July 20, 2020 | Adamas University

From ‘High-Package’ to ‘Own Start-up’: Best minds select alternative route

Business incubators provide the support with advisory, administrative and technical services to facilitate the launch of a company, writes Dr. Saptarshi Chatterjee. Graphic: Saubhik Debnath

A student of zoology at Bangalore University in 1973, she failed to pursue two dreams of her own: going to a medical school and becoming a brew-master. But at the age of 25, she opened a company of her own, hiring a garage with a capital of Rs. 10,000 (less than 200 USD in today’s context) in the year 1978. The company is presently having a net worth of 4.2 Billion USD while the lady has established herself in the field of biotechnology being the richest self-made woman. She has been featured as ‘100 most powerful women’ by Forbes Magazine and ‘100 Most influential people in the world’ by Times magazine. The lady is none other than one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.

Most of us have travelled in ‘Ola’ and ordered food in ‘Zomato’. However, we seldom know that ‘Ola’ was founded in 2010 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, IIT Bombay alumni who are presently worth 6.6 billion. Similarly, Zomato was founded in 2008 by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah of IIT Delhi is one of the finest examples of successful start-ups. These stories are no exception. Many of the Indian students’ have selected the untraveled alternative route as a career path without prior business background and have become successful.

Expectation of Students: A paradigm shift – There has been a drastic shift in the expectation of students enrolling for various programmes at the undergraduate or postgraduate levels. The conventional thought of relying on placement cells has taken a back seat as most of the students aspire to grasp the skill-sets for acquiring jobs themselves. This has had a tremendous impact on the transition of the educational sector, in recent days. Further to this, students of reputed institutions are found to refute lucrative job offers of the corporate sector and initiate start-ups of their own. Putting their best effort to fulfill their own dream rather than contributing to fulfilling other’s dream has been the philosophy for most of them.

Global and National Scenario of Joblessness: Jobs have always been scarce compared to the knowledgeable and skilled workforce available. COVID-19 has shown a catastrophic effect on the economic scenario and job market probably more than the economic recession encountered earlier. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), 1.6 billion informal economy workers have suffered damage to their capacity of livelihood. In India, the unemployment rate has risen to more than 27% creating a havoc impact on society. Reports of 27 million job loss, only during the lockdown, have further worsened the situation. Govt. jobs are scarce and difficult to get because of high competition. On the other hand, private jobs have poor job-security. Under these circumstances, jobs fail to attract the present generation of students, making the option of start-up more sought after.

Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship is referred to in the study as well as practice and process of starting a new business. Someone who has the ability or desires to initiate, administer, and succeed in a start-up business is called an entrepreneur. There are various types of entrepreneurship, a few of them are:

Social Entrepreneurship: Establishment of start-up companies for societal benefit.
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Technopreneurship: Integration of technology and innovation for entrepreneurship.
Cultural Entrepreneurship: Applying cultural activities and cultural goods in generating economic opportunities
Ecopreneurship: Development of an enterprise incorporating an environmentally responsible perspective into the operations and goals of the entrepreneur.

Business Incubator: A seed has every potential to develop into a plant only when it is nurtured in a proper environment. Similarly, business ideas require systemic nurturing and mentorship to grow into enterprise. Business incubators provide the support with advisory, administrative and technical services offered under the same roof to facilitate the launch of the company. This programmed nurturing accelerates the growth and success of the enterprise.

TBI: Technology led and knowledge driven enterprise serves as a backbone to the industrial growth of a nation. Technology Business Incubators (TBI) provides the new enterprise, exploring technological advances with an atmosphere congenial for their growth. Research & Development (R&D) becomes an integral part of TBI to address the demand of the hour in developing sustainable solutions through fast-track intervention. TBIs have become an integrated part of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in today’s world to extend the benefit of technology to the society through entrepreneurship development.

Incubation Process: The products or services requiring business incubation especially the ones with technological innovation are screened through a stringent process mostly through competitive mode from Ideations, Hackathons etc. Innovation of product, market potential, feasibility etc. are key parameters for the evaluation process. The selected incubates are provided with the physical space to set-up offices and access to several facilities like meeting room, library and information center, cafeteria, labs etc. Most important contribution of an incubator for the start-ups include:

Training on basic business model
R&D support (based on availability/ priority area)
IPR support
Market survey
Syndicating finance
Legal and administrative set-up

A typical incubation process involves the following steps:

Ideation: Develop idea/ solution for an issue/ problem through technological intervention
Incubation and Prototyping: Nurturing of the idea, analyzing feasibility and market potential.
Fund: Look for seed funding/ angel investors/ loan.
Scale up: Grow the production/ business to the level of market
Spin in/ Spin out/ Acquisition: Decide the strategy of business i.e. merger, acquisition, operate as stand-alone entity.

