INDIA: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announces new environmental development funding for India

Record ID: 1374680

  • Title: INDIA: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announces new environmental development funding for India
  • Date: 13th November 2009
  • Summary: NEW DELHI, INDIA (NOVEMBER 12, 2009) (ANI) EXTERIOR OF INDIA GATE, ONE OF THE LARGEST WAR MEMORIALS IN INDIA AMAR JAWAN JYOTI (FLAME OF THE IMMORTAL WARRIOR) AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER KEVIN RUDD AND HIS WIFE, THERESE REIN, WALKING TOWARDS THE FLAME VARIOUS OF RUDD AND REIN LAYING WREATH AT FLAME
  • Embargoed: 27th November 2009 23:36
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: International Relations,Nature / Environment
  • Reuters ID: LVA48EOJIT8JJ70EREAEL7X17FPV
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, on a visit to New Delhi, announced on Thursday (November 12) that his government would invest an additional 50 million U.S. dollars in the Australia-India strategic research fund over the next five years.
    Rudd made the announcement after laying a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti (flame of the immortal warrior) and meeting President Pratibha Devisingh Patil.
    He told reporters at a joint news conference with RK Pachauri, chief of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI): "The Australian government is investing an additional 50 million dollars over five years for the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund."
    "Already I have seen where such collaboration can lead to ground breaking research, investigating how microbes can be used to clean up oil contamination in water," Rudd said.
    The fund, a joint initiative of the Australian and Indian governments, is already supporting 50 projects across the spectrum of scientific disciplines including astronomy, climate change and evolution, malaria vaccines, the impact of global warming on agriculture, water management, computing and biotechnology.
    The additional 50 million U.S. dollars for the Australia-India strategic research fund will commence from financial year 2009-10.
    In addition, Rudd announced a further one million U.S. dollars for an innovative Australia-India solar cooling research project.
    The project between Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and TERI aims to develop a zero emissions solar cooling system for use in remote rural communities in un-electrified areas.
    "I am pleased that my government will contribute to a further million dollars to extend a TERI and CSIRO collaboration working to provide a emissions free solar cooling electricity and pure drinking water for rural areas," Rudd said.
    Through the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund, Australia's largest bilateral research fund, the Australian Government has already invested 20 million U.S dollars since 2006 to enable Australian scientists to engage in leading edge collaborative research with Indian scientists.
    An estimated 400 million Indians do not have access to electricity, in many cases because they live too far from the main grid infrastructure. Lack of cold storage leads to the spoilage of an estimated 20 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables annually.
  • Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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