What is technology? Well according to the basic definition,Technology is the set of knowledge, skills, experience and techniques through which humans change, transform and use our environment in order to create tools, machines, products and services that meet our needs and desires. That all put into simple words is using our smartphones,computers,laptops and basically anything that come in the category of machine is technology.
Today in this modern era technology has bought about a huge change in our lives and our day to day habits be it from recharging our phones to sending satellites in earth’s atmosphere anything and everything is somehow related to technology.But a huge amount of population is currently using technology at it’s best in order to learn and educate which has changed our present a lot from our past when education was not only just limited but that too not very easily accessible.
Let’s see how technology has changed the way of learning: Education can be basically divided into three categories mainly primary,secondary and higher education.
PRIMARY EDUCATION:
Preschools and nursery education is considered to be the foundation of our education as it’s the first time we start to learn about new things and our environment.This is the time our brain is processed to think and analyze certain things and this process could be made creative using technology.At the preschool level, technology can be introduced in several ways at the most basic is the use of computers, tablets, and audio and video resources in classrooms.
SECONDARY EDUCATION:
There’s a transition of a student as he goes from primary to secondary school as his way of thinking changes,this is great time to get the student really into E -LEARNING ,as brain really process information really quickly and faster when information is in the form of visuals combined with audio.E-learning also has been rising as a supplement to the traditional classroom. Students with special talents or interests outside of the available curricula use e-learning to advance their skills or exceed grade restrictions.
HIGHER EDUCATION:
Online college course enrolment has seen a 29% increase in enrolment with nearly one third of all college students, or an estimated 6.7 million students are currently enrolled in online classes.Technology has helped a lot in spreading knowledge across the globe.Colleges like Harvard,MIT,Standford and many more put there online courses with best faculties on online learning platform like udemy,Coursera etc for a minimal price or free of cost.The gist is higher education is now easily and quickly accessible to a larger crowd and the credit goes to Technology.
Some other Ways in which technology is being used as a medium to educate:-
Flipped classroom:
This is an instructional strategy in which computer-assisted teaching is integrated with classroom instruction. Students are given basic essential instruction, such as lectures, before class instead of during class. Instructional content is delivered outside of the classroom, often online. The out-of-class delivery includes streaming video, reading materials, online chats, and other resources. This frees up classroom time for teachers to more actively engage with learners.
Virtual classrooms:
A virtual classroom provides the opportunity for students to receive direct instruction from a qualified teacher in an interactive environment. Learners can have direct and immediate access to their instructor for instant feedback and direction.For example: In India the biggest online learning platform is unacademy.
Augmented Reality:
Augmented reality (AR) provides students and teachers the opportunity to create layers of digital information, including both virtual world and real world elements, to interact with in real time.Augmented reality plays an important role in the future of classrooms.
Disadvantages :
“A coin always has two sides”
Here is a list of disadvantages from learning through technology: 1)It could be distracting 2)It disconnects students from a face to face relationship with teacher 3)It may not be all the time the source they are studying from is reliable 4)It can cause major heath issues if a student is exposed to blue light for a prolonged period of time.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully took off last night from Kennedy Space Center for the International Space Station (ISS), with two NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley. The spacecraft is the first to take the American astronauts to orbit from American soil in nearly a decade. The mission marks the first launch of a rocket owned by SpaceX, the commercial space company founded by Elon Musk. US President Donald Trump was present at the Kennedy Space Center to view the rocket launch.
On Wednesday, the planned launch was called off due to bad weather. NASA has assigned Hurley and Behnken–two of its most experienced astronauts. Behnken is the joint operations commander for the Demo-2 mission, responsible for activities such as rendezvous, docking and undocking, as well as activities while the spacecraft is docked to the space station.
He was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2000 and has completed two space shuttle flights. Hurley is the spacecraft commander for the mission, responsible for activities such as launch, landing and recovery. He was selected as an astronaut in 2000 and has completed two spaceflights.
On the occasion of the first anniversary of the second tenure of the government, the Union Minister for Electronics and IT, Law and Justice and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad launched India’s national Artificial Intelligence Portal called www.ai.gov.in
This portal has been jointly developed by the Ministry of Electronics and IT and IT Industry. National e-Governance Division of Ministry of Electronics and IT and NASSCOM from the IT industry will jointly run this portal. This portal shall work as a one stop digital platform for AI related developments in India, sharing of resources such as articles, startups, investment funds in AI, resources, companies and educational institutions related to AI in India. The portal will also share documents, case studies, research reports etc. It has section about learning and new job roles related to AI.
On this occasion, the Minister for Electronics & Information Technology, Communications and Law & Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad, also launched a National Program for the youth, “Responsible AI for Youth”. The aim of this Program is to give the young students of our country a platform and empower them with appropriate new age tech mind-set, relevant AI skill-sets and access to required AI tool-sets to make them digitally ready for the future. The Program has been created and launched by the National e-Governance Division, Ministry of Electronics & IT in collaboration with Intel India, with support from Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L), Ministry of Human Resource Development. DoSE&L will help reach-out to State Education Departments to nominate teachers as per eligibility criteria.
“Responsible AI for Youth” will empower the youth to become AI ready and help reduce the skill gap, while enabling youth to create meaningful social impact solutions. The Program is designed to reach out to students from Government schools pan India and provide them with an opportunity to become part of the skilled workforce in an inclusive manner.
Addressing the media at the launch event, the Minister for Electronics & IT, Law & Justice, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said “India must be a leading country in the development of Artificial Intelligence in the world, leveraging upon its vast Internet savvy population and data it is creating. India’s AI approach should be of inclusion and empowerment of human being by supplementing growth and development rather than making human beings less relevant”.