Support from Government: Government of India imparts strong support to create start-up ecosystems through various departments and programmes. INR 960 + Crore of funding has been provided for this purpose through various schemes. Handholding, funding and incubation are the three priority areas to aid the start-ups for a successful launch. 4100+ start-ups have benefitted in the last year through the central govt. schemes. Tax exemptions, legal support in IPR filing, rebate for filing patents, relaxed norms for public procurement, credit-guarantee scheme etc. are initiatives from the government for the start-ups. The Govt. of West Bengal has also initiated ‘Startup Bengal’ project to help small business enterprises and start-ups to make a mark in the business world.

Challenges: The path of entrepreneurship is not a smooth walk, rather has several hurdles to overcome before attaining success. The four major challenges faced by start-ups are:

Funding: Receiving funds from bank, government, investors etc. as loan is a major challenge since it is highly competitive in nature. Moreover,
Technology: Upgradation of technology is an important parameter that determines the success and sustainability of business.
Market: Certain sectors of the market are volatile and unpredictable while unforeseen situations like the present pandemic have a huge impact on the market posing challenges to the start-ups as well as investors.
Competition: Business is always competitive and has ups and down. Ability to withstand competition is always a challenge.

The road ahead: Several technology-oriented businesses have captured the market based on innovative products and services. Interestingly, most of them are initiated by young minds even before acquiring formal experience on business and holding no legacy of business. Incorporation of Information Technology (IT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Biotechnology, Nanotechnology etc. in the curriculum at various levels of studies have created significant impact on the present generation to dream in establishing enterprise of their own, ignoring lucrative job offers.

Important Links

https://www.startupindia.gov.in/content/sih/en/reources.html
http://www.nstedb.com
https://birac.nic.in
https://www.makeinindia.com/home
https://www.msde.gov.in
https://www.startupbengal.in

The author is Assistant Professor of Microbiology at School of Life Science & Biotechnology, Adamas University. He is also serving as Associate Director: Incubation at Adamas University. He is a Ph.D in Microbiology from University of Kalyani and former Post-Doctoral Fellow at IISER Kolkata. He has 4+ years of teaching experience. Having 15 publications in international peer-reviewed journals, 2 book chapters and 2 patents to his credit, he participated in numerous national and international conferences in India and abroad. He is also a member of several professional bodies like Indian Science Congress Association etc.

This blog was first published by ABPEducation. Click here to read original article.

Opinion: Digital to blended learning in post-covid world

What demonetization of late 2016 did to fintech in India, then covid-19 pandemic of early 2020 did that to edtech and healthtech world-over. There is a forced migration to digital learning which is laying bare the underbelly of the much touted Digital India campaign exactly five years ago.

World-over more than 770 million students have been disrupted by covid-19 and the consequent lockdowns globally. The United Nations has warned of the unparalleled scale and speed of the educational disruption being caused by coronavirus. India has over 37 million students enrolled in higher education. An interruption in the delivery of education has already caused a disruption that might be long-run.

Learning or academics or education broadly has three functions. They are creation of learning content through research, writing; packaging with visuals, dissemination of learning through classes, lectures, notes, self-study, discussions; and assessment and evaluation of the education of the learner by various methods. All these three have been majorly impacted by the self-isolation imposed to ensure social distancing so that the learners and the mentors may first be protected from the spread of the infection of covid-19. The lockdown across the world is simultaneously a boon and a bane for the teaching-learning community today.

Digital Haves and Have Nots’ Dichotomy

Covid-19 is, in fact, amplifying the struggles that children are already facing globally to receive a quality education. Even before the outbreak of the virus, there were 258 million out-of-school children across the globe — principally due to poverty, poor governance, or living in or having fled an emergency or conflict. While there are programmes dedicated to ending the existing crisis in global education, the dramatic escalation that the covid-19 has introduced newer challenges for around 550 million children who were so far studying but do not have access to digital learning systems.

The digitally deprived large chunk of masses – being bereft of access to digital resources like a good internet connectivity, laptop or ipad for use, electricity and smart phone- across the globe is forced to waste productive learning time. The digital divide in every developing and under-developed society was never as glaring as it is now. Though more than 70% of Indian population has been covered now with mobile telephony, the resources needed for digital learning from distance or at home are not there with more than 1 out of 4 people in the country. Same is the case with youths in the formal learning age. This is the bane today.

