ICAR-NIRJAFT, Kolkata, January 4, 2016: 78th Foundation day of ICAR-National Institute of Research on Jute and Allied Fibre Technology and 5thDr. P.B. Sarkar Memorial lecture were organized on January 4, 2016 at NIRJAFT auditorium. The programme was presided over by Dr. B.C. Mitra, Ex Director, NIRJAFT and Ex-RAC Chairman. The programme started with the ICAR theme song followed by lightening of lamp to mark the inauguration of the programme. Dr. D. Nag, Director, NIRJAFT welcomed all the delegates, Ex-NIRJAFT employees and staffs of the institute who attended the programme. Dr. Nag during his welcome address described in detail about the institute’s achievements and events for the last one year. Then a small video show regarding felicitation of Dr. S.B. Bandyopadhyay, Ex-Director, NIRJAFT on his 100th birth anniversary held on December 13, 2015 was presented before the audience which was enjoyed by all. Dr. B.C. Mitra during his presidential address briefly described the achievements of the institute for the last 78 years and under the leadership of different directors of NIRJAFT. Foundation day lecture was given by Dr. B.S. Bisht, Ex-Vice Chancellor of G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand and presently Director, Birla Institute of Applied Sciences, Bhimtal, Uttarakhand. He dealt with history and development of different natural fibres including cotton, jute and other lignocellulosic fibres. In his lecture he unearthed the potential and scope of utilization of natural fibres based on advance research and development. He expressed concern about present scientific strength of only 40% against cadre strength in the instituter. (Prof.) D. Chattopadhyay, Vice-Chancellor, Amity University, Kolkata and Ex-Pro-Vice Chancellor(Academic affairs), University of Calcutta presented 5thDr. P.B. Sarkar memorial lecture on the topic “Smart Materials and Chemical Industries”. In his presentation, he mainly described about application of nanotechnology in different industries particularly with reference to Fibre Technology. He told that nanotechnology can be applied in smart textiles, military apparels, functional finishing of textiles and several other application areas. He mentioned that during application of nano-chemicals, study of nano-toxicity should also be done so that the product is safe for use. He also mentioned that size of the nano-pesticides is the main factor for evaluation of nano-toxicity. Earlier, Dr. N. C. Pan Head, Chemical and Bio-chemical Processing Div. provided the life sketch of Late Dr. P. B. Sarkar who was the second Director of the institute and incidentally the first Director in independent India. The programme ended with a hearty vote of thanks to the dignitaries as well as the participants.

The XXVII Research Advisory Committee (RAC) Meeting was held during March 26-27, 2018 under the Chairmanship of Dr. B.C. Mal, Vice Chancellor, JIS University. Dr. S. N. Jha, ADG (PE), ICAR, Dr. K. K. Satapathy, Ex-Director, ICAR-NIRJAFT, Dr. D. Chakraborty, Ex-Professor, University of Calcutta, Prof. A. K. Agrawal, Professor, IIT Delhi, Sh. S. N. Lahoti, Group President (Works), The Empire Jute Co. Ltd., Kolkata, Dr. A.N. Roy, Director , ICAR-NIRJAFT, Dr. S. N. Chattopadhyay, Principal Scientist and Member Secretary, RAC were present in the meeting. Dr. A.N. Roy, Director, ICAR-NIRJAFT welcomed Chairman, all the RAC Members, panellists of the Brain Storming Session and the staffs of ICAR-NIRJAFT.

A brainstorming session on Market Prospects and Innovations of Natural Fibres under the Chairmanship of Dr. B.C. Mal was also conducted. The speakers in this occasion were Dr. D. K. Kundu, Head, Plant Production Department in lieu of Director ICAR-CRIJAF, Sh. B. Saha, Group General Manager (Planning & Development), Murlidhar Ratanlal Exports Ltd., Kolkata in lieu of Mr. S. Kajaria, Joint Managing Director, Ex-Prof. (Dr.) S C Ray, DJFT (Formally known as IJT), CU, Kolkata, Dr. D Sur, Ex Sr. Deputy Director, IJIRA, Mr. S. K. Chandra, Chief Executive (Works) and Director, Hooghly Infrastructure Ltd. Kolkata. All the RAC Members, all the scientist, SAO and FAO of ICAR-NIRJAFT were also participated in the discussion.. The Chairman mentioned that this institute is working in varied application areas not only for jute but for other natural fibres with the existing facility. Dr. S.N. Jha, ADG (PE) emphasised that project should have three components, basic research, product/ process/ machinery development and technology transfer. 

QRT report may be given top importance for formulation of new projects which should be industry-friendly and easily adaptable. The action taken report was presented by Dr S N Chattopadhyay, Member Secretary. The Progress Report, divisional activities and ongoing R&D projects were presented by respective Head of the Divisions. 

