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Jan 29, 2015
[Ed] Micromanaging loans
The RBI would do better to empower borrowers rather than regulate the pricing of loans
The Reserve Bank of India’s directive demanding banks spell out their rationale for charging differential spreads to borrowers and to display minimum and maximum lending rates on their websites may be intended to improve transparency in loan pricing. But it is undesirable as it robs the discretion of banks to take loan decisions based on their own perceptions of risk. Such micromanagement is unnecessary given that banks are subject to a base rate mechanism, arrived at on the basis of an RBI formula, and which forms the basis for all their rate decisions. If the RBI monitors individual pricing decisions as well, what leeway will banks have in managing their commercial affairs?
The reluctance of banks to pass on rate cuts to borrowers appears to have prompted the RBI’s move. Banks have generally chosen to reduce their spreads (the mark up over the base rate) rather than lop base rates whenever the RBI undertakes rate cuts. This has resulted in new borrowers benefiting from lower rates, while older ones have remained locked in at higher ones. There is a valid reason for this practice. When the RBI cuts rates, banks can trim rates on incremental term deposits; older depositors continue to earn higher rates. Against this backdrop, if banks reduce their base rates and thus lending rates on all loans, their margins will take a severe hit. To avoid this, banks opt to tinker with spreads on a case-to-case basis. Banks will find the directive asking them to charge the same spread to all borrowers with similar risk profiles difficult to implement. It will require banks to operate detailed credit appraisal systems, which some PSBs are still in the process of evolving. Maintaining and updating individual loan accounts is an expensive proposition. With floating rate home loans, for instance, banks rework the tenure or EMI of the loans whenever the base rate changes. Resetting loan rates frequently may also be unsettling to borrowers, who for this very reason, opt for fixed rate loans. Listing the minimum and maximum limits for lending rates may have borrowers demanding the lowest rate available on a particular loan.
The problem of passing on rate cuts is better addressed by measures such as tweaking the norms for base rate calculations, as the RBI has done. Now, it must be measured on the basis of deposits that have the largest share in the banks’ fund base rather than in the arbitrary fashion they were arrived at. All in all, however, instead of micromanaging pricing decisions, the central bank will do better to empower borrowers by ushering in greater competition in the banking sector. At a time when opinion is consolidating in favour of the phase-out of directed lending and the use of credit control tools, imposing restrictive credit pricing mechanisms on banks seems retrograde.
The Reserve Bank of India’s directive demanding banks spell out their rationale for charging differential spreads to borrowers and to display minimum and maximum lending rates on their websites may be intended to improve transparency in loan pricing. But it is undesirable as it robs the discretion of banks to take loan decisions based on their own perceptions of risk. Such micromanagement is unnecessary given that banks are subject to a base rate mechanism, arrived at on the basis of an RBI formula, and which forms the basis for all their rate decisions. If the RBI monitors individual pricing decisions as well, what leeway will banks have in managing their commercial affairs?
The reluctance of banks to pass on rate cuts to borrowers appears to have prompted the RBI’s move. Banks have generally chosen to reduce their spreads (the mark up over the base rate) rather than lop base rates whenever the RBI undertakes rate cuts. This has resulted in new borrowers benefiting from lower rates, while older ones have remained locked in at higher ones. There is a valid reason for this practice. When the RBI cuts rates, banks can trim rates on incremental term deposits; older depositors continue to earn higher rates. Against this backdrop, if banks reduce their base rates and thus lending rates on all loans, their margins will take a severe hit. To avoid this, banks opt to tinker with spreads on a case-to-case basis. Banks will find the directive asking them to charge the same spread to all borrowers with similar risk profiles difficult to implement. It will require banks to operate detailed credit appraisal systems, which some PSBs are still in the process of evolving. Maintaining and updating individual loan accounts is an expensive proposition. With floating rate home loans, for instance, banks rework the tenure or EMI of the loans whenever the base rate changes. Resetting loan rates frequently may also be unsettling to borrowers, who for this very reason, opt for fixed rate loans. Listing the minimum and maximum limits for lending rates may have borrowers demanding the lowest rate available on a particular loan.