India has been speaking of digital education for long but it has stayed on as a possibility and not a reality for more than a decade now. Even IITs and IIMs have used digital platforms on the side for sharing of content and debating on issues sporadically. The larger mass of 900 plus universities and some 44,000 colleges have actually not digitized their content, not made access to online learning mainstay of their teaching-learning process, except the distance learning universities. In fact, the old school educationists looked at online and distance education with some disdain all across South Asia. They are in for a major shock now.

Alongside, reality is that the digital penetration across India is still abysmally low beyond tier 1 and 2 cities and towns. It might keep whatsapp running and false content shared, but cannot truly replace face to face learning even remotely. The current pandemic has laid this bare so very poignantly. Hence, while the digital haves use zoom, Cisco webex, google meet class and other webinar platforms to talk, discuss, complete assignments, the digital have nots depend on occasional phone calls from their mentors and at the most a Facebook post or a whatsapp group chat with videos often not downloading.

Government Spending

It is clear that going ahead digital access will be a human right, and those in governance must wake up to the reality that youngsters need inexpensive tablets and easy data access. A nation that spends less than 3% of national budget for public education (lower than Tanzania, Angola and Ghana), with the states putting in 2.5 (Bihar) to 26% (Delhi), with Delhi being the only state in double digits, cannot ensure digital education for the masses.

The pandemic has made it imperative ahead that the entire education of India has to be a blended one with digital access and tools (device and internet) reaching the hands of learners in the most remote parts as well. This can only be aimed for with a minimum of 7% of budget for public education, upgradation on public education infra-structure, physically and digitally, and a massive retraining of the teachers at every level, letting the dinosaurs among teachers go in the interest of the learners.

If there was no enforced social distancing and students home-locked across the nation (and the globe), the transition of those with partial or full resources to complete digital learning pedagogy would not have been quickened. The process now has to move ahead to the next stage to bring in policy changes on allocation, training, infrastructure, pedagogy and evaluation process of education.

This will bring in unforeseen impact on public education. In a blended form, learners seek education voluntarily and collaboratively. Each lesson or skill or chapter is expected to lead to an outcome, a model, a design, a solution, a performance or an application, either simulated or real life. Education is not to be instructed, but explored organically, not to be imposed but experienced collectively fostering diversity, teamwork and mutual respect. These values today are only present by exception, which the current crisis may once again ignite. The post covid learners even in the public education system can be of a different breed fuelled by digital expectations.

Apart from government spending, there is also the need to allocate 2% of profits of corporate India for investing in creating digital access to India at large. Further, telecom companies need to come out with special packages for students and teachers with regards to internet access. And, in the people’s sector, non government organizations should roll out voluntary support to digital access for all Indians through movements like 1 million mobiles (donating discarded but functioning older cell phones from every home to the less privileged) and donate computers and IT infrastructure hours of private educational institutes with good IT infrastructure. These all together, along with much higher government spending in public education, can make the entire nation digitally connected.

Digital Learning Tools Today

The pandemic requires universities to rapidly offer online learning to their students. Fortunately, technology and content are available to help universities transition online quickly and with high quality, especially on the digital plank, though at a cost and with the risk of several teachers and administrators being forced to go out of the system.

Digital learning on the go or from distance calls for tech-led holistic solutions. It requires several content pieces to be transmitted digitally. These content pieces can be in the form of pdfs, ppts, URLs, YouTube links, podcast links, and case-studies. There can also be e-books, audio-books, kindle based content, magzter sourced magazines, etc. Then this can involve learning without being face to face through boxes, as in Google Class, or learning face to face as in Zoom live audio-visual discussions. People may also use GoToMeetings or MicrosoftMeet sessions also. Attendance can be taken on Google Spreadsheet and through Whatsapp Group chat of a batch of students too.

There are other tools that can take digital go miles ahead. Flipped classroom method with an active learning classroom can have all study resources given a day or two in advance, and the actual session starting with a quick quiz, then doubts clearance, and thereafter a few issues of the future or counter points to what were given earlier, like possible different scenarios or new research findings not shared earlier. This is quite an effective way of learning, which is internalized, collaborative, experiential, bottom-up, as distinctly different from teaching, which is instructional, hierarchic and top-down.