At the end, Dr. S. N. Chattopadhyay, Principal Scientist and Member Secretary, RAC expressed his sincere thanks to the Chairman and all the members for active and rewarding participation in the meeting.
 

Visit of IJMA Technical Committee Team to ICAR-NIRJAFT, May 19, 2018

Four members of IJMA Technical Committee led by Mr. S.K. Chandra, Chief Executive (Works), Hooghly Infrastructure Pvt. Limited. Hazinagar, have visited the institute on May 19, 2018. Dr. N.C. Pan, Director (Officiating) welcomed the delegates. Shri S.K. Chandra stressed to implement the grading of jute by implement the grading of jute by instrument for the effective utilization of quality jute for the high quality jute products with better remuneration to the farmers. Dr. G. Bose, Principal Scientist & Head, Mechanical Processing Division presented the glimpses of the institute i.e. services offered, technology developed by the institute, training offered, infrastructure & facilities available, R&D works carried as per market demand, IJMA Technical Committee Team has an interaction with the scientist in the area of jute industries’ requirement and they suggested to work in the following areas.

  1. Modernization of jute spinning machinery
  2. Substitute for the Jute Batching Oil (JBO)
  3. Implementation of jute grading
  4. To enhance the quality of jute root with suitable micro-organism
  5. Demonstration of accelerated jute retting

Dr. N.C. Pan is requested the IJMA Technical Committee team to give appreciation to the concerned scientists for their participation in the technology demonstration. He also requested to participate such interactive meet once in three months in order to exchange the potential technologies of institute to the industry.

 

 

 

Self Sponsor Training Programme on “Jute Hand/ Shopping Bags” organized at ICAR-NIRJAFT. 

ICAR-NIRJAFT, June 03, 2018: A self-sponsor training programme on “Jute Hand/ Shopping Bags” for two weeks from May 21 to June 02, 2018 have been organized at ICAR-NIRJAFT, 12 Regent Park, Kolkata- 700 040 for sustainability of entrepreneurship development and self-employment generation. In the training programme eighteen (18) persons were participated, among them 10 were female and 08 were male. In this training programme different types of Hand Bags, Shopping Bags, ladies purse, printed bags, water bottle bags, Laptop bags different types of Folders etc. were fabricated from jute fabric by the participants.

ICAR-NIRJAFT, Kolkata celebrated International Yoga Day on 21.06.2018

ICAR-NIRJAFT, Kolkata: International Yoga Day was celebrated at ICAR-National Institute of Research on Jute & Allied Fibre Technology, Kolkata on 21st June, 2018. To create awareness among staff members of the Institute, banners were displayed at prominent places viz. Institute gates and Hall for yoga demonstration.  Two yoga trainers (one gents and one ladies) from World Yoga Society, Kolkata were invited on this occasion. The participating staff members were trained by the yoga experts on different ASANs viz. Bhujangasan, Pabanmuktaasan, Salvasan, Uthhanpadasan, Gomukhasan and Padahastasan. Different Mudaras viz. Jalabandha mudra, Sahaj, agnisha & Pranyams viz.   Kapalbhati, Ujjai pranyam and Bhamri were also the highlighting features of the demonstration programme. On this occasion, participants were also learned about the different ways of meditation that can be helpful in creating a conducive and stress free working environment for better output in their professional endeavours.

 The event inspired the participants in making yoga as a part of their daily life and to harness its benefits in making life healthier and stress free.

List of Participants
Name of Institute No.of Scientists  No. of Farmers  No. of Students  No.of any other officials
 ICAR-NIRJAFT 22    20  15  50

 

ICAR-NIRJAFT, Kolkata: A 06-days training programme on “Manufacture of Jute Handicrafts” under Agri-Business Incubation (ABI) project, ICAR-NIRJAFT, Kolkata commenced on 2nd July, 2018 at KVK, Jagatsinghpur, Odisha.

Smt. Sujata Mohanty, Chairman, Panchayat Samiti, Tirtol, Jagatsinghpur graced the occasion as Chief Guest and spoken about the importance of jute-based handicrafts.

Shri Balaram Subudhi, Agronomist, DAO, Jgatsinghpur has graced the occasion as Guest of Honour and highlighted upon the market demand of jute products.

Dr. Biswaranjan Pattnaik, Senior Scientist & Head, KVK, Jagatsinghpur has elaborated upon the role of KVK in changing the economical and social life of the farmers.

Dr. Laxmikanta Nayak has briefed about the role of ABI Project, ICAR-NIRJAFT in inculcating the idea of entrepreneurship among the un-employed rural youth.

Twenty (20) trainees from Jagatsinghpur, Odisha associated with agro-based crafts work have participated in the programme.

Dr. Laxmikanta Nayak, Principal Scientist & Er. Tarun Kumar Kundu, Technical Assistant have coordinated the training programme.

