** Agri university alumni link mango farmers with urban market

The University of Agricultural Sciences’ Alumni Association has again stepped in to help farmers in distress on account of COVID-19 and the lockdown. The Association, which had lent a helping hand in marketing of grapes during the last year’s lockdown, has this time chosen mango growers for direct marketing assistance.

About 30 mango farmers have been identified by the Association for assistance in not just marketing, but also scientific method of harvesting of fruit and its ripening and packaging.

** 40 U.K. docs of Mysuru origin join telemedicine initiative

More than 40 doctors of Mysuru origin settled in the United Kingdom have joined the telemedicine initiative launched by the Mysuru district administration for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in home isolation.

** IISc start-up gets regulatory approvals for new COVID-19 test

A COVID-19 test developed by PathShodh Healthcare, a start-up incubated at the Society for Innovation and Development (SID), Indian Institute of Science (IISc),has received the license to manufacture the test for sale from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).

The test is touted to be the first-of-its-kind, semi-quantitative electrochemical ELISA test for COVID-19 IgM and IgG antibodies, received the licence after due diligence validation at the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad, as per the requirements of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), an IISc release said.

** Dharwad firm to manufacture Sputnik V

Dharwad-based Shilpa Biologicals Private Limited (SBPL) will manufacture Sputnik V vaccine at its production centre in Belur Industrial Area, near Dharwad.

It will be among the first production units of the Russian vaccine in India.

SBPL is an arm of Shilpa Medicare, one of the top suppliers of drugs in the country, established in 1987 in Raichur.

Sputnik V has been developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology of Russia.

Indian pharmaceutical company Dr Reddy’s Laboratory entered into a partnership with Russian Direct Investment Fund for the vaccine in India.

** Shobha Ranjolkar dies of cardiac arrest

Senior theatre artiste and theatre director Shobha Ranjolkar died of a cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Kalaburagi on Sunday. She was 67.

She is survived by her two sons.

Ms. Ranjolkar, a native of Kodangal in Telangana, was married to Bheem Rao Kulkarni, an engineer from Ranjol in Sedam taluk of Kalaburagi district.

** New blood-based biomarker to distinguish between bacterial and viral infections

As COVID-19 stands as a grim testimony to the damage an infectious disease can cause to human health and welfare, a major challenge in treating such diseases is misdiagnosis, which can lead to trial-and-error treatments, and improper use of antibiotics. Identifying the correct type of infection, is, therefore critical.

A recent study from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has identified a set of molecular biomarkers that can be used in the differential diagnosis of acute bacterial and viral infections.

First author Sathyabaarathi Ravichandran, Research Associate in the lab of Nagasuma Chandra, Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, explained that antibiotics are given even for viral infections in some cases because of misdiagnosis. With current methods, it can take a lot of time to test for bacterial or viral infections.