Then there are MOOCs, collaborative distance learning, wikis, blogs etc. Individual resource-rich institutes develop their customized secured and IPR protected Learning Management Systems, through the use of BlackBoard or TCSion LMS. Other LMS options like Kaltura or Impartus allowing video recording of talks also are in use in many places. There are CourseEra courses, Swayam online lessons from UGC and similar other avenues to learn online.

Learning digitally can be further assisted with Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) which can take the viewer to an enhanced experience even integrating scenarios which are yet to happen creatively bringing them within the learning experience. These are immersive and contextual experiences, and artificial intelligence driven chatbots can further enhance the digital interface of the learner and the mentor.

Digital Learning Value-adds

Incorporating big data analytics and content management, educators can develop an individualized curriculum that enhances how each student learns (e.g. playlist of learning content in WiseWire changing for each student). Many in the West have started the use of the millennials’ language and style: Khan Academy video lessons, YouTube use, distinct style and language for young learners. Twitter, Tumblr, Snapchat, Imessage, Instagram, Facebook & Whatsapp are being creatively integrated with school education. There is a case of a management school in India, where the professor sends a 3 minutes interesting video on the subject he is taking up next through group whatsapp to increase interest in the batch towards the topic being taught.

In the US, the smart-phone applications like Socrative and Plickers are helping teachers interact and assess students’ progress, collaborate via cloud-based applications to work and solve a common goal. Teachers can publish real-time quizzes and polls for students via mobile devices to keep them engaged.

Further, using anything from iMovie to WeVideo, learners can create video as a learning resource. YouTube (with privacy settings) and SeeSaw or Flipgrid are also alternatives learners can make use of. The benefits of SeeSaw and Flipgrid are that students can add voice recordings or text sharing feedback with peers. Students became the co-creators of content and as a result, more engaged, including their parents. Useful apps like Book Creator, Explain Everything and EduCreations can be utilised towards this end.

There are various software used to create digital content, like Camtasia, Raptivity, Captivate, and Articulate Online.

Yes alongside, social media use extensively will support learning online. Facebook Page can broadcast updates and alerts. Facebook Group or Google Hangout with advanced features in G-suite can stream live lectures and host discussions. Twitter can act as a class message board. The 256 characters help to keep messages succinct. Instagram can be used for photo essays. One can create a class blog for discussions. There are many different platforms available, such as WordPress, SquareSpace, Wix, Blogger for that. And, one can create a class-specific Pinterest board as well.

Digital Assessment and Evaluation

Online quiz, open book examination with time-managed and proctored question paper delivered online, applied questions not based on memory but comprehension, telephonic interview etc have been the usual ways of digital assessment and evaluation of learning.

Assessment refers to learner performance; it helps us decide if students are learning and where improvement in that learning is needed.

Evaluation refers to a systematic process of determining the merit value or worth of the instruction or programme; it helps us determine if a course is effective (course goals) and informs our design efforts. Assessment and evaluation can be both formative (carried out during the course) and summative (carried out following the course). There can be many ways for the same. Mentors can make learners aware of expectations in advance (e.g. one week for feedback from deadline) and keep them posted (announcement: all projects have been marked). For example, one can create tests that are multiple choice, true/false, or short answer essays and one can set the assessments to automatically provide feedback.

Possibilities in Education beyond covid

Online learning is the big winner from this – across all education levels; so proving quality now is at centre stage. However, going ahead, in the post COVID times, blended learning will be the way to go. The biggest future benefits of virtual instruction will come after our professors and students return to their physical classrooms. The necessity of teaching and learning with asynchronous (Canvas, Blackboard, D2L) and synchronous (Zoom) platforms will yield significant benefits when these methods are layered into face-to-face instruction. We will come back from COVID-19 with a much more widely shared understanding that digital tools are complements, not substitutes, for the intimacy and immediacy of face-to-face learning. Since professors are now moving content online, precious classroom time will be more productively utilized for discussion, debate and guided practice.

Moving ahead in the New Normal, teachers may more be called a mentor now as information and knowledge are at the fingertips of the students faster than that of the teachers, especially the grown-up learners, post 16 years let’s say. It was so early too, but even the facade of higher knowledge (read, degrees, age and experience) is not the greatest of value moving ahead. So mentors shall be needed to inspire, motivate, direct to a new domain of learning or action, bring in perspectives, lend shoulder to a grieving youth, but not just for knowledge and information which are anyways available.

