020 to 3 May 2020 and a possibility of further extension of lockdown by several State Governments, there is likely to be a significant impact across various sectors of the economy. To address these adverse times, the Government of India has been preparing strategies and action plans not only for business continuity and sectoral revival but also re-rolling the red carpet for global investors to continue to choose India as their preferred destination for investments. The Government of India continues to enhance international co-operation for promoting FDI and improve Ease of Doing Business in the country by releasing notifications / amendments / circulars highlighting measures to improve business environment in India. Below are some of the special measures by Central government, State governments and the sectoral ministries to welcome and boost businesses in India. 

Download report here.

Hand washing Compendium for Low Resource Settings: A Living Document

Frequent and proper handwashing with soap is one of the most important measures that can be used to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, along with physical distancing, avoiding touching one’s face (eyes, nose and mouth) and practicing good respiratory hygiene. Yet 40 per cent of households lack access to a facility with soap and water, of which 18 per cent have no facility whatsoever (WHO and UNICEF, 2020). 
 In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Sanitation Learning Hub at the Institute of Development Studies has rapidly developed the Handwashing Compendium for Low Resource Settings that can be used to support increased access to facilities and promote positive handwashing behaviours. 
 The compendium provides guidance on low-cost handwashing facilities that can be widely used in low and middle-income countries. We hope that this can be shared extensively as governments and agencies tackle the crisis in low and middle-income countries where handwashing facilities are urgently needed in households, communities, schools and healthcare facilities. 
 The compendium includes information and further reading on: • Handwashing facilities – including facilities that are accessible for all. • Environmental cues to reinforce handwashing behaviours. • Physical distancing hygiene promotion. 
 Download report.

Natures UV light to UV-C LED for COVID 19

Like electricity, ultraviolet light is as old as the universe. It just took someone to notice. In 1877, British Physiologist Arthur Downes and scientist Thomas P. Blunt noticed. They put solution-filled test tubes outside and discovered that sunlight could kill and inhibit the development of pathogenic bacteria.

Some 25 years later, the German Ophthalmologist Ernst Hertel built on this knowledge, determining that light in the UV-C wavelength, rather than UV-A or UV-B, is the most effective for killing microorganisms. Around the same time, the Danish Professor Niels Finsen won the Nobel Prize for Physiology in recognition of his work in treating lupus vulgaris bacteria on human skin with concentrated light (See image). In the 1930s and 1940s, William F. Wells, a Harvard University sanitary engineer, made a significant stride in the knowledge and application of UV-C light for disinfection by proving its effectiveness in killing airborne microorganisms. It was Wells who discovered that bacteria and viruses can be transmitted to people through the air they breathe.

UV has been proven effective against a broad spectrum of microorganisms. Viruses contain RNA or DNA and are thus susceptible to irradiation. Bacteria and fungi both contain DNA and are similarly vulnerable to UV light. Spores are also susceptible to UV. With the longstanding use of UV for disinfection, there is a plethora of information regarding dosages necessary to inactivate different microorganisms. Bacteria are generally easier to inactivate than viruses, with fungi and spores being even harder to inactivate with UV.  (Read the paper)

ARI researchers develop `Bug Sniffer'

Researchers at the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science &Technology, Govt. of India, have developed a sensitive and low-cost sensor to rapidly detect bacteria.  The portable device can detect as low as ten bacterial cells from a sample size of one milliliter in just 30 minutes. At present, they are working on a method for simultaneous separation and detection of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium.  Lead researcher Dr Dhananjay Bodas and his team from ARI call it the ‘bug sniffer,’ which is a biosensor that uses synthetic peptides, magnetic nanoparticles, and quantum dots to detect the presence of bacteria, providing a cost- and time-effective way of screening water and foodborne pathogens. The researchers also developed a chip comprising of microchannels made from copper wires and poly (dimethylsiloxane) The conventional techniques available for pathogen detection are less sensitive and cannot detect low cell numbers, besides being time-consuming and laborious whereas the ARI device, can detect pathogens with a limit of detection of 10 cells per 1 mL within 30 minutes.

