Putting flyash to good use
by G.S. Dhillon
The much-awaited notification, welcomed by some and feared by others, has been issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, New Delhi, which makes it obligatory for the brick kilns located within 50 km radius of a thermal plant (TP) to replace at least 25 per cent by weight of “top soil” being used with “ash” (flyash, bottom-ash and pond-ash), while making burnt-clay bricks.

Science Quiz
by J. P. Garg
1. Name the physicist called the father of Indian nuclear programme and also well-known for his theoretical research in the field of cosmic ray showers. Which two institutes located in Mumbai have been named after him?

“Book of life, chapter one” is ready
by Amar Chandel

It has been rightly hailed as the equivalent of the invention of the wheel, the splitting of the atom or the landing on the moon. The mapping of virtually an entire human chromosome is an achievement whose consequences will be enjoyed by the humanity for all times to come. When a team of scientists from Canada, Britain, Japan, Sweden and the United States working under the £ 1.9 billion Human Genome Project made the announcement on December 1, it was the culmination of perhaps the most elaborate international scientific effort ever launched in human history.

The accomplishment could pave the way for biological therapies that replace faulty genes or correct their errors to make cells work properly. Eventually, it could lead to a more precise way to treat diseases, and do away with the debilitating side-effects of conventional drugs.

Genes control every characteristic of the human body. Their number is considered to range between 60,000 and 100,000, shared out among the 46 chromosomes.

The mapping of 97 per cent of even one of them is a daunting job. Although this is only the second smallest of 46 chromosomes, it holds at least 545 genes and possibly as many as 1,000. Mutations to genes along this particular chromosome contribute to at least 27 human disorders like heart defects, immune system disorders, cancers, schizophrenia and mental retardation. The complexity of the task at hand can be gauged from the fact that the blueprint of this chromosome alone contains more than 33 million individual pieces of information. The marvel of nature is that every single cell contains a complete copy of the human genetic blueprint and determines everything from a person’s appearance, skin and hair colour to his diseases.

“To see the entire sequence of a human chromosome for the first time is like seeing an ocean liner emerge out of the fog, when all you have ever seen before were rowboats,” says Dr Francis Collins, Director of the National Human Genome Research institute, which funded the US portion of the work.

Printing out the exact sequence of 33 million chemical building blocks using the letter A,T,C or G (which stand for the chemicals adenine, rhymine, cytosine and guanine) accurately is again a mammoth task. What may read like a mindboggling repetition would fill a huge telephone book or 1000 pages of this newspaper. The full size of the entire encyclopaedia of life can well be imagined. The human genetic code, or genome, consists of three billion pairs of chemicals known as bases. The completed genome will be equivalent to roughly half a million pages of information.

While the scientists in the international consortium are making their work freely available on the Internet within 24 hours of completing the sequence for each small piece of DNA, private companies are anxious to claim the territory as their own property.

Celera Genomics of Maryland run by Dr Craig Venter is in race with the consortium and has put 300 high-speed sequencing machines on the job since September this year. While the Genome Project has been at the job for more than a decade, this company has already filed provisional patents on 6,500 novel human genes. As one scientist wrote in Nature, “it would be a terrible blow to science and humanity if the human genome because a commercial property”.

Nature is not giving out the entire secrets. Despite the most modern techniques involved, researchers have not been able to read eleven gaps along the chromosome. It might take another 10 years to fill in these missing stretches, which comprise less than 3 per cent of Chromosome 22. But it is generally accepted that the sequence can be considered essentially complete even without them.

The chromosomes have been minutely studied but there are hundreds of unfamiliar hereditary units whose purpose is unknown. There are several long duplications, which could be connected with a number of inherited disorders. Then there are more than 100 pseudogenes, evolutionary remnants that may have no function at all in humans.

Scientists expect to sequence the other chromosomes by next spring. The next one after 22 may be No.7. But the goal of deciphering of human DNA may not be achieved before 2005.

