West Bengal has the potential to start a second Green Revolution : Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank

Biswabrata Goswami

Hummingbird News 

KHARAGPUR, 27 JAN: West Bengal has the potential to start a second Green Revolution. Prime Minister has set a target of doubling the income of farmers by 2022-23 and The Government of India has taken several steps for the overall and sustainable development of Indian agriculture, said Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.

He on Monday flagged off the Agri-Food Techathon at IIT Kharagpur and also laid the foundation for Agri-Business Incubation Centre, which will incubate innovative ideas in agriculture and food technology domain for creating Agri-preneures.

Drawing reference of Prime Minister’s address at the programme of laying the foundation stone of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in Barhi, Dr Pokhriyal quoted, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also said that West Bengal is the focal point for bringing agricultural reform in India.”

Addressing the first Agri-Food Techathon organized by NABARD and IIT Kharagpur, Dr Pokhriyal said, “I am happy that Agri-Food Tekathon is associated with Shastri's ideal of 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan'. Shastri started the Green Revolution to make India self-reliant. He believed in the powers of farmers to bring a revolution in India's agricultural ecosystem. He believed in the strong relationship between farmers - food grains and life.”

This Techathon has been organized to promote the participation of the youth of India in innovation and entrepreneurship in various sectors of the agri-food sector. This agri-food techthon will identify new ideas for startup incubation in the region and help them become successful businesses. The main objective of this event is to find new solutions to agricultural problems through technical talks by encouraging academics and encouraging young farmers, besides spreading awareness is also an important objective of this program.

NABARD Chairman Dr. GR Chintala, IIT Kharagpur Director Prof. VK Tiwari, Deputy Director Prof. SK Bhattacharya, Head of Agriculture and Food Engineering and Center for Rural Development and Innovative Sustainable Technology, Prof Rintu Banerjee, Rajendra Mishra of IIT Kharagpur Professor CS Kumar, Head of School of Engineering Entrepreneurship, Professor HN Mishra, Nodal Officer, Agriculture Business Incubation Center, IIT Kharagpur were also present.

Agri-food startups are bringing a big change in the Indian food and agriculture sector by removing the shortcomings of the agricultural value chain, providing efficient products, technology and services to both farmers and consumers. They are providing services such as ICT app, farm automation, weather forecasting services, drones, inputs retailing, equipment hiring, online vegetable marketing, smart poultry and dairy, protected farming and innovative food processing and packaging. In 2018, there were around 500 agri startups in India which is very encouraging as these startups have raised around $ 130 million investment in the last five years.

Dr. Nishank further said, “I am happy that the measures being adopted by IIT Kharagpur have been integrated with the National Education Policy. Our new education policy is focused on interdisciplinary education and will ensure what students want to learn. Likewise, this Agri-Food Tekathon will identify new concepts and new ideas for agri-food startup incubation and will also help in transforming these start-ups into successful business ventures. Also, according to our new education policy, vocational education will start in schools from sixth grade and will include internships. Increasing the importance of vocational education will greatly benefit the growth of agri-food startups.”

The two-months long national-level online technical fest at IIT Kharagpur will have participation from over 750 university/college students, entrepreneurs and rural youths from across the country in the age range of 20-25 years with diverse academic backgrounds. 

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. G.R. Chintala, Chairman, NABARD, who was the Guest of Honor, said, “Keeping in mind the requirement of technological interventions in the agriculture sector, this techathon will create an ecosystem for the youth of our country to share the knowledge for improving the conventional farming practices for the benefit of our farmers. Agri-Food Techathon 2021 will provide a great boost to the young startups working on cost-efficient technologies for the agriculture sector.”

Highlighting the unique aspects of Agri-Food Techathon 2021 initiative, Prof. V.K. Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, said, “We are moving at a fast pace to achieve the target of 125 incubatees in the next five years through Agri-Business Incubation Centre (ABIC). In order to meet the food requirements of 135 crore people, we require innovation. We need to produce more out of small land. Our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has already said in 2015 that by 2022, the income of the farmer must be doubled.”

“We are also working on that aspect. The population involved in agriculture is shrinking due to their movement to construction, infrastructure development and other activities due to various reasons. There is a need for more and more mechanisation and innovation. Until and unless we use technology such as AI/ML, image processing, Embedded systems and IoT, it will not be possible to maximise the income of the farmer and maximise the yield out of the land. IIT Kharagpur has trained over 11,000 farmers in the last ten years on various kinds of irrigation water, drip irrigation and many other ideas from this Department,” Prof. Tewari said.

