Integrated Long Term Programme of Cooperation (ILTP) in Science & Technology between India and Russian Federation is one of the most exhaustive bilateral collaborative R&D programmes, covering all aspects of science and technology. While there is an emphasis on applied research to seek technology transfer, but basic research is also equally important component of the programme. ILTP cooperation agreement was initially signed in Moscow on 3rd July 1987 between India and the former USSR by the then Prime Minister of India and General Secretary of CPSU. Later in the 4th meeting of ILTP Joint Council held at Moscow in April 1 992, the programme was adopted as that between India and Russia.

Considering the benefits which had accrued from the programme and the vast potential available, it was agreed by the two sides to extend the programme by another decade with a focus on technology transfer. An agreement for extension of ILTP up to year 2010, was signed by the then Indian Minister for Science & Technology and Deputy Prime Minister of Russian Federation on 3rd October 2000 in presence of the Prime Minister of India and the President of Russian Federation.

ILTP provides for scientist to scientist and institute to institute interaction in frontier areas of science and technology. Main instrument of cooperation is joint R&D projects of mutual interest which are identified by scientists and are supported by the two sides based on their merit. So far, 361 projects have been implemented and another over 110 are under implementation. Other modes of cooperation include holding of thematic workshops, organizing exploratory visits of senior scientists, fellowships for young Russian scientists and participation in major scientific events on either side.

ILTP is steered by a Joint Council, which is co-chaired by an eminent scientist from either side. From the Indian side Secretaries of scientific departments and other distinguished scientists are members of Council. From the Russian side, President/Vice-Presidents of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Deputy Minister for Education and Science are Members. Cooperation in each identified area is coordinated by a senior scientist from each side who is designated as Area Coordinator.

Mechanism of Monitoring

Joint Council (JC)

Apex body comprising of senior scientists and policy makers from two sides.

Area Coordinators (ACs):

One eminent scientist from each side is nominated for technical coordination in each of the identified areas.

Project Advisory Committees (PACs):

PACs are responsible for assessment, review and monitoring of the project from the Indian side.

Project Coordinators (PCs):

Each project is coordinated by a Project Coordinator from each side. PC is given the overall responsibility for implementation of the projects.

Programme Offices (PO)

Overall coordination of the programme is done by the Programme Offices situated in the DST, New Delhi and RAS, Moscow

Indian side		Russian side
BIOTECHNOLOGY & IMMUNOLOGY
	Prof. Vijai Chaudhary, University of Delhi New Delhi		Acad. A.l. Grigoriev, Academician Secretary, RAS, Moscow
MATERIALS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
	Prof. SK Joshi, Vikram Sarabhai Professor, National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi		Acad. F.A. Kuznetsov, Adviser, RAS, Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Novosibirsk
LASER SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
	Dr. VC Sahni, Director, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore		Acad. S.N. Bagaev Director, Institute of Laser Physics, Moscow
CATALYSIS
	Dr. S Sivaram, Director, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune		Acad. V.N. Parmon General Director, United Institute of Catalysis, Novosibirsk
SPACE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
	Dr. Jacob Ninan, Director (IN), Department of Space, Bangalore		Acad. N.S Kardashev, Director, Astro Space Centre, Moscow
ACCELERATORS & THEIR APPLICATIONS
	Dr. VC Sahni, Director, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore		Acad. A.N Skrinsky, Director, Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, Novosibirsk
HYDROLOGY
	Dr. KD Sharma, Director, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee		Corr-Member V.I. Danilov-Danilyan Director, Water Problems Institute, Moscow
COMPUTERS & ELECTRONICS
	Shri RK Arora, Former Adviser, Department of Information Technology		Acad. O.M. Belotserkovsky, Director, Institute of Computer Aided Design, Moscow
BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
	Dr. W Selvamurthy, CC R&D Biomedical Sciences, DRDO, New Delhi		Acad. A.l.Grigoriev, Academician Secretary, RAS, Moscow
OCEANOLOGY & OCEANIC RESOURCES
	Dr. PS Goel, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, New Delhi		Acad. O.M Nefedov, Adviser, RAS, Moscow
ENGINEERING SCIENCES
	Prof. DV Singh, Former Vice Chancellor University of Roorkee		Acad. K.V. Frolov, Director, Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Moscow
MATHEMATICS
	Prof. R Balasubramanian, Director, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai		Acad. V.G. Kadyshevsky, Director, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna
THEORETICAL & APPLIED MECHANICS
	Prof. NK Gupta Dept. of Applied Mechanics, NT, Delhi		Prof. A.V. Manzhirov, Head of Laboratory, Institute of Problems in Mechanics, Mosco
EARTH SCIENCES
	Prof. VK Gaur, Distinguished Scientist, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore		Acad. A.I. Gliko, Director, Institute of Physics of the Earth, Moscow
PHYSICS & ASTROPHYSICS
	Prof. Ram Sagar, Director, Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, Nainital		Acad. A.A. Boyarchuk, Director, Institute of Astronomy, Moscow
ECOLOGY & ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
	Dr. Sukumar Devotta, Director, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur		Acad. G.S. Gosinlit, Director, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Moscow
CHEMICAL SCIENCES
	Dr. S Sivaram, Director, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune		Acad. O.M. Nefedov, Adviser RAS, Moscow
LIFE SCIENCES
	Dr. SK Brahmachari, Director, Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology, Delhi		Acad. A.l. Grigoriev, Academician Secretary, Ras, Moscow

The following projects have been successfully completed:

• Methane Conversion into Value Added Chemicals : work on selection of optimal conditions for the product of ethylene from methane and development of a catalyst for oxidation of ethylene to ethylene oxide was completed. Highly promising catalysts (viz Li-and and La-promoted MgO) for the OCM process were developed. The developed catalysts have long life and high activity/selectivity besides productivity. Technical feasibility of conversion of methane to ethylene oxide into two steps was established. An Indian patent application has also been filed.

