October 9, 2020

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and KPIT successfully ran trials of India's first Hydrogen Fuel Cell (HFC) prototype car running on an indigenously developed fuel cell stack at CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. The fuel cell is a low temperature PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) type Fuel Cell that operates at 65-75 degree centigrade, which is suitable for vehicular applications

CSIR and KPIT have successfully developed a 10 kWe automotive grade LT-PEMFC fuel cell stack based on CSIR's know-how. The heart of the PEM fuel cell technology includes the membrane electrode assembly, which is wholly a CSIR knowhow. KPIT brought in their expertise in stack engineering which included light-weight metal bipolar plate and gasket design, development of the balance of plant (BoP), system integration, control software and electric powertrain that enabled running the fuel cell vehicle. The fuel cell stack uses extremely thin metal bipolar plates, thus reducing the stack weight by about two-thirds.

In 2016, CSIR-NCL and CSIR-CECRI as part of the Industry Originated Project (IOP) category of the New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) scheme partnered with KPIT for the development of an automotive grade PEM Fuel Cell technology. Hydrogen Fuel Cell (HFC) technology uses chemical reactions between hydrogen and oxygen (from air) to generate electrical energy, eliminating the use of fossil fuels. Further, the fuel cell technology emits only water, thus cutting down the emission of harmful greenhouse gases along with other air pollutants. The technology, with further adoption and use, is poised to make the world a cleaner place with reduced air pollution levels.

The trials were run on a battery-electric passenger car platform retrofitted with the Fuel Cell Stack. However, it is expected that the technology is more suited for commercial vehicles (CV) such as buses and trucks. Battery electric buses/ trucks require a large battery to achieve the desired operating range. In comparison, HFC technology requires a much smaller battery for a very large operating range. Hence, HFC technology offers more promise for the CV segment.

The FC vehicle is fitted with a Type III commercial hydrogen tank. Its capacity is around 1.75 Kgs of H2 stored at about 350 bar pressure, the FC vehicle should run for approximately 250 Km range under typical Indian road conditions at moderate speed of 60-65 Km/hr. The entire fuel cell stack and its associated components with power train were retro-fitted in a standard 5-seater sedan car.

On this significant milestone, Mr. Ravi Pandit, Chairman, KPIT said, " The technology has a great future and owing to its indigenous development, is expected to be more commercially viable than ever before. It is an important technology that will help India significantly reduce pollution and reduce our fossil fuel imports."

Prof. Ashwini Kumar Nangia, Director, CSIR-NCL while congratulating the teams on their first successful car run on hydrogen fuel cell using indigenous CSIR-NMITLI technology and KPIT as industry partner stated that, "the time has come for renewable energy based on hydrogen as fuel to power transportation in the country. This will not only reduce the petrol, diesel import bill but hydrogen is the cleanest fuel with water as the only by-product. A long term investment of CSIR under NMITLI in a niche energy area has come to fruition."

Source Link : https://pib.gov.in/
Date : 2020-11-05

August 28, 2020

CSIR-CMERI has developed the World's Largest Solar Tree, which is installed at CSIR-CMERI Residential Colony, Durgapur. Prof.(Dr.) Harish Hirani, Director, CSIR-CMERI, while elaborating about the technology stated that, "The installed capacity of the Solar Tree is above 11.5 kWp. It has the annual capacity to generate 12,000-14,000 units of Clean and Green Power".

The Solar Tree has been designed in a manner to ensure maximum exposure of each Solar PV Panel to Sunlight and also creation of the least amount of shadow area beneath. There are a total of 35 Solar PV Panels in each tree with a capacity of 330 wp each. The inclination of the arms holding the Solar PV Panels are flexible and can be adjusted as per requirement, this feature is not available in Roof-Mounted Solar facilities. The energy generation data can be monitored either real-time or on daily basis.

Prof.(Dr.) Harish Hirani explained, "The CSIR-CMERI developed Solar Tree besides being the World's Largest Solar Tree also has certain customizable features for application at diverse sites. The Solar Trees were designed in a manner to ensure minimum Shadow Area, thus potentially making these Solar Trees available for widespread usage in Agricultural activities such as High Capacity Pumps, e-Tractors and e-Power Tillers.

These Solar Trees can be aligned with Agriculture for substituting price-volatile fossil fuels. Each Solar Tree has the potential to save 10-12 tons of CO2 emissions being released into the atmosphere as Greenhouse Gases when compared with fossil fuel fired energy generation.Besides, the surplus generated power can be fed into an Energy Grid.

This Agricultural Model can provide a consistent economic return and help the farmers counter the effects of the uncertain variations in Agriculture related activities, thus, making farming an Economic and Energy Sustainable practice."

Each Solar Tree will cost Rs 7.5 lakhs and the interested MSMEs can align their Business Model with the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evem Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) Scheme for farmers, for developing a Renewable Energy based Energy Grid.

The solar tree has the capability to incorporate IOT based features, i.e. round-the-clock CCTV surveillance in agricultural fields, real-time humidity, wind speed, rainfall prediction and soil analytics sensors. The CSIR-CMERI developed solar powered e-Suvidha Kiosks may also be connected to the Solar Trees for real-time access to the vast majority of agricultural database as well as to the eNAM i.e. National Agricultural MarketPlace for instant and real-time access to an unified online market.This Solar Tree is a Quantum Leap towards making an Energy Reliant and Carbon Negative India.

Source Link : https://www.pib.gov.in/
Date : 2020-08-31

August 1, 2020 (N. Delhi)

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister for Science & Technology, Health & Family Welfare and Earth Sciences announced the successful completion of PAN-India 1000 Genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 here today. He took a meeting with Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and reviewed the COVID-19 activities of DBT, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and DBT-Autonomous Institutions (AIs).

During the meeting, Dr. Harsh Vardhan also launched and dedicated to the nation the largest network of five dedicated COVID-19 Biorepositories established by Department of Biotechnology in record time. These are at Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) Faridabad, Institute of Life Science (ILS) Bhubaneshwar, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) New Delhi, National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) Pune and Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (InStem) Bangalore. He complemented the efforts of DBT in "the relentless war for mitigation of this Pandemic".