Hot air sealing machine for PPE

There are reports that India's efforts to make PPEs in large quantity are hampered by absence of locally produced Hot Air Sealing machines. In this article, Prabir Jana, Professor, NIFT Delhi (India) with inputs from UNIK Technologyz (India) and Tukatech, Inc. (USA) demystify the making of body coverall on an industrial scale.

Hydrogen on Demand -long road to technology commercialisation.

In 1967, while working as a researcher at IBM, Woodall discovered that liquid alloys of aluminum and gallium spontaneously produce hydrogen if mixed with water. The research, which focused on developing new semiconductors for computers and electronics, led to advances in optical-fiber communications and light-emitting diodes, making them practical for everything from DVD players to television remote controls and new types of lighting displays. That work also led to development of advanced transistors for cell phones and components in solar cells powering space modules like those used on the Mars rover, earning Woodall the 2001 National Medal of Technology from President George W. Bush. Also while at IBM, Woodall and research engineer Jerome Cuomo were issued a U.S. patent in 1982 for a "solid state, renewable energy supply." The patent described their discovery that when aluminum is dissolved in liquid gallium just above room temperature, the liquid alloy readily reacts with water to form hydrogen, alumina and heat.
Woodall moved to Purdue university and continued to work on the aluminium alloy. His team succeeded in developing technology that produces hydrogen by adding water to an alloy of aluminum and gallium. When water is added to the alloy, the aluminum splits water by attracting oxygen, liberating hydrogen in the process. The Purdue researchers are developing a method to create particles of the alloy that could be placed in a tank to react with water and produce hydrogen on demand. The Purdue Research Foundation holds title to the primary patent, which has been filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is pending. An Indiana startup company, AlGalCo LLC., has received a license in 2007 for the exclusive right to commercialize the process.
AlGalCo founder and president  Kurt Koehler is a businessman, not a chemist. He graduated with a degree in marketing and management from IU and went on to earn a Master's in European History. As luck would have it, an encounter with Purdue representatives at the Indiana State Fair piqued his interest and ultimately led him to Purdue professor Jerry Woodall, who had developed the aluminum alloy technology. After 14 years of beta testing product is rolled out for Carmel's city fleet. 

THE LONG ROAD TO TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION- CASE OF FUEL CELLS FOR TRUCK

Geoffrey Ballard, CM, OBC (16 October 1932 – 2 August 2008) was a Canadian geophysicist and businessman. One of the studies he had been involved in at the U.S. Federal Energy Conservation Research office was on electric cars powered by conventional lead-acid batteries. Ballard had  met Ralph Schwartz in Arizona, who introduced him to the idea of using lithium batteries in place of lead-acid, as they would be much lighter. However, at the time, lithium batteries were not able to be recharged. Schwartz convinced Ballard that they should study the problem, and Ballard cashed in his pension to buy a portion of their new joint venture, American Energizer. Schwartz and Ballard were introduced to Keith Prater at the University of Texas chemistry department, and sold him on the idea of developing a new rechargeable lithium battery technology with them. Prater was able to quickly determine that no one knew what the product of the lithium-salt reactions in existing batteries were, and guessed that it was lithium dithionite, which he was able to synthesize. Working in a trailer, Ballard and Schwartz built a simple battery and Prater brought a sample of the lithium dithionite, and when they were placed together and charged, a weak current was produced. After further development the system was able to be recharged about a dozen times. Ballard had always wanted to return to Canada, so Schwartz sold his interest in the battery technology to Ballard for $1, while Ballard sold his interest in Schwartz's latest venture, a mechanical anti-lock braking system for the same $1. In 1979 Ballard moved to Vancouver and became president and CEO of Ultra Energy.

