
Gujarat launches India's first tribal genome project to tackle inherited diseases
At a high-level consultation chaired by State Tribal Development Minister Kuber Dindor here, the Tribal Genome Sequencing Project was announced with the aim of identifying genetic health risks and enabling precision healthcare for tribal populations. The initiative will sequence the genomes of 2,000 individuals from tribal communities across 17 districts in the State.
The project, titled 'Creation of Reference Genome Database for Tribal Population in Gujarat', is being implemented by the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC) and is part of the 2025–26 State budget.
Detecting genetic disorders
Mr. Dindor said the initiative will focus on early detection and targeted treatment of genetic disorders such as sickle cell anaemia, thalassaemia, and certain hereditary cancers.
'This project will serve as a milestone — bridging the gap between science and tradition — toward a healthier and more prosperous future for our tribal communities,' he said. 'It is not just a scientific initiative, but a focused campaign to bring long-term improvements in tribal health.'
The genetic data collected will also be used to identify markers related to natural immunity and support the development of personalised healthcare solutions. The project will incorporate advanced infrastructure for sample collection, sequencing, and interpretation of genetic data, officials said.
Experts at the event stressed that the initiative is not limited to scientific research but aims to empower tribal communities through the use of advanced technology and data. The project will involve state-of-the-art facilities for sample collection and genetic analysis.
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Scroll.in
43 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
‘Nalanda': Insights into ancient Indian practices of debate and argument
India was home to one of the world's oldest 'university-like' institutions, if not a university in the modern sense. The statement, however, reflects presentism, imposing contemporary meanings in the past. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to assume that Nalanda Mahavihara was a unique ancient institution of higher education with no other contemporary institution matching its excellence. Although Takshashila was an older, renowned institution on the Indian subcontinent, the intellectual contributions of Nalanda Mahavihara have had a far greater and fundamental impact on the modern and contemporary world. The global transmigration and diffusion of ideas from Nalanda is well documented and visible in our life-world. A modern spirit The recent title Nalanda: How It Changed the World by Abhay K captures the story and impact of the Nalanda Mahavihara on the modern idea and architecture of the university, along with an advanced scientific understanding of the world we live in. The book modifies the presentist approach by putting it upside down, and explains the idea and architecture of the modern university as a product of an intellectual and architectural movement initiated by the ancient Nalanda Mahavihara. Abhay K highlights the aspects of Nalanda that identify with the modern spirit of scientific enquiry and knowledge creation. Certain systems of enquiry and knowledge systems developed at the Mahavihara are still integral to the understanding and evolution of our material and spiritual surroundings. The book takes us into the ancient origins and evolution of Nalanda, its culmination as a Mahavihara, and the sad decline and destruction of an institution that was once the fulcrum of the most advanced and revolutionary ideas known to humankind. It is not a coincidence that the emergence of Nalanda Mahavihara took place in the suburbs of the most powerful capital city in northern India, given the symbiotic relationship between knowledge and political power. The book captures that Rajagriha (Rajgir in contemporary Bihar) was already a seat of power and knowledge before the development of Nalanda as the highest seat of learning and research. The city was known for the time spent in it by the greats – Jain Mahavira, Gautam Buddha and a number of other philosophers with different worldviews, including the heterodox Ajivakas and Lokayatis. The increasing political power and imperial ambitions of the city engaged and patronised the finest of scholars and philosophers from around the known world. The city emerged as a seat where a victory in debate established the prowess of a scholar. With the passage of time and the increase in the scale of the city and its political engagements, the political powers in Rajagriha decided to develop the nearby Nalanda village as the seat of knowledge, intellectual power and legitimacy. The book illustrates a couple of incidents when scholars from the southern part of the Indian Subcontinent came to seek recognition and livelihood through debate and became an integral part of Nalanda. Although Nalanda, as the known Mahavihara (university), emerged in the 5th century CE during the Guptas, King