Union Cabinet approves establishment of National Institute of Biomedical Genomics at Kalyani, West Bengal

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet monday gave its approval to the establishment of National Institute of Biomedical Genomics ( (NIBMG) at Kalyani in Nadia District of West Bengal as an autonomous institution under the aegis of Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology with the budgetary provision of rs.210 crores. The institute will be a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, and will be governed by the Governing Body.

The Institute has emphasis towards enhancement of knowledge on human health & disease through genomics and translate the knowledge using appropriate technologies for promotion of well being and improvement of genomics-based health-care in India. NIBMG will create necessary physical infrastructure and build capacity to serve as the expert base for the establishment of principles and practice of biomedical genomics and promote cutting-edge research in biomedical genomics for better understanding and reduction of public-health burden in India. The grand vision is to provide personalised, predictive, preventive and therapeutic healthcare through the use of genomic knowledge.

NIBMG will usher in the genomics era explicitly in the areas of medicine and public-health. It will undertake novel research, translational, educational & training programmes, network with relevant institutions through star alliance, and seed biomedical genomics activities in hospitals, medical school and other health-care institutions.(PIB)

14th Leather Goods Intl Fair begins in Kolkata

KOLKATA:There is an urgent need to increase domestic as well as export markets for leather goods, so said the West Bengal Finance Minister, Mr Asim Dasgupta, at the inaugural ceremony of the 14th Leather Goods International Fair, in Kolkata.Exports from the leather goods sector has been registering a steady growth in the last few years, but they have been hit by the global recession caused due to the economic meltdown, he added by saying.

Speaking on the occasion, the President of Indian Leather Products Association, Mr Satyabrata Mukherjee, said, during the last few months there has been a 40 percent drop in leather exports from the country and was likely to dip further.Around 40 exhibitors are show casing their leather products at the fair like handbags, wallets, portfolios, belts and accessories, which will continue till February 24. Visitors from Spain, Bangladesh, Singapore and Netherlands are expected to visit the fair.

MCC restructures PTA business, will shift HQ to Singapore and Haldia

TOKYO (Japan), February 24, 2009: Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation( MCC) will shift a part of headquarters operations of its terephthalic acid business from Japan to Singapore and India to reform the business structure in Asia. According to a MCC press release, the details are as follows:

MCC’s terephthalic acid business is developed under a basic policy of locating production sites in customer regions such as Indonesia, India, China, and South Korea, with overall business management based in Japan. In addition to that MCC has decided to shutdown production facilities in Japan, a state-of-the-art terephthalic acid production facility in India, on which construction started January 2006, will be completed at the end of February 2009 and start commercial operation by the end of June 2009.

Therefore, the terephthalic acid business will be developed mainly in Asian countries outside Japan.At that time, MCC plans to move headquarters operations for the business to Singapore in June 2009 and for the technology to India (Haldia, West Bengal) at the end of 2009 , in order to establish a new business model (the final responsibility of the total terephthalic acid business remains in Japan). While ensuring mobility in terms of purchasing raw materials, sales, and technology and localization of human resources, MCC will further promote the reformation of its business structure.

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation also announced plans to shut down a terephthalic acid production facility at the Matsuyama Plant and a production facility at the Mizushima Plant that makes paraxylene, a raw material of terephthalic acid. The terephthalic acid production facility at the Matsuyama Plant started operation in July 1987. The terephthalic acid produced at the Matsuyama Plant is supplied to domestic manufacturers of polyester fibers and films as raw materials. The paraxylene production facility at the Mizushima Plant started operation in December 1968, and its entire output is used as raw material for terephthalic acid production at the Matsuyama Plant.MCC has taken various steps toward rationalization from every perspective. However, we concluded that there are no prospects to restoring profitability, and decided to shut down the facilities due to a trend of decreasing domestic demand for terephthalic acid.

The terephthalic acid production facility at the Matsuyama Plant and the paraxylene production facility at the Mizushima Plant are scheduled to be shut down in December 2010 and May 2010 respectively. Production of isophthalic acid will continue at the Matsuyama Plant, based on an operation agreement with AG. International Co., Inc.