REPORT ON“INTERACTIVE MEETING FOR ESTABLISHING
BIOINFORMATICS INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES
IN SIKKIM”
Submitted by: Sikkim Bioinformatics Center
Sikkim State Council of Science and Technology
Department of science and Technology
Government of Sikkim
Gangtok-737101
Submitted to: Department of Biotechnology
Ministry of Science and Technology
Department of Science and Technology
Government of India
Block –II, CGO Complex
Lodhi Road,
New Delhi-001003.
REPORT ON“INTERACTIVE MEETING FOR ESTABLISHING BIOINFORMATICS
INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES AND ON LINE ACCESS LIBRARY
FACILITY OF LIBRARY RESOURSES BY HIGHER SECONDARY AND
HIGHER SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF SIKKIM”.
An interactive meeting for establishing Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility Centers
(BIF), at various Scientific Institutions, Universities, Colleges and Senior Secondary Schools
of Sikkim was organized by Bioinformatics Center, Sikkim State Council of Science and
Technology supported by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India on 19th June
2009 at Sikkim Science Centre, Marchak.
The meeting was attended by Shri M. L Arrawatia, IFS, Secretary, Department of
Science and Technology ,Government of Sikkim, Dr. T. Madan. Mohan, Adviser,
Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, Shri. U. S Rawat, P.S to Secretary,
Department of Biotechnology , Government of India, , Shri. B. C. Basistha, Sr.Scientific
Officer cum Coordinator, Sikkim Bioinformatic Center, Sikkim State Council of Science ,
Government of Sikkim, Shri D.T Bhutia, ,Sr. Scientific Officer , Sikkim State Council of
Science , Government of Sikkim, Representative from various Scientific Institutions,
Universities, Colleges, Schools of Sikkim and officials of Sikkim State Council of Science
and Technology, Government of Sikkim.
The main agenda of the meeting was to explore the possibility and feasibility of
establishing Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility Centers (BIF) in various Scientific
Institutions, Universities, Colleges and Senior Secondary Schools of Sikkim to promote
Biology and Biotechnology teaching and to facilitate on line access to library. All
participants gave a brief talk about their existing infrastructure and computer facilities, total
number of students and teachers in the institute, subjects /courses offered by the institutions,
etc and other related informations.
The program started with a welcome note by
Shri. B. C. Basistha. Shri. B. C. Basistha.
Shri.Basistha, in his speech spoke on
introduction and significance of Bioinformatics.
He also emphasized on the major role played by
DBT,GOI
on promoting Biotechnology,
Bioinformatics and Biology in various scientific
institutes in North-East states and the motif of
Bioinformatics facility (BIF) for Biology
Teaching.
Shri. Basistha delivering the welcome speech.
Shri .M.L. Arrawatia, IFS, Member Secretary,
Sikkim State Council of Science and Technology
and also gave a speech on the importance of
establishing BIF Centers, in the institutes of
Sikkim. Shri M. L Arrawatia in his speech also
came up with number of issues to be discussed
and taken care of .:
Issues were as follows
 Need for more skill development programs from DBT.
 Since two crores were approved for the extension of Science centre, Marchak ,for the
establishment of separate gallery for Biotechnology and Biodiversity need support
from DBT.
 Better facilities to be provided to the science students in schools to give better and
strong foundation for future research works. Need more Bio Scientists in Sikkim.
Modern and latest technologies and tools should be provided to students in schools.
 BIF will give a better platform to all the students of Sikkim to compete in national
and international levels.
 Annual Maintenance Contract provision should be provided to BIF centre to keep the
lab well maintained.
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Research Assistant and Computer operators should be provided to BIF at least for
some years to support the students to utilize the facilities in more efficient manner.
This shall also help to combat unemployment problems to some extent.
First preference for establishment of BIF centers should be provided to the
Government Schools, Colleges and institutes after that it should be given to NGO,
Research institutes and Private sectors. The private Colleges and institutes should use
this facility for the betterment of the students and not as a profit gaining business.
Dr.T.Madan Mohan ,Adviser, DBT gave the power point presentation on “Promotion of
Biotechnology & Bioinformatics activities in the North East: some suggestion”.
Presentation slide of Dr.Madan Mohan
Dr.Madan Mohan giving the presentation
Dr.M.Mohan highlighted on the strength and scopes and the constraints of NorthEastern states:
Strength and scopes:
 Biodiversity hotspot
 Medicinal plants
 Rare and endangered species
 Rich treasure of natural resources
 Indigenous technology needing value-addition
 Potential human resources
 Scope for marketing through international boundaries with neighbouring countries.
Constraint:
 Inadequate infrastructure
 Lack of trained manpower
 Need for an integrated approach at the school and college levels
 Development of better lab facilities
 Need for encouraging research activities in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics.
He also discussed about the three action plans to be carried out:
Plan I.
 Creating Biotech Hubs in selected institutions
 Basic Biotechnology and Bioinformatics lab facilities
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Funding teaching and research activities
A nodal centre in each state provided with adequate infrastructure for teaching,
research as well as training.
The nodal centre will have linkage with all biotech hubs within the state and provide
trainings and workshops for students and faculties.