 ICAR-NIRJAFT, Kolkata

A one-day workshop under Swachh Bharat mission was organized at ICAR-National Institute of Research on Jute & Allied Fibre Technology, Kolkata on 28.6.2018. The event was arranged for staff members of the institute to highlight he benefits of swachhata on all sphere of life.

Dr. Alok Nath Roy, Director briefed the audience about the positive impacts of swachhata both at an individual and societal level. He urged the staff members of the institute to act as catalyst in spreading this campaign for bringing remarkable changes in the society.

Dr. Rina Naiya, Nodal Officer, Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan presented, the activities carried out under “Swaccta Hi Sewa” initiative at the institute.

Dr. Tarit Roy Choudhury, Director, School of Environmental Study, Jadavpur University, Kolkata graced the occasion as Chief Guest. In his elaborative presentation, he has emphasized upon the benefits of clean environment and our responsibilities to keep it safe & green. Plastic waste disposal and arsenic contamination of drinking water were the topics of his presentation that created interest among the audience.

Dr. S.C. Saha, Senior Scientist offered hearty vote of thanks to the dignitaries on dais and the participants.


ICAR-NIRJAFT, Kolkata, July 11,2018: A 3-days National Level Training on “Production and retting technology of Jute/Mesta/Ramie/Sunnhemp including other related aspects” sponsored by National Food Security Mission (NFSM) - Commercial Crops  commenced on 11th July, 2018 at  ICAR-NIRJAFT, Kolkata. Twenty five trainees from different jute growing districts of West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh have participated in this programme.

 Dr. A.N. Roy, Director (Acting) welcomed the participants and briefed about the technologies developed at the Institute for better processing & value addition to jute and allied fibres.

Dr. S.K. Biswas, Ex-Directror, Directorate of Jute Development graced the occasion as chief guest and highlighted upon the production scenario of jute & allied fibres in India.

Shri Jintu Das, Deputy Director, Directorate of Jute Development graced the occasion as guest of honour and spoken about the importance of quality jute for getting better price in the market.

One-day Library workshop organized by ICAR-NIRJAFT, Kolkata, 08.08.2018:

One-day library workshop organized by ICAR-NIRJAFT, Kolkata on theme “Role of library as information tool in modern research” held on 08.08.2018 at 2-30 P. M. at Institute’s auditorium. Dr. N. C. Ghosh, Chief Librarian, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata graced the chair as a Chief Guest. He emphasized that such a workshop is highly valuable for users’ awareness as well as for librarians. Welcome Address given by Dr. N C. Pan, Director (Officiating), ICAR-NIRJAFT. He enlightens the theme of workshop and welcomes all the dignitaries, librarians of ICAR and other institutes.

            Dr. Sabuj Kumar Chaudhuri, Assistant Professor (Stage III) in the Department of Library & Information Science Calcutta University, Chaired the technical session. Dr. Rina Naiya, Library-In-Charge presented paper entitled “NIRJAFT library at a glance”. She discussed facilities available in the library, mentioned about CeRA (On-Line journals) and highlighted about institute repository etc.Mr. Rabi Sankar Giri, Asst. Librarian and In-Charge of Information Communication technology of Presidency University presented a paper entitled “Role of Library and Librarians in Modern Day Research". He highlighted that how can a librarian assist a researcher, mentioned about predatory journals and discussed regarding modern tools use in the field of research. Dr. N. C. Ghosh, Librarian, CSIR- Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, presented paper entitled "Effective Role and Value Addition by Libraries in R&D Activities". He discussed about “Plagiarism” and Plagiarism checker tool.

 

ICAR-NIRJAFT organised Skill Development Training

Training programmes on “Manufacture of Jute Handicrafts” under Agri-Business Incubation (ABI) project were organised by ICAR-National Institute of Research on Jute & Allied Fibre Technology, Kolkata in two batches during August 01-14, 2018 & August 27 – September 10, 2018. Certificates were distributed to the trainee participants in the valedictory function held on 11th September, 2018.

Shri Aroop Biswas, Honourable Minister (Public Works, Youth Services & Sports), Govt. of West Bengal graced the occasion as Chief Guest and  lauded the efforts made by ICAR-NIRJAFT in imparting skill development trainings & emphasized upon the need of diversification in jute sector.

Shri Tapan Dasgupta, Honorable Chairman, Borough-X & Councillor, Ward No. 95, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) graced the occasion as Guest of Honour and spoken about the importance of jute handicrafts in creating opportunities amongst un-employed youths.

 Dr. Alok Nath Roy, Director (Acting) briefed about the skill development programmes taken-up by the Institute and their role in developing entrepreneurship in jute sector.

 Thirty eight (38) lady trainees have received their certificates on successful completion of the training.

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