OL O ANUARY ARCH Centre Organised

S&T Newsletter

A Quarterly of theCentre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned

and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre)

I.S.S.N 0971-4200

VOL. 29, NO. 4JANUARY - MARCH 2020

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(Amitava Bandopadhyay)Director General

International Workshop on Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and Interventions

New Delhi, India, 5-7 February, 2020Air pollution is recognized as one of the top five causes of mortality linked to respiratory and heart diseases worldwide. According to a WHO report, air pollution leads to 7 million deaths world-wide with a total of 4.3 million deaths linked to household air pollution and 2.7 million related to ambient air pollution.

In developing countries, ambient air pollution primarily results from industrial emissions, vehicular combustion processes, fires, biogenic productions, burning of agricultural waste and smoke as well as dust particles blown by wind from one region to the other. Common ambient air pollutants include Particulate Matter (PM and PM ), Ozone, Carbon 10 2.5

Monoxide, Sulphur Dioxide and Oxides of Nitrogen. Household air pollution is mainly due to cooking on open fires inside homes, as well as using biomass such as wood, cow dung, charcoal and kerosene as cooking fuel, without proper ventilation system.

Long term exposure to air pollution may lead to weakening of immune system and other negative health outcomes including strokes and respiratory conditions such as Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Lung Cancer and Allergies as well as Cataracts, Cardiovascular and other diseases. Cleaner and better air quality is a fundamental right, making it imperative for all the stakeholders, including scientists, doctors, policy makers and industrialists, to come together and deliberate on how to improve traditional approaches as well as on the use of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) to develop inexpensive and sustainable methods to mitigate air pollution and the health effects associated with it.

Considering the above, the Centre for Science & Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre), New Delhi, jointly with Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi organised an 'International Workshop on Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and Interventions' at Hotel Radisson Blu, Dwarka in New Delhi, India during 5 -7 February 2020.

Warmest Greetings to our Esteemed Readers!! We wish you all a good health and safety at this juncture when the entire w o r l d i s f a c i n g a n unprecedented crisis due to COVID 19. Most of us are working from home due to complete lock down in our countries but we are trying our

best to continue the activities of the NAM S&T Centre as far as possible. Let us hope that the situation will be normal very soon and we will be able to resume our normal work.

Nevertheless, I am pleased to inform you that during the last quarter, the NAM S&T Centre organised an International Workshop on 'Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and Interventions' jointly with Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi in New Delhi, India during 5-7 February 2020. The event was highly successful and there were altogether 78 medical professionals, scientists, government officials, industry representatives and students from Bhutan, Cambodia, Cuba, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. A 'New Delhi Resolution' with some important recommendations on the Workshop theme was adopted unanimously during the Workshop.

I am happy to announce that the G-77 has recently conveyed its approval to the Centre for implementing an inter-governmental project on Arsenic remediation which aims to cope with the serious consequences of Arsenic contamination of groundwater in developing countries and provide a road map for low cost technological solutions for the removal of Arsenic from the groundwater in order to minimize the exposure of the people to this toxic element from food and drinking water.

The Centre warmly welcomes the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Bhavnagar, India as a member of the NAM S&T - Industry Network.

During this quarter, the Centre has offered the NAM S&T Centre Senior Visiting Fellowship to five scientists – from Egypt, Malaysia, Mauritius, Palestine and Pakistan. The Centre has also published a book titled 'Sustainability of Leather Sector in Developing Countries' edited by Dr. Eucharia Ngozi Oparah (Nigeria) which includes 12 papers giving significant insights into various approaches and policies that are being adopted by the developing countries to ensure sustainability in the leather sector.

A number of scientific programmes have been planned by us for the near future; but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have rescheduled some of those events. For further details, please visit the NAM S&T Centre's Website (www.namstct.org) which has been redesigned and launched recently.

Stay safe and happy reading!!

Inauguration of the International Workshop on “Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and Interventions”, 5-7 February, 2020 in New Delhi, India

Centre Organised

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(Contd. from Page 1 - )Intl. Workshop on Air Pollution, New Delhi, India

NAM S&T CentreNAM S&T Centre January - March 2020

There were altogether 78 participants in the Workshop including 13 experts and professionals from developing countries viz., Bhutan, Cambodia, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Zimbabwe; and 65 eminent medical professionals, scientists, government officials, industry representatives as well as students from the host country, India.

The Foreign participants were from Bhutan [Mr. Chador Wangdi, Sr. Program Officer, Ministry of Health, Department of Public Health, Kawangjangsa, Thimphu]; Cambodia [Mrs. Heng Dina, General Manager, Ly Vireak Clinic and Pharmacy MEDICA, Khan Dangkor, Phnom Penh]; Cuba [Ms. Marisol Romeu Hernández, Head of the Biotechnology Unit, Delegation of the Ministry of Science Technology and Environment, Havana]; Egypt [Dr. Nour Shafik Emam Elgendy, Professor (Petroleum and Environmental Biotechnology) and Head Manager (Petroleum Biotechnology Laboratory), Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute (EPRI), Cairo]; Indonesia [Dr. Widyarani, Researcher, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jakarta]; Iran [Prof. Mohammad Kafi, President, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad]; Malaysia [Ms. Leo Choe Peng, Associate Professor, School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Parit Buntar]; Myanmar [Dr. Moe Myitzu, Director, Department of Research and Innovation, Yangon]; Nepal [Dr. Bimala Devi Devkota Paudel, Senior Scientific Officer, Faculty of Science, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), Lalitpur]; Palestine [Dr. Abdelfattah R.A. Almallah, Director, Water and Environmental Studies Institute, An – Najah National University, Nablus]; Sri Lanka [Dr. Thammita A.S. Anuruddha, Principal Research Scientist, National Engineering Research and Development Center (NERDC), Ja-Ela]; Zambia [Mr. Clavel Mulenga, Public Health Inspector, Lusaka City Council, Lusaka] and Zimbabwe [Ms. Gloria Winnie Sikayi, Senior Environmental Health Officer, City of Harare, Harare].

The Indian Panel Members, Plenary Speakers and Chairpersons in various sessions were: Dr. Randeep Guleria, MD, DM [Professor & Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi]; Dr. Anant Mohan, MD, FRCP, FCCP [Professor and Head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine & Sleep Disorders, AIIMS, Delhi]; Dr. Sagnik Dey [Associate Professor, Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi]; Dr. Vartika Mathur [Assistant Professor, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi]; Dr. Chandragouda Dodagoudar [Sr. Consultant, Medical Oncology, BLK Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi]; Dr. Gopi Chand Khilnani, MD [Chairman – Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Pushpawati Singhania Hospital & Research Institute]; Dr. Rajesh Chawla, MD, FCCP [Senior Consultant, Institutes of Critical Care, Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals]; Dr. Kiran Guleria, MD [Director Professor, University College of Medical Sciences, GTB Hospital]; Dr. Karan Madan, MD, DM [Assistant Professor, Department of Pulmonary Medicine & Sleep Disorders, AIIMS, Delhi]; Dr. Mradul Kumar Daga, MD [Director-Professor in Medicine and Resource, Maulana Azad Medical College]; Dr. Varinder Singh, MD, FRCPCH [Director Professor of Pediatrics, Lady Hardinge Medical College]; Mr. Amit Jain [Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited]; Mr. Chander Mohan [Chair Professor _ Tribal Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi & Former Scientist G and Head, SEED, KIRAN, NCSTC, Mission Societal and Director, Vigyan Prasar Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi]; Dr. Vijay Hadda, MD Assistant Professor, Department of Pulmonary Medicine & Sleep Disorders, AIIMS, Delhi]; Mr. Jatinder Singh Kamyotra [Director, Central Pollution Control Board]; Mr. N. Mohan [Deputy General Manager and Head of Electric Vehicles Charging Infrastructure Department, M/s.

[

Group Photo of the Delegates Participating in the International Workshop on “Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and Interventions”, 5-7 February, 2020 in New Delhi, India

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E n e r g y E f f i c i e n c y S e r v i c e s L i m i t e d (EESL), an entity under the Ministry of Power, Government of India]; Mr. P.K. Pandey [Vice President, Marketing, I n d r a p r a s t h a G a s Limited]; Mr. Amit Garg [Director (Commercial), I n d r a p r a s t h a G a s Limited, New Delhi] and P r o f . A K R a i n a [Professor & Head, D e p a r t m e n t o f Environment Sciences, University of Jammu, Jammu]

The Indian participants who had presented their p a p e r s i n v a r i o u s

sessions were: Dr. Pawan Tiwari [Assistant Professor, Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Sleep Disorders, AIIMS, New Delhi]; Dr. Kavita Verma [Research Scholar, Department of Zoology, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi]; Dr. Pooja Gokhale Sinha [Assistant Professor, Department of Botany, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi]; Dr. Asani Bhaduri [Assistant Professor, Molecular and Computational Biology, Cluster Innovation Centre, University of Delhi]; Ms. Garima Sharma [Animal Plant Interactions Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Sri Venkateswara College]; Dr. Naveen Arora [Chief Scientist, CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, University of Delhi Campus, Delhi]; Dr. Richa Misra [Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, Sri Venkateswara College]; Ms. Keerti Mishra [Programme Associate, Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Government of India, New Delhi]; Dr. Deeksha Katyal [Assistant Professor, University School of Environment Management, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi]; Ms. Anjali Yadav [MPhil student, Department of Zoology, University of Delhi]; Dr. Sanjukta Subudhi [Senior Fellow, DBT-TERI Center of Excellence in Advanced Biofuel and Biocommodities & Environmental and Industrial Biotechnology Division, The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi]; and Dr. Ravindra Kumar [Head, Transportation Planning and Environment Division, Senior Principal Scientist and Professor ACSIR, CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), New Delhi].

The NAM S&T Centre was represented by Dr. Amitava Bandopadhyay, Director General; Mr. M. Bandyopadhyay, Senior Adviser; Ms. Jasmeet Kaur, Programme Officer; and Mr. Abhay Nambiar, Ms. Gloria Cherian and Ms. Nidhi Utreja, Research Associates.

The three-day International Workshop was successfully held with an objective to discuss and deliberate upon the emerging causes and hazards of air pollution including its associated effects on public health in general, and focusing on the health of women and children in particular and to strategize various traditional and scientific approaches for its mitigation. The Workshop included two Panel Discussion Sessions and eight Technical Sessions besides the Inaugural and Concluding Sessions – over the three days duration.