Similarly, students can now be a true learner. They were always so. But the onus of learning is all the more on the learner now on (in the earlier regime teachers teach, students study). Students study for exams, marks and degrees, under the tutelage of teachers, with a structured syllabus. Learners learn within and beyond the classroom, from mentors and others, for lifetime use of knowledge for a career and life, within and beyond the syllabus, structured or unstructured, online or offline.

Engagement is the new currency in post covid education, as much as in entertainment. For a long time, the grievance in the classroom was that students are not present and neither interested to learn. That challenge is universal. But digital allows the learner to be engaged at his time, place and pace. And that is good enough. It is a qualitatively different world ahead. Good and bad education will not be decided by marks and numbers of degree certificates handed. It will be decided by the level of academic and related online and social media engagement of the learners, the quality of content shared by mentors, and the value and volume of content generated by engaged learners.

The author is Pro-Vice Chancellor of Adamas University, Kolkata. Views are personal.

This blog was first published by ETGovernment.com. Click here to read original article.

#GenomicsPlus #BiotechnologyPlus Genomics- a tool to combat the second wave of Coronavirus pandemic

While the world is facing a new type of biological war after world war-II with corona pandemic caused by coronavirus a piece of positive news struck me two weeks back. New Zealand declares that their country is corona free. With more days in lockdown and staying back at home, communities are fighting on psychological platforms while countries are fighting with their sharp decline in economies. In between all that many countries like South Korea, Taiwan, and New Zealand were able to successfully suppress the first phase of infections and trying to prevent the second phase of COVID-19 pandemic with a very old tool of Biological sciences called “Genomics”.

Scientists around the world are poised to identify the origin of the second wave of infection using Genomics with very advanced tools commonly available in our research institutes. Genome sequencing of first coronavirus strain isolated from Wuhan, China was published on 11^th Jan, 2020¹. Currently, 35000 viral genome sequence of human SARS-CoV2 is available online with a constant increase in their number². These massive data of viral genome sequencing from different countries:

1) Allows the scientist to understand the origin of the viral outbreak in their own country.

2) Able to identify the genomic variability among different strains may be responsible for a higher or lower rate of pathogenicity.

3) It further helps to contain the spread of the virus by identifying the contact tracing and its geographical origin³.

4) Identifying a specific strain by genomics guide the medical practitioners for precision intervention targeting that particular strain to reduce the spread of infection at a very early stage.

Recently, an analysis published in the journal “Cell” shows a particular mutated variant of the virus is more transmissible compared to other genetic variant⁴. The genetic variant carrying a mutation in the spike protein region was accounted for just 10% infection in March identified from the sequencing of patients. Dynamic tracking of this coronavirus variant by eminent Joint Consortium of Genomics from Los Alamos National Laboratory the USA and the University of Sheffield, UK identified its global dominance by May accounting for 78% cases around the world. Probably, the mutation in spike protein improves the virus uptake by human cells.

Generally, RNA viruses are prone to mutation and every year we need a new version of the vaccine for flu. Although, the authors in Cell paper did not identify the reason for the high transmissibility of this coronavirus variant among humans the genomic study was successful to identify highly infectious variants. Similarly, identification of mutants which can make virus unrecognizable by our immune system or making it more stable so that it can survive in the air for a longer period will be able to reduce the chances of community spread.

Figure: Nextstrain software platform performs easier and faster representation genomic epidemiology data. The above figure is adopted from Bedford Lab webpage showing the genetic epidemiology of140 novel coronavirus strain (genomic data available at www.gisaid.org) in early March.

During the last decade, genome sequencing techniques have evolved largely due to rapid improvement in technology and operating software. Thanks to Human Genome Project mainly carried out by NIH, the USA in association with other renowned labs around the world completed in 2001-2002 contributed to the rapid development technologies in Genomics. Next-generation sequencing technologies and instruments like Illumina’s Solexa Sequencing or Roche 454 sequencing offered by several companies markedly reduces the time requirements of genome sequencing as well as costs. It is several folds cheaper to do a genome sequencing today in comparison to twenty years back which further opens the gateway for personalized medicine by genome sequencing. Therefore, the requirement for trained peoples in the field of Genomics is rising to operate the instruments, data analysis, and statistical calculations required for a conclusive study.

References:

1.Zhang, Y.-Z. & Holmes, E. C. A Genomic Perspective on the Origin and Emergence of SARS-CoV-2. Cell 2020; 181, 223–227.

2.https://www.gisaid.org/.

