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ISSN 0409-7467

President of India Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam dedicates LaCONES to the Nation

President of India Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam visited and dedicated the Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) to the Nation for the Cause of Conservation on 1 February 2007. He also released the book You Deserve, We Conserve — A Biotechnological Approach to Wildlife Conservation authored by Dr M.W. Pandit, Dr S. Shivaji and Dr Lalji Singh and published by I K International, New Delhi.

VOL 57 NO 4 28 FEBRUARY 2007

India is home to enormous biodiversity. However, destruction of forest areas is causing fragmentation of habitats of wild animals and is threatening the very survival of big cats like lions, tigers and leopards, especially because these animals require huge area for sustaining a certain minimum number. Fragmentation is also causing inbreeding of animals, leading to reduction in their genetic diversity, ultimately making them sterile and paving the path to extinction.

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President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s Address

I am happy to participate in thededication of the Laboratory for theConservation of Endangered Species(LaCONES), Hyderabad, which is aunique inter institutional researchmission, supported by the Central ZooAuthority of India, the Department ofBiotechnology, Council of Scientificand Industrial Research and theGovernment of Andhra Pradesh. It isapt that the project proposes to dealwith conservation of biodiversityamong wild life including theirpreservation through bio-technological intervention. The foodsystem world over uses plant genes asa means to provide quality food.Similarly, the importance of animalgenetic resources is also recognizedworld over and being used forimproving the productivity andnutritional value of food and other

products. The need for conserving andpreserving wild animals and forestspecies will be fulfilled by thelaboratories like Laboratory forConservation of EndangeredSpecies. Of course LaCONES isindeed a project of CCMB.Contribution of CCMB is well knownin understanding that nature hashidden species and specific codes ofsignatures in a small fragment of gene.The CCMB scientists have alsodeveloped primers to decodemolecular signatures from samples andhave created database of signatures ofover 2000 animal species. Icongratulate Dr Lalji Singh andhis team of scientists and stafffor many achievements in the field ofLife Sciences. I would like to sharewith you few thoughts on “Nature andits unique creations”.

My experience with OliveRidley Turtle

It was interesting to find fromthe LaCONES write up, that OliveRidley turtles are the ancestors toother known Ridley turtle species.I thought of sharing with you aboutmy experience with Olive Ridleyturtles in Orissa coast. In myprevious assignment, I was leadinga missile team and established alaunch complex in the WheelerIslands. While working on thelaunch complex, I received amessage from Prof Padma Hejmadi,a Conservationist saying that thelights in the range created problemsin hatching of the Olive Ridleyturtle. I invited her. We discussedand studied the problem with ourteam. To my surprise, we found thatthe neighbouring wheeler island wasfull of Olive Ridley turtles which had

NATURE AND ITS UNIQUE CREATIONS

After examining various alternatives and working out scientific strategies to tackle this problem withbiotechnological intervention, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, is pursuing amajor and unique research programme with the Central Zoo Authority of India (CZA), Department ofBiotechnology (DBT), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Government of Andhra Pradeshas its partners. The Government of Andhra Pradesh allotted seven acres of land and CCMB constructed LaCONESat Attapur under the leadership of Dr Lalji Singh, Director, CCMB and Dr S. Shivaji, Group Leader, CCMB asits Principal Investigator, essentially to deal with the issues related to the conservation of biodiversity among thewildlife.

LaCONES has already started making its international presence felt and has been honoured as a Member ofthe International Consortium of the Frozen Ark – an international depository of DNA representing the Indiansubcontinent.

Even if a species becomes extinct, the DNA and the viable cells that LaCONES is storing in the Frozen Arkfreezers will be of inestimable value in reconstructing the evolutionary history of Indian wildlife.

Address by President of India Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalamduring dedication of LaCONES to the Nation

Nurture Nature for Future

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President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s Address

come for hatching fromthousands of kms.Olive Ridley turtles laylarge number of eggsprobably with the hopethat at least few willsurvive after the attackfrom the birds andmovement of people onbeach! The hatchedyoung ones andmothers go back to sea.We took number offacilitating measuressuch as controlledlighting wheneverneeded and reducingthe movement ofpeople and vehicles onthe beach. This really enabledunhindered propagation of OliveRidley turtles. Thus I started likingthe promotion mission of OliveRidley turtle. Certain governmentregulations were also promulgatedregarding the type of permissiblefishing nets and prohibition of catchingOlive Ridley turtles.

We have a dream to generate anexperimental turtle rookery thatcan be used for attractingendangered species such as OliveRidley turtles or their relatives inone of our islands. This scientificendeavour can be undertaken as ajoint venture among LaCONES ofCSIR, DRDO, ecologists andbiologists involved in conservationof rare and endangered species forpromoting an eco-friendlyenvironment with the use of scientificand technological experience. Thispartnership will enable LaCONESto conduct further research on lifepattern of Olive Ridley turtles,movement pattern of thousands of

kms for hatching, their navigationalabilities and their continued evolution.This will be an important researchcontribution to the world on turtles.

Phillip Tobias Lecture 2006

Now I would like to discussanother important aspect ofconservation and study of humanevolution propagated by Prof PhilipTobias, a renowned Paleo-anthropologist from South Africa.

Ancient human history has beenrevealed beautifully byPaleoanthropology. Life originated600 million years ago andcontinental drift occurred 200million years ago creating fivecontinents. Mammals evolved 140million years ago, Hominids that isthe human type, evolved 26 millionyears ago but modern man onlyarrived on the scene some 200,000years ago. He migrated andcolonized the world only in the last50,000 years. The spoken language

is some 10,000 yearsold while writingevolved only a fewthousand years ago. Allthis phenomenalprogress has beenachieved only withinthe short span of 200to 400 generations,that is in just 10,000 to5,000 years.