The Inaugural Session commenced with a welcome address by Dr. P. Hemalatha Reddy, Principal, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi which was followed by an address by Dr. Amitava Bandopadhyay, Director General, NAM S&T Centre, who presented the genesis of the event and also briefly described the activities of the Centre (an Inter-governmental Organisation), and highlighted the need for affirmative action on mitigation of air pollution by collaboration and cooperation between various countries and how the NAM S&T Centre could facilitate in achieving these goals. The honorable Chief Guest was Prof. (Dr.) Randeep Guleria, Professor & Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi who expressed his concerns on the effect of Air Pollution on Human Health by sharing his professional experience as a Doctor with his research focus on Pulmonology, Respiratory and Sleep Medicine and stated that the biggest challenge of Air Pollution is that it is an invisible danger and it is hard to fight something that one cannot see, touch, feel or taste. The session concluded with the Vote of Thanks by Dr. Vartika Mathur, Assistant Professor, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi, which was followed by an official Group Photo Session.

Technical Session - I was chaired by Prof. Mohammad Kafi and Prof. Anant Mohan which started with a Plenary Lecture on “Air Pollution: Know your Enemy” - Insights from around the Globe' by Prof. Anant Mohan followed by presentation of scientific papers by foreign and Indian participants viz., Dr. Moe Myitzu (Myanmar) [Title: 'Air Pollution Monitoring and Determination of the Concentration of Toxic Element in Air']; Dr. Pawan Tiwari (India) [Title: 'Air Pollution: Burden of Disease in Developing Countries']; Dr. Bimala Devi Devkota Paudel (Nepal) [Title: 'Air Pollution in Nepal: Status, Impacts and Policy Perspective'] and Ms. Gloria Winnie Sikayi (Zimbabwe) [Title: 'Air Pollution: Know your Enemy: Insights from Around the Globe : A Case Study of Harare' ].

HernándezCuba

DinaCambodia

WangdiBhutan

ElgendyEgypt

KafiIran

WidyaraniIndonesia

International Workshop on Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and Interventions New Delhi, India,

PaudelNepal

AlmallahPalestine

MyitzuMyanmar

PengMalaysia

AnuruddhaSri Lanka

SikayiZimbabwe

MulengaZambia

FOREIGN PARTICIPANTS AND RESOURCE PERSONS

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Technical Session – II chaired by Ms. Leo Choe Peng and Dr. Asani Bhaduri began with the Plenary Lecture on 'Ambient Air Pollution Exposure in India : Challenges and Opportunities' by Dr. Sagnik Dey which was followed by presentation of scientific papers by Ms. Kavita Verma (India) [Title: 'Effect of Air Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Food Chain: Direct and Indirect Exposure']; Dr. Pooja Gokhale Sinha (India) [Title: 'Carbon Footprint: Emission Analysis of Urban Youth in Delhi']; and Mr. Clavel Mulenga (Zambia) [Title: 'The Impacts of Indoor Air pollution on Human Health in Informal Settlement (Case study of Mazyopa Compound - Lusaka District)'].

Technical Session – III chaired by Mr. Chador Wangdi and Mr. Amit Garg had the Plenary Lecture on “Air Pollution: A Burden on 'One Health” by Dr. Vartika Mathur. This was followed by presentation of scientific papers by Dr. Thammita A. S. Anuruddha (Sri Lanka) [Title: 'Quantifying the Carbon Emission of the Crematoria to Identify the Carbon Sinkable Tea Vegetation Requirement to Counterpoise the Carbon Foot Print']; Dr. Asani Bhaduri (India) [Title: 'Wildfire and Wildlife – A lesser known Pollution']; and Ms. Garima (India) [Title: 'Impact of Air Pollution on Plant Microbiome: An Insight into Urban Ecosystems'].

Technical Session – IV chaired by Dr. Abdelfattah R.A. Almallah and Dr. N. Latha started with the Plenary Lecture on 'Air Pollution and Public Health' by Dr. Chandragouda Dodagoudar. This was followed by presentation of scientific papers by Dr. Widyarani (Indonesia) [Title: 'Visible Electricity: Environmental Impact of Coal-Fired Power Plant on Local Air Quality'] and Dr. Naveen Arora (India) [Title: 'Impact of Air Pollution on Respiratory Inflammation/Cancer']. Thereafter, a panel discussion was held on, 'Air Pollution: Challenges in High-Risk Groups'. The Members of the Panel were, Dr. Rajesh Chawla (Moderator), Dr. Kiran Guleria, Dr. Karan Madan, Mr. Amit Jain, Prof. M.K. Daga and Prof. Varinder Singh. The panel members had an illuminating and enlightening discussion on how air pollution has adverse effects on the health of vulnerable groups in the society, namely pregnant women and fetus, children and senior citizens.

Technical Session – V was chaired by Mr. Clavel Mulenga and Dr. Ravindra Kumar and had presentation of scientific papers by Dr. Abdelfattah R. A. Almallah (Palestine) [Title: 'Long Term Monitoring of Air Pollution from Quarries with Health Effects, Managerial, and Technical Solution '], Dr. Richa Misra (India) [Title: 'Effect of Air pollution on Microbiome and Health'], Prof. Mohammad Kafi (Iran) [Title: 'Role of Universities in Air Pollution Control (Experience of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad)'], and Ms. Keerti Mishra (India) [Title: 'Ill Effects of Rising Air Pollution on Public Health and Measures Adopted Globally to Improve Air Quality'].

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ReddyK. GuleriaR. Guleria Chawla A. MohanHadda

International Workshop on Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and Interventions, New Delhi, India

JainN. MohanC. Mohan

SOME OF THE INDIAN PARTICIPANTS AND SPEAKERS

Garg

DagaMadanKhilnani Mathur Dodagoudar Dey Kamyotra V. Singh Raina

NayyarVermaTiwari Misra SinhaKhandelwal AroraSharmaBhaduri Mishra

Pandey


Subudhi YadavKatyal KumarGloriaJasmeetAbhay Nidhi

NAM S&T Centre Representatives

M. BandyopadhyayA. Bandopadhyay


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Technical Session – VI chaired by Dr. Thammita Anuruddha and Prof. A K Raina began with the Plenary Lecture on ' A l a rm ing R i se o f R e s p i r a t o r y Inflammation : Is Air Pollution a Contributor?' by Dr. G.C. Khilnani which was followed by p r e s e n t a t i o n s o f scientific papers by: Ms. L e o C h o e P e n g (Malaysia) [Title: 'Air Pollution Abatement Technologies ' ] , Dr. Deeksha Katyal (India) [Title: 'Evaluating the E n g a g e m e n t s o f Educational Institutions i n A l l e v i a t i n g A i r Pollution'], Mrs. Heng Dina (Cambodia) [Title: 'The Challenges and Intervention of Air Pollution to Health Issue in Cambodia'], and Ms. Anjali Yadav (India) [Title: 'Impairment of Immunity by Air Pollution May Increase the Susceptibility to Tuberculosis During Winters'].

Technical Session – VII was chaired by Dr. Thammita Anuruddha and Prof. A K Raina which started with presentations of scientific papers by Dr. Nour Shafik Emam Elgendy (Egypt) [Title: 'Biovalorization of Organic Waste Biomass into Different Valuable Products as Out-of-Box Approaches for Mitigation of Air Pollution']; and Ms. Marisol Romeu Hernández (Cuba) [Title: 'Actions to Mitigate Health Effect Caused by Air Pollution']. This was followed by the second Panel Discussion on, 'Decreasing Air Pollution Exposure: Use of Masks, Air Purifier, Alternate Fuels, and Other Innovations'. The Members for the Panel were, Shri Chander Mohan (Moderator), Mr. P.K. Pandey, Mr. J.S. Kamyotra, Dr. Vijay Hadda and Mr. N. Mohan. They discussed on how technological intervention could be the solution to mitigate air pollution and the concomitant effects.

Technical Session – VIII was chaired by Dr. P. Hemalatha Reddy and Dr. Nour Shafik Emam Elgendy which began with the Plenary Lecture on 'Recommendations for Sustainable Solutions' by Prof. Randeep Guleria. This was followed by presentation of scientific papers by Mr. Chador Wangdi (Bhutan) [Title: 'Air Quality in Bhutan'], Dr. Ravindra Kumar (India) [Title: 'Improving Road Condition Strategies to Reduce Fuel Consumption and CO Emission'], and Dr. Sanjukta 2

Subudhi (India) [Title: 'Opportunities to Address Air Pollution with Transport Biofuel: Potential to Reduce Nanoparticle Emissions'].

During the Concluding Session, extensive discussions were held, and suggestions and ideas were shared and a 'New Delhi Resolution' with a set of recommendations was extensively discussed and unanimously adopted by the participants. The Concluding Session was chaired by Dr. P. Hemalatha Reddy, Principal, Sri Venkateswara College and Dr. Amitava Bandopadhyay, Director General, NAM S&T Centre. The “Certificates of Participation” were then handed over to the participants by Prof. (Dr.) Randeep Guleria, Dr. P. Hemalatha Reddy, Dr. Amitava Bandopadhyay and Mr. M. Bandyopadhyay.

A visit to Delhi-Haat, an open-air “Craft Bazaar and Food Plaza” located in New Delhi and the office of the NAM S&T Centre at India Habitat Centre were arranged for the foreign delegates. During their visit, the participants discussed possibilities of cooperation between the NAM S&T Centre and their respective countries/institutions.

The participants expressed gratitude to the sponsors, organisers and hosts - NAM S&T Centre and Sri Venkateswara College, for the excellent arrangements and efficient coordination of the Workshop. They also appreciated that such scientific event not only provided opportunities to them to meet, engage, gain and share knowledge on a common platform, but also facilitate in better understanding of this multifaceted global environmental issue.


A field visit to Delhi-Haat, an open-air “Craft Bazaar and Food Plaza”, New Delhi


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New Delhi Resolutionon

Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and InterventionsWe the participants of the three-day International Workshop on 'Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and Interventions', held in New Delhi, India during 5 - 7 February, 2020;

Representing the governments, academic and research institutions and S&T agencies from Bhutan, Cambodia, Cuba, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Zambia and Zimbabwe;

EXPRESSING gratitude to the Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre) and Sri Venkateswara College (University of Delhi), India, for organizing the workshop and the industry sponsors for their support;

RECOGNIZING that air pollution is a multifaceted global environmental issue because the air pollutants from stationary and mobile sources are frequently transferred over great distances and across national borders, with serious implications on 'One Health', and a lot needs to be done to find workable and sustainable solutions to control the same;

BEING DEEPLY CONCERNED about the existing and potential damage to the natural and man-made environment and the increasing evidence of effects on human health resulting directly or in combination with the other factors, from emissions of major air pollutants from fossil fuel combustion and their conversion products;

BEING CONSCIOUS that some of the effects of air pollution on the environment are cumulative over time, and may be difficult or impossible to reverse; and

FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGING that a number of NAM and other developing countries have committed themselves to implement reduction of annual carbon and sulphur emissions;

Unanimously resolve and recommend the following:

ª Appropriate policies should be adopted and programmes initiated to control air pollution resulting from emissions of oxides of carbon, sulphur & nitrogen; hydrocarbons and particulate matter, from stationary and mobile sources in order to achieve acceptable levels of ambient air quality.