IIT Kharagpur to have a new center on Indian Knowledge System

Union Education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, today,  announced the Centre of Excellence for the Indian Knowledge System to be set up at IIT Kharagpur.

 

Biswabrata Goswami

Hummingbird News 

KHARAGPUR, 6 NOV: Union Education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, today,  announced the Centre of Excellence for the Indian Knowledge System to be set up at IIT Kharagpur.

Inaugurating the international webinar titled Bharata Tirtha organized by the Institute from November 6-8, 2020, Chief Guest Dr. Nishank congratulated the Institute for the continued work in various branches of the Indian Knowledge System. “IIT Kharagpur has attempted to introspect on the spirit of India, her challenges in the present times and taken the right measures through an initiative like Bharata Tirtha and research.”

Dr Nishank emphasized education through the mother tongue along with the rejuvenation of Sanskrit to ease the educational process for the diverse people of India and draw from the rich educational heritage of India.

Confirming the creation of a National Education Technology Forum to support technical education he motivated researchers to take forward deeper studies in Indian scientific and linguistic heritage and access the historical educational resources which are still available.

He remarked, “Initiatives like Study in India, GIAN, GIAN+ and other funded research programs could be the right resources to spread this to the global students and researchers community.”

Dr Nishank further called for excellence in research to accentuate the quality of India which has sustained the culture despite the turmoil over centuries.

Guest of Honour, Mr Sanjay Dhotre opined on the need to critically study and analyze the interdisciplinary nature Indian Knowledge System in the present times. 

“Spectacular achievements of the past can inspire us but cannot sustain us in the present. It is our responsibility to equip the Indian Knowledge System with Indian ethos and values and attempt pursuit of excellence in every chosen field,” he said.

He hoped NEP 2020 will promote this spirit of India. “NEP 2020 is based not only on cognitive capacities but also social, ethical and emotional capacities which will ensure quality education to all students despite their geographical, economic and social position especially for the historically marginalized and disadvantaged groups,” he added.

Prof. Virendra K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, expressed the need to acknowledge and incentivize research work on Indian Scientific Heritage by awarding the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize.

“SS Bhatnagar Prize is a dream goal for science and technology researchers in India. I would like to request our Hon'ble Shiksha Mantri ji Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to contemplate on proposing the Hon'ble Minister for Science & Technology Dr. Harsh Vardhan to create a new vertical on Indian scientific heritage under this prestigious Prize.”

The three-day webinar will witness talks by international stalwarts pioneering in Indic studies including Arthashastra (Economics), Sanskrit for Natural Language Processing, Vedic and Ancient Indian Mathematics - Numeral System, Bijaganita and Jyamiti, Rasayana (Chemical Sciences), Ayurveda (Biological Sciences), Jyotir-tatha Mahajagatika Vidya (Positional and Astronomical Sciences), Prakriti Vidya (Terrestrial/ Material Sciences/ Ecology and Atmospheric Sciences) and Nandana Tathya tatha Vastu Vidya (Archaeology, Iconography and Architecture).

Coronavirus : ICMR approves low-cost testing method developed by IIT-Kharagpur

This new testing method implements a highly reliable & accurate molecular diagnostic procedure, conducted in an ultra-low-cost portable device unit & costs only around Rs. 500 per test 

Biswabrata Goswami  

Hummingbird News

KHARAGPUR, 21 October: IIT Kharagpur researchers have developed a diagnostic machine named ‘COVIRAP,’ the diagnostic machine, which has been successfully validated for its efficacy in COVID-19 detection by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Various commercial units have already approached the Institute for technology licensing to enable a rapid reach of this innovation to the common people.

This test has been designed to be fairly easy to conduct and affordable as well and can produce results in a custom-developed mobile phone application within one hour.

It has an automated pre-programmable temperature control unit, a special detection unit on genomic analysis, and a customised smartphone app for results.

Three master mixes work as markers of different genes to confirm the presence of SARS-CoV-2, said Prof Suman Chakraborty, Dean, Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy, IIT Kharagpur. Samples collected react with these mixes. When paper strips are dipped into these reaction products, coloured lines indicate the presence of the virus.

Dr Arindam Mondal, Assistant Professor, School of Bioscience, IIT-KGP, said the technology has been subjected to rigorous testing protocols as per ICMR guidelines.

Addressing a Virtual Press Conference on 21 October, to announce this major development in the nation’s fight against COVID-19, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Minister of Education, Government of India, said, “I am glad the researchers from IIT Kharagpur have achieved the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat through this medical technology innovation. This would go on impacting the lives of many in rural India as the device is portable and can be operated on a very low energy supply. Minimally trained rural youth can operate this device.” 