Ashoka had initiated it as a centre of Buddhist excellence with the establishment of a monastery. The Buddhist outlook, however, did not mean exclusion from other philosophical discourses as they thrived in the teachings, debates and scholarship on campus in Nalanda after the 5th century CE. This seat of knowledge stimulated the intellect and kindled the imaginations of the best minds of its time till its unfortunate decline and destruction. The book traces the trajectory that marks receding patronage, increased influence of rituals and the tantric Vajrayana Buddhism rather than the initial contemplative and scientific spirit in the later life of the institution. Nalanda attracted invaders who saw and equated it as the beacon of power of the emperors-in-charge. The ultimate blow was given by Bakhtiyar Khalji after which the university never returned and went into oblivion until its rediscovery. Multidisciplinary knowledge The book has taken a different approach from that of the historians. The author's mission through this is to highlight and tell the world the story of the seminal contributions that Nalanda Mahavihara made through its network of scholars and institutions established by them. Reading the book gives an insight into the ancient Indian culture of debate and argument that respected knowledge and treated it as a product of merit, mutual interaction and a heritage of humankind. Several important lessons may also be taken on the organisation, funding and the purposes of a university, as a few illustrations in the book are to be noted. The book refers to the recursive argumentation, inter and multidisciplinarity as the popular academic approaches at the Nalanda University. The recursive method, extensively used at Nalanda, is relevant to the exercise of establishing general principles and scientific theory building and testing in our times – primarily in computer science, logic and mathematics, to list a few. Multidisciplinarity at Nalanda was so important that the prestige and status of a scholar was judged not merely by the depth of knowledge but primarily by the hold, understanding and extent of the scholar's knowledge in various and multiple disciplines. The book notes that there was no violence among the students and scholars of different debating sects and schools at the Nalanda campus. This is remarkable as this academic ideal still inspires the best of the universities in the world. The book is a revelation of the global influence of Nalanda across time. It records the scholarly luminaries at Nalanda and the contributions of India and its intellectual network that looked towards Nalanda for learning and inspiration. The contributions of ancient Nalanda in the study of architecture, medicine, logic, mathematics, ophthalmology, art, language, translation, grammar, script, religion and book-culture are incomparable. The global footprints of the idea of Nalanda and its intellectual traditions are visible in the reverence it receives through the names of the institutions like Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science (US), Nalanda Monastery (France), Institut Tibetan Nalanda (Brussels), Nalandaram Retreat Centre (Brazil), Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre in Singapore and many more in other parts of the world. One of the not-so-visible and taken-for-granted footprints is structurally embedded in our computing systems, algebra and calculus, which cannot exist as they are without the 'zero' invented at Nalanda. At Nalanda, along with philosophy, there were many firsts in the field of mathematics and astronomy – like attributing sunlight as the source of moonshine, the earth rotates around its axis and many applications of trigonometric functions of spherical geometry. The book illustrates that the ancient world might not have globalised in the modern meaning of the word but knowledge and ideas were already a global product, Nalanda Mahavihara being the most important centre of dissemination pertaining to its seminal and transforming conceptual breakthroughs in science and philosophy. These ideas travelled to other parts of Asia and later to the West, whose scientific knowledge is built on some of the strong and essential foundations that the ancient Nalanda Mahavihara has contributed to the global body of knowledge. Nalanda was a magnet attracting curious scholars, appreciated merit and encouraged a spirit of enquiry that made its research faculty and facilities the most advanced in the world. Nalanda transformed the world with its ideas, and the impact has become part of our modern daily lives. The trajectory of the rise and fall of the spirit of scepticism and enquiry and the state of the art research, corresponds with the rise and fall of the great Mahavihara. All universities in the world may take a lesson or two from the history, architecture and legacy of Nalanda to transform the world further for the good of humankind. Nalanda: How it Changed the World is a capsule to revive that spirit. Saurabh Mishra is a Research Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.


