celebrations - · pdf filepresentation by dr rasik ravindra, director, ... director general,...

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THE Lok Sabha Speaker Shri Somnath Chatterjee called for adopting a path that promotes development without hindering the delicate

ecological balance. He was speaking at a function organized by the National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR), New Delhi, on 4 February 2009 to mark the International Polar Year. With the participation of thousands of scientists from more than 60 nations, the International Polar Year is the largest-ever international programme of scientific research focused on the Earth's Polar Regions.

The Speaker also released special issues of NISCAIR's publications

and dealing with this very important subject that could cause widespread changes in the world climate in times to come.

Delivering his keynote address, Shri Somnath Chatterjee underlined the need to make the people aware that the changes beginning to be observed in the Polar Regions today will not remain confined to those regions alone. They will have their adverse effects on the whole ecosystem and necessarily on human life and society. There is indeed an urgent need to understand the vulnerability of the Polar Regions, which have a profound influence on the global environment, particularly on the weather and climate systems.

Indian Journal of Marine Sciences Science Reporter

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Shri Somnath Chatterjee said hewas happy that CSIR and theMinistry of Earth Sciences havebeen collaborating withinternational scientific institutionsto forge closer scientific links on thisissue of grave concern to the worldcommunity. Referring to Shri KapilSibal, the Speaker said, “ThisMinistry and the CSIR are fortunateto have a Minister who has had firsthand experience of the real situationin both Antarctica and the Arctic byhis visits there and direct interactionwith the scientists working in thiscrucial area.”

Shri Somnath Chatterjee saidthat the Polar Regions are especiallyvulnerable to the phenomenon ofglobal warming. As more greenhousegases cause our planet to warm,some of the ice and snow in thePolar Regions melts, less of the solarradiation is reflected out to space,and more of it is absorbed by theEarth’s surface and oceans. Theadded energy further warms thePolar Regions, causes more ice tomelt and more warming. Thisvicious cycle will ultimately lead torising sea levels and flooding of vasttracts of the Earth making largeareas uninhabitable.

Earlier, in his welcome address,Shri Nikhilesh Jha, the then Joint

Secretary, CSIR gave an account ofthe CSIR’s strong contributions topolar studies. The National Instituteof Oceanography (NIO), Goa, aconstituent establishment of CSIR,was in the forefront in executing thefirst Indian scientific expedition toAntarctica. Dr S. Z. Quasim, thethen Director, NIO, was the leaderof this first Indian scientificexpedition. The expedition had beenlaunched on 6th Dec 1981 and theteam reached Goa from Antarcticaon 21st February 1982. The teamconsisted of 13 scientists and 8 werefrom the constituent establishmentsof CSIR.

The leader of the thirdexpedition to Antarctica was DrH.K. Gupta, former Director,National Geophysical ResearchInstitute (NGRI), Hyderabad.Scientists from the constituentestablishments of CSIR, viz., NIO,NPL and NGRI have been leadersof the team for nine scientificexpeditions to Antarctica.

Shri Jha pointed out thatscientists working in CSIRlaboratories have published morethan 120 research papers in SCIjournals on the biodiversity of floraand fauna, geology and geophysicalaspects, atmospheric sciences andchemical characteristics of marine

algae of Antarctica.The Centre for Cellular and

Molecular Biology (CCMB), anotherinstitute of CSIR, owns 12.5% of thenew species identified by the globalscientific community in Antarctica.The National Botanical ResearchInstitute (NBRI), yet anotherinstitute of CSIR, owns 12 newspecies of lichen from the McLeodIsland, Antarctica. The NationalPhysical Laboratory (NPL) has beenplanning to set up a fully operationalmulti-instrument ionospheric real-time monitoring facility both atArctic and Antarctica and to run thefacility for a minimum of 11 years.The National Geophysical ResearchInstitute (NGRI) has achieved amajor global role in maintenanceand improvement of a GlobalReference Frame.

In fact, scientists working inCSIR laboratories have beenassociated with all the twenty-eightIndian scientific expeditions toAntarctica. In this context,Contributions of CSIR to AntarcticaResearch, a comprehensivedocument containing collection ofreprints of the work done by CSIRscientists on Antarctica, wasbrought out by CSIR during theyear 2006. The compendium has 116papers published in SCI journals.

Release of special issues of Indian Journal of Marine Sciences (left) and Science Reporter

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Indian contributions to thecause of polar research were furtherhighlighted in an inspiringpresentation by Dr Rasik Ravindra,Director, National Centre forAntarctic and Ocean Research, Goa.He said that the Indian AntarcticProgramme began way back inDecember 1981 when the firstIndian expedition was flagged offfrom Goa. Subsequently, annualAntarctic expeditions are being sentunder the aegis of the Departmentof Ocean Development/NationalCentre for Antarctic and OceanResearch.

To date, 27 such expeditionshave been undertaken, includingone to the Weddell Sea and anotherone to the Southern Ocean for krillexploration. India has twopermanent stations in the Antarcticaand now one in the Arctic, said DrRavindra. Another one is sooncoming up in the Antarctic. He saidthat by virtue of India’s sustainedinterest and demonstrative

capabilities in polar science, ourcountry has achieved severalmilestones.

India was admitted to theAntarctic Treaty on 19 August 1983and soon thereafter obtainedConsultative Status on 12September 1983. India wasadmitted as a member of theScientific Committee on AntarcticResearch (SCAR) on 1 October1984 and became a member ofConvention on the Conservation ofAntarctic Marine Living Resources(CCAMLR) in 1986. Indiaalso ratified the EnvironmentProtocol to the Antarctic Treaty in1997, thus upholding itscommitment to preserve the pristinecontinent.

During the function, the Hon’bleSpeaker of the Lok Sabha ShriSomnath Chatterjee also launcheda project entitled, “Development ofDatabase for Climate ImpactStudies”. The project has beeninitiated by NISCAIR and will be

executed in collaboration with theSchool of Environmental Sciencesand School of Social Sciences of theJawaharlal Nehru University.