The problem of passing on rate cuts is better addressed by measures such as tweaking the norms for base rate calculations, as the RBI has done. Now, it must be measured on the basis of deposits that have the largest share in the banks’ fund base rather than in the arbitrary fashion they were arrived at. All in all, however, instead of micromanaging pricing decisions, the central bank will do better to empower borrowers by ushering in greater competition in the banking sector. At a time when opinion is consolidating in favour of the phase-out of directed lending and the use of credit control tools, imposing restrictive credit pricing mechanisms on banks seems retrograde.
Source - Business Line
Jugaad globalisation
Piecemeal adoption of IFRS won’t work
In 2009, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) drew up a road map for the transition of Indian Accounting Standards to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). ICAI submitted it to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). The desi equivalents of the standards were christened Ind-AS; three notifications were issued in 2010 in rapid-fire succession and the notified standards were put on the MCA website.
And then nothing happened. The standards were never implemented thanks to issues that could never be fathomed — tax concerns and pressure from certain industries were being talked about as possible reasons.
Circa 2014
In Budget 2014, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley delivered a four-liner on India having to go the ‘Ind-AS’ way. A month and an half before Jaitley’s next Budget, a press release from the MCA detailed the new roadmap. Listed companies and companies with a net worth in excess of Rs.500 crore and their holding companies, subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures would need to transition from April 1, 2016.
Listed companies with a net worth below Rs. 500 crore, or unlisted companies with a net worth of Rs.250-500 crore along with their holding companies, subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures would need to transition from April 1, 2017.
Since comparative numbers also have to be restated, the actual dates of transition would be one year prior to the above dates. The MCA release gives an option to move voluntarily to Ind-AS from April 1, 2015 but this may not see many takers. History shows us that unless there is a mandate by law, Indian entities embracing a rule is more an exception than a rule.
The MCA move is a relief after years of inaction. However, it is puzzling why the ministry issued a press release instead of a formal notification. It could have waited till the National Committee on Accounting Standards (NACAS) came out with the revised Ind-AS standards.
Patience vs influence
Significantly, banks, insurance companies and non-banking financial companies are not included in the above press release — this could be due to instructions being awaited from the the RBI and insurance regulator Irda.
The Companies Act, 2013, and its amendments have ensured that India is 60 per cent IFRS-compliant — the balance 40 per cent were the Ind-As standards being notified. It would be interesting to note that in 2003, the ICAI had come out with a trilogy of accounting standards on a very critical topic — financial instruments, But even after 11 years, the standards are not mandatory.
Ironically, if a notification follows the press release, India will be moving to IFRS when the utility of those standards itself are being questioned. Critics claim that IFRS, adopted by the EU in 2002, has made accounting less prudent by undermining or even jettisoning the principle that financial statements must be true and fair.
The Accounting Standards Board in the US (FASB) recently left its global counterpart, IASB, in the lurch on a joint insurance contracts project. During the credit crisis, IFRS standards used by banks were scanned closely and many holes were found, which resulted in a new Standard IFRS9 on Financial Instruments. India has not even implemented the old standard!
In all likelihood, the notion of a single global accounting language will remain a myth. IFRS standards are good, bad and ugly in bits. By going for a delayed and juggaad implementation of these standards, India has missed out on the good parts.
And then nothing happened. The standards were never implemented thanks to issues that could never be fathomed — tax concerns and pressure from certain industries were being talked about as possible reasons.
Circa 2014
In Budget 2014, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley delivered a four-liner on India having to go the ‘Ind-AS’ way. A month and an half before Jaitley’s next Budget, a press release from the MCA detailed the new roadmap. Listed companies and companies with a net worth in excess of Rs.500 crore and their holding companies, subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures would need to transition from April 1, 2016.
Listed companies with a net worth below Rs. 500 crore, or unlisted companies with a net worth of Rs.250-500 crore along with their holding companies, subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures would need to transition from April 1, 2017.
