Science in India Newsletter

Index

S&T Policies:

Miscellaneous:

 S&T Policies:

1. India – US Joint Industry working group for biotechnology

India-US joint industry working group for biotechnology has decided to prepare a comprehensive report in three areas: transfer of biomaterials, clinical research and new product development and innovation.

The Indo-US industry working group in biotechnology has been set up under the High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) between the two countries. It is coordinated by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, New Delhi (FICCI) and US India Business Council (USIBC).
(Press Release Indian Government 22.05.2006, PRA:MV:NC)            

The Indian government has restructured the Department of Ocean Development into a Ministry of Earth Sciences. The ministry will consist of two major entities – Ocean Science and Technology Department and India Meteorological Department. It will be headed by Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal. He said that the country cannot reach the 10% growth rate unless science and technology assumes a role in the front.

(PTI Science Service, 16.-31.05.2006)                                         
 

Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) is an application for inventorisation of Traditional Knowledge (TK) to preserve and protect the Indian Traditional Knowledge from bio-piracy at international level. It was conceptualized by the National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR), New Delhi and was officially launched on 26 March 2002. The first project phase led to the release of a CD on TKDL-Ayurveda with information in 14 authentic Ayurvedic texts in patent application format, compromising 36.000 formulations. Next areas include Unani, Siddha and Yoga systems of medicine.
TKDL has become a model for other countries for replication. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has pointed out that the system should be replicated and the UNESCO discovered its usefulness for inventorisation of intangible cultural heritage.
(CSIR News, Vol 56 Supplement May 2006, http://203.200.90.6/tkdl/LangDefault/common/Home.asp?GL=Eng)
  

The global biotechnology industry is pegged at $54 billion and is growing currently at 17 percent annually. The Indian biotechnology market is growing at a pace of 36.5 percent per annum which is one of the highest in the world today. India, which ranks among the top 10 biotech hubs of the world, would join the elite club of top 5 biotech hubs, should it achieve the $5 billion mark (10% of the global market) by 2010.

India is already in a pivotal position to secure a significant share in important segments such as vaccines, diagnostics and clinical trials. It is considered that India already has the largest vaccine production capacity in the world.

Even if 15 percent of all clinical trials were to be outsourced in the next 3 years and predictions made by BCC Research come true, $4 billion worth of clinical trials will be conducted in developing countries. (Source: Economic Times, Nov 2004) and a large part of this opportunity can be secured by the Indian biotech industry. It is estimated that India can attract around $250-300 million of the global clinical trials market by 2010. (Source: Centre Watch, Aug 2003).

Considering the growth rate to be constant at around 30 percent, the biopharma segment has the potential to reach an estimated value of $3 billion by 2010. (Source: Ernst & Young)

(Biospectrum, Issue 4, April 2006,  full article) 

                                                                                          

Prof. Kazuo N Watanabe of the Gene Research Center & Graduate School for Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Japan, was in India to participate in BioAsia 2006 held in Hyderabad in February. He spoke to BioSpectrum about the biotechnology industry in Japan. Excerpts of the interview at: http://www.biospectrumindia.com/content/BioClusters/10604113.asp 
(Biospectrum. Issue 4, April 2006)                 

                                                                                          

Interview with Robert A Honor, vice president - life sciences, Rockwell Automation:
Which is an emerging market in the Asia Pacific region for your range of products?
In the Asia Pacific region, India and China are clearly putting in a lot of efforts in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology sectors. I put India a little ahead of China mainly because of regulatory aspects, for having more US FDA audited facilities outside the US in the world.

We see great opportunity for our range of products in India owing to a couple of factors. First, the growth of the industry by itself will provide a great opportunity. Second, the export nature. A lot of our products and services will build Indian capabilities to meet the process requirements of the global standards so as to go to the international market. The regulatory aspect is one factor and then the overall growth of the industry and investments that is the need of the industry itself makes us to look at India.
(Biospectrum, Issue 4, April 2006)                                              
 

In 2005, India accounted for the highest yearly percentage growth rate increasing its Biotech cotton area by 160 percent. With this India became the seventh largest adopter of biotech crop, according to a report authored by Dr Clive James, chairman and founder of ISAAA, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications.