ª Efforts should be made to have continuous monitoring systems of primary and secondary pollutants and their sources to provide precise information about the level of air pollution in a region-specific manner, including hotspots, to get a clear idea about the intensity and magnitude of the problem.

ª Member countries should share the information about emissions of different categories of air pollutants from various sources.

ª In order to precisely establish the cause-effect relationship, efforts should be made to continuously monitor and record seasonal fluctuations in air pollution levels and correlate with increased incidents of associated health issues.

ª Governments, industries as well as research and healthcare institutions should encourage trans-disciplinary, holistic research to study the effects of air pollution on human, animal and plant health.

ª The understanding of concept of 'One Health' should be promoted especially in the context of air pollution.

ª Special emphasis should be given to conduct in-depth analysis of the sources, types, causes and effects of indoor and ambient air pollution.

ª Capacity building programs, workshops and training sessions should be conducted to sensitize people about the causes and harmful effects of indoor and ambient air pollution.

ª Governments should encourage educational institutions to adopt pedagogical tools in curriculum in environment and climate change to increase awareness and sensitize students on harmful effects of air pollution and their role in minimizing the effects.

ª Local health workers and medical practitioners should be encouraged to be involved in epidemiological programs, to create database of various health issues related to air pollution.

ª Governments should encourage and fund start-ups and researchers engaged in designing environment friendly solutions in sectors such as transportation, household cooking, construction etc. to minimize emission of air pollutants.

ª Appropriate emission control strategies should be adopted on national and international basis, which may include emission standards for various categories of polluters, within a legal framework, and other effective and efficient means of reducing the pollution levels.

ª Internationally coordinated research and development programmes should be supported and undertaken aimed at better understanding of the effects of air pollution on man and the environment, and improving technologies for fossil fuel combustion and control of pollutant emissions.

ª Governments in NAM and other developing countries should encourage the use of biofuels and other sources of renewable energy. Focus should also be directed towards waste management and bio-treatment of polluted environments.

ª All major industrial and infrastructure projects should undergo a human health impact assessment as a part of the approval process.

ª Industries should be mandated to adopt 'Cleaner Technologies' in their production processes to reduce air pollution at source. Industries should be encouraged with incentives to implement 'Process Optimization' and 'Process Integration' for mitigation of air pollution.

It was also agreed that the above set of recommendations should be integrated as a part of the already existing air pollution control policies of various NAM and other developing countries.

thThus, unanimously adopted on this day, the 7 February 2020 in New Delhi, India

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Health Issues Related to Arsenic Contamination of Ground WaterDr. Kunal Kanti Majumdar

Professor, Department of Community Medicine, KPC Medical College & Hospital, Jadavpur, KolkataEx Consultant UNICEF, Kolkata; Arsenic specialist WHO (SEARO)E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Arsenic, a metalloid, occurs naturally, being the twentieth most abundant element in Earth's crust and is a component of more than 245 minerals. The inorganic forms are toxic to human health and consist mostly of arsenite and arsenate compounds. Humans are exposed to arsenic primarily from air, food, and water. Drinking water may be contaminated with arsenic from arsenical pesticide, natural mineral deposits or improperly disposed arsenical chemicals. Arsenic poisoning is a medical condition that occurs due to elevated levels of arsenic in the body. If arsenic poisoning occurs over a brief period of time symptoms may include vomiting, abdominal pain, encephalopathy and watery diarrhea that contains blood. Long-term exposure can result in thickening of the skin, darker skin, abdominal pain, diarrhea, heart disease, numbness and cancer. The most common reason for long-term exposure is contaminated drinking water.

Arsenic pollution in groundwater, used for drinking purposes has been envisaged as a problem of global concern. Groundwater most often becomes contaminated naturally; however, contamination may also occur from mining or agriculture. Arsenic contamination in drinking water has been reported from many countries like Taiwan, China, Argentina,

1Chile, Mexico, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal, USA but the severity of this contamination in India and Bangladesh is unprecedented. Human health effects of chronic arsenic toxicity are designated by the term arsenicosis, to imply a chronic disease caused by prolonged exposure of arsenic in humans. The common symptoms of chronic arsenic toxicity due to prolonged drinking of arsenic contaminated water are pigmentation and keratosis and cancer of skin. In India, significant arsenic contamination in groundwater was detected in the year 1983 in West Bengal when some villagers were diagnosed to be suffering from arsenicosis due to drinking of arsenic contaminated water. Today, in West Bengal, the arsenic contamination in ground water has been detected in 83 blocks in 8 districts of the state. It is suspected that 6 million

1 people are exposed to arsenic contaminated ground water (>50µg/l). In India, occurrences of arsenic in groundwater 1have also been reported from Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Assam.

The reported clinical manifestations resulting from ingestion of arsenic-contaminated drinking water include dermatological manifestations like pigmentation and keratosis of skin and systemic manifestations like anemia, weakness, conjunctival congestion; chronic lung disease such as chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and bronchiectasis; liver disease such as enlargement of liver; portal hypertension, non-cirrhotic portal fibrosis, cardio vascular diseases like hypertension, ischemic heart disease; cerebrovascular diseases like stroke; Diabetes,

2polyneuropathy, solid oedema of limbs and malignant neoplasms. Skin abnormalities such as pigmentation (changes in the colour of the skin) change and keratosis (thickening and roughening of skin) have been known to be hallmark signs of chronic arsenic exposure. Skin lesions pose an important public health problem because advanced forms of keratoses are

3painful and debilitating. Arsenic increases the risk of cancer exposure is related to skin, lung, liver, bladder and kidney 4,5cancer among others, although increased cancer risks may result even without skin lesions being present. Most of the

reports of chronic arsenic exposure in humans focus attention on skin manifestations because of their diagnostic specificity. However, data derived from population-based studies, clinical case series, and reports relating to intake of inorganic arsenic in drinking water, medications or occupational and environmental exposure show that chronic arsenic exposure adversely affects multi-organ systems of the human body as mentioned above as non dermatological manifestations. The symptoms of chronic arsenic toxicity (arsenicosis) are insidious in onset and are dependent on the magnitude of the dose and duration of its exposure.

In a field guide for detection, management, and surveillance relating to arsenicosis, the condition has been defined by WHO as “a chronic health condition arising from prolonged ingestion of arsenic above the safe dose for at least six months, usually manifested by characteristic skin lesions of melanosis (hyperpigmentation) and keratosis, occurring alone or in

6combination with or without involvement of internal organs.” The appearance of lesions usually follows temporal progression, beginning with hyperpigmentation, and then progressing to palmar-plantar keratosis, which is dependent on the magnitude of the dose and the duration of exposure.

Several human studies have identified associations between malnutrition and arsenic-induced skin lesions, skin cancer, and cardiovascular effects. Literature surveys indicate arsenic resistance and its relation with nutritional status. A cross sectional study was conducted in Chakdah and Haringhata block of Nadia district of West Bengal to determine the dietary intake of nutrients and its correlation with manifestations of arsenicosis. The study revealed that low socioeconomic status along with less dietary intake of calorie, protein and micronutrients may have a definite role in increasing the risk of development arsenicosis. In the above study it was evident that calorie consumption and consumption of most of the macro and micronutrients was less than RDA in both cases and controls of study population. But there was significant difference in intake of protein along with micronutrients like thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, zinc and choline in the diet of cases compared to exposed controls in both the sexes, indicating the probable role of above nutrients in development of

7 diseases. There is increasing evidence of elevated rice grain arsenic levels in regions of West Bengal and Bangladesh where paddy fields are irrigated with arsenic-rich water. On the other hand arsenic content in rice grown in region without groundwater contamination was found to be low. Arsenic contamination of vegetables grown on soils irrigated with arsenic

8 contaminated water has also been reported.

(Special Feature)

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There is a dose-dependent relationship between maternal exposure to arsenic and infant (<1yr of age) mortality, meaning that infants born to women exposed to higher concentrations or exposed for longer periods of time, have a higher mortality

9 rate.10,11Remedy of chronic arsenic toxicity, known still today is to take arsenic free water; however arsenic free safe water

source is not available in all the arsenic affected villages.

Reports are scanty in the literature on long term effect of chronic arsenic toxicity after stoppage of drinking arsenic contaminated water on skin manifestations. Despite the magnitude of this potentially fatal toxicity, there is no effective therapy for this disease; patients once affected may not recover, even after remediation of the arsenic-contaminated water. The need for an effective therapy for chronic arsenicosis is obvious.

Chelation therapy for chronic arsenic toxicity is thought to be the specific therapy for relief of systemic clinical manifestations and reduction of arsenic stores in the body, reducing subsequent cancer risk. Chelation therapy is presumed to be more effective with early features of the toxicity, as severe manifestation of polyneuropathy, chronic lung and liver disease, swelling of hands and legs, and defects of hearing and vision are less likely to respond to this therapy. Chelating agents like meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), sodium 2,3-dimercapto-1-propane sulfonic acid (DMPS) and d-penicillamine have frequently been considered for treatment of chronic arsenic toxicity. However, their usefulness as

5,12 a standard method of treatment is yet to be established. Anti oxidants and vitamins are also been tried by some workers 13,14for the treatment of arsenicosis. But no authentic evidence on the basis of placebo controlled trial has been available

substantiating the efficacy.

Poor underweight people with several nutrient deficiencies were found to be more susceptible to arsenical skin lesions in the arsenic-endemic regions. Significantly lower intakes of protein, thiamin, niacin, Mg, Zn and choline were observed in both male and female cases compared with respective controls. So dietary advice to increase the consumption of animal protein, roots, tubers, and other vegetables along with increase the consumption of cereals and milk may help reduce the

7,8occurrence of arsenical skin lesions.