Prof. V.K. Jain, Dean ofStudents, JNU, giving a glimpse intothe objectives of the project said thatAsia will be particularly vulnerableto climate change followed by sealevel rise, especially majorpopulation centres at low elevations,such as Mumbai in India; Shanghaiin China; Jakarta in Indonesia;Tokyo in Japan and Dhaka inBangladesh to name a few.

The basic objectives of theproject, therefore, are to observe andanalyze the temporal and spatialchanges in rainfall, temperature,evaporation and groundwater-quantity and quality in theLakshadweep islands; develop aweb-enabled database based ondata of observed and publisheddocuments about changes innatural resources and socio-economic variables due to climate

change; developa frameworkand decisionsupport tool toassess theclimate changeimpacts onn a t u r a lresources andsocio-economicvariables and toformulate amethodology ford e v e l o p i n gcapacity for thep r o p e radaptation andmitigation dueto climatechange.

Seen with Shri Somnath Chatterjee, Shri Nikhilesh Jha and Shri Pradip Banerji, are: Dr Rasik Ravindra, Director,National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Goa; Dr M.R. Ramesh Kumar, Scientist, National Institute of

Oceanography, Goa; Dr S.V. Ramachandra Rao, Scientist, National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad; andDr A. Sengupta, Dr A.K. Hanjura, Dr S.D. Sharma, Dr S.L. Jain, Dr H.N. Dutta and Dr B.C. Arya, all Scientists,

National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi. These nine scientists are among those who have been member/leader ofthe Indian expeditions to Polar Regions and were felicitated with mementoes during the present function

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India partners with EU to preventIndia’s Traditional Medicinal Knowledge from Biopiracy

India through an Access Agree-ment signed on 7 February 2009

at Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi,with the European Patent Office,has established a mechanism toprotect India’s traditional medicinalknowledge from biopiracy. Themaiden Indian effort in creating theTraditional Knowledge DigitalLibrary (TKDL) database wouldnow be available to the PatentExaminers at European PatentOffice (EPO — It has 34 memberstates) for establishing prior art, incase of patent applications based onIndian systems of medicine.

This first such agreement wouldprovide cover against infringementof country’s rich traditionalmedicinal heritage having hugeeconomic potential, of the kind thatwas witnessed during the lastdecade, e.g. grant of wrong patentson wound healing properties ofturmeric (1995) at the United StatesPatent & Trade Mark Office(USPTO) and on antifungalproperties of Neem granted atEuropean Patent Office (EPO).

The grant of these patents inUnited States and Europe were thecause of great national distress, sinceevery Indian felt that the knowledgethat belonged to India waswrongfully taken away from India.Further, the patents would haveconferred exclusive rights on the useof technology to the applicant of thepatent in the country in which it hasbeen granted.

The genesis of this maidenIndian effort dates back to the year

2000, when an interdisciplinary TaskForce of experts was set up byAYUSH and CSIR, to devise amechanism on protection of India’straditional knowledge. The TKDLexpert group estimated that about2000 number of wrong patentsconcerning Indian systems ofmedicine were being granted everyyear at international level, mainlydue to the fact that India’s traditionalmedicine knowledge exists inlanguages such as Sanskrit, Hindi,Arabic, Urdu, Tamil, etc. and wasneither accessible nor understoodby patent examiners at theinternational patent offices due tolanguage and format barriers.

The TKDL breaks these barriersand has been able to scientificallyconvert and structure theinformation available in languageslike Hindi, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian,Urdu and Tamil, in open domain textbooks into five international

languages, namely, English,Japanese, French, German andSpanish, with information contentsin 30 million A4 size pages, with thehelp Information Technology toolsand a novel classification system -Traditional Knowledge ResourceClassification (TKRC).

Today, India through TKDL iscapable of protecting about two lakh(0.2 million) medical formulationssimilar to neem and turmeric. Onan average it takes five to sevenyears for opposing a granted patentat international level which maycost Rs one to three crores (0.2-0.6million US$). Therefore, the cost ofprotecting two lakh (0.2 million)medicinal formulations, in theabsence of TKDL, would bestaggering and completelyunaffordable.

This international agreement isunique and would have long-termimplications on the protection of

MoUsMoUsMoUsMoUsMoUs

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traditional knowledge and globalintellectual property systems aswould be evident from the factthat in the past, patents havebeen granted at EPO on the useof over 285 medicinal plants dueto the lack of access to thedocumented knowledge in publicdomain for the examiners of EPO.Also, at any point of time, 40-50patent applications based onIndian traditional knowledge areawaiting grant of patent andTKDL Access Agreement wouldprevent all future grant of patentswherever evidence of priorknowledge exists in TKDL.

The TKDL Access Agreementwith EPO would enhance thenegotiating strengths of India anddeveloping countries at theinternational forums. In fact, theinternational IP community hasrecognized TKDL as an effectivetool for defensive protection ofTraditional Knowledge. In arecent communication, theDirector General, WorldIntellectual PropertyOrganization, has recognizedTKDL as a strong practical toolwhich has made unparallelcontributions to the internationalpolicy context of the patentsystems by offering a template forother countries who seek toprotect their traditionalknowledge.

The TKDL Access Agreementwith EPO would pave the wayfor similar agreement with othermajor international patentoffices to prevent the misuse ofthis vast information of hugeeconomic potential in easy toaccess form.

A common MYBPC3 variant associated withcardiomyopathies in South Asia

Heart disease is the number onekiller in the world. It is

estimated that the highest deathrates in India are associated withproblems of the heart and bloodcirculatory system in people aged 35-64 years. According to aconservative estimate, at least 30million people suffer from heartdiseases in India. By the year 2010,India will carry 60% of the burdenof world’s heart diseases.

