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Plan to set up centre to promote clean tech

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, July 3

AN Indian centre for promotion of cleaner technologies will be set up to promote adoption of environmentally friendly technologies in various sectors such as industry, energy, mining, agriculture, tourism, transportation, etc, according to the Union Envi ronment and Forests Minister, Mr. T.R. Baalu.

Speaking at a conference in Teheran recently, Mr. Baalu said that the Centre would involve 24 national institutions including industrial institutions.

According to an official release, Mr. Baalu said that joint efforts between India and Iran towards bio-diversity conservation should be promoted within the framework of in situ conservation of habitats and ecosystems and ex-situ conservation measures by developing zoological parks and botanical gardens in Iran.

The Minister said that Iran and India are both signatories to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Further, India has been designated as the host country by the UNCCD for the Asian regional Action Programme on agro-forestry and soil conse rvation, under the Thematic Network Programme (TPN), of which Iran is also a member.

According to him, this opens the door for Indo-Iranian cooperation particularly with respect to combating desertification and associated efforts towards forestry management.

Mr. Baalu also said that the technology perfected by India in the field of forestry and desertification monitoring could be shared with Iranian scientists working in the field of forestry in the arid and semi arid regions.