Besides health a wide range of psycho-social, behavioral and economic consequences were observed associated with chronic arsenic toxicity in the society. A study on disease burden, and psychosocial, behavioral and & economic issues related to chronic arsenic exposure were done in Malda, an arsenic affected district of West Bengal. Information on psychosocial, behavioral and economic issues were assessed amongst surveyed population. Prevalence of arsenicosis was found to be 8.3% amongst 5355 number of people surveyed. Majority (62%) patients who were aware of their illness, felt embarrassed, many having anxiety, tension and depression. Most (93.6%) patients felt that their status had been changed within the community. Small number (3%) of patients volunteered marital problem. Not many (18.9%) patients consulted doctors for their treatment. Majority of patients had disability leading to change of occupation or loss of jobs. Small number (8.7%) participants considered arsenicosis as a communicable disease. Social exclusion was reported

15among small (1.4%) number of participants.

There is an urgent need to make arrangement for availability of safe water source among the arsenic affected people in the endemic area. Many of the people in the affected villages are not aware of contamination of their home tube wells with arsenic. Awareness generation and motivation of the people for testing their drinking water sources for arsenic and environmental interventions like rain water harvesting, ground water recharge and restricting excessive use of ground water for domestic and agricultural purposes are also important to prevent further exposure of arsenic to these people. It can be concluded that any mitigation of chronic arsenic toxicity needed integrated approaches of attempting to reduce arsenic entry into the food chain on the one hand and reduction of safe limits of arsenic in drinking water on the other. Further, arsenic affected people with severe skin lesions and systemic manifestations like lung disease, neuropathy etc are having unbearable suffering. These people are very poor and live in distant villages where hospital facilities are not easily available. Arrangement for free treatment of these patients in state referral hospitals and free transport facility from their villages could help a lot in alleviating the suffering of these people. Primary prevention by raising levels of awareness among primary care providers of the local region about signs and symptoms of arsenocosis and available intervention will definitely help to mitigate this important but somewhat neglected public health problem.

References

1. WHO, 2004; Some drinking-water Disinfectants and contaminants, including Arsenic; Human Exposure, Arsenic in Drinking Water; IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic risks to Humans; World Health Organization; Lyon France; Vol.84:60-188.

2. GuhaMazumder DN, 2008; Chronic Arsenic Toxicity and Human Health; Indian J Med Res.; 128: 436-447.

3. NRC, 1999; Arsenic in drinking water; National Research Council, Washington DC: National Academic Press.

4. GuhaMazumder DN, Haque R, Ghosh N et al; 1998; Arsenic levels in drinking water and the prevalence of skin lesions in West Bengal, India; Int J Epidemio; 27:871-7.

5. Majumder KK, Guha Mazumder DN, Ghose N, Lahiri S.; 2009; Systemic manifestations in chronic arsenic toxicity in absence of skin lesions in West Bengal; Indian J Med Res; 129: 75-82.

6. Caussy D (Ed), 2005; A Field Guide for Detection, Management and Surveillance of Arenicosis Cases; Clinical Aspects and Case Definition; WHO Technical Publication; WHO Regional Office for South East Asia, New Delhi; 30: 5-15.

7. Deb Debasree, Majumdar KK, Guha Mazumder DN, 2013; Arsenicosis and Dietary Intake among Men and Women; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India; Section B: Biological Sciences, Sci. 83; Number; p 405-413.

(Contd. from Page 7 - Special feature


9

8. Guha Mazumder Debendra Nath, Deb Debasree, Biswas Anirban, Saha Chandan, Nandy Ashoke, Ganguly Bhaswati, Ghose Aloke, Bhattacharya Kallol, Majumdar Kunal Kanti; 2012; Evaluation of dietary arsenic exposure and its biomarkers: A case study of West Bengal, India; Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part A (2012); Taylor & Francis- Vol 48, Issue 8, 896-904.

9. Rahman, Anisur et al; 2019; Arsenic Exposure and Risk of Spontaneous Abortion, Stillbirth and Infant Mortality; Epidemiology, 21(6), 797-804.

10. Guha Mazumder DN, Das Gupta J, Santra A, Pal A, Ghose A, Sarkar S; 1998(a); Chronic arsenic toxicity in West Bengal – The worst calamity in the world; J Indian med Assoc; 96:4-7.

11. Guha Mazumder DN, De BK, Santra A, Das Gupta J, Ghosh N, Roy BK, Chosal UC, Saha J, Chatterjee A, Dutta, S, Haque R, Smith AH, Chakraborti D, Angle CR, Centreno JA; 1999; Chappell WR, Abernathy CO, Calderon RL, eds; Arsenic Exposure and Health Effects; Chronic Arsenic Toxicity: Epidemiology, Natural History and Treatment. In: London, UK: Elsevier; 335-347.

12. Tondel M, Rahman M, Magnuson A, Chowdhury OA, Faruquee MH, Ahmad SA; 1999; The relationship of arsenic levels in drinking water and the prevalence rate of skin lesions in Bangladesh; Environ; Health Perspect; 107: 727-729.

13. Guha Mazumder DN, Das Gupta J, Santra A, Pal A, Ghose A, Sarkar S; 1998(b); Chronic arsenic toxicity in West Bengal – The worst calamity in the world; J Indian Med Assoc; 96: 4-7.

14. Guha Mazumder DN, Haque R, Ghosh N, Dey BK, Santra A, Chakraborti D, Smith AH; 2000; Arsenic in drinking water and the prevalence of respiratory effects in West Bengal, India; International Journal of Epidemiology; 29: 1047-1052.

15. Majumdar Kunal K, Ghosh Aloke Kumar, Majumdar Pramit Kumar, Mukherjee Shyamsree, Guha Mazumder Debendra Nath; December 2018; Arsenical Disease Burden and Psychosocial, Behavioral & Economic Issues Associated with Chronic Arsenic Exposure: A Study in Malda District, West Bengal; International Journal of Research & Review (www.ijrrjournal.com) Vol.5; Issue: 12;156-165.


CSIR-Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), Bhavnagar as a New Member of NAM S&T - Industry Network

NAM S&T Centre Welcomes

The NAM S&T Centre warmly welcomes the Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India [www.csmcri.res.in] as an esteemed member of the NAM S&T - Industry Network.

Founded in 1954, the CSIR-Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) is a leading national research laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), situated in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat state in India. The institute has an active, full-fledged and vibrant research field station at Mandapam, Tamil Nadu called the Marine Algal Research Station (MARS).

CSIR-CSMCRI has done remarkable work towards developing cost-effective technologies in the area of salt, marine chemicals like potash, magnesia, bio-fertilizers, and various valuable products from seaweed-based resources, d i f ferent c lasses of membranes for purification/separation, waste management

and recovery of valuable chemicals/materials from industrial wastes. The institute has made significant contributions in developing process towards clean and healthy environment, skill and human resource development including women-centric programs, and ensuing self-reliance by developing globally competitive technologies. The institute has also showed its strong presence in various societal missions. CSIR-CSMCRI has exerted significant R&D efforts in the area of safe drinking water by developing affordable and efficient membranes for reverse osmosis (RO) plants and kits to investigate bacterial contamination in water.

(Contd. on page 10)


10

The institute is working on fortification of edible salt with various micronutrients, vital for the human health. The double fortified salt, containing both iodine and iron in recommended doses, invented by the institute is a milestone in addressing the problem of iodine deficiency and iron deficiency disorders in 'one go' especially for women and children.

CSIR-CSMCRI's technical and advisory services towards carrying out Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies has been used not just by the industries of Gujarat but by other statutory government bodies/agencies of States as well. CSIR-CSMCRI holds pride in having the National Accreditation Board for Education and Training (NABET) accreditation, awarded by the Quality Council of India (QCI), in four sectors (viz. ports & harbours; distilleries; ship breaking yards and CETP's).

In addition, the unique, state-of-the-art Centralized Instrumentation Facility of the institute offers best-in-class analytical services for both in-house projects and for the other institutes/industries at reasonable rates. It is one of the unique facilities in the Nation that have nearly all “chemical science and engineering” related sophisticated equipment under one roof.

CSIR-CSMCRI, Bhavnagar is committed towards carrying out research that “reaches to the masses and end-user community”. The institute has been striving hard to establish proactive, vibrant and relevant professional association with the academia, R&D institutes, industries, Micro, Small & Medium scale enterprises and Start-up's. The institute follows a multi-fold approach and strategy to carve these long-lasting partnerships: by reaching out to the industry with its basket of knowledge base and technologies; by welcoming the industry to share their pain-points and addressing them; and/ working in sync together to address new unattended research problems.

This institute is committed to promote science-backed translational research to address the unmet challenges of India and beyond. It is pertinent to mention that as per the SCIMAGO Institutions Ranking (2020), CSIR-

thCSMCRI holds 8 place in the Country amongst the 326 institutions that were ranked. This comes not just with pride but motivation to excel and do more relevant research for the society and industry at large.

Currently, the institute is headed by Prof (Dr.) Kannan Srinivasan, an internationally renowned Chemist, having vast expertise in area of catalysis for fine and specialty chemicals.

(Contd. from Page 9 - Centre Welcomes )

NAM S&T Centre Senior Visiting Fellowship, 2019-20

Fellowship Awardees


11

VISIT TO HYDERABAD, INDIA

Dr. Amitava Bandopadhyay, Director General (DG) visited CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad during January 9-10, 2020 for discussion with Dr. S. Chandrasekhar, Director, IICT and the then Officiating Director, CSIR - Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), Bhavnagar on the proposed project on “Desalination of Sea Water/Brackish Water for Producing Potable Water for Coastal Villages” to be taken up by the NAM S&T Centre in collaboration with the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). The project is being planned by the Centre in connection with

ththe Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on 7 November 2019 between the two sides in Abu Dhabi, which was facilitated by the Indo-Pacific Division of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Govt. of India. Dr. S. Kannan, the then Chief Scientist and Divisional Chair, Business Development and Information Management and the present Director, CSMCRI also joined the discussion through video conferencing. It was pointed out by Dr. Bandopadhyay that at the initial stage of the project an Exposure Workshop on “Desalination Technology” developed by CSMCRI will be held for participating delegates from the IORA and NAM S&T Centre member countries. Various other issues on transfer of the desalination technology to other IORA Member countries to be undertaken at a later stage were also discussed. Dr. Bandopadhyay further indicated that the NAM S&T Centre would also be interested to take up a joint project on the transfer of technology developed by CSMCRI on “Seaweed Cultivation and Manufacture of Value-Added Products from Seaweeds” with special emphasis on cultivation of Gracileria Edulis.