Since comparative numbers also have to be restated, the actual dates of transition would be one year prior to the above dates. The MCA release gives an option to move voluntarily to Ind-AS from April 1, 2015 but this may not see many takers. History shows us that unless there is a mandate by law, Indian entities embracing a rule is more an exception than a rule.
The MCA move is a relief after years of inaction. However, it is puzzling why the ministry issued a press release instead of a formal notification. It could have waited till the National Committee on Accounting Standards (NACAS) came out with the revised Ind-AS standards.
Patience vs influence
Significantly, banks, insurance companies and non-banking financial companies are not included in the above press release — this could be due to instructions being awaited from the the RBI and insurance regulator Irda.
The Companies Act, 2013, and its amendments have ensured that India is 60 per cent IFRS-compliant — the balance 40 per cent were the Ind-As standards being notified. It would be interesting to note that in 2003, the ICAI had come out with a trilogy of accounting standards on a very critical topic — financial instruments, But even after 11 years, the standards are not mandatory.
Ironically, if a notification follows the press release, India will be moving to IFRS when the utility of those standards itself are being questioned. Critics claim that IFRS, adopted by the EU in 2002, has made accounting less prudent by undermining or even jettisoning the principle that financial statements must be true and fair.
The Accounting Standards Board in the US (FASB) recently left its global counterpart, IASB, in the lurch on a joint insurance contracts project. During the credit crisis, IFRS standards used by banks were scanned closely and many holes were found, which resulted in a new Standard IFRS9 on Financial Instruments. India has not even implemented the old standard!
In all likelihood, the notion of a single global accounting language will remain a myth. IFRS standards are good, bad and ugly in bits. By going for a delayed and juggaad implementation of these standards, India has missed out on the good parts.
Source - Business Line
Ebola vaccine safe, generates immune response, shows trial
The first trial results of Ebola vaccine at Oxford University suggest the vaccine has an acceptable safety profile and is able to generate an immune response.
“The Ebola vaccine was well tolerated. Its safety profile is pretty much as we had hoped,” said professor Adrian Hill of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University who led the trial.
The results suggest that the vaccine is suitable for further testing in West Africa during the current outbreak.
The Ebola vaccine is being co-developed by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) against the Zaire strain of Ebola, which is the one circulating in West Africa.
The first doses for use in large scale trials in West Africa have been delivered to Liberia by GSK.
The vaccine uses a single Ebola virus gene in a chimpanzee adenovirus to generate an immune response.
As it does not contain infectious Ebola virus material, it cannot cause a person who is vaccinated to become infected with Ebola.
During the trial, 60 healthy volunteers were vaccinated at the Jenner Institute.
The results showed safety data and immune responses for the volunteers for 28 days after immunisation.
Two people experienced a moderate fever within 24 hours of receiving the vaccine but this passed within a day.
“People typically experienced mild symptoms that lasted for one or maybe two days, such as pain or reddening at the injection site, and occasionally people felt feverish,” professor Hill explained.
The primary goal of the trial was to assess safety. However, the scientists also assessed immune responses to Ebola seen in the volunteers before and after vaccination.
Importantly, the vaccine generated immune responses against Ebola in the volunteers.
Levels of antibodies increased over a period of 28 days after vaccination and there was no significant difference in the levels seen at different doses.
Levels of T cells — cellular immunity is the other arm of the body’s immune system — peaked at 14 days.
“Larger trials in West Africa are needed to tell whether immune responses are large enough to protect against Ebola infection and disease,” the team added.
The Oxford University trial is one of several safety trials of the GSK/NIH vaccine candidate — in the USA, Britain, Mali and Switzerland — that have been fast-tracked in response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
The Oxford University scientists have also begun testing the safety of a candidate booster vaccine against Ebola, to find out whether it could further increase the immune responses.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed over 8,000 people so far.
The initial findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
“The Ebola vaccine was well tolerated. Its safety profile is pretty much as we had hoped,” said professor Adrian Hill of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University who led the trial.
The results suggest that the vaccine is suitable for further testing in West Africa during the current outbreak.