Despite concerted efforts, researchers have not been able to determine if there is a pattern in the types of genes nature has chosen to store in Chromosome 22. The genes appear to be a random assortment, including a large set of genes involved in the immune system and more than 20 genes that cause known human diseases when defective. Moreover, it has not been possible to identify one of the genes suspected to be contributing to schizophrenia which is believed to lie on Chromosome 22. That is why some scientists have opined that the ecstasy is premature. “One should not declare victory just because one got tired of the problem”, one of them has said.

But the majority view is that the achievement will usher in “a startling new way of doing biology with far-reaching effects”. Doctors will be able to better customise existing medical treatments for patients depending on their genes in the short time. Scientists hope that by noting “spelling errors” in the chromosomes of people with various diseases, they will be able to understand the molecular underpinnings of the ailments and develop new therapies. Before long they hope to make profound discoveries about embryo development, genetic diseases and ageing.

“It’s like seeing the surface or the landscape of a new planet for the first time,” said Mark Patterson, an editor at the Nature, the scientific journal that published the chromosome report. “It is allowing us to say something about its geography, and it’s also allowing us to say something about its history ... how the chromosome evolved”.

At the same time, the project has raised a number of important ethical and legal issues that governments are only beginning to grapple with, such as whether insurers can require genetic testing of potential clients. Now that biology is entering a new world, it is necessary to prepare ourselves for its full impact.

The profound insight holds tremendous medical promise but it is not expected to unravel the complexities of organic life, let alone penetrate the mysteries of human individuality. Cutting out the scientific jargon and describing the achievement in simple language, one researcher has said that the geneticists are like explorers trying to understand a densely populated alien city. Having mapped out the streets, the explorers are now detailing what lies along them—every house and building, every address, every open lot. This work will only have meaning when they find out who lives at those addresses and how they interact to form a community.

That, I am afraid, is too tall an order, even for the highly advanced science of today.

What must be borne in mind is that gigantic that the task of mapping the human genetic blueprint is, all this data will be useful only when researchers are able to find out what the genes do. Knowing a gene’s sequence will only lead to an understanding of what it produces and how the chemical it makes contributes to life.

Remarkably, the research team which led the study has highlighted that of the genes sequenced on Chromosome 22, at least 113 are also found in the mouse genome. This is a compelling proof that nature tends to conserve useful parts of the DNA blueprint across different species.

Putting flyash to good use
by G.S. Dhillon

The much-awaited notification, welcomed by some and feared by others, has been issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, New Delhi, which makes it obligatory for the brick kilns located within 50 km radius of a thermal plant (TP) to replace at least 25 per cent by weight of “top soil” being used with “ash” (flyash, bottom-ash and pond-ash), while making burnt-clay bricks.

The State Pollution Control Boards (PCBs) have been authorised to monitor the operation of the brick kilns falling within the designated area. In case of breach or non-compliance with the above notification, the PCBs can withdraw consent already granted for operation of brick kilns and also cancel mining lease granted for obtaining soil for manufacture of burnt clay bricks.

In the case of Punjab, this affects the brick kilns located within a 50-km radius of the TPs of Ropar, Bathinda and Lehra Mohabbat and the list of such kilns is being prepared by the PSPCB (Punjab State Pollution Control Board), Patiala. Owners of these kilns may soon receive notice if not received already (The area covered by the restriction is shown on the Fig. 1). As the list of the affected brick kilns is being worked out, their number is not yet known.

As per the requirements of the notification, the State Electricity Boards (SEBs) operating the thermal plants will have to maintain a record of the ash made available to each brick kiln owner and copy of the record will be passed on to the pollution control authorities performing the monitoring duties so that effective control is exercised.

The SEBs will facilitate the delivery of ash in the desired quantity to each brick kiln owner (free of cost) in addition to making available land, electricity and water for manufacturing activities of “flyash bricks” and also provide access to the ash ponds. While removing the ash from the ash ponds it will be kept in mind that the safety of the ash pond banks is in no way endangered, because spread of ash over the adjoining area will mean a disaster for the owners of the farm land surrounding these ash ponds.