Dr. Bandopadhyay also briefed Dr. Chandrasekhar on the activities of the NAM S&T Centre and requested participation of CSIR-IICT in organizing joint scientific events especially in the area of “Generic Drugs” on which IICT has made significant contributions. Dr. Chandrasekhar readily agreed to collaborate with the NAM S&T Centre in this area and it was decided to organize an international workshop on the subject jointly between the two sides in the second week of March 2021 at Hyderabad. It may be noted that both CSIR-IICT and CSIR-CSMCSRI are members of the “NAM S&T – Industry Network”.

During the visit to Hyderabad, Dr. Bandopadhyay also visited the CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad and had a courtesy meeting with Dr. V. M. Tiwari, Director, CSIR-NGRI. During the discussion, Dr. Bandopadhyay had briefed Dr. Tiwari on the G77-Perez Guererro Trust Fund (PGTF) Project on “Reducing Arsenic Exposure from Food and Water in Developing Countries – A Roadmap for Technological Solutions for the Future” that is being executed by the NAM S&T Centre during 2020-22. Dr. Tiwari has expressed keen interest of CSIR-NGRI on the subject that has gained significant importance in the developing countries and posed a major challenge in providing safe drinking water to the rural masses.

VISIT OF DG TO KOLKATA, INDIA

Dr. Amitava Bandopadhyay, Director General visited CSIR-Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), Kolkata on January 21, 2020 for a meeting with Dr. K. Muraleedharan, Director, CGCRI. Dr. Bandopadhyay briefed Dr. Muraleedharan on the G77-Perez Guererro Trust Fund (PGTF) Project on “Reducing Arsenic Exposure from Food and Water in Developing Countries – A Roadmap for Technological Solutions for the Future” being executed by the NAM S&T Centre during 2020-22. Dr. Muraleedharan expressed keen interest of his institute on the project in view of the significant contributions made by CGCRI on arsenic remediation of groundwater through the application of the ceramic membrane technology developed and implemented by CGCRI in arsenic affected regions of West Bengal and other parts of the country. Dr. Bandopadhyay had requested participation of CGCRI in the G77/PGTF Project and Dr. Muraleedharan had readily agreed to the proposal.

Dr. Bandopadhyay also met Prof. Kunal K. Majumder, Professor, Dept. of thCommunity Medicine, KPC Medical College, Kolkata on 20 January, 2020 when

detailed discussions were held on “Health Issues Related to Arsenic Contamination of Groundwater”. Dr. Bandopadhyay requested active participation of Prof. Majumder in the implementation of the G-77/PGTF project especially as resource person in the International Workshop being planned under the same in November/December 2020 and also an International Training Programme being planned in December 2021.

VISIT OF DG TO BHAVNAGAR, GUJARAT STATE, INDIA

Dr. Amitava Bandopadhyay, Director General visited CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI),

Meetings and Visits of DG, NAM S&T Centre

(Contd. on page 12)

With Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), Kolkata

Dr. K. Muraleedharan, Director, CSIR-

Dr. S. Chandrasekhar, Director, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology(IICT), Hyderabad

12


(Contd. from Page 11 - Meetings and Visits of DG, NAM S&T Centre)

Bhavnagar, Gujarat during February 27-28, 2020 for discussion with Dr. S. Kannan, Director, CSMCRI and his senior colleagues on the proposed project on “Desalination of Sea Water/Brackish Water for Producing Potable Water for Coastal Villages” to be taken up by the NAM S&T Centre in collaboration with the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Mauritius. During the discussion, Dr. Vinod K. Shahi, Senior Principal Scientist, CSMCRI also joined in the discussion. During their meeting, Dr. Kannan confirmed that CSMCRI would be very happy to take up the project in collaboration with the NAM S&T Centre with appropriate funding from the IORA Special Fund. Dr. Bandopadhyay indicated that as a part of the above project, an Exposure Workshop will be organized tentatively in the second week of October 2020 for participants from the NAM S&T Centre and IORA member countries. It was also mentioned by him that NAM S&T Centre will submit a proposal to IORA through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Focal Point of IORA in India by April 2020 for funding under the IORA Special Fund. The content of the proposal for the exposure workshop including the tentative programme as well as logistics were also discussed in details during the meeting.

Dr. Bandopadhyay also briefed Dr. Kannan and Dr. Shahi on the recently approved G77-Perez Guererro Trust Fund (PGTF) Project on “Reducing Arsenic Exposure from Food and Water in Developing Countries – A Roadmap for Technological Solutions for the Future” being executed by the NAM S&T Centre during 2020-22. CSMCRI had already provided its consent to participate in the project. During the meeting, Dr. Kannan agreed to organize an International Workshop on “Integrated Water Management and Arsenic Removal from Groundwater” in the first week of December 2020 at CSMCRI jointly with the NAM S&T Centre with partial funding under the G77/PGTF Project. CSMCRI will also involve their industry partners during the above international workshop.

S&T Newsletter

A Quarterly of theCentre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned

and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre)

I.S.S.N 0971-4200

VOL. 29, NO. 4JANUARY - MARCH 2020

(Contd. on page )2

(Amitava Bandopadhyay)Director General

International Workshop on Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and Interventions

New Delhi, India, 5-7 February, 2020

this is to check the font check

Centre Organised

2(Contd. on Page 3)

(Contd. from Page 1 - )Intl. Workshop on Air Pollution, New Delhi, India


Air pol lut ion is

Group Photo of the Delegates Participating in the International Workshop on “Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and

3


recognized as one

HernándezCuba

DinaCambodia

WangdiBhutan

ElgendyEgypt

KafiIran

WidyaraniIndonesia

International Workshop on Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and Interventions New Delhi, India,

PaudelNepal

AlmallahPalestine

MyitzuMyanmar

PengMalaysia

AnuruddhaSri Lanka

SikayiZimbabwe

MulengaZambia

FOREIGN PARTICIPANTS AND RESOURCE PERSONS


(Contd. on Page 4)4


of the top five causes of mortality linked to respiratory and heart diseases worldwide. According to a WHO report, air pollution leads to 7 million deaths world-wide with a total of 4.3 million deaths

(Contd. on Page 5)

ReddyK. GuleriaR. Guleria Chawla A. MohanHadda

International Workshop on Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and Interventions, New Delhi, India

JainN. MohanC. Mohan

SOME OF THE INDIAN PARTICIPANTS AND SPEAKERS

Garg

DagaMadanKhilnani Mathur Dodagoudar Dey Kamyotra V. Singh Raina

NayyarVermaTiwari Misra SinhaKhandelwal AroraSharmaBhaduri Mishra

Pandey


Subudhi YadavKatyal KumarGloriaJasmeetAbhay Nidhi

NAM S&T Centre Representatives

M. BandyopadhyayA. Bandopadhyay


5

linked to household air pollution and 2.7 million related to ambient air pollution.

In developing countries, ambient air pollution primarily


field visit

G-77 Supports NAM S&T Centre for Multilateral Project on Arsenic Remediation


7

New Delhi Resolutionon

Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and Interventions

W e t h e

7


Health issues related to Arsenic contamination of Ground WaterDr. Kunal Kanti Majumdar

Professor, Department of Community Medicine, KPC Medical College & Hospital, Jadavpur, KolkataEx Consultant UNICEF, Kolkata; Arsenic specialist WHO (SEARO)E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

(Special Feature)

(Contd. on page 8)8




9

Arsenic, a metalloid, occurs naturally, being the twentieth most abundant element in Earth's crust and is a component of more than 245 minerals. The inorganic forms are toxic to


NAM S&T CENTRE SENIOR VISITING FELLOWSHIP, 2019-20


8


9

Meetings and Visits of DG, NAM S&T Centre

(Contd. on page 12)

With D r .

S. Kannan, Director,

With Muraleedha r a n ,

Dr. K.

12


(Contd. from Page 11 - Meetings and Visits of DG, NAM S&T Centre)

Visit to

New Publication

Probably the most ancient fabric used by humans, 'leather' is a multi-billion dollar global industry.

Sustainability of Leather Sector in Developing Countries

CONTENTS

13(Contd. on Page 14)


Science and Technology NewsthInternational Women's day special (8 March, 2020)

West Africa's first female astrophysicist

Last year, Marie Korsaga became the first female astrophysicist in West Africa

Public Healthcare

W H O , U N Foundation and

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS TO THE CENTREt15



(Contd. from Page 13 - S&T News)

Technology and Innovation

Anti-solar cells: a

15



(Contd. on page 16)

photovoltaic cell

16



Astrobiology

that works at night – generating power by radiating heat

What if solar cells worked at night? That's no joke, according to Jeremy Munday, professor in the Department of Electrical

Space Exploration

New research


17

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence yields new antibiotic

A deep- learning mode l identifies a powerful new drug that can kill many species of

provide

Science Diplomacy


18

Visit of Foreign Participants of RIS Science Diplomacy Course to NAM S&T Centre

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS TO THE CENTRE

19


Prof. S. N . Sridhara, Professor

D r . Hemalath a

The guidelines for the Fellowship and the Application Form are available at the NAM S&T Centre's Website (www.namstct.org)

Centre AnnouncesNAM S&T Centre Senior Visiting Fellowship

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS (2019-20)

Mr. Gareth Rees, Director, IORA Secretariat and Prof. V. N Attri, Chair, Indian Ocean Rim Studies at the

Centre Announces


International Workshop on“Policy Making for Transforming Silo-Based Education to STEM Education”

Colombo, Sri Lanka

For further details, please visit the NAM S&T Centre's Website ( )www.namstct.org

(Contd. on page 4)

(Contd. from Page )6 Land Workshop, Pammukale

(Contd. on page 3 col. 2)

Centre WelcomesProf. Maged El-Sherbiny

as New Vice-President of the Centre

(Contd. from Page 1 - )

(Contd. on page 4 col. 2)

(Contd. on page .... col. 1)

Dr.

