the pumba gazette (february edition)

8/14/2019 The PUMBA Gazette (February Edition)

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THE EDITORIAL

Dear all,

It gives us immense pleasure to bring you the 2nd

edition of our monthly newsletter “THE PUMBA

GAZETTE”.

With this edition we bring to you an exclusive interview

with Mr. Abhishek Sahay (Research Associate-IPR

Domain), Evalueserve, on the current trends in the KPO

Industry.

We also bring to you a 12 part series on various

noteworthy CSR initiatives. This series reflects

Corporate India’s commitment to be a strong, united

and progressive Nation. The series titled ‘Back to

Society’ focuses on various ongoing CSR projects.

With the recession hitting every sector and leaving

many affected, our students have undertaken a project-

-Antidepressants-Tiding over depressing times.

The Union Budget analysis is a report which tells us

what’s in store for the Pharma Sector in this budget in

comparison with the previous year’s Budget.

To keep abreast with the happenings in the industry we

have also included a section on BT News, and PUMBA

Gazette’s view of the same

A section based on PUMBA and the happenings in and

around campus, is also included.

THE PUMBA GAZETTE is committed to maintaining the

QUALITY and CONSISTENCY of articles & we assure

you that we offer you more in the forthcoming editions.

Your Feedback & Suggestions are welcome at

[email protected]

Wish you a HAPPY READING…!

Sincerely Yours,

THE PUMBA GAZETTE Team

(The detailed project reports shall be provided on

enquiry. Kindly send in your enquiries at

[email protected] )

CONTENTS

•Cover story

--Antidepressants-Tiding over depressing times

•Industry Speaks

--A Candid talk with Mr. Abhishek Sahay from

Evalueserve

•BT News

--A Breather for the Industry

•Articles/Analysis

--The Age(nt) of change; Obama.

--Budget 2009-10: What lies ahead?

•Back to Society

--ROSHNI Initiative by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratory

•PUMBA News

--PUMBA at Indian Science Congress

--Events at PUMBA

mailto:[email protected]






“KPO is a knowledge-intensive field wherein only QUALITY will matter in the

long run” –

Mr. Abhishek Sahay, an alumnus of PUMBA (MBA BT-batch 2005), is working for past 2 years with Evalueserve, as a

research associate in IPR domain.

His job entails conducting technological landscapes, licensing studies and ‘Freedom -to- operate’ searches, which is a

study done on/before launching of the products.

The PUMBA gazette team caught up with him to discuss the current trends in the KPO industry.

Excerpt:-

1. How are KPO's functional in BT sector?

KPOs work primarily at two levels in the BT sector. First iswhere they provide classical Business Research Solutions. Theseinclude, but are not limited to, identifying new markets, R&D focusand strategic alliances, competitive intelligence etc. Second major area is the Intellectual Property Domain, wherein the work involvesconducting technological landscapes, prior art studies, freedom-to-operate searches and Licensing Studies.

2. As far as KPO's are concerned, how is the domesticmarket different from the international market?

As their business models are based on the off-shoring (or outsourcing) concept, KPOs generally find an audience in theoverseas market where the cost effectiveness factor brings in thebusiness. The Domestic market is yet to feature in the mainclientele list of KPOs. This could be partially attributed to the

conservative nature of the domestic players to confide in 3rd party

bodies about their intellectual assets or strategic plans andpartially to their reluctance to pay the kind of money that KPOs askfor.

3. How has India responded to KPOs? Do you see India as a

potential market for the KPOs or does India act as a source of KPOs?

India is not primarily a market for KPOs. India cannot be anoutsourcing centre as the outsourcing cannot take place withinIndia itself. KPO’s are not friendly with the acceptability of lowamounts whereas India cannot offer such high amounts demandedfrom KPOs. Majority of the business i.e. almost 90% comes fromthe global markets majorly Europe and USA.

4. How has the current meltdown affected the KPO

industry?

Contrary to public perception, I, personally, would like to believe

that in the long term, the current meltdown is a sort of blessing indisguise for the KPO industry. This is because as a part of their

cost-cutting exercise, US and EU based companies would become

more interested into outsourcing their activities to knowledge-

based destinations like India. A good PR combined with quality

work could mean a long lasting business for KPO firms.