India.com
an hour ago
- India.com
India Sends Medical Team For Second Round Of Consultations On Bangladesh Plane Crash Victims
The Indian medical team, currently visiting Bangladesh, held the second round of consultations with doctors at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka. The medical team continued their mission to provide medical support to Bangladesh authorities for treatment of critically injured patients in the aftermath of the plane crash of July 21 at Milestone School and College in Dhaka, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said in a post on social media platform X. They visited some of the patients and observed their prognosis, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said. The team further deliberated management protocols with the doctors at the Institute and provided critical inputs for treatment methodology. The Indian medical team, now in Dhaka to help provide treatment to Milestone crash victims, held detailed medical consultations with senior officials of the Bangladesh Ministry of Health and doctors at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka. They reviewed each of the critical cases, exchanged views on the treatment methodologies, and conveyed their assessment on future course of treatment. The visit of the Indian doctors and nursing officials follows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assurance to extend all possible assistance and support to Bangladesh in the wake of the tragic incident of plane crash in Dhaka on July 21. Earlier on July 24, the visiting Indian medical team held detailed consultations with senior officials of the Bangladesh Ministry of Health and doctors at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka, reviewing critical cases from Monday's horrific plane crash. The Indian experts also exchanged views on the treatment methodologies and conveyed their assessment on future course of treatment for the admitted patients. "The Indian medical team visiting Bangladesh began their visit by holding detailed medical consultations with senior officials of the Bangladesh Ministry of Health; doctors at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka. They reviewed each of the critical cases, exchanged views on the treatment methodologies and conveyed their assessment on future course of treatment. The visit of the Indian doctors; nursing officials follows PM Narendra Modi's assurance to extend all possible assistance and support to Bangladesh in the wake of the tragic incident of plane crash in Dhaka on 21 July 2025," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X. The crash occurred when a Bangladesh Air Force F-7 BGI training aircraft slammed into the Milestone School and College campus in Dhaka's Uttara on Monday, which has claimed 32 lives so far and injured over 162 people. As investigations continue into the cause of the crash, India's medical outreach is expected to play a vital role in the recovery of survivors and the broader healing process. A specialised team of doctors from India had arrived in Bangladesh late Wednesday evening to treat the burn victims of the fighter jet crash. The team includes doctors and nurses from Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital -- two of India's leading centres for burn treatment and plastic surgery. Earlier, PM Modi had expressed condolences over the tragedy and assured Bangladesh of India's full support. In a statement shared on Monday on X, PM Modi wrote, "Deeply shocked and saddened at the loss of lives, many of them young students, in a tragic air crash in Dhaka. Our hearts go out to the bereaved families. We pray for the swift recovery of those injured. India stands in solidarity with Bangladesh and is ready to extend all possible support and assistance." In a follow-up to his message, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka formally reached out to the Bangladeshi government, offering critical medical assistance for the injured. India's swift response underscores the humanitarian dimension of its regional diplomacy and reflects the strong bilateral ties between the two nations.


Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
We fund academic centres at IIT, and work long-term for creating impact: Rahul Mehta, founder, Mehta Family Foundation
Rahul Mehta is the founder of the Mehta Family Foundation (MFF), which partners with IITs to establish new academic centres offering bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programmes, along with support for research. Established in 1996 and headquartered in Texas, USA, the Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta Family Foundation was established by Rahul and his siblings in memory of their parents. The foundation has set up centres or schools at various IITs. Among them are the School of Biosciences at IIT Madras, Centre for Engineering in Medicine at IIT Kanpur, the School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at IIT Guwahati, the School of Health Sciences and Technology at IIT Guwahati, the School of Data Science & Artificial Intelligence at IIT Palakkad and IIT Roorkee. They have also recently launched the School of Sustainability and the School of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering at IIT Indore. MFF works with IITs in the areas of infrastructure, curriculum, professorships, conferences, joint research