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Tamarind seed protein has potential to cure Chikungunya: IIT-R study

Agencies
November 14, 2018

New Delhi, Nov 14: Two professors at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee claimed to have discovered a protein in tamarind seeds that has anti-viral properties and can potentially be used to develop medication for chikungunya.

The research group at IIT Roorkee has filed a patent for an antiviral composition containing this tamarind antiviral protein and is now developing tamarind-based therapeutic agents for chikungunya.

"Tamarind is known for various medicinal properties in India and is a excellent Ayurvedic food. The fruits, seeds, leaves and roots bark of the tamarind tree have been used to treat abdominal pain, diarrhoea and dysentery, bacterial infections and parasitic infestations, wounds, constipation and inflammation," said one of the professors, Shaily Tomar.

Lectin, a diverse group of proteins derived from plant sources, are known to bind to glycan sugars. Its use as antiviral has been extensively studied for a range of viruses, including HIV and HPV.

The IIT professors, in a study, have shown that a lectin derived from tamarind seeds bind to glycans or sugar molecules having N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) on the capsule of viruses, thereby preventing the entry of the virus into the host cells.

The researchers have isolated lectin from tamarind seeds using chromatography and have studied the binding of the lectin molecules to the glycan in the viral capsule by a process called Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA).

"Not only did the chikungunya virus lose 64 per cent of its infectivity on treatment with the lectin, but the levels of viral RNA in the cells were also found to reduce to nearly 45 per cent. This study has, for the first time, evaluated the antiviral use of tamarind seed-derived lectin having specificity for NAG and assessed its ability to block the entry step of the virus," Tomar added.

"Antiviral drugs and vaccines against most alphaviruses, including chikungunya are still not available in the market, and preventive measures are currently the only route to managing diseases caused by such viruses," said professor Pravindra Kumar, who is also part of the research.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 19,2020

Mangaluru, May 19: With lockdown 4.0 coming into force, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) started bus services from Mangaluru to various destinations today.

According to officials, buses started plying from Mangaluru to Bengaluru, Mysuru, Shivamogga, Hubballi and other areas with limited passengers. A bus, which left for Bengaluru from Mangaluru had less than 30 passengers on board.

“Depending on the demand, the buses will be operated with 50% of the capacity. Measures have been taken to ensure that social distancing norms are adhered to while purchasing tickets from the counter,” said S N Arun, KSRTC Divisional Controller.

However, the KSRTC is yet to take a decision on operating Nagarasarige buses in the city. 

“Only those destinations, which can be reached by 7 pm has been considered by the KSRTC while operating the buses. As a result, after 11 am, no buses will travel to Bengaluru from Mangaluru. Further, permission will not be accorded for the travelling of pregnant women, children below 10 years old and senior citizens above 60 years old. Thermal scanning is used for checking the temperature of the passengers before boarding the buses. All the buses are sanitised after each trip,” he said.

Further, he said the contact number, name and address of the passengers are collected by the officials during the travel.

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News Network
March 27,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 27: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Friday formed a task force to monitor the spread of COVID-19 disease in the state and provide guidelines and suggestions to contain its proliferation in the state.

In a press release, the KPCC has stated that the 15 member committee will be headed by the senior Congress leader and former Health minister K R Rameshkumar also included two other former health ministers, Shivanand Patil and U T Khader as the members of the committee.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
July 27,2020

New Delhi, Jul 27: A month after banning 59 Chinese applications, the government of Indian has now reportedly banned 47 more apps of Chinese origin in the country. According to sources, the 47 banned Chinese apps were operating as clones of the earlier banned apps. 

The list of the 47 Chinese applications banned by the Indian government will be released soon.

India has also prepared a list of over 250 Chinese apps, including apps linked to Alibaba, that it will examine for any user privacy or national security violations, government sources said. The list also includes Tencent-backed gaming app PUBG.

Some top gaming Chinese applications are also expected to be banned in the new list that is being drawn up, sources said. The Chinese applications, that are being reviewed, have allegedly been sharing data with the Chinese agencies.

Today's decision follows after a high-profile ban of 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, as border tensions continued in Ladakh after a violent, fatal face-off between the Indian and Chinese armies. The government said these apps were engaged in activities that were prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and defence of India.

A government press release announcing the ban stated: "The Ministry of Information Technology, invoking it's power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 and in view of the emergent nature of threats has decided to block 59 apps since in view of information available they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order".

A day later, Google said it has removed all the banned applications from the Play Store. Following the ban, TikTok refuted the claims that suggest it will pursue legal action against the Indian government for banning the app in India.

Reacting to the 59 apps banned by India, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the country is "strongly concerned regarding the decision of the Indian government".

“China is strongly concerned, verifying the situation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

"We want to stress that the Chinese government always asks Chinese businesses to abide by international and local laws-regulations. The Indian government has a responsibility to uphold the legal rights of international investors including Chinese ones," Zhao Lijian said.

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