Such a complexweb of evolution ofhumans had alwaysfascinated the thenyoung Tobias. He wasdrawn into the study offossils by Mary andLouis Leakey, who

asked him to write a description ofa hominid skull, which they haddiscovered in the Olduvai Gorge inTanzania. In 1964, with LouisLeakey and John Napier, he was theco-namer of Homo habilis, a newspecies and the first hominid with alarger brain capacity thanAustralopithecus africanus. Indeedit was the diabetes of his sister thatmade him to pursue genetic studies.Tobias thus was one among theearliest to provide evidence for theevolution of mankind in Africa andto think of a gene for a disease. Thesetwo instances clearly depict that theenquiring mind is ever alert forresearch and discovery.

Newer DNA technologies havegiven us better insight in retracingthe history of man. ‘The DNA of ahuman being is his historybook ever written’. Nowadaysintelligence, cognizance, drugresponse, behavioural problemsevery thing is related to genes:disease gene mapping is progressing

Dr Lalji Singh, Director, CCMB, explaining the activities of Laboratory for theConservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) to President Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

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President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s Address

Prof. Philip Tobias. This experiencewill enable intensive study onconservation of certain types ofendangered species and alsoestablish some of the missingspecies.

My Experience inGumoria Village

When I think of geneticresearch, I am reminded of my visitto Gumoria village in Assam wherethe self help groups members aredeveloping duck rearing practicesbased on inputs from agriculturalspecialists from Kerala and with theinitiative of the Assam Government.This has resulted in improving theeconomic conditions of the wholevillage by improving the duckproductivity substantially.

Genetic Engineering

While preparing for this talk, Ihappened to find the question asked

at a faster pace with new ageDNA technology. It is probablyduring the 50,000-30,000 years of co-existence that societies have evolvedadopting newer innovations andcultures.

Thus the ‘Nature – Nurture’philosophy holds good even in thisGenomic Era: ‘Genes’ what weinherit from our parents is the basis;a beautiful ‘building’ is built over it,be it any unique creation, theenvironment plays a crucial role inshaping the destiny of the individualand leading to excellence. Allchildren when they are born areequally poised to become a greatscholar.

After the lecture I wasinteracting with Prof Tobias and histeam at Durban, Johannesburg inSouth Africa and San Francisco inUSA and I realized the importantaspects of human evolution andother species. Science is indeedborderless. The specialists ofLaCONES may like to interact with

by the editors of science, celebratingthe inauguration of thedevelopmental biology by WilhelmRoux a century earlier, in thebook Consilience The Unity ofKnowledge by Edward O. Wilson.They asked one hundredcontemporary researchers in thefield of biology to identify what theyconsider crucial unansweredquestions in the discipline. Theresponses from the scientists were(1) The molecular mechanisms oftissue and organ development, (2)The connection betweendevelopment and genetic evolution,(3) The steps by which cellsbecome committed to a particularfate, and (4) The role of cell-to-cellsignaling in tissue development andfew more. These questions, I amsure, in respect of endangeredspecies, will be answered to theposterity by the scientists ofLaCONES.

Tasks for LaCONES

At the national level we are facedwith essentially two problems: (i)Poaching of the animals by tradersfor economic exploitation, and (ii)the problem of inbreeding leadingto their possible extinction in future.Both of these problems are of equalconcern. Adequate attention isbeing paid presently to the problemof poaching. LaCONES researchwill be a major initiative for thesecond aspect. I am happy thatCouncil of Scientific and IndustrialResearch has recognized theimportance of wild life wealthconservation and has created thelaboratory for conservation ofendangered species with the

A view of the Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES)

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President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s Address

following objectives:-

1. Monitoring of genetic variationthrough DNA fingerprinting

2. Cryo-preservation of semen,eggs and embryos of endangeredspecies

3. Semen analysis to study thesemen quality for selectinganimals for breeding purposes

4. Determination of the time ofovulation to achieve successfulintra-uterine insemination

5. Standardization of artificialinsemination for wild animals

6. In vitro fertilization (IVF) andembryo transfer

7. Establishment of cell bank andcloning for rare animals

Scientists of CCMB have achallenging task ahead fordeveloping proper technologies forthe conservation of endangeredanimals. This action will preventfurther extinction of wild animalslike Cheetah. So far, our IndianZoological Parks have only beenmaintaining the wild animals in atraditional way. With the associationof scientific teams from CCMB,care, nurturing and preservation ofthe species by the zoo authoritieswill be enhanced by valuablescientific inputs. This will be animportant contribution of science inconserving, improving andmultiplication of endangered Indianspecies.

Bio-factories

‘Plant Genomics’ is the newemerging area of research, which

deals with functional and structuraldefinition of genes both in terms oftheir location in the genome andtheir expression for defining theprecise regulation to control thewhole metabolism. Thus this fieldopens up new avenues to modulatethe gene expression in such a waythat plants can be converted intoproficient genotypes or varieties tobe used as the bio-factoriesproducing useful proteins,therapeutic molecules, nutritionalcompositions, and stress tolerantvarieties to meet the current andfuturistic requirement of the societyin eco-environment friendly manner.Similar experiments can also beconducted with wild animals.

Conclusion

Since CCMB and LaCONESare involved in high level research,a unique trait is essential fromexperienced scientists in suchorganizations. I call the unique traitas scientific magnanimity. I wouldlike to narrate an experience.

