Think Tanks do more than just research. At CSTEP, it is the coming together of science and policy practitioners, modellers, and communicators with a single mandate: bringing forth scientific evidence to improve policy to tackle developmental challenges. In this series, we look at what happens behind the scenes at a technology-policy think tank, and how each link in the chain plays a crucial role.

Isostructural transitions in layered MX2

•Studied aerosol optical depth at urban and rural locations (2005–2018) in Indo-Gangetic Plains

•Observed positive trend of aerosol optical depth over both urban and rural areas

•Aerosol optical depth over a rural area is increasing at 0.50–0.67% per year.

•Modelling framework for a PV microgrid by incorporating battery degradation.

•Battery degradation rates for five climatic zones of India.

•Trade-off between cost and reliability due to system degradation.

The current COVID-19 pandemic is spooling out to be a calamity of unprecedented proportions, causing loss of lives and devastating economies globally. A disaster of this nature calls for well thought out Government interventions along with responsible individual behaviour to contain the damage. Across the globe, reckless and irresponsible behaviour of individuals has been responsible to a large extent for the exponential growth rate of the COVID-19 graph.

COVID-19 has rattled global industrial production by disrupting supply chains of raw materials and intermediates. Even in India, the outbreak has had an unprecedented impact on the manufacturing sector. This is forcing us to rethink our supply chain models—especially for the industries heavily dependent on imports. One such industry is lithium-ion battery (LIB), which is poised to play a vital role in the highly-electrified transport sector of the near future.

India is still struggling to come to grips with the devastating spin-offs of Covid-19, including the slump in economy. Like other sectors, the power sector too has taken a severe hit, with lowered electricity consumption due to semi-operation of industries. In fact, the dynamic trading price of electricity fell to a three-year low of 60p recently, an indicator of the drop in demand.

Bengaluru is today synonymous with traffic and air pollution. Among Indian cities, Bengaluru ranked third in overall emissions and energy consumption in a recent survey by CSE (Centre for Science and Environment). PM2.5 and PM10 emissions contribute to much of the air pollution in the city, and 60-70% of these emissions originate from vehicles and road dust.