He added that DRDO was prepared to provide all kinds of support when the need arises, and more flying hospitals would be ready, as was provided by DRDO in the second wave of COVID-19, to help the people.

“We established temporary hospitals specific to COVID 19 in many cities. These are modular hospitals, we call it flying hospitals, and these have been made in a way that the virus does not go out of hospitals. If there is any third wave, all the hospitals will be taking the load, and the government is discussing these aspects with various stakeholders,” said Dr Reddy.

He also underlined how DRDO is primarily carrying out research in advanced technology in defence and also concentrating on developing high-quality technology that will be beneficial for the people, at lower cost to match international level

Dr. Reddy was speaking at the online discourse series New India @ 75, organised by National Council for Science & Technology Communication and Vigyan Prasar.

Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST talked about various steps taken by the Central Government and DST to fight the pandemic and how to keep vaccines safe and to ensure it reaches every nook and corner of the country. He also spoke about ways in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) could play a greater role in fighting the pandemic.

“Technologies have been developed for storing and transporting vaccines to every nook and corner of the country. New ways of storing vaccines have been developed as per the Indian conditions. Convergence of technologies is the future, and AI can play a great role in diagnostics, telemedicine and will have tremendous importance in remote monitoring, diagnostics and decision-making in fighting pandemic,” Prof Sharma said.

Speaking about the 50 years of DST, he pointed out that it has been a long journey, and foundational technology has been seeded, establishing DST as a nursery to help, nurture and grow young talents for the progress and development of the country.

Conventionally, Iodine value is determined using manual titration, and few analytical instruments based on automated titration are also available in the market. However, these methods take longer analysis time, are costly, and use toxic chemicals. Researchers, at CSIR-CSIO, developed a rapid analysis technique, which takes just three minutes for analysis of Iodine Value. Also, the cost of analysis per sample was reduced drastically, the CSIR-CSIO statement said.

The technology had been transferred to M/s Comfax Systems, a Chandigarh-based start-up. The technology has applications in Oil extraction units, quality control and assurance labs, food regulatory authorities, soaps and cosmetics, bakeries, meat industry, paint industry, biodiesel analysis, and charcoal industry. The technology is also useful in determining adulteration in edible oils and fats.

Currently, PIVA has been calibrated and tested for Coconut, Sunflower, Mustard, Palm, Rice Bran, Soyabean, Groundnut, Olive Oil, and Ghee. This new development is a part of the ongoing effort to strengthen the food testing capabilities by introducing quick and advanced Food Testing Kits. This is the newest addition to the approved kits/ equipment approved by FSSAI for rapid food testing.

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Keywords: Iodine Value Analyzer, FSSAI, CSIR-CSIO, CSIR, Central Scientific Instruments Organisation, Precision Iodine Value Analyzer, PIVA, Iodine Value, Food testing, World Food Safety Day

Marc Laboratories is an Uttar Pradesh-based young progressive enterprise withoperating base in 13 otherstates. This agreement between CSIR-CDRI and Marc Laboratories could pave the way for developing a synthetic compound S-007-867 as modulator of blood coagulation cascade, in particular as inhibitor of collagen-induced platelet aggregation. This could be helpful in treating coronary and cerebral artery diseases, CSIR-CDRI statement said.

Arterial thrombosis is an acute complication that develops on the chronic lesions of atherosclerosis leading to heart attack and stroke. Therefore, inhibition of platelet-collagen interaction is anticipated to be a promising therapeutic strategy to treat intravascular thrombosis. The compound,S-007-867,significantly inhibits collagen-mediated platelet activation and subsequently reduces release of ATP from dense granules and thromboxane A2 via COX1 activation. Thus it effectively maintains blood flow velocity and delays vascular occlusion (blockage of the blood vessel, usually with a clot) and inhibits thrombogenesis (formation of blood clot) without compromising hemostasis.