An international team of 25researchers led by scientists of theCentre for Cellular and MolecularBiology (CCMB), Hyderabad, hasprovided a clue to why this shouldbe so in their recent research,published in Nature Genetics[Dhandapany P.S. et al. (2009) Acommon MYPBC3 (Cardiac MyosinBinding Protein C3) variantassociated with cardiomyopathies inSouth Asia. Nature Genetics,Published online before print as doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.309,print version: 41, 187 - 191 (2009)].

There are many causes of heartattack, some genetic and otherslinked to our lifestyle, but allseemingly complex, hard to pindown, and not yet completelyunderstood. About 20 genes thatare implicated in cardiac diseasehave been identified so far. One ofthese, Myosin binding protein-C3(MYPBC3) is one of the major genesinvolved in maintaining the structureof cardiac muscle, and regulatingcardiac contraction. Mutations inthis gene accounts for about 44% ofthe sudden cardiac arrest.

Scientists have analyzed theDNA (genetic material) of 800cardiac patients – who werereporting to cardiac centres atHyderabad, Madurai, Tirunelveli,Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode,Mumbai, Bhubaneswar, Delhi andChandigarh – along with age andethnically matched 699 normalindividuals. They found that a 25base pair deletion within the genemaking the heart protein MYBPC3was significantly more frequent incardiac patients compared to thenormal individuals. In addition, theyfound that if an individual had bothcopies of this gene defective(homozygous, containing the 25 basepair deletion), he or she might dieat a very early age before reaching5 years. They confirmed this byanalyzing post-mortem sampleswith a history of sudden cardiacarrest. But, if the individuals carrythe mutation in only one copy of thegene (heterozygous), they can livewithout any symptoms of heartproblems up to the age of 45;however, beyond 45 years they sufferfrom a range of effects, includingsudden attack leading to death.Since the deletion leads to theformation of an abnormal protein,such individuals, therefore, haveboth abnormal as well as normalproteins. In young people thisabnormal protein is degradedefficiently by cellular machinerycalled the proteasome and carriersthus remain healthy, but as they getolder the protein degradingmachinery becomes inefficient and

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leads to a build-up of abnormalprotein eventually resulting insymptoms of cardiac problem andleading to sudden heart attack. Inorder to find out how widespreadthis mutation is in Indianpopulations, scientists screened6273 randomly selected individualsfrom 107 ethnic populations,including primitive tribes, tribes,castes and sub-castes belonging toall religious groups (Hindu,Sikh, Muslim, Christian, etc.)living across India, and foundthat about 4% of the individualsstudied had this genetic defect(25 base pair deletion in the geneMYBPC3).

Scientists investigated whetherthis genetic abnormality isrestricted to India or is widelydistributed all over the world. Theyanalyzed the DNA of an additional2085 individuals belonging to 70populations from 26 countries. Theyfound that this genetic defect ispresent only in the people of theIndian subcontinent and nearby(India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,Indonesia and Malaysia) but not inother countries.

The lifetime risk of developingheart failure is roughly one in fivefor a person aged 40 years. Nowthat the defect has been identified,there is a new glimmer of hope. Itcould be detected very early duringpregnancy. If parents choose, afoetus having two copies of thedefective gene (homozygous) couldbe aborted after genetic counseling.Carriers of the defect could beidentified at a young age by geneticscreening and advised to adopt ahealthier lifestyle. Perhapseventually new drugs could be

developed to enhance thedegradation of the abnormal proteinand postpone the onset of symptoms.Cardiac stem cell transplant mightbe used very effectively to expandthe lifespan of the individuals whocarry the deletion. There is a marketof 60 million people waiting for suchtherapy.

Eventually, with suitabletherapy, such individuals may fullyrecover from the disease and live a

Global distribution of deletion of 25 base pairs of the heart protein gene MYBPC3 inindigenous populations

long and normal life. “For us this ismost exciting and is a matter ofgreat happiness that we havediscovered something which is goingto help the mankind, particularlypeople in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,Malaysia and Indonesia. Theestimated number of people at riskfrom heart disease due to thismutation is about 60 million, i.e. 1%of the world population,” say theresearchers.

A – Muscle fibres in heart cellsunder normal conditionshowing striated pattern dueto systematic arrangement ofcells (Schematic structureshown in C)

B – Muscle cells in the hearthaving mutation showingdisrupted pattern (Schematicstructure shown in D)

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Natural Gum Stabilized Gold Nanoparticlesfor Drug Delivery Formulations

Metal nanoparticles, especiallythose of gold, covered with

appropriate stabilizing agents arebeing actively considered for drugdelivery applications. The stabilizingagents are expected to providestability to the nanoparticle againstaggregation and they survive in bothalkaline and acid media. Further, ifthe stabilizing agent provides thefunctionality necessary for the drugto be efficiently loaded on thenanoparticle surface, it would be anadded benefit. The advantage of goldfor such particular applicationincludes its non-toxic nature,convenient synthesis in a variety ofsizes with great control, effectualattachment of payloads throughvarious means (electrostatic,covalent or non-covalentinteractions), stabilizing agenttailorability to ensure cellularuptake, controlled release of thedrug and specific cell targeting.

Several ligands are beingexplored as stabilizing agents thatwould be acceptable to the stringentrules set-up by various agencies fordrug delivery applications. DrB.L.V. Prasad and team werelooking for a ligand that would beacceptable by different agencies fordrug delivery applications and thatcould act as nanoparticle reducingand stabilizing agent at the sametime imparting the necessaryfunctionality to the surface so thatfurther loading of the drug would bepossible.