MoS for E&IT, Communications, and HRD, Shri Sanjay Dhotre, while emphasising the role of digital technologies with special reference to pandemic-afflicted world, said that such technologies have proved to be our saviours during the difficult times. These have been of very crucial help especially in the field of education, agriculture, healthcare, e-commerce, finance, telecommunications, etc. He further added that the digital technologies have been great equalisers despite several odds. Highlighting the importance of the AI Portal, Shri Dhotre said that such national portal will lead to democratization of artificial intelligence in the country.
Details of Responsible AI for Youth Programme:
The National Programme is open to students of classes 8 – 12 from Central and State government-run schools (including KVS, NVS, JNV) from across the country – all 28States and 8Union Territories and aims to bring about a change in the thought process and create a bridge for the digital divide. The Program will be implemented in a phase-wise manner and in its first phase, each of the State Education Department will nominate 10 teachers as per the eligibility criteria. Teachers may also self nominate themselves by fulfilling the eligibility criteria. These teachers will be provided orientation sessions aimed to help them understand the premise and identify 25-50 potential students for the Program. The identified students will attend online training sessions on AI and understand how to identify social impact ideas/projects that may be created using AI and submit their ideas through a 60 seconds video explaining a proposed AI enabled solution.
From the submitted ideas in the form of videos, top 100 ideas will be shortlisted and these students will be invited to attend residential boot camps or online sessions (subject to COVID-19 situation); to take them through a deep dive AI journey. Post the boot-camps/ online sessions, these students will be asked to create real time projects and submit their final project in a video format on the website.
Adequate handholding will be provided by Intel certified AI coaches and mentors throughout to ensure that ideas mature as prototypes. The experts will shortlist top 50 project ideas and students will be invited to showcase their projects either face to face or in an online format. Further, top 20 innovative projects will be selected by an independent committee of experts and provided opportunities to showcase at relevant platform.
To scale up testing and enhance the reach across the countryCity /Regional clusters have been established in a Hub and Spoke Model to scale-up testing of COVID-19 samples in government institutions across the country. Institutes and Laboratories which have the capacity and expertise for both sample collection, handling/processing (BSL-2 facility) and testing (RT-PCR) serve as the hubs and they involve a number of laboratories which have RT PCR machines and the requisite manpower as their extended Testing facilities.
The Hubs are Government laboratories approved by respective Ministries /Departments (DBT, DST, CSIR, DAE, DRDO, ICAR etc) as per ICMR guidelines. So far 19 City /Regional clusters have been established in Bangalore, Delhi/NCR, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Chandigarh/Mohali, Bhubaneshwar, Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai, Lucknow, Chennai, Kolkata, North Eastern Region, Jammu & Kashmir, Ahmedabad, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Banaras, Palampur and Delhi city.
About 100 institutions have been involved and over 1,60,000 samples tested. Seven DBT Autonomous institutes have been approved as hubs by ICMR and they are performing testing for diagnosis of COVID-19 (RGCB, THSTI, ILS, inStem, NCCS, CDFD, NIBMG).
They are also functioning as hubs in the respective Cities/Regions and coordinating the efforts with a number of other premier Central and State Government institutions. In addition, they are working closely with the respective State Governments in obtaining samples for testing and are reporting every day to ICMR on their testing results. Collectively in about 4 weeks, these clusters have done nearly 1,70,000 tests. These clusters will now be scaled to nearly 50 in next 4 weeks and reach remote corners of the country.
Dr. Malik Abdul Wahid from National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar is a recipient of the INSPIRE Faculty award instituted by the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India working in the area of energy research towards marriage of material science and electrochemistry to develop sustainable energy and affordable energy sources. His focus is mainly on electrodes and electrolyte material electrochemistry.
Fig: Dr. Malik Abdul Wahid in his lab
The major components of Dr. Malik’s current research interests include material research on the electrode development for Sodium-ion (Na-ion) battery, which offers a 20% cost reduction compared to present Lithium-ion (Li-ion) technology. He has been focusing on the two aspects, i.e., cost reduction and efficiency elevation. For the former, he is currently focused upon stabilization of a combination of carbon-based anodes and organic cathodes. While for the latter, he is exploring the new cathode chemistries. Two of his recent projects are development of layered high capacity cathodes by suitable doping that offers high capacity and stability and Sulphate-phosphate hybrid cathodes. Similarly, Sodium (Na) metal anode hosts with heavy Na deposition capacities are being developed. The mentioned projects are a new direction to the field of Na ion battery research.
Along with his collaborators at IISER Pune, Dr. Malik developed a Si-Phosphorene nano-composite material for efficient Si stabilization as an anode in Li-ion battery, which was published in the journal Sustainable Energy Fuels. The obtained material delivers five times more capacity than carbon-based electrodes and can be fully charged in about 15 minutes.
His team at NIT Srinagar employed a simple hydrothermal strategy to synthesize reduced graphene oxide (rGO) wrapped high aspect ratio 1-dimensional SbSe nano-structure. The work has been published in the journal Chem Phys Chem. They achieved a decent performance with the reversible capacity of 550 mAhg-1 at a specific current of 100 mAg-1which implies that 5 to 6g of synthesized material would run a high range android cell phone.
“INSPIRE Faculty award is a prestigious award and should be distinguished from a regular faculty position in any institute. To honour the positions, I have co-founded a center of excellence (COE), namely, the Interdisciplinary Division of Renewable Energy and Advanced Materials (iDRAEM) at NIT Srinagar. The COE primarily worked with my & collaborator’s research grant, but recently institute promised funding support. Additionally, with the possible support of MHRD (under the FAST scheme), the center is set to blossom and cater to some high-quality research.” Dr. Malik said.