Having said that, I would also like to add that many niche

KPOs, which were dependent on a single line of business

(providing only Investment Research solutions, for example) and

single digit client base are facing the heat now. Increasing the

client base and entering into multiple lines of business and

geographies is what companies are looking at. And it goes without

saying that the QUALITY of work is what will separate the leaders

from the rest.

5. What kind of career opportunities does a KPOoffer in the current scenario?

KPOs are playing it safe these days. Lateralrecruitments have been frozen at most places. Campusrecruitments will only begin in the later part of the year and only then it would become clear on the kind of jobprofiles that are being offered to the freshers.

6. How do you ensure that the quality standards aremaintained?

There are many ways to evaluate the qualitystandards. Peer QC is a part of every communicationand execution step. Further, we have a SOP/Check Listfor all major project types and they are strictly adhered tofrom the initial stages of the project to the final. Lastly,we rely on the best databases and analytical tools toarrive at client-specific solutions.

7. What kind of expansions and diversifications arepossible in this industry?

Expansions within KPO could be both organic andin-organic, that is, it could be affected both by growingutilizing the organization's capabilities and resourcesand/or by acquiring other players. Diversifications, as Imentioned earlier, could be through expanding in newgeographies and adding new lines of business to theportfolio.

8. What advice would you give to emergingManagers in this field?

KPO is a knowledge-intensive field wherein onlyQUALITY will matter in the long run. Emerging

managers must be flexible to acquiring new skill sets(some projects, for e.g., may require you to create/workon some IT based platform to meet client needs),understanding the client's need, integrating multi-disciplinary approach to solve a problem (like usingBusiness Research and Intellectual Property Solutions toadvise a client on issues related to entry into a newmarket) and of course they must have an eye for detail.

The employer of the interviewee may or may not sharethe same opinion

Compiled by: The PUMBA Gazette InterviewTeam



A BREATHER FOR THE INDUSTRY…

The prices of more than 170 medicines have been revised

by the drug price regulator National Pharmaceutical

Pricing Authority (NPPA) to an extent of 33%. The types of

drugs on this list include antibiotics, asthma drugs,

medicines to treat pneumonia, malaria and painkillers

such as ibuprofen and aspirin. Companies whose product

prices have seen a rise include Pfizer, Novartis and

Shreya Life Sciences.

The prices of drugs in the country are regulated by the Drugs

Prices Control Order (DPCO), 1995, issued by the

Government of India under Section 3 of the Essential

Commodities Act, 1955. The list of price-controlled drugs,

procedures for fixing and implementing drug prices and

penalties for defying such provisions are given by the DPCO.

The power to implement DPCO provisions have been vested in

the NPPA.

Under the current DPCO 1995, the Retail Price is fixed

according to the following formula:

RETAIL PRICE = (MC+CC+PM+PC) x (1+MAPE/100) +

excise duty

Where,

MC = material cost including cost of bulk drugs/excipients:

CC = conversion cost;

PM= cost of packing material;

PC = packaging charge;

MAPE = Maximum Allowable Post-manufacturing Expenses

(A uniform MAPE of 100% is granted).

In October 2008, the prices of 149 medicines, including

monocomponent insulins, dettol antiseptic and aspirin with

combinations were revised by NPPA, out of which prices in

case of 14 formulation packs were reduced. The brands

concerned were from companies such as Eli Lilly, Shreya

Life Sciences, Reckitt Benckiser, Aventis Pharma,

Wockhardt and Pfizer. Prices of three bulk drugs, including

salbutamol sulphate for the treatment of bronchial asthma

were also slashed.

The affected pharma majors were Cipla,

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and FDC. In the last three

years, cases have been filed by NPPA against

companies like GSK, Ranbaxy, Cipla for overcharging

of drugs. In recent years, many new drugs including

Cilanem injection, Caverta tablet and Roscillin,

manufactured by Ranbaxy have also been brought

under the price control by NPPA.

In addition to this, the ceiling for price increase for

non-scheduled drugs had been brought down from

20% to 10%.