Dr B.L.V. Prasad, Scientist,Physical and Materials ChemistryDivision of National Chemical

Laboratory, (NCL), Pune(www.ncl-india.org) said that“Gellan Gum” widely used in foodand confectionary industry asthickening and gelling agent fittedthe bill perfectly. Gellan Gum (GG)has unique structural featuresconsisting of four linkedmonosaccharide (i.e., simple sugars),including one molecule of rhamnose(a sugar found in various plants), onemolecule of glucuronic acid (anoxidized glucose molecule), and twomolecules of glucose (a componentof sucrose, which is common sugar).GG is a high molecular weightpolysaccharide gum produced by apure culture fermentation of acarbohydrate by the microbePseudomonas elodea. Theproduction organism is an aerobic,non-pathogenic, gram-negativebacterium. GG is water soluble,commercially available as a free-flowing offwhite powder. It isapproved for food, non-food,cosmetic and pharmaceutical use inthe United States,Canada, Australia andmany other countriesin Latin America,South America, Asia,and the EuropeanUnion. According toFDA, GG may besafely used as a directfood additive forhuman consumption asper the EuropeanCommission Directive.Its water solubility,thickening, gelling,stabilizing properties

are some of the reasons for its wideapplication in food andpharmaceutical industry and iscurrently used in bakery fillings,confections, dairy products etc. GGalso has been an ingredient inpersonal and oral care applicationslike hair care products, creams,sunscreens etc.

“In this study we took advantageof the reducing and stabilizingproperties of the GG for thesynthesis of gold nanoparticles,” saidDr Varsha Pokharkar co-author ofthe work from Poona College ofPharmacy, Bharati VidyapeethUniversity, Pune. These GGreduced/stabilized nanoparticlesdisplayed superior stability toelectrolyte additions and pHchanges as compared to thetraditional citrate and borohydridereduced ones. Subsequently thesehave been used to load one of theanthracycline rings antibioticDoxorubicin hydrochloride andtested for their cytotoxic effects

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against human glioma (brain tumour)cell lines LN-18 and LN-229.

Dr Anjali Shiras from NationalCentre for Cell Science (NCCS),where the activity of nanoparticles onthese cells was assessed, added,“Interestingly, the drug loaded onnanoparticles showed enhancedcytotoxic effect as compared to puredrug taken at same concentrations aspresent on the nanoparticle surface,”and “they also showed effectivenessfor longer periods of time,” sheconcluded. Anticancer drugsgenerally face a big problem againstbrain tumours as the Blood BrainBarrier (BBB) does not allow thedrugs to cross it and hence deliveryto the tumour site is blocked.Nanoparticle based drug deliverysystems are considered a goodalternative as nanoparticles have beenshown to cross BBB rather effectively.In such a background, gum loadednanoparticles could possess additionaladvantageous as the BBB is reportedto contain glucose receptors and thusthe nanoparticles stabilized by GGwith many sugar moieties may befavoured to cross the BBB.

This work has appeared on thecover page of the December 2008issue of “Chemistry: A EuropeanJournal”

While the work reported aboveshowed the effective anti cancerousactivity of drug loaded- GG stabilized-Gold nanoparticles in vitro, the groupis currently actively pursuing the invivo studies.For further reading: Natural GumReduced/Stabilized Gold Nanoparticles forDrug Delivery Formulations, Sheetal Dhar,E. Maheswara Reddy, Anjali Shiras, VarshaPokharkar, and B. L. V. Prasad, Chem. Eur.J., 2008, 14, 10244. For further informationplease contact Dr B.L.V. Prasad

Process for production of Dopa and Dopaminefrom hairy root cultures of Beta vulgaris

(European Patent No. 1578978 andRussian Federation Patent No. 2326946)

L-dopa (Dihydroxy L-phenylalanine) and dopamine areneurotransmitter precursors being used for symptomic relief of

Parkinson’s disease. Their high cost, demand and dose requirementhave led to search for various alternatives and inexpensive methodsfor their production. The Central Food Technological Research Institute,(CFTRI),Mysore, has developed a process for production of Dopa andDopamine from hairy roots of Beta vulgaris, where the hairy roots areobtained upon infection of the explant using an isolate of Agrobacteriumrhizogenes wild strain. In vitro culture of hairy roots are used forproduction of Dopa and Dopamine. As roots exhibit hormonalautotrophy, the process requires a relatively low-cost medium for thephytochemical production. The faster growth and genetic as well asbiochemical stability of hairy roots is an added advantage. Theidentification of the right stage of culture time for maximumaccumulation of Dopa and Dopamine would make this process acommercially feasible one. Use of precursors like tyrosine, which areeasily available for better production of Dopa and Dopamine would beuseful. As Dopamine is water soluble, its direct use after extraction inwater could be an additional advantage. The process can be scaled upfor commercial production.

Soup mixes are convenient to prepare and are popular appetizers.CFTRI has developed a process for the preparation of instant soup

mix from Indian dill with reduced viscosities and ability of holdingmore quantities of solids thus enhancing its energy and nutrient density.The formulation of the products involves the optimized drying of allthe ingredients concerned and mixing in suitable proportions apartfrom modifying the starch by subjecting to physical treatments in orderto yield thin paste viscosities. The Indian dill or sowa is known for itsmedicinal properties like carminative, antipyretic and antihelminitic,in addition to being an antiflatulent. The soup mix has good antioxidantproperties and it plays an important role as an appetizer in diet. Beinga dry soup mix, it has a better shelf life, it can be easily reconstitutedby mixing in 1:10-12 ratio of soup powder with cold water. The mixtureis stirred and brought to boil before serving. The product prepared bythe present invention has excellent sensory qualities in terms of color,consistency, flavour and overall quality.

Process for preparation ofinstant soup mix from Indian Dill

(European Patent No. 1696746)

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The unprecedented escalation inthe journal subscription price,

together with increased number ofscholarly communications resultingin more number of new journalshave led even well-endowedinstitutions in developed countriesto reduce number of renewals ofjournals every year. The journalcrisis and the developments inInternet technologies paved the wayfor Open Access Movement (OAM)world over. With this criticalsituation facing the scholarly

National Symposium on Open Access andBuilding Institutional Repositories (NSOABIR)

community, the Information Centerfor Aerospace S & T (ICAST)organized a three-day NationalSymposium on ‘Open Access andBuilding Institutional Repositories(NSOABIR)’ during 21-23 January2009 at the National AerospaceLaboratories (NAL), Bangalore, asa part of the NAL’s Golden Jubileecelebrations. Nearly 60 delegatesfrom academic, R&D and corporatesectors participated in this meet.

