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Inter-Regional Transmission Corridors for Power Supply from Surplus to Deficit States

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piyush goyal
piyush goyal

Shri Piyush Goyal Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines has informed that the inter-state transmission lines are planned and implemented as a part of the evacuation system from inter-state generation stations and also as system strengthening projects. These lines are mainly used for delivery of power from these generating stations to their beneficiaries in various states. The inter-state transmission lines i.e. the transmission lines within a region and also the inter regional lines are also used for transfer of power from surplus states/regions to deficit states/regions, subject to availability of margins in these lines.

Further, the Minister said that a number of inter-regional links have been planned which interconnect the five regional grids i.e. Northern, Western, Southern, Eastern and North Eastern regions. Presently, the total transmission capacity of such inter-regional links is 59,550 MW (June 2016) which is expected to increase to 68,050 MW by the end of 12th Plan i.e. March 2017.

Shri Goyal noted that Gujarat and other surplus States are entitled to seek Long Term, Medium Term and Short Term Open Access (STOA) for export of power to any part of the country. The nodal agency for the grant of Long Term Access (LTA) / Medium Term Open Access (MTOA) is Central Transmission Utility (CTU) and for STOA is the Regional Load Dispatch Center (RLDC). In Case, Gujarat or such surplus States intend to sell surplus power outside the state on long term basis they should seek long term transmission access well in advance as creation of any new transmission infrastructure takes a period of three to four years.

As per the scheme for operationalization of Power System Development Fund (PSDF), PSDF may be utilized for creating necessary transmission systems of strategic importance based on operational feedback by Load Dispatch Centers for relieving congestion in Inter-State Transmission Systems (ISTS) and intra-state system which are incidental to the ISTS are eligible for funding from PSDF. As per information available in Central Electricity Authority (CEA), no such scheme has been submitted by any entity till date, the Minister added.

R K Chaturvedi given addl charge as Jt Secretary- Implementation, Central Pay Commission, GOI

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Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi IAS-indianbureaucracy
Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi IAS-indianbureaucracy

Shri Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi IAS (Madhya Pradesh 1987) presently posted as Chairman Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE), has been given additional charge of Joint Secretary Implementation Central Pay Commission, Government of India.

IndianBureaucracy.com wishes Shri Chaturvedi the very best.

Motor Bike Rally “Ride 4 Accessibility” for Accessible India Campaign tomorrow

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Motor Bike Rally _indianbureaucracy
Motor Bike Rally _indianbureaucracy

In continuation to various sensitisation campaigns run by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), a Motorcycle Rally ‘Ride 4 Accessibility’ is being organized on 24th July, 2016 in Delhi .The Rally, which will include about 500 young men and women motorcycle riders will be flagged off at India Gate by Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Human Resource Development and Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Science. Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot, Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment will preside over the function.

Before reaching to India Gate, the bikers will start from three different locations – South Ex Part -2, Khanna Market and GD Goyanka School, later will pass through various areas of Delhi. In the presence of celebrities from bollywood, sports, Cyclist and Joggers a pledge to create mass awareness about the campaign will be taken up. Street Plays and cultural programs will also be organized on this occasion besides playing of musical bands.

Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) [DEPwD] is running the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) for creating universal accessibility in built environment, public transportation and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) eco-system. Efforts are being made to make the campaign a mass movement by involving citizens in various States and sensitizing the society towards disability and the need for accessi

Women and Empowerment by FICCI FLO

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Over 40 independent voices of women from FICCI FLO (FICCI Ladies Organisation), Chennai, was channelised by one strong voice on stage at Crowne Plaza. City-based lawyer, researcher, writer and women’s rights activist Kirthi Jayakumar who was invited to be part of Michelle Obama’s United State of Women Summit at Washington DC delivered a talk on ‘Women and empowerment’.
“What is women empowerment?” she asked. Receiving mixed responses for the same, she opined, “It is all about freedom of choice and also boils down to the substance of choice.”
The 27-year-old has not only worked in India as a women’s right activist, but has also been a part of NGOs and campaigns around the world. She has worked with an NGO called Delta, which set up a first school in a village in Nigeria. “I want to take the idea of equality and empowerment to more schools,” shared the activist who won the US Presidential Services Medal and a UN Online Volunteer of the Year Award for the success of Delta.
But when did she get involved in women’s issues and other related campaigns? Pat comes the reply: “December 16, 2012 — the gang rape of Nirbhaya. It kicked me to do something for human rights and more specifically women,” said this avid buff of Anne Frank diary. “I’ve read her diary at least over a 100 times. Such an inspiration.”
Growing up in a family of liberals, she said, “My mother is an alternative healer, my brother and father are both lawyers. I wasn’t treated differently. We were all given equal importance. Being a lawyer was a means to help others. I’ve always wanted to help others and this couldn’t have been possible without my family’s support.”
Kirthi runs her own NGO Red Elephant which aims to change the mindsets in society through sustained campaigns and programmes in the country. “Even today families are hesitant to use words like sex, and rape. Sex education, which is essential for the growth of a child, is being opposed by parents. This ought to change,” she added.
Kirthi stressed on the importance of education that’s crucial to usher in the change. “Education of the girl child is important. I’ve seen how a family has benefited after educating their girl child. They might be hesitant about it in the beginning, but, when they see the impact it has on their child and the family, they’ll definitely welcome the change,” she explained.
Kirthi argued for a collective responsibility to make a positive change in how the society views womanhood. “I don’t understand how a man can get the girl he wants by stalking her and doing things that displease her. It’s everyone’s responsibility to make a positive change and the media play a major role in it.”
Red Elephant has taken up a campaign to break gender stereotypes. “I wish to see a place that doesn’t need organisations to spread awareness on the rights of a person. But in a realistic world, I wish to see a change in the next few years, especially in the mindset of people,” she added.