projects, faculty visits, and scholarship programmes. They also work on building collaboration between their schools at IIT and international universities. Rahul spoke to on MFF's journey, the opportunities for growth of IITs, his experiences working with them, and the way forward for Indian research and innovation. Edited excerpts: Venkatesh Kannaiah: Could you tell us about yourself and the foundation? Rahul Mehta: I was born in Bombay and moved to the United States at a very young age. I was the first in our family to pursue higher education overseas in the US, and the experience was transformative. Over the years, I founded and built four software startups. These ventures gave me not only financial independence but also a sense of responsibility to give back to society. I established the foundation to honour my parents, and it is a family endeavour; my brothers and sisters are deeply involved, and we operate from Houston, Texas. Our mission is to create opportunities through education and innovation, particularly in areas that can drive long-term societal impact. Venkatesh Kannaiah: Tell us about your work with IITs in India, and what is different about your collaboration with them? Rahul Mehta: Our engagement with IITs began with a vision to address gaps in India's higher education, and our first initiative was funding a project at IIT Madras. At the time, India was already a powerhouse in computer science, producing global giants like Infosys and TCS. However, I saw a significant disparity when comparing Indian academia to its American counterparts. In the US, particularly in the early 2000s, about 50 per cent of academic research was focused on biological sciences; fields like biotechnology, bioinformatics, and bioengineering. In contrast, most IITs were heavily skewed toward computer science and traditional engineering disciplines, with little emphasis on biology-related programmes. This led to the creation of the School of Bioscience and Bioengineering at IIT Madras in February 2006. Our goal was to introduce a curriculum that exposed Indian students to the engineering aspects of biology. It was a pioneering effort — the first programme of its kind at an IIT. What makes our approach unique is our focus on impact over mere financial contribution. To achieve our goals, we don't just fund projects; we actively shape them. We work closely with IITs to design curricula, bring in global expertise, and foster collaborations that elevate the quality of education and research. That is the core of our model — active engagement to maximise impact. Venkatesh Kannaiah: How is your approach different from a typical philanthropy model? Rahul Mehta: Our approach is not the 'write a cheque and walk away' model. It is about getting deeply involved in the process. When we fund a programme, it's not a one-off transaction; it is a commitment to ensure that the centre is impactful. To build a world-class academic centre, you need more than just funding. You need a curriculum that reflects global standards, good faculty, and opportunities for students to engage with cutting-edge research. We facilitate all of this. For instance, we have a team of advisors/experts from institutions like Purdue and UC San Diego, who help design curricula. We also organise conferences and workshops, bringing together Indian and international academics to share knowledge and spark innovation. We funded the School of Bioscience and Bioengineering at IIT Madras in 2006, and even after more than 20 years, our relationship remains strong. They regularly consult us, invite us to participate in their planning, and involve us in their initiatives. Venkatesh Kannaiah: Why IITs and why these themes? Rahul Mehta: The decision to focus on IITs stemmed from personal familiarity and their reputation. My sister graduated from an IIT, which gave me early exposure to them. IITs attract India's brightest students and some of the best undergraduate talent in the world. Our initial focus was on biosciences and bioengineering, later followed by a Center for Engineering in Medicine at IIT Kanpur and the School of Health Science and Technology at IIT Guwahati. In 2017, we recognised artificial intelligence (AI) as the next frontier. I wrote a paper urging IITs to prioritise AI, as it was becoming a transformative force globally. At the time, AI was not as mainstream as it is now. ChatGPT's release in 2022 brought it into the spotlight, but we saw its potential early. We funded AI schools at IIT Guwahati, Roorkee, and Palakkad, focusing on domain-specific applications like AI in healthcare, material science, and chemical engineering. The third pillar of our strategy is sustainability. India faces significant environmental challenges, such as maintaining food security in the face of climate change. Biosciences, AI, and sustainability are interconnected fields that, when combined, can produce groundbreaking innovations. Venkatesh Kannaiah: What have been your learnings from your collaboration with the IITs? Rahul Mehta: While the quality of IIT undergraduates is good, the challenge is to expose them to cutting-edge technologies and global perspectives. Second, we have learned that Indian research needs to evolve. While India produces many PhDs, the focus should shift toward interdisciplinary, globally collaborative research that drives innovation. We have a team of advisors