Sustainability

Beijing scientists discovered that carbon quantum dots recognized as carbon dots obtained from apple leaves that have been discarded can give a complete protection of metal to a very eco-friendly, low segregated, and long lasting method. Corrosion is a major industrial challenge that is persistent around the world broadly. This research points out that it is possible to replace harmful, cheap toxic corrosion inhibitors that are used in the sectors of infrastructures and manufacturing by the new method.

The main authors of the cooperative publication, Ambrish Singh, Professor, Nagaland University, and Yujie Qiang, Professor, University of Science and Technology Beijing, demonstrated that the newly fabricated apple, leaf carbon quantum dots (ACDs) are capable of inhibiting copper corrosion in acids with inhibition efficiency of 94.0 per cent at low concentrations, which can go up to 96.2 per cent after extended use. These results are just at the level of Figuring out highly industrial applications of metals that are usually exposed to chemical environments being harsh.

The outcome was confirmed in a peer- reviewed journal, the Journal of Alloys and Compounds, that is committed to articles on synthesis, structure, properties and applications of metallic alloys and advanced compounds. The work also sheds light on waste, to, wealth benefits besides industrial ones. By converting agricultural residue into high-value functional nanomaterials, the research supports circular economy models and opens potential income opportunities for farming communities.

Highlighting the technical aspects, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Professor, Yujie Qiang, said the team used a green hydrothermal process to convert apple leaves into nanoscale carbon particles doped with sulphur and nitrogen. Such components generate many active sites that will be able to anchor metal surfaces very tightly. Electrochemical tests showed that the ACDs deposit a neat and firm protective layer on copper, thus completely preventing the passage of corrosive ions. Moreover, theoretical modelling revealed that the nitrogen, containing groups are mainly responsible for holding the protective layer tightly.

Although the findings are at present supported only by laboratory, scale experiments, the scientists are considering pilot, scale experiments and subsequent field testing, e.g., the combination with the existing protective coatings, as the next steps.

For 162 youngsters of India's Northeast, the following couple of days will not simply be a competition. Besides that, it is going to become a time packed with pride, hope, and recognition which these people have been waiting for a long time. The North East Regional Competition of IndiaSkills 2025, 26, a Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) initiative, will be held at Gauhati University from January 19 to 22, 2026. It will mark an important milestone in the country's skill development journey.

This is the first time that a separate IndiaSkills regional competition has been held exclusively for the Northeast, thus consolidating the efforts and talents of participants from all eight states, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura, at one national, level platform.

Almost all the contestants live in dusty towns, secluded villages, and quarters, where the chance for national opportunities has always been considered as a distant dream.For such communities, IndiaSkills is way beyond winning medals, it is about getting recognized, heard, and appreciated.

More Than a Competition

IndiaSkills is the largest platform for vocational and technical excellence in India. It is also a major pillar of the Skill India Mission. The regional rounds serve as the gateway to the national finals, and the winning teams are the ones who get to represent their country at international competitions such as WorldSkills.

Nevertheless, every participant has a story that is entirely their own, for example, learning a trade, practicing late at night, managing family expectations, and daring to dream beyond geographical boundaries.

Skills That Carry Dreams

Competitors will go head to head in an extensive range of twofold future, ready skills such as IT, electronics, fashion technology, graphic design, web technologies, hospitality, automotive services, beauty and wellness, plumbing, and electrical trades. These are not just skills, they are doors to livelihoods, liberty, and self respect.

Choosing Gauhati University as the venue for the competition will contribute to bridging education, industry, and regional talent in the Northeast. Besides creating such strong links, mentorship, training, and employment opportunities will also be made available.

A Stage for Togetherness

Youngsters from the Northeast have been expressing their feeling of being overlooked in national dialogues for a long time. This initiative aims at altering the narrative. The government, thus, by putting Northeastern strengths at the core of India's largest skills platform, is issuing a very straightforward message: Every area is significant. Every wish is valid.

As India intends to be a world center of skills, these 162 youngsters are more than just contenders they are the creators of their futures. Moreover, for some of these young people, this platform might be the first step towards a life they had considered beyond their reach.

India has set its sights on being a self- sufficient (Atmanirbhar Bharat) country and in the process, it aims at inclusive economic growth. To that end, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is quietly making an effort to overhaul the nation's skilling system via its main programme CSIR Integrated Skill Initiative.

This programme, which is perfectly in line with the national priorities of Skill India and innovation led development, works as a bridge between scientific research and industry, ready talent, something that has been missing for a long time. It achieves this by incorporating practical/training sessions into India's scientific infrastructure of CSIR departments.