Many Industry associations like Assochem, OPPI,

CIPI etc. have raised concern over the price control

regulations of DPCO. They have asked the

government to raise the prices of non-scheduled

drugs by 20% in view of their rising input costs. This is

due to currency fluctuations, price hikes of packaging

materials like plastics & PET and commonly used

antibiotics like ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin and cefixime as

well as increase in travel costs and manpower costs.

Taking cognizance of the rise in input cost, a move to raise

the cap on the packaging cost of medicines has been

proposed. This would lead to sharp increase in prices sincepackaging comprises of a significant chunk of the cost of

medicines. The companies were asked by the pricing

regulator to submit their actual cost data so that the

regulatory norms could be revised.

The current price increase is for 41 formulation packs, in a

range of less than 1% to about 33%. Prices of four

Prednisolone brands marketed by Pfizer, India have been

raised by about 11% and 15%. The price of a vitamin tablet

brand from Novartis has been increased by 10.82%. The

list also includes monocompetent insulin from Shreya Lifesciences. According to an official in NPPA, the prices are

revised on the basis of applications received from

companies.

Such amendments by NPPA ought to be welcomed by the

pharmaceutical industry and could give a boost to the drug

manufacturers, especially when there is growing frustration

in the pharmaceutical industry due to the present

regulations. This decision could also give a respite to the

rattled drug industry and bridge the widening gap between

the drug makers and the government, while it will lead to

costlier medicines for the common man.

Compiled by: Nidhi Nirmal, Vandita Javali (MBA-

Biotechnology, Sem II)



BUDGET – 09: What lies ahead?

A Budget is a financial statement representing the

expected income and expenditure for the next fiscal

year of a particular country. The Union Budget of

India is presented by the Finance Minister in the

month of February. However, being an election year

only interim budget has been presented, which is

valid till the next government is formed.

In this article, the Union Budgets of last five fiscals

have been analyzed based on expenditure allocated

to Biotechnology and allied sectors. The allied sectors

include, Agriculture & Cooperation, Agricultural

Research and Education, Animal Husbandry and

Dairy, Agro and Rural Industries, Food Processing

Industries, Health and Ayurveda, Yoga &Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy

(AYUSH).

Table 1: Year wise comparison of expenditures

Analysis of Table 1 shows that, each financial year

there is an increase in the expenditure on BT & allied

sectors from close to Rs.9,500 crores to around

Rs.30,000 crores in the duration of consideration.

There has been an increase in the expenditure of BT

& allied sectors by more than 37% in the fiscal year

2005-06. Moreover, in the next financial year there

has been a whopping 75 % increase in theexpenditure of the same. However, in the next

fiscal it fell down to 19 % and was followed by 12 % in

the fiscal 2008-09. It can be observed that the BT &

allied sector’s share in the total Grand expenditure pie

is increasing with each fiscal year. However, from the

financial year 2006-2007, the increase in the

expenditure on BT sector was stabilized to around 4%

of the total budget. This data proves that less

emphasis was laid on the BT & allied sectors in the

last couple of years as compared to the previous

fiscals.

Graph 1:Year wise absolute expenditure on BT & allied sectors

& its percentage share of total expenditure

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Budget Year

E x p e n d i t u r e ( i n

R s .

C r o r e )

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

P e r c e n t a g e

S h a r e o f

G r a n d

T o t a l

BT & allied Sector Total

Percentage share

expenditure on BT & alliedsectors

Particulars 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009

BT & allied Sector Total 9497.84 13037.92 22915.72 27329.72 30612.21

Other sectors 468331.2 501305.9 541075.4 653190.8 720271.3

Grand Total 477829.04 514343.8 563991.1 680520.5 750883.5

% increase in expenditure on

BT & allied sectors - 37.27 75.76 19.26 12.01

% increase in expenditure in

Grand Total - 7.64 9.65 20.66 10.34% share expenditure on BT &

allied sectors of Grand Total 1.99 2.53 4.06 4.02 4.08



0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

P

e r c e n t a g e

2004-2005

(9497.84)

2005-2006

(13037.92)

2006-2007

(22915.72)

2007-2008

(27329.72)

2008-2009

(30612.21)

Budget Year (Expenditure in Rs. Crore)

