Science in India Newsletter

Index

S&T Policies:

 S&T Policies:

1. India to have World Class Tsunami Warning System

Minister for Earth Sciences, Kapil Sibal said about the Early Warning System for Tsunami and Storm Surges, being developed by his ministry that it will issue alerts about the killer tidal waves within 10 minutes of a massive earthquake hitting the sea bottom with “more accurate” warnings following soon after. He stated “we will keep our promise of giving the country a world class tsunami warning system by September 2007.” Noting that the existing tsunami warning system issued as many as 60 per cent false warnings, Sibal said the Indian system would issue a warning after analysing data from the bottom pressure recorders — ten such devices are being installed in the Bay of Bengal region and two in the Arabian Sea. Seventeen automatic tide gauges have already been installed in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean that would enable the monitoring of tidal activity round-the-clock, he said.
Thirty-three more such gauges are planned to be installed along the Indian coastline to alert the residents of the coastal regions of an impending tsunami in a bid to avoid a repetition of the 2004 disaster. The ministry has also roped in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for setting up a satellite-based communication facility to receive real time data from the tide gauges and the bottom pressure recorders, Sibal said. An interim early warning mechanism is already operational round-the-clock at the Indian National Centre for Information Services, Hyderabad.
A strengthened network of earthquake monitoring is likely to be operational by mid-2007. Five coastal observing radars and two current meter moorings are planned to be installed towards monitoring storm surges and understanding physical behaviour of oceans. One high frequency radar has been successfully used to detect and measure the strength of advancing waves.

(PTI Science Service, 01.-15.01.2007)              

                                                                                          

“We are seeking an unprecedented four-fold increase in the outlay of S&T, and we are confident that with the generous support and patronage that S&T commands in the corridors of decision-making, we will be able to secure this level of funding,” Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said. Advocating a three-pronged strategy for the development of S&T in the country, Sibal said it would be aimed at increasing the quality and numbers of our human resources in science as well as at deepening and widening the value creation of our science outputs. The third strategy would seek to improve the quality of our environment by mounting “mission mode” networked programmes for Process Research Initiatives for Zero Emissions (PRIZE). “Alternative cleaner technologies, development of solar, fuel cell, wind turbine, photovoltaic and cogeneration technologies must be regarded as natural priorities,” Sibal said.
 
(PTI Science Service, 15.-31.01.2007)      

                                                                                        

The Indian space programme continued to make forays in the development of new technologies during the year 2006 with the ground testing of the indigenous cryogenic stage for GSLV, progress made in the GSLV-Mk III project and demonstration of Supersonic Combustion Ramjet (SCRAMJET). The Commercial activities picked up momentum with the winning of two contracts for building communications satellites for European customers jointly with EADS, France. Space exploration mission got further fillip with the “Chandrayaan-1” mission to the moon making substantial progress and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) agreeing to carry two US-NASA instruments on board the spacecraft in addition to its own five primary instruments and three instruments of the European Space Agency (ESA) and one from Bulgaria. As an important strategy for establishing an indigenous and independent satellite navigation system, the government approved in May 2006, the establishment of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS).

(Press Release Indian Government, 02.01.2007)
  

The Government of India approved the reorganization of the Ministry of Ocean Development as Ministry of Earth Sciences and the formation of an Earth Commission on the lines of the Space Commission. The Earth System Organization (ESO) as an executive mechanism under the Ministry of Earth Sciences would have two major entities, namely the Ocean Science and Technology Department and the India Meteorological Department.
An Interim Tsunami Warning Centre, following the Standard Operational Procedure, is made operational at Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) on an around-the-clock basis.
Propagation of Tsunami waves in the ocean and consequent sea level changes will be monitored by the installation of 12 Bottom Pressure Recorders (BPRs). in both the Bay of Bengal and in the Arabian Sea at appropriate locations. One BPR deployed in the deep ocean near Andaman Nicobar Island is sending data. 17 out of 50 Tide Gauges were installed along the Indian coastline including the Andaman & Nicobar Islands as part of this network by Survey of India and National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT). The data is received in real time by INCOIS.

(Press Release Indian Government, 02.01.2007) 

                                                                                          

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has urged the Indian Government to extend the 150 percent weighted deduction on investments made by pharmaceutical companies in building and in land for the purposes of R&D. The federation has also solicited waiver of excise and custom duties and service tax for revenue expenditure, capital goods, and services received by research and development units.
According to the views expressed by a senior Research Analyst at RNCOS, the market for pharmaceutical products is expanding rapidly. However, the analysis indicates that naphtha, a raw material for most chemicals, is allowed at zero percent duty in China, which is an archrival of Indian pharmaceutical industry. This makes an adverse affect on the global competitiveness of Indian pharmaceutical companies.