Dr Harsh Vardhan said, "Given the importance of this information for public health response initiatives requiring investigation into the transmission of COVID-19, the sequence data will soon be released in Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) for use by researchers across the Globe". "The information in the database will improve our understanding on how the virus is spreading, ultimately helping to interrupt the transmission chains, prevent new cases of infection, and provide impetus to research on intervention measures", he added. The Minister also pointed out, "The data analysis, which is ongoing, may bring out some interesting conclusions to help in our fight against COVID-19."

Dr. Harsh Vardhan also highlighted that "16 Vaccine Candidates are in different stages of development. The BCG Vaccine is undergoing phase 3 trial, Zydus Cadila DNA Vaccine is in phase I / II trial and 4 Vaccine candidates are in advanced stages of pre-clinical study". "5 Good clinical laboratory practice (GCLP) clinical trial sites have been developed and 6 animal models for Vaccine Development Studies are also ready", he said.

The Department of Biotechnology had launched a Pan India 1000 SARS-CoV-2 RNA Genome Sequencing programme in May this year to be done by Autonomous Institutes of DBT, collaborating with national laboratories and clinical organizations.

The consortium coordinated by National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG-Kalyani), West Bengal and Five other National clusters, ILS-Bhubaneswar, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD)-Hyderabad, InStem- National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS)-IISc-Bangalore, and NCCS-Pune are actively participating in sequencing and analysis. Collaborating National Institutes and clinical organizations involved are ICMR - National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGMER)-Kolkata, IISc-Bangalore, AIIMS- Rishikesh (Uttarakhand), Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC)-Delhi, THSTI-Faridabad, Grant Medical College (GMC)-Aurangabad, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (MGIMS)-Wardha, Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) and Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Government Medical College (BJMC)-Pune, and other hospitals.

The Consortium has achieved its initial goal of completing the sequencing of 1000 SARS-CoV-2 genomes from nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs collected from individuals testing positive for COVID19 by Real Time PCR. The samples were collected across 10 states covering different zones within India.

DBT is supporting COVID-19 Bio Repositories through a well strategized plan so that novel technological interventions can be developed in due course of time. The main purpose of these biorepositories are archival of inactivated virus and clinical samples, including naso-oropharyngeal swabs, stool, urine, saliva, serum, plasma, PBMC and Serum.

These designated bio repositories will use the clinical samples for R&D purpose and are authorized to share the samples with academia, industry and commercial entities involved in development of diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines etc., after scrutinising the purpose of the request and ensuring benefit to the country. Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for sample collection, transportation, aliquoting, storage and sharing have been developed. As on date, 44452 clinical samples have been collected and stored in these five centres. More than 5,000 samples have been shared.

During the meeting which was attended by Dr Renu Swarup Secretary DBT, and joined through video-links by Senior officers of DBT and its Autonomous Institutes and Public Sectors BIRAC and BIBCOL,the Minister was presented an update on the DBT?BIRAC COVID 19 Research Consortia under which more than 150 Research Groups have been supported involving nearly 80 Industry /Academia collaborations, 40 Academic Research Institutes and more than 25 Startup Research Groups.

The consortium has successfully developed 100 percent self-reliance for producing more than 5 lakh RTPCR diagnostic kits per day. 4 technologies of DBT AI's have been transferred to the Industry for commercial manufacturing of diagnostic kits. DBT AI's are also providing services for Diagnostic Testing, Kit Validation and Antiviral testing.

Source Link : https://pib.gov.in/
Date : 2020-08-04

July 2, 2020 (N. Delhi)

Government launches Drug Discovery Hackathon 2020 (DDH2020), a first of its kind National Initiative for supporting drug discovery process

The Union Government launched Drug Discovery Hackathon here today in the presence of Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr. Harsh Vardhanand Union Minister for Human Resource Development Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'. This Drug Discovery Hackathon is a joint initiative of MHRD's Innovation Cell (MIC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and supported by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), MyGov as well as private players.

Minister of State for HRD Shri Sanjay Dhotre, Principal Scientific Advisor Prof. VijayRaghavan, DG CSIR, Dr.ShekharMande, Chairman AICTE, Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe, President, Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) Prof. B Suresh and Chief Innovation Officer, MHRD, Dr. Abhay Jere were also present during the online launch program. This Hackathon is first of its kind National initiative for supporting drug discovery process and will see participation from professionals, faculty, researchers and students from varied fields like Computer Science, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Medical Sciences, Basic Sciences and Biotechnology.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister for S&T said, "We need to establish the culture of Computational Drug Discovery in our country. In this initiative, MHRD's Innovation cell and AICTE will focus on identifying potential drug molecules through the Hackathon while CSIR will take these identified molecules forward for synthesis and laboratory testing for efficacy, toxicity, sensitivity and specificity." Pointing out that drug discovery is a complex, expensive, arduous and time-consuming process, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, "While we pursue clinical trials of few repurposed drugs for COVID-19, as they are faster and can quickly be launched, it is also important that we find other suitable repurposed drugs while at the same time continue working on new drug discovery to develop specific drugs against COVID-19". He added, "in-silico drug discovery which utilizes Computational methods such as Machine Learning (ML), AI and Big Data will help in accelerating this process".

Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', HRD Minister said, "MHRD and AICTE have huge experience in organizing Hackathons but for the first time, we are using hackathon model for tackling a great scientific challenge. More importantly, this initiative is open for researchers/faculty across the globe as we are keen on attracting international talent to join and support our efforts."

Minister of State for HRD Shri Sanjay Dhotre also appreciated the concept and said, "Our government has kick-started Hackathon culture in this country which is very critical for challenging our youngsters to solve some of the daunting problems faced by our nation."

Prof K. Vijay Raghavan, PSA, Govt. of India said, "I wish to thank MHRD, AICTE and CSIR and all our partners for supporting this Hackathon which will help India establish new model for expediting drug discovery process. The Hackathon consists of challenges that are posted as problem statements and, are based on specific drug discovery topics which, are open to the participants to solve. It will have three phases of three months each and the whole exercise is to be completed by April-May 2021. At the end of each phase, successful teams will be rewarded. The 'lead' compounds identified at the end of phase 3 will be taken forward for experimental level at CSIR and other interested organizations.

