Silver Jubilee of World Water Day Celebrations at Banasthali - Talk by Renowned Researcher Dr Suphiya Khan

Water is an essential building block of life. It is more than just essential to quench thirst or protect health; water is vital for creating jobs and supporting economic, social, and human development. The situation is alarming in the sense that according to recently released UNESCO Report, Water crisis in India will intensify by 2010.

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro 1992 recommended a water day and The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day. Presently, there are over 663 million people living without a safe water supply close to home, spending countless hours queuing or trekking to distant sources, and coping with the health impacts of using contaminated water. The Theme for the Silver Jubilee year 2018 is Nature for Water which aims to explore as to how one can use nature to overcome the water challenges of the 21st century.

On 22 Mar 2018, Innovative Chemical Engineers - ICE Club of Chemical Engineering Banasthali organized World Water Day Celebrations at SBI Auditorium. Prof BR Natarajan Head of Chemical Engineering welcomed the audience and gave an overview of the significance of the day including the extent of Fluoride contamination in Rajasthan which puts it on top of Fluorosis map of India today. He introduced the Chief Guest for the day alumnus of Banasthali Dr Suphiya Khan a highly acclaimed researcher whose work on Fluoride removal from drinking water titled “Defluoridation technology for drinking water and tea by green synthesized Fe3O4/Al2O3 nanoparticles coated polyurethane foams for rural communities” https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-08594-7 has featured (14 August 2017) in the highly respected and most cited Nature Journal with an Impact factor of over 40. Chemical Engineering Faculty Ms Vibha welcomed the Chief Guest by presenting a colourful bouquet.

Dr Suphiya Khan in her inspiring speech gave details about the Global Water Scenario and Crisis with 20 thought provoking facts and shared her research work at the Water Research Laboratory at Banasthali with the audience. There was a thunderous round of applause when she mentioned that the nanoparticles (NPs) that were synthesized using jojoba defatted meal were impregnated on to polyurethane foam (PUF) and made into tea infusion bags costing just about INR 3 which removed the Fluoride that was under the permissible limit of 1.5 mg L⁻¹. This method can also remove Fluride from a cup of tea which is also a most consumed item in rural areas.

She also shared interesting details about Phytoremediation which is the direct use of living green plants for in situ, or in place, removal, degradation, or containment of contaminants in soils, sludges, sediments, surface water and groundwater. It was a very touching moment when Dr Suphiya Khan introduced her research team to the audience and attributed success of the work to them. She urged the students to dream big and put efforts to achieve them.

Ms Swayam Rampal President Chemical Engineering association presented a glittering memento Dr Suphiya Khan. On behalf of ICE Club, Dr Suphiya Khan presented a memento to Miss Shalini Singh Sisodia fourth year Chemical Engineering student who is referred as GATE Cracker in Banasthali. The students and faculty who attended the World Water Day 2018 Celebrations left with beaming faces and pride that they were part of an institution Banasthali a recipient of Quacquarelli Symonds QS I-GAUGE Diamond Certificate which is indeed a jewel in the crown among the women’s universities not only in India today but across the globe.

For more details about Banasthali see http://www.banasthali.org/

About Banasthali: The Institution which is also the largest fully residential women’s university in the world has played a big role in revolutionizing women’s education in the country for the last eight decades with a belief that there is a tremendous role of higher education in empowering the women. Banasthali has scripted numerous success stories in a wide range of fields, and stands tall among the citadels of learning in India today. Team Banasthali with Vice Chancellor J C Bose Memorial Award for eminent scientist recipient Prof Aditya Shastri a highly acclaimed alumnus of BITS Pilani, SUNY State University of New York Stony Brook and MIT USA is indeed racing forward to be the very best among global women universities. It is a matter of pride that NITI Aayog had selected Banasthali along with ISB CCMB in Top 10 to host Atal Incubation Centre. Proud to be Banasthali alumni who call themselves as Banasthalites can be found in all latitudes, longitudes and altitudes in all walks of life across the globe.

Banasthali University
P.O. Banasthali Vidyapith
Rajasthan – 304022
Phone 91 1438 228456 / 228341
Email: info@banasthali.ac.in
Website: http://www.banasthali.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Banasthali.org

This release was published on openPR.