At present, this centre co-founded by Dr. Malik caters to the research in the advanced areas of energy storage and super-hydrophobic surfaces for water harvesting, besides focusing on the local resources of J&K. Dr. Wahid has already published a paper on the application of walnut shell derived carbon as Na ion battery anode applications (ACS Omega, 2017, 2 (7), pp 3601–3609). The material has a lot of scope to be employed for advanced electrode applications. Similarly, waste dairy products and aquatic flora of Dal lake appear to have appropriate morphology to be employed as precursors for the electrode grade carbon. Energy storage activities under iDRAEM partly focus on the synthesis of high-quality carbon materials from local precursors. Lotus stem is very promising in being porous to be employed as precursor for electrode grade carbon material. It also undertakes challenges of developing high-quality hydrophobic surfaces by replicating the hydrophobic leaf structure of local plants of DAL lake.
Scientists from Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST) an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology,Govt. of India have developed a pH-responsive smart bandage that can deliver the medicine applied in the wound at the pH that is suitable for the wound. The scientists have developed the delivery system by fabricating a nanotechnology-based cotton patch that uses cheap and sustainable materials like cotton and jute.
In the research by Dr Devasish Chowdhury, Associate Professor IASST,a nanocomposite hydrogel bound compact cotton patch incorporated with jute carbon dots was fabricated to carry out the drug release. Jute has been used for the first time as a precursor in synthesizing fluorescent carbon dots, and water was used as the dispersion medium. Herbal formulation neem leaf (Azadirachtaindica) extract was taken as the model drug to exemplify the release study.
This study published in the journal ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. demonstrated the stimuli-responsive drug delivery system using natural products – jute and neem leaf extract. The jute carbon dots were immobilized in the hydrogel matrix-bound cotton patch and could effectively exemplify different drug release pattern at two different pH levels –lower at pH 5 than at higher at pH 7.
The stimuli-responsive nature of the fabricated hybrid cotton patch acts as an advantage as in case of growth of bacterial infections in a wound, and this induces release of drug at lower pH which is favourable under these conditions. This pH-responsive behaviour of the fabricated cotton patch lies in the unique behaviour of the jute carbon dots incorporated in the system because of the different molecular linkages formed during the carbon dot preparation.
DrDevasish Chowdhury’s group had earlier fabricated a compact cotton patch that showed excellent wound healing ability but posed a disadvantage because of uncontrolled release when drug was loaded to it. In the present work, they controlled the drug release of the cotton patch, thereby making it a smart wound dressing material.
Around any wound, pH changes due to bacterial infections. Hence they developed a pH-responsive drug delivery system with the cotton patch. Carbon dots which are zero-dimensional nanomaterials, due to their unique carbon core and surface functional groups can be designed to exhibit different behaviour towards different pH. They are also known for their low toxicity and great biocompatibility. Therefore, different carbon dots were used as a nano-filler in fabricating hybrid cotton patches to check the drug release behaviour.
The development of such a stimuli-responsive behavior of hybrid cotton patch paves the way for utilizing it as smart wound-dressing or bandage material. Use of cheap and sustainable material like cotton and jute to fabricate the patch makes the whole process biocompatible, non-toxic, low cost and sustainable.
The scheme depicting the fabrication of pH responsive cotton patch
For the mitigation of COVID-19 pandemic, R&D efforts are directed at the development of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. The specimens collected from COVID-19 positive subjects can be a valuable resource for the R&D efforts. NITI Aayog has recently issued guidelines for sharing of bio specimens and data for research related to COVID-19. As per the directives of the Cabinet Secretary, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has notified 16 bio-repositories for collecting, storing and maintaining clinical samples (oropharyngeal/ nasopharyngeal swabs, broncheoalveolar lavage, sputum, blood, urine and stool) of COVID-19 patients.
The enlistment of 16 Bio Repositories are as follows: ICMR – 9, DBT – 4 and CSIR – 3. The four Bio Repositories under the purview of the Department of Biotechnology are, NCR-Biotech Science Cluster (i) THSTI, Faridabad – Clinical samples (ii) RCB Faridabad –Viral samples, Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, InStem, Bangalore and ILBS, New Delhi .Oropharyngeal / nasopharyngeal swabs, bronchoalveolar lavage, sputum, blood, urine and stool of COVID19 patients will be collected and archived for future use to develop validated diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines etc.
These designated facilities will develop uniform Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for sample collection, transportation, aliquoting, storage, and sharing. The role of bio-banks for COVID-19 samples would be development of a vaccine and treatments; guidance regarding handling, including nasopharyngeal swabs; and conditions under which the higher BSL-3 practices should be followed for example, when working with cultures of the coronavirus specimens. The Department of Biotechnology would be supporting these COVID-19 designated Bio-bank facilities through a well strategized future plan so that novel technological interventions can be developed in due course of time. These designated bio repositories will use the clinical samples for R&D purpose in their respective Institutes.
In addition, they are also authorized to share the samples with academia, industry and commercial entities involved in development of diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines etc., after scrutinising the purpose of the request and ensuring benefit to the country. Sharing of Biospecimens both Clinical and Viral is going to be key for new technology and product development by our researchers, start-ups and industry, a critical step in our journey towards becoming an Atmanirbhar Bharat.
A Rapid Response Regulatory enabling mechanism facilitated by Department of Biotechnology for COVID 19
The Department of Biotechnology has taken several proactive measures to streamline the biosafety regulation and to facilitate researchers and industries which are undertaking research and development in Recombinant DNA Technology and Hazardous Microorganisms.
1. Operationalization of Indian Biosafety Knowledge Portal. The Indian Knowledge Biosafety Portal launched in May, 2019 was made fully operationalized and now the Department is receiving all new applications through online portal only. This has made the whole process transparent and time bound.