Graph 2: Percentage expenditure in BT & allied sectorsBiotechnology

AYUSH

Health

Food Processing Industries

Agro and Rural Industries

Animal Husbandry and Dairying

Agricultural Res earch

andEducation

Agriculture & Cooperation

From the Graph 2, it is observed that the year wise

percentage expenditure on each of the sub-sectors is stable

except for the fiscal 2006-07 where emphasis was laid on

the health sector by increasing its share from around 29% to

more than 54%, simultaneously reducing the percentage of

expenditure on other sectors. The percentage expenditure

on core Biotechnology sector was throughout in the range of

3.4 to 3.5% except in the year 2006-07 where it dropped to

2.6%.

Our Speculations on the Union Budget

2009- 2010:

1) Being a pre-election budget, it will be under the scanner of

the Election Commission. Hence no major announcements

are expected.

2) Biotechnology and allied sectors are perceived to be least

affected due to the slowdown compared to other sectors.

This will lead to more focus on other sectors like Automobile

and IT and other industries like Textile, Leather etc.

3) Also as discussed above, the trend does not show a

major expenditure announcement for BT and allied sectors.

Hence, keeping up with the growth rate of the economy

which is expected to be around 7%, the absolute

expenditure on BT and allied sectors will show an increase.

However the percentage growth of expenditure compared to

last year may not be very exciting. Due to the discouraging

situation of other sectors, the share of expenditure on BT

and allied sectors of the total budget expenditure may not be

as attractive as other sectors. Also, the interim budget had

negligent offerings for BT & allied sectors.

Compiled by: Ameya Budukh, Anshul Tiwari, Dhruva

Deshpande, Monish Babariya, Tejaswini Lunkad, Vijendra

Agarwal (MBA-Biotechnology, Sem II)



Back to Society: ROSHNI Initiative by

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratory

Diabetes which was earlier known as ‘rich man’s disease’has widened its reach to all strata of society. At present

there are about 41 million diabetic patients in India and this

no. is predicted to rise to almost 70 million by 2025. It is

estimated that every fifth person with diabetes will be an

Indian. It has become one of the major challenges for India

in the 21st

century. Diabetes is a common condition which if

not treated in time can be fatal. Diabetes type 2 is spreading

among the adolescents at an alarming rate. In expert's

opinion, both genetics and environmental factors (such as

obesity, lack of exercise) play a vital role in the occurrence of

diabetic type 2. Diabetes reduces the blood flow to brain,

legs and hands, heart leading to severe consequences like

strokes, amputations.

Therefore, it has become imperative to create awareness

among patients & their families. Dr. Reddy’s is playing its

part in this fight with its venture ’Roshni’. Dr. Reddy’s is

using the time tested maxim ‘Prevention is better than Cure’

in carrying out this program effectively. Roshni was started

on 14th

Nov, World’s Diabetes Day. Roshni aims to arrest the

prevalence of type 2 diabetes in adolescents and children. It

aims to combat Diabetes by spreading information and

awareness about the diseases and the lifestyle choices

which predisposes an individual to diabetes.

The company has very effectively used its vast field forceand ground level knowledge in fight against Diabetes. They

have recruited top physicians and diabetologist who will

spearhead this movement to spread information about the

disease at the school level.

Dr. Reddy’s pan India presence will help the company in

taking this initiative to national level. The doctors are

provided with well defined material which is simple & easy to

grasp for school students. The material is in the form of

presentation which is delivered by leading doctors. The

material has pictorial representations to make it interesting

for school students. The students below Std 8 are of prime

focus. Dr. Reddy’s Foundation has committed to spend Rs.30-40 lakhs per annum for this noble cause.

The program is carried in following steps:

• Take confirmation from the concerned school.

• Conduct glucose level diagnosis of the students.

• Thereafter the information about the disease is

distributed by the doctors through the presentation.

• After this, the awareness in the community is

created through the school students using flip

charts.

Dr. Reddy's is motivated by the positive response shown to

ROSHNI by the local newspapers and media. This has

created awareness among people in and around Hyderabad.