During the launch function, Dr.Abhay Jere, Chief Innovation Officer explained the concept of Drug Discovery Hackathon, while Prof. Anil Sahasrabudhe extended all the support from AICTE and appealed all technical institutions to participate in this initiative in big numbers. Dr.Shekhar Mande extended all the required commitment from CSIR's side for this initiative. He also expressed satisfaction on the quality and variety of problem statements released today.

Background Information and Methodology of Hackathon

• The Hackathon consists of challenges that are posted as problem statements and, are based on specific drug discovery topics which, are open to the participants to solve. A total of 29 Problem Statements (PS) have been identified.
• MyGov portal is being used and any Indian student can participate.
• Professionals and researchers from anywhere in the world can participate.
• TheHackathon will have three Tracks.Track 1 will primarily deal with drug design for anti-COVID-19 hit/lead generation: this is done using tools such as molecular modelling, pharmacophore optimization, molecular docking, hit/lead optimization, etc.
• Track 2 will deal with designing/optimizing new tools and algorithms which will have an immense impact on expediting the process of in silico drug discovery.
• There is also a third track called "Moon shot" which allows for working on problems which are 'out of the box' nature.

Source Link : https://pib.gov.in/
Date : 2020-07-05

June 18, 2020 (N. delhi)

The Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated and flagged off India's first I-Lab (Infectious disease diagnostic lab) for Covid testing in rural and inaccessible areas of India, here today. Secretary, Department of Biotechnology Dr. Renu Swarup and other officials were present on the occasion. Dr. Jitendar Sharma, CEO, Andhra Med Tech Zone CEO, and senior officials from NITI Ayog, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, MeiTY, other ministries, ICMR, DST, CSIR etc joined the function through web online.

Expressing his happiness to launch the I-Lab, infectious disease diagnostic laboratory-a mobile testing facility, Dr. Harsh Vardhan dedicated this facility to provide Covid testing access to rural India. This mobile testing facility will be deployed through the DBT testing hubs to remote regions of the country for Covid testing. He congratulated and appreciated the efforts of the DBT in tackling the Covid pandemic, and added that DBT coordinated in scaling-up testing for Covid by reorienting premiere laboratories as Covid testing centers in a hub and spoke model. There are now over 20 hubs in the country with 100 testing laboratories and these have tested more than 2,60,000 samples.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, "This has been possible through the DBT-AMTZ COVID Command Consortia (COVID Medtech Manufacturing Development] Consortia)" to cope-up with the current situation in the country and move progressively towards a stage of self-sufficiency. The I-lab will be deployed through these hubs into remote and interior places". The Minister appreciated the "Andhra med-tech zone team for building this unique, innovative facility for the country at the period of lock-down through tireless, dedicated and committed efforts". He informed that AMTZ through the support of DBT has also established manufacturing facility for indigenous manufacturing of kits and reagents for various testing kits which were initially imported thereby helping us realise the vision of Pradhan mantriji on- Make-in India, Make for India". He pointed out that today there are 953 testing laboratories in all corners of the country and elaborated on "Various steps taken by the ministry and departments towards achieving research components indigenization and their in-house manufacturing." Dr. Harsh Vardhan emphasised that "In the near future with all these collective and cooperative efforts, India will achieve self-sufficiency in healthcare technologies leading towards Atma Nirbhar Bharat."

Dr. Renu Swarup said on the occasion that through the concerted efforts Indian scientists, the country has achieved a capacity of producing nearly 5 lakh testing kits per day, exceeding the target of having one lakh test kits by May 31, 2020. She pointed out that this I-Lab has been created in a record time of 8 days by the Andhra Pradesh Med-tech Zone team with the support of DBT under the National Biopharma Mission being implemented by the Public Sector BIRAC. She highlighted that the unit has biosafety facility and is capable of performing RT-PCR as well as ELISA tests.

DBT-AMTZ COMManD

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology along with Andhra Pradesh Med-tech Zone (AMTZ) has initiated the DBT-AMTZ COMManD [COVID Medtech Manufacturing Development] Consortia to address the shortage of critical healthcare technologies in India and move progressively towards a stage of self-sufficiency.

Under this Consortia, India's first I- lab (infectious disease diagnostic lab) has been built at AMTZ in record time of 8 days from the date of receipt of Automotive Chassis, from Bharat Benz. This is a mobile diagnostic unit with biosafety facility. The I- lab is a BSL-2 facility with on-site ELISA, RT-PCR, Bio chemistry analysers. It can run 50 RT-PCR reactions and about 200 ELISA in a day.Double set of Machines can help increase the capacity to about 500 per day in 8 hours shift.It can be deployed in remote areas and can be lifted from Automotive Chassis and can be put on goods train for sending to any location in the country.The BSL-2 Lab is as per NABL specifications and is being attached to DBT's certified Testing centres.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Ministry of Science & Technology, promotes and accelerates the development of biotechnology in India, including growth and application of biotechnology in the areas of agriculture, healthcare, animal sciences, environment and industry.

AMTZ is Asia's first medical equipment manufacturing ecosystem, uniquely dedicated for Medtech and supported by various Ministries.

INFECTIOUS DISEASE DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORY (I-LAB)

• To promote last mile access of testing to rural India, DBT under the Covid-Command strategy has supported building of mobile testing labs through AMTZ.

• The unique feature of these mobile testing labs is their utility in diagnosing other infectious diseases beyond the Covid period

Specifications

• Automotive Chassis, Diagnostic Equipment, Clean Room, BSL-2 lab, bio-safety cabinets
• 25 Tests (RT-PCR) per I-Lab per Day
• 300 ELISA tests/day
• Additional test for other diseases for TB, HIV etc. tol be costed as per CGHS rates.