(BioSpectrum, 18.12.2006)                 

                                                                                          

India is under-using its science funds, warns President Abdul Kalam. More than 20 per cent of funds from the 2005–2006 budget were unused, Kalam told the 94th Indian Science Congress in Chidambaram in the beginning of January. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced a progressive increase in the budget allocation for science and technology, from less than one per cent of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to two per cent over the next five years. The president welcomed the commitment but highlighted the under-usage of science funds in recent years, indicating that only 0.25 per cent of the GDP had been spent on science. He suggested a joint team, comprising members from scientific departments and concerned agencies, which would draw up a plan of action for increasing science research, education and training programmes and laboratories over a five-year period.

(SciDev.Net, 08.01.2007)                        

                                                                                          

Moscow has agreed "in principle" to add more reactors to the 2x1000 MW units at the Koodankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu, now under construction, senior Indian officials said ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi in January 2007. The officials informed that the two countries were also working on a declaration of intent on civilian nuclear cooperation, which was likely to be issued during Mr. Putin's visit. Russia supplied enriched uranium for the Tarapur plant in 2006, contrary to the statements made earlier by Russian officials that the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) guidelines prohibited such transfers.

(The Hindu, 23.01.2007)                        

                                                                                          

 Research:

8. Indian biotech has finally arrived on the global scene

Ernst & Young ranked India third in Asia based on the number of biotech companies after Japan and Korea. Indian mega corporate Reliance Industries invested in excess of $100 million (=77 Mio Euro) in building both manufacturing and clinical development capabilities in Reliance Life Sciences and ended the year by acquiring a 74% stake in a UK biotech company GenMedix. Earlier, Nicholas Piramal acquired another UK-based biotech company, Avecia, to strengthen its innovation and contract research base.
In November, Advinus, a Tata-backed life sciences company, announced a $150 million (= 115 Mio Euro) drug discovery deal with Merck. Another landmark investment deal saw French Biotech major Merieux Alliance picking up a 60% controlling stake in Shantha Biotech, catapulting Shantha’s vaccine capabilities onto the world stage.
Pune-based Serum Institute continued to dominate vaccine production in the country and announced plans for an IPO (Initial Public Offering) in 2007. Whilst the investor community remained sceptical of the Indian biotech sector, Avesthagen successfully attracted a 20 million Euro investment from a leading European fund. On the regulatory and policy front, the biotech sector witnessed the implementation of a new regulatory regime proposed by the Mashelkar Committee for recombinant drugs and the MS Swaminathan Committee for GM crops.
The Department of Biotechnology rolled out the strategy document for the sector that included the launch of the SBIRI (Small Business Innovation Research Initiative) scheme to assist start-up enterprises in the incubation phase. The agri-biotech sector saw a significant increase in acreage for Bt cotton. Against this backdrop, the Indian biotech sector today comprises over 280 companies generating revenues of $1.5 billion (= 1,15 billion Euro), which are estimated to reach $5 billion (= 3,8 billion Euro) by 2010. The biotech sector has been growing at a pace of between 35 - 40% per annum for the last three years. The prime impetus for this growth of the Indian biotech sector also emanates from the fast-growing clinical capabilities. India’s ecological and population diversity is an advantage from a research and discovery standpoint. Another important area for India is biogenerics or biosimilars as a number of biological drugs are slated to go off patent in the coming years. The challenges ahead are enormous in terms of building specialised human capital, creating internationally benchmarked regulatory and IP infrastructure and the timely implementation of the National Biotechnology Strategy.

(Financial Express, 01.01.2007)

                                                                                          

India's initiative to recover a satellite launched from Sriharikota on January 10 turned out to be a success on January 22 with the capsule landing in the Bay of Bengal, about 140 km east of the Sriharikota island. The breakthrough is a forerunner to the organisation mastering the re-entry and recovery technologies. The satellite had to withstand fiery heat while plunging into the atmosphere after being in orbit for 12 days at an altitude of 635 km; the mechanism that would open the three parachutes in sequence had to work; its deceleration systems had to function efficiently; and the floatation system had to inflate to make the SRE-I, made of mild steel, float. The SRE-I, in a spherical cone shape, had two payloads and they conducted experiments in microgravity.