The inaugural session startedwith an invocation followed by the

welcome address by Dr I. R. N.Goudar, Head, ICAST andChairman of the symposium. Heintroduced the chief guest andmentioned about the CSIR’sinitiative towards promoting OpenAccess by way of constituting a‘Group on Open Access for SciencePublications (GOASP)’. It has amandate to come out with CSIRpolicy on OA, steps to be taken tobuild Institutional Repositories at allCSIR laboratories to negotiate withpublishers in the matter concerning

Conferences/Symposia/MeetingsConferences/Symposia/MeetingsConferences/Symposia/MeetingsConferences/Symposia/MeetingsConferences/Symposia/Meetings

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copyright and IPR issues. The chiefguest Prof. Subbaiah Arunachalaminaugurated the symposium and MsPoornima Narayana, convener of thesymposium, presented a detailedaccount about the theme and theprogramme details.

Prof. Arunachalam delivered akeynote address on ‘Why do we needopen access to science? A developingcountry perspective’ and presenteda comparative scenario about theOpen Access movement in theworld, Asia and especially in India.He called upon the scientists,researchers and academicians tomake their publications open forincreasing visibility, usage andimpact factor while overcoming thefear factors such as the copyrightproblems, etc. He told thatNational Knowledge Commissionunder the chairmanship of Mr SamPitroda has already recommendedimplementation of OA in the country,setting up of Institutional Repositoriesby every institution, which is the mosteffective open access channel.

In his presidential remarks,Dr A. R. Upadhya , Director, NAL,mentioned the importance of openaccess in the current situation. Hestressed that information has toreach the grass root level for the lessprivileged in the country by makingthe scholarly communication openas OA provides easy and low-costaccess. Mr Shyam Chetty,Chairman, Library AdvisoryCommittee and Head, FlightMechanics Division, released theSymposium CD containing the

presentations of the resourcepersons, the software DSpace forsetting up of IRs and other usefulpublications. Dr M. N.Satyanarayana, Convener, NALGolden Jubilee Committee,proposed the vote of thanks.

The technical sessions addressedthe relevant issues of the OpenAccess Initiative/Movement likeScholarly Communication, OAJournals, Digitization and DigitalWorkflow, Institutional Repositories,IPR and Copyright Issues of OA andIR, CSIR Metadata Harvestingservice and two case studies — thoseof NIO, Goa and NAL.

The resource persons were DrH. S. Siddamallaih, NIMHANS, MrRaghuraman and Mr Francis fromNCSI/IISc, Mr T. B. Ananad, GEIT,Mr Sahu, NIO and Dr I. R. N.Goudar and Ms Poornima Narayanafrom NAL.

The second day was completelydedicated to lecture/demonstrationon setting up of IRs using DSpace,the most popular Open Sourcesoftware jointly developed by HPLaboratories and MIT, USA. Dr A.R. D. Prasad and Dr Devika Madallifrom ISI, Bangalore, explained thevarious factors involved in setting upof IRs including an account onDSpace, Metadata standards(Dublin Core) etc. apart from givinga detailed demo on installing DSpaceadministering IR, depositing anddocument review/moderate beforethe documents are made availableon IR. All the sessions had veryactive participation of the participants.

The highlight of the symposiumwas a two-hour panel discussion onthe topic ‘Impact of Open Access onScience Communication’ which wasaddressed mainly to scholars andresearchers in an attempt to informthem about the impact of openaccess on new forms of scholarly/scientific communication. Whileopen access is gaining strength andpopularity as a new model fordissemination of information, thereare still many issues yet to beaddressed such as pricing models,peer reviewing, indexing and impactfactors, archiving and the stabilityof this new publishing model forscientific literature.

The discussion turned out to bea ‘real brain storming session’. Thepanelists were chosen fromscientific/academic community, theinformation seekers and informationmanagers, the information providerslike Mr N. V. Satyanarayana, MD,M/s Informatics India (Pvt.) Ltd asthe moderator and other memberswere Dr H. S. Siddamallaiah, PSO,NIMHANS; Dr M. D. Deshpande,Head, Research, M. S. RamaiahSchool of Advanced Studies; Dr A.R. D. Prasad from ISI and Dr L.Venkatkrishnan and Dr I. R. N.Goudar from NAL.

Two recommendations weremade in matters like archiving andfunding for publication activity as apart of R&D budget. The valedictorysession was chaired by Mr. N. V.Satyanarayana, and presided byDr M. R. Nayak, Advisor (M&A),NAL.


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International Conference on Magnetic Materials

The National PhysicalLaboratory (NPL),

New Delhi, is playing animportant role in thedevelopment of magneticmaterials and advancementof magnetic metrology. Thelaboratory establishes,maintains and improvesNational Standards ofMeasurements, and assistsindustry and other agenciesin solving their industry-related problems. Inaddition, it is engaged indeveloping technologies andadvanced materials forR&D activities.

NPL in association with theMagnetic Society of India (MSI),organized an InternationalConference on Magnetic Materials(MMA 21) at its premises during 21-23 October 2008. The objective wasto provide a platform to thescientists and engineers working inthe area of magnetism, magneticmaterials, spintronics, and magneticmemory besides industrialmetrology for exchange of ideas and

experiences in the field. The areascovered included magnetism theory,soft and hard magnetic materials(ferrites, rare earth basedpermanent magnets), colossalmagneto-resistance, half metallics,spin valves, thin films, magneto-optical memory materials,nanostructures, biomagnetism,magneto-superconductors, sensormaterials for gas and humidity andtheir applications. The event was

organized under thechairmanship of Dr VikramKumar, Director, NPL, andDr R. K. Kotnala, ScientistF, NPL, was the convener.The keynote address wasdelivered by Prof. A. K.Raychaudhari, Director,S.N. Bose National Centrefor Basic Sciences, Kolkata.

