Revamped vaccination policy in India, need of the hour

The unprecedented COVID pandemic has caused catastrophic loss all over the world. India has faced a flabbergasting second COVID wave. The current COVID mutant strain is more virulent and has become a variant of concern (VOC) with its high infectivity rate. The current second wave is more detrimental when compared to the first wave, where its transmissibility is high, affecting the younger generation, and even the mortality rate is high. Currently, there is no specific treatment against COVID-19. The health care workers (HCW’s) have been fighting the pandemic tirelessly since the beginning of the pandemic, and many were affected, and severe loss of HCWs occurred. The only ray of hope in fighting against this deadly virus is vaccination. Studies have shown that COVID vaccination is effective in preventing the severity of the disease. Hence vaccination is now is the need of the hour. COVID vaccination has to be taken rampant with vaccinating every citizen of the country in the current crisis. The government of India should make serious efforts that vaccination is available and accessible to everyone. With every citizen being vaccinated, one can flatten the current wave and also can prevent further outbreaks

Biological Control and Plant Growth-Promotion Traits of Streptomyces Species Under Greenhouse and Field Conditions in Chickpea

Thirty-five isolates of actinomycetes were characterized for their antagonistic potential against phyto-pathogens of chickpea by dual-culture and metabolite production assays. The seven most promising isolates of Streptomyces were evaluated for their physiological and plant growth-promoting traits under in vitro and in vivo conditions. All the seven isolates exhibited good growth at temperatures between 20 and 40 °C, pH between 7 and 11 and saline concentrations up to 4%; all the isolates were highly tolerant to fungicide Bavistin, three isolates were moderately tolerant to Captan and all the isolates were susceptible to Thiram, Benlate and Ridomil. All the seven isolates of Streptomyces produced siderophore, chitinase (except isolate CAI-133), cellulase, lipase, protease (except isolates BCA-689 and CAI-133), hydrocyanic acid (except isolate CAI-133), indole acetic acid and β-1,3-glucanase. The greenhouse studies revealed that the isolates of Streptomyces enhanced the plant growth by promoting root length and weight, nodule numbers, shoot weight, pod numbers and pod weight over the un-inoculated control. Under field conditions, the Streptomyces treated plots increased the nodule numbers, root weight, stover yield and grain yield over the un-inoculated control plots. In the rhizosphere, the Streptomyces were also found to enhance the total nitrogen, available phosphorus and organic carbon compared to un-inoculated control. The colonizing capability of the Streptomyces on the roots of chickpea was confirmed by scanning electron microscopic analysis. All the isolates were identified as Streptomyces species by 16S rDNA analysis; five of the seven isolates clustered in one clade, whereas the other two belonged to two different clades in phylogenetic analysis

Exploiting plant growth-promoting Amycolatopsis sp. in chickpea and sorghum for improving growth and yield

In an attempt to identify plant growth-promoting (PGP) actinomycetes other than Streptomyces sp., from rhizosphere soils of chickpea and sorghum, a total of 37 actinomycetes were isolated and evaluated for their PGP traits. Of which, one isolate BCA-696 was found to produce PGP traits including indole acetic acid (IAA), siderophore, cellulase, lipase, protease, chitinase, hydrocyanic acid and -1,3- glucanase. BCA-696 was found to tolerate wide range of pH, temperature, NaCl concentrations and fungicides. BCA-696 was identified as Amycolatopsis sp. in 16S rDNA analysis. On chickpea, under greenhouse and field conditions, BCA- 596 enhanced the root length, root volume, shoot weight, root weight, nodule number, pod number, seed weight, stover yield and grain yield over the un-inoculated control. BCA- 696 also enhanced PGP traits on sorghum, under field conditions, including the leaf area, stem weight, root weight, plant weight, grain yield and stover yield over the uninoculated control. The rhizosphere soils of both chickpea and sorghum were also found to enhance total N, available P and % organic C in BCA-696 treated plots over un-inoculated control plots. BCA-696 was found to colonize both chickpea and sorghum roots in scanning electron microscope analysis. This is the first report on the role of Amycolatopsis sp. in PGP on chickpea and sorghum

Plant growth-promotion by Streptomyces spp. in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.)