2. Notification of Revised Simplified Guidelines on Import, Export and Exchange of GE Organisms and Product Thereof for R&D Purpose: The Department issued the Revised Guidelines in January, 2020 in which Institutional Biosafety Committee have been delegated authority to take decisions on applications of import export and exchange of GE organisms and product thereof for R&D purpose for RG1 and RG2 items.
3. Facilitation of Research and Development on COVID-19: Considering the emerging situations of spread of Coronavirus and with the understanding on requirement of rapid research and development for COVI-19, the Department has proactively taken several steps to facilitate researchers and industries involved in research on COVID19. DBT has issued following guidelines, orders and checklist on COVID 19:
Rapid Response Regulatory Framework for COVID-19 to deal with application for development of vaccines, diagnostics, prophylactics and therapeutics has been notified on 20.03.2020
DBT notified “Interim Guidance Document on Laboratory Biosafety to Handle COVID-19 Specimens” on 08.04.2020.
IBSCs are allowed to conduct their meeting through video conferencing up to 30thJune, 2020.
Rapid response regulatory framework for development of recombinant DNA COVID 19 vaccine was issued on 26.05.2020
Scaling up of COVID testing centres (Hub and spoke model) inNationalresearch laboratories and Universities
To scale up testing and enhance the reach across the countryCity /Regional clusters have been established in a Hub and Spoke Model to scale-up testing of COVID-19 samples in government institutions across the country. Institutes and Laboratories which have the capacity and expertise for both sample collection, handling/processing (BSL-2 facility) and testing (RT-PCR) serve as the hubs and they involve a number of laboratories which have RT PCR machines and the requisite manpower as their extended Testing facilities.
The Hubs are Government laboratories approved by respective Ministries /Departments (DBT, DST, CSIR, DAE, DRDO, ICAR etc) as per ICMR guidelines. So far 19 City /Regional clusters have been established in Bangalore, Delhi/NCR, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Chandigarh/Mohali, Bhubaneshwar, Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai, Lucknow, Chennai, Kolkata, North Eastern Region, Jammu & Kashmir, Ahmedabad, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Banaras, Palampur and Delhi city.
About 100 institutions have been involved and over 1,60,000 samples tested. Seven DBT Autonomous institutes have been approved as hubs by ICMR and they are performing testing for diagnosis of COVID-19 (RGCB, THSTI, ILS, inStem, NCCS, CDFD, NIBMG).
They are also functioning as hubs in the respective Cities/Regions and coordinating the efforts with a number of other premier Central and State Government institutions. In addition, they are working closely with the respective State Governments in obtaining samples for testing and are reporting every day to ICMR on their testing results. Collectively in about 4 weeks, these clusters have done nearly 1,70,000 tests. These clusters will now be scaled to nearly 50 in next 4 weeks and reach remote corners of the country.
In keeping with the initiative of Govt of India to promote Solar Power and objective to achieve 100 GW of solar power by 2022 as part of the National Solar Mission, a 2 MW Solar Photovoltaic Plant was commissioned at INS Kalinga, Visakhapatnam by Vice Adm Atul Kumar Jain, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, ENC on 28 May 2020.
The plant, which is the largest in the ENC and has an estimated life of 25 years. Despite the lockdown, all concerned agencies including APEPDCL worked out a contingency plan adhering to all guidelines promulgated for Coronavirus pandemic and executed the work.
Speaking on the occasion, Vice Adm Atul Kumar Jain stated that the commissioning of this plant demonstrates the commitment of Eastern Naval Command towards conservation of the environment and eco-friendly measures.
INS Kalinga, currently headed by Cmde Rajesh Debnath, has taken significant strides in Green Initiatives since it’s setting up in the early 1980s, including afforestation, numerous plantation drives, coastal cleanup drives and protection of the Geo-Heritage site “Erra Matti Dibbalu”.
Central Institute of Plastics Engineering & Technology (CIPET) has been renamed as Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology (CIPET), a premier national institution under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Govt. of India.
The changed name has been registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act 1975 ( Tamil Nadu Act 27 of 1975)
Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers DV Sadananda Gowda has said that now CIPET will be in a position to fully devote itself for the growth of entire petrochemical sector with a focus on Academics, Skilling, Technology Support and Research.
The primary objective of CIPET has been contributing towards the growth of the plastics industry through a combined program of education and research. The Institute has evolved through the years, creating closer ties with industries with the intent to create innovative plastic based solutions which are resource efficient and marketable.
The Prime Minister reviewed the work of the Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, last evening. Policy initiatives including revised Tariff Policy and the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020 to redress the problems afflicting the power sector were discussed.
Prime Minister emphasized the need to enhance consumer satisfaction while increasing operational efficiency, and improving financial sustainability of the power sector. He pointed out that the problems in the power sector, especially of the electricity distribution segment, vary across regions and states. Instead of looking for a one-size-fits-all solution, the Ministry should put in place state-specific solutions to incentivize each state to improve its performance.
He advised the Ministry of Power to ensure that the DISCOMs publish their performance parameters periodically so that the people know how their DISCOMs fare in comparison to the peers. He also emphasized that equiement usages in power sector to be make in India.
Regarding New and Renewable Energy, Prime Minister emphasized the need for wholistic approach for entire supply chain of the Agriculture Sector ranging from solar water pumps to decentralized solar cold storages. He also emphasized for innovative model for rooftop solar and desired that each State should have atleast one city (either a capital city or any renowned tourist destination) to have fully solar city through rooftop solar power generation. Emphasize was also made on ecosystem development for manufacturing of ingots, wafers, cells and modules in India, which would also help generate employment in addition to various other advantages.