This drug has less bleeding risk as compare to presently existing therapies for coronary and cerebral artery diseases. In animal experiments, the compound elicited better antithrombotic protection than the standard of care with minimal bleeding tendency.The Institute has recently obtained permission to initiate Phase I clinical trials for the drug.

Besides, in COVID-19 disease, critical patients with Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have high D-dimer and reduced prothrombin time (PT), suggesting pro-thrombotic state. In addition, these patients have high number of circulating neutrophils, inflammatory mediators/cytokine, CRP and lymphocytopenia. Therefore, drugs reducing platelet reactivity and neutrophil activation could be beneficial, and based on these criteria the prophylactic use of this compound could be an option due to its high safety and less effect on bleeding time.

On this occasion, Prof. Tapas K. Kundu, Director (CDRI) said, “This is a great moment for CSIR-CDRI, the premiere drug development and research institute of the country to license out an in-house developed compound for further investigations as part of our commitment of affordable healthcare for all.” He was optimistic that this compound would reach the market soon to benefit the humanity.

Likewise, Mr. Prem Kishore, Chairman Marc Laboratories said, “Marc’s association with CSIR-CDRI will be beneficial to both parties and they will be working hard to take the compound forward so that it sees light of the day soon.”

“This Industry-Institute partnership will surely be very beneficial for development of Pharma cluster in Uttar Pradesh and will open up new avenues for it by their collective efforts as broadly visualized by honourable Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan; Director General, CSIR, Dr Shekhar C. Mande and honourable Chief Minister, U.P., Yogi Adityanath,” Prof.Kundu added. —————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Keywords: CSIR-CDRI, CSIR, Coronarydiseases, Cerebral arterydiseases, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR, Central Drug Research Institute,Marc Laboratories, Heart Attack, Stroke, Drug Compound,  S-007-867, MoHFW, DST, DSIR

This should be the future strategy to reduce loss of human lives during glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF), said a study carried out by scientists from IIT Kanpur. The study carried out by Dr. Tanuj Shukla and Prof. Indra Sekhar Sen, Associate Professor from IIT Kanpur, with support from the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, has been published in the international journal ‘Science’.

Temperature and the numbers of extreme rainfall events are rising at an increased rate because of climate change. Suitably called Earth’s “Third Pole”, the Himalayan region is home to the largest ice mass outside of the planet’s Polar Regions. The glaciers in the Himalayas are melting at a faster rate creating new lakes and expanding the existing ones. Besides, the rising temperatures and extreme precipitation events make the region increasingly prone to a variety of natural hazards, including devastating glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs).

GLOFs occur when either a natural dam containing a glacial lake bursts or when the lake’s level suddenly increases and overflows its banks, leading to catastrophic downstream destruction. For example, in 2013, an avalanche caused the glacial moraine holding back Chorabari Lake in northern India to give way, releasing a sudden torrent of water, boulders, and debris that scoured the river valley below, resulting in the deaths of more than 5,000 people. With climate change, these events are likely to increase in frequency and magnitude throughout the Himalayas. However, the remote, challenging Himalayan terrain and the overall lack of cellular connectivity throughout the region have made the development of early flood warning systems virtually impossible.

In their recent work, the Scientists also point out that the surge of meltwater in mountain streams is most commonly caused by cloud-burst events during the monsoon season (June–July–August) time frame. However, the recent (7 February 2021) sudden surge of meltwater in the river tributary of the Ganga, Dhauli Ganga, during the dry season suggests that this time frame needs to be expanded. The catastrophe in the upper Dhauli Ganga basin is linked to processes other than precipitation events, such as snow avalanches, rock landslides, or other unidentified drivers, and therefore determining all of the potential major and minor drivers behind sudden surges of meltwater into headwater streams is vital for understanding the hazard profile of the region.

The IIT Kanpur team suggests that efforts to help mitigate GLOF events in the future should include the creation of a network of satellite-based monitoring stations that could provide in situ and real-time data on GLOF risk.