In 1983, Ballard, Prater and Paul Howard started looking for new ideas for their development side to work on as the funds for the battery project dried up. Among a variety of ideas were a number of attempts to find government funding, which eventually led them to a Department of National Defense (DND) request for proposals for bids to produce a low-cost solid polymer fuel cell. Now known as PEM's, these cells had only been used commercially in Project Gemini and a few other space probes, and General Electric gave up on the technology when NASA moved onto other fuel cell designs for Project Apollo and the Space Shuttle. Although a number of attempts had been made to lower the high cost of PEM cells since then, none had been commercially successful. They won the $500,000 contract, which called for them to provide three prototype cells that produced between 50 and 150 watts and be ready in 28 months. After meeting the requirements, they won a follow-up contract, and it was during this project, in 1986, when they reached a milestone of producing four times as much energy per unit volume as any previous fuel cell.

Feeling the technology was ready for commercial use, in 1989 Ballard raised $4 million in public money from the British Columbia government to build a fuel cell powered bus, introducing it at Science World in 1993. He took the bus to energy fairs around the world, and Daimler-Chrysler and Ford invested $750 million to buy a one-third stake in the newly public Ballard Power Systems. Ballard told Time in 1999 that the fuel-cell cars should become economical by 2010.

Dr. Sean MacKinnon was Senior Research Scientist at Ballard Power Systems , where he drafted, negotiated and managed a High Temperature PEM research project funded through Natural Resources Canada, in collaboration with NRC-IFCI. Later he worked at General Motors Fuel cell Research lab as Principle Investigator and program manager for collabative membrane development programs with strategic partners. He continued work at National Research Council of Canada and developed proton exchange membranes for automotive polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. Dr Deve Ghosh was Director R&D at NRC Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation in Vancouver, BC, development of Low cost durable PEMFC Pt alloy catalyst on non-carbon support ( $10M 3 year project with Ballard & AFCC) was one of major R&D project.

Mr. David Leger, has been working on the technology with inventor and engineer Mr. Greg Montie B.Eng for over a decade. Greg was a Director on the board for PowerDisc Technology, and has performed lead technical roles at Cummins Westport natural gas engines, dPoint energy recovery systems, and PowerDisc hydrogen fuel cells. During this time, he had invented and filed 10 patents resulting in a number of commercial successes. Invented and developed the patented the eFlow hydrogen fuel cell. Specifically, eFlow is an exponentially delineating hydrogen fuel cell, and is currently considered to have one of the highest specific power outputs and the only substantial fuel cell to claim uniform current density.

In 2005 Inventors Greg Montie, Rodney Bruce Redlich and David Earl Leger  filed patent for Fuel cell cathode flow field  ,Patent number: 7838169  assigned to Power Disc Development Corporation. A fuel cell cathode flow field has multiple channels each with a cross-sectional area that varies along the length of the channel such that oxygen availability at every lengthwise position along the channel is kept substantially constant for a given channel length and air stoichiometry ratio. Each channel comprises a flat floor with substantially constant depth and a pair of side walls extending upwardly from the floor; the side walls each taper inwards from channel inlet to outlet with a convex curve relative to the channel centreline. Achieving substantially uniform oxygen availability throughout the flow field results in substantially uniform current density throughout the flow field, which is desirable for efficient fuel cell operation and improved performance.

PowerDisc Development Corporation is a fuel cell company based in Vancouver BC with David Leger co- inventor of eFlow Fuel Technology was CEO and President and Dr Sean MacKinnon is Chief Scientist. PowerDisc has also been selected as a participant in the Canadian Technology Accelerator Program (CTA). Sponsored by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, and administered by the consular trade commissioner in Colorado, the CTA program is focused on assisting Canadian technology companies to enter the United States marketplace while providing  them with improved access to funding, customers and networks of expertise.