Nobel Laureate Prof. NormanE Borlaug, a well-knownagricultural scientist and a partnerin India’s first Green Revolution wasreceiving M.S. SwaminathanAward, at Vigyan Bhavan, NewDelhi on the 15th of March 2005.Prof. Borlaug, at the age of 91, wasin the midst of all the praiseshowered on him from everybodygathered there. When his turn came,he got up and highlighted India’sadvancement in the agriculturalscience and production and saidthat the political visionary Shri C.Subramaniam and Dr M.S.Swaminathan were the prime

architects of First Green Revolutionin India. He also recalled withpride, Dr Verghese Kurien whoushered White Revolution in India.Then the surprise came. He turnedto scientists sitting in the third row,fifth row and eighth row of theaudience. He identified Dr RajaRam, a wheat specialist, Dr S.K.Vasal, a maize specialist, Dr B.R.Barwale, a seed specialist. Hesaid, all these scientists hadcontributed to India’s and Asia’sagricultural science. Dr Borlaugintroduced them to the audience byasking them to stand and ensuredthat the audience cheered andgreeted the scientists with greatenthusiasm. This scene I have notwitnessed in our country before.This action of Dr Norman Borlaug,I call it as a Scientific Magnanimity.Friends, if you aspire to achievegreat things in life, you needScientific Magnanimity. It is myexperience that great mindand great heart go together. ThisScientific Magnanimity willmotivate the scientific communityand nurture team spirit andlead to newer discoveries. I amsure such environment ofscientific magnanimity will prevailin all our scientific researchinstitutions.

I am happy to dedicate theLaboratory for the Conservation ofEndangered Species (LaCONES),Hyderabad to the nation. My bestwishes to all the members of Centrefor Cellular and Molecular Biologyand their partners success in theirmission of applying science forsocietal growth.

May God bless you.

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R&D Highlights/New Facilities

Tissue CultureTechnique for

Bambusa balcooareleased

The Regional Research Laboratory(RRL), Jorhat, has developed a novelprocess for large scale production ofbamboo plantlets of the Bambusabalcooa variety, locally called theBhaluka bah, by tissue culturetechnique. This particular variety ofbamboo has been in great demand inthe region. It has tremendous potentialfor value addition. B.balcooa isconsidered to be indigenous to theNorth East India. It is the mostdurable and strongest bamboo in theBrahmaputra valley of Assam. Havingmaximum girth of culms and rich inthickness, it is mainly used for buildingpurpose and scaffolding. Young shootsof the bamboo find use in for pickle andother preparations, which have highdemand in South-East Asia. However,the seed production of this variety ofbamboo after gregarious flowering hasnot been recorded so far. Also, itsnatural vegetative propagation has alsonot been able to keep pace with itsdemand. Hence an alternativevegetative multiplication for rapid andlarge scale production of plantlets ofthis promising native resource throughtissue culture method was an urgentnecessity for enabling commercialcultivation by various entrepreneurs.With a nominal investment of a fewlakhs of rupees the know-how has beendestined to fulfill this long felt need ofthe region. The know-how has beentransferred to a Guwahati based firmM/s Azara Biotech.

Prof. Sir Richard Friend inauguratesVenture Center at NCL Innovation Park

The Venture Center, a businessincubator for knowledge-basedenterprise, was inaugurated byProf. Sir Richard Friend,Cavendish Professor at theUniversity of Cambridge, UK andFounder of Cambridge DisplayTechnology Ltd and Plastic LogicLtd on 18 December 2006 at NCLInnovation Park in the presenceof Dr R. A. Mashelkar, the thenDirector General, CSIR, NewDelhi, Dr S. Sivaram, Director,National Chemical Laboratory(NCL), Pune, Prof. Ashok Mishra,Director, Indian Institute ofTechnology, Mumbai and Prof.K.N. Ganesh, Director, IndianInstitute of Science Educationand Research, Pune. The VentureCenter, which is scheduled torollout its full services through2007, will begin operations with amentoring and advisory supportprogramme for NCL relatedentrepreneurship activities.

Speaking at the inauguralfunction, Prof. Friend emphasizedthe need for incubators, supportsystems and supportingenvironments to help scientiststake their laboratory research tothe market in the form oftechnology ventures in countriessuch as the UK and India. He saidthat scientists in UK and Indiahave to work much harder tocommercialize technologycompared to their counterparts inthe USA where the supportingmechanisms are well entrenchedand more advanced.

Dr Sivaram provided abackground about the genesis ofthe NCL Innovation Park andVenture Center. He said that heexpects that the current ways inwhich CSIR labs have beeninteracting are set to change inthe next 20 years, and NCL shalluse the Venture Center and NCLInnovation Park to experimentnew models of interaction withindustry. While he was aware ofthe risks of such experiments, hehoped that the Center woulddisprove the skeptics wrong bysucceeding in building the nextgeneration business for India.“The incubator would facilitateand allow scientists to pursuebusiness ideas related to theirresearch without having tosacrifice their scientific careers,”he added. Dr Mashelkar arguedthat India needs to dispel the myththat India cannot produce spinoutcompanies comparable to theUSA. “If Chinese universities andresearch institutions can produce2800 spin-out companies providing80,000 quality jobs, why cannotIndia?” he asked. Dr Mashelkarsuggested that the Venture Centershould aim to produce hundredsof Richard Friends. Speaking laterin the press conference, Prof.Ashok Mishra said that incubatorsplay an important role byinforming scientists, providingguidance and leads for assistance.

In the evening, Prof. RichardFriend delivered the firstInnovation and Technology

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Enterprise Lecture titled ‘Companystart-up in Cambridge: Fromscience to technology to products’.In his highly appreciated talk, Prof.Friend described his journey takinglaboratory science of the highestquality to technology and eventuallyproducts in the market place. Prof.Friend, who has pioneered the fieldof polymer-based electronics andflexible displays, has successfullyprotected his inventions andcommercialized these inventionsthrough the formation of two start-up companies, viz., CambridgeDisplay Technology Ltd and PlasticLogic Ltd. In his talk, Prof. Friend

pointed out that in his field manyleading research groups were eitherin the industry or had stronglinkages to industry. Thus, hintingthat good basic research andcommercial applicable technologycan go hand-in-hand. He also notedthat academic research could existsymbiotically with complementingstart-up company activitiesenriching both. He highlighted theimportance of patenting and havinga strategy for defending patents.Prof. Friend pointed out that havinggreat technology is something verydifferent from having a customer. Heused the examples of his two

companies to illustrate two verydifferent progress paths in the earlystages with respect to funding.