“The integration of monitoring devices with satellite networks will not only provide telemetry support in remote locations that lack complete cellular connectivity but will also provide greater connectivity in coverage in the cellular dead zones in extreme topographies such as valleys, cliffs, and steep slopes,” the authors explained.

H₂S is the primary gas produced from the microbial breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen, and this necessitates easy detection of its emission from sewers and swamps.

Responding to this challenge, scientists from the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), Bangalore, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, in collaboration with their counterparts from Saudi Arabia, have developed an exceptionally sensitive and selective H₂S Gas sensor developed by impersonating the neuron responsible for identification of airborne molecules or olfactory receptor neuron (ORN).

The impersonation of ORN with the help of an organic electronic device consisting of biodegradable polymer and monomer under Dr. Channabasaveshwar Yelamaggad from CeNS and Prof. Khaled N. Salama, Sensors lab, Advanced Membranes, and Porous Materials Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia has been published in the journals ‘Materials Horizon’ and ‘Advanced Electronic Materials’ recently.

The fabricated sensor consists of a heterostructure consisting of two layers – the top layer a monomer and is realized with a novel chemical tris (keto-hydrazone), which is both porous and contains H₂S specific functional groups, and the bottom layer is the active channel layer which plays a key role in altering the current and mobility of charge carriers.

Thus the synergistic combination helps to pre-concentrate the H₂S molecules, initiate an acid-base chemical reaction, and thereby brings a change in the majority carriers (holes) of the channel region in the device. The capacitance sensor (a sensor that detects nearby objects by their effect on the electrical field created by the sensor) developed by the scientists showed an excellent sensitivity in detecting H₂S gas with an experimental limit of detection of around 25 parts per billion. It also has high ambient stability of around 8 months without compromising sensing performance.

The COVID-19 vaccination awareness campaign organized by Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS)will be carried out through COVACNEWS android-based mobile app made by INYAS for ensuring information at the fingertips. A pan-India info-graphic video and audio competition with motivation to transform information into better readable and effective formats is also being organised along with the GYAN TEEKA webinar series dedicated to increase awareness about vaccines through eminent speakers and open statement on COVID-19 vaccination.

The entries of the competition will be utilized to increase vaccine awareness by INYAS, and these competitions will be judged in three groups – school, college and professional.

Launching the campaign, the DST Secretary highlighted the role of science communication in the present situation when the whole world is fighting against COVID-19.

“Lessons of past pandemics show that the second wave of any pandemic is a norm, and we cannot let our guard down at any stage. Communicating with the masses becomes very important in such a situation. It is our responsibility to tell people in simple waysthat will appeal to them psychologically. Our target is to reach out to the grassroots, rural population and focus on things which are relevant”, Professor Sharma pointed out.

Applauding the efforts of scientists, President, Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Prof Chandrima Saha said, “Scientists have done a commendable job in this testing time. India is leading the worldwide vaccination programme. Now,the involvement of society is required for successful vaccination throughout the country. Vaccines can help the body fight the disease and create herd immunity. However, for this, a large population needs to be vaccinated,” she pointed out.

“We believe that as a young body of responsible scientists and engineers, it is our duty to participate in making people aware about the benefits of immunization through vaccines and abolish the myths which are deterring people from taking the shots,” said Chandra S Sharma, Chair INYAS.

The speakers stressed that vaccination of such a large population in such a short period of time is extremely challenging, and thus cooperation between government and public is extremely important to enable the execution of this daunting task.

The speakers for the programme consisted of Nimish Kapoor, Scientist ‘E’ and In-charge, India Science wire, Vigyan Prasar, Santosh Pandey, Managing Editor, India Science Wire and Sabyesachi Bharti, Training Coordinator, India Science Wire, VigyanPrasar.

“Capturing the essence of science related news in writing could be challenging. Hence, to make it easier for the media, we thought of having this workshop. I am really happy to see the audience present for the workshop and hope that they have received the message that we are trying to communicate,” said Nimish Kapoor.