(Contd. on Page 7 Col. 1)

(Contd. from Page 8 - Director NAM S&T Centre Meets and Visits)

ISBN 978-81-7035-770-4pp. 517 Price `4000 / US$150


(Contd. from Page 1 - Centre Welcomes - The Gambia)

(Contd. from Page 7 - Minerals Workshop, South Africa)





(Contd. on Page 6 Col. 1)

Centre WelcomesTHBOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA: 47 MEMBER COUNTRY OF NAM S&T CENTRE

(Contd. on Page 3)

Centre Organised

(Contd. on Page 8)

(Contd. from Page 7 - RTFDCS Reports - 2016-17)

(Contd. from Page 2 - )IRENE, Colombo, Sri Lanka

(Contd. from Page 1 - )SFSA Conference, Pretoria

Centre Sponsors

(Contd. from Page 1 - Centre Welcomes )

OPHTHALMOLOGY

(Contd. from Page 1 - )Technopreneurship Trg. Workshop, Malaysia

(Contd. from Page 6 - )Technopreneurship Trg. Workshop, Malaysia

(Contd. on Page 13)

(Contd. on page 13)

Centre Sponsors

(Contd. from Page 3 - Bureau Meeting, Hanoi, Vietnam)

(Contd. from Page 1 - IRENE, Colombo, Sri Lanka) (Contd. on page 2)

(Contd. on page 7)

G-77 Supports NAM S&T Centre for Multilateral Project on Arsenic Remediation

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) – 6 aims to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030 and improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials. The Goal also calls for implementation of integrated water resources management at all levels, including through trans-boundary cooperation and expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes.

Considering the grave danger to the public health posed by Arsenic contamination in water used for drinking, food preparations and irrigation of food crops, the NAM S&T Centre had proposed to the Group of 77 (G-77), UN Headquarters, New York for financial support for implementing an inter-governmental project entitled “Reducing Arsenic Exposure from Food and Water in Developing Countries – A Roadmap for Technological Solutions for the Future”, which aims to cope with the serious consequences of Arsenic contamination of groundwater in developing countries and provide a road map for low cost technological solutions for the removal of Arsenic from the groundwater in order to minimize the exposure of the people to this toxic element from food and drinking water.

The Executive Secretariat of the G-77 has recently conveyed the approval of the above mentioned project based on the rddecisions taken during the 43 Annual Meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Member States of G-77 held in New

York on 27th September 2019 with partial financial support under the Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund (PGTF) of G-77.

The Project will be implemented by the NAM S&T Centre over a 3-year period (January 2020 to December 2022) with technical and managerial partnership of relevant Indian R&D institutions and technology developers. The Project aims at capacity building through HRD and technology transfer in the NAM and other developing countries about the ever increasing alarming situation of Arsenic contamination of groundwater. Thirteen member countries of the NAM S&T Centre have agreed to participate in the project and would nominate water technology and management professionals to take part in various activities under the same. Under the Project, an International Workshop on 'Integrated Water Management and Arsenic Removal from Groundwater' and a Training Program on 'Low Cost Technologies for Arsenic Removal from Groundwater' will be organized for the water technology and management professionals from the participating developing countries. A State-of-the-Art Report, Handbook and Training Manual will also be prepared for documentation and dissemination of relevant information on the subject. The project will have a multiplier effect in the developing countries and large sections of the population in the rural and semi urban areas would be benefited by minimizing Arsenic exposure from the food and water chain and ensuring sustainable supply of drinking water with safe level of Arsenic according to WHO guidelines. As such, the Project will complement the efforts of the developing countries to achieve the SDG–6 to ensure universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for their population.

With Dr. S. Kannan, Director, CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), Bhavnagar, Gujarat



Science and Technology NewsthInternational Women's day special (8 March, 2020)

West Africa's first female Astrophysicist

Last year, Marie Korsaga became the first female astrophysicist in West Africa after completing her PhD in astrophysics at South Africa's University of Cape Town on the theme 'The distribution of dark and visible matter in spiral and irregular galaxies'.

In an interview with SciDev.Net to mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February, Korsaga describes how the culmination of seven years of her intense research was inspired by lunar missions to understand the phenomena of the universe, as a young girl. Now she hopes to share her knowledge with her fellow citizens, through projects aimed at breaking stereotypes and empowering girls to pursue studies and careers in science. She believes astrophysics can help boost infrastructure and jobs in Africa, and urges girls to fight to achieve their goals.

Her dream is to build planetariums in Burkina Faso's regions in order to give presentations on the universe to the general public and to work towards the establishment of scientific schools in Africa, specifically dedicated to women. She also wishes to install a research telescope, which will make it possible to develop research in astrophysics in Burkina Faso, to facilitate the training of students, encourage girls to take up scientific studies, forge links with researchers from other countries, and contribute to the development of the continent.

thSource: ; 11 February, 2020scidev.net

Public Healthcare

WHO, UN Foundation and partners launch first-of-its-kind COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund

A new Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Solidarity Response Fund will raise money from a wide range of donors to support the work of the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners to help countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund, the first-of-its-kind, enables private individuals, corporations and institutions anywhere in the world to come together to directly contribute to global response efforts, and has been created by the United Nations Foundation and the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, together with WHO.

“We are at a critical point in the global response to COVID-19 – we need everyone to get involved in this massive effort to keep the world safe,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “We are immensely grateful to the UN Foundation and the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation for coming forward to help us set up this fund. A lot of people and institutions have been saying they want to contribute to the fight against the novel coronavirus. Now they can.”

The fund launches with major support already lined up, including from Facebook and Google who have instituted a matching scheme for funds raised through their platforms, while individual donors are also supporting the fund through www.COVID19ResponseFund.org.

“We can't ignore the fact that this is a truly global problem – one that requires truly global solutions,” said Elizabeth Cousens, UN Foundation President and CEO. “The case for global cooperation could not be clearer – communities everywhere are affected, and people want to contribute. This new fund will create space for people everywhere, together, to fight this virus.”

Funds will go towards actions outlined in the COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to enable all countries – particularly those most vulnerable and at-risk, and with the weakest health systems – to prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 crisis including rapidly detecting cases, stopping transmission of the virus, and caring for those affected.

WHO and its partners are seeking financing for protective equipment for frontline health workers; to equip diagnostic laboratories; improve surveillance and data collection; establish and maintain intensive care units; strengthen supply chains; accelerate research and development of vaccines and therapeutics; and take other critical steps to scale up the public health response to the pandemic.

The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund is hosted by two foundations, the UN Foundation (registered in the United States) and the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation (registered in Switzerland). Both foundations have established relationships with the World Health Organization, allowing for efficient transfer of financial resources to enable COVID-19 response efforts.

th Source: www.who.int; 13 March, 2020

How cells defend themselves from viruses?

A protein known to help cells defend against infection also regulates the form and function of mitochondria, according to a new paper in Nature Communications. The protein, one of a group called myxovirus-resistance (Mx) proteins; help cells fight infections without the use of systemic antibodies or white blood cells. The authors report that MxB which is associated with immune response to HIV, and herpes virus is crucial to mitochondrial support.

"Our work provides new insights into how this dynamin MxB protein assists in fighting viral infections, which could have substantial health implications in the future," says Mark McNiven, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic cell biologist and senior author.




In response to infection, a cell releases interferon and neighboring cells ramp up Mx protein production. The authors replicated previous findings that MxB blocks nuclear pores and MxB increases markedly when cells are treated with interferon. But they also show that some MxB is present in most immune tissues, such as tonsil, prior to a "red alert" and that it has another role.

The authors report that during infection, MxB dynamically condenses, dissolves and reforms over time, and traced MxB's travels to the nuclear pores, as well as to the tips and along mitochondria. They also show, via a cell line that can't make MxB in response to interferon, that mitochondrial cristae are affected by MxB, as well. "Without active MxB protein, mitochondria become nonfunctional, no longer produce energy, and kick out their DNA genome into the cytoplasm," says Dr. Cao.

This work shows that mitochondrial dynamics, such as fission and fusion, are vital functions. They regulate cell death needed to retard cancer cell growth and the turnover of damaged mitochondria needed to prevent neurodegenerative disorders, and contribute to antiviral cell immunity, to name a few.

The next steps, Dr. McNiven says, are to continue to investigate how MxB is targeted to and internalized by mitochondria, and how its association induces such drastic changes to biology of this organelle.

Source: ; 03 March, 2020

Maternal bereavement effect - 'a public health threat' for mothers

Grief over the loss of a child poses a threat to public health in Sub-Saharan Africa as nearly two-thirds of mothers in some countries suffer the death of at least one child, a study has found. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), 5.3 million children under five died in 2018, globally. The risk of a child dying before reaching five is about eight times higher in Africa than in Europe. According to the study published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, more than half of women aged 45 - 49 years in some Sub-Saharan African countries have experienced the death of a child under the age of five. “In Benin, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, and Niger, having had at least one infant die was a more common experience than having had all of one's children survive infancy,” the study explains.

A recent study of child deaths in Iceland over 200 years notes that mothers who lose a child have elevated risks of psychiatric symptoms and psychiatric hospitalizations, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers. The study found that “child loss is likely to constitute a major threat to the survival of mothers in societies with high infant mortality rates”. The study, in eLife Sciences Publications, found there was a “large increase in the rate of premature maternal mortality after child loss”, but only a limited increase in paternal deaths, suggesting differences in attachment, and emotional responses to trauma, as possible factors. This is known by some as the 'maternal bereavement effect'. A seemingly universal maternal reaction to the loss of a child is a feeling of guilt.

Phelgona A. Otieno, a paediatrician and epidemiologist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute's Centre for Clinical Research, praises the researchers for conducting a study that “takes an interesting turn and calls for countries to recognise the impact of child mortality on women and bereavement as a public health threat”. Otieno further attributes increased child death to healthcare-related factors.

thSource: ; 26 February, 2020

Researchers discover gene which may create pain killers

In India, in a collaborative work of researchers from Centre of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing, Mohali, Punjab and Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), Manipur have identified a new gene that could be used to synthesise gamma-aminobutyrate, which is a high-value biomolecule with neuroprotective features.

The scientists have isolated the new gene from samples of Kinema, a naturally fermented soybean food product which is found in Sikkim Himalayan region of India. The scientists have also developed a new method to synthesise gamma-aminobutyrate from Glutamate molecule using the new gene.

Gamma-aminobutyrate is effective against multiple nerve cells problem. With its multiple neuroprotective effects over the years it has become a popular option for stress and pain management. It finds wide application in food and pharmaceutical industries. It can be used as a precursor molecule for synthesis of polymers like Nylon-4.

thSource: ; 18 March, 2020

phys.org

SciDev.net

www.biospectrumindia.com

Technology and Innovation

Anti-solar cells: a photovoltaic cell that works at night – generating power by radiating heat

What if solar cells worked at night? That's no joke, according to Jeremy Munday, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC Davis. In fact, a specially designed photovoltaic cell could generate up to 50 watts of power per square meter under ideal conditions at night, about a quarter of what a conventional solar panel can generate in daytime, according to a concept paper by Munday and graduate student Tristan Deppe. The article was published in, and featured on the cover of, the January 2020 issue of ACS Photonics.