Speaking on the ‘Vision for theVenture Center’, Dr Mashelkarexpressed his gratitude to Prof.Friend for giving an excellent talkdiscussing his journey. Heappreciated Prof. Friendemphasizing the need to think aboutthe commercial value of researchand seeking patent protection beforepublishing the results. He talkedabout the success of Cambridge indoing high-level science while at thesame time attracting almost 10%of Europe’s Venture Capital NCL

Dr Sivaram providing the background of genesis of NCL Innovation Park and Venture Center (left);and Prof. Ashok Mishra, Dr Mashelkar and Prof. Friend attending to the press queries

Prof. Friend inaugurating the Venture Center and addressing the audience

New Facilitiess

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Symposia/Conferences

investment. He wished andexpressed optimism that India willproduce scientist-entrepreneurs likeFriend – many more like Chandru(IISc-Bangalore) or Jhunjhunwala(IIT, Madras) or Babu (TIFR,Mumbai). Creating scientist-entrepreneurs will involve work atthe local level by units such as theVenture Center but also changes inrules of the government at Delhi. Hehoped that the Venture Center willpioneer the nucleation of technologyenterprises and serve as a role modelfor many other Indian institutions.

Dr Premnath, Scientist, NCL,proposed the vote of thanks.-

Asian Symposium on Polymers in Concrete(ASPIC – 2006)

The Structural EngineeringResearch Centre (SERC), Chennai,hosted the Fifth Asian Symposiumon Polymers in Concrete (ASPIC-2006) during 11-12 September 2006at Vigyan Auditorium, SERC,Chennai.

Dr N. Lakshmanan, Director,SERC and Co-chairman,International Advisory Committee,ASPIC-2006 welcomed thedelegates of the symposium and thedignitaries. He felt that the topic ofthe symposium was highlyspecialized and of considerablecontemporary interest, particularlyin the Indian context, when Indiais embarking on a massive scale ofinfrastructural development.

Dr C.V. Vaidyanathan, DirectorGrade Scientist, SERC andChairman Organizing Committee,ASPIC-2006, traced the genesis ofthe Asian Symposia series from 1994,with the fourth ASPIC having beenheld in Korea in 2003. He said thatthe fifth ASPIC-2006 was set to notonly concentrate on the recentcontributions made in this field butalso focus on the case studies ofsuccess of this technology andrelated achievements.

Dr M. Neelamegam, DeputyDirector, SERC and Secretary,Organizing Committee, ASPIC-2006, introduced the Chief Guest ofthe inaugural function, Dr M.S.Ananth, Director, IIT-M, Chennaiand Prof. Yoshihiko Ohama, NihonUniversity, Japan, who was theChairman of the fifth ASPICInternational Advisory Committee.

In his inaugural address, DrAnanth said, “Every subject is

becoming inter-disciplinary”. Hestressed that the topic of thesymposium underscored thetremendous potential andimportance of materials sciencesand nanotechnology for theinnovations that are expected toemerge in the future, including inthe field of concrete materials andconcrete technologies. Heemphasized that case studies offailure are perhaps as muchimportant as the case studies ofsuccess.

During the inaugural session,Prof. Yoshihiko Ohama, releasedProceedings of the Symposium. Inhis address, he appealed to thestudent delegates to do more workon concrete-polymer compositesand asked the industryrepresentatives to manufacturemore useful products by using suchcomposites, which possess superiormechanical and durability relatedproperties.

Around 150 delegatedcomprising eminent experts,academicians, scientists, youngresearch scholars, from India andabroad, including professionalsfrom construction and cementindustries participated in thesymposium. Eighty-five researchpapers were accepted forpresentation/publication in theSymposium Proceedings and werepresented in two keynote sessionsand 12 technical sessions.

A special issue of the SERCNewsletter was brought out carryingthe messages from dignitaries and asummary of technical programmeschedule of the symposium.

NCL Innovation Park(www.innovationpark.org) is aresource center of the NationalChemical Laboratory, Pune andaims to promote synergistic andproductive relationshipsbetween business enterprisesand NCL with a clear focus oninnovation and technologydevelopment for value creation.

Venture Center (www.venturecenter.co.in) strives tonucleate and nurture technologyand knowledge-based enterprisesby leveraging the scientific andengineering competencies of theinstitutions in the Pune region inIndia. The Venture Center is atechnology business incubatorspecializing in technologyenterprises offering products andservices exploiting scientificexpertise in the areas of materials,chemicals and biological sciencesand engineering. The VentureCenter is the trademark ofEntrepreneurship DevelopmentCenter, a not-for-profit companyfloated by NCL.

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International Conference onNew Bioactive Molecules in Pharmaceutical Research

– Contribution of Natural Products

THE Indian Institute of ChemicalTechnology (IICT), Hyderabad, inassociation with National Center forNatural Products Research (NCNPR),University of Mississippi, USA,organized a two-day internationalconference entitled ‘New bioactivemolecules in pharmaceutical research– contribution of natural products’under the chairmanship of Dr J. S.Yadav, Director, IICT, during 13 and 14November 2006. This was in a sequelto the MoU signed in October 2005between CSIR and NCNPR,Mississippi, USA; the only nationalcenter in USA dedicated to the field ofnatural products. This was the thirdconference in the series, the first onewas held in New Delhi in October2005 and the second one was organizedat NCNPR, Mississippi, USA in July2006.

