Category: Science & Technology

** Biocon Biologics bags $90-mn contract from Malaysian government to supply human insulin

Biocon Biologics’ Insugen formulations will be available to patients at all Ministry of Health hospitals, district health offices, and health clinics

Biocon Biologics Limited (BBL), a subsidiary of Biocon on Tuesday said it has bagged a three-year contract valued at $90 million from the Malaysian government for the supply of recombinant human insulin brand Insugen.

Biocon Sdn Bhd., a subsidiary of Biocon Biologics, will manufacture and supply its range of insulins to its partner Duopharma Marketing Sdn. Bhd. (DMktg), a subsidiary of Duopharma Biotech, a pharma & biotech firm in Malaysia.

Biocon Biologics’ Insugen formulations will be available to patients at all Ministry of Health hospitals, district health offices, and health clinics, as per an official statement.

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** CET teams up with Catholicate College to develop phycoscraper

College of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram (CET) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with with Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta, to develop Phycoscraper, an app-controlled research instrument used to study terrestrial algae.

The agreement was recently signed by former CET Principal Jiji C.V. and Catholicate College Principal Philipose Omman.

A team from CET had initially developed a prototype for the instrument for the Phycotechnology Lab of the Catholicate College. The current MoU will expedite development of the phycoscraper for various research studies initiated by the laboratory and other research organisations.

The project is being led by Rajeev Rajan of CET, Binoy T. Thomas and Thomas V.P. of Catholicate College, and supported by students of both college

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** Indian doctor performs 1st pediatric stem cell transplant in UAE

A Malayali doctor in Abu Dhabi wrote himself into record books when he performed the first pediatric stem cell bone marrow transplant in the UAE.

Dr Zainul Aabideen, a native of Kannur in Kerala, presently Head of the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Burjeel Medical City successfully performed the advanced allogeneic procedure on a five-year-old girl from Uganda with sickle cell disease.

Billed as the first such surgery done in the UAE, the patient’s 10-year-old sister donated her bone marrow for the transplant treatment at Burjeel Medical City, a flagship hospital of VPS Healthcare.

Sickle cell disease is a genetic disorder, which results in an abnormality in the hemoglobin found in red blood cells, causing them to become sickle-shaped and leading to several complications including anemia, swelling in the hands and feet, frequent pain, acute chest syndrome, and sometimes stroke.

Prior to the treatment, the child has been regularly admitted to the hospital due to complications arising from her disease since birth.

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** N. Sankar: An innings of understated achievement ends

The chairman of the chemicals-to-shipping Sanmar Group passed away on Sunday

N. Sankar, 76, chairman of the home-grown chemicals-to-shipping conglomerate Sanmar Group, passed away at his residence here on Sunday after a brief illness. He is survived by his wife Chandra, son Vijay Sankar, who is the Deputy Chairman of the $1-billion group, and a daughter Madhurika, who is a venture investor and writer.

The elder of industrialist K.S. Narayanan’s two sons, Sankar obtained a B.Sc.Tech in Chemical Engineering from the AC College of Technology and a master’s degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago.

A third-generation entrepreneur, Sankar started his career as a 21-year-old trainee at the group’s flagship chemicals company, Chemplast, in 1967, when his father was overseeing the business. At 26, he made his first entrepreneurial move by helming the acquisition of a major stake in Industrial Chemicals and Monomers, a carbide manufacturing company.

His stewardship of Chemplast, and the Sanmar Group as a whole, saw the group widen and enlarge its industrial and business footprint significantly. A pioneer in PVC manufacture, Sankar came up with some of the original choices for highly integrated manufacturing processes at various facilities of Chemplast.

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** Scotland’s Indian-origin COVID adviser reveals face mask threat

Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at Edinburgh University who is on the Scottish government’s coronavirus advisory board, told ‘The Times’ newspaper this weekend that she was sent white powder and a used face mask in the post last year.

