On May 1, 2020, The Defence Ministry announced that the Pune-based Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) has developed a microwave steriliser ‘Atulya’ that can disintegrate the novel Coronavirus within 30 seconds by differential heating in the range of 56 degrees to 60 degrees celsius temperatures.
Key Points:
i.About Atulya: The steriliser was tested for human/operator safety and has been found to be safe depending upon the size and shape of various objects.
ii.Atulya is a cost-effective solution that can be operated in portable or fixed installations and weighs around 3 kilograms (Kg). It can be used for sterilisation of non-metallic objects only.
iii.About DIAT: The DIAT is a deemed university under the ministry’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
iv.Other products of DRDO: The DRDO has developed several products including ventilators, personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, large area sanitisation solutions and Covid-19 sample collection kiosks to fight against Coronavirus.
v.The DRDO has also stepped forward to provide medical oxygen plants to hospitals in far-flung areas to generate their own oxygen supply.
vi.The armed forces have also come up with a raft of innovations to combat the pandemic from modifying quadcopters to spray disinfectants over large areas to ultraviolet light sanitisers, assisted respiratory systems and 3-D printed masks.
vii.The different wings of the defence ministry including the armed forces, the DRDO and the Ordnance Factory Board have designed and developed a wide range of products to control the spread of pandemic.
About DRDO:
Headquarters– DRDO Bhavan, New Delhi.
Motto– Strength’s Origin is in Science.
Minister of Defense– Shri Rajnath Singh.(Ghaziabad, UP)
Chairman– Dr G. Satheesh Reddy.
