Page 21 - Covid Special Issue

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY OUTREACH EFFORTS ON COVID-19 BY
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (DST)
DST Media Cell effectively communicated DST’s efforts to combat
the COVID-19 pandemic through various media
The Media Cell of the DST, Government of India through various means of information dissemination like articles, blogs, info graphics, e-news letters on digital media and posts on social media has played a proactive role in carrying out outreach activities to spread information and also contain misinformation against the COVID-19 pandemic. The media cell was effectively engaged in communicating all the R&D, new technologies, innovation and interventions carried out by the DST and its autonomous institutions to combat COVID-19 throughout the pandemic period. The Media Cell released a special edition of ‘Strides’, its monthly e-newsletter, in April 2020 which brought together some of the fruits of the hard work that went into preparing for the battle against the pandemic. It has also dedicated a section to COVID-19 efforts in the editions from April onwards.
DST and its autonomous institutions rose up to the COVID challenge with several arms to fight the pandemic. These include efforts by Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) which carried out research and developed technologies to combat the pandemic; International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad which produced disinfection technologies and hand sanitizer as per the WHO standards and distributed it among police personnel in Hyderabad, students, and staff of the institution. SCTIMST staff kick-started several social service initiatives on a massive scale. Rural Women Technology Parks supported by SEED Division DST prepared products like hand sanitizer and homemade mask, and similar activities were also supported by DST under the societal programme for women. The National Innovation Foundation (NIF) put out the Challenge COVID-19 Competition (C3) which triggered innovative disinfection and sanitization solutions by common people. An information brochure for the programme on health and risk communication ‘Year of Awareness on Science & Health (YASH) with focus on COVID-19’ was developed by National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) and a multimedia guide on COVID-19 called COVID Katha launched by them. All these efforts were successfully communicated through social, digital and print media by the DST Media Cell and it created a lot of impact among the media in particular and public in general.
Innovative disinfection & sanitization solutions by common people selected in NIF’s Challenge COVID-19 Competition (C3)
The National Innovation Foundation (NIF), an autonomous body of the DST, supported two innovative disinfection solutions by common people which were received as a response to its Challenge COVID-19 Competition (C3).
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