Canadian MoU gives boost to Modi's Clean Ganga project

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet Clean Ganga project received a boost with the inking here Wednesday of an agreement between India and Canada to clean up the river, one of the most heavily used in the world.

The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation inked a memorandum of understanding with India-Canada Centre for Innovative Multidisciplinary Partnerships to Accelerate Community Transformation and Sustainability (IC-IMPACTS) for collaborative water research with Indian institutions and industry partners to clean up the Ganga.

Under the partnership, existing Canadian technologies in waste-water treatment, water quality monitoring and management, and water reduction and waste-water reuse for sectors such as the pulp and paper industry would also be highlighted, said an official statement from the Canadian High COmmission here.

Canada's Minister of International Trade Ed Fast and India's Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh Wednesday launched a call for joint R & D projects under the Canada-India Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement.

India's Department of Science and Technology (DST) would collaborate directly with the IC-IMPACTS.

"This new call for proposals will promote scientific collaboration between Indian and Canadian scientists through joint R & D projects in safe and sustainable infrastructure and integrated water management. Successful joint research projects are expected to lead to solutions to challenges that affect the quality of life of millions of people in Indian and Canadian communities," said the statement.

Minister Fast's six-day, three-city trade mission to India coincides with an intensive week of high-level engagement with India with Canada's Minister for Foreign Affairs John Baird, Minister for National Revenue Kerry-Lynne Findlay and Premier of the province of British Columbia Christy Clark visiting India.

IC-IMPACTS is led on the Canadian side by the universities of British Columbia, Alberta and Toronto and is funded through the Government of Canada's Networks of Centres of Excellence programme.

In 2008, Canada and India ratified an Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation to foster greater bilateral science and technology collaboration.