(Biospectrum. Issue 4, April 2006, full article)                               
 

 Research:

8. Guidelines on stem cell research

Guidelines on stem cell research will released in the near future. The Indian Council of Medical Research / Department of Biotechnology (DBT) guidelines are in their final phase of preparation. The Indian government is strongly promoting stem cell research in the country. To this end, a stem cell society has been established and the institutional infrastructure in institutes strengthended, like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Post Graduate Institute (Chandigarh) and National Centre of Brain Research (NBRC).

(PTI, Science Service, 16.-31.01.2006)                                    
 

The government has approved two projects to boost research and education in agricultural science. The Rs. 1,190 crore (ca. 200 Mio. EUR) National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) aims to give a strong impetus to agricultural research. Research will be done in frontier areas of agricultural sciences. The components of the project would be implemented by a network of public research institutions, private sector, NGOs and other stakeholders.

(The Economic Times, 30.06.2006)                                            
 

Drug Controller General of India, Department Biotechnology (DBT), Delhi and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Delhi are exploring chances of working jointly with the US Food and Drug Administration to put an appropriate regulatory, monitoring and enforcement mechanism in place to conduct clinical trials and research in India.
Paolo Miotti, a scientist at the US-based National Institute of Health (NIH), who has been appointed as facilitator for the US embassy at New Delhi, said US supported India’s plan to raise the capability of its drug approving agency.
The clinical research industry in India has increased from 2 mill. Rps (ca. 34.000 EUR) to 10 mill. Rps (ca. 170.000 EUR) during the last three years. According to a McKinsey report by 2010 the clinical research industry was expected to grow up to 500 mill. Rps (8,3 Mio EUR).

(PTI Science Service, 16.-30.04.2006, The Hindu 07.04.2006: see article)                                                                               
                                                                                           
 

INCITE (Indian Networks Cooperation in Information Society Technology with Europe) wants to facilitate IT cooperation between India and Europe in the R&D sector. Its mission is to spread awareness on the access to the IST funding programme of the European Commission to the Indian IT community. The project started in June 2005 with three objectives: helping Indian organisations to access and benefit from EU-funding, promoting IT cooperation at research level and setting up a permanent platform for cooperation. Three events were organised in Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai. The next round of events will take place in September in Hyderabad, Chennai and Cochin. Three more are scheduled in January 2007 in Kolkata, New Delhi and Bangalore.

(EU-India Update, Vol 6, #2, March/April 2006)                             
 

India and Germany want to intensify their renewable energy cooperation. During a meeting with the Indian Minister for Renewable Energies Vilas Muttemwar, Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that India is an interesting market for German companies. He invited India to participate in the international political network REN 21. India is expanding its industrial field in wind power, photovoltaic, biomass and hydropower. India will host the World Wind Power Conference in November 2006.
(www.internationale-kooperation.de, www.bmu.de)                       
 

 Research:
 

13. New gene responsible for pancreatitis identified

Scientists from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad and the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad have identified a gene called Cathepsin B, the second candidate gene after SPINK-I, which is likely to independently cause the disease of Tropical Calcific Pancreatitis, unique to India and neighbouring countries.
So far it was assumed that food habits and environmental factors caused the disease but research by the two institutes has confirmed the cause is genetic and peculiar to the region.

(PTI Science Service, 16.-30.04.2006
Further information at: http://gut.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/gut.2005.087403v1)

                                                                                           
 

Latest tuberculosis research reveals that strains of the virus prevalent in patients from India differ from those in Pakistan or Bangladesh and there are negligible chances of Asians passing the disease to europeans. The study published in the 2005 issue of “The Journal of Microbiology” stated that there was a noticeable geographical association in the origin and properties of TB among groups of people from different ages, countries and ethnic regions living in London.