(The Hindu, 23.01.2007)                                            
 

BioServe Biotechnologies, headquartered in Laurel, Maryland and Hyderabad, India, has signed a distribution deal with Merck Specialties Private Limited (MSPL), 100 percent Indian subsidiary of Merck. Under the terms of contract, MSPL will market and distribute BioServe's genomic products and services with further plans to extend distribution coverage across Asia in 2007. This partnership will bolster MSPL’s genomics offering and gives BioServe expanded sales coverage across the Indian sub-continent. For the past 15 years BioServe has been helping pharmaceutical, biotech and leading public research institutions to accelerate their discovery programs with pioneering molecular research products and services. Built around its core services spanning nucleic acid purification, DNA synthesis, DNA sequencing and genotyping, and a cutting-edge production facility in India, BioServe delivers a complete ‘biomaterial to validated data’ genomics solution.

(BioSpectrum, 16.01.2008)                                                                               
                                                                                           
 

Cord blood banking has emerged as a biological insurance from a new born against various deadly diseases. Cord blood stem cells are more proliferate and have a higher chance of matching family members than stem cells from bone marrow.
Cord Blood banking, an alien concept in India till a few years ago, is fast becoming popular, courtesy a few private players that are foraying into collection, isolation and storage technologies for cord blood stem cells. India’s first cord blood stem-cell bank, LifeCell, was launched two years ago. Reliance Life Sciences too has entered into the field. Cryobanks recently announced setting up seven banks across the country. Umbilical cord blood stem cells have already been effectively used in the treatment of sickle cell, leukaemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, other forms of cancer, life threatening anaemia, and auto-immune diseases, says Dr Mrinalini Chaturvedi, Medical Director of Cryobanks. “Globally over 7000 cases of Cord Blood Stem Cell transplants have been reported and the list of diseases treatable by umbilical cord stem cells continues to grow. In recent years, cord blood transplants (CBTs) have become widely recognized as a safe, effective, and in many ways preferable, alternative to Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT),” according to Dr Naresh Trehan, well known Indian cardiologist. However, Dr Trehan, advisor to one of the cord blood banks, says the response among parents about storing the cord blood is still low. Meanwhile, the cord banks are looking at creating awareness among public and doctors about the potential of cord blood. At present stem cell therapy is being done in India on a very low scale. An NRI (non resident Indian) is setting up a registry of cord blood units for Indians, and anyone needing cord blood can look for a match there, says Dr Trehan, noting that these are very positive developments which will help such banks to become popular with the people. Besides, institutions, such as the All India Institute of Medical Science and the Armed Forces too have plans on stem cell research. Moreover, Biotech companies are also slowly adding stem cell research as part of their future targeted technologies.

(PTI Science Service, 01.-15.01.2007)                          

                                                                                          

Asia's biggest state-of-the-art stem cell research centre is being planned at the Pune-based Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) campus to treat diseases, a General said. The sum of Rs.500 million (=8,6 Mio Euro) has been allocated for the proposed stem cell research centre. About 150 scientists from Pune's Cell Science Research Centre will be engaged in research and application. Currently, 28 scientists are researching on stem cells in Pune, 10 in New Delhi and seven in Mumbai.
Admiral Singh, also chairman of the Military Medicine Association (Asia Chapter), said funding would be made available to make it Asia's biggest state-of-the-art stem cell research centre as this was the future of medical treatment/ therapy for various diseases.

(News behind News, 01.01.2007)                     
                         
                                                                                         

A petition has been launched to oppose a court case prohibiting Indian companies' ability to make cheap, generic drugs. Aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) is collecting signatures against a lawsuit filed by the pharmaceutical company Novartis. The court case is scheduled for 29 January in Chennai. Novartis' patent claim for the cancer drug Gilvec was rejected by Indian courts in January 2006. In response, the company filed court actions against the Indian Government and the Patent Office in May, claiming a violation of World Trade Organization rules.
Indian law does not recognise patents for derivatives or combinations of existing drugs, which has led to a lucrative trade in generic drugs. Over half the antiretroviral drugs used in developing countries are made by Indian companies. It is feared that if Novartis wins its case, the number of available generics will fall. Médecins Sans Frontières was successful with a similar case in 2001, when 39 companies took the South African government to court over imported generic AIDS drugs. A similar petition garnered 300,000 signatures and the companies eventually dropped their case.

