This product developed by IIT Mandi researchers can be used to disinfect metallic, plastic and cardboard products like wallets, keys, spectacles, bags, courier packages and parcels, among others, to minimise the risk of COVID-19.

Dr. Prosenjit Mondal, Associate Professor, School of Basic Sciences and Dr. Amit Prasad, Assistant Professor, School of Basic Sciences are also among IIT Mandi researchers who provided the expertise.

Work by IIT Mandi researchers has shown that UV-C light can achieve a high level of inactivation of a near-relative of COVID-19’s virus.

Thus, reducing the risks of contagion among healthy people. In the workplace, it can be an excellent tool for disinfecting transit of goods.

Ten UV-C lamps with designated ratings are used to provide UV-C light exposure to object surfaces. These lamps are connected with automatic timer control that regulates the dose of UV-C light as per requirement for the specific object.

IIT Mandi researchers namely Dr. Himanshu Pathak and Dr. Sunny Zafar identified the capability of UV-C light for the disinfecting objects against contamination of the novel COVID-19 virus.

Also read ‘When will our schools reopen? Will it still take time for them to begin?‘

The developed prototype is capable of disinfecting non-living objects like courier packets, travel bags, currency, wallets, wrist watches, mobile phones, laptops, books, stationery among others, said Dr. Himanshu Pathak.

We are using ozone-free UV-C lamps (with 254 nm wavelength), as per the ISO: 15858:2016 standard for UV-C devices -safety information with almost no exposure to human operators, said Dr. Sunny Zafar.

Highlighting the benefits of the Disinfection Box in the COVID-19 perspective IIT Mandi researchers said the developed prototype can disinfect all kinds of metal, plastic and cardboard-based products from the bacteria and SARS-CoV-2 virus within one-minute exposure of UV-C light, by eliminating up to 99%.

IIT Mandi researchers have tested the prototype in an in-house lab facility at IIT Mandi against the bacteria ‘Escherichia coli’ and ‘Staphylococcus aureus’.

The work did not end with that innovation alone. IIT Mandi researchers also developed foot-operated hand sanitiser dispenser.

IIT Mandi researchers Mr. Navish Sharma, Technical Assistant, Civil, IIT Mandi along with his team Mr. Tilak Raj and Mr. Hans Raj have developed a low-cost foot-operated hand sanitiser dispenser for sanitising hands without touching contaminated surfaces of the sanitiser bottle.

In this dispenser, a spring reinforced foot pedal is installed which is connected to a pipe with a holder in which the sanitiser bottle will be placed.

On pressing the foot pedal the sanitiser holder will lift and the bottle head will be pressed by a glass cap.

About – IIT Mandi

Since the first batch of 97 students joined in July 2009, IIT Mandi has grown to currently host 125 faculty and 1,655 students who are enrolled in various programmes of studies in undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes, and 1,141 alumni.

IIT Mandi is a fully residential campus with 1.4 lakh sq. m. buildings completed. It has a guest house with 88 rooms, an 750-seater Auditorium, campus school, sports complex and hospital.

IIT Mandi has four Academic Schools and three major Research Centers. The Schools are: School of Computing and Electrical Engineering, School of Basic Sciences, School of Engineering, and School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The Centers are: Advanced Materials Research Centre (AMRC; set up with an investment of Rs. 60 crore), Centre for Design and Fabrication of Electrical Devices (C4DFED; has Rs. 50 crore worth of fabrication tools), and BioX Centre (has acquired research equipment worth Rs. 15 crore).

In 2017, the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, selected IIT Mandi to lead the prestigious Rs. 10 crore FarmerZone Project.

To cater to the growing and changing needs of Indian industry and the aspirations of students, IIT Mandi has introduced 7 B.Tech., 7 M.Tech., 5 M.Sc., 4 Ph.D., 1 I-Ph.D and 1 M.A programmes in the past 10 years. The unique, project-oriented B.Tech. curriculum is centered around its 4-year long Design and Innovation stream.

From August 2019, IIT Mandi started 3 new and unique B. Tech. programmes in Data Science and Engineering, Engineering Physics, and Dual Degree in Bioengineering.

Since the inception of the Institute, IIT Mandi faculty have been involved in over 275 Research and Development (R&D) projects worth more than Rs. 120 crore.

In the past 10 years, the Institute has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with as many as 11 international and 12 national universities.

Launched in 2016, IIT Mandi’s Catalyst is the first Technology Business Incubator in Himachal Pradesh.  Enabling Women of Kamand Valley (EWOK) is another innovative programme run by IIT Mandi, which focuses on imparting skills training to rural women to enable them to start village-scale businesses.

