Science in India Newsletter

Index

S&T Policies:

 S&T Policies:

1. Ministry of Earth Sciences created

Kapil Sibal, Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences is no longer in charge of Ocean Development. The Government has created the Ministry of Earth Sciences to bring ocean and atmospheric observations together and also generate better weather forecast. There is a plan to not only significantly improve the density of the observational network but also technologically upgrade it through installation of equipments such as Doppler Weather Radar, Automatic Rain Gauges, wing Profilers, etc.

(Press Release Indian Government 31.07.2006, PRA:MV:NC)            

Keeping pace with the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the S&T Ministry has made a plan to switch over to total e-governance by March 2007 aiming at more transparency in all areas. The ministry would appoint law officers in all its departments. The change would facilitate project submission and tracking by making these online. It would enable peer review comments through e-mail and electronic circulation of project proposals to task force members.

(PTI Science Service, 01.-15.06.2006)                                         
 

India and the UK have signed a joint statement of intent to create and implement an intellectual property rights program between the two countries. The statement was signed by Commerce and Industry minister, Kamal Nath on behalf of India and the UK Science Minister, Lord Sainsbury during the India-UK Business Leaders Forum meeting at London.

Intellectual property rights is one of the key areas identified by the UK-India joint economic and trade committee as providing potential for increased trade and investment in future. Both the countries have also set up a new Indo-UK science and technology innovation council to promote collaboration in innovation.

Science and Technology Minister, Kapil Sibal said that focus of the council would be on strategic areas of next generation communication technologies, biotechnology and stem cell research, advanced materials and nanotechnology. "The council will also work on key initiatives including new energy and weather systems, and climate change, thus looking at developing and delivering new products to the market," Sibal added.
He said three leading scientists each from India and the UK would work on a road map to further Indo-UK partnership through these strategic and bilateral initiatives. From the Indian side, the names of noted scientist Dr CNR Rao, CSIR Director General, Dr R A Mashelkar and DST Secretary, Dr Ramasami have been proposed.

Sibal announced that the best of Indian and the UK scientists and institutions will collaborate with a funding of £8 million pounds which could go up to £12 million pounds with a matching grant from India.

(Biospectrum, July 2006)
  

During Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal’s visit to the US it was discussed to refurbish facilities at airports for handling biological material for swift movement. Problems occurred at the US where biological material was seen as “dual use” items. According to Sibal world class protocols and guidelines on clinical trials are needed. He said that the Indo-US binational fund for S&T to be set up with an investment of 15 million dollars from each side would be in place by September.

((PTI Science Service, 01.-15.06.2006) 

                                                                                          

The Government has proposed to grant more autonomy to institutions of Science and Technology with a view to providing better opportunities to the scientific community. A Committee comprising of five members, representing the Planning Commission, Ministry of Finance, Scientific Advisory Committee to the Prime Minister, Department of Personnel and Secretary, Department of Science and Technology as the Convener, has been constituted to look into the issues involved. The Committee will recommend measures for liberalising the (i) Planning & Administration (ii) Project Administration (iii) Scientist's matters and (iv) Audit and Accountability.

(Press Release Indian Government 11.08.2006, PRA:MV:NC)                 

                                                                                          

India and UNESCO have signed an MoU to establish a Regional Centre for Education and Training in Biotechnology in Delhi. In addition to education and training, the Centre will have strong research programmes with an aim to develop human resources. The key areas to be covered include nano-biotechnology, stem cell research, biosensors, agriculture and environmental biotechnology.

(PTI Science Service, 01.-15.08.2006)                                       

                                                                                          

The emergence of India as R&D hub has been a hot topic in the conference circuit for some time. Figures place India among the top destinations for outsourcing R&D services. US corporations, in their zeal to optimize every dollar they spent on research and to remain ahead of their competitors, are flocking to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Noida and Pune. Venture capitalists in Silicon Valley are more than willing to bet their dollars on new product because the cost here is low and so would be their risk. After all, India has the twin-advantage of high skills and low wages. At least the current drive for R&D outsourcing is fuelled by these advantages, other factors such as vast potential of the Indian market and proximity to other emerging markets being comparatively insignificant. Guesstimates hover around 400 R&D companies.

(The Economic Times, 25.05.2006)                               
 

 Research:

8. TIFAC study on R&D in India:

The picture has become slightly clear, thanks to a pioneering study sponsored by the Technology Information. Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) New Delhi, a wing under the Ministry of Science and Technology. A database of 170 R&D units involving Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) has been prepared, covering 1998-2003.

The sector has seen $1.13 billion investment in five years since 1998, and employs nearly 23,000 research workers. The investment planned in the next five years is $4.65 billion. Judged by the high number of US patents these units have filed 415 patents, the study concludes that they are working on developing latest products and technologies.