PowerDisc is later renamed as Loop Energy Inc in 2016  to  mark the introduction of the company's zero­emission powertrain for heavy­duty transportation. Cummins is a strategic partner and Loop will supply Cummins with its 30-kilowatt (kW) and 50-kW FC-REX range-extender systems for use in Class 6-8 demonstration trucks. Loop has several demonstration programs underway. One involves retrofitting two Class 8 Peterbilt 579 long-haul trucks with fuel-cell/battery-electric drive system integrator TransPower. Those trucks will haul up to 80,000 pounds of freight throughout the San Diego and Los Angeles regions later this year.  In 2019 company has established a joint venture and non-exclusive license agreement with IN-Power, a leading power electronics supplier to the transport sector in China. In April 2020 Loop Energy, received a purchase order from a leading bus manufacturer in China to support the Nanjing municipal government's objective of replacing its existing 7000-unit battery-electric bus fleet with an improved battery-hydrogen hybrid alternative.

During this journey the firm received several grants in Canada. It was awarded a $7.5 million grant from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to accelerate deployment of the company's new zero-emission powertrain for heavy-duty trucks. Funding under Western Innovation  (WINN) Initiative contributed to commercialize and scale fuel cell range extender for heavy-duty Class 8 trucks and buses beginning in 2018.

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Ambu bag Ventilator gets new life with COVID 19

Many innovators in India are working on this Ambu Bag deign with improvements as an alternate to expensive ventilator. Brief history of this product.

The original bag-valve-mask concept was developed in 1953 by the German doctor Holger Hesse and his partner Danish anesthetist Henning Ruben, following their initial work on a suction pump. Their resuscitator, named “Ambu” (Artificial Manual Breathing Unit), was manufactured and marketed in 1956 by their company.

The Danish manufacturer, Testa Laboratory made the first commercially produced Ambu bags in 1957. The company later changed its name to Ambu International. Many other companies now also make self-inflating “bag and mask” resuscitators, like the one shown here. These have become standard equipment in ambulances, hospital emergency rooms, and patient rooms.

A dozen ventilator prototypes at different stages have been developed in March 2020 alone by teams in different countries – and organising on Slack channels, Facebook groups, and GitHub repositories.Some of the most basic open-source ventilator models are based on an ‘ambu-bag’.

A word of caution:

The results of this review, however, found that the tested and peer-reviewed ventilator systems lacked complete documentation and that the current open systems that were documented were either at the very early stages of design or had undergone only early and rudimentary testing. With the considerably larger motivation of an ongoing pandemic, it is assumed these projects will garner greater attention and resources to make significant progress to reach a functional and easily replicated open source ventilator system. There is a large amount of technical future work needed to move open source ventilators up to the level considered adequate for scientific-grade equipment and further work still to reach medical-grade hardware. Future work is needed to achieve the potential of this approach not only on the technical side, but also by developing policies, updating regulations and securing funding mechanisms for the development and testing of open source ventilators for both the current COVID19 pandemic, as well as for future pandemics and for everyday use in low-resource settings.

WHO specifications-Products for Surveillance, Prevention & COVID 19

Download specifications:
WHO REFERENCE NUMBER: WHO/2019-nCoV/DCPv3/2020.4

Guide to local production of WHO-recommended Handrub Formulations

Part A is intended to guide a local producer in the actual preparation of the formulation.

Part B contains important safety and cost information and incorporates information from the WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care (2009).

- Access the publication

Expression of Interest (EOI) for Co Developing and manufacturing Devices for COVID-19 Pandemic

Many technologies on offer from SCTIMST: https://www.sctimst.ac.in/COVID-19/

SCTIMST invites manufacturers/start ups/social groups who are interested in working with Institute to co-develop and manufacture medical devices on a fast track mode to support the distressing situation the epidemic COVID 19 has created. Please join us for development and manufacture of devices such as :

• Ambu bag based Ventilator
• Ventilator Sharing Kit
• Battery Operated Assistive Breathing Unit
• Isolation Pods
• Disposable Safety Face Shield
• Deployable Field Units

For further details, please contact Technology Business Division : tbd@sctimst.ac.in
Call us : Mr S. Balram (9249402311)/ Ms Sandhya C.G (9895098086)
License to WIPRO 3D is in news.

