DAHD Secretary Mrs Alka Upadhyaya Leads Discussions on Establishing National Animal Disease Centre at ICAR-NIVEDI, Bengaluru on April 5, 2024
On April 5, 2024, a key meeting took place at ICAR-NIVEDI, Bengaluru, chaired by Mrs Alka Upadhyaya, Secretary of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD, GoI), along with other senior officials. Dr. B R Gulati, Director of ICAR-NIVEDI, showcased the institute's profile and presented the plans for establishing the National Animal Disease Information & Control Centre (NADICC) as part of the National Digital Livestock Mission. This centre will develop a comprehensive digital platform for real-time reporting and analysis of livestock diseases. He expressed gratitude towards Secretary AHD and the Animal Husbandry Commissioner for their pivotal roles in securing WOAH Reference Laboratory status for two of NIVEDI's laboratories.
Dr. Abhijit Mitra, Animal Husbandry Commissioner, praised the institute’s efforts in managing national animal disease control programs, specifically targeting diseases like Brucellosis, PPR, and CSF. Mrs. Varsha Joshi, Additional Secretary (CDD/IT), emphasized the importance of using AI and machine learning in disease management. Mrs. Sarita Chauhan, Joint Secretary (LH), highlighted the need to integrate zoonotic disease studies and public awareness into all projects, while Shri G.N Singh, Joint Secretary (Admin/Trade/GC/IC), called for increased exports of livestock products.
Secretary Mrs Upadhyaya commended the institute's advancements in livestock disease epidemiology and its proactive approach in disease forecasting and warning. She also advocated for a collaborative national project to tackle Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Antimicrobial Usage (AMU).
The meeting also featured contributions from Dr. Bhushan Tyagi, Joint Commissioner (RGM), Dr. P.S. Mahesh, Dr. Arun, and Dr. Sahoo, among others. Dr. Siju, Senior Scientist, hosted the event, Dr. Rajeswari Shome proposed the vote of thanks, and Dr. S S Patil coordinated the proceedings.
16th Research Advisory Committee (RAC) meeting of ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics (NIVEDI), Bengaluru, Karnataka
The 16th Research Advisory Committee Meeting of ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology & Disease Informatics (NIVEDI) was held on 14th March 2024. Dr. Dr B.R. Gulati, Director, ICAR-NIVEDI in his address welcomed the Chairman and members of RAC and briefed about the research achievements of the institute including disease forecasting and sero-surveillance of economically important livestock diseases, development of population assays for major livestock diseases and economic analysis.
The Honourable Chairman, Dr M.P. Yadav in his online opening remarks appreciated achievements of the ICAR-NIVEDI during past one year. Dr.S.S. Patil, Member Secretary presented ATR of the previous RACs recommendations and RAC members expressed their satisfaction over actions presented. Dr. Ashok Kumar, ADG (AH), ICAR, New Delhi stressed the need of collection of livestock diseases in time along with climate factors. The achievements of the projects comprising of Bovine disease epidemiology group, Small ruminants epidemiology group, pig disease epidemiology group and disease informatics and socioeconomic group were presented by the group leaders.
Other members of RAC viz., Dr Mandeep Sharma emphasized on the improvement in quality of disease data obtained from state government for epidemiological analysis. Dr. C. Madan Mohan underlined the need for commercialization of technologies and establishment of library/recreation facilities at the campus for students admitted recently. Dr. Rajendra Singh suggested that the institute should organize workshops/ meetings particularly in One-Health with multi-stake holders belonging to veterinary, medical and wildlife professionals on regular basis.
Dr Dinesh, Veterinary officer suggested to initiate research work to evaluate post vaccination effects of Theileriosis. Dr Lalit Achoth appreciated the scientific achievements of the institute. Dr. S. C. Dubey stressed on establishing of BSL-3 facility at the institute to prepare and face the challenges of emerging diseases of livestock. Dr. B R Gulati thanked Chairman and members of RAC for their valuable inputs. He remarked about the need of joining hands together by all the scientific staff of ICAR-NIVEDI to augment the research output with the available resources. Dr Rajeswari Shome, PS proposed vote of thanks.
Secretary, DARE and Director General, ICAR visits NIVEDI
Hon’ble Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Secretary, DARE and Director General, ICAR visited ICAR-NIVEDI on 30.08.2023. He was accompanied by Dr. Triveni Dutt, Director, ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar, Dr Sanjay Kumar Singh, Director, ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru, Dr. V. Venkatasubramanian, Director, ICAR-ATARI, Zone-XI, Bengaluru, Dr SN Sushil Kumar, Director, ICAR-NBAIR, Dr Pallab Chaudary, Joint Director, ICAR-IVRI, Bengaluru, Mr G P Sharma, Joint Secretary (Finance), ICAR, Dr V B Patel, ADG (Fruits & Plantation Crops).
Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Secretary, DARE and Director General, ICAR visited the Institute's Biosafety Level 2 laboratories and was highly impressed with the its operation. He also visited spatial epidemiology/ disease informatics laboratory and suggested to transmit the disease alerts to all stakeholders via text messages to their mobile. Dr Pathak visited the NaaViC Agri Business Incubation Centre, ICAR-NIVEDI, Bengaluru and interacted with business team.
Welcoming DG, ICAR, Dr Baldev Raj Gulati, Director, ICAR-NIVEDI, Bengaluru presented the research achievements of the institute. He also shed light on the significance epidemiology and disease informatics in current scenario in maintaining animal and human health.
Addressing the scientists and staff, Dr. Himanshu Pathak expressed his admiration for the institute's research and development and specifically he was impressed with the number of externally funded projects in the Institute.