The manufacturers of flyash bricks will ensure that the product turned out complies with the requirements of the relevant Indian standards and the specifications of the PWD, who are to buy these bricks. The State PWDs are required to issue amended specifications permitting the use of the flyash based bricks, within four months of issue of this notification (issued in October, 1999), if not done earlier. The permission to use flyash based bricks should cover both the flyash burnt clay bricks and flyash lime bricks.

To make the switchover to the new mode of burnt clay bricks by the brick kiln owners smoother, it is essential that the Punjab Government should establish a “help line”, which should try to suggest remedy for the troubles which may crop up during this switch-over period.

The PSCST (Punjab State Council of Science & Technology) Chandigarh, has appropriate infrastructure for the purpose of setting up a help line as it already has established links with the brick kiln owners while helping them to undertake to switchover to eco-friendly measures in regards to kiln flues. Its flyash cell is properly equipped for the purpose.

The PSEB should take steps for making available flyash in the required quantity and the required state (wet or dry). At the RTP (Ropar Thermal Plant) arrangement exists for collecting flyash in a dry form to the extent of four lakh tonnes annually. But the requirement of the Ambujas of dry flyash for admixture in the cement is put at six lakh tonnes annually, so it will not be possible for the PSEB to supply flyash in a dry form to the brick kiln operators and they would have to depend on wet flyash removed from the ash ponds.

Use of wet flyash for making flyash burnt clay bricks would involve the difficult task of proper mixing of flyash in wet mode and clay soils. For the purpose, an appropriate mixer will have to be obtained by the brick kiln operators, which means an investment and they would need the assistance of financial institutions and the Punjab Government.

The flyash group under the charge of the SE Flyash, Patiala, has developed appropriate technique to manufacture flyash burnt bricks, using up to 30 per cent pond ash and many buildings of the Lehra Mohabbat thermal plants have been built with bricks so manufactured. Hence it would be in a position to help and provide training for a smooth switch-over.

Science Quiz
by J. P. Garg

1. Name the physicist called the father of Indian nuclear programme and also well-known for his theoretical research in the field of cosmic ray showers. Which two institutes located in Mumbai have been named after him?

2. The huge deposits of this fossil fuel trapped under the oceans can be a vast source of energy for the future. But scientists have recently found that large-scale exploitation of this fuel would lead to disastrous rise in world temperatures. Can you name this gaseous fuel? In which form is it deposited under the sea?

3. The British chemist James Lovelock proposed in 1970s the theory that the living and the non-living systems of the earth form an inseparable whole. What is this theory called that has not been accepted by all scientists?

4. These two salts are made of calcium sulphate but they differ in their water content. What are the common names of these two salts which find many applications in industry?

5. Balloon sellers inflate the balloons by blowing through their mouths. Many such sellers suffer from an infectious disease which is likely to be passed on to children using these balloons. Which is this disease?

6. What can be the possible use of a laser for old buildings and monuments like, say, Taj Mahal? (of course, we are not talking of illumination by laser.)

7. A.P.C. powder is recommended by doctors as a remedy for headache and fever. Which three chemicals does it contain?

8. “Within certain limits, the extension produced in an elastic body is directly proportional to the force on it.” What is this law called?

9. Name a compound of carbon and hydrogen that is used for welding. In which solution is it transported in steel cylinders?

10. The USA announced in 1983 a high-technology military programme, called Strategic Defense Initiative, which includes destruction of missiles carrying nuclear warheads. By which popular name is this programme known?

Answers

1. Homi Jehangir Bhabha; Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education 2. Methane; in the form of methane hydrate 3. Gaia hypothesis 4. Gypsum and plaster of Paris 5. Tuberculosis 6. For cleaning the monuments using portable laser, without any disadvantage which other methods have 7. Aspirin, phenacetin and caffeine 8. Hooke’s law, named after the British scientist Robert Hooke 9. Acetylene gas; acetone solution 10. Star Wars.

ATM’s bandwidth made available
The Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) forum has said that Indian industry and business could benefit using ATM’s bandwidth which has been recently made available to them.

