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22nd, January, 2022

The program was launched by the state government to encourage the establishment of local agri-processing units.

Each district must identify a food product, with a special focus on perishable agricultural products, cereal-based products, or a food product widely produced in the district and their allied sectors.
This program aims to facilitate entrepreneurs’ access to inputs, common services and product commercialization.
It will also provide a framework for developing the value chain and alignment of supporting infrastructure. More than one cluster of products can be set up in a district.

In Solan district, fruits and processing of vegetables like mushroom have been placed on this list while in Sirmaur district, spices and processing of ginger and garlic are included under the scheme. The two districts have an abundant production of stone fruits such as apricot, plum and peach, spices such as ginger and garlic, and mushrooms.
In Solan District, the Industry Department has approved three mushroom processing projects under this program, although 15 applications were received.
In the Sirmaur district, little enthusiasm was observed in the project, which provides a maximum grant of Rs 10 lakh or 35 per cent of the project cost.

(Source: HP Tribune)

She has received the award for her contribution to a chemistry research project on the effects of beverages on cancer and Alzheimer’s patients.

Ojaswi is working to find answers to the unresolved questions on cancer and age-related diseases and to reduce the complications of cancer.

She has also received the Biotech Innovation Award for digital therapy innovation for cerebral palsy.
She has also received the Australian Armed Forces Future Science Innovator Award 2021.
Ojaswi is working to find answers to the unresolved questions on cancer and age-related diseases and to reduce the complications of cancer.

(Source: HP Tribune)

The Ladakh team won the title in the four-day 9th National Women Ice Hockey Championship which concluded at Kaza in tribal district Lahaul and Spiti. Chandigarh team emerged runner-up.

(Source: HP Tribune)

Himalayan buransh may help treat COVID-19: IIT-Mandi study.
Non-toxic levels of petal extracts may inhibit the virus.
Research scholars of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi, and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, have identified phytochemicals (chemicals derived from plants) in the petals of a Himalayan plant that can potentially be used to treat Covid-19.

The results of the research team have recently been published in Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics.
The petals of the Himalayan ‘buransh’ (rhododendron arboreum) plant are consumed in various forms by the local population for its varied health benefits. The scientists from IIT, Mandi and ICGEB carried out scientific tests on extracts of Buran petals containing various phytochemicals, with a particular focus on antiviral activity.
The researchers showed through experimental assays that non-toxic doses of the petal extracts can inhibit Covid in Vero E6 cells (cells derived from kidney of an African green monkey that are commonly used to study infectivity of virus and bacteria), without any adverse effects on the cells themselves.
The research was led by Dr Shyam Kumar Masakapalli, Associate Professor, BioX Centre, School of Basic Science, IIT, Mandi; Dr Ranjan Nanda, Translational Health Group; and Dr Sujatha Sunil, Vector Borne Disease Group, ICGEB, New Delhi. The document was co-written by Dr Maneesh Lingwan, Shagun, Falak Pahwa, Ankit Kumar, Dileep Kumar Verma, Yogesh Pant, Lingarao VK Kamatam and Bandna Kumari.
Dr Masakapalli says, “Among different types of therapeutic agents being studied, phytochemicals are considered particularly promising because of their synergistic activity and natural source with fewer toxicity issues. We are hunting for promising molecules from the Himalayan flora using multi-disciplinary approaches.”

(Source: HP Tribune)