Over the years, natural productshave been the mainstay of drugdiscovery programme. Althoughseveral other systems have come intobeing, desired results could not beobtained. Hence the focus is againshifted to natural products (NPs). NPsare currently used across the world asherbal drugs, dietary supplements andneutraceuticals. With the increase indemand for the natural products, thebig pharma companies from across theglobe have once again shifted theirattention towards natural products andincreased their efforts towards findingnew bioactive molecules from them.The main aim of the conference was toorganize joint research programmes forbilateral exchange of scientists from

India and USA in the field of naturalproducts and to dessiminate thisknowledge amongst different groupsin conducting research in the area ofnew drug development.

The conference started with theinaugural lecture entitled ‘AyurvedaMateria Medica: A fruitful resource fordiscovery of new bioactive molecules’,delivered by Prof. Sukhdev, anoctagenarian scientist and a doyen ofnatural products chemistry in India.Prof. Goverdhan Mehta, BhatnagarFellow and former Director, IndianInstitute of Science, Bangalore, spokeon ‘Harnessing natural products andorganic synthesis for human wellbeing’. Dr J.S. Yadav informed that IICTwas establishing a National Facility forCombinatorial Natural Products(NFCNP) with financial assistance ofabout 25 crores from the Depertmentof Science & Technology tosystematically scan the abundant plantwealth in the country and identify thebiologically active molecules fromthem and generate libraries ofcompounds for biological screening.Further, the libraries of compoundsbuilt across the active skeleton will bescreened for different activities withthe necessary infrastructure for drugdevelopment. This facility would beavailable, both to academia andindustry, engaged in natural productsresearch.

Prof. Dr Ikhlas A. Khan, Asst.Director, Director of FDA Programmesfrom the NCNPR, and one of theConvenors of the conference spoke on‘An overview of natural products

research at NCNPR’ where heemphasized that natural productschemists have to work hand-in-handwith botanists, ecologists, marinebiologists as well as microbiologists andmolecular biologists.

Other important speakersincluded: Prof. Rene Gree and DrNicole Moreau from France; Dr JohnRimoldi and Charles Centrell fromUSA; Dr Kelly Chibale from SouthAfrica; Dr Prabhat Arya from Canada;Dr Dong Soo Shin from South Koreaand Dr Hermann Stuppner fromAustria.

Dr Larry Walker, Director,NCNPR and the Co-Organizer spokeabout natural products researchactivities at NCNPR. Briefing themedia in the Press Conference, calledon this occasion, Dr Walker said thatNCNPR emphasis was on three areas:The discovery and early developmentof potential new drugs andagrochemicals from natural products;The understanding and science-basedcharacterization of botanical productsused as dietary supplements; Andresearch on medicinal plants, theproduction and processing of theirpharmaceutical activities and theirpotential for the development ofalternative crops. He lauded the effortsof Indian scientists in the growth ofNCNPR and said that about 25% ofNCNPR scientists are of Indian origin.

About 350 delegates , both from theacademia as well as industryparticipated in the conference. Itincluded about 30 scientists fromabroad.

Symposia/Conferences

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Symposia/Conferences

The International Conference onAdvances in Metrology was heldfrom 11 to 13 December at IndiaHabitat Center, New Delhi. Priorto this conference, the NationalPhysical Laboratory (NPL), NewDelhi, had organized two satelliteevents: (i) Indo-Italian TrainingProgramme on Force & TorqueMetrology during 5-8 December2006 and (2) PTB- SAARC Workshopon inter laboratory comparison inthe field of length, mass andtemperature measurements on 8-9December 2006.

Forty-eight participants fromindustries, quality control andaccredited laboratories of India andneighbouring countries Nepal,Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia,etc attended the trainingprogramme. During the four daydeliberations, lectures weredelivered by the eminentmetrologists and experts in theirfields e.g. from PTB Germany,INRIM, Italy and NPL, Indiabesides the practical training wasgiven to participants. The topicscovered included techniques andmethods for the realization of forceand torque, calibration of forceproving and torque transducers,verification of UTMs, evaluation ofuncertainty and quality systems etc.[CSIR News 57(2007), (3) 48 ]

The PTB-SAARC workshop had15 participants from SAARCcountries. Deliberations in theworkshop included selection ofartifacts, their metrologicalcharacterization and long-termstability, preparation of technicalprotocol, evaluation of uncertainty

come at the expense of ignoring thepresent day need of the society. Thesecond plenary talk was deliveredby Dr Michael Moldover, NIST,USA. He prompted the metrologiststo think about new techniques andphenomena to lower down theuncertainty in measurementssignificantly and gave an example ofestablishing the pressure standardsbased on the dielectricmeasurements.

More than 350 participantsrepresenting more than 30countries attended. The countriesincluded USA, Germany, Italy,Australia, UK, France, China,Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea,Singapore, Nepal, Saudi Arabia,Pakistan, Bangladesh, Taiwan,Thailand, Fiji, South Africa,Mongolia etc.

Dr Vikram Kumar, Director,NPL and President MSI (MetrologySociety of India), welcomed thedelegates. He emphasized the needof continuous research foradvancement of metrology as themetrological capabilities of a countryhave direct bearing on the qualityof the products, which directly is ameasure of the economic growth ofthe country.

Dr T. Ramasami, Secretary,Department of Science andTechnology, inaugurated theconference. In his address, hesummed up the subject of metrologyby coining the term PQRS(Precision, Quality, Reproducibilityand Standards) which undoubtedlyrepresents the most general way tounderstand what basically themetrology means. He appreciated

as per GUM document, traceability,and procedure of calibration etc.