Over 250 researchersfrom Brazil, France,Germany, India, Israel,Japan, South Korea and UKparticipated in theconference and exchangedtheir views and experiences.The participation from India

was from NPL, DRDO, IISc,JNCASR, BARC, TIFR, SahaInstitute of Nuclear Physics, SNBose National Science Centre, IITsand various universities. Theconference had nine technicalsessions, including the one onNanoethics. Chaired by Prof. K. L.Chopra, this session discussedethical values while working inthearea of nano science andtechnology.

Prof. A.K. Raychaudhuri, Director, S.N.Bose National Centre for BasicSciences, Kolkata, releasing the souvenir during inaugural function of

MMA 21. Others seen in the photograph (from left) are: Dr Hari Kishan,Scientist G, NPL; Dr V. Chandrasakeran, Scientist G, DMRL; Dr Vikram

Kumar, Director, NPL and Dr R. K. Kotnala , Scientist F, NPL

Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) Meeting at NEIST

A meeting of the InstitutionalEthics Committee (IEC),

formed by North East Institute ofScience and Technology (NEIST)Jorhat, was held on 19 November2008. The committee comprisedChairman, Dr Mridul Hazarika,Director, TRA-Jorhat and tenmembers namely Dr P.G. Rao,Director, NEIST, Jorhat, Member

(General); Prof. S.R. Choudhary,Former Head, Department ofPharmacology, AMC-Dibrugarh;Member (Medical Scientist/Pharmacology); Dr P.K. Baruah,Medical Officer, NEIST; Member(Clinician); Dr Adinath Sarmah,Tarajan, Jorhat, Member (Clinician);Mr M.C. Khound, Advocate, JorhatCourt, Member (Legal Expert);

Prof. Ananta Kr. Baruah, Retd VicePrincipal, Bahona College, Jorhat,Member (Social Scientist); Dr P.C.Borah, Principal, CKB CommerceCollege, Jorhat, Member; Dr (Mrs)Anuja Baruah, Medical & HealthOfficer, 3rd Assam Police Battalion,Jorhat, Member (Epidemiology);Dr B.G. Unni, Scientist F, NEIST,Member (Secretary) and Dr H.K.


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Hazarika, Principal, DCBCollege, Jorhat, Member(Philosopher).

Dr P.G. Rao, Director,NEIST, in his welcomeaddress said that thecommittee was formedespecially to review theresearch project ‘Environ-mental contaminants: Newscreening technologies andeffect on Human health’which would include theassessment of impact ofpolluted environment onhuman health with specialreference to populationliving in the vicinity of oilrefineries, paper and pulpfactories, coal mines, oilfields and oil drilling sites.

The Chairman DrHazarika said that there isa need to address variousdimensions of ethics and itsaffect on societal activities.He also informed thatother research instituteswill also be invited toreview some of the ongoingprojects.

Dr Unni presented theobjectives accomplishedunder the project. Differentaspects of the project likework plan, infrastructureinvolved, survey andsampling and animalexperiments werethoroughly discussed andcritically reviewed by thecommittee members. Themembers appreciated thestudy and unanimouslyopined that the study willbenefit the society.

17th Dr Y. Nayudamma Memorial Award LectureTOWARDS PEOPLE CENTRIC INNOVATIONS:

A FORESIGHT OF NAYUDAMMA*by

Dr T. RamasamiSecretary, Department of Science and Technology,

Government of India

Dr Yelavarthy Nayudamma is aliving legend for all his admirers

and students. This talk is a dedicationof a pupil to his master who fathereda student with care and righteousness.To me this (lecture) is a prayer to thesoul of a man without an ending.

Born on 10 September 1922 in asmall village close to Tenali,Yelavarthy Nayudamma would havebeen 86 years old had those men ofterror not taken him away from us on23 June 1985. He called himself theson of a farmer and a cobbler by

profession. He went to BanarasHindu University and obtained hisdoctoral degree from LehighUniversity, USA, under thesupervision of Edwin R. Theis. Hejoined the Central Leather ResearchInstitute (CLRI) in Madras andbecame the youngest ever Director ofthe institute. He laid the foundationof an institution that would becelebrated in the times to comethrough an extraordinary leadership.At the age of 47, he became theyoungest ever Director General of the

Dr T. Ramasami, Secretary, DST, receiving the prestigious Dr Y. Nayudamma Memorial Awardfor 2008 from the Union Minister Mrs. D. Purandeswari, at Tenali. Also seen in the photograph areMy Y. Ratheish Nayudumma, Chairman of Nayudumma Memorial Trust; Mr N. Manohar M.L.A. and

Mr P. Vishnu Murthy, Founder and Managing Trustee

LecturesLecturesLecturesLecturesLectures

*Abridged version

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Council of Scientific and IndustrialResearch (CSIR), New Delhi. Hewent on to lead the nation in severalother functions in later years untilhe flew away from all of us on theunfortunate day of 23 May 1985. Hewas a great human being whobelieved in the cause of social andpublic good and he combined thatwith his total commitment touniversal goodness.

Nayudamma: What made HisLife Special?

Nayudamma distinguishedhimself by linking the products of hiswork with the livelihood of peoplehe strived to serve. He built a socialcontract to his research anddevelopment activities. While manyscientists of his generation focusedon success, his focus was on service.Leather sector gave him animmense opportunity to connectscience and technology to theweaker segments of the society. Thesocial divide based on workundertaken was a reality. Heforesaw in technology a means tobridge such untenable divide. Heinnovated in management andleadership styles. He thoughtaggressively and spoke softly. Thereare numerous original managementinnovations he explored whileleading CLRI. He believed that thebest and assured means to bringabout technology revolutions in atradition bound industry was toengage CLRI in human capacitybuilding. The relationship he builtwith the University of Madras inconducting courses in leathertechnology was phenomenal. Today,the vibrant relationship within thetrinity of academy-research-

industry for the leather sector isexemplary. People like me emergedfrom such a partnership and nearly60% of the industry in India ismanned by the alumni of theuniversity-research partnership.India International Leather Fair,Tanner’s Get-together, scientist-tanner interactions, field extensionof research outputs and many morenew concepts were introduced. Wecelebrate his ideas and innovationswidely. There may be others whomight have accomplished similarfeat in their professional lives. Whatis the main lesson from the life ofNayudamma that makes himspecial? It is truly about his concernfor people and the purpose of hiswork. The lessons from his life aremore relevant today than ever beforein the history of Indian science. Hewas a people centric innovator.

