CSIR IGIB and TATA Sons sign an MoU for licensing KNOWHOW related to development of a kit for rapid and accurate diagnosis of COVID-19

CSIR’s constituent lab, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) and TATA Sons signed a MoU for licensing of KNOWHOW for FNCAS9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection Assay (FELUDA) for rapid diagnosis of COVID-19.

The license shall include transfer of the knowledge for scaling up the KNOWHOW in the form of a kit that can be deployed for COVID-19 testing on ground as early as end of May. A completely indigenous scientific invention, FELUDA for COVID-19 has been designed for mitigating the ongoing COVID-19 situation and cater to mass testing. Its main advantages are its affordability, relative ease of use and non-dependency on expensive Q-PCR machines. CSIR IGIB and TATA Sons will now work together to bring it for widespread use at the earliest.

Commenting on the agreement, Mr Banmali Agrawala, President - Infrastructure and Defence & Aerospace, Tata Sons said, “we are happy to enter into a partnership with Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology of CSIR (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research) for further development and commercialisation of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) based technology for COVID-19 detection. This innovative CRISPR ‘Feluda’ test uses cutting edge CRISPR technology for detection of genomic sequence of novel coronavirus. It uses a test protocol that is simple to administer and easy to interpret enabling results to be made available to the medical fraternity in relatively lesser time, as compared to other test protocols.  We believe that CRISPR is futuristic technology that can also be configured for detection of multiple other pathogens in the future.

DG-CSIR, Dr Shekhar C Mande commented that “CSIR labs such as CSIR-IGIB have been working on deep science and developing cutting edge technology and I am happy to see that leading Industry TATA Group is partnering towards its deployment. The strong partnership with industry in tackling COVID-19 has been the hallmark of CSIRs strategy in mitigation of COVID-19.  

Dr Anurag Agrawal, Director-IGIB highlighted that the technology was conceived and developed at CSIR IGIB under sickle cell mission and utilizes an indigenously developed cutting edge CRISPR Cas9 technology to specifically recognize COVID-19 sequence in a sample. A combination of CRISPR biology and paper-strip chemistry leads to a visible signal readout on a paper strip that can be rapidly assessed for establishing the presence of viral infection in a sample.

IIT Bombay Professor receives Young Career Award in Nano Science & Technology 2020 for Advanced Transistor Technologies

Professor Saurabh Lodha from Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay, has received the Young Career Award in Nano Science & Technology for the year 2020 instituted by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. This award recognises his pioneering contributions in the development of logic transistor technologies beyond silicon and nanoelectronic devices based on two-dimensional Van der Waals materials.

Prof Lodha’s recent work in the area of advanced transistors has been driven by strong industry partnerships. He has worked closely with Applied Materials Inc., the world’s largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer, for the last eight years on technological challenges plaguing beyond-silicon transistors- the workhorse device that fuels over 90 per cent of all electronics. Specifically, he has developed new materials and processes to improve the thermal stability and reliability of the heart of the transistor- its thin (1-2 nm) gate dielectric, to lower the resistance of metal contacts to the transistor and also to achieve higher levels of electrical impurities while keeping leakage currents under check.

These advances help future electronic devices such as mobile phones, servers, desktops and laptops, to perform tasks faster, consume less power, and last longer with lower failure rates. Prof Lodha’s work has not only been presented at top device conferences across the globe but has also been incorporated in semiconductor equipment for advanced transistor technologies. Working closely with industry, collaborators has helped his research group bring solutions to cutting-edge problems of practical significance with shorter time-to-market innovations and broader scale of impact.

Besides working on advanced transistors that run computing and communication electronics, Prof Lodha’s group has also been working with recently discovered ‘flat’ two-dimensional materials analogous to graphene. The ultra-thin (less than a nm thick) nature of these Van der Waals materials bestows them with extraordinary optical and electronic properties along with high mechanical flexibility. From a technological perspective, it makes them less power-hungry and ideal for Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensor networks as well as flexible and wearable electronics. At the same time, their two-dimensional nature poses unique and fundamental challenges in building electronic and optoelectronic devices such as transistors and photodetectors. Prof Lodha and his students have helped identify and solve some of these problems, e.g., the nature of their interface with metals, ways to modulate their electrical current-voltage relationship, and their response to optical switching. These insights and solutions have been published in high impact journals and are well cited.

Prof Lodha, an alumnus of IIT Bombay and Purdue University, USA, plans to leverage the capabilities and expertise in his group for developing power electronic transistors based on wide bandgap semiconductors such as silicon carbide and gallium oxide. These transistors can alleviate efficiency and reliability bottlenecks in diverse applications ranging from high voltage power grids, electric trains, renewable power conversion and storage to strategic defense, medical and industrial instrumentation. Wide bandgap power electronics has seen tremendous progress worldwide, but national efforts are lacking. Prof Lodha hopes to provide critically needed momentum for power transistor research in the country.

Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Kendras accepting orders on WhatsApp and e-mail to facilitate medicine procurement during lockdown

Amid lockdown many Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJK) under the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers are accepting the orders for medicines on WhatsApp and e-mail, where on the basis of uploaded prescriptions medicines are delivered at the doorsteps of the patients. This novel move is ensuring use of technology for facilitating easier procurement of medicines by the users.  Complementing PMBJKs for this initiative Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Shri DV Sadananda Gowda said, " it is heartening to note that many PMBJKs are using modern communication tools including social media plataforms like Whatsapp to provide better services in effecting faster delivery of essential medicines to the needy."

PMBJKs are working under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP). At present threre are over 6300 PMBJKs functioning in 726 districts of the country ensuring supply of quality medicines at affordable prices. These medicines are cheaper by about 50 per cent to 90 per cent on an average. In April 2020 around Rs 52 crore (US$ 7.38 million) worth of medicine have been supplied throughout the country.

In addition, supply arrangements with India Post has also been made for supply to remotely located stores.

Moreover, Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) under Department of Pharmaceuticals, Union Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, has paid its vendors within due date for solving their working capital issues for raw material & logistics.

Dedicated Team has been created of BPPI Officers for every State to sort out bottlenecks in supply due to lockdown.

Jan Aushadhi warehouses are working at full capacity and inhouse residential arrangements have been made for staff.

Helpline numbers of BPPI is working to resolve any issues of consumers and store owners.

For maintaining supply of essential Medicines during lock down period, BPPI has issued purchase orders for 178 fast moving medicines in the month of April having MRP of Rs 186.52 crore (US$ 26.46 million).

Wheat production may cross 113 million tonnes: Skymet

According to estimates released by private weather forecasting firm Skymet, during the current rabi season, wheat production could be at a record 113.66 million tonnes (mt), nearly 10 per cent more than the 103.6 mt output in the previous year, whereas, gram output could be 8 per cent higher at 10.74 mt.

The estimate for wheat production of Skymet are much higher than the 106 mt projected by the second advance estimates of the Agriculture Ministry.

Although, there will be marginal increase of 2.7 per cent at 9.5 mt in the production of mustard and rapeseed as against 9.25 mt in the previous rabi season.

The Skymet report also added that due to the nationwide lockdown, agricultural activities and supply chain were disrupted. Harvesting activities were disturbed due to the non-availability of migrant labour.

The report added, “Though the government is trying to normalise the situation, even till date the situation is dismal as farmers and their produce are unable to reach the market due to the lockdown”. As a result, producer is struggling to sell the produce at appropriate prices, it added.

According to Skymet, the worst-hit are horticulture farmers. There have been disruptions in supply chains because of transportation problems and other issues. Farmers are not able to bring the produce to mandis. Those who have storage facilities have stored the produce while the rest have sold it at whatever prices they could get.

Consumers ended up paying more, although the prices declined for vegetables and other crops. Farmers were also affected badly by the temporary closing down of restaurants and eateries.

“The future also looks bleak as the supply of agri-inputs for the upcoming kharif season – especially seeds may get affected by this lockdown. Unavailability of seeds and other agricultural input may lead to the delayed sowing or no sowing at all,” the report said.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture data, the report said wheat sowing was up by 12.3 per cent this year over last year, with most of increase in acreage coming from Maharashtra (89 per cent more), Gujarat (73 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (nearly 33 per cent) and Rajasthan (17 per cent). Skymet said it expected the national average yield to be 3.38 tonnes per hectare.

Likewise, there is 11.5 per cent increase in the area of gram cultivation which is on account higher acreages reported from Maharashtra (58 per cent more) and Rajasthan (42 per cent), which adequately compensated for the 20 per cent drop in gram area in Madhya Pradesh.

The report added that the area under mustard and rapeseed was more or less the same this year, even though Rajasthan and Haryana planted marginal more than last year, but there was a nearly 10 per cent drop in mustard cultivation in Madhya Pradesh.

EPFO Releases Rs 764 Crore to Its Pensioners

EPFO has 65 lakh pensioners under its pension scheme.  All 135 field offices of EPFO processed pension payment for April 2020 in advance to avoid inconvenience to pensioners on account of nationwide COVID-19 lockdown.

EPFO officers and staff battled all odds to send Rs 764 crore (US$ 108.38 million) to all Nodal Branches of pension disbursing banks throughout India. All Bank branches have been directed to ensure credit of pension in the accounts of pensioners on schedule.

Timely credit of pension in this hour of need has been accorded topmost priority by EPFO to bring succour to the pensioners during COVID-19 crisis.