3.Stevens, E. et al..The Public Health Impact of a Publically Available, Environmental Database of Microbial Genomes. Front. Microbiol. 2017;8, 808.

4.Korber, B., et al..Tracking changes in SARS-CoV-2 Spike: evidence that D614G increases infectivity of the COVID-19 virus. Cell 2020; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.06.043.

#BiotechNext Severe Scarcity of Potable Water in the New Normal: The quest for a solution with Biotechnology

Student Contributors:

Abikhit Chatterjee, M.Sc. Biotechnology, Sem-II, SoLB, AU
Maitreyee Sengupta, B.Sc. Biotechnology, Sem-IV, SoLB, AU

The Fact:

“Water water everywhere, nor any drop to drink”
― Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Source: https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/water/

The above-quoted line is depicting the level of difficulty that we are expecting to face shortly. Though we know that our earth’s surface is covered by 2/3^rd of water but out of this 2/3^rd, only 3% of water is suitable for drinking purposes. Many arid regions in the world are already in a critical condition, facing the difficulty of the scarcity of freshwater resources and the need for additional water supplies is increasing day by day and it will be increasing to a much higher rate in the coming future.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), washing hands with soap and water is one of the most effective and useful methods we can take to prevent the spread of pathogens and prevent infections. Even it is found to be very effective in stopping the spread of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). Hence, the demand for safe water is going to increase day by day.

Figure 1: Projected freshwater use in global scenario

According to a survey report carried out in 2019, there are around 2.1 billion people that are living without a proper supply of safe drinking water in their homes and this problem will be increasing soon and by around 2050, there will be a severe shortage of freshwater sources and out of every 4 people, 1 people will be residing in an area having a severe shortage of freshwater sources (https://www.worldvision.org/).

Out of several goals set by the United Nations (UN) in 2018 to overcome this situation, the goal number 6 was to ensure that all the people residing in this huge world should have proper access to water and sanitization. Every day, thousands of death cases are being reported and as per the report it can be seen that death is occurring mostly in children and the main reason behind this death is the unavailability of proper drinking water and sanitization (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/).

This is to be noted that, March 22 is celebrated as World Water Day by the United Nations to measure the progress rate that the world is making in providing safe water for drinking and hygiene purpose to the people. The United Nations General Assembly, in December 2016 adopted a resolution “International Decade (2018-2028) for Action –Water for Sustainable Development”. It was adopted to mainly help in putting a greater focus on water for the coming ten years (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-action-decade/).

Recent statistics say, approximately 6 liters of water per minute is being used by a running tap. A normal hand washing for 20-30 seconds, can use approximately 3.5 liters of water if the tap is kept on or it can use approximately 2 liters of water if the tap is kept closed while scrubbing our hands with soap. A family comprising of five members would spend approximately 100-200 liters of water per day only to wash their hands 10 times a day as compared to 4-5 times hand washing a day as usual.

Figure 2: Use of water in day to day life

Does Biotechnology have a solution to combat the situation?

Our lifespan would last for approximately 14 days without water. Our entire survival is closely dependent on one single, exhaustible natural resource. Biotechnology has a large impact on industries such as the plant, agriculture, and pharmaceutical sector, but its role in water technology is ready for the new beginning.

The major sources of drinking water are surface water and groundwater. Both forms of water are generally not safe at the source and require some form of treatment to consider it as potable. Hence, water treatment technology is an area of vital importance in the global as well as Indian context and it is of utmost importance for any government to launch missions on environmental biotechnology, to meet the basic needs of safe and pure drinking water and hygienic sanitation facilities for the people.

Certain cutting-edge technologies are available for the treatment of raw water supplies, for industry or large communities are the following:

Desalination:

There are only a few underground resources available but the water is becoming saline day by day due to the extraction of water from aquifers. However, to produce rain naturally, which is the main source of freshwater on earth, a process known as solar desalination evaporation is carried out.

Saline water can be made into freshwater, which has many uses. The process is termed as “desalination”, and it is being used often around the world to provide people with needed freshwater. The major challenge is to remove the dissolved salt in seawater. Now Floating distillation is a technique in which a machine that is named as ‘floating solar still’ is based on. That uses the mechanism of evaporation and condensation.

Reverse osmosis (RO):

Another way to desalinize the seawater is by the “reverse osmosis” procedure. In simple language, water, which contains dissolved salt molecules, is run through a semipermeable membrane against osmotic pressure (which is a filter), in which the larger salt molecules do not get through the membrane holes but the smaller water molecules do.