The conference covered a widerange of topics including physico-mechanical, electrical andelectronic standards. The topicscovered included latest trends inmeasurement science, metrology forprecision measurement,inspections, quality control,emerging areas of measurementscience, development of sensors andactuators and their application inmetrology, benefits of MRA, socialrole of measurement, clinicalmetrology and inter-laboratorycomparisons, etc. Three parallelsessions namely 3rd APMP Pressureand Vacuum, Time & Frequency(ATF-2006), and ChemicalMetrology (Chem-Met) devoted tothe respective fields were alsoorganized to discuss a wide rangeof topics to make use of the fullpotential of modern science andtechnology to evaluate, update, addvalue to and utilize the extensiveknowledge acquired over a longperiod of time and to promote themetrology for the benefit of mankind.Thirty invited talks, 75 oralpresentations and over 100 posterpresentations were made in sixtechnical sessions each and threeposter sessions.

Further, two planery lectureswere also delivered: one by DrKamal Hossain, Director, NPL, UKand Science Policy Advisor, UKGovernment. He indicated thatNMI’s continuing efforts to lowerdown the uncertainty inmeasurements in order to meet therising technology demand may not

International Conference on Advances in Metrology (AdMet-06)

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the technical support provided byNPL to NABL, which hasaccelerated the process ofdissemination of the nationaltraceability to the shop floor levelthrough its accredited laboratories.

Dr Ramasami also released aspecial issue of MAPAN quarterlyJournal of MSI dedicated to theselected contributions in the field ofTime & Frequency.

Dr R.P. Singhal brieflydescribed the importance of theevent and gave an overview of thesatellite meetings, i.e. Indo-ItalianTraining Program and PTB-SAARCworkshop followed by the 22n d

APMP General Assembly andrelated meetings during 13-16December 2006. These events werearranged as part of the GoldenJubilee Celebrations of NPL. Dr

Kamlesh K. Jain proposed a vote ofthanks and announced the openingof the technical sessions.

On the last day of the conferencea half-day symposium wasorganized. This was inaugurated byDr Girdhar J Gyani, SecretaryGeneral, Quality Council of Indiaand presided over by Dr VikramKumar, Director, NPL andPresident MSI, and followed by a

International Conference on Advances in Metrology(AdMet-06), at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

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Seminars

keynote address by Dr RobertKaarls, Chairman, CIPM.

The focal theme of thesymposium was ‘Benefit of MRAto Economy and Society’. Theadvantage of accelerating theprocess of accreditation of thelaboratories for electrical andelectronic parameters in generaland pathological laboratories inparticular was well reflected inthe inaugural address delivered byDr Gyani. He emphasized thatthe process would not only bringthe uniformity in measurementsbut also bring a significantadvantage to the society inimproving the quality of life. DrRobert Kaarls in his key noteaddress emphasized a systematicapproach to develop the chemicalmetrology which has a greatpotential both for standardizingthe diagnostic kits and the qualityof the clinical tests and finally thesociety. He also released tencertified reference materialsdeveloped by NPL on thisoccasion. The session ended byproposing a vote of thanks by DrR.P. Singhal.

Three technical talks weredelivered by the world renownedmetrologists: (i) Dr Peter J. Mohr,Chairman, CODATA and Head,Fundamental Constants Group,NIST, USA; (2) Dr Ken Fuji,NMIJ, Japan and (3) Dr P.S. Nair,ISRO, India. While Dr Mohrdeliberated on possible newinternational System of Units, DrKen Fuji focused on Avogadroconstant determination forreplacing the kilogram and DrNair spoke on role of metrologyin space applications.

Seminar on Technology-driven Development— Choices for North Eastern States

A seminar on ‘Technology-drivenDevelopment - Choices for NorthEastern States’ was held at theRegional Research Laboratory(RRL), Jorhat on 13 October 2006.The seminar was aimed atformulating the strategies for rapidand all round economic andindustrial development of the NorthEastern States of India bymeaningful utilization of the vastnatural resources and harnessing theavailable technologies. The seminar,it was felt would enable thelaboratory to focus on areas wherecommercial and economic gains canbe achieved through value additionwith minimum efforts.

The seminar was inaugurated byDr G. Thyagarajan, former Directorand currently Chairman of RRLResearch Council, who was the ChiefGuest on the occasion. Held at RRLauditorium, the seminar was largelyattended by researchers, students,academicians, representatives of thebusiness houses of the region, variousnational experts, members of theResearch Council besides thescientific community of RRL.Terming the seminar as verycrucial Dr P. G. Rao, Director,RRL, Jorhat, said that the seminarwas aimed at a very focusseddeperature from the 10th Five YearPlan towards shaping theensuing 11th Five Year Plan of thelaboratory. The scope was to lookbeyond the existing identifiedopportunities.

Inaugurating the seminar, Dr G.Thyagarajan former Director and

presently RC Chairman, RRL-Jorhat, informed that the objectiveof the seminar was to identify themissing links between the vastnatural wealth, biodiversity, etc. ofthe region and the availabletechnologies with a view to bringabout value addition and also toidentify the drivers for accomplishingsuch value additions such asgovernment, policy makers,entrepreneurs, etc. On the occasion,the chief guest also released a bookletand a Video Film on the RRL’sactivities for economic developmentof Nagaland entitled ‘Nagaland -Aspirations and Achievements’. Dr P.G. Rao, Director, RRL, Jorhat, in hisaddress said that the seminar wouldhelp in shaping the 11th Five YearPlan of the lab.

The seminar had three technicalsessions followed by a paneldiscussion. The panelists includedexperts like Dr G. Thyagarajan; DrS. K. Jain, President, FINER; ShriPradyut Bhuyan, Director, FINER;Dr A. R. Balakrishnan, Member,RRL Research Council; Shri AmitJain, Director, FINER; and Dr V.Prakash, Member, RRL ResearchCouncil and Director, Central FoodTechnological Research Institute,Mysore. Some of the seminarrecommendations centred aroundthe development of industrial skillsand trained personnel. It emphasizedthe need to think how sustainably theresources could be used with eco-friendly approaches, and called uponthe private sector to play a muchlarger role.

