Dr. Harsh Vardhan: “in-silico drug discovery which utilizes computational methods such as Machine Learning, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Big Data will help in accelerating this process”

“This Hackathon will help India establish new model for expediting drug discovery process”: Prof K. VijayRaghavan

Posted On: 02 JUL 2020 5:29PM by PIB Delhi 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. AbhayJere 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. VijayRaghavan, 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.AbhayJere, 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.ShekharMande 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.

A high-level Industry consultation roundtable for the formulation of the new Science, Technology & Innovation Policy STIP 2020 will be organised during 2 - 3 July 2020 over a virtual platform by the STIP 2020 Secretariat in partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Science Policy Forum. The STIP 2020 Secretariat has been established jointly by the Office of Pricipal Scientific Adviser (PSA) and Department of Science and Technology (DST) to coordinate and execute the entire STIP 2020 policy-making process.

The power-packed discussions chaired by Professor K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, will focus on inviting suggestions from Industry champions for the upcoming STIP 2020 that will pave the way towards a knowledge-based economy. Industry leaders would be requested to share their thoughts and suggestions integral to the new STI policy.

Top leaders from various industries like Forbes Marshall, Bharat Forge, Infosys, TVS, ReNew Power Limited, AVAADA Group, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Thermax, Medanta, Tata Chemicals, ELICO Limited, Panacea Biotech Ltd, Tata Steel, Serum Institute of India, Mapmygenome, Myelin Foundry, Urban Clap, Jubilant Bhartia Group, Tech Mahindra, Blue Star Limited, PI Industries Limited, Cyient Limited, Hi-Tech Group, Snapdeal, Tejas Networks Ltd, Mahindra, Mastek Limited, TCS, Reliance, Sterlite Technologies Limited and DCM Shriram and more would be sharing their insights and expectation on the STIP 2020.

This is the first-ever high-level industry consultation for the formulation of a Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy, which by way of its decentralized, bottom-up, and inclusive design process, aims to re-strategize priorities, sectoral focus, and methods of research and technology development for larger socio-economic welfare.

The Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP 2020) has been flagged off jointly by the (Office of PSA) and DST as India and the world reorient in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. The new policy is expected to be released later this year, replacing the existing policy, which was formulated in 2013.

The STIP 2020 formulation process is organised into 4 highly interlinked tracks, which will reach out to around 15,000 stakeholders for consultation in the policy formulation. Track I involves an extensive public and expert consultation process through Science Policy Forum - a dedicated platform for soliciting inputs from larger public and expert pool during and after the policy drafting process.

Track II comprises experts-driven thematic consultations to feed evidence-informed recommendations into the policy drafting process. Twenty-one (21) focused thematic groups have been constituted for this purpose. Track III involves consultations with Ministries and States, while Track IV constitutes apex level multi-stakeholder consultation.

Manju Jeena, an ASHA from village Kandalei of Khurda district, Odisha, has been working tirelessly to support COVID-19 related activities and ensure that her community has access to essential and other health services.

In her years of committed community service, Manju has built up significant social capital, enabling her to effectively negotiate in addressing COVID related stigma and resultant discrimination. When a young returnee migrant was denied entry into the village and his home, Manju took it upon herself to single-handedly address the stigmatizing behavior of the community.

She combined community awareness on COVID-19 with relentless advocacy to ensure that the returnee was able to stay in home quarantine. She rigorously undertook regular follow up on his health status and healthcare needs during the quarantine period.

Culture Minister Shri Prahlad Singh Patel and Minister of State for Minority Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju will also address the opening ceremony Posted On: 02 JUL 2020 6:30PM by PIB Delhi After a very successful hosting of Virtual Vesak and Global Prayer Week from May 7- 16, 2020, the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) in partnership with Ministry of Culture, Government of India, is now celebrating the upcoming Asadha Poornima on July 4, 2020 as Dharma Chakra Day. It will be the annual flagship event of IBC.

In keeping with the historical legacy of India being the land of Buddha’s enlightenment and awakening, his turning of the wheels of Dhamma, and Mahaparinirvana, the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind will inaugurate the Dhamma Chakra Day celebrations from Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.

The Minister of Culture (Independent Charge) Shri Prahlad Singh Patel and Minister of State for Minority Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju will also address the opening ceremony. Rest of the day’s events will be streamed from Mulagandha Kuti Vihara, Sarnath and Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya in association with Mahabodhi Society of India and Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee.