The Ebola vaccine is being co-developed by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) against the Zaire strain of Ebola, which is the one circulating in West Africa.
The first doses for use in large scale trials in West Africa have been delivered to Liberia by GSK.
The vaccine uses a single Ebola virus gene in a chimpanzee adenovirus to generate an immune response.
As it does not contain infectious Ebola virus material, it cannot cause a person who is vaccinated to become infected with Ebola.
During the trial, 60 healthy volunteers were vaccinated at the Jenner Institute.
The results showed safety data and immune responses for the volunteers for 28 days after immunisation.
Two people experienced a moderate fever within 24 hours of receiving the vaccine but this passed within a day.
“People typically experienced mild symptoms that lasted for one or maybe two days, such as pain or reddening at the injection site, and occasionally people felt feverish,” professor Hill explained.
The primary goal of the trial was to assess safety. However, the scientists also assessed immune responses to Ebola seen in the volunteers before and after vaccination.
Importantly, the vaccine generated immune responses against Ebola in the volunteers.
Levels of antibodies increased over a period of 28 days after vaccination and there was no significant difference in the levels seen at different doses.
Levels of T cells — cellular immunity is the other arm of the body’s immune system — peaked at 14 days.
“Larger trials in West Africa are needed to tell whether immune responses are large enough to protect against Ebola infection and disease,” the team added.
The Oxford University trial is one of several safety trials of the GSK/NIH vaccine candidate — in the USA, Britain, Mali and Switzerland — that have been fast-tracked in response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
The Oxford University scientists have also begun testing the safety of a candidate booster vaccine against Ebola, to find out whether it could further increase the immune responses.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed over 8,000 people so far.
The initial findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
Source - The Hindu
[PIB] 18th National Conference on e-Governance
Theme: Digital Governance-New Frontier
The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India, in association with the Department of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India and Government of Gujarat, is organising the 18th National Conference on e-Governance on January 30-31, 2015 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Senior Officers from the Government, Industry, academicians, technical experts and NGOs will participate in the event.
The Chief Minister of Gujarat, Smt. Anandiben Patel, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh; will be present during the inaugural session on January 30, 2015. The occasion will also be attended by Secretary, DARPG, Government of India, Shri Alok Rawat; Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, Shri R. S. Sharma; Chief Secretary, Gujarat, Shri D. J. Pandian; President NASSCOM, Shri R. Chandrashekhar; Special Secretary, DARPG, Shri Arun Jha; and other Senior Officers from the Government of India and various State/Union Territory Governments.
National e-Governance Awards for the year 2014-15 will be presented in 12 different categories concerning various aspects of e-Governance during the inaugural session by the Chief Minister of Gujarat, the Minister of Communications & Information Technology, Government of India and the Minister of State in the Prime Minister Office and Personnel. The Valedictory session will be graced by the Governor of Gujarat, Shri O.P. Kohli and the Minister of Science & Technology, Government of Gujarat, Shri Govindbhai Patel. The National e-Governance Awards recognise some of the best Government to Government (G2G), Government to Citizen (G2C), Government to Business (G2B) initiatives taken by various government departments and also initiatives of public sector units and Non-Government Institutions. The Conference along with the Exhibition is a forum to showcase best practices, innovative technologies and ICT solutions. The 18th National Conference on e-Governance, with the theme “Digital Governance-New Frontier”, will explore the benefits of the use of ICT, how e-Governance leaders can act as the agents of change, integrated service delivery and use of mobile platform for expanding access rapidly. Focus sector of the year is “Skill Development and Employability”.
The inaugural session will be followed by a session on “Digital India” and plenary session on “Digital Governance-New Frontier”. Other interactive sessions will include discussions on a wide range of topics such as “e-Governance Leaders as Change Agents”; “Accountable Governance through Social Media and Citizen Engagement”; and “Integrated Service Delivery-Standards and Interoperability”; “Use of Mobile Platform for rapidly expanding access”; “Skill Development and Employability”; Partnership with Industry – New Business Model and Service Delivery”; and “Citizen Services in a Smart City – New Paradigm”.