Working around strong patents - 3M vs Venus

In the year 2013, 3M successfully blocked Venus Safety & Helath private lts from manufacturing a product infringing its patent on  “Flat Fold Personal Respiratory Protection Device'. (ref: https://indiankanoon.org/doc/194174010/)
Venus has been in this field long enough to learn to work around the patent. Today is is one of India's largest manufacturer of masks.

Auditing the Auditor

In today’s world where corporate scandals often make front page news, fraud prevention and detection are becoming a priority for management and decision-makers. Typically, a large majority of midsize to large organisations consider their internal and external auditors as the pivotal tool for uncovering fraud and taking preventive measures to minimise the risk of loss incurred due to a fraud. However, this doesn’t imply that independent auditors often identify fraud, in fact, the opposite is true in many cases. ACFE’s Report to the Nations points out the fact that auditors rarely find fraud – internal audit detects fraud 15% of the time, while external audit merely 4%.

A consultation paper to examine the existing provisions of law and make suitable amendments therein to enhance audit independence and accountability has been placed on the Ministry’s website at www.mca.gov.in. The paper states:
Broadly, the auditor’s financial or other interest in client’s business inappropriately influence his judgement or behaviour and a conflict of interest always exists, which may result in the auditor turning a blind eye to potential risk or at the extreme ignore an impending/occurred fraud. 2.1 There is self-interest threat due to reliance of auditor on the fee from the client. This is manifested in various ways and results in various negative consequences.
 Economic Times dealt on response of big 4 audit firms- Thermometers cannot prevent heart attacks.

Read the worst 10 accounting frauds-https://www.accounting-degree.org/scandals/

Central Electronics Ltd (CEL) on sale.

CEL is for sale.

PRELIMINARY INFORMATION MEMORANDUM (PIM) AND INVITATION OF EXPRESSION OFINTEREST (EOI) FOR  PROPOSED STRATEGIC DISINVESTMENT OF 100% SHAREHOLDING  OF  CENTRAL ELECTRONICS LIMITED (CEL) HELD BY  THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA  THROUGH  DEPARTMENT OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH (DSIR),  MINISTRY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (With transfer of management control) is placed on web. Last date 16-3-2020.

CEL is pioneer in the country in the field of Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) with the distinction of having developed India’s first Solar cell in 1977 and first Solar panel in 1978 as well as commissioning India’s first solar plant in 1992. More recently, it has developed and manufactured the first crystalline flexible solar panel specially for use on the passenger train roofs in 2015. Its solar products have been qualified to International Standards IEC 61215/61730. CEL developed India’s first indigenous axle-counter in 1980’s in collaboration with IIT Delhi and Railway Design and Standards Organizations (RDSO) and has subsequently developed digital axle counters. Currently the range of RDSO approved products for railway sector includes Universal Axle Counter, Single Section Digital Axle Counter – 710P, High Availability Single Section Digital Axle Counter-720P, and Multi-Section Digital Axle Counter -730. CEL is the Pioneer in manufacturing of different types of PZT elements, in India, since 1976. CEL manufactures various grade of Piezo-ceramics elements for low power as well as high power application including PZT-5A, PZT-5H, PZT-5J for low power applications and PZT-4, PZT-8 for high power applications. DEPARTMENT OF SCIENTIFIC & INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH14 PIM FORDISINVESTMENT OF 100% EQUITY SHAREHOLDING OF CELCEL is one of the very few companies, worldwide, that have pioneered the production of the ferrite phase shifters for C- and X- bands developed in collaboration with DRDO. CEL is the only manufacturer of phase shifters in the country and has developed various production facilities for meeting the bulk demand of the phase shifters.