28 FEBRUARY 2007 65

Workshops

Workshop on Industrial Perspectives in Bioinformatics

A one day workshop on IndustrialPerspectives in Bioinformatics washeld on 15 December 2006 at theIndian Institute of ChemicalTechnology (IICT), Hyderabad, forthe fifth batch students of theongoing Advanced Course inBioinformatics, jointly organized byIICT, CDAC, and JNTU. The mainaim of the workshop was to enlightenthe students regarding theimportance and role ofbioinformatics in industry - todayand in the years to come.

The workshop started with thewelcome address by Dr J. S. Yadav,Director, IICT. Dr Yadav pointedout that bioinformatics , achallenging and fast progressingfield, will play a big role in thecoming years in almost allindustries.

Discussing the theme of theworkshop, Dr U.S.N. Murty, CourseCoordinator & Head, BiologyDivision, IICT, stressed thesignificance of bioinformatics to beglobally competitive. Many of themajor research laboratories

overseas have taken upbioinformatics in a big way and thesame is being done by Indianindustrial giants as well as some ofthe leading IT companies. Theturnover last year from thebioinformatics sector was to thetune of 100 crore and it could doubleup in the coming years, said DrMurty.

The workshop had four lectures.The first speaker Dr V. N. Balaji ofJubiliant Biosys, Bangalore,delivered his talk on ‘Structure-directed discovery solutions toaccelerate drug discovery’. He saidthat bioinformatics was being lookedupon as a boon and the futurebelonged to this area. Hehighlighted about some of thedatabases available and alsooutlined the scope and performanceof his company.

The second speaker Dr SudhirV. Kulkarni of VLife Sciences, Pune,spoke on “Molecular modelingsolutions for non-pharmaindustries”. Dr Kulkarni presentedthe work they had carried out for a

Workshop on Industrial Perspectives in Bioinformatics in progress

client for developing a biosensor fordetecting the herbicides, and alsolisted out the scope of bioinformaticsand the lead role it can play in anyof the industries. The third lecturewas delivered by Dr (Ms) UshaDeshpande, EVOLVA, Hyderabadon “EGFL6-Therapeutic Target inCancer - Turning Bioinformatics toBiotherapeutics”.

The last speaker Dr SharmilaMande, TCS, Hyderabad,emphasized the importance ofbioinformatics in industry withspecial reference to Biosuite.She discussed the problemsand challenges faced byBioinformatics and the effective wayto screen the huge amount of datawhich is being generated.Sheopined that the education ofbioinformatics should start from thegraduation programme level,pointing out large openings in thearea. The presentations werefollowed by an interactive sessionwhere a whole range of queries wereraised and answered by the elitepanel.

CSIR NEWS66

Meets

The Third National Interactive Meet(NIM-2006) organized by theCentral Institute of Medicinal &Aromatic Plants (CIMAP),Lucknow, was inaugurated on 27October 2006. The meet wasattended by 400 delegatescomprising scientists, bankers,policy makers and scholars.

Dr S.P.S. Khanuja, Director,CIMAP, while welcoming thedelegates, urged them to turn tocultivation and marketing ofMedicinal and Aromatic Plants(MAPs) which will enable India tobecome a healthier and developednation by year 2020 as dreamed byHonourable President of India. Hestressed on turning of R&D(Research and Development) toR&B (Research and Business). Helamented on the misuse of the termherbal and urged to give a scientificdefinition to it. He also urged to stopcollection of medicinal and aromaticplants from wild sources and startcultivation on large scale accordingto industrial demand that can turnMAPs to MACs (Medicinal andAromatic Crops).

Dr Khanuja also announced theformation of abridging platform forMAPs stakeholders in the form of anational level society MAPSI(Medicinal and Aromatic PlantsSociety of India) which is perhapsthe first of its kind in India. Heinformed that a few main objectivesof the society are to act as the‘Knowledge bank’ of information onplant derived products, compoundsand formulations, being generatedthrough research by variousorganizations and to provide a

platform that would leadto self employment andhelp serve as MAPs hubthrough publications onMAPs’ technology. Thebasic aim was tostrengthen the linkagesamong the key players inthe sector throughfunctional value chain.

In his presidentialaddress, Prof. V.L.Chopra, former DirectorGeneral, ICAR andMember, Planning Commission,emphasized on consolidating theherbal business in India which hasgreat potential. Prof. Chopra saidthat according to WHO estimatesthe current market potential ofherbal is US$ 62 billions worldwide.He further said that developed Indiawill emerge from developed villagesand there is need to increase herbalbusiness for rural development.

Dr (Smt) Manju Sharma, formerSecretary, DBT and presentlyChairperson of Research Council,CIMAP, delivered a keynote addresson ‘Herbal Plants as SocialCurrency of Happiness for RuralMasses’.

Dr S. Nagarajan, Chairman –PPV-FRA, delivered an address on‘New Opportunities in PlantBreeding and Seed Industrythrough PPV and FRA’. The otherdignitaries present on the occasionincluded: Dr Chandrika Prasad,Director General, UPCAR and ShriG.D. Kelkar, Kelker Foundation.

The first day of NIM-2006 wasmarked by the release of new herbalproducts – ‘Herbi Soft’, a new hair

care shampoo; Haloe Skin – Aloevera based skin care product; CIM-Paushak and CIM-Phal-Se –ayurvedic food supplements andCalliterpenone – based growthpromoting herbal formulation CIM-Upaj (CIMAP has a US patent oncalliterpenone).

CIMAP also signed twoagreements with a Lucknow basedindustry Disinfecto Chemicals onArtemisia annua cultivation andprocessing technology that willextend benefits to the nearbyfarmers.

NIM-2006 concluded with therecommendations for qualityproduction of medicinal andaromatic plants by the farmers andthat industry should come forwardto procure the materials with thebuy back assurance at theremunerative price. The R&Dinstitutes should steer theirresearches to develop improvedplant varieties and processes toeconomise the cost of production soas to compete in the internationalmarket.