Deployment

• The first I- lab was launched in New Delhi on 18th Jun, 2020 by Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare.
• The labs will be provided to the regional/City hubs and they will deploy it further in the interior, inaccessible parts of the region.


Source Link : https://pib.gov.in/
Date : 2020-06-25

June 13, 2020 (N. Delhi)

A CSIR National Healthcare Supply Chain Portal that aims to provide real-time availability of critical healthcare supplies https://www.aarogyapath.in has been launched on June 12,2020. AarogyaPath would serve manufacturers, suppliers and customers. During the present national health emergency arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic, where in there is severe disruption in supply chain,the ability to produce and deliver the critical items may be compromised due to a variety of reasons. The information platform named AarogyaPath with a vision of "providing a path which leads one on a journey towards Aarogya (healthy life)" was developed to address these challenges.

This integrated public platform that provides single-point availability of key healthcare goodscan be helpful to customers in tackling a number of routinely experienced issues. These issues include dependence on limited suppliers, time-consuming processes to identify good quality products, limited access to suppliers who can supply standardized products at reasonable prices within desired timelines, lack of awareness about the latest product launches, etc.

It also helps manufacturers and suppliers to reach a wide network of customers efficiently, overcoming gaps in connectivity between them and potential demand centers like nearby pathological laboratories, medical stores, hospitals, etc. It will also create opportunities for business expansion due to an expanded slate of buyers and visibility of new requirements for products. Over time, analytics from this platform is expected to generate early signals to manufacturers on over capacity as well as on looming shortages. This would help to reduce wastage of resources due to inefficient forecasting and excess manufacturing, generate awareness about the demand for new technologies.

CSIR expects AarogyaPath to become the national healthcare information platform of choice in the years to come, filling a critical gap in last-mile delivery of patient care within India through improved availability and affordability of healthcare supplies.

It was launched by Shri Rajesh Bhushan Officer on Special Duty, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in presence of DG CSIR, Dr Shekhar C. Mande. Shri Sudhir Garg Joint Secretary, Ministry of MSME and Dr. Vijay Chauthiawale Pharma Sector Expert were guests of honour at this event. Dr Shekhar Mande complemented the CSIR team involved in development of the portal, which was led by Dr Anjan Ray, Director CSIR-IIP. The portal was developed in partnership with Sarvodaya Infotech and institutional users and manufacturers / authorized suppliers of healthcare essentials are encouraged to register and participate actively.

Source Link : https://pib.gov.in/
Date : 2020-06-20

October 9, 2020

Existing opportunities for meritorious girls to nurture their interest in Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) will be expanded and a learning platform scaled to make learning relevant and foster scientific spirit among the country's youth in partnership with IBM.

The Department of Science & Technology (DST) and IBM India announced collaborations to scale up two DST initiatives--Vigyan Jyoti and Engage with Science (Vigyan Prasar), on October 8, 2020.

Vigyan Jyoti is a programme to promote STEM learning among girl students and to inspire them towards STEM careers by creating a level-playing field for meritorious girls from grades 9 to 12 to pursue STEM in their higher education, especially from the top colleges in the areas where girls are hugely underrepresented.

Engage with Science of Vigyan Prasar is another initiative to build interest and create a community of practice with students, teachers, and scientists connecting the high school students to the higher education institutions.

Announcing the collaborations Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary DST, said, "The partnership with IBM will make these programs of DST and Vigyan Prasar reach the students and teachers in interactive ways on a large scale. Scaling up of the interactive learning platform 'Engage with Science' will make learning relevant and foster scientific spirit among the country's youth, it would address the school students directly who need more knowledge outside the classroom and provide insights into an interactive way of learning, thus helping sift the useful from the useless."

"The engage with Science platform will make students interact, participate and get involved with the sampling and active consumption of S&T content, including Cloud, Big Data, etc. through the usage of digital tools," he added.

"Vigyan Jyoti initiative by DST focuses on solving the multidimensional problems associated with meager representation of women in Engineering and Technology streams in higher education by building confidence and excitement towards these streams. In 5 years from now, we want to see the proportion of girl students enrolled in engineering and technology streams increasing to one-third of the total," Professor Ashutosh Sharma pointed out.

The Vigyan Jyoti programme was launched by DST in 2019 to inspire girl students to pursue higher education and career in STEM fields. The program provides a scholarship, visit to nearby scientific institutions, science camps, lecturers from eminent women scientists, and career counseling. The program is currently implemented by Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) in 58 districts, with the participation of about 2900 students. The partnership with IBM India will strengthen the current activities and expanded to include more schools in the future. Women tech experts working at IBM India will interact inspire girl students to plan for a career in STEM under the program. This will strengthen the DST?s initiative to increase the number of women in technology fields.

"It is the need of the hour to promote gender diversity in STEM education and to create new avenues for cultivating diverse talent. The collaboration with DST will expand our STEM program to girl students pursuing 10+2 courses," said Mr. Sandip Patel, MD, IBM I/SA.

DST and IBM India aim to create a robust STEM ecosystem that nurtures critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and next-generation innovators through Inspire Awards-MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge)?a program targeting to build one million ideas rooted in science from school students. DST and IBM India will work together to further integrate and develop Science & Technology in the education ecosystem with short term courses, workshops, mentoring, and online science content communication for teachers and students in India.

In the other collaboration launched alongside, IBM will work with Vigyan Prasar?an autonomous body under the DST to help India's science popularization agenda through several strategic initiatives, including 'Engage With Science'. This is an interactive platform that will be built on top of the India Science Over-The-Top (OTT) platform to encourage and inspire high school students to pursue Science & Technology (S&T) for a career. As part of the collaboration, IBM will run the day-to-day activities of the program, including student workshops, seminars, and leverage its expertise to mentor the students. The platform will make students interact, participate and get involved with the sampling and active consumption of S&T content, including Cloud, Big Data, etc. through the usage of gamification tools and AI/ML components.

'Engage With Science' will actively engage with schools, shoot interactive programmes in the school premises, provide windows of recognition, and glorification to select teachers of S&T subjects. The programmes, when aired on India Science channel, shall, in turn, create a fan following and community creation around teachers and schools.