As on 31st March 2019, CEL’s paid up capital is Rs. 69.22 crores and Net Worth is Rs. 75.99 crores. Land asset is 2,41,614 Square yards industrial   Area, Sahibabad   Ghaziabad-201010 (UP). Tangible Assets are valued at 34Crore and revenue 240 crores. CEL has a state of the art module manufacturing line having installed capacity of 38MW (10MW in manual line and 28 MW in automated line) and is known for its high quality modules. CEL is manufacturer of some of the oldest functioning modules in the country. Solar Photovoltaic Modules are manufactured using Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells.

Liabilities including commitments are around 100 crores.

FDI in R&D in India-Reji K. Joseph, Biswajit Dhar & Akoijam Amitkumar Singh

How much foreign direct investment is taking place in R&D in India? 
MNCs using Indian talent for research but innovation comes out of development in other countries!!!
Is DSIR recognition relevant?

Interesting aspects highlighed in this paper.
1.RDFDI inflows into India during the period of analysis (2004-16)  was Rs. 54862.6 Mn. This constitutes 0.4 per cent of total FDI inflows into India.
2. RDFDI was concentrated in four sectors—ICT, natural sciences and engineering (NSE), pharmaceuticals and clinical research, which accounted for more than 80 per cent of total RDFDI.
3. Only one‐fourth of RDFDI has come to DSIR recognised firms. None of the firms in the ICT sector, which received the maximum RDFDI inflows, has DSIR recognised in‐house R&D units.
4.The share of FDI companies in corporate sector R&D is only 3 per cent.
5. Data collected from USPTO on number of patents granted in which India is an inventor country and assignee country shows that there is a growing trend of companies based in foreign countries taking patent on the outputs of R&D conducted in India. Since 2002, there has been a steady decline in the share of India based inventions receiving India as the assignee country status. Of late, only 15 per cent of the patents granted by USPTO in which India is mentioned as an inventor country, having India as the assignee country; this share was 58 per cent in 2002. 

Regulations that impact innovations

Public policy and private demand for innovations.

How nations leverage state procurement to promote local innovations

The fine art of supporting pre-commercial Reserach

https://www.slideshare.net/indiainvents/promoting-innovations-with-state-procurement-of-rd?fbclid=IwAR13zmvvfJJoWpYDcnoa056GzrczHPbiTKKJZsWb7l20fjYSEWWYFlflFIw

WTO does not allow state subsidy in R&D but every nation is spending more on R&D

100 Best Innovations 2019- nominations invited

Innovations in mining not related to production from mining

This WIPO working paper explored the recent boom in mining innovation.
Australia, Canada, China, Europe and the United States of America concentrate the largest share of global innovation measured as mining R&D expenditures, exploration expenditures or mining technologies in patent data.
Our analysis showed how mining innovation spurs along the mining production lifecycle and value chain. In particular, recent mining innovation focused in exploration and refining technologies. However, some subsectors have contributed more to the recent mining innovation uptick more than others. In particular, there has been a decrease of the from refining technologies share in favor of those from exploration and transport technologies. We interpret these results as a direct consequence of the demand surge of mineral products in the same period. We also observe an increase of automation innovation in the mining sector. These trends are not new for the industry, which observed an increase in the 1990s and early 2000s. Nonetheless, we now observe a remarkable automation uptick.
 The distribution of economies contributing to mining technologies does not corresponds with the typical mining producing ones. Only China and the United States of America lead both in mining output and innovation. Australia, Canada and Norway also offer a relatively balanced mining output and innovation. Other typical mining economies struggle to be present in the innovation spotlight. The Russian Federation, Brazil and Chile are probably the best among these, while the other ones generate very limited innovation outcomes.
 Indeed, mining innovation is more likely to spur in functioning innovation systems not necessarily based on mining operation countries. Many developed economies not particularly relevant in mining production contribute in a great extent to the global mining innovation. Japan, the Republic of Korea and many European economies are the top ones among these.
 Traditionally mining producing and specialized economies such as Chile, South Africa and the Russian Federation have all diminished their mining innovation specialization. Conversely, Australia, Canada, the United States of America and Brazil have increased their mining relative specialization, which also means the contributed more to the global mining innovation intensity surge. Most of the increase in the exploration subsector is coming from the increase in specialization. Australia, Chile and the Republic of Korea increased their relative specialization in this subsector and are probably among the largest contributors to the exploration booming relatively to the other sectors. On mining transport, Chile and Australia were the only country improving their mining transport specialization.
The US, Canada and Australia, are more specialized in automation compared to lower-middle income and uppermiddle income nations. The selected economies are fairly weak in environment specialization. Only Chile, the Republic of Korea and the United States of America show a positive RSI for environmental technologies. 