National Gallery of Modern Art presents the virtual program

National Gallery of Modern Art is closed temporarily due to COVID 19 but COVID19 failed to bring down the enthusiasm to display EXHIBITION OUTREACH DURING LOCK- DOWN. National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi proudly presents the virtual program "NGMA KE SANGRAH SE".  This virtual program will showcase the rarely seen or maybe unseen jewels from its repository. This program is based on various weekly/ daily themes from NGMA’s prestigious collections.  

The theme for this week is ARTIST BY ARTISTS and is dedicated to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. This week’s program coincides with the maestro's 159th birth anniversary on 7th May 2020, a date we would like to celebrate. Many more exciting and thought-provoking themes have to come in the coming days. These virtual programs and exhibitions will give the opportunity to art lovers, artists, art connoisseurs, students, teachers, etc. to see the rarely presented artworks from their homes. 

National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi has earlier presented various virtual exhibitions such as Jamini Roy and Raja Ravi Vermaetc. and has also shared permanent collections virtually to commemorate International Days such as International Women’s Day, International Dance Day and International Workers Day. These exhibitions are available on NGMA’s website and social media platforms. 

Shri Adwaita Charan Garnayak, DG, NGMA states, “The closure of Museum galleries due to COVID 19 Lockdown did not dampen our spirits and couldn't disconnect us with our audiences. Rather, this has presented us a new opportunity to get connected in an exciting way with a wider world audience through web and social media supported by the internet. All endeavours are being received really well by the community and we are hoping to serve the same way in the coming future.”

DRDO develops UV Disinfection Tower

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an Ultraviolet (UV) Disinfection Tower for rapid and chemical free disinfection of high infection prone areas. 

The equipment named UV blaster is a UV based area sanitiser designed and developed by Laser Science & Technology Centre (LASTEC), the Delhi based premier laboratory of DRDO with the help of M/s New Age Instruments and Materials Private Limited, Gurugram. 

The UV Blaster is useful for high tech surfaces like electronic equipment, computers and other gadgets in laboratories and offices that are not suitable for disinfection with chemical methods. The product is also effective for areas with large flow of people such as airports, shopping malls, metros, hotels, factories, offices, etc.

The UV based area sanitiser may be used by remote operation through laptop/mobile phone using wifi link. The equipment has six lamps each with 43 watts of UV-C power at 254 nm wavelength for 360-degree illumination. For a room of about 12 x 12 feet dimension, the disinfection time is about 10 minutes and 30 minutes for 400 square feet area by positioning the equipment at different places within the room.

This sanitiser switches off on accidental opening of room or human intervention. One more salient safety feature of the product is the key to arm operation.

Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Narendra Singh Tomar launches

The Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, launched “The Saras Collection” on the Government e Marketplace (GeM) portal at Krishi Bhavan in New Delhi today. A unique initiative of GeM and the Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Ministry of Rural Development, the Saras Collection showcases daily utility products made by rural self-help groups (SHGs) and aims to provide SHGs in rural areas with market access to Central and State Government buyers.

Under this initiative, the SHG sellers will be able to list their products in 5 product categories, namely (i) handicrafts, (ii) handloom and textiles, (iii) office accessories, (iv) grocery and pantry, and (v) personal care and hygiene. In the first phase, 913 SHGs from 11 States have already registered as sellers and 442 products have been on-boarded. In order to develop a scalable model capable of onboarding a large number of SHGs across the country in a short time frame, GeM has developed an API based integration mechanism with the NRLM database.

GeM will provide dashboards for functionaries at the national, state, district and block level to provide them real time information about the number of products uploaded by SHGs, and value and volume of orders received and fulfilled. In addition, Government buyers shall be sensitized through system generated messages/ alerts in the Marketplace about availability of SHG products on the portal. Potential buyers shall be able to search, view, cart and procure such products through the stipulated modes of procurement.

The on-boarding of the SHGs under the initiative has been initially piloted in the States of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The coverage shall be rapidly extended to enable a large number of SHGs from all the states/ Union Territories to sell their products to Government buyers.

In order to handhold and facilitate the SHGs in uploading their products, GeM, along with the State and National Rural Livelihoods Missions, are assisting the sellers with product catalogue management, order fulfilment and bid participation. GeM shall also collaborate with State functionaries to address the capacity building and training needs of SHGs, and build up their competencies required for order packaging, catalogue management and logistics.

With inputs and assistance from NRLM and SRLMs, GeM will develop online learning resources in vernacular content for SHGs and SRLM staff to meet user specific needs. Further, GeM will conduct online webinars for SHGs and functionaries at State Livelihoods Missions and develop videos, eBooks, Manual and repository of FAQs fora seamless learning experience.