Annual special grant to Tamil Nadu

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Tamil Nadu-police
Tamil Nadu-police

The Fourteenth Financial Commission(FFC) transfers to the State of Tamil Nadu is estimated to increase by 122% and the State is set to receive Rs.1,79,273 crore (including Rs.1,59,450 crore on account of share in Union taxes) during 2015-20 as against Rs. 80,944 crore (including Rs.70,825 crore on account of share in Union taxes), it had received during award period of 13th FC. Accordingly, on an average, the State of Tamil Nadu is estimated to receive Rs.35,855 crore annually during 2015-20 towards award of 14th FC as against Rs.16,189 crore, it had received annually during 2010-15. Besides, there are other channels of transfers such as Central Assistance to State Plan (CASP),

Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and Central Sector Schemes through which Central assistance to the State is provided. Thus, there are sufficient funds available with the State specially in the form of untied fund (devolution of Union Taxes) being received by it due to biggest ever increase in States share in shareable pool of Union Taxes from 32% to 42%. This in turn would allow the State to have greater autonomy in designing and financing the schemes (including shelf of projects of Fisheries, Desalination etc., mentioned the memorandum received from Tamil Nadu) as per their contextual needs and requirements. Hence, the State can prioritise its requirement within the additional fiscal space available to it.

Stricter Monetary Policy for price control

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RBI-indianbureaucracy
RBI-indianbureaucracy

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is vested with the responsibility of conducting monetary policy with the primary objective of maintaining price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth. The Agreement on Monetary Policy Framework between the Government and the Reserve Bank of India dated February 20, 2015 defines the price stability objective explicitly in terms of the target for inflation – as measured by the consumer price index-combined (CPI-C) – in the near to medium-term.

The framework aims at setting the policy (repo) rate based on a forward looking assessment of inflation, growth and other macroeconomic risks, and modulation of liquidity conditions to anchor money market rates at or around the repo rate. In the Second Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy statement 2016-17 issued on June 7, 2016, RBI stated that the stance of the monetary policy remains accommodative and any further scope for policy action would depend on macroeconomic and financial developments.

Needlessly vilifying Indian business says Sidharth Birla

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The question of non-performing bank loans and mounting pressure on borrowers (to flog assets or otherwise repay) is a well-debated topic. A major foreign publication wrote about it this week. Somehow I found its unflattering vocabulary — commenting on Indian promoters as a class — upsetting; it is, of course, easier to pontificate than look nearer home, where greed and governance issues of professionals yielded much grief to global systems and citizens.
Promoters are entrepreneurs. Collective stigmatisation debates hurt commerce irrationally. Such injury may persist unless the larger ecosystem is confident of principled intent and entrepreneurs will be unfairly attacked, and impeded, as a category.
Basically, in good faith
 