SEPs in connected cars, connected homes.

SEPs (Standard Essential Patents) till now familiar in telecom like 5G now enter homes and automobiles.
 Patented essential wireless technology will transform an automobile into a connected car, a meter into a smart meter, a house into a smart home – the product of today into that of tomorrow.
Avanci a patent pool firm offering SEPs for connected cars, connected homes, connected meters. Kasim Alfalahi is the Founder and CEO of Avanci. In his previous role as Chief Intellectual Property Officer for Ericsson, Kasim led the company’s licensing and patent development worldwide – an industry-leading practice he built over 20 years. During this time, he and his team established the concept of patents as marketable business assets, transforming Ericsson from a net-payer to a net-receiver of royalty income. Under his direction, patent licensing became fundamental to Ericsson’s global success – bringing in $1.7 billion in revenue in 2015.

IIIF2019-Report

 The three day event was held in 10,000 sq.ft exhibition hall of NSIC located in Kushaiguda industrial area and attended by about 5,000 visitors who spent on the average 2hrs in the fair. Innovators from 25 countries, India, China, Macao, Philippines, Malaysia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, Turkey, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Portugal, Germany, Poland, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, France, Romania, Moldova, Canada, USA and Brazil  displayed their innovations. NOSTC selected 35 student innovators for this international fair from out of 100 finalists at National competition. They came from different parts of the country, Gujarat, Nagaland, J&K, Bihar, Delhi, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

The fair was inaugurated on 1^st December by President of Indian Innovators Association, Dr ASRao, Dr Zengpei Xuan China, Edyta Wołczyk  Poland, YS Rajan Head of International Jury and Jayesh Ranjan IAS, Principal Secretary to Government of Telangana, Industries & Commerce (I&C) Department, & Information Technology, Electronics and Communications (ITE&C) Department. After honouring jury and release of book `Creating Demand for Local Innovations’ Jayesh Ranjan talked briefly about initiatives of Telangana state in creating dynamic, vibrant environment for innovators & investors.

Simply Science organised Science Quiz, Indian innovator Mohan Sarma signed MOU with Zimbabwe/ South Africa for technology transfer and VNRVJIET signed research partnership agreement with Gram Bazaar. Several leads on business / research partnerships/ patenting support were also received. Dr Zengpei visited and addressed student of VNRVJIET on Chinese Innovation System. Mr Winfried visited and addressed youth at CCMB on science and youth. Market exploration visits arranged for visitors under Start-Up exchange program.

Mr Iftekhar Pathan, Serial investor was chief guest at the awards function on 3^rd Day. Awards given by NSIC officials and IFIA members from China, Iraq, Poland and Portugal. Dr ASRao gave special awards for best exhibitor (Zen technologies), best incubator (IITK SIIC FIRST),Innovation Champion( Ms Annie Vijaya, Program Manager , TSIC ), best entrepreneur (Ram Kumar Verma, Native Araku Coffee), Rural income enhancement award (Jagarlamudi Durga Prasad) and IYIIA 2019 award to Mrs Kanak Lata, a dedicated agriculture scientist. Dr Nikhil Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, Foundation for Innovation & Research in Science & Technology (FIRST) invited IIA to organise IIIF2010 at IIT, Kanpur, 27-28th ^November 2020.