• Ammonia Synthesis at Moderate Pressures : different supported catalysts were characterized and tested in a side stream reactor at high pressure .It was noted that Cesium promoter enhanced the catalyst activity of Ru/gAI ₂0₃ considearbly. The methods of preparation of low surface area active carbon (500m /g) from high surface area active carbon (1000m /g) and also carbon covered alumina were standardised. Doubly promoted Ru supported catalysts gave improved ammonia activity.
• Zeolite Catalysts for Organic Chemicals Production : catalyst samples were synthesized and evaluated under high pressure for more than 800 hour. Catalysts were found to be promising for alkylation reactions. Zeolite catalysts developed for conversion of natural gas condensates to high octane gasoline gave promising results which were considered worth pursuing for commercialization, Pyridine was produced on laboratory scale and a catalyst for fixed bed operation was developed and activity was tested for 400 hours. Different wide pore Zeolite, catalysts were synthesized. Good conversion and yield results in the carbonlyzation of nitrobenzene to carbamate were obtained by developing suitable catalysts under Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis.
• Catalytic Polymerisation of Olefins : novel route to soluble Mg-Ti catalysts was discovered. The soluble catalysts was thoroughly characterized by a variety of physico-chemical techniques. The soluble Mg-Ti catalyst was active in polymerization of ethylene, hexene-1 and octene-1. The distinguished feature of the soluble catalysts was its capacity to produce relatively narrow molecular weight distribution resin. Some of the samples of poly (hexene-1) prepared by this catalyst have been evaluated as viscosity index improver. Promising performance characteristics were obtained. An insoluble Mg-Ti catalysts was also prepared and used for polymerization of ethylene and hexene-1. Unlike the soluble catalyst, the insoluble catalyst gave a broader molecular weight distribution. A synthetic method for preparing aluminoxane was also standardized. A novel effect of added trimethyl-aluminium on the zirconocene-MgO catalysed ethylene polymerization was observed.

The following is a list of other projects implemented in the programme :

• Molecular Structure and Reactivity of Monolayer Vanadium Oxide Catalysts;
• Effect of Mixed Oxide Support;
• Catalysis by Zeolitic Solid Super Acids;
• Development of Catalysts for Wax Production by Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis;
• Design of Biofunctional supported non-iron catalysts for low temperature ammonia synthesis;
• Polymerization filled composites and gas phase polymerization by metallocene catalyst;
• Design of highly stable and low Pd containing catalysts for Hydroechlorination and methane combustion; structure, reactivity and reaction modelling;
• Catalytic re-forming of coal for value-added chemicals;
• Oxidation of hydrocarbons by molecular oxygen and peroxides.

Under the Project "Study and development of heterogeneous photocatalytic removal of hazardous compounds from water and air " hydroxyapatites of iron, aluminum and lead were preparated and characterized. They were evaluated towards photocatalytic degradation of acetone and orthonitrophenol in a flow circulation reactor at 40°C with a water concentration 4500 ppm. The photocatalytic efficiency were compared with reference to standard titania with a quantum efficiency of 66%. Under the best conditions, iron, zinc and aluminumhydroxyapatite gave less than 5% quantum efficiency

Under the project "Synthesis, characterization and application of a new alumino phosphate based molecular sieves", mesoporous AIPO and SAPO molecular sieves were synthesized at room temperature.

Under the project "Positron and positronium studies" in Chemical physics, positronium formation in liquids have been studied.

Under the project "Synthesis of optically pure non-protienogenic amino acids", ten azalactones, five methyl oxazolones have been prepared. As an extension of this work, L-DOPA (a drug against Parkinsonism) has been prepared.

Study on controlled adsorption of the surfactants and polymers on oxidic mineral systems for encanced benefications of iron ores in their sub-sieve range, studies in development of flotationreagents for processing of complex ores, have been done.

A technology for efficient treatment of waste is resuming into Hydrocarbon Fuel (by burning organic content of the waste is being negotiated. This has a great industrial potential as each city/town has to meet our waste coming out of kitchen or vegetable/fruit markets.

The main achievements of the research work done under the Project "Utilization of silica containing wastes of industries like ash-slag, Zn-PB waste cake, deactivated catalysts etc. for making :alue added products such as frit/glaze materials for ceramic bodies, rare metals, etc," are :

1. Development of a processes for making fly ash based ceramic wall tiles. Since the fly ash alone does not sinter well, either with silicate bonding or with phosphate bonding system, developed by us, its mixtures with talc as well as pyrophyllite were investigated. It has been observed that addition of 40% talc or pyrophyllite to fly ash provides sufficient impact strength to pass the specifications set by Indian Standards Institution (now BIS). The tiles are fired at a lower temperature of 950°C for one hour and thus leading to considerable savings in energy cost.
2. Another development is on making frit/glaze material from fly ash as well as from drum filter cake, a solid waste of zinc industry. The frit was made 1 250°C for two hours and two cycles. The glaze made from frit made from fly ash was brown in color and suitable for application on tiles at 1000°C while that from zinc industry waste was black and suitable for application at 950°C. The frit made from zinc chloride industry waste was colorless and useful for developing different color glazes by addition of desired pigments.
3. The deactivated catalysts of pharmaceutical industry (bearing nickel) was converted to nickel chromate, nickel sulphate or nickl titanate after leaching. Similarly, the lead bearing residue waste from anode mud waste of zinc industry was used to make lead chromate pigment. When mixed with opacifier and transparent frit as described above, the yellow color glaze was obtained.