(SciDevNet, 17.01.2007)                     
                         
                                                                                         

 Academic Exchange/ Education:

14. India to spend Rs.5 billion to attract youth to science

India will spend Rs.5 billion (= 86,2 Mio Euro) to attract about one million students in the 10-17 age group toward science education, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said. Under a new project called Innovation for Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE), the ministry would award Rs.5,000 (= 86,2 Euro) to each student over the next five years. "By introducing this project we will force at least three million students to think about science." As for the project, the ministry will organise three-week summer camps for about 450,000 Class 10 pass-outs, who will get a chance to interact with experts. Besides, about 500 students would be given an opportunity for a career in science for 15 years. "The students will be given necessary help to pursue their Bachelors, Masters and PhD degrees," Mr Ramasami, Secretary of the Department for Science and Technology, said.

(www.chennaivision.com, 12.01.2007)

                                                                                          
 

Seeking to reverse the brain drain, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggested to tap the vast pool of knowledge among the Indian scientific community abroad and the introduction of an international peer review in research laboratories. He said India’s visa regime, employment procedures and remuneration systems, especially in Universities and Government institutions, must change to facilitate this. While new careers in science were opening up in the private sector and multinational companies were also investing in science research, “we must also ensure that the public sector too is able to attract bright researchers in science and technology”.

(PTI Science Service, 15.-31.01.2007)
                                                                                          
 

Initiating a trend for future science meets, the Indian Science Congress has for the first time included "knowledge partners" to ensure continuity of scientific studies. The five-day Congress, which took place on January 3rd in Chidambaram, 250 km from Chennai with a focus on planet earth, saw the participation of organisations and institutions that have been working in fields related to earth and space, the Indian Science Congress Association President said. Thirteen institutes, including the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in Lucknow, Indian Institute of Geomagnetism in Mumbai, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Sciences in Hyderabad, National Remote Sensing Agency in Hyderabad and Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology were represented in the Congress.

(Press Trust of India, 02.01.2007)
                                                                                           
 

 Miscellaneous:
 

17. Dr. Bhan Takes Additional Charge as Director General, CSIR

Dr. M.K. Bhan, Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology, has taken over the additional charge as Secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and Director General of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) for a period of three months with effect from January 5, 2007. Dr. Bhan’s appointment comes in the wake of the approval by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, after Dr. V. Prakash, Director of the Central Food Technological Research Institute of CSIR, who was earlier selected to succeed Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, expressed his inability to join on medical grounds. Dr. Mashelkar retired on 31 December 2006.

(Press Information Bureau, 08.01.2007)

                                                                                           
 

BioAsia 2007, the 4th edition of Asia's premier biotechnology event, will be held from February 15 to 17, 2007, at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) in Hyderabad.

(www.pharmabiz.com, 27.12.2007)
                                                                                           
 

Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur and the Society for Sustainable Agriculture and Resource Management - an initiative of former DAAD fellows are jointly organising an International Conference on "Sustainable Agriculture for Food, Bio-energy and Livelihood Security" from February 14-16, 2007 at JNKVV campus Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India.

(DAAD New Delhi Newsletter, December 2006)
                                                                                           
 

Dr. K. Thangaraj, Scientist from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad has received the first Major UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) Award launched by the UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and announced during his last visit to India that the UKIERI was to promote the innovative research and academic excellence between the UK and India. This award has been given to Dr. Thangaraj and his collaborators Dr. Mart Mirazon Lahr and Dr. Toomas Kivisild of Cambridge University for a 4-year collaborative project, which involves genetic analysis of the various populations in India. This is the first major award given to carry out research in the field of genomics out of the 6 major awards selected from 103 proposals from India and the UK. This award carries a research grant of Rs. 2.5 crores (= 430.000 Euro). The British government has allocated a budget of 12 Mio. Pounds for UKIERI until 2011.

(Press Release, CSIR, 21.01.2007)
                                                                                          

Dr. K. Thangaraj, Scientist from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad has received the first Major UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) Award launched by the UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and announced during his last visit to India that the UKIERI was to promote the innovative research and academic excellence between the UK and India. This award has been given to Dr. Thangaraj and his collaborators Dr. Mart Mirazon Lahr and Dr. Toomas Kivisild of Cambridge University for a 4-year collaborative project, which involves genetic analysis of the various populations in India. This is the first major award given to carry out research in the field of genomics out of the 6 major awards selected from 103 proposals from India and the UK. This award carries a research grant of Rs. 2.5 crores (= 430.000 Euro). The British government has allocated a budget of 12 Mio. Pounds for UKIERI until 2011.

(Press Release, CSIR, 21.01.2007)
                                                                                          

This newsletter has been prepared by the Science Section of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, New Delhi. Texts of articles from science magazines and newspapers have been edited for their length and are partly based on information from the Embassy. No responsibility for the content of the articles is accepted.