Royalties, Supreme heads of the Buddhist Sanghas and Eminent Masters and Scholars from around the world and IBC chapters, member organizations are participating.

The auspicious day of Asadha Poornima which falls on the first full moon day of the month of Asadha as per Indian sun calendar is also known as Esala Poya in Sri Lanka and Asanha Bucha in Thailand. It is the second most sacred day for Buddhists after the Buddha Poornima or Vesak.

The day marks Buddha's first teaching after attaining Enlightenment to the first five ascetic disciples (pañcavargika) on the full-moon day of Asadha at ‘Deer Park', Ṛiṣipatana in the current day Sarnath, near Varanasi, India. This teaching of Dhamma Cakka- PavattanaSutta (Pali) or Dharma chakra Pravartana Sutra (Sanskrit) is also known as the First Turning of Wheels of Dharma and comprised of the Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path.

The Rainy Season retreat (Varsha Vassa) for the Monks and Nuns also starts with this day lasting for three lunar months from July to October, during which they remain in a single place, generally in their temples dedicated to intensive meditation. They are served during this period by lay community who also observe Uposatha i.e. to observe eight precepts and meditate under the guidance of their teachers.

The day is also observed as Guru Poornima by both Buddhists and Hindus as a day to mark reverence to their Gurus.

As the leading Buddhist world body the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), is once again leading the collective aspirations of Dhamma followers worldwide by putting together a grand celebration to commemorate this very auspicious day.

Context: The death of a father and son due to alleged custodial torture in Sathankulam town near Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu has brought into focus the topic “Police reforms and the role of Judiciary “.

Such recurring incidents also raise one significant question: How many more times must powerless citizens suffer the blows of a lathi or a baton, the kicks of patent leather boots, be violated by the “wooden rollers” around their private areas, not to mention spending hours inside a police lockup, all as a part of an “investigation” by police searching for “truth”?

Role of judiciary: As always, when the conversation veers in this direction it becomes natural to look towards the judiciary as the source of hope and action. In this case, the Madurai High Court has taken notice on its own and is “closely” monitoring the situation.

How has the Supreme Court handled this topic in the past? Supreme Court has intervened multiple times in the 1990s through cases such as Joginder Kumar v. State of UP [AIR 1994 SC 1349] and D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal [(1997) 1 SCC 416], where guidelines were passed to try and secure two rights in the context of any state action:

A right to life. A right to know. Through the guidelines, the Court sought to curb the power of arrest, as well as ensure that an accused person is made aware of all critical information regarding her arrest and also convey this to friends and family immediately in the event of being taken in custody.

The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2008 gave statutory backing to these judicial guidelines; it remains part of the law today. Finally, in Prakash Singh v. Union of India (2006) case, the Court pushed through new legislation for governing police forces to be passed by States across India. A key component of the new legislation was a robust setup for accountability that contemplated a grievance redress mechanism.

What else has been advised by the judiciary to reduce police violence? Support for “scientific” investigations. Fascination for techniques such as narcoanalysis, ensuring video recording of investigations. Passing orders for installing closed-circuit television cameras inside police stations.

Why judicial interventions have failed to curb the violence? Judiciary’s approach of simply passing directions and guidelines, has proven to be a failure. For it is the ordinary magistrate, and not the constitutional court, who is the judicial actor wielding real power to realise substantial change in police practices.

Gap between the highest court and the lowly police officer in India has been demonstrated through studies which show how despite criminal laws being struck down as unconstitutional, they continue to be enforced in various parts of the country by local police.

What needs to be done? Rather than expend energies in only passing more guidelines, constitutional courts must seriously contend with the concrete cases that come their way and expose how hard it is for a common man to get justice against police violence, either through compensation claims or prosecutions. They must shed the institutional baggage which often leads to them protecting the supposedly vulnerable morale of police.

It is time to consider sanctions at a larger scale and impose monetary penalties at the district level, to drive home the message that the erring actions of one officer must be seen as a failure of the force itself. They could strike an inspired move by reorienting their guidelines to try and change the practices of magistrates, over whom they exercise powers of superintendence, as opposed to other non-judicial actors.

Context: The Same Language Subtitling (SLS) project at IIM-Ahmedabad has researched and implemented SLS pilots on TV in eight major Indian languages.

The project has completed a 23 years journey. And yet, the most critical policy step remains unaccomplished — quality implementation of the policy on TV channels.