The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India, in association with the Department of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India and Government of Gujarat, is organising the 18th National Conference on e-Governance on January 30-31, 2015 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Senior Officers from the Government, Industry, academicians, technical experts and NGOs will participate in the event.
The Chief Minister of Gujarat, Smt. Anandiben Patel, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh; will be present during the inaugural session on January 30, 2015. The occasion will also be attended by Secretary, DARPG, Government of India, Shri Alok Rawat; Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, Shri R. S. Sharma; Chief Secretary, Gujarat, Shri D. J. Pandian; President NASSCOM, Shri R. Chandrashekhar; Special Secretary, DARPG, Shri Arun Jha; and other Senior Officers from the Government of India and various State/Union Territory Governments.
National e-Governance Awards for the year 2014-15 will be presented in 12 different categories concerning various aspects of e-Governance during the inaugural session by the Chief Minister of Gujarat, the Minister of Communications & Information Technology, Government of India and the Minister of State in the Prime Minister Office and Personnel. The Valedictory session will be graced by the Governor of Gujarat, Shri O.P. Kohli and the Minister of Science & Technology, Government of Gujarat, Shri Govindbhai Patel. The National e-Governance Awards recognise some of the best Government to Government (G2G), Government to Citizen (G2C), Government to Business (G2B) initiatives taken by various government departments and also initiatives of public sector units and Non-Government Institutions. The Conference along with the Exhibition is a forum to showcase best practices, innovative technologies and ICT solutions. The 18th National Conference on e-Governance, with the theme “Digital Governance-New Frontier”, will explore the benefits of the use of ICT, how e-Governance leaders can act as the agents of change, integrated service delivery and use of mobile platform for expanding access rapidly. Focus sector of the year is “Skill Development and Employability”.
The inaugural session will be followed by a session on “Digital India” and plenary session on “Digital Governance-New Frontier”. Other interactive sessions will include discussions on a wide range of topics such as “e-Governance Leaders as Change Agents”; “Accountable Governance through Social Media and Citizen Engagement”; and “Integrated Service Delivery-Standards and Interoperability”; “Use of Mobile Platform for rapidly expanding access”; “Skill Development and Employability”; Partnership with Industry – New Business Model and Service Delivery”; and “Citizen Services in a Smart City – New Paradigm”.
Source - PIB
Building a molecular lego to fight malaria and TB
Tuberculosis and malaria are the most prevalent diseases that kill mankind today. Currently available methods and drugs are unable to stem the tide. This is why governments, the Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust and others are investing large sums to find ways to stop or reduce their prevalence and to help develop new methods and molecules as drugs.
The battle between these pathogens and people is a colossal one. We need newer methods and drugs to kill these pathogens mycobacteriumtuberculosis (Mtb) and plasmodium falciparum(and p. vivax ). And the battle is literally mind over mutations. The human mind has continuously attempted to devise novel molecules as drugs such as the fluoroquinolones, rifampicin, and artemisinin. On the other side, even though large numbers are killed by these drugs, an occasional outlier bug which does not succumb to the drug, thanks to a random “error” in its genetic sequence (mutation), survives and reproduces more of itself. Pretty soon, this drug-resistant mutant propagates to become the main strain, and the thoughtfully crafted drug is no longer effective.
It is also a battle of time scale. While we take years to create effective drugs and distribute them for everyday use, microbes take just hours and days to reproduce and propagate to billions in months. While the TB strains of just a few years ago could not survive rifampicin (which blocks the bug’s RNA making machinery, thus stopping its growth), today’s strains have evolved to find alternate paths to carry on. Similarly, with malaria, while artemisinin (the wonder drug of yesteryears) acts on the blood ingested by the parasite, “burns” it through oxidative stress and thus kills the pathogen, today’splasmodium strains have evolved with a mechanism to detoxify this oxidative stress and become artemisinin-resistant. We are thus facing hosts of multi-drug-resistant pathogens infecting us.