A Zonal Centre for Entire North-East to be created which shall develop a Network
among the centers and organize periodic meetings/workshops for reviewing the
activities.
Plan II.
 Funding of small research projects (< 5 lac) at regional level by DBT.
Plan III.
 Awards at the zonal level to encourage promising young scientists.
 Opportunity to have training abroad or reputed institutes within the country.
He also said that for manpower development, scientists and postgraduate students shall
be given the opportunity to undergo training under leading scientists for about one month.
All costs related to such training shall be borne by DBT. School children at class 12 levels
will be given exposure to the facilities at Biotech Hubs in leading institutions within the state.
Linkage with IT departments should be established to encourage bioinformatics activities,
viz. development of software and algorithms, database development etc. For the
encouragement of e-learning Dr. Mohan said that we need to development e-learning
resources, orientation of students to the available online resources and online lectures and
sharing of online resources through the regional network.
Dr. T. Madan. Mohan at the end of his presentation told that the BIF facilities shall be
provided to 20 institutes of Sikkim and the institutes shall be selected by the selection board.
Meeting with the honourable Minister DST,GOS, Shri.Bhim Prashad Dungel
Honourable Minister DST,GOS,Shri.Bhim Prashad Dungel
After the Meeting Dr. Madan Mohan and Shri. U.S. Rawat along with Shri. Arrawatia
meet the honorable Minister ,Science and Technology Department, Shri Bhim Dhungel in his
chamber.
Honourable Minister,DST,GOS in his chamber with Shri.Arrawatia,Dr.M.Mohan and Shri.Rawat
INTRODUCTION OF THE INSTITUTE, VIEWS AND QUERIES BY THE
PARTICIPANTS REPRESENTING THE VARIOUS SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS,
UNIVERSITIES, COLLEGES AND SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF SIKKIM
Participants interacting at the Meet.
1. Dr. K.K Singh , GB Pant Institute
Working on Rhododendron. Rare and endangered species data collection for
making database.Want proper format for making database. DBT Advisor Dr. T.
Madan Mohan advised Dr. K.K Singh to contact Shri. B. C. Basistha, Sr. S. O,
DST,GOS for the format of creating database. Dr. Singh showed interest in
having BIF at GB Pant.
2. Dr. R.K. Avasthi from ICAR, Tadong
Working on citrus collection, artificial insemination, DNA isolation and
Elisa/PCR techniques. Need Tissue culture lab and Bioinformatics facilities.
3. Dr. L. C. De from NRC Orchid
Work done on 400 species of Orchid and 100 hybrids of cymbidium.Hardening
infrastructure is developed and working more on hardening of orchid plants.
4. A. K Singh, PGT teacher from Pelling Sr. Sec. School
CBSE board School,48 students in class 12th standard and 50 students in class 11th
standard. Need visual teaching aid and online programs to teach Biology students.
Need softwares packages to make biology teaching more interesting as due lack
of computer facilities and modern teaching aid., schools has been teaching
biology more like history .
5. Debesis Sinha from Chujachen School
Need database, softwares packages for teaching students.Want Bioinformatics
facility. 15 students in class 12th standard and 20 students in class 11th standard.
6. G.D. Phipon from Tashi Namgyal Sr. Sec. School
Need computer and Computer teacher/ computer operator.
70 students in class 12.
7. M. K Ghose from SMIT, Majitar
Running two Bioinformatics projects.
a). Three months certification course in Bioinformatics.
b). One year P.G. Diploma in Bioinformatics.
One year is only theory based and the projects shall be provided after one year,
only if the AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) approved for
projects.
8. Ivan D. Lepcha from P.N.G School
Students got national projects on Biology and Biodiversity.50 students in class 12,
60 students in class 11,90 students in class 10 .School wants to start
Biotechnology as one subject in class 12.Students need exposure in the filed of
Bioinformatics and databases.
9. P. K Sharma from Pacheykhani School
School has 8 computers and one computer teacher.BIF will help students to
understand Biotechnology and Bioinformatics better.BIF will be a milestone for
better Biology teaching.
10. G. K Nepal from Mangan School
15 students in class 12,50 students in class 11,60 students in class10.No softwares
packages and online facilities for students. BIF will help students to learn biology
better.
11. N.P Rao from Sadam School
School has IT department with two computers .Need BIF facility for biology and
IT students.
12. Anita Shilal from T.N.A School
ICSC board School Students facing problems for appearing entrance exams
because of lack of online information, library, tuitions and latest technologies for
teaching. Need laptops and systems for students to get online information. Only
seven working microscopes are provided to Bioscience students. The school has
got BSNL connection
13. Dr. Bina Pradhan from Sikkim Government College
Science department was established on 70’s. Only college in Sikkim providing
higher education to all the students of Sikkim.Want to start Biotechnology,
Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, Genetics subjects in college.Need online
database and library for caring out Ph.D studies and research works.The college
has well educated faculties and Ph.D teaching staffs.In Botany department 4 Ph.D
and 2 M.Sc Lecturers are there in college.
14. Sikkim Express (Print Media)
Journalist from Sikkim Express news paper wanted to know about Science writing.