While most skilling efforts still lie on the surface, this one integrates science, technology, and real world applications in such a way that learners not only gain future oriented skills but also remain closely connected to their immediate environment and the country as a whole.

Referring to the extensive CSIR network of laboratories for conducting research and the world class expertise gained from it, the programme is a multi sector initiative, aimed at producing graduates whose skills match the labour market demand, encouraging them to start their own businesses, and making technology based solutions their first choice.

Inclusive by Design

A major strength of the CSIR Integrated Skill Initiative is the inclusive framework on which it is based. As India continues to drive its Atmanirbhar Bharat vision and inclusive economic growth, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has been reshaping the country's skilling ecosystem in a very revolutionary way with the help of its flag ship CSIR Integrated Skill Initiative, 'quietly' was the word used to describe the method of this transformation. The programme, which is in line with the national priorities of Skill India and innovation led development, solves the problem of lack of industry, ready talent by scientific research, through training of hands on, in the large scientific infrastructure of India.

Besides that, the program is a blend of science, technology, and genuine life situations, whereby the learners develop future, orientated skills and at the same time being aware of the local and national needs. The program will make use of CSIR's network of laboratories all over the country and the strong research capabilities to enhance employability, entrepreneurship, and technological self- reliance in a wide range of sectors.

Kerala Cabinet gave the green light to the revised guidelines for the 'Connect to Work' scheme on Wednesday. The 'Connect to work' scheme is the main way through which the government intends to improve youth employability by providing structured skill development combined with financial assistance.

The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) had an official communication about the matter, the new rules require that applicants must be permanent residents of Kerala, between 18 and 30 years old, and their annual family income should be less than Rs 5 lakh.

The main target group of the scheme is the youth who are either currently receiving skill training or plan to do it at educational institutions recognised by the government such as government institutions, public sector units, private training centres, universities and deemed universities, or at the same time preparing for competitive examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC) as well as recruitment tests for the armed forces, banks, railways and other central and state agencies.

The cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, decided that scholarships would be awarded to the first five lakh eligible applicants under the revised framework. Each selected beneficiary will be given a monthly scholarship of Rs. 1, 000 for 12 months.

The amount will be directly transferred to the beneficiaries bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system to ensure transparency and timely disbursal.

The Employment Department is given the responsibility of the executing agency for the Connec to Work scheme and the applicants may submit their applications through the official portal eemployment.kerala.gov.in.

The government stated that the programme is designed to raise the young peoples self, confidence, keep their desire to learn going and improve their employability through regular skill development. Besides, the officials said that the programme's goal is to give financial stability during the vital transition period from education or training to employment.

Due to the growing competition for jobs both in the government and the private sector, the revised scheme will be able to provide the much needed support to the candidates from economically weaker families. The government is sure that the initiative will solve the problem of unemployment as well as create a more skilled, resilient, and future, ready workforce in the state.

The advanced and futuristic school campus of 2035 will be recognized as an example of sustainability in every respect, that is, its buildings, staff work, and the lives of its community members will be perfectly in harmony with the natural world. It will exploit renewable energy sources for all its day to day running, get rid of wastes by means of the most up to, date recycled cycles, and promote healthy living among its inhabitants.

Universities and colleges have been grappling with ecological issues over the years; thus, it is only natural that they should set the trend for the rest of the world. These institutions will certainly be compelled to initiate such a thorough change that apart from becoming super, efficient, they will be so deeply ingrained with the principles and practices of sustainable ecological health that they will be able to sustain them over the long haul.

Harnessing clean energy for resilient infrastructure

Clean energy sources will serve as the foundation for future campuses. Rooftops and open spaces will be occupied by solar PV arrays to provide energy for classrooms, laboratories, and residential units, while wind turbine technology will provide complementary energy through site-specific use of wind gusts; and biomass technologies will feed organic waste back into biomass systems, thus completing energy cycles on-campus.

Curriculum will be central in such campuses. Renewable energy and green technology courses can cover solar cell basics, from module construction to grid-connected systems. Students will model 10 kW solar PV plants in tools like MATLAB and study how performance changes with different insolation levels. Wind energy units will look at turbine generators, site selection, and how to calculate power output, while biomass classes will examine anaerobic digestion in digesters such as KVIC models, producing gas from waste. These hands-on components will equip graduates to design systems capable of 100% renewable supply, helping reduce climate instability.

