India, Canada sign deal on clean water technologies

NEW DELHI: India today signed a deal with Canada on clean water technologies, with a focus on Prime Minister's Clean Rivers Mission.

An MoU was signed in this regard between the two countries in the presence of Union Minister of State of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh, Canadian Minister for International Trade, Ed Fast and Minister for National Revenue, Kerry Findlay, who called on Singh here.

Singh said that the programme will be pursued through a joint collaboration between the Department of Science & Technology under his ministry and the National Science and Engineering Council of Canada.

This joint venture would enable building up of 'Safe and Sustainable Infrastructure' and 'Integrated Water Management', thus addressing the vital aspects related to effective water management and clean water supply, he said.

"On the one hand, this new initiative is in keeping with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Clean River Mission and Clean Ganga Mission. On the other, this joint participation will help develop a value based relationship and also enable to promote industrial research & development projects with application potential through participation of scientific institutions and industrial units," he said.

Singh expressed satisfaction at the signing of the deal, saying that just about two months back he had mooted the idea with the Canadian High Commissioner when the latter called on him. "Within this short period, we are able to conclude a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the presence of two senior members of the Canadian Council of Ministers," he said.

The Department of Bio-Technology is already, in cooperation with Canadian agencies, working on a number of projects to develop a software product for non-invasive detection of tumours using MRI and PET images.