Biotechnological Research in Indian States: An Analysis

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    Department of Biotechnology, Government of India sanctions grant and funds to various institutes and organisations to conduct research and development in the field of biotechnology. Based on some data released by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) available on http://www.data.gov.in, Indian Botanists Blog-o-Journal took an attempt to analyse the position of each states of India with regard to biotechnological research. Let us see the number of ongoing projects in different states. Based on the number of ongoing projects (as on March 6th 2013) we have categorised different states into three groups.

Software for Automated Analysis of Phytoplankton

    Phytoplankton, also known as microalgae is an important bio-indicator for water quality. Water quality is of great concern to administrative authorities as it not only affects human health but also have other negative environmental impact. Conventional laboratory analyses of water quality which includes classification and analyses of phytoplankton are time consuming and requires special attention to quality control. Schulze et.al., have developed an automated system for the analysis of phytoplankton.

Difficult to Move Ahead Without Taxonomy and Taxonomists

    If you are a plant biologist (botanist), people around you expect you to recognize and identify plants in the surrounding areas and this irrespective of the branch of botany you have specialised in. It has been observed that many botanists having expertise in molecular plant biology, plant physiology, plant pathology face embarrassing situation when they are not able to identify and recognise plants. Scientifically, before starting any project with any plant it has to be certified by any taxonomical organisation and or taxonomists, so that it can be ascertained that the specimen collected is the correct plant. Moreover, taxonomists play an important role in studying the biodiversity of any region, nation and ultimately the planet. They also play an important role in identifying and integrating the traditional knowledge with scientific arena, though the individual may be ethnobotanist but their secondary stage is often attributed as taxonomists.

http://www.indianbotanists.com crossed 3500 hits in just a few months.

Biochemical Society, London Announces 'Science Communication Competition

Tomato Engineering - Understanding Fruit Development and Ripening Parameters

Tomato is an important ingredient of many Indian dishes. In many parts of Indian states you can't think of food with tomato. It is consumed in different forms such as tomato sauce, ketchup, condiments, added flavours, salad, etc. In southern part of India tomato-rice (takkali sadam) is one of the popular dish which is prepared adding tomato with rice. It adds sourness to the food and also it is used as base for gravy holding the spices and onion together.

32nd New Phytologist Symposium : 20 – 22 November, 2013

Symposium Title: ‘Plant interactions with other organisms: molecules, ecology and evolution’

International Trade of Rosewoods and Ebonies from Asia, Central America and Madagascar will now be regulated by CITES

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) triennial World’s Wildlife Conference which closed today on 14th March 2013 took decisive action to protect precious timber and marine species from overexploitation.

In a press release CITES informed that international trade in a range of rosewoods (belongs to genus Dalbergia) and ebonies (belongs to genus Dyspyros) from Asia, Central America and Madagascar will now be regulated by the Convention. Rapidly rising demand for these precious tropical hardwoods has led to serious concerns that unregulated logging is depleting populations of already rare species.

The joint programme between CITES and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) will support the efforts of the countries concerned to strengthen their capacities to implement the Convention. Cross-border movement of wooden musical instruments was also addressed during the meeting. Special procedures under CITES have been agreed for musicians and institutions travelling with musical instruments containing precious woods such as Brazilian rosewood, and other productes of species listed by the Convention.

Sci-fi Facilities for Plant Sciences - National Plant Phenomics Centre

Arran Frood

Science Writer & Film Maker

 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Swindon, UK 

    

    Blink and the future has arrived. Many modern inventions, from huge and mighty stealth bombers to electric-hybrid vehicles and touchscreen smartphones seem to arrive in an instant. But their presence defines where we are now and where we may be going.

    The same could be said of the new multi-million pound National Plant Phenomics Centre (NPPC), the technological scale and capability of which provokes a similar “wow!” factor. ‘Phenomics’ is the large-scale study of physical characteristics and the NPPC is unique within the UK. It is the future of agricultural and horticultural science, where thousands of plant traits are automatically measured on a cyber-industrial scale and recorded digitally: a true monument to the information age.

Govt. of India has announced, 'Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy-2013

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The Government has announced the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy-2013 which aims to provide both investment of science led technology and innovation in select areas of socio-economic importance. 

Accordingly, the STI Policy seeks to: 

(i) Enhance India`s global share of scientific publications from the present 3.5% to 7.0 %; 

(ii) Establish world class infrastructure for Research and Development (R&D) in some select areas; 

(iii) Make careers in science, research and innovation attractive enough for talented and bright minds;

 (iv) Create an environment for enhanced private sector participation in R&D, technology and innovation;

 (v) Seed S&T based high risk Innovation; 

(vi) Participate in international R&D projects that are high cost and high science. 

Indian Botanists Remembers One Among Many Indian Women Botanists : Dr. Edavaleth Kakkat Janaki Ammal

 (On the Occasion of International Women's Day )

Dr. Edavaleth Kakkat Janaki Ammal

 Born - 4th November 1897

Schooling - Tellichery, Kerala

Bachelor’s degree - Queen Mary’s College, Madras (now Chennai)

Honours degree in Botany- Presidency College , Madras in 1921

Master’s degree - Universityof Michiganin, USA in 1925

DSc (Oriental Barbour Fellow)- Michigan in1931

Professor of Botany - Maharaja’s College of Science, Trivandrum Kerala (1932-34)

Geneticist - Sugarcane Breeding Institute at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (1934-1939)

Assistant Cytologist - JohnInnes Horticultural Institution, London (1940-50)

Cytologist -Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley during 1945–51

Special Officer - BotanicalSurvey of India (BSI), 1951

Served Govt. of India in various capacities - 1951 to 1970

Associated with Centre for Advanced Study in Botany, Universityof Madras as Emeritus Scientists.

List of Possibly Extinct Plant Species in India

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    Out of 19,156 species of vascular plants (Angiosperms, Gymnosperms, Pteridophytes) so far recorded from India, 1236 species belong to different threatened categories like Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, etc. Out of these, following 17 species of plants are considered as possibly extinct as they have not been collected from wild for more than last fifty years :

LAST DATE EXTENDED FOR JRF AND NET EXAMINATION SCHEDULED ON 23rd JUNE 2013

COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH (CSIR), 
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT GROUP, EXAMINATION UNIT 

has 
notified that the last date for sale of 
Information Bulletin and Application Form 

through designated branches of 
Indian Bank 
and 
Oriental Bank of Commerce 
has been extended from

 01.03.2013 to15.03.2013