Munday said that the process is similar to the way a normal solar cell works, but in reverse. An object that is hot compared to its surroundings will radiate heat as infrared light. A conventional solar cell is cool compared to the sun, so it absorbs light. Space is really, really cold, so if you have a warm object and point it at the sky, it will radiate heat toward it. People have been using this phenomenon for nighttime cooling for hundreds of years. In the last five years, Munday said, there has been a lot of interest in devices that can do this during the daytime (by filtering out sunlight or pointing away from the sun).

"A regular solar cell generates power by absorbing sunlight, which causes a voltage to appear across the device and for

15



(Contd. on page 16)

current to flow. In these new devices, light is instead emitted and the current and voltage go in the opposite direction, but you still generate power," Munday said. "You have to use different materials, but the physics is the same."

The device would work during the day as well, if you took steps to either block direct sunlight or pointed it away from the sun. Because this new type of solar cell could potentially operate around the clock, it is an intriguing option to balance the power grid over the day-night cycle.

thSource: ; 29 January, 2020

Hackers may have access to your smart device

ESET (Essential Security against Evolving Threats), a Slovak cyber security firm, has for the last one year been working in collaboration with manufacturers of two specific Wi-Fi chips, which were found to have been vulnerable to attack by hostile parties.

If you've been using an iPhone, iPad, Amazon Echo or Kindle or certain handsets from Google, Samsung or Xiaomi, there is a chance that your device has been accessed or taken over by hackers, thanks to a recently discovered vulnerability in the Wi-Fi chips used in these devices.

According to a report released by ESET, the vulnerability named Kr00k was discovered while the firm was conducting research into KRACK, a series of attacks on Wi-Fi devices that was detected last year. In subsequent investigations, ESET discovered that Wi-Fi chips manufactured by Broadcom ad Cypress had the Kr00k vulnerability. Chips from both these companies have a high market share and are used in a wide range of Wi-Fi enabled devices.

ESET said the devices that tested positive for the vulnerability include the Amazon Echo (2nd generation), Amazon Kindle (8th generation), Apple iPad mini 2, Apple iPhone 6, 6s, 8 and XR, Apple MacBook Air Retina 13-inch 2018, Google Nexus 5, 6, and 6s, Raspberry Pi 3, Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-19505, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Xiaomi Redmi 3s, as well as some Wi-Fi access points by Huawei and Asus.

“Simply put, any device with a Wi-Fi chip manufactured by these two companies is vulnerable to attack, as long as the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network and the hacker is within the range of the same network,” a cybercrime official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. “Once a hacker gets access to any device for even a short period of time, they can do anything, including planting malware or intercepting sensitive information that is being sent or received via the Internet,” the official added.

ndSource: 2 March, 2020

Engineers design bionic “heart” for testing prosthetic valves, other cardiac devices

Engineers at MIT and elsewhere have developed a bionic “heart” that offers a more realistic model for testing out artificial valves and other cardiac devices.

The device is a real biological heart whose tough muscle tissue has been replaced with a soft robotic matrix of artificial heart muscles, resembling bubble wrap. The orientation of the artificial muscles mimics the pattern of the heart's natural muscle fibers, in such a way that when the researchers remotely inflate the bubbles, they act together to squeeze and twist the inner heart, similar to the way a real, whole heart beats and pumps blood.

Ellen Roche, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at MIT and her colleagues have published their results in the journal Science Robotics. In separate research as part of her doctoral work at Harvard University, she developed a soft, robotic, implantable sleeve, designed to wrap around a whole, live heart, to help it pump blood in patients suffering from heart failure. At MIT, she and MIT graduate student Clara Park wondered if they could combine the two research avenues, to develop a hybrid heart: a heart that is made partly of chemically preserved, explanted heart tissue and partly of soft artificial actuators that help the heart pump blood. Such a model, they proposed, should be a more realistic and durable environment in which to test cardiac devices, compared with models that are either entirely artificial but do not capture the heart's complex anatomy, or are made from a real explanted heart, requiring highly controlled conditions to keep the tissue alive. The team briefly considered wrapping a whole, explanted heart in a soft robotic sleeve, similar to Roche's previous work, but realized the heart's outer muscle tissue, the myocardium, quickly stiffened when removed from the body. Any robotic contraction by the sleeve would fail to translate sufficiently to the heart within. Instead, the team looked for ways to design a soft robotic matrix to replace the heart's natural muscle tissue, in both material and function.

In collaboration with co-lead author Chris Nguyen at MGH, the researchers used diffusion tensor imaging, an advanced technique that typically tracks how water flows through white matter in the brain, to map the microscopic fiber orientations of a left ventricle's unfurled, two-dimensional muscle band. They then fabricated a matrix of artificial muscle fibers made from thin air tubes, each connected to a series of inflatable pockets, or bubbles, the orientation of which they patterned after the imaged muscle fibers. The soft matrix consists of two layers of silicone, with a water-soluble layer between them to prevent the layers from sticking, as well as two layers of laser-cut paper, which ensures that the bubbles inflate in a specific orientation.

The researchers also developed a new type of bioadhesive to glue the bubble wrap to the ventricle's real, intracardiac tissue. While adhesives exist for bonding biological tissues to each other, and for materials like silicone to each other, the team realized few soft adhesives do an adequate job of gluing together biological tissue with synthetic materials, silicone in particular.

When the researchers pumped air into the bubble wrap at frequencies resembling a naturally beating heart, and imaged the bionic heart's response, it contracted in a manner similar to the way a real heart moves to pump blood through the body. Ultimately, the researchers hope to use the bionic heart as a realistic environment to help designers test cardiac devices such as prosthetic heart valves.

thSource: ; 29 January, 2020

www.sciencedaily.com

www.eset.com;

news.mit.edu

16



Astrobiology

NASA's curiosity Rover discovers organic compounds indicating early life on Mars

Thiophenes are organic compounds found on Earth in crude oil, coal and oddly enough, in the mushroom white truffles that are beloved by wild pigs and epicureans. Recently, these organic compounds, thiophenes were also discovered on Mars. Their presence on Mars would be consistent with the presence of early life on Mars says Dirk SchulzeMakuch, Washington State University astrobiologist.

In a paper published in the journal Astrobiology, the possible pathways for thiophenes' origins on the red planet were explored by Jacob Heinz and SchulzeMakuch with the Technische Universität in Berlin. Their work suggests that for the existence of the organic compound in the Martian soil, most likely, a biological process involving bacteria rather than a truffle may have played a role. There are four carbon atoms and a sulfur atom arranged in a ring in the thiophene molecules and both sulfur and carbon are bio-essential elements. But still, the possibility of nonbiological processes leading to the existence of these compounds on Mars could not be excluded by SchulzeMakuch and Heinz could.

When Mars was warmer and wetter more than three billion years ago, a sulfate reduction process could have been facilitated by bacteria which results in thiophenes, and this could be the possibility under the biological scenario. Pathways, where bacteria break down thiophenes themselves, are also there. Many clues are provided by the Curiosity Rover and scientists can only look at the fragments as it uses techniques that break larger molecules up into components. Rosalind Franklin, the next rover expected to launch in July 2020 should provide further evidence. This rover will use a less destructive analyzing method that will allow for the collection of larger molecules, a Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer, or MOMA.

thSource: Washington State University Insider; 09 March, 2020

India's first flying car to be launched in 2021

The Dutch company PAL-V will set-up a new manufacturing facility in Gujarat, India for Personal Air Land Vehicle, Liberty. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Gujarat State Government and the International Business Development Division, PAL-V.

In a statement, the company has said that the government will help the Dutch company to get all the necessary approvals to set-up the plant in Gujarat. The production facility and the assembly lines are expected to be operational from 2021.

The PAL-V Liberty is a three-wheel vehicle that has rotors on the roof and tail like the helicopters. The car can be driven like a normal car on the roads. In this mode, the wings of the car move inwards and fold. The wings can be extended whenever the user wants to take a flight and jump the traffic jam. According to the company, it takes about 5-10 mins to do the conversion.

The flying car comes equipped with two engines. There is a dedicated engine for flying while the other engine comes into play while driving the vehicle on the roads. The vehicle weighs only 664 kg when empty and the maximum weight with which it can take off is 910 kg. The Liberty develops a maximum power of 99 Bhp that can take it to a maximum speed of 160 km/h on the road. In flying mode, the engine generates a maximum of 198 Bhp and can do a maximum speed of 180 km/h. It can go till the altitude of 3,500 metres above the sea level. It is also quite quick and can do a 0-100 km/h run in just 9 seconds. Also, it returns a maximum of 13.16 km/l while driving on the road. It has a claimed flight range of 310 miles or around 500 km.

For first time ever CRISPR editing done in live patient

Harvard doctors edited the genome of a patient with a rare genetic disorder that causes blindness. Usually, researchers remove the cells from the live patient to use them for CRISPR editing. But this is the first time doctors are editing human DNA inside a human body without removing the cells.

The doctors injected the patient's eye with a combination of harmless viruses, that acted as the messengers delivering gene edits to the cells; and CRISPR-created instructions for editing. The CRISPR tool sent through the viruses were supposed to cut the genes that caused the blindness. By removing the respective gene, scientists hoped that the body will produce proteins that would prevent the retina cells from dying, restoring the vision. However, the results will be available only after several weeks. Eric Pierce, a professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School said that it's the first time CRISPR is being used directly in a human and the scientists are really optimistic about the results.

This technology has far-reaching implications. If successful, this new breakthrough development can fix many serious conditions and diseases like Huntington's disease, genetic forms of dementia, and some muscular diseases. The old man who has undergone the treatment volunteered to have this experimental treatment done, while his blindness was not life-threatening.

thSource: ; 06 March, 2020

thSource: www.cartoq.com, 11 March, 2020

Biotechnika.org

Space Exploration

New research provides more evidence that Venus is volcanically active today

Young lava flows detected by ESA's Venus Express spacecraft are just few years old, according to new research from Universities Space Research Association (USRA).

