2.6.2017:
Indian Institute of Millets Research (part of Indian Council Agricultural Research), Hyderabad: Focus on millets as they are part of a solution to malnutrition and also shifting to millets will reduce the burden of lifestyle diseases like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular problems.Dr. Vilas A. Tonapi: Agricultural scientist and director of the institute. Bachelors and masters in agricultural sciences from Univ. of Agriculture, Blr, Ph.D from TNAU, post-doctorate at Univ. of Queensland, Australia. Has published 50 research papers; has edited and written over 30 books. Received several awards for agricultural research. Worked on sorghum research since 1990. 8 millets grown majorly in India - jowar, bajra, ragi, foxtail and few others. A few others grown in Khasi hills area and in one NE state. Mexico produces a large amount of millets, but India produces a much smaller amount (productivity lower). Says ecosystem a major factor in productivity. Water and moisture the key factors. In the last 35 years, many new hybrid varieties of jowar have been developed by the institute. Despite a reduction in area under millet cultivation, output has remained the same as a result of these new varieties. Only 18 million hectares under millet cultivation now, compared to 40 million hectares over 40 years ago.
Millets important - consumed from ancient times - mentioned in Ramayana and Yajur Veda. Reduction in millet consumption due to wheat and rice becoming cheaper because of increase in their supply - area under cultivation and productivity of those crops had increased, causing the balance of demand shifting in favour of those. Rice, wheat, maize important, but filling belly is not sufficient - malnutrition cannot be addressed by those cereals alone. Millets, on the contrary, are a wholesome food. Bajra - more iron content - helps overcome anemic conditions. Millets in general are richer in fibre - improve probiotic condition. Millets have the lowest glycemic index - so may be viewed as medicine for diabetes, not just as as alternative food.
Landed up in agricultural research by chance, but given a chance now, would still choose agricultural research as it is very challenging. Community seed production is being promoted by the institute. Institute was established around 50 years ago, initial focus on sorghum. Need to reach out to people through dietician, fitness experts etc. to make them aware of health benefits of millet. Millets mainly grown in tribal areas and places with harsh conditions and this poses a challenge in taking crop productivity improvement techniques there. Millets need to be dehusked like rice, but facility not available in many places - this situation needs to be fixed. Program to develop resistance to stem borer which destroys millets. Both traditional and modern methods.
3 major challenges - enhancing productivity; establishing viable supply chain; developing varieties that are more insect and disease resistant so that productivity improves even with organic farming technique. Millets are good for the farmer, good for you (and good for environment??).
10.6.2016:
Dr. Amithabha Chattopadhyaya: Membrane biologist. J.C. Bose fellow at and currently director of CCMB, Hyderabad. B.Sc from St. Xavier's college, Kolkata. M.Sc from IIT Kanpur. Ph.D. from State Univ. New York at StonyBrook. Post-doctorate at Univ. of California - Davis. Joined CCMB in 1989. Membrane and receptor biology are his major areas of research. Discovered that the level of cholestrol in cell membrane controls entry of pathogens. Recipient of World Academy of Science award in biology in 2016 and S.S. Bhatnagar award in 2001.3 major works. (a) Study of G-protein cell/coupled? receptors (GPCR); these receptors are involved in activity of several drugs. Interaction of these receptors with cholestrol studies (b) Reducing the concentration of cholestrol in cell membrane found to reduce or inhibit the entry of pathogens. This finding hold a key to treating several infectious diseases prevalent in India - kala-azar, TB. (c) Studies dynamics of water molecules in body cells.
GPCRs in different cells play different roles. GPCRs in eye respond to light, for instance.
Despite lot of money and research effort being spent on drug development, several infectious diseases haven't been eradicated. Drug resistance - result of DNAs having genetic memory. Targeting cholestrols or lipids instead of DNA will avoid the problem of drug resistance, though there is a long is a way to develop such drugs now (drug development in general is a challenging processing). Says the last discovery of a major fundamental drug took place over 3 or 4 decades ago. In the last 15 years, only modifications to existing fundamental drugs have happened. Putting a large amount of money doesn't guarantee drug discovery, sometimes small discoveries lead to important drugs. But it is important to keep working on drug discovery.