Forward Osmosis (FO):

FO is an emerging water filtration/purification technology that uses an osmotic pressure difference to drive water across a semipermeable membrane. Due to its potential applications in several areas, including food and drug preparation, desalination and power production, research on FO membranes has increased exponentially.

Electrodialysis (ED):

ED utilizes electric current to separate ions from water. ED consists of different cell compartments separated by selective ion exchange membranes; under applied direct current, the ions move toward the electrodes by passing through these selectively permeable membranes.

Nanotechnology in Water Purification:

Membrane-based water purification is an energy and waste efficient method to remove molecular pollutants. ‘Increased water throughput, high filter efficiency, and high molecular loading capacity are the primary aim for designing water membrane-based purification.

Biomimetic nanotechnology would be a promising technology for water purification:

Various types of channel proteins, broadly named porins, present in the cell membrane of Gram-negative bacteria have specific functionalities depending on their selectivity toward various nutrients or toward the water. The high selectivity of porins has led to their incorporation into synthetic systems, in a field called “biomimetics”. The concept of incorporating aquaporins into synthetic membranes has been observed in recent years. Hence, the next generation of water filtration technology is about to improve using biomimetic membranes.

In summary, India had always nurtured creative research minds who always came up with a solution in the time of crisis. The future of biomimetic and bioinspired membranes depends on the design strategies, level of nature imitation, and the performance of these systems on a commercial scale. In this blog, we have compiled some of the best water technology and water treatment companies in India such as VА Тесh Wаbаg, Тhеrmах Іndіа, GE Wаtеr, Siemens India – Water Technologies, Аquа Іnnоvаtіvе Ѕоlutіоnѕ, Suez Water Technologies & Solutions, Iоn Eхсhаngе Іndіа Ltd, Toshiba Water Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Wipro Water, etc. They all are doing a fantastic job of making our society better by providing safe water and there will be an enormous scope of the job for the biotechnologist soon.

Further reading:

Fowler, S. J., & Smets, B. F. (2017). Microbial biotechnologies for potable water production. Microbial biotechnology, 10(5), 1094-1097.

Kirisits, M. J., Emelko, M. B., & Pinto, A. J. (2019). Applying biotechnology for drinking water biofiltration: advancing science and practice. Current opinion in biotechnology, 57, 197-204.

Wagh, P., & Escobar, I. C. (2019). Biomimetic and bioinspired membranes for water purification: A critical review and future directions. Environmental progress & sustainable energy, 38(3), e13215.

Fuwad, A., Ryu, H., Malmstadt, N., Kim, S. M., & Jeon, T. J. (2019). Biomimetic membranes as potential tools for water purification: Preceding and future avenues. Desalination, 458, 97-115.

#PositiveCorona: Impact of COVID-19 on evolution of Online Teaching-Learning

Introduction:

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) was first detected in China in 2019 in Wuhan of Hubei Province. Since then coronavirus has become a new threat to humanity and many countries across the world have implemented forced lockdown to tackle the spread of COVID-19.

In our country, we are also facing the coronavirus threat since March 2020. Following the declaration by World Health Organization (WHO) that COVID-19 is a pandemic, the Central and State Governments have announced lock down with immediate effect and havealso taken several possible safety measures like closure of all academic and educational institutions, imposing strict restriction in public gatherings, shutdown of shopping malls, play grounds, hotels and restaurants, cinema halls, etc. to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Pandemic make changes in the delivery model of education. Manyacademic institutions havedecided to move their courses online and have chosen different online platforms (Google-Meet, Skype, Team, Zoom) to impart education.Concept of online teaching learning evolves as a promising alternative to regular classroom teaching.It bridges the gap between students and teachers and makesthem feel as if they are sitting in a classroom.In this brief note, I am going to highlight some advantages and some key challenges in this field.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Education Sectors:

Coronavirus has imposed a serious challenge to the academic sector. It has caused disruption of education for nearly 290 million students globally (Reported by UNESCO). Closure of academic institutions was indeed necessary to save life from coronavirus threat. The three key words of life now are ‘stay at home, stay safe and social distancing’. Learning-online is the mostacceptable option for students and academician until a vaccine becomes available. Digital tools and platforms can play a vital role during this COVID-19 created crisis.So with the help of technology, we can re-think and then re-orient our teaching learning pedagogy based on the needs of the students.

