The Concept Building

  White Revolution The White Revolution in India, also known as Operation Flood was launched in the 1970s to make India self dependent in milk production. Dr Verghese Kurien is known as the father of The White Revolution in India. Currently India is the world's largest milk producer. At the time of the independence, India was not only importing food grains but also milk products like baby food, butter and cheese. In 1955, India was importing 500 tonnes of butter and 3000 tonnes of baby food from dairy companies in Europe.  Operation Flood Operation flood was launched in 1970, it is one of the world's largest rural development programmes. This program has helped in the development of dairy farmers. The objectives of the program included: Increase milk production ("a flood of milk") Augment rural incomes Reasonable prices for consumers Cooperative movement : The bedrock of Operation Flood has been village milk producers' cooperatives, which procure milk and provid...

Introduction As India is on the verge of completing 75 years of independence, several scientific and technological developments have touched the lives of common people in the last seven decades.  Developments in communications and information technology have enabled timely forecast of weather and early warning of cyclones, saving thousands of lives. But during these years scientific research combined with favorable public policies - has made India self-sufficient in production of food, milk, fruits and vegetables, drugs and vaccines. All this has had great social and economic impacts and has influenced directly and indirectly the life of ordinary Indians. Agriculture and Rural Development Agriculture has always been a lifeline for India. From ancient times, agriculture has played a vital role in India’s growth and can be traced back to Indus Valley Civilization. Rich fertile land, plenty of water for irrigation, and domestication of crops and animals were some of the key factors fo...

What is vaccine nationalism? When a country manages to secure doses of vaccines for its own citizens or residents and prioritises its own domestic markets before they are made available in other countries it is known as ‘vaccine nationalism’ .  This is done through pre-purchase agreements between a government and a vaccine manufacturer. For example , the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the European Union have spent tens of billions of dollars on deals with vaccine front runners such as Pfizer Inc, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca Plc even before their effectiveness is proven. Pre-purchase agreements: It is an agreement where, even before the end of final stage human trials or regulatory approval, several wealthier countries enter into pre-purchase agreements with vaccine manufacturers. History of Vaccine Nationalism The process of hoarding vaccines can be traced back to a similar situation that happened in 2009 during the H1N1 flu pandemic. Australia, the first ...

  The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) approved the sale of a lab-grown meat product . This is the first time cultured meat has been cleared for sale anywhere in the world. Cultured meat is produced using many of the same tissue engineering techniques traditionally used in regenerative medicine. The concept of cultured meat was popularized by Jason Matheny in the early 2000s. The meat is produced by in vitro cell culture of animal cells, instead of from slaughtered animals. It is a form of cellular agriculture . How is Cultured Meat made? Material used : The stem cells of animals are used as the building blocks of muscle and other organs. Once enough muscle fibers have grown, the result is a meat that resembles any other meat. The cells that are taken are called “myosatellite” cells, which are the stem cells of muscles.  The function of these stem cells within the animal is to create new muscle tissue when the muscle is injured. Medium used : The cells are placed in a medium conta...