Various Models for Innovationand Their Features

The current model forgeneration of innovations is derivedfrom technocratic push and desireto emerge as the first in the marketplace. Formal systems of innovationbased on business model back theprocess of innovation with largeamounts of capital. As aconsequence, the benefits of mostinnovations are beyond thepurchasing power of a large sectionof people. Differences in access totechnology have caused alreadyinequities in the world. Nationalstates are grouped as developed andindustrialized on the one hand anddeveloping or emerging on the other,based on the level of technologypreparedness. Rural urban divideis once again the direct result of

technology-induced divide amongpeople. Technocratic push forinnovations would result in evenlarger divides than what technologyinduced divides have caused. Thecurrent emphasis from the processto the social outcome of theinnovations within the ecology forinnovation is a more noble option. Iwould like to propose a thesis thatNayudamma’s people centric focusfor innovation was a foresight and avaluable one at that.

People Centric InnovationWe have made a case for change

in emphasis from the process ofinnovations to the social outcomeresulting from them. In the currentmarket economy, terms like “bottomof the pyramid” are used to point outthe possible untapped market spaceavailable. In a knowledge society,where knowledge is equitablyshared, creation of innovationswithin the purchasing power oflarge segments of the social fabricwould derive higher importance.Then the purpose of innovationwould drive the whole innovationecology. The very process ofinnovation would have to bemodified to suit the needs of thepeople.

Let us take some concreteexamples. The current health caresystem remains inaccessible onaccount of affordability for as manyas two-thirds of the globalpopulation. Therefore, increasingthe accessibility of health caretechnologies and innovationsbecomes a major requirement.Development of drugs for diseasesof the poor, i.e. on account ofmalnutrition, poor sanitation and


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hygiene would not be in thecommercial interests of the privatesector. The terms like “neglecteddiseases” refer to “neglected people”really. Innovations for reachinghealth care systems to the poorestof the poor and making it affordablerequires a people centric model forinnovation, which is not only sociallyresponsible but also appropriate.

Developing a People CentricModel in the CurrentInnovation Ecology

Keeping the costs of creatinginnovation low enough for matchingthe purchasing power within the percapita income of the country is themajor challenge of people centricinnovations. The current westernmodel of innovation ecology basedon technocratic push does not offersuitable tools for people centricmodel for innovation. We wouldneed a different paradigm forinnovations to make them peoplecentric.

India: Unique Opportunity inPeople Centric InnovationSpace

The Indian social context offersa unique opportunity to develop anideal model for people centricecology for innovations. Primaryrequirements for excelling in peoplecentric innovation are: (a) socialbehaviour to share and care, (b)analytical ability, (c) a mind set forpreferring social good over privategood and (d) developed educationalsystem. Indian civilizationpromoted many of the featuresrequired for people centricinnovation. The practice ofAyurveda, Siddha or Unani medicine

focused on affordable health carepriority for the society.

Indian strength in creatinginnovations at lower costs is wellknown. The recent Chandryaan Iprovides a shining demonstration ofIndia’s ability to create knowledgeat much lower costs. India derivesthe benefit of developed educationalsystems, expertise arbitrage,analytical ability in a wide crosssection of the society and largemarket need for low-costinnovations. India enjoys atremendous advantage in designingand developing people centricinnovation models. Our analyticalengineering capability is of highvalue in emerging knowledgeeconomies.

Enhanced Value of AnalyticalEngineering in KnowledgeEconomies

Engineering always had twoparts, namely application andanalytical component. Applicationengineering trains minds in givenand standardized technologies.Analytical engineering enablesengineers to innovate new modes/methods and novel products. Onefacilitates incremental innovationand market strength. The otherprepares for a new technologyparadigm and offers competitiveedge. The Indian Institutes ofTechnology and some other Indianinstitutions became a global brandbecause they trained engineers inanalytical engineering.

Innovation demands an abilityto combine individual creativitywith professional training impartedthrough structured systems.Innovative engineers are in high

demand. Analytical engineering isgaining higher values in aninnovation-dominated world.

Indians are descendants of a richintellectual heritage. We enjoy afavourable genetic disposition tocreate innovations. One could gainaccess to personal wealth and evenpsychic delight through knowledgeand innovations. Competence forinnovation would gain access topower in knowledge economies. Isthat enough? Perhaps not.

The current trends of themodern world indicate technocraticpush for economic benefits to theinnovator. The purpose of innovationemanating from the traditionalwisdom of Indian psyche had beensocial inclusion. It strived toincrease access to the benefits ofresearch to as many people aspossible. Modern IPR regimes havetilted the balance in favour of thosewith resources. Healthcaresystems, based on moderntechnology products, bypass manyon account of cost factors.Increasing access to the products ofinnovation would call for newinnovation ecology. It should bederived from the strength of anability to create innovations at lowfinancial investments. Indians areexceptionally good at creation ofinnovations with low capitalinvestments.

Synergies among Informal andFormal Innovation Systems:Some Examples of LeatherSector

India enjoys the benefit of alarge population of grass rootinnovators. The informal innovationsystem is rich and diverse. It is


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judicious to nourish the informalinnovation system and designsuitable models for linking theinformal and formal innovatingsystems.

Case Studies from LeatherSector: Nayudamma was aforerunner in coupling informal andformal innovation systems throughhis work at CLRI. He believed inthe strength of the informalinnovators. He cultivated anorganizational habit in CLRI torespect the outputs of informalinnovation system. He built ecologyfor mutual respect between theinformal and formal innovationsystems. In recent times, therehave been many successfulexamples of synergy betweeninformal and formal innovationsystems in the leather sector. Iwould like to present some casestudies in the leather sector duringits more recent history.