Many proponents of “India as the world’s lab” postulation don’t like to address the fundamental question “what does India gain from being an R&D hub?” or camouflage their responses in genialities. Multinationals (doing R&D here) may find it cheaper to set up manufacturing
base in India itself. The mode of R&D activity is mostly in-house outsourcing (R&D unit in India serving parent
company) and not collaboration or alliance, and contract research with Indian partners.

Quite a few FDI companies are actively engaged in working for defence departments, especially in aerospace and missile technology, Boeing and Honeywell being examples. Some are engaged in genetic engineering which too is a high security area.

(The Economic Times, 25.05.2006)

                                                                                          

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) New Delhi has been granted 543 US patents in the last four years, according to the science journal Nature. Outgoing CSIR dirctor general R.A. Mashelkar says that patents are important as a key technology achievement index of the UNDP.

(Hindustan Times, 01.10.2006)                                            
 

 Research:

10. ICMR to develop drugs from medicinal plants

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) to develop drugs from medicinal plants or multi-herb formulations that have never been compiled. The MoU was signed by ICMR Director General N K Ganguly and NIF Executive Vice President Anil K Gupta. The ICMR will work towards validating the safety and efficiency of the practices that are claimed to have therapeutic value by grassroot healers.

The ICMR will be utilising a huge database of 30,000 medical practices prepared by the NIF (an autonomous body sponsored by Science and Technology Department), through its 'Honeybee Network'. The database has a compilation of rare medicinal practices which were never codified or authenticated by any medical research agency.

(PTI Science Service, July 16-31 2006)                                                                               
                                                                                           
 

The National Medicinial Plants Board, New Delhi (NMPB) has developed agro techniques for 120 medicinial plant species. China and India were two great producers of medicinial plants having more than 40 per cent of the global bio-diversity.

(PTI Science Service, June 16-30 2006)                          

                                                                                          

A US pharma company has obtained worldwide licensing rights to carry out clinical development and commercialization of a novel clot busting therapeutic protein developed by the Chandigarh-based Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), constituent laboratory of CSIR. IMTECH has already obtained a European patent for this molecule and the Indian and US patents are pending.

(PTI Science Service, August 16-31 2006)                     
                         
                                                                                         

Triphala is a new anti-cancer drug, according to Radiation biologists of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai. Studies were conducted on leukemic cells and breast cancer cells. Triphala is a three-in-one powder constituting Emblica officinalis, Terminalia chebula and Terminali belerica. The results suggest that Triphala possessed ability to induce cytotoxicity in tumour cells but spared the normal cells. It might have potential use as an anti-cancer drug for clinical treatment.

(PTI Science Service, August 16-31 2006)                     
                         
                                                                                         

The molecule, codenamed OA-5, was isolated by the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) in Hyderabad in collaboration with the University of Galbarga. The molecule has shown anti-gastric ulcer activity against chemical-induced, stress-induced and ethanol-induced ulcers. It is ready for pre-clinical toxicology studies. It has been isolated from a plant used in folk medicine and mentioned in Ayurveda. The global market for this drug is likely to be over five billion US dollars. IICT has filed for an international patent.

(PTI Science Service, August 16-31 2006)                     
                         
                                                                                         

Scientists of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) New Delhi have developed a new variety of wheat which they claim helps control diabetes and keep cholesterol levels low. The new variety is being cultivated in Karnataka and Maharashtra. It can be raised in only such those areas where cold weather prevails for a long period. Food cooked from the new variety takes four-five hours to digest and releases calories in less quantity.

(PTI Science Service, September 01-15 2006)                     
                         
                                                                                         

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (RLL) has announced that the company received approval to manufacture and market Triviro-LNS kid and Triviro-LNS kid DS, both triple ARV combinations for children, in India. The company has also filed the product with WHO Geneva for pre-qualification. The products are indicated for treatment of HIV infection in children.

(Biospectrum, September 2006)                     
                         
                                                                                         

Rotaviral Diarrhoea:
Rotaviral diarrhoea vaccine specific to India enters Phase II trials

Cholera:
First indigenous r-oral cholera vaccine completes phase I and II clinical trials

Rabies:
Animal vaccine slated for launch during 2006 after regulatory clearances

Typhoid:
New Vi-conjugate developed and technology transferred to industry

Japanese Encephalitis:
Tissue culture based, inactivated Japanese Encephalitis vaccine developed at National Institute of Immunology (NII)

Leprosy:
A leprosy vaccine called "Immuvac" was developed at the NII, New Delhi and the technology transferred to Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Ahmedabad. The product is also recognized as an orphan drug, which is available in the market.