(PTI Science Service, 16.-30.04.2006
Full article at: http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=373853)
 
                                                                                           
 

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science here have found that curcumin, isolated from turmeric (“Gelbwurz”), kills malaria parasites.
On the basis of its finding, the team, led by biochemist Govindarajan Padmanabhan has proposed to the World Health Organisation a novel artimisinin-curcumin therapy to treat malaria.
The scientists have been granted a US patent for the invention which could potentially bring down the cost of treating malaria, especially the resistant variety.
Padmanabhan said that animal studies done in his laboratory have proved that curcumin-artimisinin combination is very effective against malaria. Their report appeared in the May issue of the journal “clinical therapeutics”.

(PTI Science Service, 16.-30.04.2006, The Hindu 18.04.2006 see article)
 
                                                                                           
 

As a major step forward in fusion research, the Superconducting Steady State Tokamak (SST-1), a crucial device in a fusion reactor, is expected to become functional in six months time. India is also participating in an international initiative on fusion research, ITER. "While we are participating in ITER, we are also involved in fusion research independently," Prof P K Kaw, Director of the Gandhinagar-based Institute of Plasma Research, said. " The SST-1 was being designed to maintain plasma for 1000 seconds. Under the country’s plan, scientists would work on next stage of tokamak, SST-2, during 2015-20 while during 2020-2040, ITER-like experiments are expected to be done.

(PTI Science Service, 16.-30.04.2006)

                                                                                           
 

Scientists at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Hyderabad have developed a knockout mouse strain that will go a long way in creating designer dairy animals with modified milk properties. This will also help in creating human disease models and in drug discovery.
The CCMB scientists, led by Dr Satish Kumar, have joined the select club by genetically engineering a mutant mouse strain that lacked kappa-casein, one of the important milk protein genes. Though healthy without the gene, the females lost the ability to produce milk, Dr Lalji Singh, Director of CCMB, said.
Though the knockout technology is in vogue for the last 15 years, it is for the first time that kappa-casein is excluded.

(PTI Science Service, 16.-31.05.2006, Link to Full report)

                                                                                           
 

The occurrence of paleobes for the first time from a deep-sea sediment core obtained from a depth of 5904 m from the Chagos trench in the Indian Ocean was revealed. Culturable fungi, direct counts of bacteria, age of the sediments based on the radiolarian assemblage, total organic carbon, Eh and CaCO sub(3) were determined in these sediments. The age of the sediments from which fungi were isolated was estimated to range from greater than 0.18 to 0.43 million years (Ma), being the oldest recorded age for recovery of culturable fungi. It is proposed that deep-sea sediments are a source of paleobes, which could be useful in studies on palaeoclimate, long-term microbial survival and biotechnology.

Patents: The National Institute of Oceanography has filed 36 patent applications. 3 patents were granted in India, 10 in USA and 1 in UK from diverse fields such as pharmacology, antifouling and marine instrumentation.

(National Institute of Oceanography, Annual Report 2004/2005)


                                                                                           
 

Scientists from the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa in collaboration with researchers at the National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, and International Centre for Generic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in New Delhi, have isolated two anti-malarial molecules from mussels and these molecules may be used in conjunction with conventional drugs.
Pre-clinical toxicity study of the molecules have shown no side effect. Clinical trials will begin in two months.
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has been assigned a US patent for the discovery of two promising compounds NIO-1 and NIO-2 from mussels for the treatment of malaria.

(Biospectrum. Issue 4, April 2006, full article)

                                                                                           
 

A team of Indian scientists led by Rajesh S Gokhale, an HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Maryland, U.S.) international research scholar at the National Institute of Immunology in New Delhi, has identified five key genes that enable Mycobacterium tuberculosis to acquire the iron it needs to sustain growth and promote infection.

"Targeting genes within this cluster represents a good strategy for preventing tuberculosis and other mycobacterial infections," said Gokhale, the lead investigator on the study. "Because some of these genes are conserved across a number of related bacterial families, they are promising targets for drugs to treat TB and other bacterial diseases."