Prime Minister also desired to expedite the plan for carbon neutral Ladakh and emphasized for drinking water supply in coastal areas by harnessing the solar and wind energy.
On 2nd April 2020, India launched Aarogya Setu mobile App for helping augment the efforts of limiting the spread of COVID19, with an objective of enabling Bluetooth based contact tracing, mapping of likely hotspots and dissemination of relevant information about COVID19. The App has over 114 million users as on 26th May, which is more than any other Contact Tracing App in the world. The App is available in 12 languages and on Android, iOS and KaiOS platforms. Citizens across the country are using Aarogya Setu to protect themselves, their loved ones and the nation. Many youngsters also call Setu as their Bodyguard. The key pillars of Aarogya
Setu have been transparency, privacy and security and in line with India’s policy on Open Source Software, the source code of Aarogya Setu has now been made open source. The source code for the Android version of the application is available for review and collaboration at https://github.com/nic-delhi/AarogyaSetu_Android.git.The iOS version of the application will be released as open source within the next two weeks and the server code will be released subsequently. Almost 98% of Aarogya Setu Users are on Android platform.
Opening the source code to the developer community signifies our continuing commitment to the principles of transparency and collaboration. Aarogya Setu’s development has been a remarkable example of collaboration between Government, Industry and Academia and citizens. It is also a product of the hard work of the talented young technological experts of our country who have worked day in and out to make this world class product. With the release of the source code in the public domain, we are looking to expanding collaboration and to leverage the expertise of top technical brains amongst the talented youth and citizens of our nation and to collectively build a robust and secure technology solution to help support the work of frontline health workers in fighting this pandemic together.
Coronavirus-structure explained
The App offers a comprehensive suite of interventions against COVID-19 and has registered several firsts in the eight weeks since its launch. The App possibly has the most reach and impact when compared to all other COVID-19 contact tracing and self-assessment tools combined globally, while pioneering new data driven epidemiological flattening of the curve through syndromic mapping. Of the more than 114 million registered users, two-thirds have taken the self-assessment test to evaluate their risk of exposure to COVID-19. The App has helped identify about 500,000 Bluetooth contacts. Those who are identified as Bluetooth contacts of COVID19 positive cases or are classified as needing assistance based on their self-assessment, are contacted by National Health Authority. So far, the platform has reached out to more than 900,000 users and helped advise them for Quarantine, caution or testing. Amongst those who were recommended for testing for COVID19, it has been found that almost 24% of them have been found COVID19 positive. Compare this to the overall COVID19 positive rate of around 4.65% – 145380 COVID19 positive from a total of 3126119 tests done as on 26th May 2020. This clearly illustrates that Contact tracing is helping focus efforts on those who need testing and this will greatly augment the efforts of the Government in containing the pandemic. Analytics of Bluetooth contacts and location data has also helped identify potential hotspots with higher probability of COVID cases allowing State Governments and District Administration and Health authorities to take necessary steps for containment of the pandemic, early, which is critical for controlling the spread of the pandemic. This approach of syndromic mapping, a novel approach of combining principles of path tracing and movement patterns of COVID-19 positive people, population level epidemiology modelling and the prevalence of COVID-19 in different regions of the country, the Aarogya Setu team has identified more than 3,500 hotspots across the country at sub-post office level. The Aarogya Setu data fused with historic data has shown enormous potential in predicting emerging hotspots at sub post office level and today around 1264 emerging hotspots have been identified across India that might otherwise have been missed. Several of these predicted hotspots have been subsequently verified as actual hotspots in the next 17 to 25 days. As an example, a district with 3 cases on a particular date when Aarogya Setu engine predicted it as a hotspot registered 82 cases in the next 15 days. The precision achieved by this unique combination of Bluetooth-based contact tracing and identification of hotspots may hold the key to effectively breaking the chain of infection, flattening the curve and saving lives.
Releasing the source code of a rapidly evolving product that is being regularly used by more than 114 million users, is challenging. Developing and maintaining the source code is a huge responsibility, both for Team Aarogya Setu and the developer community. The repository now being shared is the actual production environment. All subsequent product updates will also be made available through this repository.
The process of supporting the open source development will be managed by National Informatics Centre (NIC). All code suggestions will be processed through pull request reviews. Aarogya Setu’s source code has been licensed under Apache License
Version 2.0, and is available on “As-Is” basis. Any reuse of the source code with changes to the code requires the developer to carry a notice of change. More details can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions document available at https://www.mygov.in/aarogya-setu-app/
While making the code Open Source, Government of India also seeks the developer community to help identify any vulnerabilities or code improvement in order to make Aarogya Setu more robust and secure. Towards this objective, Government has also launched a Bug Bounty Programme with a goal to partner with security researchers and Indian developer community to test the security effectiveness of Aarogya Setu and also to improve or enhance its security and build user’s trust. Details of the Bug Bounty Programme along with the rewards therein are being shared separately. Details of the Bug Bounty Program is available on the innovate portal of MyGov at https://innovate.mygov.in/
The Government of India, by opening the product design and code, has also demonstrated its strong commitment to contributing to the global good. India is keen to share learnings from our approach to technology to fight COVID-19 and make the benefits of the solution available to the rest of the world and any government can use it for fighting the pandemic. Together we can, and we continue supporting the doctors and frontline health work in helping fight this pandemic.
Researchers at Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST) Mohali, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology (DST) have found a straightforward and unique route to fabricate precisely controlled nanostructures of desired geometry and location on 2D materials, through a rapid one-step low power laser writing process.
Approaches used so far to achieve the controllability over hotspots distribution, which involves the synthesis of complex morphologies, limits their potential to be used for large area substrates.