In my view, all entrepreneurs undertake substantial financial, regulatory and reputation risks in good faith. Contrary to popular opinion, and debates designed to win public fancy, entrepreneurial plans do not cluster around self-enrichment at the cost of others; their basic aim is to earn risk-weighted returns on invested capital (be it owned, raised or borrowed).
Yet, it is true that a small sub-set of Indian business generated the unfortunate reputation. Rather than agonise silently, in its own larger interest business must keep asserting that alleged anomalies of any entrepreneur must be quickly proven and penalised. Innuendo is uncalled for.
In this entire backdrop it is vital to reflect that entrepreneurs (old and new) may simply reduce investing if they feel that business difficulty or failure has the potential to classify them as delinquent, or threaten personal ruin. If legitimate risk-taking by established and/or budding entrepreneurs is subdued, it is not in the nation’s interest. We need to multiply the enterprising spirit drastically.
Borrowers and lenders
A corporate promise to pay its debts cannot occur in a moral vacuum. Individuals executing such a corporate decision in a contract are free from personal liability (unless they otherwise assume it). Nevertheless, the entrepreneur (or controlling entity behind corporate actions) assigning moral accountability to the corporate borrower is in harmony with our values, increases social trust, and safeguards continued availability of lend able funds.
In a pivotal sense the borrower is the custodian of the lender’s funds and therefore has an ethical duty to avoid conduct significantly increasing risks of non-repayment. There are borrowers who repay obligations on time; there are those who face problems and need support to their intent to repay, and those who wilfully renege on contracts. They all merit being treated correspondingly. Lenders have a first task of sound due-diligence and commercial judgement; secondly, a genuine business difficulty does not render a good judgement bad and therefore merits accommodation. Thirdly, the lender must be alert and rigorous on enforcement of its contractual rights in absence of good faith on borrower’s end; delay is fatal and the system cannot lay the blame elsewhere.
Shareholders essentially provide risk capital (whose value can drop to zero) to an enterprise. A lender’s motivation in providing funds and his rights in relation thereof are entirely different.
It is crucial that risks inherent to shareholders (as a whole) and lenders get reflected equitably in real-world outcomes (that is, equity has to take the hardest knock). Once there is fairer allocation of pain, the systemic view on the NPA situation will become more balanced.
Even the best of plans are subject to economic risk or failure. While entrepreneurs must exercise sound stewardship of stakeholder funds, favourable outcomes cannot be taken for granted.
Under intense scrutiny it is easy to overlook that corporate structures exist for genuine purposes. Time-tested principles of limited liability cannot be breached without proper cause. In my view a revisit is required on the model of personal guarantee as collateral for loans, which took root in an era of wobbly governance and centralised entrepreneur control.
Drastic change
The regulatory system has brought a sea change to governance where such central control cannot exist. Therefore extra-constitutional measures such as personal guarantees lose sanctity, only to provide a false sense of comfort to lenders, which in turn often delays contractual action. Much heartburn on both sides has taken place based on guarantees. The potential of confronting liquidation under recent insolvency laws is a deterrent far beyond brittle collateral, and under present governance norms is the correct pillar to rely on.
Much investment has been made across sectors in the past 6-10 years in the hope of strong economic growth. After the global stress and slowdown, markets went south, and businesses lost pricing power (despite a fall in commodity prices). Cash flows would not sustain debt service (especially at high interest rates). Still, banks did attempt to sincerely handhold for a while. But some debt is now unsustainable, particularly in infrastructure, cyclical businesses or in businesses battered by foreign competition (mainly China). So, stresses of non-performing loans are not new; the system’s pain arose on recognition of this predicament in banks’ own accounts. While such theory is logical, the sagacity of comprehensive and forcible cleaning up of legacy pain within a few quarters must be open to debate. One hoped that as problems had persisted for long the regulator would have shaped solutions earlier.
It is useful to recall that in some contracts enforcement was restrained by judicial verdicts; it does no good to either lament this or blame entrepreneurs. It also does not help if the state’s might and plethora of laws/punishments are threatened in contract enforcement complications.
Wait and watch
An entrepreneur will, in good faith, frequently advocate waiting for healthier times to resolve debt problems rather than breaking up or selling a business. A banker convinced of the bonafides of an entrepreneur will try to support for the time he objectively can.
Distress sales have the potential to destroy value and undeservedly deprive stakeholders, more so in a generally guarded investment atmosphere. Let’s remember that assets put on sale now can be a decade or more old. Whether asset sale or management changes will be a panacea, or merely a deferment of problems, is a moot question.
The system frequently generates 3-letter attempts to solutions — CDR, SDR, S4A — but both lender and borrower ends seem to be skirting reality so far. Following the rhetoric now whipped up (media, public, judiciary, government) I feel appropriate or wholly rational decisions on resolution are still some time away. However I am sure that all responsible quarters hold the view that entrepreneurs remain honest as a class, and continue to support and abide by equitable policies.