Further, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, said, “This innovation has made high-quality and accurate COVID testing affordable for the common people with a testing cost of around ₹ 500/- which can further be reduced through government intervention. As informed by IIT Kharagpur, this machine can be developed at a cost of less than ₹ 10,000/- with minimal infrastructural requirement making the technology affordable to common people. The testing process in this new machine is completed within one hour. I congratulate Prof. V.K. Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, and the research team led by Prof. Suman Chakraborty and Dr. Arindam Mondal for this path-breaking innovation taking molecular diagnostics from high-end labs to the field.”

Speaking about this test, Prof. V.K. Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, said, “This is indeed one of the greatest contributions in the history of medical science, particularly in the area of virology, and is well set to replace PCR-based tests to a large extent.”

Subsequent financial support to this project was provided by the IIT Foundation, USA, to meet the various expenses in the clinical testing phase. Partial financial support has also been provided from the Common Research and Technology Development Hub on Affordable Healthcare, established by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India, at IIT Kharagpur.

Elaborating on the validation process of ‘COVIRAP’ Diagnostic Test, Dr. Mamta Chawla Sarkar, an Internationally acclaimed virologist who oversaw the patient trials on behalf of ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) said, “A detailed scrutiny of the testing results has clearly shown that this assay holds the capability of detecting extremely low levels of viral loads that any other method based on similar principles of testing, even those from the most celebrated research groups across the world, could not come up with so far. In practice, this means that very early stages of infection can be detected, thereby isolating the patient and arresting the uncontrolled spread of infection in the community via asymptomatic patients.”

Further, Dr. Shanta Dutta, Director of ICMR-NICED added, “While overseeing the testing and validation, I was very impressed with the portable low-cost machine unit that can truly be a game-changer for COVID-19 diagnostics at peripheral laboratories with the support of unskilled human resources as operators. This now needs a rapid commercial scale-up to cater to the needs of the underserved population.  ICMR-NICED will be pleased to facilitate support for further improvisations in the method towards even superior performance.”

The novel diagnostic platform, developed by a team of researchers lead by Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, and Dr. Arindam Mondal, Assistant Professor, School of Bio-Science, IIT Kharagpur, has been subjected to rigorous testing protocols as per ICMR guidelines, at ICMR-NICED, an Institute authorized by ICMR. The tests conducted there have revealed that the results from this new assay are of standards comparable to the celebrated RT-PCR tests, with a remarkably high level of specificity and sensitivity, the two common parameters used as indicators of efficacy of any diagnostic test.

ICMR-NICED has further certified the test to be extremely user-friendly. Notably, the number of tests per one-hour batch in a single machine unit can be further increased to much higher limits, for the purpose of testing on a mass scale.

Elaborating on this test, Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering Department, IIT Kharagpur, said, “The patented machine unit has not only been proven to be robust during patient sample testing but also extremely flexible and generic. This means that other than COVID-19 testing, many other tests, falling under the category of ‘isothermal nucleic acid-based tests’ (INAT), can be performed in the same machine. In other words, influenza, malaria, dengue, Japanese encephalitis, tuberculosis and many other infectious, as well as vector-borne diseases, can be tested using the same machine. This will virtually minimize the need for thermal cyclers or real-time PCR machines, without sacrificing the expected high standards of a molecular diagnostic test.”

Further, Dr. Arindam Mondal, Assistant Professor, School of Biosciences, IIT Kharagpur, said, “During the testing phase of patient samples, all kits, exclusively developed at IIT Kharagpur, were transported in an uncontrolled environment for hours to the testing unit, which shows high levels of stability of the reagents that are being used for the testing.”

Speaking about the commercialization of ‘COVIRAP,’ Prof. V.K. Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, said, “While the Institute can produce the testing kit up to a certain scale, patent licensing will facilitate commercialization opportunities for medical technology companies. Any corporate or start-up can approach the Institute for technology licensing and commercial scale of production. The Institute is open to tie-ups, with due measures of protecting the interest of public health amidst the pandemic situation.”

“Today, it is COVID-19; yesterday, it was leprosy and tuberculosis; tomorrow, it will be something else. This technology is all set to create a revolution in rapid and low-cost detection of all these, by bringing high-end molecular diagnostics from the lab to the field. The impact of this, therefore, is long-lasting, empowered by the capability of detecting unforeseen pandemics in the coming years that may potentially endanger human lives time and again,” remarked Prof. Suman Chakraborty.