IIT Mandi has been ranked No. 20 in the Engineering Institutions Category in the India Rankings 2019 released by National Institutional Ranking Framework, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India. In the Outreach and Inclusivity metric of NIRF, IIT Mandi is 1st among all 23 IITs.

Admission into UG medical courses, popularly known as MBBS would commence with conducting NEET UG for 2025. Candidates who pass the exam have to take part in the counselling for MBBS admission.

A few other sources convey that registration for NEET UG in 2025 may also commence in March 2025.

Schedule

NEET UG 2025 registration schedule will be made known after the announcement about exam’s application submission commences.

The NEET UG 2025 registration would usually be open for a month or more. The application correction facility will be made active after submission comes to an end.

After corrections, the admit cards are made available for download. Those who have completed their NEET UG 2025 application submission process successfully, alone will be able to download the hall ticket.

Candidates have to write the exam and pass it with required qualifying marks to be eligible for taking part in the counselling process for getting admitted into a medical college.

More about the exam

The full name of the exam is National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test  Undergraduate.

The exam is conducted offline in pen-and-paper mode and answers have to be registered on a separate answer sheet.

The questions in NEET UG 2025 would be related to biology, physics and chemistry which are taught in classes 10,11 and 12 in recognized educational institutions across India.

Questions will be in a multiple-choice format where each question has more than one reply and the right one among that has to be chosen to get marks.

Students willing to join BDS in colleges located across India also have to submit NEET UG 2025 application.

Medical colleges abroad also consider scores of NEET UG for providing admission into MBBS courses.

Who can take up NEET UG 2025 application submission?

Candidates who have passed plus-two in the science stream with biology, physics and chemistry as subjects can take up NEET UG 2025 application submission.

Students who have appeared for their final year exams and are waiting for the results or students who are about to appear for the final year exams of their qualifying degree can also take up NEET UG 2025 application submission.

However, these students have to pass their exams and provide proof of it by the time of admission.

1. The above URL has to be typed into the browser and submitted to allow the website to download.

2. Once the webpage is ready, candidates can click the button Click Here for Registration/Login

3. Clicking the above button will open another webpage with URL ‘https://neet.ntaonline.in/frontend/web/’

4. Once the webpage with above URL opens, candidates can click the registration link and create an account with username and password.

5. After obtaining the account, they can come to the same webpage (https://neet.ntaonline.in/frontend/web/) and login and start applying for the exam.

Website for NEET UG 2025 Application is Here

NEET UG 2025 application submission fees

NEET UG 2025 application submission fees is Rs 1700 for General category candidates and NRI applicants. The same is Rs 1600 for General-EWS/OBC-NCL category applicants.

SC/ST/PwBD/Third Gender category applicants have to pay Rs 1000 while taking up NEET UG 2024 registration.

The fee may also change due to various reasons, candidates can read information bulletin related to NEET UG 2025 application when it is released.

How to download hall ticket?

The process to download hall ticket is online and it can be done on the official website ‘https://exams.nta.ac.in/NEET’

1. Candidates have to type the URL mentioned above in the browser and submit it to allow the website to download.

2. Once the website is ready, candidates can click the link for the hall ticket.

3. This will likely open another website and there, they have to enter their application number and other details and submit them to view the admit card.

Point to remember

Once the admit card is visible, applicants can download and take a printout. Only those who have successfully completed NEET UG 2025 application submission will be able to download admit card.

The link to download admit card will be made active on the official website at the appropriate time.

Students can visit the official website as the exam time nears, to find the link for download hall ticket. Link for obtaining admit cards are usually made available about 10 to 15 days before the exam day.

Students who pass NEET UG 2025 application submission with the required qualifying marks can apply for counselling where they choose the college and course. Counselling takes place to fill seats at the All India level and state level.

Also Read – NIRF 2024 Top 20 Medical Colleges In India

Students who wish to study in central government institutions can apply under the All India Quota for which Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) conducts the counselling.

Respective authorities of various states in India conduct counselling at their state level. Candidates can visit the official websites of the respective authorities for more information.

The best thing to do would be to follow the website of NTA for updates on 2025 NEET UG. Registration can be done at the appropriate time.

Candidates who do not get a seat in the institution of their choice in the initial rounds of counselling can apply in the subsequent rounds.

Preparation involves studying all the lessons in the syllabus, students must ensure that they have mastered all the subjects to score marks in NEET UG for 2025.