Source: https://pib.gov.in/

October 9, 2020

NEED OF THE TECHNOLOGY:

The contamination of fluoride and iron in drinking water is increasing day by day. Iron is the most abundant trace element in human body, responsible for accomplishment of vital biological functions such as gastrointestinal processes and the regulation of body temperature. But when iron level in water is beyond 0.3 ppm (as per WHO guideline), it shows several adverse effects including liver disease, irregular heart rhythm and neuronal disorder etc.

Similarly, restricted dose of fluoride ( less than 1.5 ppm, as per WHO guideline) in drinking water is required for proper strengthening of teeth and bones in human body. But intake of excess fluoride can affect human health profusely by causing dental and skeletal fluorosis initially, which leads to a crippling malady in the long run. About 60-70 million people of India have been indicated to be at excess (fluoride) F? threat. According to the report by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, the groundwater in more than ten thousand five hundred rural habitations distributed in various states of India are found to be contaminated with elevated fluoride concentration. Therefore, there is a need of affordable water purification technology for fluoride and iron removal.

CSIR-CMERI for the very first time has come up with a dual solution (excess F- and Fe3+ mitigation from ground water).

The present invention reveals about proper design and subsequent development of an integrated, low-cost, commonly available multi-adsorbent based community level (high flow rate) water purification system for effective and simultaneous removal of fluoride and iron (below WHO permissible limit) in an efficient manner from contaminated water.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

The present invention relates to an integrated approach towards design and development of a community level water treatment plant with high flow rate (10,000 litre/hr) to remove fluoride and iron from contaminated water bodies and the process thereof.

Schematic adsorbent packing in FRP vessels Three FRP (Fibre Reinforced Plastic) made vessels of specific dimensions has been set up here in series with each other, which are: i) Chamber-I (oxidation chamber), ii) Chamber-II (Iron removing filter) and iii) Chamber-III (Fluoride removing filter). The oxidation chamber contains manganese oxide enriched ores within the permissible limit, which act as an oxidising agent (screens out metal contaminants like Fe2+). The Iron removal filter contains naturally abundant lowcost adsorbent materials such as gravels and treated sand of specific diameter.

Lastly, the Fluoride removal filter also contains several low cost adsorbent materials viz. activated alumina, ferrite impregnated activated alumina (FIA, a patented product from CMERI) and zinc impregnated activated charcoal (patented product from CMERI) in sequential manner to mitigate the residual fluoride from groundwater. A hypochlorite dosing pump with dosing in proper proportions and micron filter are installed in line with the mentioned vessels for disinfection of targeted contaminated water. Hypochlorite is used in permissible range in place of chlorine gas for safety reasons. To meet the high demand of fluoride free cost effective drinking water focus was to achieve 10,000-12,000 litre/hour flow rate of the purified water. The flow is being continuously monitored by installing a flow meter. The developed plant is successfully able to mitigate iron from an initial concentration of ~9 ppm to less than 0.3 ppm (safe limit of Fe as per WHO guideline) and fluoride from initial ~12 ppm to <1.5 ppm (safe limit of F- as per WHO guideline).

WORKING PRINCIPLE:

The CSIR-CMERI developed Fluoride and Iron removal system is comprised of three staged purification system. The first FRP make vessel (Chamber-I)is for rapid removal of precipitated iron. The next one(Chamber-II) is one of the most crucial chambers for removal of the left over iron from the contaminated water.In final stage fluoride will be removed from contaminated ground water by 'fluoride removal unit' (Chamber-III), where the adsorbents will fulfil the purpose of fluoride mitigation.

UNIQUENESS OF THE PRESENT PLANT:

• An initiative towards solving dual contaminants problem in ground water (F- as well as Fe3+)
• An integrated adsorbent based water purification system for effective removal of fluoride as well as iron in an efficient manner from contaminated water bodies.
• High flow rate (10,000 litres/h) integrated purification system.
• Sustainability towards healthy livelihood generation.
• Selective backwash without dismantling any part of the plant.

Source: https://pib.gov.in/

September 30, 2020

The Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhantoday launched CSIR Technologies for rural development under a joint initiative of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) and Vijnana Bharti (VIBHA). The event was organized through online platform on the occasion of CSIR-NISTADS 40th Foundation Day, here.The technologies released included:

• Improved bee hive for quality and hygienic extraction of honey, CSIR-IHBT, Palampur
• Technology for manufacturing of Ginger paste, CSIR-CFTRI, Mysore
• Dehumidified drier for food and agri products, CSIR-NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram; and
• Technology for agricultural waste (wheat bran, sugarcane bagasse and fruit peels) based biodegradable plates, cups and cutleries, CSIR-NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram.

The Minister also released CSIR-NISTADS e-Compendium and e-Coffee Table Book, on the occasion.

Dr. Shekhar C Mande (DG-CSIR, Secretary, DSIR, GOI), Padma Bhushan Shri Vijay P. Bhatkar (Chairman-National Steering Committee, UBA), ProfRam Gopal Rao (Director, IIT Delhi), Prof. Virendra K. Vijay (National Coordinator, UBA), Dr. Ranjana Aggarwal (Director, CSIR-NISTADS) were among the speakers throwing light on the synergy among science and technology interventions and rural upliftment. Various stakeholders including famous dignitaries, science experts, field experts, all Regional Coordinating Institutes and Participating Institutes of UBA, non-profit organisations, UBA volunteers, villagers and farmers of the adopted villages also participated in this programme organized with a purpose to enable the outreach of CSIR rural technologies to society.

A tripartite MoU to this effect was signed by the three parties on 28th July 2020 at CSIR to work jointly for post-COVID fast track action plan to create livelihood opportunities in rural areas, particularly for the people who have returned to their native villages in the lockdown period.

Over the years CSIR has developed several appropriate technologies which could be deployed in rural areas for development and livelihood generation and achieving sustainable development goals. These technologies will now be disseminated to society through the Higher Education Institutional network of UBA and local chapters of VIBHA. CSIR-National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (CSIR-NISTADS) is acting as a nodal CSIR Lab to establish linkages between CSIR laboratories, UBA, VIBHA, and stakeholders.