(Biospectrum. Issue 4, April 2006, full article)


                                                                                           
 

The Structural Engineering Research Centre, Chennai undertook six new sponsored research projects during 2004-2005. It also participated in a programme under the New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative scheme, on the development of a 500 kW, low cost Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine with the National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore and Sangeetha Group of Companies. Other major activities included: static and cyclic tests on vibration control of buildings under seismic excitation, wind tunnel investigations, “health monitoring of a fly over bridge in Visakhapatnam Port Trust”, an analytical study on the structural response of cold formed panel, development of user friendly interactive computer programmes and algorithms and work on the development of an expert system for condition assessment of bridges. 155 research papers were published, SERC edited and published the proceedings of the International conference on advances in concrete composites and structures (ICACS) 2005 and co-edited the proceedings of an Indo-US workshop with experts from the USA.

(CSIR NEWS, Vol 56 No 10, 30.05.2006, link: http://www.sercm.org)

                                                                                           
 

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has begun work on setting up the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) which will be used to provide location information to users. It will consist of seven satellites and a large ground segment and it is based on GEO and inclined GSO satellites. The IRNSS could help open up opportunities for civil aviation and civil applications.

(The Hindu, 06.07.2006)

                                                                                           
 

 Academic Exchange/ Education:

23. National Technology Day celebrated

S&T Minister Kapil Sibal said at a function to celebrate National Technology Day that strategies have to be deployed to develop skilled human resource in education institutions in order to accelerate innovation and boost R&D. The Ministry of Science & Technology will soon introduce a legislation in parliament for sharing intellectual property rights generated in government funded/ aided research activities and it is hoping to that the level of R&D expenditure may increase to 2 per cent of the GDP.

(Press Release, Ministry of Science & Technology, 11.05.2206)

                                                                                          
 

The ESCP-EAP, European School of Management Berlin introduced the possibility for its students to pass the first semester at the Management Development Institute, New Delhi during the 1 year “Master’s in European Business” (MEB). This programme meets the growing importance of the Indian economic region and its great potential for many companies, said Prof. Dr. Stefan Schmid, Scientific Head of the MEB Programme.

(more information at: www.escp-eap.de/index.php?id=23 )

                                                                                          
 

Kapil Sibal, Minister for Science & Technology and Ocean Development interacted with the group of young scientists who represented India at the 56th Meeting of Nobel Laureates & students at Lindau, Germany. The highly competitively selected Indian team comprised of 26 young scientists and students in the age group 20-30 yrs.

He said that the purpose of the programme is to provide inspiration from direct interaction with Nobel laureates who are often simple persons with great sense of purpose and vision for global issues. The Minister also mentioned that a Lindau like meeting may be planned in India so that more Indian students get opportunity to interact with great minds in science and students from other parts of the world. In the week after the Lindau meetings, the Indian team also visited several premier German institutions in the area of Chemistry and a Chemical Company.

(Press Release Indian Government, PRA/MV/NC, 10.07.2006)

                                                                                           
 

 Miscellaneous:
 

26. Bangalore Bio 2006 - Highlights

The sixth edition of BangaloreBio concluded on June 9, 2006 with the last day dedicated to agri-biotech and intellectual property rights. The event had attracted delegations from leading biotech countries including France, Germany, Holland and UK. About 72 national and international speakers, 600 conference delegates, 150 exhibitors from over 20 countries and across India participated in this premier biotech event in India. The fourth BioSpectrum-ABLE Indian Biotech Industry survey report was released. According to this report the country’s biotech industry grew by 37.42 percent and recorded $1.45 billion in revenues in the fiscal year 2005-2006.

(www.biospectrumasia.com, 12.06.2006)
 

                                                                                           
 

MK Shankaralinge Gowda, Secretary, Department of IT, Biotechnology and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka:

• The 100 acres biotech park in Bangalore will be operational by the end of 2006 near Electronic City. This project has been awarded to the National Building Construction Company.

• Karnataka supports investments from biofuel companies. Citing the example of the Indian Railways, biofuel farming, where-in 90,000 hectares of land have been allocated for this purpose.

• Karnataka has attracted the highest Venture Capital fund in Asia.