Dr Reddy's has garnered support among doctors as theyhave attended this program found the idea very novel and

interesting. The company has formed an image of ‘We Care’

in the minds of people. This is evident by the fact that many

NGO's like Chronic care India, Helpage India have come

forward to associate themselves with ROSHNI.

We wish ROSHNI All the Best for its future endeavours!

(Special thanks to Mr. Jabeelullah Mohammad, Dr. Reddy’s

Laboratory)

Compiled by: Ameya Budukh, Birendra Choubey, Nivedita

Singh, Shweta Sharma (MBA-Biotechnology, Sem II)

Mentor: Danesh Irani (MBA-Biotechnology, Sem IV)



THE AGE(NT) OF CHANGE; OBAMA

November 4, 2008 was a historic day for the reigning

superpower USA, the day of election of Mr. Barrack

Hussien Obama as The President of the country. Seen as

messiah of hope or ‘The Agent of Change’ as he is

popularly called, he donned the mantle of president ship

at the time when the global economy is going through a

critical financial crunch along with worst recession sinceeconomic depression of 1929.

Analyzing the various policies of Obama, it is apparent

that one of his reforms is proposed to reduce the health

care cost of a typical American household. Healthcare

spending in the US is much higher compared to any other

developed nations both as a proportion of gross domestic

product (GDP) and per capita has reached at $ 7,026 per

resident in 2006, which is accounted for 16 percent of the

nation’s GDP. The objective of this government is to

contain costs, increase access and improve efficiency in

healthcare sector. In order to speed up health reforms

Obama may go or an overhaul of the healthcare system

and put more regulatory mechanisms or ensuring quality

control. Also, a new legislation favours the use of low cost

generic drugs. This move will encourage increased use of

generics in government funded programs and should

boost Indian generic drugs which accounts for one fifth of

the global production.

Dilip Shanghvi, Chairman and Managing Director, SunPharma, which earns over 40% of its revenue from U.S.operations, says, “President Obama’s win is strongpositive for the generic industry since he has indicateduniversal healthcare as one of the important priorities for

his administration.”

Another way of reducing the cost in the healthcaresegment in U.S. market would be the development of biosimilars. Although biosimilars are already beingmanufactured in Europe and India, there is no pathwayfor regulatory approval in the U.S., stalling their introduction in the lucrative U.S. market. The new U.S.administration may speed up regulatory pathway for biogenerics. This will be beneficial to companies likeBiocon and Dr. Reddy’s who already have builtcapabilities in biosimilars.

Indian generic players would compete with their U.S.

counterparts, on both the quality and cost parameters.

Obama policy may allow for the reimportation of drugs

with a caveat that prices of reimported drugs should be

lower than their cost in US. Allowing reimportation would

provide Indian manufacturers with greatly expanded

access to the profitable US market where the expenditure

in healthcare segment surpassed $2 trillion last year.

Barrack Obama has also fuelled hopes and expectations

in the life sciences industry by promising to give the

green signal for embryonic stem cell research. This may

lead to new breakthrough in pharma industry leading to

development of new drugs.

However, the other side of the coin is gloomy. Theoutsourcing activities might be adversely affected asObama has a conservative stance about the outsourcingbusiness. Moreover, in this phase of meltdown, he iskeen on developing more job opportunities in US itself soas to lessen the impact of global meltdown. Besides IT,the Pharma industry also banks a lot on the outsourcingactivities generated from US. The business generatedfrom outsourcing activities by Pharma Industry from US

alone, is in the range of $4-5 billion comprising of activepharmaceutical ingredients (API) supply, contractmanufacturing, contract research (drug & clinical). Inbird’s eye view and looking at the scale of business, anypolicy by Obama administration against outsourcingactivity will have an adverse impact on IndianPharmaceutical Industry.

Another issue that will influence Indian generics

companies is the Hatch-Waxman’s Act and the

controversial issue of ‘authorised generics’. This is a

mechanism by which big US Pharma companies restrict

the profit potential of generic players. Authorised generics

deny generic companies from availing the lucrative 180

days marketing exclusivity that they routinely seek. Indian

companies have in the past and will continue to challenge

patents of US MNCs in courts to seek this marketing

exclusivity. This is because after this period, other players

can enter into the fray, bringing the prices down

drastically and thus eroding the profit margins. The anti-

competitive nature of authorised generics is widely

debated, with a very strong political lobby in favour of

preserving it. So, the policy of the current administration

in this regard is significant.