Though Prof. Amitabha hailed from a middle class family and there was some pressure on him to pursue a job in govt. job rather than research. But his father was a chemistry major from pre-Independence days, was a bright student and bright mind and inspired Prof. Amitabha in science. Prof. Amitabha's elder brother was a physics major and pursued higher studies abroad - these factors helped him pursue science.
INTERESTING:
Dr. TVV's question: Some bright students get interested in physics, a smaller proportion of them in maths, but hard to find students taking interest in biology as school syllabus for biology is often just a huge list of names to remember.
Prof. Amitabha's response: Says it sounds oxymoronic, but he was not interested in biology during his school days. Was fascinated in physics and chemistry. May have been a disappointment for his family members who may have wanted him to become a doctor. It was during his masters at IIT-Kanpur that he got interested in biology because he found that many of the major problems where chemistry was needed were in biology. It was during his IIT days that physics and chemistry were moving towards elecronics and quantum mechanics (w.r.t. the applied university) and felt that chemistry is a good way to understand some of the fundamentals of physics. Audited classes in biology. At StonyBrook, he was not happy with his research topic in chemistry. However, his chemistry research guide was very understanding and helped him switch to biology research and get an advisor for biology research! So did research in chemistry under a biology research advisor. Says switching research areas during PhD is not easy.
Most of his awards are in biology although he has no degree in biology!! Says he likes the movie "3 idiots" for this reason. It is important to be able to work on what one is interested in - areas of research should not be silos.
CCMB started in 1976 as India realized that it has National Physical Lab, a similar lab for chemistry but none for biology. P.M. Bhargava was its founding director. In 1990s, started CCMB started collaboraring with the industry. CCMB has over 550 awardees. Many of its students have become renowned researchers, faculty members abroad or enterpreneurs in biology-related industry. This despite that fact that CCMB did not offer a degree program for a long period. Had an MoU with a university to offer degrees for researchers at CCMB.
More students coming from rural areas and small towns these days. Language could be a problem but it is important to keep such students motivated. Needs sustained effort to make such students (from small towns, vilages) realize that they are the future and India's success in research depends on them This is key to make India a force to reckon with in research. Feels optimistic that the efforts being taken in this regard by CCMB and the like are in the right direction but is cautious as effectiveness should be judged over long time.
18.6.2017:
Dr. Sharad Kumar Jain: Senior scientist, National Institute of Hydrology (autonomous institute under Ministry of water sciences), Roorkee. 15% of ground water is used for food production, a significantly high proportion of ground water. Withdrawal of water is increasing but productivity of water usage hasn't improved accordingly - better productivity of water usage needed. Usage of water is very efficient in Rajasthan and some parts of south India but in several other parts of the country, water is wasted (due to inefficient usage). One study in Israel says that it is possible to increase apple production by at least 8 times with same amount of land and water if better techniques are used!Works on hydrological modelling, data collection techniques for modelling
, application of emerging techniques for data capture and modelling. River flow a crucial part of river ecosystem. Working on "environmental flows" - society needs water (and river needs society??). In India, river water plays an important role in cultural and religious ceremonies (ear-piercing of young ones performed on river bank), i.e. beyond food production and farming, unlike in other countries.
Mathematical modelling used now. Earlier engineers used physical modelling, say to study the functioning of dam and its impact. Remote sensing (satellite-based) an exciting part of modelling; it can identify what types of crops are grown, even in remote areas which cannot be reached easily for ground study.
Virtual water - a concept that has become popular due to emerging water crisis. Virtual water trade is calculated for long-term sustainability. Indicates quantity of water used in producing goods - not just the amount of water in that product - example, one can model the virtual water associated with a shirt/textile-product - amount of water that went into producing the shirt, though a shirt doesn't contain water.