• Karnataka will support stem cell banks and other new areas of biotechnology.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson, Vision Group on Biotechnology and CMD, Biocon Ltd:

• The Institute of Clinical Research has been set up and will help to enhance clinical development in the country

• International patent law firms are looking at India to set up their consulting firms

(Biospectrum. Issue 4, April 2006)

                                                                                           
 

India’s first mission to the moon Chandrayaan-1 will carry two US-made instruments that will look for mineral resources and ice deposits on the lunar surface. An agreement for including the devices was signed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Madhavan Nair and visiting US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) chief Michael Griffin. Griffin said that he was hoping for many more technically challenging and scientifically rewarding projects with India. The two sides also want to complete an agreement for the launch of US satellites and satellites with American components by Indian rockets. Griffin said that he was sorry about American sanctions on some Indian space units and would use his good offices to see that they were lifted.

(PTI Science Service, 16.-31.05.2006)

                                                                                           
 

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Hyderabad has come out with a vision 2015 document to improve the lot by providing scientific solutions to the poor of the semi-arid tropics (SAT) in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa in the next decade.
The strategy would be aligned with the objectives of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), a network of 15 international agricultural research institutes.
Meanwhile, Dr Dar, Director-General of Icrisat, received the Best Technology Incubator 2005 Award, for Agri-Business Incubator (ABI) at Icrisat.

(The Hindu Businessline, 16.05.2006, link to full article)

                                                                                          

Researchers of the Institute of Environmental Research (INFU; University of Dortmund) and the Regional Research Laboratory (RLL, Jammu in Kashmir) succeeded to isolate the active ingredient Camtothecin from entophytic mushrooms of the seldom plant Nothapodytes foetida. The active ingredient is an important precursor for anti-cancer medicine that is successfully being used against bowel cancer.

(more information at: www.infu.uni-dortmund.de, http://www.rrljammu.org)

                                                                                          
 

Voice based Multilingual Information Access (V-Mia) is a user oriented Indo-German language technology project for the introduction of a multilanguage telephone system. After completion of the first project phase in 2008 the V-Mia system will enable the access to train timetables and reservation system of the Indian Railway in 5 languages via telephone. The project is lead by Prof. C.N. Krishnan, AU-KBC research Centre, MIT Campus, Anna University, Chennai and the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI, Saarbrücken). Future industrial partners will include Deutsche Telekom, Siemens and Syspalog Voice Solutions.

(www.dfkai.de, www.cdacindia.com)

                                                                                          
 

SAP India will be investing 20 million EUR in expanding its India operations with software development activities, creation of centres of excellence and a chain of 22 SAP training centres across the country and research. The focus is to expand offices and increasing presence in various industry verticals. New offices were opened this year in Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune.

(The Hindu Business Line, 15.06.2006)

                                                                                

As the latest in a row of international awards and decorations Prof. M.S. Narasimhan received the King Faizal International prize 2006 for his contributions to differential geometry and algebraic geometry which strengthened the link between mathematics and physics. He is one of the principal leaders responsible for developing the school of mathematics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. His research proved useful in fields such as Gauge theory and conformal field theory in physics.

(The Hindu, 05.05.2006)

                                                                                          

A significant part of the chip design and development has been achieved by Indian hardware engineers. They have been working at a Bangalore-based development centre of German chipmaker Infineon and with Infineon co-workers in Munich and Duisburg. It is the first chip for mobile applications that has been fabricated using 65 nanometre technology. The chip packs over 30 million transistors without asking for more battery power. Samsung and IBM have partnered in the project.

(The Hindu, 17.05.2006)

                                                                                          

The intensity of the European contacts with India in the area of the science, education and innovation is on further increase. In this context a German Indian Workshop is planned for 29.07.2006 on the subject "Clean room Technology and related fields ". The workshop is a sequel to the workshop on “Mass Healthcare and Infrastructure Support: Role of Biomechanics and its Industrial Approach" organized by the IIT in collaboration with the Indian Ministry of Science & technology in India last year. In addition, the Julius Maximilian's university of Würzburg in collaboration with the delegation of the European Union for India, the German Embassy (New Delhi) and the Federal Ministry of education and research is organizing a Roadshow about tele-education in the robotics from the 9th to the 15th of October, 2006 in New Delhi, Kanpur, Bombay and Bangalore.

(http://www7.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/roadshow , www.internationale-kooperation.de)

                                                                                          

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.