Energy storage advances, such as lithium-ion batteries scaled for microgrids will ensure uninterrupted supply. Campuses will use smart grids to enhance their electrical distribution systems and reduce electrical losses by 20 to 30 per cent. The result will be lower greenhouse gas emissions and increased resilience against grid failures during severe weather events.

Implementing zero waste through circular systems

On zero-waste campuses, trash will be treated as a valuable resource. While a combination of solid waste management practices, such as source segregation, composting, and recycling will divert 95% from landfill disposal, advanced facilities will make building materials from plastic waste, while organic waste can create energy and fertiliser through effective anaerobic digestion.

Environmental science curricula will provide foundational knowledge. Modules on pollution control will examine solid waste causes, effects, and strategies, including marine and thermal pollution impacts. Through conducting audits of their own campuses, students will learn about the dangers of noise and radiation and how to apply those lessons to the real world. Students in the biodiversity conservation unit will examine loss of habitat through case studies of deforestation and urbanization to develop waste management policies that protect local habitats.

Water conservation will complement this. Harvesting rainwater will enable aquifer recharge. Greywater treatment will enable recycling of greywater for irrigation purposes. Education in watershed management will include principles of hydrology, soil erosion control, and check dams. Practical projects will investigate poor drainage characteristics of soils and recommend amendments to improve permeability and decrease runoff. Campus education will create closed-loop systems, thereby minimizing campuses’ negative environmental impacts.

Regenerative living is going to focus on restoration rather than just sustainability. Among the campus features will be green roofs, permaculture gardens, and biodiversity corridors for both sequestering carbon and providing habitats for animals. Community farm partners who use organic methods, will see all farm management be done with vermicompost and biodynamic fertilizers to naturally enrich the soil without chemicals.

The SDG education will be centered on the Sustainable Development Goals, mainly SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 15 (Life on Land).

Students will be taught the impact of climate change on agriculture and come up with climate adaptation solutions such as planting drought, resistant crops. Groups of students will work on marine fishing vulnerability projects wherein they recommend specific actions that would make fishing more resilient.

These classes will teach students how to create an integrated reporting framework to identify the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics they will use to monitor the sustainability of their organizations.

Daily life will reinforce this. Dormitories will use passive solar design for natural heating, while mobility will rely on electric shuttles and bike shares. Health modules in public microbiology will address pollution’s human toll, promote hygiene and well-being. Through these, campuses will regenerate not just land but human connections to nature.

Toward a living laboratory of the future

Education is the major factor that enables our economy and society to evolve in a sustainable manner. By embedding practical, real, world examples like solar inverters and biogas plants into their curricula, schools are providing students with the skills and knowledge that future leaders will require to steer and handle a global sustainability transformation.

Therefore, the campus of 2035 will be a living lab exhibiting how clean energy, zero waste and regenerative living can create just and thriving futures for all.

The Sustainability Mafia (SusMafia), a non profit that focuses on climate education, early stage incubation, and ecosystem building, was given a Rs 2 crore CSR grant by Zerodha. The grant is intended to be used for training a skilled and climate conscious workforce and for startup growth in the climate tech market in India.

On its website, the non profit organisation mentions that the grant is expected to elevate the rollout of products and services in the six sustainability domains of air, water, and sanitation, waste management, carbon reduction, and circular economy.

The organisation was set up in 2018 and in its activities, it brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders to make sustainability the default approach for businesses and communities. A coalition runs the operation as a platform. It pools shared resources, networks, and expertise to overcome challenges in climate action. SusMafia is gearing up for the launch of impact driven startups, creating green jobs, and securing the funding necessary for a sustainable future.

The Bengaluru-based non-profit said its programmes are designed to address some of the biggest gaps in the climate ecosystem—particularly the shortage of industry-ready talent, lack of early-stage validation support for founders, and limited access to trusted platforms connecting innovators with capital, corporates, and pilot opportunities.

Through its flagship Climate Ninja programme, the organisation claims to have trained over 400 climate professionals. It has also deployed Rs 1 crore in grants to support early-stage climate ventures. Today, its growing network includes more than 80 climate entrepreneurs working across multiple sustainability sectors.

“Strong climate outcomes emerge when founders, practitioners, and learners have access to the right knowledge and support early in their journey. The Sustainability Engine Foundation is building this connective tissue for the climate ecosystem, and we’re pleased to back their work,” said Nithin Kamath, CEO of Zerodha.

With the new funding, The Sustainability Mafia plans to train over 300 Climate Ninjas, support 20+ early-stage climate startups, and host regional and national ecosystem events such as SusCrunch, bringing together key stakeholders from across the sustainability landscape.