NOPR Collection:

Global policies on achievement and utility of plant genetic resources

Mon, 01 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Global policies on achievement and utility of plant genetic resources Authors: Verma, Nidhi; Chopra, Seema; Pedapati, Anita; Khan, Yasmin Jsima Abstract: The Green Revolution triggered the world's potential to meet its food, fodder and fibre needs at the time when several parts of the world were badly food insecure. Later, many new plant varieties were being developed using better application of technology in a more participatory way to address the farmer's needs. Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) is the building block of crop improvement and in those days they were freely exchanged between the countries. There were no major legal impediments for acquisition of PGR and related knowledge. The earlier policies on access to PGR were based upon the concept of the 'Heritage of Mankind' for use of the benefit to all mankind; however post Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), 1992 it is now considered as the Sovereign rights of the nations. The access to genetic resources is regulated by new national and international laws and access to technologies depends upon the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). In recent years, modern science of biotechnology and bioinformatics has paved way for a faster rate of generating and modifying resources for crop improvement. PGR, a component of biodiversity is the basic raw material for use in the biotechnological tools and techniques. The access regulations usually apply to all biodiversity and it is also sometimes posing obstacles or delays in the use of PGR in agriculture. Different policies are being developed in different regions emphasizing either limited access or facilitated access to all PGR. This paper aims to give an overview of the recent policies and regulations governing the access and benefit sharing of PGR and its long term impact on agriculture as a whole. Page(s): 71-77

Fern House of CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute and its significance

Mon, 01 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Fern House of CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute and its significance Authors: Khare, Prem Behari; Behera, Sandeep Kumar; Singh, Ajit Pratap Abstract: Pteridophytes (Ferns and fern allies) are the non-flowering vascular plants and hold intermediate position in the plant kingdom. To conserve these plants, a pyramid shaped fern house is established in an area of 593 sq. m. where ideal climatic conditions have been maintained. In this house more than 65 species including economic, exotic, relic and threatened species have been conserved and are being propagated. Notable among these are: Adiantum peruvianum, A.hispidulum, Blechnum occidentale, Bolbitis heteroclita, Diplazium esculentum, Doryopteris ludens, Drynaria quercifolia, Equisetum debile, Lygodium flexuosum, Helminthostachys zeylanica Microsorium alternifolium, Nephrolepis cordifolia, N. cordifolia cv. 'duffii', N. tuberosa, Ophioglossum reticulatum, Psilotum nudum, Pteris cretica cv. 'albolineata', P. vittata and Selaginella bryopteris. Mass multiplication of several significant species has been standardized and is also released for sale. Page(s): 59-70

Effects of black carbon (soot particles) emitted from diesel motor vehicles on environment

Mon, 01 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Effects of black carbon (soot particles) emitted from diesel motor vehicles on environment Authors: Choudhary, Neha; Sharma, Niraj; Shukla, Anuradha Abstract: In india with increasing in human population the number of motor vehicles are also increasing. Diesel motor vehicles are a significant source of air pollution. They not only damage the environment but are also responsible for various concerns related to health. Black carbon released from diesel motor vehicles is a major air pollutant which absorbs sunlight due to the dark color and heats the atmosphere. It deposits on the snowy surfaces and darken it and accelerate the process of melting of snow and thus it plays an important role in climate change. In a developing country like India, the pollution from diesel vehicles is contributing the problems associated with climate change which is influencing India's water resources, agriculture and damaging the forests which have a direct impact on the economy. There is lack of research work in India as compared to international levels on black carbon (soot particle) emitted from diesel driven motor vehicles. In the present paper information related to harmful black carbon and its impacts on environment as well as on human being has been summarized. Page(s): 54-58

Proportional derivative observer design for rectangular linear descriptor systems

Mon, 01 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Proportional derivative observer design for rectangular linear descriptor systems Authors: Gupta, Mahendra Kumar; Tomar, Nutan Kumar Abstract: A new method is proposed to design a proportional derivative (PD) observer for rectangular linear time invariant descriptor systems. The method is based on the effects of full column rank matrix transformations. By these transformations, given descriptor systems has been transformed into a equivalent system satisfying certain conditions. These full column rank matrices are derived from the coefficient matrices of the given descriptor system using simple matrix theory. Sufficient conditions for the existence of observers are given and proved. An illustrative example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Page(s): 48-53