In his keynote address, Dr Harsh Vardhan congratulated CSIR-NISTADS on their 40th Foundation Day, and said, "they have been involved in exploring continuously the interface between Science, Technology and Society and have played an important role in science policy research in CSIR and at National Level also". Stating that "appropriate intervention of Science & Technology can play a crucial catalytic role in bringing equity and equality in the process of development", Dr Harsh Vardhan said that "Corporates, Research agencies, Organizations working with medium, small, and cottage level entrepreneurs, voluntary social organizations, NGOs, and socially cognizant citizens need to partner on a common platform to address various problems affecting the lives of millions". He said, "the challenges that we would be facing need actions at several levels, and we need to explore and reinvent innovative approaches for actions from different stakeholders that include not just Government agencies but also voluntary social organizations, NGOs, Corporates, Entrepreneurs, academicians & Scientists and constructively supplement these efforts".

He highlighted that "Unnat Bharat Abhiyan" is a flagship programme of Ministry of Education conceptualised and launched in IIT Delhi, with a vision of transformational change in rural development processes by leveraging knowledge institutions to help build the architecture of an Inclusive India."Unnat Bharat Abhiyan now constitutes 45 Regional Coordinating Institutions (RCIs) and 2,614 Participating Institutions (PIs). Till date, a total of 13,760 villages have been adopted under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan", he added.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan expressed his confidence that "the agencies known for its knowledge, grassroot presence and technical competency, like IIT Delhi, VIBHA and their joining hands with CSIR can prove to be very useful for deployment of indigenously developed technologies by CSIR in rural areas". He called for "greater synergy among innovative scientific solutions and tradition knowledge systems so that the fruits of this combination reaches to the every person, every village to for betterment of their lives and development of the country."

CSIR, UBA, Vijnana Bharti have planned to work jointly on a framework for scientific intervention to create sustainable livelihood opportunities in the rural clusters under synergy of S&T Organizations (CSIR/DST/DBT/DRDO etc), VIBHA and UBA. It began with strengthening the network, where R&D organizations and institutions to take the role of nodal agencies who provide solutions to the felt need of the communities in the country. UBA nodal centers- RCIs are the solution facilitators and are the link that build capacities and connect to the solution seekers (community, farmer etc.) and solution disseminators such as Development agencies, Institutes, NGOs, and Panchayati Raj Institutions etc.

CSIR-National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies(NISTADS), New Delhi is one of the constituent laboratory of CSIR. It is devoted to a study of various aspects of interaction among science, society and state and exploring continuously the interface between Science, Technology and Society. Currently, the faculty comprises of highly qualified faculty members drawn from a variety of academic disciplines. This intellectual diversity is the mainstay of the institute. The Institute has core competence in Science and Technology policy Research mainly addressing the concerns and problems of developing countries. The institute, s strength mainly lies in Interdisciplinary research teams, multi-discipline in faculty, long experience of field research.

Vijnana Bharti(Vibha): VIBHA, a science movement with swadeshi spirit, has a greater role to play. Swadeshi Science Movement was started in Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru by some eminent scientists under the guidance of Prof. K. I. Vasu. One of the founding principles of VIBHA is? Swadeshi Movement with modern sciences adapted to national needs.

Source: https://www.pib.gov.in/

September 26, 2020

On the occasion of CSIR Foundation Day, Avra Laboratories, a leading pharmaceutical company founded by Padmabhushan Dr A. V. Rama Rao, announced today that it would establish three research chairs at CSIR to support and recognize exemplary work in the field of translational research. The chairs, will provide a three-year fellowship to selected scientists to recognize and advance their efforts. Dr S. Chandrasekhar, Director, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology and Dr Amol A. Kulkarni, Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory have been awarded the fellowship for the period 2020-2023.

As part of their Corporate Social Responsibility program, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), has agreed to extend generous funding support to Establishment of one Makeshift Hospital in Himachal Pradesh and a COVID Testing Centre at Ladakh at a cost of over a crore".

The prestigious CSIR Diamond Jubilee Technology Award for the year 2019 is conferred on Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL), Pune for the technological advancement it has made in the production of 'Fructo-oligosaccharides' (FOS), also known as FOSSENCE which being 100./0 soluble dietary fiber caters to the growing base of health and lifestyle-conscious consumers.

CSIR celebrated its 79th Foundation Day at its premises here today. Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Health and Family Welfare and Vice President, CSIR presided over the event. While, Dr. Shekhar C. Mande, DG, CSIR & Secretary, DSIR (Department for Scientific & Industrial Research) and Mr. A. Chakraborty, Head, HRDG, were present on the occasion, all CSIR labs and several others joined the event through various social media platforms.

Source: https://www.pib.gov.in/

September 23, 2020

Department of Biotechnology (DBT), facilitated Transfer of Technology of novel Brucella vaccine viz. Brucella abortus S19 delta per vaccine, through Video Conferencing (VC), earlier this week and an MoU was signed. This vaccine was developed by ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute (ICAR-IVRI), Izatnagar, Uttar Pradesh through a Network project on Brucellosis supported by DBT in which a gene was knocked out from Brucella abortus S19 strain.

This vaccine has confirmed protection against virulent challenge in experimental mice model conducted at IVRI, Izatnagar and in buffalo calves conducted at National Institute of Animal Health, an institute of Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The developed vaccine is also found to have DIVA compatible. Brucella abortus S19 delta per vaccine can play an important role in National Brucellosis Control Programme initiated by Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India.

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease which causes production losses in livestock. The disease induces abortion at the last stage of pregnancy, infertility and other reproductive problem which causes losses in production of milk and meat. Globally the disease is reported in approximately half a million human population every year. In India huge population involved in dairy farming is directly affected with the Brucellosis.

The technology of vaccine was transferred by BIRAC to M/s Hester Biosciences Pvt. Ltd. in the presence of Secretary, DBT; DG, ICAR; AHC, DAHD; Director, IVRI; Dr. Pallab Chaudhury, Inventor; Dr.Aun Rawat Adviser, DBT; MD, Hester Biosciences Pvt. Ltd., and representatives of Agrinnovate, BCIL etc.