Seven strains of Streptomyces spp.: BCA-546 (KF770898), BCA-659 (KF770889), BCA-667 (KF770888), BCA-689 (KF770899), BCA-698 (KF770900), CAI-133 (KF770895) and CAI-8 (KF770890), reported earlier to produce biocontrol and plant growth-promoting (PGP) substances were further evaluated for PGP traits in sorghum under greenhouse and field conditions. Under greenhouse conditions, plant height, leaf area and weight, root length and weight, shoot weight, panicle weight and seed weight were enhanced in plots inoculated with Streptomyces spp. than the un-inoculated control at 30, 60 days after sowing (DAS) and at final harvest. Similarly, treatment with Streptomyces spp. led to growth and yield enhancements under field conditions at 60 DAS and final harvest. Among the seven strains, BCA-698, BCA-689, BCA-546 and BCA-659 were found to be superior for PGP. Under field conditions, at both flowering and harvest stages, the soil organic C, available P and total N were also found to improve with Streptomyces spp. treatments. A scanning electron microscopic study showed extensive root colonization of sorghum. The gene expression profiles revealed up-regulation of β-1,3-glucanase, indole acetic acid (IAA) and siderophore genes. Based on the present findings, the seven selected Streptomyces strains could be employed to enhance plant growth and yield in sorghum

Characterization of antagonistic streptomyces as potential biocontrol agent against fungal pathogens of chickpea and sorghum

Twenty-seven actinomycetes isolated from vermicompost and rhizosphere soils were screened for their antagonistic potential against fungal pathogens of chickpea and sorghum. Eight isolates (BCA-657, BCA-671, BCA-679, BCA-687, BCA-690, CAI-67, CAI-70 and CAI-98) showed broad-spectrum antagonistic activity in dual-culture assay and metabolite inhibition assay. The isolates exhibited growth at pH 7−11, up to 10% saline (except BCA-687, CAI-67 and CAI-70) at 20−40 °C (BCA-679 and BCA-690 exhibited growth even at 50 °C) and produced siderophore, chitinase, cellulase, lipase, and protease with some exceptions, including hydrocyanic acid and indole acetic acid. At field application level, all the isolates tolerated the fungicide Bavistin. The sequences of 16S rDNA gene of the isolates matched with Streptomyces but with different species in the BLAST analysis. This study indicates that the selected actinomycetes have broad-spectrum biocontrol and plant growth promotion potentia

COVID-19 pandemic: a narrative review on legislative and regulatory framework in India for disaster and epidemic

Public health legislation plays an important role in the containment of any epidemic or pandemic. During a pandemic, it might be necessary to override the existing laws or (individual) human rights for the containment of the pandemic. The objective of the study is to review the legal framework pertaining to COVID-19 pandemic preparedness in India. This study has been done as an unsystematic narrative review where various legislations were assembled from electronic data base, websites from various legislative and Ministries and discussion with experts. Owing to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus Government of India announced nationwide lockdown on 24th March, 2020.  For proper implementation of lockdown measures various legislative laws belonging to different ministries is required. There are two pioneer acts namely The Epidemic disease act of 1897 and The Disaster management act of 2005. Under these two acts the government has laid down various rules and regulations that have to be followed during lockdown. This article describes the need for the law in a crisis like this and various legislations that have been implemented during lockdown

Perspective of self-help groups, Panchayati Raj institution and adolescents on implementing COVID appropriate behavior in the community in rural settings

The vaccination drive in India brought cheers to the country's people, only to be eroded by the unpredictable twitch of the COVID-19 second wave. The best way to tackle the pandemic has been to adopt appropriate practices, thereby breaking the chain of transmission. The second wave in India has already created havoc both on the people and health system, questioning and challenging our capabilities to handle any heave of sudden cases, particularly in rural areas. Time has arrived to inflate our horizon by including groups of society close to the people, particularly in the rural community. Like the previous wave, COVID appropriate behavior was very much instrumental in slowing the pace. Adolescents’ self-help groups in coalition with Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRI) will be the main stand in the fight against the dreadful virus. Their main role is to translate the prevailing preventive measures into action among the very people they live around. Passing the right message through IEC/BCC to the right people will bring about dramatic changes in the attitude, belief, and exercise they do in their day-to-day life. PRIs members would utilize their powers to execute optimum administrative services. A decentralized approach involving these stakeholders will spearhead the fight against the pandemic. This trifold power shall bear the torchbearer in preventing the disastrous consequences of any upcoming wave, if any, in a holistic manner