The ATM is a core technology that allows service providers, network operators and corporates build high bandwidth, secure, reliable and manageable networks that empower e-business.

ATM is the well-defined and logical extension of all the Broadband Integrated Services Data Networking (B-ISDN) work that has been progressed over the last 10 years.

The ATM networks, using fibre optics, can offer a bandwidth up to several 10,000 mbps, making management of data, voice and video traffic on the network an inherent capacity hitherto not offered by any known network “core”

NetAid concert’s new reord
Cisco Systems, the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, has announced that the Internet broadcast of the NetAid concert in Geneva, London and New Jersy on October 9, set a new world record for the largest Internet broadcast event for a single day.

More than 2.4 million streams of the NetAid concert were seen on www.netaid.org. The concert served as the kick-off for NetAid, a long-term initiative developed by Cisco and the United Nations Development Programme to help eradicate extreme poverty.

New capabilities will be added to www.netaid.org, making it easier for people to take action in the fight against extreme poverty. A new resource matching centre will go live by the end of the year, enabling people around the world to post information about their needs or about resources they can provide.

The resource centre will allow active browsing of the posting, as well as automatic matching and notification of corresponding needs and resources.

Solution for enterprise storage management
Open platform solutions for stress free and reliable management of enterprise data have been announced by 3Hewlett-Packard. These include a new family of tape libraries and the HP SureStore DLT 80 tape-backup drive for high-end It environments.

The tape-backup drive can store 80 GB on a single tape and transfer more than 40 GB of data per hour (assuming 2:1 data compression) - the fastest data-transfer rate in the midrange-tape drive market today.

These new products address a growing customer need for reduced backup window, improved critical applications like ERP place heavier demands on the performance and capacity of tape-backup systems.

The HP SureStore libraries are optimised for Microsoft Windows NT environments. Designed for medium-sized to large companies, these libraries are ideal for backing up central file serves or database servers.

Pricing for the HP DLT libraries start at around Rs nine lakhs for 800 GB capacity library and come with a two-year on-site warranty.

Three new scanners from HP
Hewlett-Packard has unveiled three new colour flatbed scanners: the HP ScanJet 3300C colour scanner and the HP ScanJet 6300C and 6350C professional series scanners.

The HP ScanJet 3300C scanner at around Rs 8500 offers easy and effortless scanning or copying with the simple touch of a button. Users can scan directly to or from software applications with easy instructions guiding them through the entire scanning process.

The HP ScanJet 6300C and 6350C professional series scanners are available at an estimated cost of Rs 25,000 and Rs 32,000 respectively. They are high-performance scanners designed for business professionals who require ease of ownership, as well as fast task speed and high quality output.

HCL breaks price barrier
HCL Infosystem Limited has announced the launch of Intel Pentium II microprocessor-based HCL BusyBee PC at Rs 39,990.

Powered by the Intel Pentium II microprocessor, HCL BusyBee is equipped with 32 MB SDRAM, a 4.3 GB UDMA hard disk, integrated sound card, and a 4 MB AGP card. The unit comprises a 14-inch SVGA colour monitor, keyboard and mouse and comes pre-loaded with Windows 98. It is also supported by a one-year on-site warranty.

According to the IMRB iTOPS 99, HCL leads the branded PC segment with 12.9 per cent market share, more than that of all three of its nearest competitors— Compaq with 5.6 per cent, IBM with 3.6 per cent and HP with 2.6 per cent — put together.

MFG/PRO Version 9.0 launched
QAD, developer of supply chain-enabling enterprise software, has announced the launch of its MFG/PRO 9.0 enterprise software. The new version features next level architecture, a net user interface that is 100 Java and a set of e-business applications available for use on both the internet and intranets.

QAD/Connects is the name used to describe the new architecture available with QAD 9.0 software, which offers flexible connectivity between itself and the four major entities it interfaces with users, information sources, other applications and e-business.

The new e-business facet of the solution makes available sales force automation and internet enabled consumer and trading partner transactions with e-commerce.

— R. Suryamurthy and Gaurav Choudhury