We all want our painted walls to have uniform colour and be free of surface cracks or warps. This is achieved by formulating paints that dry homogeneously and do not crack or de-bond from the surface during drying.

Due to wide spread industrialisation, the environment is always challenged with the discharge of large number of chemical species, some of which are dangerous and toxic to human health. Among these, mercury and cyanide are two important ions having deleterious effect on human health. For example, cyanide compounds (like HCN, CNCl, NaCN, and KCN) are discharged into the environment due to the increased utility of these in many chemical processes (such as electroplating, plastics manufacturing, tanning, and metallurgy) to an extent of 900-1000 tons/year.

Increasing level of CO 2 in the environment owing to anthropogenic activities is one of the pressing global issues that needs immediate resolution. Ever increasing development of industries and human population will produce more and more CO 2 emission by continuous consumption of fossil fuels. The immediate challenge is to improve the current technologies which can capture CO 2 efficiently and convert it into useful sustainable fuels (i.e. methane and methanol) in presence of natural resources such as water and sun light.

Each year during the winter season (December-January), dense fog engulfs the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) in South Asia, extending over a stretch of 1500 km, for more than a month disrupting day-to-day life of millions of people living in the IGP. Increasing air pollution combined with sufficient moisture available due to the passage of frequent north-westerlies favor fog formation in this region. Trends in poor visibility suggest a significant increase in worsening air quality and foggy days over the IGP.

Aerosols are tiny suspended particles released in the atmosphere from natural and anthropogenic emissions/processes such as dust storms, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, vehicular and industrial emissions, etc. Aerosol particles are a significant part of our weather and climate system, and due to their complex interactions with clouds and rainfall processes, these tiny particles (although emitted in large concentrations in the air), they pose a large uncertainty in our in depth understanding of clouds, rainfall, and the overall climate system.

Disposal of waste foundry sand (WFS) remains one of the major challenges faced by the foundry industry today. India’s annual casting production is around 9.3 million tons which is the third highest in the world.WFS contains toxic heavy metals and particulate matter which makes dumping of waste sand an environmental and health hazard. More than 80% of Indian foundries (i.e. more than 3600) are medium and small scale foundries which cannot afford costs associated with the dumping and treatment of waste foundry sand.

Mountain belts like the Himalaya have both sustained and destroyed humans and closely affect our lives. Mountain building processes result in earthquakes and landslides which are major hazards to the human civilisation. Major earthquakes that activate the main frontal thrust (MFT) are particularly devastating.My research group is involved in understanding the kinematics of the Himalaya that result in the these earthquakes by undertaking a detailed study of the main frontal fault zone that results in extreme pulverisation of the rocks (Fig. 1) and building of Himalayan topography (Fig. 2).

Microbes play an important role in modifying depositional dynamics of sedimentation systems. Microbes dominated the Precambrian biosphere and were limited to stressful depositional conditions in Phanerozoic. Microbially mediated sedimentation is well known in Precambrian. However, microbe- sediment interaction is less studied in Precambrian siliciclastics.Microbes play an important role in modifying depositional dynamics of sedimentation systems. Microbes dominated the Precambrian biosphere and were limited to stressful depositional conditions in Phanerozoic.

Floods in cities are an increasingly frequent phenomenon across the world, especially in coastal urban areas. However even well governed, well-equipped, well-financed urban governance institutions, disaster management agencies, and municipal bodies are unable to either reduce flood related disaster risk, or mitigate the risk of flooding. Despite the availability of high-tech equipment, simulation and prediction models, and research inputs from scientists and social scientists, this continues to be the situation whether in Asia, Europe or North America.

Oil spill, due to collisions or grounding of ships, is one of the most devastating forms of pollution in the marine environment. The impact of an accidental oil spill could be tremendous on marine ecosystem, coastal economy and other activities. Heavy vessel traffic in and out of the major commercial ports, such as Jawaharlal Nehru Port and Mumbai port has made the coastline of Mumbai vulnerable for oil spill incidents.