d(GC) - Association of Biotechnology and Pharmacy

Current Trends in Biotechnology and Pharmacy
Vol. 6 (2) i-iv 241-254 April April 2012, 2012, ISSN ISSN 0973-8916 0973-8916 (Print), (Print), 2230-7303 2230-7303 (Online) (Online)
Expansion of education and research
infrastructure need of the hour: President
Pratibha Patil
The expansion of country’s education and
research infrastructure requires an immediate
consideration, according to President Pratibha Patil
at present there are nearly 3,500 engineering colleges
in India with over 4.5 lakh students graduating every
year, but the capacity was falling short of the
requirement. She said that we need an expansion of
our education and research base. Also Smt. Patil
added that Research generates new knowledge, but
its ultimate usefulness lies in how extensively it is
used and the number of people it benefits. From the
invention of the wheel to the WiFi mode of
communication, from the construction of simple
dwelling units to high-rise buildings to highways,
metro-systems and satellites - the role of technology
and innovation has become even more critical in the
21st century as we live in a knowledge era.
Education system in India needs revision: Kapil
Sibal
Speaking at the higher education conclave
organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Kapil
Sibal Minister of Human Resource Development,
stressed upon ways to improve the existing academic
patterns. He said that most of our Universities are
not forward-looking and follow archaic academic
systems and policies because their highest decision
making bodies - the academic and executive councils
- are run by people with vested interests. Sibal told
that the statutes and ordinances in most Universities
have outlived their utility and need revision. The
academic and executive councils comprise people
who are often politically motivated and do not want
such changes. He criticized the dichotomy in the
policies of Universities across the country, causing a
severe disparity in levels of learning and elucidated
on the plan of a single engineering entrance exam
for the entire country, which stressed the need for
revision of present education system.
Research is the key: Abdul Kalam
Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam
spoke about the need for medical educational
institutes to focus on research at the 14th annual
convocation of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health
Sciences (RGUHS) and he said that, “Research and
teaching are the focus of medical education in India
NEWS ITEM
255i
in the present century and that Institutes should work
towards promoting research and teaching research.”
He added that universities are judged on the quality
of research being conducted by the students and
teachers. The former president also emphasised on
the importance of medical students and practitioners
to be involved in rural India and that all the MBBS
and MD doctors should work in primary health
centres, as it directly connects the rural population.
He also mapped out several areas in medicine in
need of dire attention from the graduates. “We need
to look at eliminating tuberculosis and also ensure
that there is no occurrence of HIV-Aids. People should
be educated in preventive care when it comes to HIV-
Aids and hepatitis,” he also said, adding that work
needed to be done to ensure that medicines in the
country were affordable.
India to be as friend with China and US: Prime
Minister
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that,
Large and dynamic countries like China cannot be
contained, making it clear that India aims to have
cooperative ties with both China and the US. Dr.
Singh said China was India’s largest neighbour,
sharing a long border and was also our biggest trading
partner in goods. With US, he said, India’s relations
were transformed in 2005 which laid the framework
for the India-US civil nuclear agreement. Manmohan
Singh also said that three million people of Indian
origin live and work in US and that the country is also
India’s largest business partner. Dr. Singh about his
meeting with the South Korean president said that
the two sides will talk about giving depth and greater
meaning to the Comprehensive Economic
Partnership Agreement, strengthen people-to-people
contacts, boost cooperation in science and
technology, and coordinate thinking in matters relating
to security and global events.
SCIENTIFIC NEWS
Powerful New Stem Cells Cloned from Cheek
Tissue
Cloned oral progenitor cells (PCs) isolated from
cheek tissue were demonstrated to be potently
immunosuppressive in a dose- and contactindependent
manner. Oral mucosal lamina propria
progenitor cells (OMLP-PCs) are a novel, clonally
derived PC population of neural crest origin with the
potential to differentiate down both mesenchymal and