In order to overcome this, the INST group developed a hybrid Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy(SERS) platform of Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanostructure decorated with gold nanoparticles, where direct laser writing is used to engineer the artificial edges on the surface of MoS2. This created localized hotspots with remarkable precision and control. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a technique for molecular detection and characterization that relies on the enhanced Raman scattering of molecules that are adsorbed on SERS-active surfaces, such as nanostructured gold or silver.
In the research by Dr. Kiran Shankar Hazraand his group which has been accepted for publication in the journal ACS Nano,a focused laser beam of meager power of a conventional Raman spectrometer was used to do nanostructuring on 2D flakes of desired feature size and geometry just by playing with the laser power and exposure time. Using this technique, they achieved the minimum feature size of ̴300nm, which is close to the diffraction limit of the laser used (i.e., 532nm laser line).
In SERS sensing, producing SERS substrate of controllable hotspots distribution with desired geometry and location is the main challenging task. Several efforts have been made by researchers to attain the controllability over hotspots distribution via employing various synthesis procedures, hotspots engineering, defect engineering, and so on. However, the random distribution of hotspots and precision over geometrical nanostructure has limited the progress in the field of SERS sensing.
The hybrid SERS platform developed by the INST group offers controlled formation of localized hotspots for ultrasensitive and reproducible detection of analytes. Low power-focused laser irradiation technique was employed to create artificial edges on atomically thin 2D MoS2 sheet, which enables the superior deposition of AuNPs along the artificial edges, and enhances the local electromagnetic field leading to formation of hotspots.
The innovative route to attain the accuracy and control over localized hotspots formation at desired position and geometry, which is advantageous over randomly distributed hotspots in conventional SERS substrates. The team is now exploring various applications of 2D material nanostructures in the field of catalysis, sensing, and optoelectronics devices.
This research in SERS sensing will open a new avenue for the development of commercialized SERS substrate with a localized detection capability of analytes. The AuNPs decorated, and laser-etched 2Dsheets based SERS hybrid platform will also shed new light in the SERS sensing of biological and chemical molecules. The artificial edges of the 2D layers can be functionalized with an antibody with adequate coating and linkers for the SERS detection of various biomarkers.
Figure 1: Enhancement of Raman signal of RhB along the artificial edges of MoS2
Figure 2: Raman mapping of the localized hotspots created along the artificially sculptured edges
[Publication link :doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.0c02418
For more details contact Dr. Kiran Shankar Hazra(kiranshankar.hazra@gmail.com
Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs Shri Nitin Gadkari today inaugurated the breakthrough event of Chamba Tunnel under Chardham Pariyojana through video conference mode. Border Roads Organisation (BRO) achieved this major milestone by digging up a 440 m long Tunnel below the busy Chamba town on Rishikesh-Dharasu road Highway (NH 94). The breakthrough was completed amidst threat of COVID-19 and nationwide lockdown. The construction of tunnel was a challenging task in terms of weak soil strata, continuous water seepage, heavy built up area on top thereby chances of sinking of houses, land acquisition issues, restrictions during COVID lockdown etc.
Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSMEs Shri Nitin Gadkari today inaugurated the breakthrough event of Chamba Tunnel under Chardham Pariyojana through video conference mode.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said, this Rishikesh-Dharasu-Gangotri road in Uttarakhand has a very significant role from socio economic and religious point of view. He said, opening of this tunnel will ease out congestion though the Chamba town and reduce the distance by one kilometer and journey through the town will take only ten minutes as compared to thirty minutes earlier. Shri Gadkari lauded BRO for working in some of the very difficult terrain and ensuring implementation of critical projects. He said that he has been informed about completion of the project by October 2020, ie, three months ahead of the schedule.
Director General of Border Roads Organisation, Lt Gen Harpal Singh said, BRO started the work on North Portal of this tunnel in Jan 2019 but work on South Portal could be started only after Oct 2019 due to stiff resistance from locals on account of safety concerns and compensation issues. To compensate for the loss in time, day and night working shifts along with use of modern technology facilitated the breakthrough. BRO is a key stake holder in prestigious Chardham project and breakthrough of this tunnel has been achieved by Team Shivalik. Latest Austrian technology has been used in its construction. The tunnel will be through for traffic by October this year, almost three months before its scheduled date of completion.
Director General, Border Roads Organisation, Lt Gen Harpal Singh, PVSM, AVSM, VSM flagging off the first lot of vehicles through the tunnel. Shri Gadkari is seen in the inset.
Under prestigious Chardham Project costing around Rs 12,000 Crore with approximate length of 889 Km, BRO is constructing 250 Km of National Highways leading to holy shrine Gangotri and Badrinath. Majority of the works are progressing ahead of schedule and BRO is slated to complete four projects by October this year.
BRO has been entrusted 251 Km of stretches costing Rs 3000 Cr approx consisting of 17 Projects on road Rishikesh – Dharasu (NH-94) from Km 28 onwards of 99 Km length, Dharasu- Gangotri Highway (NH-108) of 110 Km length and Joshimath to Mana ( NH-58) of 42 Km length. Out of these, 10 Projects consisting of 151 Km road length have been sanctioned which are worth Rs 1702 Cr and works are under progress as under:-
(ii) Dharasu- Gangotri Highway (NH-108), 22 Km length (Two projects). Five projects of BESZ are yet to be sanctioned.
(iii) Joshimath to Mana (NH-58) 32 Km (Three Projects). Two projects are yet to be sanctioned
BRO is slated to complete four Projects aggregating a length of 53 Km out of 10 ongoing projects ahead of their scheduled, date of completion as under:-
Dharasu- Gangotri Highway (NH-108) KM 110-123 by June 2020.
Rishikesh- DharasuHighway (NH-94) Km28-59 by July 2020.