through our MFF CARE Initiative — Collaborative for Academic Research and Excellence, where we tap into a network of thousands of Indian-origin professors in the US who are eager to contribute to India. Our foundation facilitates these collaborations, connecting Indian academics with global experts. Venkatesh Kannaiah: Can you give us some idea of the number of students who have graduated from your centres? Rahul Mehta: Across all our programmes, we have created capacity for 3,000 students, including 1,500 BTech and 1,500 Master's and PhD students. This is significant, as our efforts have added more capacity than some newer IITs, like Palakkad or Tirupati, which have around 1,800 students. Over the past five years, approximately 10,000 students have graduated, with 2,500 BTechs and over 3,000 currently enrolled. That's the kind of scale we are talking about. Money is just one input. The time, energy, and expertise we invest in curriculum design, faculty support, and global collaborations are critical. Venkatesh Kannaiah: Tell us about what needs to change in the IITs. Rahul Mehta: IITs are doing a lot of things right; they attract good talent and produce graduates who excel globally. But to compete on the world stage, India needs to scale up. First, they need to increase capacity at each location from 2,000 students to 10,000 or more. Second, they need better leadership training and succession planning for directors, deans, and faculty. Some faculty should have the option to pursue administrative careers, as is the case in Western universities. Third, the research ecosystem needs to be more multidisciplinary and collaborative. Currently, Indian faculty often find it easier to collaborate internationally than within India. We need to foster a culture of teamwork across disciplines and institutions. Venkatesh Kannaiah: Can you tell us about any interesting tech innovations or interventions that have come out of your collaboration with IITs? Rahul Mehta: One standout example is the cancer biobank at IIT Madras, one of India's first. It collects tissue samples from local hospitals to study differences between Indian and Western cancers, addressing the unique Indian genome. This is critical because most drugs are tested on Western populations, and we need to understand how they work for Indians. At IIT Madras, researchers have created models to help doctors figure out how old a baby is inside the womb during pregnancy. This is helpful as about half of pregnant women in India miss their first checkup. These models are designed specifically for an Indian context and are now being used in hospitals in Tamil Nadu and at army hospitals. At IIT Madras, researchers have created a special reference genome, like a genetic map, using DNA from 10,000 healthy people across 83 different groups in India. They used this to build a genomegraph, which helps make custom genetic maps for different Indian communities. This project is a digital public good, and it is freely available to help doctors and researchers find India-specific disease patterns. We are also working on a Bharat Cancer Genome Atlas, and we plan to host India-specific cancer genomic data for various cancers prevalent in India. At IIT Kanpur, our Centre is making progress in prostate cancer research, with results that could lead to new treatments. We have developed patented solutions for cancers, blood disorders, and neurodegenerative disorders and are partnering with companies to bring these innovations to the market. Researchers have invented a special kind of insulin that stays stable even at high temperatures. This discovery of thermostable insulin has led to several research papers and patents. We have also developed a Brain-Machine Interface for restoring hand movements in patients paralysed by stroke, in collaboration with NIMHANS Bengaluru. At IIT Roorkee, we have been focusing on innovative, AI-driven, urban mobility transportation solutions and have successfully launched a few products. Researchers at the centre have also developed a new method called Zero-Shot Knowledge Distillation (ZSKD), which is an easier way to make smaller, faster machine learning models without needing the original training data, which is often kept private or secret for safety or business reasons. This groundbreaking method has found a mention in over 300 research papers. Venkatesh Kannaiah: What are your thoughts on the university-research-innovation ecosystem in India? Rahul Mehta: The ecosystem has potential but needs improvement. India funds a large number of PhDs, which is a strength, but the focus needs to be on impactful research. Indian faculty also need to collaborate more within the country, not just internationally. It is about translating research into economic and social benefits. Venkatesh Kannaiah: Where is the Mehta Family Foundation headed 10 years from now? Rahul Mehta: I hope to expand our reach to support 10,000 students, up from 3,000 today, in cutting-edge fields like AI, robotics, global health, and sustainability. Venkatesh Kannaiah: What are your three asks from the government? Rahul Mehta: First, dramatically increase educational capacity to provide opportunities for more students. Second, promote research collaboration, both within India and globally, to drive innovation. Third, focus on translating research into economic prosperity and social impact by creating jobs.