About SLS project: In 1996 the Same Language Subtitling (SLS) programme was launched as a research project.

Its aim was to examine whether the subtitling of mainstream TV content could help people, especially those who were hard to reach through traditional literacy programmes, to improve their reading and writing skills. In 1999, SLS was officially put into practice as a literacy intervention programme by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) and not-for-profit organization PlanetRead.

SLS has the proven power to transform much of TV and OTT content consumption into routine reading practice that is inescapable, subconscious, sustainable, scalable, and extremely cost-effective. The ‘Accessibility Standards’ of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), framed in September 2019 under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, require 50% of all entertainment content on TV to carry captions in the same language, or SLS, by 2025.

The main approach of SLS is quite simple: to subtitle audiovisual content in the language of the audio track so the on-screen text and audio match perfectly. While watching TV, viewers can match the words on screen to the sounds they are hearing simultaneously.

Significance and potential of the project: India is globally the first country where the mainstreaming of SLS on TV and streaming content is being advanced for mass reading literacy. When SLS is implemented on TV in all Indian languages, as broadcast policy now stipulates, it will automatically give daily reading practice to an estimated 600 million weak readers who currently cannot read and understand simple text, like a newspaper.

Within three to five years of regular exposure to SLS on entertainment content already watched, many of them will become functional and some even fluent readers.

Background: Close to a billion viewers in India watch on average 3 hours and 46 minutes of TV every day (FICCI-EY, 2019). No other activity, nationally, comes close to commanding four billion person-hours every day.

COVID 19 pandemic situation: COVID-19 has further highlighted the potential of the SLS solution for upping the nation’s mass reading skills. Globally, 1.4 billion children, and in India 300 million, have been locked out of schools. Intermittent school openings and closures are to be expected going forward.

Way ahead: A national implementation of SLS on existing general entertainment content (GEC) on TV and streaming platforms, also known as Over-The-Top (OTT), would revolutionise reading literacy in India.

This is in addition to having massive national impact in two other domains, that of media access among Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) people and of language learning.

Context: Researchers in China have discovered a new form of swine flu that can infect humans, and they believe it has the potential to cause a future pandemic.

This swine flu has been dubbed the G4 virus and it’s related to the H1N1 flu that caused widespread illness in 2009.

What is the G4 virus, exactly? The G4 virus is a newly discovered strain of the H1N1 flu virus.

It’s basically a virus that’s found in pigs but has combined the swine flu virus with the H1N1 virus that circulates in humans. G4 viruses bind to receptor molecules in human cells, and can replicate in the outer layer of the respiratory system.

Transmission and symptoms: The newly identified virus can efficiently infect ferrets via aerosol transmission, causing severe clinical symptoms in them like sneezing, wheezing, coughing, and a mean maximum weight loss ranging from 7.3 to 9.8 per cent of the mammals’ body mass.

Concern: It has the potential to become a human virus. Of concern is that swine workers show elevated seroprevalence for G4 virus. Moreover, low antigenic cross-reactivity of human influenza vaccine strains with G4 reassortant EA H1N1 virus indicates that preexisting population immunity does not provide protection against G4 viruses.

What is H1N1 influenza? Swine flu (H1N1) is a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by a type of Influenza A viruses in humans. It has been named so as people who worked near pigs (or in close contact with them) were seen getting infected by this disease. It was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation in the year 2009 as it was spreading aggressively back then.

Context: RBI announces special liquidity scheme for NBFCs and HFCs through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to avoid any potential systemic risks to the financial sector.

Background: Finance Minister had announced on 13th March 2020, launch of a Special Liquidity Scheme of Rs. 30,000 crore.

Key features of the scheme: RBI will provide funds for the Scheme by subscribing to government guaranteed special securities issued by the Trust.

The total amount of such securities issued outstanding shall not exceed Rs. 30,000 crores at any point of time. Government of India will provide an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee to the special securities issued by the Trust.

Who is eligible? NBFCs, including Microfinance Institutions that are registered with the RBI, under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, excluding those registered as Core Investment Companies. Housing Finance Companies that are registered under the National Housing Bank Act, 1987.

Other eligibility criteria: CRAR/CAR of NBFCs/HFCs should not be below the regulatory minimum, i.e., 15% and 12% respectively as on March 31, 2019. The net non-performing assets should not be more than 6% as on March 31, 2019. They should have made net profit in at least one of the last two preceding financial years (i.e. 2017-18 and 2018-19) They should be rated investment grade by a SEBI registered rating agency.