The Press Reporters and Editors Workshop also consisted of a panel discussion on the topic ‘Challenges & Opportunities in Science, Environment and Health Reporting,’ which was held from 12.30 pm to 1.30 pm. It was moderated by Fredrick Noronha, and included Santosh Pandey, Dr. Rajiv Nigam, Emeritus Scientist(retired), NIO, Dr. Ramesh Kumar, Senior Scientist (retired), NIO, Ramnath Raikar, Asst. Editor, The Navhind Times and Prakash Kamat, Senior Journalist as panelists.

“We had a very healthy panel discussion and knowing my fellow discussant’s experiences as well as sharing my own experiences to the audience was a great experience. I hope through this discussion the audience has learnt more about the field of science, ” said Santosh Pandey.

The workshop saw a wholehearted participation from the media while exchanging ideas in a healthy discussion.

“Social Media plays an important role in today’s world to gain knowledge and knowing about its functioning is crucial. Hence, I feel grateful for the opportunity to put forth my views and providing a perspective to our audience,” said Sabyesachi Bharti

The aim of the workshop was to impart good scientific temperament among the reporters and fellow participants.

Following the workshop, an Innovation Exhibition based on the theme of `Technology’ was also inaugurated. The inauguration took place in the presence of  Dr. B.K. Mishra, Director, IIT-Goa, Prof. Gopal Mugeraya, Director, NIT Goa, Jose Noronha, Chairman, Innovation Council and GPSC and Shekhar Sardesai, CEO, Kineco Group.

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keywords: training, techniques, writing, reporters, editors, science, environment, health, journalist, news, India Science wire, VigyanPrasar, challenging, media, message, innovation,  exhibition, technology, IIT-Goa, NIT Goa, GPSC, Kineco, NIO, Navhind Times, scientific temperament, Innovation Council

Kinnow is the second most important fruit after grapes and is cultivated in almost 125 countries with a total production of 1,155 million tonnes per annum. It is one of the major citrus fruit crops in north India. It is cherished fresh and the peak harvesting season is from November to February.

With increasing demand and consumption of Kinnow fruit in the form of juice, large quantities of waste in the form of peels, pulp and seeds are also getting generated. In the absence of any technique to process them, they are dumped randomly posing severe environmental problems. This despite the fact that the waste contains high sugar content and nutrients. Peels particularly are a rich source of cellulose, pectin, hemicelluloses, lignin, essential oils and phenolic compounds. Bitterness in the waste residues is one of the major problems that come in the way of reusing them.

A team of scientists at DBT-CIAB has come up with a solution. They have found that an enzyme called Naringinase can reduce the level of a compound called Naringin in the waste, which is responsible for the bitter taste by up to 65.95 percent. The enzyme worked by converting Naringin into another compound called Naringenin, which is not bitter. The debittered kinnow waste was then supplemented for the preparation of antioxidant and nutrient-enriched pasta.

The team consisted of Gisha Singla, Parmjit S. Panesar, Rajender S. Sangwan and Meena Krishania.

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Keywords: Department of Biotechnology, waste, food supplement, citrus, peels, pulp, seeds, environment, sugar, nutrients, essential oils, enzyme, Naringinase, Naringin, Naringenin, antioxidant, pasta

In this integrated study involving observation of critical bio-lethal parameters coupled with a bio-assay of the black clams, sensitive information could be obtained by the scientists. Results of the study revealed that information on sublethal exposure of metal lead (Pb) and its toxic effects on the black clam is an important precursor to assess pollution in a marine environment. The study also helped them to make a reliable risk assessment of other aquatic lives for enforcing stringent water quality management practices.

The study showed that there was significantly higher pollution of heavy metals in the northern parts of the estuarine system water sample of the southwest coast of India during pre-monsoon, followed by monsoon and post-monsoon, except for lead and nickel. The research revealed that the alterations in antioxidant enzyme activities in black clams may lead to biochemical enescence. The utility of the study of cellular,physiological, biochemical, and histo-pathological biomarker responses was established in the study that can be used to monitor aqueous contamination of heavy metal.

