All conspiracies to weaken Congress will be defeated : Warring Reaffirms, party united; only alternative to incompetent AAP Says, AAP using people to divert attention from brutal abuse of power Chandigarh 9 December ( Ranjeet Singh Dhaliwal ) : Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring today asserted that all conspiracies aimed at weakening the Congress in Punjab will be defeated. “Current controversy has been created to divert the public attention and shift the discourse from the AAP’s brutal abuse of police force in the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections”, he noted while pointing out, the AAP was on defensive and such sensational but baseless claims may provide them a breather from public scrutiny. “When everyone was talking about the abuse of police force and the AAP was not having any answers, the attention was instantly diverted with sensational claims which have no base or truth in them”, he noted, while adding, “both the BJP and the AAP are masters ...
Experts Chart India’s Genetic Innovation Roadmap at India International Science Festival 2025 Panel Discussion
Experts Chart India’s Genetic Innovation Roadmap at India International Science Festival 2025 Panel Discussion
Gene Editing Takes the Spotlight on last day of India International Science Festival 2025
Panchkula 9 December ( Ranjeet Singh Dhaliwal ) : The India International Science Festival (IISF) 2025 concluded its final day with an engaging and deeply informative session on gene editing, drawing students, researchers and innovators who have been gathering through the week to explore ideas that align with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat@2047. The festival, known for bringing thousands of young minds together, continued its momentum with discussions that linked scientific advancement to national growth. *Keynote Speakers Decode the Science and Its Potential* The session opened with remarks from distinguished experts including Dr. K. C. Bansal, Former Director of ICAR–NBPGR; Dr. Ramesh V. Sonti, Director of ICGEB; and Dr. Rahul Purwar of IIT Bombay, who also leads ImmunoACT, India’s first CAR-T cell therapy enterprise.
Dr. Bansal reflected on the rapid rise of gene editing since its discovery, stressing how scientific interventions in agriculture are central to achieving self-reliance. He pointed out that the festival’s theme, “Vigyan Se Samruddhi: For Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” aligns with ensuring food availability and affordability. Drawing attention to the significance of scientific progress in food systems, he said India’s ability to provide free food to more than 80 crore citizens each month, as highlighted by Prime Minister Modi, stands on decades of research-driven crop improvement. Without a strong agricultural base, he said, other sectors including medical research and space science cannot achieve their full potential. Dr. Sonti described genome editing as a way of rewriting DNA—removing and inserting sequences much like changing letters in a text. He explained that the technology is now used not only in agriculture but also for developing industrial microbes, creating new materials and even replacing chemical processes with biological ones. Dr. Purwar shared the journey behind one of India’s most significant medical breakthroughs: an indigenous CAR-T cell therapy. He noted that treatment costs abroad run into several crores, whereas years of work by Indian scientists have brought the therapy down to a fraction of that cost. Highlighting a case where a patient travelled from New Zealand after failed treatments and is now cancer-free, he said innovations that once felt like science fiction have become reality in Indian laboratories.
*Panel Explores Frontiers of Genetic Science*
The discussions continued with a panel featuring Dr. Arkasubhra Ghosh of Narayana Nethralaya and GROW Research Lab; Dr. Mohan Kumar K. Murugesan of CMC Vellore; and Dr. Mahendra Sonawane from TIFR, moderated by Dr. Naveen Chandra Bisht from NIPGR. Dr. Ghosh spoke about ongoing work in treating inherited disorders affecting the eye, brain and blood, noting that gene editing tools could offer corrective solutions for conditions like muscular dystrophy. Plans are underway to initiate India’s first gene therapy clinical trial in this domain. Dr. Sonawane detailed how tools like CRISPR–Cas9 are used to switch off genes and study their effects on the gut and other systems. He emphasised the role of zebrafish as a research model and discussed the growing use of organoids to study human biology without invasive experimentation. Dr. Murugesan highlighted efforts to correct genetic mutations in a patient’s own blood-forming cells without cutting DNA—an approach designed to avoid complications associated with DNA breaks and move towards a one-time curative treatment.
*IISF Concludes with Optimism and Momentum*
As the festival wrapped up its final day, the session on gene editing stood out for its blend of scientific depth and national purpose. The discussions captured how India is rapidly advancing in genetic technologies while staying rooted in the larger ambition of building an innovative, self-reliant nation. The interactions between experts and young participants marked a fitting conclusion to IISF 2025, reinforcing a shared commitment to scientific progress in the decades leading up to 2047.
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