It is against this background that some new ideas have come about which could hopefully side-step this resistance issue. Note that the earlier drugs act on the pathogenafterit enters the target cells in the body — be it blood, liver or elsewhere — and use the host machinery to grow and multiply. What if we stop the entry itself? Would that would stop the pathogen on its track and thus stop the infection?
Some minds have been thinking such a thought and carried out research towards this idea. The most recent one, published two weeks ago (on Pongal Day, 14-1-2015) in the journal N ature Communications is by Drs. Anand Ranganathan, Pawan Malhotra and their colleagues at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, both in New Delhi, India (6:6049/DOI:10.1038/ncomms7049/www.nature.com/naurecommunications).
The group has capitalised on the idea that some molecules on the surface of cells, termed intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAMs, which are part of the immunoglobulin super-family) act as sentries, regulating the entry and adhesion of other cells, native or foreign. The molecule ICAM-1 is seen on various cell types, notably macrophages (a type of white blood cells that ingests foreign material). ICAM-4, on the other hand, is restricted to the surface of red blood cells. One can thus see that while ICAM-1 would regulate the entry and invasion by Mtb into macrophages, ICAM-4 would regulate malaria parasites likewise.
If only we could discover or invent a decoy molecule that sits at this gate, blocking the entry of Mtb, we could overcome infection by this deadly pathogen. Likewise, if we can block the entry and invasion byplasmodium into red blood cells, using a decoy molecule that binds to ICAM-4, we would have a drug against malaria. Note too that these decoys do not work after the event (like the drugs above do), but deny the unwelcome visitor the ‘visa’ to enter and do damage.
Molecular Lego pieces
To this end, the Delhi group decided to work on a novel idea that Dr Anand Ranganathan had come up with a decade ago, which he calls the “codon shuffling method” of making small protein molecules (seeJ. Biol. Chem . 280: 23605, 2005). This involves the use of a series of properly chosen “DNA Bricks”, each 6 bases long (two codons-long, for the cognosenti ), linking them together to various lengths to produce a ‘library’ of peptide/protein molecules of various sizes and predictable shapes. This is an easy and crafty way, using these DNA bricks, to make a whole host of mini-proteins as potential drugs.
They next tested to see which members of the above library interact with ICAM-1 and with ICAM-4. Happily enough, a large peptide named M5 was found to bind strongly to both ICAM-1 and ICAM-4. They next challenged Mtb with macrophages in the presence of M5. While Mtb infects control samples efficiently, the rate dropped by 80 per cent in the M5-added samples. Likewise, when added to red blood cells, infection by the malaria parasite dropped by 80 per cent.
Actually, the codon-shuffling approach is more general and extendable to fight other pathogens too. And this approach is quite akin to Lego , the toy game with interlocking plastic bricks, which can be put together to make models of objects like buildings. While Lego is a game of pleasure, this molecular Lego opens the door for drug discovery.
D. BALASUBRAMANIAN
The battle between these pathogens and people is a colossal one. We need newer methods and drugs to kill these pathogens mycobacteriumtuberculosis (Mtb) and plasmodium falciparum(and p. vivax ). And the battle is literally mind over mutations. The human mind has continuously attempted to devise novel molecules as drugs such as the fluoroquinolones, rifampicin, and artemisinin. On the other side, even though large numbers are killed by these drugs, an occasional outlier bug which does not succumb to the drug, thanks to a random “error” in its genetic sequence (mutation), survives and reproduces more of itself. Pretty soon, this drug-resistant mutant propagates to become the main strain, and the thoughtfully crafted drug is no longer effective.
It is also a battle of time scale. While we take years to create effective drugs and distribute them for everyday use, microbes take just hours and days to reproduce and propagate to billions in months. While the TB strains of just a few years ago could not survive rifampicin (which blocks the bug’s RNA making machinery, thus stopping its growth), today’s strains have evolved to find alternate paths to carry on. Similarly, with malaria, while artemisinin (the wonder drug of yesteryears) acts on the blood ingested by the parasite, “burns” it through oxidative stress and thus kills the pathogen, today’splasmodium strains have evolved with a mechanism to detoxify this oxidative stress and become artemisinin-resistant. We are thus facing hosts of multi-drug-resistant pathogens infecting us.