Furthermore, an aspect that can jeopardise or worsen the

situation is the increased use of generics that can deprivethe US pharma industry from inspiration and incentive of developing new drugs. Such scenario may have anegative impact on the Indian contract research servicessector over a period of four to five years when the newdrugs will be ready for development by service providers.The current contracts of both research and clinicalservices are expected to continue with no major changein the scope. However, the future contracts will dependon the outcome of the four year term of the new USPresident.

For times to come a ‘wait and watch policy’ should becentral to any planning exercise; the future beinguncertain would present both opportunities and pitfalls.

Obama’s stand in this kind of a situation should benoteworthy with respect to their policies and norms, asthey will affect some of the chief facets of developmentfor a nation like India.

Compiled by: Nivedita Singh, Shweta Sharma (MBA-Biotechnology, Sem II)



PUMBA at Indian Science Congress

The 96th Indian Science Congress was held at Shillong & was a five day event from 3rd – 7th Jan’09.

The event was inaugurated by Honourable Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh & the chief guest for the event was the

Science & Technology Minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal.

The event was marked by the presence of eminent scientists like Dr. M.S. Swaminathan & Mr. Rao (ISRO Chief),

researchers and students.

One of our students Laxmikant Kahar (MBA-BT, Part I), who has been attending this event from the past 3 years,

presented his research papers in 2 sections out of the total 12 sections.

The 2 sections included New Biology And Biotechnology and Plant Science Department.

The papers presented & their abstracts are as follows:

1. Assessment of genetic relationship and diversity of some important grape genotypes using RAPD markers.2. Effects of gamma radiation on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) pollen development in anther culture.3. Fingerprinting of important grape (Vitis spp.) cultivated using RAPD markers.

Assessment of genetic relationship and diversity of some important grape genotypes using RAPD markers.

Abstract

Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to analyze genetic diversity and genetic relationship

among grape accessions. DNA from 42 grape accessions was used to amplify with 10 highly polymorphic primers. The10 primers yielded 105 scorable bands with an average of 10.5 marker per primer. The screening of 45 decamer

oligonucleotide allowed the selection of 10 primers used for the analysis. RAPD fingerprints of 42 grape samples were

obtained.105 bands, intense and easy to score, were chosen as markers. On average 10.5 bands per primer were

amplified with an average of 87.6% polymorphism. The size of amplified bands ranged from 222-2833 bp. The four

primers OPI-20, OPA-08, OPK-17 and OPH-19 showed 100% polymorphism. Primer OPH-19 has been found to be

most informative primer and has helped distinguish 35 accessions. Based on the similarity matrix, cluster analysis was

performed. A dendrogram of genetic relationship was obtained. The genetic diversity and genetic relationship among

accessions have been discussed. RAPD markers have proved to be useful for identification as they are quick and easy

to use.

Effects of Gamma Radiation on Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Pollen Development in Anther Culture

Abstract

In this paper we have dealt with the effects of pre-treatment with low dosage gamma rays on wheat pollen development

in vitro. Wheat anthers from the wild verity "Khiri" from the hilly part of M.P. were pretreated with gamma rays at 50,

100, 150, 200, 250 R at Bhabha Atomic Center, Mumbai. Then these anthers were cultured on the culture medium. It

was observed that 50 R treatment stimulated pollen development in culture, gave rise to the highest percentage of

pollen grains undergoing first division. In the 100, 150 and 200 R treatments, the rate of first division of pollen grains

increased at the beginning of culture but it soon dropped, indicating inhabitative effects of the treatments. It was

observed that the rate of second division of pollen grains in the 50 R treatment on the seventh day of culture was

16.22%, higher than other treatment (0% for 250 R and 7.89% for the control). The 50 R treatment reduced the

deterioration of pollen grains and increased the number of multicellular pollen grains in culture. In addition, it was found

that the epidermal cells of anther walls treated with 50 R developed better than in other treatments. The protuberances

on the plasmic membrane of the pollen grains treated with 50 R decreased compared with the control and 250 R.

