Page 147 - CW E-Magazine (31-10-2023)

Pharmaceuticals Fertilisers

a Leadership Project to address real- the Government of India’s commit- to more balanced and diverse leadership CORRECTING FERTILISER IMBALANCE
world challenges related to centering ment towards women-led development, teams.
women and girls in STEM, catalysing as articulated at the G20 Summit in Cap sale of subsidised urea to curb excess use: CACP
institutional change, optimising path- September 2023. Through its focus on The call for applications to the WLS The Commission for Agricultural Costs depending on the size of the farm so that Awareness campaign
ways to leadership, building integrated transformative leadership and mentor- programme will open on October 27, and Prices (CACP) is in favour of capping excessive usage of urea and imbalance The Commission recommends that
and resilient health systems, and STEM ship for women working in STEM, the 2023; mid-career women professionals the number of subsidised urea bags supplied in use of nutrients can be controlled. special awareness campaigns should be
innovation and policy in India. programme offers a pathway for their with 10-25 years of experience in recog- to farmers based on their farm size to curb the Observing that fertiliser use in India is launched to educate farmers about bala-
increased representation and participation nised public and private STEM insti- overuse of the nutrient, according to a report highly unbalanced, CACP said the over- nced use of fertilisers and reduce fertili-
The WLS programme is in line with in decision-making processes, leading tutions in India are eligible to apply.
in Hindu Businessline. use of fertilizers with over 200=kg/ha in ser consumption in high-use districts and
CDMO INFRASTRUCTURE about 25% of districts is causing serious promote fertiliser use in low-use areas.
In its non-price recommendations for environmental degradation, while about “States should make concerted efforts to
Piramal Pharma Solutions launches in-vitro biology the rabi marketing season 2024-25, the 17% districts have low consumption of promote and popularise use of nano fer-
CACP has recommended that a suitable less than 50-kg/ha, affecting productivity. tilizers through campaigns and fi eld level
capabilities at Ahmedabad cap may be imposed on the number of In addition, there is an imbalance in the demonstrations, which will help in con-
subsidised urea bags supplied to farmers ratio of nutrients. taining fertiliser subsidy,” it said.
Piramal Pharma Ltd.’s Pharma Solu- in Ahmedabad. This value as an outsourcing partner. The
tions (PPS) business, a leading Contract new expansion signi- benefi ts of this new investment will be INCREASED CAPEX
Development and Manufacturing Orga- fi cantly adds pri- seen in an improved experience for PPS
nization (CDMO), has announced the mary and secondary discovery services customers. Coal India, partners to invest Rs. 3,095-crore in
launch of a world-class high-through- screening capabili-
put screening facility that augments ties of compounds The integration of chemistry and fertiliser JV to boost output
the existing in-vitro biology capabili- prepared at the biology services under one roof promises State-run fi rms, Coal India Ltd., to maintain their current stakeholding, Fertilizers has increased, with the govern-
ties at its drug discovery services site Ahmedabad site. to add high effi ciency to the discovery GAIL India Ltd., and Rashtriya Chemi- adjusted for an increase in project costs, ment trying to boost the facility’s output
process,” a company statement said. cals & Fertilizers (RCF), will invest said the report. Each of the three fi rms to reduce India’s dependency on imports
“With this expansion, PPS is Rs. 3,095-crore in their fertiliser joint venture holds a 31.85% stake in Talcher Ferti- for urea. The infusion is aimed at reviving
uniquely positioned to provide clients “Through these enhanced in-vitro in Odisha, according to a Reuters report. lizers. Coal India will need a cabinet nod the project and turning it into a coal gasi-
with an integrated set of discovery capa- biology services, our drug discovery for the infusion as the company has hit fi cation-based urea fertiliser plant with an
bilities and leverage a wide range of team will be able to provide clients GAIL and RCF will put in its investment ceiling, and the report said capacity of 1.27-mtpa of urea. India im-
in-vitro screening technology tools to with decision-driving information ear- Rs. 1,730-crore, while Coal India will invest the cabinet is likely to take a call in the ported 22-mt of fertilisers, worth $15.3-bn
support its broad portfolio of research lier and will be an even more effective Rs. 1,364-crore in Talcher Fertilizers coming weeks. The project cost at Talcher in the last fi scal year.
services. The goal is to generate data partner in the drug discovery process,”
that provides a superior data package Mr. Peter DeYoung, Chief Executive LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY
for clients and enhance the company’s Offi cer, PPS said.
Rallis powers hybrid seed production process with
The new high-throughput screen-
ing format enables PPS to evaluate mobile app
and screen large collections using Rallis India Ltd., a Tata enterprise and and crop assessment during different stages interventions such as ‘SeedSure’ are
various assay platform technologies a leading player in the Indian agri-inputs of the crop life cycle. Commenting on important for agri-input players as they
including, but not limited to: TR- industry, has announced the roll out of a the introduction of the app, Mr. Sanjiv help seamless data collection, monitoring
FRET (Time-Resolved Fluorescence mobile application, ‘SeedSure’, for moni- Lal, MD & CEO, Rallis India, said, “This and management of the hybrid seed pro-
Resonance Energy Transfer)/HTRF toring and managing its Hybrid Seed Pro- hybrid seed production monitoring app duction program. “The robust data col-
(Homogeneous Time-Resolved Fluo- duction (HSP) programme. The app has marks a signifi cant milestone in our journey lected will help in improving production
rescence), Fluorescence Polarization been developed with the help of TCS. towards effi cient operations. At Rallis India, quality, apart from providing early signals
(FP), absorbance, Luminescence/Elec- we recognise the critical role that tech- of any production challenges. In future, we
trochemiluminescence (ECL), Alpha- Management of hybrid seed production nology plays in addressing the challenges aim to integrate it with remotely sensed
Screen, LanthaScreen, fl ow cyto- is a complex task for many organisations of the complex seed production process. weather and crop data to support AI/ML-
metry and high-content imaging. and ineffi cient seed production monitoring ‘SeedSure’ is a testament to our unwaver- based predictions on crop yields at a plot
These platforms will be applicable to a leads to problems like measurable reduc- ing commitment to leveraging innovation level. It is a robust, data-driven and an
variety of targets including, but not tion in crop yield or unanticipated yield and technology to solve these complex at-scale approach towards seed manage-
limited to, G-Protein-Coupled Receptors drops. The ‘SeedSure’ app helps deal with challenges.” According to Mr. S. Nagara- ment, which paves the way for improved
(GPCRs) and kinases. critical operations such as data collection jan, Chief Operating Offi cer, Rallis India, & predictable yields and quality.”

146 Chemical Weekly October 31, 2023 Chemical Weekly October 31 2023 147

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