Comparative Study of Sink Node Placement Strategies of Wireless Sensor Network

One of the fundamental design challenges in designing a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is to be more maximize the network lifetime, as each sensor node of the network is equipped with a limited power battery. Wireless Sensor Networks are rapidly growing area of research and commercial development. Meanwhile it draws attention of many researchers because of the enormous scope of its applications in numerous areas. A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) consists of large number of spatially distributed autonomous sensors to monitor physical environment conditions, such as temperature, sound, humidity, pressure, light etc. and pass their data often called raw data through the network to Base Station which is often called Sink. The sink forms the gateway between the WSN and end-user application. In real time applications sensors collect data and transfer to the sink. Generally Sensors have limited range and less battery life. In this paper our main goal is to increase the network life time of sensors and reduce their energy consumption of the network. In this paper two sink placement strategies are implemented along with an existing strategy geographical sink placement strategy (GSP) by placing sink in an appropriate area to cover maximum number no of sensors in the region of an network. The advantages of these two strategies were analyzed and compare with an existing strategy

Streptomyces spp., a potential biocontrol agent of charcoal rot of sorghum caused by Macrophomina phaseolina

Seven strains of Streptomyces spp. (BCA-546, BCA-659, BCA-667, BCA-689, BCA-698, CAI-8 and CAI-133; demonstrated previously to have potential for plant growth-promotion on sorghum and chickpea) were evaluated for their antagonistic potential against Macrophomina phaseolina, causal agent of charcoal rot disease of sorghum, by dual culture assay, secondary metabolite production assay and in greenhouse disease screen. All the seven strains inhibited M. phaseolina in both dual culture as well as secondary metabolite production assays but four of them (BCA-546, BCA-667, BCA-698 and CAI-8) were notable. When these selected four strains were tested for their antifungal activity in greenhouse on sorghum by tooth pick method, BCA-546 and CAI-8 significantly reduced the disease. The stem samples of the control and Streptomyces sp. treated plants were analysed under scanning electron microscope, where the xylem and phloem tissues of the Streptomyces spp. treated plants were found intact compared to that of infected control plants. This study indicates that the selected two Streptomyces strains, BCA-546 and CAI-8, have the potential to control charcoal rot disease in sorghum

Effect of plant growth-promoting Streptomyces sp. on growth promotion and grain yield in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L)

The physiological and molecular responses of six strains of Streptomyces sp. (CAI-13, CAI-85, CAI-93, CAI-140, CAI-155 and KAI-180), with their proven potential for plant growth-promotion (PGP) in rice were studied to understand the mechanisms causing the beneficial effects. In this investigation, those six strains were evaluated for their PGP capabilities in chickpea in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 post-rainy seasons. All of the Streptomyces sp. strains exhibited enhanced nodule number, nodule weight, root weight and shoot weight at 30 days after sowing (DAS) and pod number, pod weight, leaf area, leaf weight and stem weight at 60 DAS in both seasons over the un-inoculated control. At chickpea crop maturity, the Streptomyces strains had enhanced stover yield, grain yield, total dry matter, pod weight, seed number and seed weight in both seasons over the uninoculated control. In the rhizosphere, at crop maturity, the Streptomyces strains also significantly enhanced soil biological and mineral nutrient traits including microbial biomass carbon, dehydrogenase activity, total nitrogen, available phosphorous and organic carbon in both seasons over the un-inoculated control. Of the six strains of Streptomyces sp., CAI-85, CAI-93 and KAI-180 were found superior to CAI-155, CAI-140 and CAI-13, in terms of their effects on root and shoot development, nodule formation and crop productivity. Scanning electron microscopy had revealed the success in colonization of the chickpea roots by all six strains. This investigation further confirms the broad-spectrum of PGP activities by the selected Streptomyces sp