Malaria:
The International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) has been working on understanding the biology of the malaria parasite and developing novel therapeutic strategies against it. Recently, Dr VS Chauhan and Dr Chetan Chitnis at ICGEB, New Delhi were able to produce the recombinant candidate antigens of P. falciparum and P vivax under GLP conditions.

Tuberculosis:
Efforts have been made to develop novel recombinant DNA-based candidate vaccine and recombinant BCG containing relevant antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by Dr Anil K Tyagi of Delhi University (South Campus), New Delhi.

Dengue:
The existence of multiple but distinct dengue virus serotypes is a major factor that has hindered dengue vaccine development efforts.

HIV/AIDS:
A DNA/MVA based vaccine has been developed by Dr Pradeep Seth, ex-professor and head, Department of Microbiology, AIIMS, New Delhi for HIV-1, subtype 'C' prevalent in India.

Anthrax:
Anthrax is a zoonotic disease caused by gram-positive sporulating bacteria bacillus anthracis. The recombinant protective antigen (rPA) against anthrax was developed by Dr Rakesh Bhatnagar of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi and the technology was transferred to New Delhi-based Panacea Biotec.

Human Papilloma Virus:
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has generated an end-to-end mission project on the development of vaccine candidates for Human Papilloma Virus.

FMD Vaccine:
The the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral disease of cloven-hoofed animals and causes serious production losses. Recently Panacea Biotec collaborated with the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) for in-licensing of technology to produce and market FMD vaccine developed by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI).

Others:
R&D efforts are being initiated for several other vaccines such as recombinant DNA based vaccines for filarial, pneumococcal, bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis and duck plague.

(Biospectrum, September 2006, link to full article: http://www.biospectrumindia.com/content/BioBusiness/10609111.asp)                     
                         
                                                                                         

Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Kapil Sibal chaired the 4th meeting of the National Bioresource Development Board (NBDB), Department of Biotechnology in New Delhi.
He released “Jeeva Sampada”, the first database of digitized inventories on bioresources packaged in nine CDs containing information on plant resources, animal resources, microbial resources and marine resources. Over 400 scientists from 150 centres across the country have worked together to complete this task.

Under a project on “Biodiversity characterization suing remote sensing” jointly implemented by Department of Biotechnology & Department of Space, geospatial biodiversity data has been generated for the North Eastern Himalaya, Western Himalayas, Western Ghats and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Under Phase II of the study the Eastern Ghats, Central India and Mangrove regions have been covered, 80 per cent of the country’s forest cover has been mapped. Over 58 scientists from 32 institutes have been involved in this exercise. The uniqueness of the study lies in the availability of location specific information for more than 5000 plant species including their status.

The Minister also launched the Indian Bioresources Information Network (IBIN), the first web enabled portal for proper integration of spatial and non-spatial data. This is the first comprehensive information system, integrating all aspects of bioresources related data (spatial and non-spatial). (www.ibin.co.in)

((Press Release Indian Government 25.07.2006, PRA:MV:NC)                     
                         
                                                                                         

 Academic Exchange/ Education:

19. Brain drain changing into brain gain

CSIR Director R.A. Mashelkar said that he looks at India as a long distance runner. The much quoted brain drain phenomenon is fast changing into brain gain as about 30.000 professionals have returned to India in the last three years. About 70 per cent of IIT students were leaving for abroad ten years back and now the rate has come down to about 30 per cent. However the best brains in the country prefer management to science today, which is a big challenge.

((PTI Science Service, June 16-30 2006)

                                                                                          
 

The Planning Commission has approved setting up an institute in Punjab on the lines of the Indian Institutes of Science, Bangalore, that would strive for “global-level excellence” in research and also offer graduate courses. The total strength of the integrated Master of Science programme in each discipline would be 1000 and of doctoral and post-doctoral around 1055. The existing institute in Bangalore does not have an undergraduate stream.

(PTI Science Service, August 01-15 2006 )

                                                                                          
 

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh presented the renowned Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes 2006 which are given annually to the Indian scientists below the age of 45 years to 13 eminent Indian scientists for their outstanding research contributions.

The winners of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for the year 2006 are: Dr. Vinod Bhakuni, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow and Dr. Rajesh Sudhir Gokhale, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi for Biological Sciences, Dr. Gufran-ullah Beig, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune and Dr. Pulak Sengupta, Jadavpur University, Kolkata for Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean & Planetary Sciences, Dr. Atish Dabholkar, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai and Dr. Sanjay Puri, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi for Physical Sciences, Dr. Virender Singh Sangwan, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad for Medical Sciences, Dr. Srinivasan Sampath, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and Dr. K George Thomas, Regional Research Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram for Chemical Sciences, Dr. Ashish Lele, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune and Dr. Sanjay Mittal, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur for Engineering Sciences, Dr. Vikraman Balaji, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Siruseri and Dr. Indranil Biswas, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai for Mathematical Sciences.