The study found a significant increase in the concentration of leads (Pb) in the bodies of clams after chronic exposure. Even a small concentration of lead in the estuary can lead to many-fold increase in its concentration in black clams which may damage the genetic materials, proteins and lipid and lead to health risks to other marine organisms including humans consuming them.

As per researchers,metal concentration was found to be higher in these diment during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon periods,except for lead and nickel in the estuary which might be due to the weaker flushing leading to the entrapment of metals in the sediment. Over a longer period,they can therefore help prevent the spread of harmful metal sediments into waterways used by local communities.A reduced discharge from the Periyar River was observed during the study, which may also lead to the increasing concentration of metals during pre-monsoon in the sediment.

The researchers of this study affiliated with the National Center for Coastal Research (NCCR),Chennai and Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Kerala, found a direct correlation between the degree of industrialization and contamination of the Cochin Estuarine System (CES) of India’s south west coast by heavy metals leading to metabolic stress in blackclams.

In this study, researchers used blackclams Villoritacyprinoides transplanted from relatively clean waters of the Cochin Estuarine System to assess lead (Pb) metal concentration at a coastal area of Cochin on the southwest coast of India. It is an industrially active zone along with CES on the bank of the Periyar river which releases nearly 0.105 million m3/day of effluents affecting aquaticorganisms and ecosystems. The research findings are published in the journal of Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

Human health is threatened due to exposure to heavy metals like lead, cadmium,and mercury as these metals accumulate in the original food chain moving up through higher trophic levels with negative effects on marine resources. Therefore, researchers propose that this evidence should be used as an input for public policy decisions to reduce the effects of human activities on coastal and marine ecosystems.

Led by S. Bijoy Nandan,the research team comprised of K.V. Neethu, N.D. Don Xavier, P.R. Jayachandran, P.R Anu, and A.M Midhun of Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology & Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, CUSAT, Cochin,D. Mohan, S.R.Marigoudar NCCR, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Chennai

The indigenous vaccine for COVID-19, COVAXIN,developed by Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech, is a highly purified, whole virion, inactivated SARS-CoV2. The vaccine is formulated with Algel-IMDG, which contains chemisorbed TLR7/8 agonist onto aluminum hydroxide gel to generate the requisite type of immune responses. Owing to the significant role played by TLR7/8 agonist molecule in the performance of a vaccine, CSIR constituent lab, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) based in Hyderabad, was approached by BBIL to develop the synthetic route for the agonist molecule with indigenous chemicals at an affordable price and with the highest purity. This agonist molecule has aided Bharat Biotech to scale up the production of the adjuvant.

The project was spearheaded by Dr. Chandrasekhar, Director, and Dr. Raji Reddy, Senior Scientist from IICT and has been completed in a record time of 4 months. Also, CSIR-IICT team lead by Dr Mohana Krishna Mudiam, Senior Principal Scientist and Professor Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcCSIR) played a key role in the development of an analytical method for testing TLR7/8 agonist molecule and its method validation procedures through National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited lab.

Acknowledging the work undertaken by CSIR-IICT towards the development of the novel agonist, Dr. Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech said, “The process technology developed by CSIR-IICT for the agonist molecule is playing an important role in the production of adjuvant for COVAXIN.” DrShekhar Mande, DG, CSIR and Secretary, DSIR complimented the CSIR-IICT team for rising to the occasion in making the process affordable and enabling the development of agonist molecules in record time and mentioned that this is yet another instance of CSIRs commitment towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat”.

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Keywords: COVID-19, Pandemic,Healthcare, CSIR, Repurposed Drugs, Clinical Trials, Diagnostic kits, Feluda, Dry Swab, Direct RT-PCR,SARS-CoV-2