Source: https://www.pib.gov.in/

September 23, 2020

The Department of Biotechnology, Government of India through the Ind-CEPI mission (India Centric Epidemic Preparedness)for Rapid Vaccine Development and Supporting Indian Vaccine Development which is aligned with the Global Initiative of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), aims to strengthen the development of vaccines and associated competencies/technologies for the diseases of epidemic potential in India. One of the key focus areas of the mission is to support capacity building and regional networking with LMICs(Lowand Middle Income Countries).

In the current COVID19 Pandemic situation it is important to build capacities for clinical trials of vaccine. Keeping with the principles outlined by our Science Diplomacy initiatives, DBT hasinitiated the First phase of the "Training program to strengthen clinical trial research capacity for neighbouring countries" in partnership with Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. The objective of these trainings would be to support researchers and investigator teams for enhancing and strengthening their clinical trial capabilities for conducting clinical trials in compliance with ICH-GCP (International Conference on Harmonisation-Good clinical practice). Through,this training program and knowledgesharing efforts, Govt of India is fulfilling its commitment of building various technical capacities in its neighbouring countries. Efforts to network with South Asia, ASEAN and African regions for this purpose would be aided through Ind-CEPI.

The First online orientation to this training program was conducted on 22nd Sep 2020.Speaking on the occasion Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, DBT and Chairperson, BIRAC said that building clinical trial capacity in our neighbouring countries and all LMICs is a priority for the Department and this initiative is a step in the right direction under the Ind-CEPI mission.This will help our participating countries to build capacities for vaccine trials and for conducting Phase III trials for COVID 19 vaccines.

The training program which will extend for about 6-8 weeks will see participation of investigators, epidemiologists, clinicians and representatives from different departments from Nepal, Maldives, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Srilanka, Bhutan and Afghanistan. Senior Representatives from all these countries attended the "Orientation to the training program" held on 22nd September, 2020. This was also attended by Senior representative from MEA, DBT, BIRAC and CDSA.

DBT, under the Ministry of Science & Technology, promotes the use and application of biotechnology in the areas of agriculture, healthcare, animal sciences, environment and industry.

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a not-for-profit Section 8, Schedule B, Public Sector Enterprise, set up by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India as an Interface Agency to strengthen and empower the emerging Biotech enterprise to undertake strategic research and innovation, addressing nationally relevant product development needs.

Source: https://www.pib.gov.in/

September 23, 2020

The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India's premier research organization, and Mylan Laboratories Limited, the India-based subsidiary of leading global pharmaceutical company Mylan, today announced a partnership to address unmet patient needs amidst the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. Under the partnership, CSIR's constituent laboratory Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT), and Mylan will collaborate to identify potential therapies for COVID-19.

A series of clinical trials will be conducted towards new and innovative solutions to manage COVID-19 pandemic in India as part of this collaboration. The first of the clinical trial to be rolled out is a multiple arm phase 3 study that will be conducted in adult patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 at risk of complications.

Director General of CSIR, Dr. Shehkar C Mande stated, "The current collaboration with Mylan is a significant milestone and during the current COVID-19 pandemic, CSIR has prioritized conducting clinical trials of well proven drugs in partnership with industry towards the development of multiple therapeutic options for COVID-19."

Director of CSIR-IICT, Dr Chandrasekhar said, "CSIR is delighted to associate with Mylan as knowledge and scientific partner, and looks forward to working with the company, especially given Mylan's vast industry experience in clinical trials and commercialization."

Mylan Chief Operating Officer, Sanjeev Sethi stated, "Our collaboration with CSIR is a strategic step forward aimed at identifying effective treatments for patients with COVID-19. In addition to bringing forward new indications, this partnership will also help us identify multiple molecules that can potentially be leveraged in therapies for various other infectious diseases in the future."

The application for the clinical trials has been submitted to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for regulatory approval.

CSIR has appointed Dr. Ram Vishwakarma, Honorary Advisor to DG-CSIR and former Director CSIR-IIIM (Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine) as a mentor to lead this collaboration.

The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), known for its cutting-edge R&D knowledgebase in diverse Science & Technology areas, is a contemporary and premier R&D organization. Having a pan-India presence, CSIR has a dynamic network of 38 national laboratories, 39 outreach centres, 3 Innovation Complexes and 5 units. CSIR covers a wide spectrum of science and technology-from oceanography, geophysics, chemicals, drugs, genomics, biotechnology and nanotechnology to mining, aeronautics, instrumentation, environmental engineering and information technology.

Mylan is a global pharmaceutical company committed to setting new standards in healthcare. It is one of the world's largest producers of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

(For further information, please contact: Dr Geetha Vani Rayasam, Head - Science Communication and Dissemination)
Source: https://pib.gov.in/

September 15, 2020

It has been a part of Government's Science and Technology (S&T) policy toencourage the students/youth of the country towards the field of science and technology.

The first three key elements of Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Policy of 2013

Are:

• Promoting the spread of scientific temper amongst all sections of society.
• Enhancing skill for applications of science among the young from all social strata.
• Making careers in science, research and innovation attractive enough for talentedand bright minds.

Government is implementing several schemes to encourage students/youth of the countrytowards the field of science and technology. The "Innovation in Science Pursuit for InspiredResearch (INSPIRE)" is a major scheme in operation to attract, motivate, nurture and traintalented and meritorious students to study science subjects and opt for careers in Research andDevelopment (R&D) to build a pipeline of quality manpower, thereby widening the R&Dmanpower base of the country. Close to 42,000 young students of class 6th - 10th receivethe INSPIRE Award MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge)per year from all recognized schools across the country. About 20,000 students/year attend INSPIRE Internship Camps to experience the joys of creative pursuit of science. About 10,000students in top 1% of Class 12th Board examinations receive Scholarships For Higher Education (SHE) every year to pursue B.Sc and M.Sc courses in Basic and NaturalSciences. Every year, about 1,000 students are availing INSPIRE Fellowships for pursuingPh.D. degree. 100 young researchers/year are availing INSPIRE Faculty Fellowships toestablish themselves as independent post-doctoral researchers. In order to attract andmotivate young students, several international programmes are also being implemented bythe Department of Science and Technology (DST) such as Lindau meeting with NobelLaureates, Asian Science Camps, Raman Charpak Fellowships, Sakura Exchange programme,etc.