Rishikesh- Dharasu Highway (NH-94) Km 59-65 including Chamba Tunnel by October 2020.
Chinialisaur bye pass on Rishikesh- Dharasu Highway (NH-94) by October 2020.
A Tunnel of 440 mtr length to decongest busy Chamba town is being constructed out of these 10 projects. This is a Horse shoe type tunnel with 10 mtr carriage way width and 5.5 mtr vertical clearance. The sanctioned cost of this tunnel is 107.07 Crore. The awarded cost is Rs 86 Crore, including 43 Crore for Tunnel and 43 Crore for 4.2 Km approach roads to tunnel.
The Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu today held a meeting with Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, Shri Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary, Drinking Water & Sanitation, and Shri U.P. Singh, Secretary, Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation and discussed various possible ways in which drinking water and irrigation needs of the drought-prone Udayagiri area, Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh can be met. The Vice President shared with them the concerns of the people of this area.
In the recent past, the Vice President has been talking to people of Udayagiri constituency, from where Shri Venkaiah Naidu, now The Vice President of India was elected as MLA in 1978 for the first time. While enquiring about the general well-being, they informed the Vice President that ground water levels in the area have depleted considerably, most of the tanks/borewells have dried up and various water supply schemes are not serving the water needs to the fullest. They also informed the Vice President that this is the 7th consecutive year where there are no adequate rains. Most of them requested Shri Naidu to find out ways of getting water from Krishna basin or Somasila project.
In today’s discussion with the Vice President, officials suggested that they would explore various options in consultation with the Government of Andhra Pradesh and see what might be the most feasible option.
The Vice President advised Secretary, Water Resources to discuss with Central Water Commission and find out about the technical feasibility. He also suggested that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and the various ongoing efforts of the State Government to mitigate the water crisis including through the Water Grid project could be studied.
After a preliminary assessment is made, the Vice President advised that a delegation of senior officials from the Ministry of Jal Shakti as well as from NITI Aayog and Central Water Commission could visit the area and interact with the concerned stakeholders to understand the ground reality and suggest a way forward.
The outbreak of the current pandemic has affected the lives of people, their health, and wellbeing. The sudden disruption of daily routine, undesired laws of social distancing, and receiving a flood of information puts all of us at risk of mental stress and dilemma. Persistent fear, anxious mood, irritability, feelings of guilt, pessimism and worthlessness, insomnia, loss of appetite or weight gain, poor concentration and, worsening of chronic health problems may be an indication that stress is affecting our health and immunity. During the lockdown period, our existing underlying diseases may also trigger in the absence of adequate physical activities and fear of the pandemic. So, there is a need to strengthen our physical strength and immunity system even if we do not have any lifestyle disease.
In the absence of any prescribed treatment, vaccine and therapeutic recommendations being available against COVID-19, governments of most countries and several authorised international health agencies like the World Health Organisation, the British Dietetic Association, and the UD Food and Administration are emphasizing on maximum use of raw vegetables and fruits, nuts, and seeds; pulses and wholegrain foods; unsaturated oils; limit the intake of soda, salt, sugar, and trans fats; and stop eating junk and sugary food. Apart from food, guidelines also recommend physical exercises, meditation and adequate sleep, and good exposure to sunlight.
These recommendations and guidelines have already been a part of the ancient healing system of India, i.e. Ayurveda, which suggests that life is standing on four pillars, namely, Aahar (diet), Vihar (lifestyle), Achar (conduct of individual with the external world) and Vichar (mental health). According to this, food is like a medicine that can recuperate an individual by establishing the connection between elements of life, food, and body. Individuals’ temperament, physical and emotional states can be determined and regulated by their food choices, quantities, and lifestyle. It is well known that there is a close relationship among genes, environment, food, and emotional factors that lead to a bidirectional vicious cycle of mood, food, and lifestyle diseases. Ayurveda recommends the intervention of healthy lifestyles, meditation, pranayama, adequate sleep, and Satvik food to live a healthy, peaceful life and fight against various diseases including COVID-19.
Ayurveda considers that proper food selection and dietary schedule help to maintain holistic health with a calm mind. BhagwadGitaand Yoga Shastras divided food into three types based on their qualities (termed as gunas). They are Sathva (satoguna), Rajasa (rajoguna), and Thamasa (tamoguna). Sathva means goodness, whereas Rajasa means aggressive/active, and ordered from “best” to “worst”. Thamasa means inactive. A Satvik diet is meant to include foods and eating habits that are natural, vital and energy-containing and provides calmness, purity and promote longevity, intelligence, strength, health and delight. Examples of Satvikfood items are fruits, vegetables, sprouted grains, cereals, nuts and seeds, low fat milk and milk products, pure fruit juices, and cooked food that is consumed within 3-4 hours of cooking, etc.
A Rajasic diet, the mode of passion, is one that is overly spicy, hot, or fried with pungent, sour, and salty taste. Rajasic food possesses attributes of negativity, passion, and restlessness. Examples of Rajasic food are caffeinated drinks (like coffee, fizzy soft drinks, tea), sugary foods (chocolate, cake, biscuits, chips, etc), or spicy food. As these foods are rich in glucose, they may provide immediate energy but eventually destroys the mind-body equilibrium, feeding the body at the expense of the mind.
A Tamsik diet, the mode of ignorance, is one that consists of overcooked, stale, fast, reheated, microwaved, or frozen food; dead food such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs; alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs of addiction. Tamsik foods are hard to digest and gift inertia, dullness, and induce sleep. All these are an important cause of obesity, diabetes, heart, and liver disease.