By providing SHGs with direct access to Government buyers, the Saras Collection will do away with intermediaries in the supply chain, thus ensuring better prices for SHGs and spurring employment opportunities at the local level. This is just the beginning and GeM is delighted at this opportunity to partner the SHGs in their growth story.

The SHGs deserve to be specially commended for the manner in which they, like the entire country, are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic valiantly at this time of national health emergency of unprecedented and historic scale.

About DAY-NRLM: DAY-NLRM aims to reduce poverty through promotion of diversified and gainful self-employment while creating skilled wage employment opportunities. The scheme supports building social capital and ensuring financial linkages to alleviate poverty and enhance the quality of the life of rural poor women. It has ambitious plans on innovations for alternate channels of financial inclusion like digital finance, creating value chains around rural products and improving market access, rural enterprise and strengthening community institutions.

About GeM:

Government e Marketplace (GeM) is a 100 percent Government owned Section 8 Company set up as the National Public Procurement Portal for procurement of goods and services required by Central and State Government organizations. GeM provides an online, end to end solution for procurement of goods and services for all Central Government and State Government Ministries, Departments, Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs), local bodies and autonomous organisations. The platform reduces human interventions in procurement and enables transparency, cost savings, inclusiveness and efficiency of faceless standardized public procurement.

'Lil' Goodness closes seed funding round of Rs 5 crore

Bengaluru-based kids’ food and nutrition start-up ‘Lil’ Goodness announced the close of its seed funding round of Rs 5 crore (US$ 0.71 million).

The participant in the round includes Beyond Next Ventures (BNV), a Japanese VC Fund, led by Mr Tsuyoshi Ito, President and Mr Mayu Morishima, Executive Officer. Earlier, top business leaders such as Mr Sajan Pillai, former CEO-UST Global, and General Partner-Season two Ventures, the family of Mr Lalit Pai, ex-CEO, Nightingales Healthcare and Dr Muthu Krishnan, ex-CEO Tata Health have also invested in the seed round.

IIM-Calcutta alumnus, Mr Harshavardhan and nutrition expert Ms Pariksha Rao founded the company and pursues to empower millennial moms with a range of kids foods based on good health to strengthen immunity with a focus on quality, hygiene and food safety, while providing the convenience of anytime, anywhere accessibility.

“We are quite excited by the vision of the founders -Harshavardhan and Pariksha, in building a scientific food and nutrition brand focused on the kids. There is a huge opportunity for growth in this space especially as mothers look for healthy and hygienic solutions in the current context of Covid-19. We are impressed with the differentiated business model of the enterprise that combines the range between fresh meals and packaged foods, enabled by technology, and with a focus on principles of good nutrition,” said Mr Tsuyoshi Ito, President and Mayu Morishima, Executive Officer, Beyond Next Ventures.

Mr Harshavardhan, Co-founder and CEO, ‘Lil’ Goodness, said, “We are excited to receive the additional investment support from ‘Beyond Next Ventures’. Given the current circumstances, this is indeed a good boost for the entire team. We, at ‘Lil’ Goodness’ have the vision to positively influence the eating habits of our future generations through tasty, nutritious food options. With this fund infusion, we are looking to further expand our product range and distribution of packaged foods, develop a digital interface that will enable mothers to order products directly to their homes through a contactless delivery option for the fresh meals business, ScoolMeal.”

Free LPG cylinders delivered to 4.50 crore beneficiaries amid lockdown: Pradhan

According to Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Dharmendra Pradhan, free cooking gas (Liquified Petroleum Gas or LPG) cylinders have been delivered to 4.50 crore beneficiaries in one month till April 30 to provide relief amidst COVID-19 lockdown.

He was addressing a Facebook Live interaction on the challenges and measures to overcome COVID-19, India has tried to make the most of the unprecedented drop in crude oil prices.

He said, “Up to 60 lakh LPG cylinders are delivered every day by the distributors. They even risk their lives to deliver these cylinders in red zones.”

Mr Pradhan said that India has imported and stored crude oil to meet 20 per cent of domestic demand.

"A crude price drop of this magnitude has never been seen before. Prices went into negative territory in the US as the demand crashed. To make the most of the situation, India's strategic crude oil storage reserves have been filled up in this situation. Now there is 5.33 million tonne (MT) of crude oil stored in the country in underground caverns. Of this, nearly 2 MT has been recently procured at these low prices," Mr Pradhan said.

"Another 7 MT crude has been procured by private and public sector companies and parked in floating reserves in the form of tankers. Some 25 MT crude oil is in the pipelines and other segments of the refinery cycle," he said.

"In all there is around 20 per cent of domestic demand that can be met by this stored low-priced crude oil when there is a need," he added.

Due to the fall in prices, India's import bill will decrease.