“I was extremely shaken and it was probably the hardest part because it was in my real life, not virtual or online,” said Sridhar, who often appears on UK radio and television as an expert commentator on the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 ** Know Your City: How World War II pushed IMD’s headquarters from Pune to Delhi

The commencement of World War II in 1939 boosted meteorological operations, particularly those required for aviation services, and necessitated the closer presence of weather experts for aviation in Delhi.

Had the Second World War not broken out in 1939, Pune would probably have continued to be the headquarters of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for a longer period. In fact, it was only about a decade before the war – on April 1, 1928 – that Pune became the IMD’s headquarters.

As many as 74 meteorological observatories had been operational in British India, including some of the world’s oldest ones located in the then cities of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.

As meteorology developed in the country, the secretary of the state of India, after consulting several meteorologists in England , decided to appoint an Imperial Reporter tasked with supervising meteorological activities across India.

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** Vemulawada man expert in both Agamam and Sthapatyam 

Unique World Records recognises his feat

According to Indian culture, ‘Agamam’ means ways to perform the ‘puja vidhi’ (Vaidik system) in temples. It is an expertise known only to a very few people.

‘Sthapatyam’, on the other hand, means temple architecture, mostly used in reference to those who construct and design temples, following religious protocols. A person who studies Sthapatyam is called a ‘Sthapathi’.

High concentration and years of dedication are needed to become an expert in one of the two fields. Bagging a world record as a mark of recognition is something that Chamarthi Balabhaskaran Sthapathi, presently working as an assistant Sthapathi at Vemulawada Temple Area Development Authority (VTADA), has achieved.

In February, Unique World Records Limited had recognised him as the world’s first Shilpa and Agama Shastra Sthapathi.

“I have completed both the courses. I am the first person in the world to have completed both. The Unique World Records Limited has recognised the feat and communicated to me,” said Mr. Balabhaskaran, adding that these two were the two pillars for a Hindu temple system.

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** India gets S-400 training equipment

There is a delay in the delivery of the second regiment of S-400 from Russia due to the ongoing war in Ukraine . However some training equipment and simulators arrived in India, official sources confirmed.

“Simulators and training equipment have arrived. The second operational unit is likely to be delayed by a few months,” a defence source said and this was confirmed by another official.

Last December, India took delivery of the first S-400 regiment, five of which were contracted from Russia under a $5.43 bn deal signed in October 2018. The first unit has been deployed in Punjab and is operational, officials have confirmed.

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** Stent maker SMT sets up global hub near Hyderabad

Company will invest ₹ 250 crore on the facility at Medical Devices Park, Sultanpur

Vascular devices maker Sahajanand Medical Technologies (SMT) has opened the first phase of its ₹ 250 crore global hub for manufacturing and R&D at Telangana government-promoted Medical Devices Park in Sultanpur, near Hyderabad.

CEO Ganesh Sabat said the company makes coronary stents, balloon catheters, occluder and valves and has manufacturing units in Surat, Bengaluru as well as Thailand. It intends over time to make all the products at the plant in Telangana. The plan is to make, by the end of the first year, 1 million stents and 2 million balloon catheters – in Surat where its largest facility is located SMT makes about 7 lakh stents.

Initially balloon catheters will be made followed by stents, at Sultanpur, he said, adding of the ₹ 250 crore investment proposed, the company has spent ₹ 130 crore on the first phase. In two years, 1,000 people are likely to be employed at the plant here.

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** Allahabad University students develop device to check backflow after injection

he students of the chemistry department in Allahabad University (AU), led by their supervisor and dean faculty of science Prof Shekhar Srivastava, have developed a device which will prevent backflow of injected liquid in humans.

The device will automatically lock the output pipe after the stipulated amount of medicine or for that matter any liquid as being injected by the doctor has been injected in the body.

The device has been granted patent for a period of 10 years by the Kolkata-based office of General of Patent, Design and Trademark, ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

The device is the effort of a team led by Prof Srivastava and included research scholars Rahul Kannaujia, Ghulam Mustafa and Mukta Singh.

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