Friday 26th April 2024
Nepal has always been in the forefront when it comes to promoting eco-friendly and clean energy solutions.
We have seen many instances in the recent past till the most recent one, where PM KP Sharma Oli has also launched a fleet of electric vehicles couple of days back.
Here comes another major achievement that Nepal made with regard to adopting green solutions.
In a recent update, young Nepali researchers Sagar Kafle and Nirina Khadgi received a rare honor in the form of the Green Talents Award 2018 from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) of Germany.
Under the patronage of the Minister of BMBF, the Green Talents Award has been honoring talented researchers since 2009 and provides young scientists with a platform for sharing their views on green concepts to make the world a better place.
The 2018 edition of the awards saw a high-ranking jury of experts selecting 25 up-and-coming researchers from among the 736 applicants from more than 100 countries.
Sagar and Nirina were shortlisted from Nepal location!
Sagar- A Resident of Biratnagar
Sagar works as a Lecturer at Purwanchal Campus, Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University, Dharan.
After receiving a Master’s Degree from South Korea, Sagar’s strong desire to work for the homeland brought him back to the country.
Besides teaching, Sagar is also an influencer who motivates the youth in research besides organizing discussion forums as a platform for researches and policy makers for formulation of research and green energy friendly policy in the country.
The Green Talent Award winner is also the fellow member of the Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs (AIDIA), Nepal’s foreign policy think-tank.
Sagar is currently working to establish a large-scale ‘fuel pellet plant in Nepal’, the pellet having identical properties as coal, can be used as coal in the Cement and Brick Industries.
His idea of the ‘Green Coal Pellet’ has also topped the Climate Launchpad national competition and the idea is representing the country in grand final in Scotland this year on first week of November.
Nirina- Resident of Kathmandu
Nirina is the Environmental Science Graduate from the Central Department of Environment Science, Tribhuvan University and is currently pursuing PhD in Hohai University of China.
Concerns over chemicals that go unregulated and often untreated in streams causing a huge impact in the water ecosystem and health moved Nirina.
Eventually, she began her research on ways to enhance the efficiency of water treatment processes, not only to improve human health, but also to contribute to reduction in overall levels of pollution.
Nirina plans to increase the awareness about these chemicals in waters and bring the attention of the stakeholders towards formulating and implementing effective water regulation and developing treatment facilities.
Nirina is currently working on the treatment of water using an advanced technology that uses solar light.
A Rare Opportunity
As part of the awards, the two Nepalis got an opportunity to interact with the “Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development” in Germany.
Besides, they also got a chance to visit other hotspots of green science in Eastern Germany, sustainability research elite and some of the country’s most renowned research institutions and companies, including Technical University of Dresden, the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and the Institute for Social-Ecological Research in Frankfurt.
The award ceremony conducted at the Ministry hall was attended by representatives of the institutions, jury members, embassy representatives and other distinguished guests.
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