Secretary DST replied to the journalist that the DST had already conducted one
training on how to write Science report and in future more trainings shall be provided
in the same topic if the interested participants are more. He also told Science writing
is very important topic and lots of skill, techniques and a good understanding of the
science are needed to make the scientific writing effective.
15. G. N Gupta from EIILM university
Offering BTech Biotech and M.Sc Biotechnology courses. Lab well equipped with
PCR and other Biotechnology tools. Library open to all the students of ELLIM. In
Biotechnology one paper is for Bioinformatics and Genomics so need Bioinformatics
lab separately. Future work: a). Bioinformatics courses for B.Sc and M.Sc.b). Setup
Bioresearches centre. Want support from DBT and DST for R and D faculties and lab
facilities. Students from Sikkim, India and abroad studying in the institute. Miss.
Ongmu Tamang (Bioinformatics faculty, EIILM) wanted to work in the field of Drug
designing and Molecular modeling. Need software packages for Molecular modeling
works.
16. Yash Gurung from ICFAI
In future institute would like to establish B.Tech Biotech courses too along with IT
and Management courses. Want information on establishing biotechnology lab,
database, software, tools for establishment of Biotechnology lab. DBT advisor
suggested to contact IIT, Guwahati for information and guidance for establishment of
Biotechnology infrastructure facility lab and Biotechnology course.
17. Kuldip Sharma from Hee Yangthang School
22 students in class 12 (Biology),30 students in class 11 (Biology) ,3 school
buildings.Only 3 computers are in working condition and CIC provides net facilities.
BIF will be a very good facility to the students.
18. Garap Dorjee Bhutia from Sombaria School
Need online facilities for teaching Biology students.
19. Basudev Rai from Dickling School
12 computers,Need online facilities.
20. E.N. Sharma from Tarpin School
School has Good library facilities for students. Need online facilities also to improve
the quality of teaching.
21. Tshering W. Bhutia from Rhenock School
School established on 1875. Have developed Botanical garden near the school. Well
established computer lab. Need more computer facility.
22. N. Pradhan from Samdong School
Need visual aid for teaching science students and need computer and online facility in
the school.
23. T.P. Nepal from Enchey School
Established on 1949. One of the oldest and traditional schools. Students have to wear
traditional dress (bakhu) as uniform. Net facilities are provided to students.
24. Usha Pradhan from Namchi School
Need well equipped lab for biology students. Good visual aid and software packages
needed for understanding biology more clearly and practically.
25. Puja Chettri from Central Pandam School
No computer facilities to student’s ,only 1 computer in working condition. Students
are facing lack of interest in Biology subjects due to inadequate lab facilities. Need
computers and online facilities to make the biology subject more visual and real.
DNA double helix, DNA replication, protein synthesis etc if shown visually it will be
more helpful for students to understand the process clearly.
26. Ramchandra Gurung from Gyalshing School
Computer facilities provided to vocational IT students and science students. Possess
BSNL net connection. Need more computers and online facilities to students because
the computer is not sufficient for the students.
27. Til Bahadur Chettri from Ravangla School
No working computers in school.
28. Annapurna Tamang from Yangang School
Science streams till class 10 only. Want to upgrade the science stream till 12.School
faces lots of electricity problems. Need computers and projectors to teach science
students.
29. Bindhya R. Thapa from Namchi Girls School
One of the class 12 science student got 80% marks in 2009.Basic computer facilities
are been provided to students. Need more computers and projectors for developing
the teaching stander of the school.
30. Sadam Secondary School
No computers for students. Need computers and online facilities for students.
31. Mrs. P. Sharma from Soreng School
One of the science student of class 12 scored 88% in 2009 class 12 exam.Need online
and visual aid for making the biology learning more interesting.
32. Ms. Dorjee Chongmi from P.O.C School (Run by NGO)
90% of students are from poor financial background and orphans. Total 316 students.
Computer facilities are been provided to the students. Need proper lab and online
facilities for the growth of poor students.
33. Tshering Choden from Deorali School
Students facing lack of computer facilities.
34. R.R. Shukla from JNV School, west-Sikkim
Biotechnology subject was included in class 12 but due to lack of lab facility it is now
shifted to Assam complex. Computers and online facilities are provided to students.
Need Biotechnology lab facilities for the students.
35. Binod Pokhrel from Temi School
Want computer and internet facilities in the school.
PHOTOGRAPHS OF INTERACTIVE MEETING FOR ESTABLISHING
BIOINFORMATICS INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES IN SIKKIM AT SIKKIM
SCIENCE CENTRE, MARCHAK.
NEWS PAPER CLIPPINGS OF THE INTERACTIVE MEETING
REPORT ON“INTERACTIVE MEETING FOR ESTABLISHING
BIOINFORMATICS INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES
IN SIKKIM”
Submitted by: Sikkim Bioinformatics Center
Sikkim State Council of Science and Technology
Department of science and Technology
Government of Sikkim
Gangtok-737101
Submitted to: Department of Biotechnology
Ministry of Science and Technology
Department of Science and Technology
Government of India
Block –II, CGO Complex
Lodhi Road,
New Delhi-001003.