Dr. Filiberto and co-authors recreated Venus' caustic atmosphere in the lab to investigate how the observed Venusian minerals react and change over time. Their experimental results showed that olivine, an abundant mineral in basalt,


17

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence yields new antibiotic

A deep-learning model identifies a powerful new drug that can kill many species of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Over the past few decades, very few new antibiotics have been developed, and most of those newly approved antibiotics are slightly different variants of existing drugs. Current methods for screening new antibiotics are often prohibitively costly, require a significant time investment, and are usually limited to a narrow spectrum of chemical diversity.

Using a machine-learning algorithm, researchers have identified a powerful new antibiotic compound. In laboratory tests, the drug killed many of the world's most problematic disease-causing bacteria, including some strains that are resistant to all known antibiotics. It also cleared infections in two different mouse models.

The computer model, which can screen more than a hundred million chemical compounds in a matter of days, is designed to pick out potential antibiotics that kill bacteria using different mechanisms than those of existing drugs.

In their new study, the researchers also identified several other promising antibiotic candidates, which they plan to test further. They believe the model could also be used to design new drugs, based on what it has learned about chemical structures that enable drugs to kill bacteria.

The researchers designed their model to look for chemical features that make molecules effective at killing E. coli. To do so, they trained the model on about 2,500 molecules, including about 1,700 FDA-approved drugs and a set of 800 natural products with diverse structures and a wide range of bioactivities.

Once the model was trained, the researchers tested it on the Broad Institute's Drug Repurposing Hub, a library of about 6,000 compounds. The model picked out one molecule that was predicted to have strong antibacterial activity and had a chemical structure different from any existing antibiotics. Using a different machine-learning model, the researchers also showed that this molecule, which they decided to call as halicin, would likely have low toxicity to human cells.

The researchers tested it against dozens of bacterial strains isolated from patients and grown in lab dishes, and found that it was able to kill many that are resistant to treatment, including Clostridium difficile, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The drug worked against every species that they tested, with the exception of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a difficult-to-treat lung pathogen.

To test halicin's effectiveness in living animals, the researchers used it to treat mice infected with A. baumannii, a bacterium that has infected many U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The strain of A. baumannii that they used is resistant to all known antibiotics, but application of a halicin-containing ointment completely cleared the infections within 24 hours.

Preliminary studies suggest that halicin kills bacteria by disrupting their ability to maintain an electrochemical gradient across their cell membranes. This gradient is necessary, among other functions, to produce ATP (molecules that cells use to store energy), so if the gradient breaks down, the cells die. This type of killing mechanism could be difficult for bacteria to develop resistance to the antibiotic.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Artificial intelligence yields new antibiotic: A deep-learning model identifies a powerful new drug that can kill many species of antibiotic-resistant bacteria."

thSource: ; 20 February, 2020www.sciencedaily.com

reacts rapidly with the atmosphere and within weeks becomes coated with magnetite and hematite. They further found that the Venus Express observations of this change in mineralogy would only take a few years to occur. The results suggest that lava flows on Venus are very young, which in turn would imply that the planet does indeed have active volcanoes.

“This active volcanism is consistent with episodic spikes of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere measured by both NASA's Pioneer Venus Orbiter and ESA's Venus Express, which could have been produced by the same eruptions that formed the young lava flows,” the study authors said.

The study was published in the journal Science Advances.th

Source: www.sci-news.com; 06 January, 2020

Science Diplomacy

African countries discuss actions on Sustainable Development

The sixth session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD 2020) addressed the theme '2020-2030: A Decade to Deliver a Transformed and Prosperous Africa through the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063.' The Forum theme was aligned to the 2020 HLPF theme, 'Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development.' Delegates discussed selection of the voluntary national reviews (VNRs) of the SDGs that are currently being conducted by 17 African countries for presentation at the HLPF in July 2020, as well as emerging lessons from voluntary local reviews (VLRs), which featured for the first time at the Forum. The discussions reiterated the urgency of speeding up implementation, in light of a convergence of evidence that, despite some pockets of progress, countries and partners are not on track to achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) and Africa's Agenda 2063. High-level panels examined performance across all 17 SDGs, clustered into the “five Ps” of the 2030 Agenda: people, prosperity, planet, peace and partnerships. The discussions focused on exploring accelerators to deliver a transformed and prosperous Africa, including through leveraging science, technology and innovation (STI), and strengthening partnerships with the UN Development System, major groups, youth, and other stakeholders.

thSource: sustainabledevelopment.un.org; 13 January, 2020


18

Visit of Foreign Participants of RIS Science Diplomacy Course to the NAM S&T Centre

thOn 15 January 2020, a group of 30 foreign delegates representing 23 countries namely, Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nigeria, Russia, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uruguay and Vietnam visited the NAM S&T Centre for gaining better knowledge on the functioning and contributions of this inter-governmental organization in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation Diplomacy (STID). The visit was arranged as a part of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Capacity Building Programme on “Science Diplomacy”, which was organised by the Research and Information System (RIS) for Developing Countries under the aegis of the Ministry of External Affairs,

th thGovernment of India, from 6 to 17 January 2020.

During their visit, Dr. Amitava Bandopadhyay, Director General, NAM S&T Centre addressed the delegates, highlighting the importance of STI Diplomacy in achieving long-term Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Dr. Bandopadhyay then briefly described the objectives and core activities of the Centre, while sharing the Centre's vision to elevate the role of science and technology in foreign policy to address national and global challenges.

Participants of the ITEC Programme on Science Diplomacy were pleased to learn about the Centre and how it aims to build bridges between communities, societies, and nations through closer interactions between science and diplomacy. Dr. Bhaskar Balakrishnan, Science Diplomacy Fellow, RIS and Former Ambassador of India was also present during the interaction meeting.


19


Dr. Rajiv Sharma, Director General, Amity Foundation for Science, Technology & Innovation Alliances

Dr. Venugopalan Ittekkot, Former Director, Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology, Bremen, Germany

Foreign participants of the International Workshop on 'Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and Interventions' at the NAM S&T Centre


th15 January 2020 30 participants of the ITEC Programme on Science Diplomacy organised by the Research and Information System (RIS) representing 23 countries.

th06 February 2020 13 foreign participants of the International Workshop on 'Air Pollution and Public Health: Challenges and Interventions' organised by the Centre.

th13 February 2020 Dr. Venugopalan Ittekkot, Former Director, Leibniz Center for

Tropical Marine Ecology, Bremen, Germanyth

25 February 2020 Dr. Rajiv Sharma, Director General, Amity Foundation for Science, Technology & Innovation Alliances

foreign

EDITOR: Mr. M. Bandyopadhyay v CONTRIBUTORS: Dr. Kavita Mehra, COMPILATION & DESIGN: Mr. Pankaj Buttan v PUBLISHED BY: , Director General, Centre for Science & Technology of the

nd Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre), Core 6A, 2 Floor, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003 (India) Ph: +91-11-24645134, 24644974, Fax: +91-11-24644973 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] v Website: http://www.namstct.org

Lovely Printers, New Delhi, E-mail: [email protected]; Ph: 9811086866.

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Ms. Nidhi Utreja vDr. Amitava Bandopadhyay

Ms. Jasmeet Kaur, Ms. Gloria Cherian and Mr. Abhay Nambiar


New Publication

Probably the most ancient fabric used by humans, 'leather' is a multi-billion dollar global industry. Demand for leather goods is growing and so is the related criticism which is driving a keen interest in exploring 'sustainable alternatives' for leather production.

Excessive rearing of livestock, cattle and calves ranching, including for raw hides and skins, has severe environmental impacts which is contributing a significant proportion to global warming. Tanning is the most 'toxic-phase' in leather processing, with 90 percent of production using chromium tanning which produces a slush of chemicals and gases, including carcinogenic chromium (VI). In developing countries, the untreated effluents, potentially laced with chromium, lead, arsenic and acids are often made to flow directly into local water-ways. Henceforth, 'sustainability' is becoming an increasingly important issue in the leather industry.

This book includes 12 papers contributed by researchers, scientists, experts and professionals from eight different countries namely Cuba, Egypt, India, Nepal, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Zambia and Zimbabwe, giving significant insights into various approaches and policies that are being adopted by the developing countries to ensure Sustainability in the Leather Sector. The book will serve as a valuable reference material for the entire community of leather researchers, experts and practitioners from the developing countries in understanding the various methodologies for promoting sustainability in the leather sector.

Sustainability of Leather Sector in Developing Countries

Foreword: Gizaw Wondu Legesse

Introduction: Amitava Bandopadhyay

Preface: Eucharia Ngozi Oparah

SECTION 1: Extraction and Utilization of Tanning Agents

1. Development and Production of Bagaruwa Tannin Extracts for the Nigerian Leather Industry, A. Ejila, Z. Hammanga, C. Maju, A. Wele,S. Kaita, B. Habilla and Immaculate M. Adah

2. Applying Simple Chemical Treatments to Increase Chromium Utilization in Leather Tanning Process, Nasr, M.G. Taha, H.E. Ali, R.M. Ali and M.A. Essa

3. Synergistic Effect on the Physico-Chemical Properties of Leather Processed with Caesalpinia coriaria and Parkia clappertoniana , I. Akawu, J.I. Tagang, E.N. Oparah, V.O. Ajibola, C.E. Gimba, E.D. Paul, P.I. Akawu and A.Y. Iliya

SECTION 2: Eco-benign Leather Production and Tannery Waste Management

4. Green Method to Produce Fish Leather, R.D.N. Wijesinghe

5. Technical and Economic Feasibility Study for Developing of a New Wastewater Treatment Plant in a Cuban Leather Industry, Aykel Alvarado Pérez

6. Biodegradation of Tannery Effluents for Sustainable Leather Production, Gloria Susan Cherian

7. Biotechnology: A Pathway to Industrial Sustainability in Leather Processing, Pratyasha Barooah

8. Utilization of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide for Zero Waste Discharge in Leather Manufacture (Research Report), Naisini Ariram and Balaraman Madhan

SECTION 3: Policies for Sustainable Leather Industry in Developing Countries

9. National Leather and Leather Products Policy (NLLPP) of Nigeria, O.A. Igili, E.N. Oparah and I.E. Onukak

10. Country Status of the Leather Industry in Zambia, Nsama Chilumbu Mataka

11. Leather Industry in Nepal: An Overview, Bhoj Raj Pant

12. Factors Affecting the Performance of Leather Industries in Zimbabwe, Cosima Togarepi and Rungano Karimanzira

Chennai Resolution on: Developing Key Parameters for Ensuring Sustainability of Leather Sector in Developing Countries

CONTENTS

Documents

OL O ANUARY ARCH Centre Organised