It is against this background that some new ideas have come about which could hopefully side-step this resistance issue. Note that the earlier drugs act on the pathogenafterit enters the target cells in the body — be it blood, liver or elsewhere — and use the host machinery to grow and multiply. What if we stop the entry itself? Would that would stop the pathogen on its track and thus stop the infection?
Some minds have been thinking such a thought and carried out research towards this idea. The most recent one, published two weeks ago (on Pongal Day, 14-1-2015) in the journal N ature Communications is by Drs. Anand Ranganathan, Pawan Malhotra and their colleagues at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, both in New Delhi, India (6:6049/DOI:10.1038/ncomms7049/www.nature.com/naurecommunications).
The group has capitalised on the idea that some molecules on the surface of cells, termed intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAMs, which are part of the immunoglobulin super-family) act as sentries, regulating the entry and adhesion of other cells, native or foreign. The molecule ICAM-1 is seen on various cell types, notably macrophages (a type of white blood cells that ingests foreign material). ICAM-4, on the other hand, is restricted to the surface of red blood cells. One can thus see that while ICAM-1 would regulate the entry and invasion by Mtb into macrophages, ICAM-4 would regulate malaria parasites likewise.
If only we could discover or invent a decoy molecule that sits at this gate, blocking the entry of Mtb, we could overcome infection by this deadly pathogen. Likewise, if we can block the entry and invasion byplasmodium into red blood cells, using a decoy molecule that binds to ICAM-4, we would have a drug against malaria. Note too that these decoys do not work after the event (like the drugs above do), but deny the unwelcome visitor the ‘visa’ to enter and do damage.
Molecular Lego pieces
To this end, the Delhi group decided to work on a novel idea that Dr Anand Ranganathan had come up with a decade ago, which he calls the “codon shuffling method” of making small protein molecules (seeJ. Biol. Chem . 280: 23605, 2005). This involves the use of a series of properly chosen “DNA Bricks”, each 6 bases long (two codons-long, for the cognosenti ), linking them together to various lengths to produce a ‘library’ of peptide/protein molecules of various sizes and predictable shapes. This is an easy and crafty way, using these DNA bricks, to make a whole host of mini-proteins as potential drugs.
They next tested to see which members of the above library interact with ICAM-1 and with ICAM-4. Happily enough, a large peptide named M5 was found to bind strongly to both ICAM-1 and ICAM-4. They next challenged Mtb with macrophages in the presence of M5. While Mtb infects control samples efficiently, the rate dropped by 80 per cent in the M5-added samples. Likewise, when added to red blood cells, infection by the malaria parasite dropped by 80 per cent.
Actually, the codon-shuffling approach is more general and extendable to fight other pathogens too. And this approach is quite akin to Lego , the toy game with interlocking plastic bricks, which can be put together to make models of objects like buildings. While Lego is a game of pleasure, this molecular Lego opens the door for drug discovery.
D. BALASUBRAMANIAN
Source - The Hindu
Jute packaging for sugar, foodgrains made mandatory
In a major boost to the jute sector, the government, on Wednesday, approved mandatory packaging of sugar and foodgrains in jute material to the minimum extent of up to 90 per cent of production.
A proposal for financial support to Jute Corporation of India (JCI) to offset losses incurred by it on account of Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations also approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, an official release said.
The government approved mandatory packaging of foodgrains in jute material with certain exemptions. For sugar, the minimum packaging requirement has been fixed at 20 per cent of production for jute year 2014-15.
The financial assistance to JCI will be provided in the form of subsidy.
A proposal for financial support to Jute Corporation of India (JCI) to offset losses incurred by it on account of Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations also approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, an official release said.
The government approved mandatory packaging of foodgrains in jute material with certain exemptions. For sugar, the minimum packaging requirement has been fixed at 20 per cent of production for jute year 2014-15.
The financial assistance to JCI will be provided in the form of subsidy.
Source - The Hindu
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