We have been writing about various developments worldwide and how things are shaping up in terms of natural refrigerants and how India needs to gear up to adopt the future refrigerants. While it is nice to write about it, it is important to ensure that such technologies are brought into the country and implemented. But before we move ahead on this subject, here is a quick round-up of events during the last four months: 

• ISHRAE Thane, along with ISHRAE Mumbai and ASHRAE Mumbai Chapter, organized a full day seminar on Industrial Refrigeration in Thane with out-of-the-box topics, targeting a segment new to ISHRAE.
• The first meeting of the NCCD Committee on Application of Non-conventional Energy Sources in Cold-chain was held in Pune. The objective of the Committee is to ensure that nonconventional and sustainable technologies are brought to the fore in India and properly incentivised.
• Cold Chain Strategy Summit was organised by Kamikaze at Mumbai.
• Advantage Ammonia was held by AAR along with ISHRAE and ASHRAE at Bangalore.
• Strengthening of Farm-to-Consumer Cold-Chain Infrastructure was organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Delhi
• All India Cold Storage Summit was held by the Federation of Cold Storage Associations of India, along with Uttar Pradesh Cold Storage Association, at Agra. 

On the international front, the Asia Cold Chain Expo in Bangkok, GCCA Exposition and Conference in Chicago, and ASHRAE Summer Conference in St. Louis, USA were amongst the major events. Arvind Surange attended the GCCA event in Chicago and met several stalwarts of the cold chain industry. Latest designs of automation, flexible insulation systems and reefer transport vans were some of the important exhibits. A beer bottle filling and serving robot was an attraction. The ASHRAE Summer Conference was a purely technical event. Apart from seminars and conference paper presentations, an expo on technical publications was interesting for the visitors. Work on the Guide to Sustainable Refrigeration is in progress. Among the important events scheduled is ‘Agritech India 2016 Expo’ at BIEC Bengaluru from August 26 to 28. NCCD is a
participating partner in the event, which includes the Poultry and Live Stock Expo, Grain Tech India and Dairy Tech India. And now, we come back to the subject of implementing new technologies in India. The development of low charge Ammonia systems in the cold chain sector is an important recent trend. A cold storage project of Karnataka State Agricultural Produce Processing and Export Corporation Limited (KAPPEC) at Bijapur, Karnataka would be the fi rst DX Ammonia System in the country, using electronic expansion valves. The project is being implemented by ACR Project Consultants.