(Press Release Indian Government, 26.09.2006, PRA:MV:NC)

                                                                                           
 

The Union Minister for S&T, Kapil Sibal gave away the CSIR Young Scientist Awards 2006 to six scientists on the occasion of 64th Foundation Day of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) New Delhi. The award winners are : Dr. Mohammad Sohail Akhtar (University of Panjab, Biological Sciences), Dr. B Rajkumar Banerjee, Dr. Srinivas Hotha (National Chemical Laboratory Pune, Chemical Science), Dr. Sandip Kumar Mukhopadhyay (Department of Polymer Science and Technology, University College of Science and Technology, Calcutta), Dr. Prakash Kumar (Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences) and Dr. P. Thankaivelan (Engineering Sciences)

(Press Release Indian Government 27.09.2006, PRA:MV:NC )

                                                                                          
 

Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) in India has signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IITD), further strengthening its relations with one of the world’s leading technology institutions. This includes multiple initiatives aimed at furthering research and development efforts in power and automation technologies and facilitating increased interaction between industry and academia. As part of the MOU, ABB will establish a ‘Professorial Chair’ to facilitate technology development and knowledge sharing between ABB and IITD. In a related initiative, ABB will award students of exceptional talent in the field of electrical engineering scholarships for undergraduate and post graduate study.

(Education Times, 22.05.22006)

                                                                                          
 

 Miscellaneous:
 

24. India is shining in renewable energy sector

The Ernest and Young Attractiveness Indices provide scores for national renewable energy markets, renewable energy infrastructures and their suitability for individual technologies. India has climbed once again, this time displacing Germany to take 3rd place. Government commitment to achieving stretched targets, a supportive tariff scheme, a strong manufacturing base and excellent resourse potential in wind, biomass and solar make India an attractive long term proposition for investors. In May, the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) set an objective for installed renewable energy capacity of 10GW by 2012.

(www.biospectrumasia.com, 12.06.2006)
 

                                                                                           
 

India is hosting the fifth annual international conference of the Asia Pacific Bio-informatics Network (APBioNet), InCoB 2006. This conference provides an international forum presenting cutting-edge computational biology applications and findings on interdisciplinary research.

InCoB 2006 will be held in New Delhi on December 18-20, 2006 and brings together global scientists and practitioners from disciplines including molecular biology, medicine, computer science, mathematics and statistics. It will provide a platform for academia and industry for current developments and future trends in computational biology and for developing products.

(Biospectrum, July 2006)

                                                                                           
 

Eppendorf develops, produces and distributes systems for use in life sciences research laboratories worldwide. Its product range includes pipettes, dispensers and centrifuges as well as consumables such as micro test tubes and pipette tips. Major customers for real-time PCR include Nicholas Piramal, JK Agri Genetics and National Centre for Cell Sciences, Epmotion system has been installed at Orchid Chemicals, Nicholas Piramal, National Centre for Cell Sciences and Madurai Kamaraj University to name a few.

(Umsatz Biowissenschaft: ca. 400.000 EUR, CEO: V. Sankaranarayanan, www.eppendorf.co.in)

                                                                                           
 

The Sartorius Group is a world leading laboratory and process technology supplier covering the segments of biotechnology and mechatronics. Sartorius' key customers are from the pharmaceutical, chemical and food and beverage industries and from numerous research and educational institutes. (Umsatz: 1,55 Mio EUR, CEO: Amit Chatterjee, www.sartorius.com)

(Biospectrum, July 2006)

                                                                                          

The Union Minister for Science & Technology, Kapil Sibal launched the GENO-CLUSTER, a bioinformatics software developed jointly by the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in New Delhi and Jalaja Technologies under the New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) programme.

Speaking on the occasion, Sibal said that NMITLI is the largest public-private-partnership R&D initiative of the Government of India. The GENO-CLUSTER is a suite of high-end software applications based on concepts, which are fundamental to comparative genomics. The tools primarily aim to predict genes, protein functionality and virulence factors and work in tandem to provide a platform conducive to cutting edge research in the in-silico design of novel drug molecules and vaccines.

(Press Release Indian Government 27.09.2006, PRA:MV:NC)

                                                                                          
 

Raman Sukumar, 51, Professor of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, has won the International Cosmos Prize 2006. The prize recognises his outstanding work related to ecology. His research into the ecological relationship between humans and elephants and the resolution of the man-elephant conflicts has been internationally recognised as pioneering work in a little explore field related to the coexistence of wildlife and humans. As in the case of endangered African elephants, a sharp decline in the population of Asian elephants brought the issue to global attention.

(The Hindu, 25.7.2006)

                                                                                          
 

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.