Fallen Animal Carcass Recovery:India is almost the only country thatprocesses hides and skins from deadanimals into leather and valueadded products. Recovery of fallencarcasses is hence an importantaspect of the Indian leather industry.As many as 1.6 million people areengaged in the primary rawmaterial collection and processingin the non-formal sector. A viabletechnology with bankability at 3-4animals per day processing capacitywas developed by CLRI andreferenced to the widely differingsocial contexts of India. Techno-social innovations have beenaccomplished in several locations inthe country. It is a case of low-costpeople centric innovation which can

generate sustainable social incomesof Rs 45000 per annum for a groupof 3000 below poverty line familiesfor investments less than Rs 50 lakh.

Kolhapuri Sandals: Kolhapurisandal is a product of informalinnovation which resulted in familytradition. Relatively couplingbetween the ultimate user of theproduct and manufacturing microenterprises led to a slow decline ofthe market and socio-economicmarginalization of the artisans.CLRI undertook a socio-economicstudy of the artisans in the microenterprise clusters in the Karnatakaand Maharashtra regions in early1990s. CLRI mounted a technologycampaign and built a synergybetween the informal and formalinnovators in Kolhapuri footwearsector. A new producer companyunder the brand name of Toehold hasemerged and is engaged insuccessful business based onproducts developed from peoplecentric innovation. About 177families connected to the businesson Kolhapuri sandals derivesustainable income from the technosocial innovation.

Do-Ecology Solutions in LeatherSector: In 1996, the Supreme Courtof India delivered a landmarkjudgment ordering the closure ofabout 400 tanneries in Tamil Naduon account of their inability tocomply with the environmentalregulatory norms. CLRI inassociation with NationalEnvironmental EngineeringResearch Institute and All IndiaSkin and Hide Tanners & MerchantsAssociation developed andimplemented a basket of Do-

Ecology Solutions for the leathersector. This technology plan savedabout 250,000 jobs and an industrialturn over of about Rs 6000 croresper annum. The project involved avibrant synergy of formal andinformal innovators.

Synergy among Informal andFormal Innovation Systems onnational Scale

National Innovation Foundationsupported by Department ofScience and Technology, Drugdiscovery from botanicals launchedby CSIR, several programmes ofDepartment of AYUSH aresome examples where coupling ofinformal and formal systems ofinnovation have been successfullyattempted.

National Innovation Foundationhas been working closely withseveral grass root innovators andregistering practices of high techno-social value. Last year alone, NIFregistered more than 30,000innovative practices of grass rootinnovators. The challenge ahead isdeveloping a market value andpenetration for some of thoseexciting innovations. A NewNational Innovation Project forinclusive growth is being designed.This would demand greater synergybetween informal and formalinnovators. Informal innovatorscould help in cost optimization ofinnovations while the formalinnovators could help in valueoptimization through inputs of bothanalytical and applicationengineering. This flows from theforesight of Nayudamma. Hence Ichose to call him a father of peoplecentric innovation.


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Dr V.P. Dimri elected Fellow ofTWAS

Dr V.P. Dimri, Director,National Geophysical

Research Institute (NGRI),Hyderabad, has been elected Fellowof the Third World Academy ofSciences (TWAS). Dr Dimri’scontributions have been alreadyrecognized through the fellowshipof prestigious National Academiessuch as Indian National ScienceAcademy; National Academy of Sciences; and AP Akademiof Sciences. He became first Asian recipient of LorenzAward of American Geophysical Union in 2007. He isalso a recipient of the prestigious National Mineral Awardand Department of Ocean Development (DOD) Award,Government of India; Outstanding Scientist Award ofFAPCCI; and Prof G.P. Chatterjee Award, presented byPrime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, during IndianScience Congress 2007.

Dr Dimri has about 100 International and Nationalpapers published, authored/edited three books entitled:Deconvolution and Inverse Theory (Elsevier, Amsterdam,1992); Application of Fractals in Earth Science (Balkema,U.S.A. 2000) and Fractal Behaviour of the Earth System(Springer, Germany, 2005). His first book was declaredas a ‘Didactical Masterpiece’ by Prof M. Koch of USAand is a reference book in the field of inversion.

Dr Dimri is a member of various national andinternational scientific committees. He was the SectionalPresident of Earth Systems Science Section at the IndianScience Congress Association, ISCA-2008. Hispresidential address ‘Geological Sequestration of CO2 forReducing Global Warming’ was well received. He wasalso a Sectional President of Earth System, Space andEngineering Sciences of recently concluded A.P. ScienceCongress.

Dr S. N. Maity,Acting Director, CMERI

Dr S. N. Maity, Scientist-G, has beenappointed Acting Director of Central

Mechanical Engineering Research Institute(CMERI), Durgapur, w.e.f. 31 December 2008.

During his over 23 years’ of R&D career hehas been credited with 58 national/internationalpatents and received four national awards ofrepute.

The Academy of Envi-ronmental Biology (AEB)

has awarded “DalelaEducational Foundation (DEF)Prize”, the Young ScientistAward-2008, to Dr SushreeSwarupa Tripathy, Scientist-B,Material Character-izationDivision, National PhysicalLaboratory, New Delhi, on 20 November 2008,in recognition of her outstanding contributionsand research in the field of EnvironmentalChemistry.

Dr Sushree Swarupa Tripathyawarded DEF Prize

CLRI Scientists awarded

Dr J. Raghava Rao and Dr (Ms) A Gnanamanihave recently been selected for Indira Gandhi

Paryavaran Puraskar from Ministry of Environmentand Forests and Tata Innovation Fellowship Awardof the Department of Biotechnology,respectively.

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celebrations - · pdf filepresentation by dr rasik ravindra, director, ... director general,...

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