Autonomous institutions in the DST family also train large number of summerresearch interns, Ph.D. and post-doctoral fellows, organize large number of importantnational/international conferences, outreach programmes for school and college students including lectures by their scientists, orientation programmes etc.

The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of DST supports young researchers in a big way, through early career grants, core research grants, doctoraland postdoctoral fellowships etc. Some of the notable programmes targeted at youngscientists include: National Postdoctoral Fellowship (N-PDF), Start-up Research Grant(SRG), the Prime Minister's Fellowship for Doctoral Research, Swarnajayanti Fellowships etc.

These schemes are designed to identify promising young researchers and provide them with training and research opportunities in frontier areas of science and engineering. Close to 250 young researchers receive National Postdoctoral Fellowships annually. Majority of the 500 scientists supported under the Start-up Research Grant have been budding young researchers who take up high-end R&D in the country. There are 100 slots of fellowships available annually to researchers to pursue Ph.D.in partnership with Industry under the PM Fellowship for Doctoral Research.

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has been providingdoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships to young and budding researchers through its variousfellowship programmes such as Junior Research Fellowship ?National Eligibility Test (JRFNET),Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Fellowship (SPMF), Senior Research Fellowship (SRFDirect),Research Associateships and CSIR-Nehru Science Postdoctoral Research.

Fellowship (CSIR-NSPDF). Annually, CSIR offers about 4500-5000 such fellowships to youngstudents who are going to be future scientists. At any given time, CSIR supports about about8000-9000 young researchers in their pursuit for doctoral and postdoctoral research in the fieldof science and technology.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has implemented integrated HumanResource Development Programme in Biotechnology including Star College Scheme forstrengthening of Undergraduate Science Education, Postgraduate Teaching Programme,

DBT-Junior Research Fellowship Programme, DBT-Research Associateship and DBTBiotechnologyIndustry Training (Apprenticeship) Programme in areas of Biotechnology andLife Sciences.

Government has taken several steps to promote affordable sustainable innovations in the field of science and technology. DST initiated a new program in 2016 called Promoting andAccelerating Young and Aspiring technology entrepreneurs (PRAYAS) under National Initiativefor Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) with the objective to support conversion ofan innovative idea into a working prototype developed by any innovator. This programmeis aimed to attract large number of young innovators who demonstrate problem-solving zealand abilities and also to enhance the pipeline in terms of quality and number of innovativestartups to the incubators. This will build a vibrant innovation ecosystem, by establishinga network of innovators, academia, mentors and incubators.

For promoting affordable sustainable innovation in the field of science andtechnology, the National Innovation Foundation (NIF), an autonomous institution underDST organizes a biennial National Grassroots Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge Awards and for it, common people (including youth) share their ideas andinnovations. NIF provides value-addition and incubation support to the innovators so that theirtechnologies can reach the market. NIF has also set up NIF Incubation and EntrepreneurshipCouncil (NIFientreC), a Technology Business Incubator, for setting up and incubatingcommercial ventures based on innovative technologies of common people of the country.

is implementing R&D as well as translational projects in various categories, namely, Focused Basic Research, Niche Creating Projects, Fast Track Translational Projects,Fast Track Commercialization Projects, HARIT Projects and Mission Projects for the purpose.

DBT is supporting affordable Healthcare R&D towards understanding the cause ofhuman diseases at genetic and molecular level that enable the development of innovativetherapies or preventive measures and early detection in areas like infectious diseases,chronic diseases, human genetics and genome analysis, maternal and child health, public health and nutrition, vaccine research, bioengineering and bio design, stem cells andregenerative medicine. DBT is also supporting translational research for applicationdevelopment under Accelerated Translational Grant for Commercialization (ATGC)program. ATGC enables academic researchers to take their laboratory research leads withestablished proof-of-concept to the next phase.

This information was given by Minister of Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

Source: https://pib.gov.in/

September 15, 2020

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), set up by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India is supporting COVID-19 vaccine development by facilitating the establishment of the r-VSV vaccine manufacturing platform for the first time in India under the National Biopharma Mission.

This support to establishing r-VSV vaccine manufacturing platform is being extended to Aurobindo Pharma Limited which is developing a vaccine for SARS COV-2 (COVID-19). This SARS COV-2 vaccine candidate is based on the company's proprietary replication-competent, attenuated, recombinant vesicular stomatitis (VSV, VesiculoVax?) vaccine delivery platform.

Aurobindo is in the process of setting up a state-of-art manufacturing facility for viral vaccines which will be used to produce the COVID-19 vaccine and other viral vaccines.The plant will comply to global standards.

Commenting on the collaboration with Aurobindo, Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, DBT and Chairperson, BIRAC said, "The partnership with Aurobindo is to serve the country's need for a vaccine to fight this pandemic. The government is focussed on creating an ecosystem that nurtures and encourages new product innovation to address the most relevant issues to our society."

About BIRAC:

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a not-for-profit Section 8, Schedule B, Public Sector Enterprise, set up by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India as an Interface Agency to strengthen and empower the emerging Biotech enterprise to undertake strategic research and innovation, addressing nationally relevant product development needs.

About National Biopharma Mission:

The Industry-Academia Collaborative Mission of Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt of India for accelerating discovery research to early development for Biopharmaceuticals approved by the Cabinet for a total cost US$ 250 million and 50% co-funded by the World Bank is being implemented at Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC). This program is dedicated to deliver affordable products to the nation with an aim to improve the health standards of India?s population. Vaccines, medical devices and diagnostics and biotherapeutics are few of its most important domains, besides, strengthening the clinical trial capacity and building technology transfer capabilities in the country.

Source: https://pib.gov.in/