Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology here have developed a method to detect COVID-19 which can significantly reduce the test cost making it affordable for large sections.

The National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune is in the process of validating this test on clinical samples.

The “probe-free detection assay” developed by the researchers at the prestigious institute’s Kusuma School of Biological Sciences has been optimised and tested for sensitivity at the research laboratories of the Institute. According to the team, considering the scale of the ongoing pandemic, development of indigenous kits is the need of the hour. The central government on Saturday recommended that the maximum charge for each COVID-19 test by private laboratories should not exceed Rs 4,500.

All private laboratories which have NABL accreditation for real-time PCR SA for RNA virus will be allowed to conduct COVID-19 tests, according to the guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for COVID-19 testing in private laboratories, which were notified by the Health Ministry on Saturday night.

However, the team at IIT claims that their test can be performed at a much cheaper cost and hence will be affordable for general public.

“Using comparative sequence analysis, we have identified unique regions in COVID-19. These unique regions are not present in other human coronaviruses providing an opportunity to specifically detect COVID-19,” Professor Vivekanandan Perumal, lead member of the team told PTI.

“Once the NIV validates the assay, it can be quickly scaled up to meet the increasing need in our country,” he added.

According to Professor Manoj Menon, the current testing methods available are “probe-based” while the one developed by the IIT team is a “probe-free” method, which reduces the testing cost without compromising on accuracy.

“Primer sets targeting unique regions in the spike protein of COVID-19 were designed and tested using real time polymerase chain reaction. The primers designed by the group specifically bind to regions conserved in over 200 fully sequenced COVID-19 genomes. The sensitivity of this in-house assay is comparable to that of commercially available kits” said Parul Gupta and Prashant Pradhan, members of the team. “This assay can be used as a qualitative (yes or no) assay without the need for extensive instrumentation. In addition, it can also quantitatively assess virus loads. We propose the use of this assay for specific and affordable high throughput screening of COVID 19,” they added.

The research team includes—PhD scholars Prashant Pradhan, Ashutosh Pandey and Praveen Tripathi, post-doctoral fellows Drs Parul Gupta and Akhilesh Mishra and professors Vivekanandan Perumal, Manoj B. Menon, James Gomes and Bishwajit Kundu.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 16,911 samples from 16,021 individuals have been tested for SARS-CoV2 as on March 21 and a total of 315 individuals have been confirmed positive among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases.

Space application centre (SAC), Indian Space Research Organisation has invited online applications for the recruitment of scientist, technical assistants, technician ‘B’, and draughtsman ‘B’ on its official website. The online registration process had started on March 14, 2020. Interested and eligible candidates can apply for the posts online at sac.gov.in on or before April 3, 2020, until 5 pm.

The recruitment drive is being conducted to fill around 55 vacancies of scientist, technical assistants, technician ‘B’, and draughtsman ‘B’ at SAC, Ahmedabad.

Age limit:

For Scientist/ Engineer-SD (Electronics) posts, there is no age limit, while for Scientist/ Engineer-SC (Physics, Computer, Electronics, Mechanical, Structural, and Electrical), Technical Assistant (Electronics, Mechanical, Civil, and Electrical), Technician ‘B’ (Fitter, Machinist, Electronics, Information Technology, Plumber, Carpenter, Chemical and Electrician), and Draughtsman ‘B’ (Mechanical) posts, a candidate should be between 18 to 35 years old as on April 3, 2020.

For more details, candidates are advised to read the official notification.

Here’s the direct link to apply online.

Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic plants (CIMAP), CSIR has invited online applications for the recruitment of Technical, Support & Administrative posts on its official website. The online registration process had started on March 4, 2020. Interested and eligible candidates can register for the positions online at recruitment.cimap.res.in on or before April 2, 2020, until 11:59 pm. However, the last date for the submission of online applications is April 7, 2020.

The recruitment drive is being conducted to fill 23 vacancies of Technical, Support & Administrative posts at CIMAP. Out of which, 3 vacancies are for Senior Technical officers (2) (Plant Tissue Culture, Agriculture Microbiology, and Agronomy), 4 for Senior Technical officers (1) (Pilot facility, Business development, Farm Management and Agronomy), 4 for Technical Assistant (GRM/GPB Photography/ Mass communication, Bioprospection, Extension), 11 for Technician (Electrician, Agronomy, boiler, HRD, Plant protection, product sale, exhibition, library, horticulture, vehicle management), and one for Junior secretariat assistant (Finance and accounts)

Application fee:

Candidates belonging to the general category are required to pay a non-refundable application fee of Rs 100. The applicants belonging to the SC/ST/Women/PWD/Abroad candidates and regular employees of CSIR are exempted from payment of application fee.

For more details, candidates are advised to read the official notification.

Here’s thedirect link to apply online.

Jammu and Kashmir Students Association in Dehradun has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to reduce fares of flights to Srinagar, citing hardships for students in returning home in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

Nasir Khueham, the spokesperson of the association, requested the Prime Minister and the Union Civil Aviation Minister to urgently look into the matter and provide relief to the stranded students. He also requested the two leaders to take measures to control the airfares.

“Hundreds of Kashmiri students are stranded in different parts of the country after the government ordered the closure of educational institutions till March 31 due to coronavirus outbreak. The airfares are very high and students cannot afford to spend so much,” Khueham told media on Saturday.

The Centre had announced countrywide closure of all educational institutions including schools, colleges and universities till March 31 to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has released an official notification regarding the recruitment of medical and technical officers on its official website. The online registration process will begin on March 30, 2020. Interested and eligible candidates can apply for the positions online at barc.gov.in on or before April 15, 2020.

The recruitment drive is being conducted to fill 8 vacancies of medical and technical officers at BARC. Out of which, one vacancy is for Medical/ Scientific Officer-D (Obstetrics & Gynecology), one for Medical/ Scientific Officer-D (Dental Surgeon – Pedodontia), one for Medical/ Scientific Officer-D (Radiology), one for Medical /Scientific Officer-C (General Duty Medical Officer), Medical /Scientific Officer-C (Medical), and three for Technical Officer-C (one each for chemistry, Mechanical Engg, and Instrumentation/Electronic Engg).

Application fee:

Candidates belonging to the general category are required to pay a non-refundable application fee of Rs 500. Applicants belonging to the SC/ST, Persons with Disability category and Women candidates are exempted from payment of application fee.

Educational qualification:

Medical/ Scientific Officer-D (Obstetrics & Gynecology): A candidate should have an MD / M.S./ DNB degree or an equivalent in Gynecology from a recognized university.

Medical/ Scientific Officer-D (Dental Surgeon – Pedodontia): A candidate should have a M.D.S. (Pedodontia) degree from a recognised university.

Medical/ Scientific Officer-D (Radiology): A candidate should have a M.D./ DNB degree or an equivalent in Radio-diagnosis from a recognised university.

Medical /Scientific Officer-C (General Duty Medical Officer) and Medical /Scientific Officer-C (Medical): A candidate should have a MBBS with one-year institutional experience. However, mandatory internship shall not be counted as experience.

Technical Officer-C (Chemistry): A candidate should have M.Sc in Chemistry with at least 60% marks or its equivalent CGPA from a recognized university.

Technical Officer-C (Mechanical Engg.): A candidate should have a B. E. / B. Tech. in Mechanical discipline with at least 60% marks or its equivalent CGPA from a recognized university.

Technical Officer-C (Instrumentation/Electronic Engg.): A candidate should have a B. E. / B. Tech. in Instrumentation/Electronic Engg. discipline with at least 60% marks or its equivalent CGPA from a recognized university.

For more details, candidates are advised to read the official notification