Pollen development in culture was better than with 100, 150, 200, 250 R and control

Fingerprinting of Important Grape (Vitis spp.) Cultivars using RAPD Markers.

Abstract

Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was applied for the germplasm characterization in 45 different

grape accessions. A total of 92 polymorphic loci were obtained from ten selected primers after screening. Unique and

low frequency bands were useful for developing fingerprints for accessions because a combination of only a few bands

allowed differentiating large number of accessions. 23 stable and clear bands were selected to construct a fingerprint

map for discrimination of each accession. Out of 23 bands, 19 bands with frequency of up to 10% and 4 additional

bands with a frequency of less than 20% were finally determined by a computer programme to construct the fingerprint

map. 23 RAPD markers generated by seven primers were sufficient to differentiate 37 accessions. 2 genotype specific

bands, one each for H-533 (OPB-07716) and Charas (OPA-02886) were useful for developing fingerprints, which were

used for varietal identification. The fingerprint profile using the genetically defined RAPD markers is a useful and reliable

method for establishing the genetic identities of the important grape (Vitis sp.) cultivars and advanced selection.

Compiled by: The PUMBA Gazette Interview Team



PUMBA NEWS

The month of January saw three major events - Dhruv,

Nostalgia and National Seminar, in PUMBA.

DHRUV

It is one of the largest Inter-collegiate cultural &

management festivals, held in Pune. Dhruv, in its past four years, has seen participation from over 50 B-schools with

almost 5000 students. This year the theme for the event

was Astrology. The event was inaugurated on 13th January,

2009 by Dr. (Capt.) C.M.Chitale and the faculty of PUMBA.

During the three days of Dhruv,’09, there were 27 events in

all, including various management games , over 10 different

sports activities and various cultural competitions.

The Grand Finale of Dhruv, held at Alpabachat Bhavan,

Pune, was inaugurated by the Honorable Chief Guest, Mr.

Sunil Shende, who is an eminent personality on the silver

screen. The judges of the fashion show and the dance

competition were Mr Sunil Shende, RJ Aditi from Radio

Mirchi, Ms. Aditi Chitnis and Mr. Mahulkar.The event was declared a huge success.

NATIONAL SEMINAR ’09PUMBA organized one of its most prestigious annualevents - “National Seminar ‘09” on 24th January at TheRegal, Le Meridian, Pune. This year the theme of theseminar was ‘India Incorporated-Through the Looking glass’.The event provided a forum where the stalwarts of the

industry came together on a common platform, to discusssome of the contemporary issues confronting the Indianindustry. It also unveiled the practical aspects, prevailingtrends, and the expected route of the industry which gavestudents an insight into the intricacies of the corporateworld. ” The Hon. Vice Chancellor of the University of Pune,Dr.Narendra Jadhav was the Guest of Honour andMr.Luigino Ricetto, Country Head, Carraro Group Indiawas the Chief Guest for the event.The various facets of the corporate world, its past, presentand future were explored through 3 panel discussions:1) India Inc. – In the global race of economies: 2) India

Inc. – Sector “bytes”:3) India Inc-Resolvingramifications.

NOSTALGIAOn the 17th of Jan,’09 PUMBA welcomed all its alumni withopen arms. A lot of old memories were brought back as oldfriends got together at Nostalgia ’09, the annual eventorganized for the alumni of PUMBA. The event is a platform for the past and current PUMBAites to interact with each other andfor the past students to revive old memories once again withtheir batch mates. This year the theme of the event was ‘Music’.The event started with creative games, organized by the juniorsfor the alumni. This was followed by the main event, initiated bythe addresses of the Dean, Dr. (Capt.) C.M.Chitale and theHead of Department, Dr. B.V.Sangvikar. Later, the juniors andseniors exhibited their acting and dancing skills through skits

and dance performances which were thoroughly enjoyed by theenergetic audience. Also, one of the most important segmentsin the event was the felicitation of the star alumni of PUMBA.These were the alumni who spared their valuable time inhelping PUMBA progress and develop, through their valuablecontributions in various areas.

the pumba gazette (february edition)

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