Rajasic and Tamsik foods, available as processed and junk foods, are full of of carbohydrates, sugar, and trans-fat in high proportions. The combination of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and table sugar has become a primary choice of food industries as a sweetener due to its better shelf-life, more palatability and competitive price. This resulted in an additional 30% increase in overall sweetener intake and inability to regulate the hormones insulin and leptin and to inhibit the production of ghrelin, all factors that are known to affect the satiety centre in our brain, regulate blood glucose levels and appetite. Fast foods and fried foods like French fries, doughnuts, cakes, pie crusts, biscuits, frozen pizza, cookies, crackers, and stick margarines are made up by using hydrogenated or artificial trans-fats (or trans-fatty acids) which meets their food processing needs, easy to use, inexpensive and can be used many times in the commercial fryers. High sugar, high-fat and animal protein diets lead to disruption in the regulation of blood glucose levels, fat build-up in the liver, high uric acid concentrations,reduced kidney function and increase in arteriolar thickening, and fat deposition.
On the other hand, food rich in Prana (‘life-force’) is a combination of carbohydrates, fats, rich in dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants with a limited amount of sugar, salt and oil, and no animal fat. It can be digested easily and utilize the six tastes in Ayurveda (sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, astringent). Satvik food with recommended physical exercise, adequate rest, and a positive mindset is a source of energy and can reduce the risk of high body mass index, coronary artery disease, obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis. Satvik food is pure, natural, strong, wise, and full of energy to provide calmness and peace to the mind, thereby resulting in longevity of life in an individual.
On the other hand, Rajasic and Tamsik food like onion, garlic, asafoetida, caffeinated tea, and coffee; fried, spicy, high in sugar, and junk foods induce restlessness, lethargy, and sleep. Food like garlic and onion may be good as medicine but not for daily consumption. The daily consumption of food, which stimulates the nervous system, may lower the possibilities of experiencing life.
Food choices during the current pandemic
Recommended Food
Avoid (but could be taken rarely to satisfy taste buds)
Not Recommended
Fibrous food in the form of raw or freshly cooked colourful vegetables and fruits (good sources of vitamins A, C and E, as well as antioxidants, folate, and fibre (opt steaming, grilling or sautéing cooking methods)
Less spicy and oily food Garlic, onion, unseasonal veggies in a limited amount
Fried, over spicy and overcooked, or stale food
Pulses and wholegrain foods (oats, brown pasta, millet, and rice, quinoa and whole-wheat fresh chapatis and wraps)
Brown bread
Refined, processed grain foods (white pasta and rice, and white bread), deep-frozen foods
Low-fat or reduced-fat versions of milk and dairy products like curd, yoghurt (rich in probiotics that strengthen the digestive tract).
White meats like poultry and fish that are generally lower in fats than red meat; processed meat (though it is not a part of Satvik food)
Red meat
Unsalted nuts and seeds (like pumpkin, sunflower, and flax). They are great sources of vitamin E, niacin, riboflavin, protein, healthy fat, antioxidants, and fibre.
Homemade low fat/sugar snacks like idli, dosa, dhokla, upma, daliya, brown bread with pea-nut butter
Snacks that are high in salt and sugar (cookies, samosa, cakes, and chocolate); pickles, jams
Egg yolks, and fortified breakfast cereals
Canned food, used after washing it to remove extra salt or sugar
Unsaturated fats (e.g., found in fish, avocado, nuts, olive oil, soy, canola, sunflower and corn oils). The fat intake is recommended less than 30% of total energy intake, of which no more than 10% should come from saturated fat.
Saturated fats (e.g., found in fatty meat, butter, coconut oil, cream, cheese, and lard)
Trans-fats (processed food, fast and fried food, snacks, frozen pizza, pies, cookies, margarines, and spreads)
Fresh fruit juices, low fat lassi, chaaz, lemon water, coconut water/ hot water, herbal tea (packs a big punch of polyphenols, flavonoids, and antioxidants that destroy free radicals)
Soft drinks or sodas and other drinks that are high in sugar (e.g., packed fruit juices; fruit juice concentrates and syrups; flavoured milks and water; energy and sports drinks; and yogurt drinks, caffeinated tea, coffee, ready-to-drink tea, and coffee
Alcohol, tobacco, drugs
Honey and jaggery
Brown sugar
White sugar
Indian herbs:Coriander (Dhaniya), turmeric (contain Curcumin), fenugreek (methi), tulsi (Basil), cumin (jeera), fennel (sonph), cloves, black pepper (Kalimirch, contain Piperine), cinnamon (dalchini), ginger and curry leaves. These spices have antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, act as immune booster and may help to flush out any sinuses from the body.Rock salt (limit salt intake to 5 grams (equivalent to a teaspoon) a day.
Iodised salt
Non-iodised salt
The current guidelines of the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, recommend self-care guidelines for preventive health measures and boosting immunity. These guidelines recommend herbal tea and decoction (Kadha) made from Tulsi, Dalchini, Kalimirch, Shunthi (Dry Ginger) and Munakka (Raisin) with jaggery and/or fresh lemon juice to enhance the taste as immunity promoting measures against COVID-19. Guidelines also recommend avoiding cold, frozen, and heavy foods, which is a clear indication to avoid Rajasic and Tamsik food. Recommendations such as to take appropriate rest, timely sleep, exposure to sunlight, and practice of Yogasana and Pranayama also help to balance our body, mind, and lifestyle.
It is recommended that in this time of uncertainties and non-availability of treatment, it is important to remain healthy and peaceful. Good food with other recommendations, as explained in the above table, would help in building up our immunity as well as burst the stress while combating against COVID-19.
(Written by: Jyoti Sharma,Senior Scientist, DST and S.K. Varshney, Head, International Bilateral Cooperation Division, Department of Science and Technology.
The views expressed in the article are those of the authors and not of the organisation they belong to.)
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