Major challenges in hydrology - quantity and quality important. Ensuring quality a major task. What should this institute or any new institute of similar . Needs to enhance technical capability - states need to have vibrant mechanisms to maintain and sustain water resources; according to constitution, this is the responsibility of states. Quotes an ancient Hindi (or Sanskrit) saying about body being made of five elements and says that ever since ancient times, importance of proper water usage has been emphasized
25.6.2017:
Dr. N. Gopalakrishnan: Director, Central Building Research Institute (CBRI-CSIR, Roorkee). Outstanding structural engineer. Was a scientist at Advanced Seismic Testing laboratory of CSIR. Obtained his B.E. from College of Engineering - Guindy, in 1984. M.Tech in structural engineering from IIT-Madras. PhD from IISc, Bangalore. Started his career art Tata consulting engineers limited [TCE]. Then joined CSIR-SERC (structural engineering research centre) in 1987. Structural dynamics, earthquake engineering, machine supporting structures, soil interaction and reinforced concrete structures. Authored 78 national and international publications.Among 3 major research works:
A vibration problem in a major thermal power unit in Raichur which severely affected its efficiency - the cause of the problem was difficult to diagnose. Studied the signature of vibrations (analogous to ECG) and using analytics and computer simulation (for both the likely cause and the solution) solved the problem. Solution said that the hood of the rotor could be increased - a seemingly simple solution for a significant problem. 7000 crore award?
Establishment of earthquake testing facility in CSIR-SERC - "ASTaR" lab established as a national facility in 2007. Funded by a board of research ??? that was affected by an embargo due to Gujarat earthquake. Nuclear facilities need to need to be shut-down very quickly during earthquakes - needs a very precise mechanism to decide based on vibrations whether a shut-down and conceal action needs to be initiated. ASTaR lab developed facilities to simulate earthquakes and could help devise the required model at low cost.
Used an analytical method, the spectrum method, for seismic analysis. For any elasticity-related problem, the finer the finer the "mesh size", the better. Applied computer simulation and modeling for this problem - effect of blasts, quakes etc. are usually "mesh invariant", transient w.r.t vibration duration.
Over 38% of greenhouse emissions in India come from construction processes. Cement-production highly energy consuming. Producing 1 ton of cement emits 1 ton of CO2.
Geopolymer a viable and eco-friendly alternative to cement. Geopolymers produced mostly from fly-ash, slag and some other inorganic (unlike typical polymers) materials. Says some Indian institutes (not CBRI) have developed geopolymers.
2 important and very different challenges facing the housing segment in India. Rural and poor people cannot afford more than Rs.400 per sqft., a cost that is very low even by global standards. Low-cost but safe housing needed - possible with innovative building techniques/materials. Ensuring safety of low cost construction materials used in plinth (basement zone) - protecting them from erosion during floods - adding small amounts of materials like kerosene to mud/clay in plinth found to prevent erosion. Similarly, to protect thatch from fire, a suitable covering layer may be used - reduced the air content available to thatch, preventing it from catching fire. Several such economically viable solutions/interventions developed by his institute for low-cost, safe housing.
Prefabricated building system. Says 2-3 states supply the labour for construction and they are exploited. There is a lack of quality labour. In future, the availability of unskilled labour is bound to reduce further.
Says Roorkee is one of the 2 or 3 "centres of gravity" of civil engineering research in India. Roorkee has been an ideal location for hydraulic research in India - several hydraulics-related work (like Ganga canal) happened in Roorkee. Major works of CBRI - underreamed (??) pile foundation, pollution control measure for brick kilns, making bricks from inferior soil.
Underreamed pile foundation CBRI has developed for clay soil areas (clay expands a lot after absorbing water - weakens the structural foundation through friction etc.). CBRI's solution involved inserting vertical structures of certain shapes into soil around the foundation and these bear the impact of clay expansion. This technique suited only for clay soil, but is yet used worldwide!
Zigzag kiln - slows down the velocity of hot air in kiln and thereby reduces the amount of (particulate??) pollutants emitted from kilns.
New areas of research - many of the problems that existed 30 years ago no longer exist today. Fire protection for large buildings, protection of heritage buildings are being researched.