Approach towards Online Teaching:

Many of us still believe that face-to-face model of teaching-learning-evaluation is the best option as compared to teaching online. But it is the right time to look for alternatives. If students aren’t able to come to the classroom then the only option left is to bring the classroom into their house.

Thisonline remote learningincludes computer based learning, web-based learning, online virtual classes offered by various academic institutions. However the immediate move towards online education is not easy. It requires lot of planning at the ground level. In this context preparation of resources (lecturer materials, lecturer video) are very important. Institutions should take initiatives to create a technology-enabled environment for maintaining contacts with students and guardians and to teach them online. Professors and teachers from Colleges and Universities can use several communicating platforms like Zoom, Team, or Skypeto reach the students to impart education. The mode of communication includes:

Conduction of online classes.
Sharing and uploading of lecturer materials (pre-recorded lecturers, PDFs, power-point presentations) through emails, Institution’s website.
Sending regular assignments and taking online tests.

If someone misses a particular online class due to interruption in internet connection, he/she can later see the recorded version of the same in his/her suitable time. Only appropriate link has to be shared among the learners. In addition, students can also avail several online educational platforms like Coursera, FutureLearn, Simplilearn and continue their education by watching video lectures, listening to audio and downloading reading materials. Learners can learn according to his/her preferences and interest through these online educational-platforms. However, the present model of online education is just web based learning. Installation of any package-software is not required. A laptop/desktop orsmart phone with internet connection and web-browsers, that’s all we need to starttransferring knowledge and skills. It is rightly described as ‘emergency remote teaching’.

Does Pandemic reforms our Education:

At present we are going through the phase of Unlock 2 and have observed a sudden abrupt enhancement in the number of reported confirmed cases in India. We have the highest reported confirmed cases in Asia and also it is the third highest in the world after Untied States of America and Brazil (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19 pandemic in India). If problems caused by COVID-19 pandemic stay in same intensity for next couple of months, then normal interactive classroom teaching will be very difficult even in next semester.

Can these digital platforms be a suitable replacement of a physical classroom? At this point we don’t actually know how long the academic institutions will remain closed. Teaching online requires communication, delivery, distribution of class materials and assessments; hence a meaningful integration of education with technology is the necessity.All academic institutionsare now slowly incorporate online education into their strategic planning to impart education at the state of emergency. It is not that we are looking for a drastic change in the conventional way of teaching and learning; rather we are trying to re-orient the conventional way to continue teaching-learning process even in this present scenario.Quality online education requires both rich content and scope for interaction among student-content, student-student and student-teacher. Integration of content with scope for interaction in a meaningful way could enhance the learning outcomes. Followings are some key advantages of remote teaching:

Advantages ofOnline learning:

The interface between learners and trainers is user friendly and above all students feel a classroom experience by sitting safely at his/her home.
One can easily share study materials in all formats (PDFs, PPTs, and lecturer videos) either through emails or can upload it in website and conduct online live classes.
Flexible in time, teachers can upload the lecture materials before the class hours, andclassroom time could then be more productive and interactive.
One can easily note down the participation of students in online classes and online exams, based on the performance extra tutorials can be conducted.
Presently most of the competitive exams are being conducted in online mode. Participation in online tests, quizzes can improve competitive mind of students.
One can also conduct webinars,communications between renowned subject experts and students is made possible through these online webinars.

India is a vast country. Indian Universities and colleges are gradually developing their online teaching-learning programmes. Quality online learning programmes require lot of planning, preparation and investments. It is equally true that participation in online education requires computers/smart phones and internet connectivity. Problem comes when a student do not have access to those digital devices and internet connection. In the long run success of online learning requires Govt. should provide free broad-band connection and suitable devices to every leanersand digital equity in education has to be ensured.

Conclusions:

At present, whole world is fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. In spite of some challenges, teaching online covers a lot of ground in academics in this crisis situation. In future India will do well on online education and will create far better opportunity for learners. Recently IIT-Bombay has introduced a self-paced online course (https://sites.google.com/view/iitb-teachonline) for instructors.It is a continuous process, more such courses are needed to be prepared and also on regional languages and shared among the learners and experts, that willincrease awareness of online education.As rightly said every cloud has a silver lining. Lock down gave us short but some effective time to introduce online teaching and learning into mainstream education. Once we will return to normal life, realize that digital technology and online classes are companion to the face-to-face teaching and learning. On top of that, the resource materialsprepared for online courses will be an asset for academician and institution. In this crisis moment parents and teachers can join hands to motivate students to be fully involved in online teaching-learning process.