Implementation: SBICAP which is a subsidiary of the State Bank of India has set up a SPV (SLS Trust) to manage this operation.

The SPV will purchase the short-term papers from eligible NBFCs/HFCs, who shall utilise the proceeds under this scheme solely for the purpose of extinguishing existing liabilities. The instruments will be CPs and NCDs with a residual maturity of not more than three months and rated as investment grade.

Way ahead: The Scheme will remain open for 3 months for making subscriptions by the Trust. The period of lending (CPs/NCDs of NBFCs/HFCs for short duration of upto 90 days) by the Trust shall be for a period of upto 90 days. The financing would be used by the NFBCs/HFCs only to repay existing liabilities and not to expand assets.

Context: Second Fatal Boiler Blast In Two Months At Plant In Tamil Nadu.

The blast took place at a power plant of the central government-owned NLC India Limited (formerly known as Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited) in Cuddalore, about 180 km from state capital Chennai.

This once again underscore the value of safety protocols, particularly the Indian Boilers Act.

About the Indian Boilers Act, 1923: Enacted with the objective to provide mainly for the safety of life and Property of persons from the danger of explosions of steam boilers and for achieving uniformity in registration and inspection during operation and maintenance of boilers in India.

Definitions: Boiler: Under Section2(b) of the Act, Boiler is any closed vessel exceeding 22.75 liters in capacity which is used expressly for generating steam under pressure and includes any mounting or other fitting attached to such vessel, which is wholly or partly under pressure when is shut off.

Accident means an explosion of a boiler or steam- pipe or any damage to a boiler or steam- pipe which is calculated to weaken the strength thereof so as to render it liable to explode.

Conclusion: Such accidents are mostly preventable, and occur rarely in the industrialised world, because of impeccable attention to safety. India’s aspirations to industrialise should be founded on safety.

Lepidopterists have discovered two species of butterflies in Arunachal Pradesh.

They are: The Striped Hairstreak (Yamamotozephyrus kwangtugenesis)was located in Vijaynagar bordering Myanmar. It was first recorded by Japanese entomologists in Hainan province of China.

The Elusive Prince (Rohana tonkiniana)was found in Miao on the periphery of the Namdapha National Park. It has a Vietnamese connection and was thought to be the more familiar Black Prince found in the Eastern Himalayas.

The programme has been prepared and offered by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras).

The program will have videos from the faculty, weekly assignments and in-person invigilated exams just like any other regular course.

Eligibility: This programme is open to anyone who has passed Class 12th, with English and Maths at the Class 10th level, and enrolled in any on-campus UG course. The current batch of students who are completing their Class 12th in 2020 are eligible to apply.

Graduates and working professionals can also take up this programme.

Hul Divas is observed annually on June 30 in memory of tribals — Sidho and Kanhu Murmu — who led the Santhal hul (rebellion) on June 30, 1855, at Bhognadih in Sahebganj district.

This was believed to be the first people’s action against the British.

Celebrated on July 1 every year to honour eminent physician Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy.

Doctor’s Day was established by the Government of India in 1991. It is traditionally organised in the country by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

The theme this year is “lessen the mortality of COVID-19”. Globally, the first Doctor’s Day was observed on March 28, 1933, in Winder, Georgia.

About Dr Roy: He was the second chief minister of West Bengal. He was also Mahatma Gandhi’s friend and doctor. He was honoured with Bharat Ratna on February 4,1961.

Launched by Scientific and Engineering Research Board (SERB). It seeks to provide a single platform for capacity building programs, research internships, and workshops across the country.

The primary objective of this scheme is to give more thrust on encouraging high-end scientific research and preparing scientific manpower, which can lead to research careers and knowledge-based economy.

Components: ABHYAAS: To boost research and development in the country by enabling and grooming potential PG/PhD students by means of developing their research skills in selected areas across different disciplines or fields.

It has two components: High-End Workshops (‘KARYASHALA’) and Research Internships (‘VRITIKA’). Mission SAMOOHAN: Marks the beginning of Accelerate Vigyan.

It aims to encourage, aggregate and consolidate all scientific interactions in the country under one common roof. It has been sub-divided into:

SAYONJIKA is an open-ended program to catalogue the capacity building activities in science and technology supported by all government funding agencies in the country. SANGOSHTI is a pre-existing program of SERB.