Special session titled “Face to

Third National Interactive Meet (NIM-2006) at CIMAP

Inaugural session of the Third National Interactive Meet(NIM – 2006) in progress

28 FEBRUARY 2007 67

Meets/Honours & Awards

Face” sponsored by NationalAcademy of Science, India (NASI)was chaired by Dr P.K. Seth, CEO,Biotech Park and the other panelistwho participated in the discussionincluded Dr S.P.S. Khanuja; Dr R.P.Sharma, IARI; Dr B.S. Sajwan,

CEO; Shri Piyush Arora ofPadmavati Herbs, Bareily;Dr M.R. Uniyal ofMaharishi Ayurved; DrV.K. Tripathi of SanatProducts; Shri KaruneshAgarwal of DisinfectoChemicals; Dr RamakantHarlalka of NishantAromas. Dr S.P.S. Khanujastressed upon the need forquality relationship betweenindustry and farmers.

The farmers participating in theNIM enquired about the medicinaland aromatic plants required by theindustry. Industry representativesgave an overview of the internationalmarket of some of the majormedicinal and aromatic plants. It

was emphasized that use of improvedplanting material and technology cangive India competitive advantages inthe world market.

Dr B.S. Sajwan said that theNMPB is taking all possible stepsto promote cultivation of medicinalplants. He stressed upon the needfor adopting superior technologiesand gain knowledge beforeattempting to large scale cultivation.Shri D.C. Verma, State Bank ofIndia, said that proper planning ofthe project should be donebeforehand so as to make it viablefor economic terms for funding. DrA.K. Singh, Head, Technology andBusiness Development Division,CIMAP, Lucknow, proposed the voteof thanks.

Prof. V.L. Chopra, Member Planning Commission,delivering his presidential address at NIM-2006

Dr G.A. Ravishankar, Scientist F and Head, Plant Cell BiotechnologyDepartment, Central Food Technological Research Institute(CFTRI), Mysore, has recently received the following awards:

1. Fellowship of International Academy of Food Science andTechnology (IAFoST, HQ: Canada) for his outstandingcontribution to Food Science and Technology at the hands ofProf. Malcolm Bourne, President of IAFoST, at the 13th WorldFood Congress at Nantes, France.

2. Fellowship of Indian Society of Agricultural Biochemists.Conferred on him by His Excellency Shri T.V. Rajeswar,Governor of UP and Chancellor of International Conferenceon Post Harvest Technology held at Kanpur. This is inrecognition of Dr Ravishankar’s work in the area of FoodBiotechnology and Plant Biotechnology with an emphasis onAgri-process technologies for Industrial Applications.

3. Prof. S.R.Vyas Memorial Award of Association of Microbiologists of India, given at the 47th Annual Conference of AMIat Barkatulla University, Bhopal, for his contribution to the area of Microbial biotechnology with reference to use ofmicrobial elicitors for improvement of capsaicin, anthocyanins, betalains and annatto colours and also micro algaltechnologies for the production of nutraceuticals, viz. β-carotene, astaxanthin, phycocyanin and antioxidant molecules.

Dr Ravishankar has published over 150 research papers in peer reviewed journals, 35 reviews and 40 patents. He hasguided 18 Ph.D. students in the field of Applied Botancy, Biochemistry and Biotechnology.

Awards to Dr G.A. Ravishankar

Dr G.A. Ravishankar being conferred the Fellowship ofInternational Academy of Food Science and Technology (IAFoST)

by IAFoST President Prof. Malcolm Bourne

CSIR NEWS68

Honours/Announcements

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)invites nominations for the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB)Prizes in science and technology for the year 2007. The SSBPrizes are to be given for research contributions madeprimarily in India during the past five years. The age of thenominee for the 2007 SSB Prize should not be more than 45years as on 31 December 2006.

The SSB Prizes are awarded for notable and outstandingresearch, applied or fundamental, in the followingdisciplines: (1) Biological Sciences, (2) Chemical Sciences,(3) Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences, (4)Engineering Sciences, (5) Mathematical Sciences, (6)Medical Sciences, and (7) Physical Sciences. The SSB Prizecarries with it a citation, a cash award of Rs 2,00,000(Rupees two lakh only) and a plaque for each scientistselected for the Award.

Nominations addressed to Dr Rajesh Luthra, Head,Human Resource Development Group, CSIR Complex,Library Avenue, Pusa, New Delhi 110012 should be sent asper the prescribed pro-forma (25 copies) along with one setof reprints of significant publications of the last 5 years’period on or before 31 March 2007. The details of the SSBPrize and the prescribed pro-forma for nomination may beobtained from the above address or can also be downloadedfrom the website: http://csirhrdg.res.in

The honours conferred on Dr J. S. Yadav,Director, Indian Institute of ChemicalTechnology (IICT), Hyderabad, in the recentpast include the following:

• Prof. V. M. Thakor Award Lecture-2007;it is organized every year in the memoryof late Prof. V. M. Thakor, Founder &Head of the Department of Chemistry,Saurashtra University, Rajkot. Theearlier recipient of the Award Lecturehave been outstanding scientists andprofessors in the field of chemistry likeProf. Timmerman, The Netherlands;Dr D. J. Triggle, USA; Dr B.K. Trivedi,USA ( now in Wockhardt); Dr M. C.Wani, USA; Dr F. A. Kathawala, USA;Dr B. Gopalan; Prof. M. M. Sharma;and Dr Ashok B. Vaidya, etc.

• Pharma+ Biotech 2007 Award for‘Outstanding Achiever in R&DInnovation-Institutional Category’

• ‘CDRI-2006 Oration’ awarded by theIndian Pharmacological Society

Honours conferred onDr J. S. Yadav

NOMINATIONS INVITED

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizesin Science and Technology for

2007

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