24 qualify for World Skills International Competition

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The first edition of the India Skills Competition 2016 — the first of its kind in the country — culminated on Sunday with 24 winners from different States qualifying for selection at the World Skills International Competition in Abu Dhabi next year.
The competition marked the first anniversary of the ‘Skill India’ initiative by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and witnessed the participants in the 18-22 years’ age group competing across 24 skill categories. The winners were awarded a sum of Rs1 lakh each with the first and second runners-up bagging Rs 75,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively.
Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), who gave away the prizes, said, “I am certain, Team India will yet again prove its mettle on the global skills map at WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017.”
At the last event organised at Sao Paolo, Brazil, in August 2015, a team of 29 candidates (all below 23 years of age) from India participated in 27 skills and won 8 medallions of excellence.
Rudy pointed out that in the past 15 days, MSDE has got cabinet approvals on 22,000 crore worth of outlay for programmes like Apprenticeship Protsahan Yojana and PMKVY 2, to be implemented over the next few years. There has been additional support through World Bank Projects as well, he added.
Day one of the three-day Skill India anniversary celebrations had seen Rudy announcing the launch of five major initiatives Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana -2, India International Skill Centres, IndiaSkills Online and a Labour Management Information System (LMIS) at Vigyan Bhawan, where the event was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee.
“In order to select the best talent to represent India at India Skills, MSDE and NSDC completed more than 80 regional competitions in 24 skills/trades including hair stylist, welding, car painting, auto body repair, graphic designing, robotics to name a few,” a statement issued by MSDE maintained adding close to 4820 candidates registered to participate in the competition this year.
The statement said around 40 organisations like Mahindra, Tata, Maruti, Toyota, CII, FICCI, NASSCOM, CREDAI, NID, NIFT came together to make IndiaSkills a success (including consortium partners).

HUDCO and MoHUPA sign MoU

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Hudco Mou_indianbureaucracy
Hudco Mou_indianbureaucracy

The Memorandum of Understanding for the year 2016-17 was signed between Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) and Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA) with Dr. Nandita Chatterjee, Secretary (MoHUPA) and Dr. M. Ravi Kanth, Chairman and Managing Director (HUDCO) in the presence of senior officials of MoHUPA and HUDCO.

For the year 2015-16 HUDCO registered ‘Excellent’ level of performance in all MoU parameters.

IndianBureaucracy.com wishes HUDCO the very best.

Hukmdev urges farmers to opt Modern Farming Techniques

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In a bid to avert crop failure and enhance fertility of soil, BJP lawmaker Hukmdev Narayan Yadav urged the farmers to adopt the modern farming techniques, including agro-chemicals.
Highlighting the plight of farmers, Mr Yadav who is also Chairman, Standing Committee of Parliament on Agriculture told reporters, “Farmers are dying because of harmful pesticides and fertilizers used in farming that leads to crop failure and infertility of soil and to avoid such losses, modern technology should be used in farming such as agrochemicals.” “There’s an urgent need for concerted efforts to forge research and development led strategy to save the loss of crops due to pests, weeds and diseases,” the BJP leader said at a FICCI event, ‘6th national conference on Agrochemicals’. Mr Yadav also released a Knowledge Paper on the theme of the conference, prepared by FICCI in association with the Tata Strategic Management Group.

Steps to tackle Banned Pesticides

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Banned Pesticides_indianbureaucracy
Banned Pesticides_indianbureaucracy

Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Sudarshan Bhagat has conveyed that the Government registers pesticides after a detailed evaluation of efficacy of the product and safety to human, animal and environmental health. Technical reviews are carried out from time to time to assess the safety of pesticides. An expert committee was constituted under Dr. Anupam Verma, Former Professor, Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), to carry out technical review of 66 pesticides that are banned, restricted, withdrawn in one or more countries but continued to be registered in India. The Expert Committee, inter alia, recommended 13 pesticides to be banned, 27 pesticides to be reviewed in 2018 after completion of certain technical studies and 6 pesticides to be phased out by 2020.  The Committee further recommended continuation of ban on 1 pesticide and did not offer any assessment of a pesticide which is currently sub judice. The Verma Committte recommended continued use of 18 pesticides which are given below in table.

Further, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is implementing a program for “Monitoring of Pesticide Residues at National Level” (MPRNL) under which samples of agriculture commodities are collected and analyzed for the presence of pesticide residues. In the previous year , 2.9 % of all samples of commodities contained pesticide residues above the Maximum Residues Limits (MRLs) fixed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.  No residues of banned pesticides have been detected in commodities monitored under this program.

Central Integrated Pest Management Centres (CIPMCs) under the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare conduct Farmers Field Schools to sensitize farmers regarding safe and judicious use of pesticides, use of bio-pesticides etc. A ‘Grow Safe Food’ campaign has also been initiated carrying the message of safe and judicious use of pesticides to farmers and other stakeholders.  Package of practices for control of pests and diseases in 79 crops have been revised to include techniques to reduce dependence on chemical pesticides and encourage use of bio-pesticides and other alternative plant protection measures. Under Soil Health Management Scheme, financial assistance is provided to States for imparting training and demonstration to farmers on balanced use of fertilizers.

Further, the Government is encouraging establishment of Bio-fertilizer units by providing financial assistance to State Government up to a maximum limit of Rs 160.00 lakh per unit. Financial assistance is also provided to farmers/Individual/Private agencies @ 25% of total financial outlay or Rs. 40 lakh, whichever is less under Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme (CISS) through National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.

 

RECOMMENDATION OF THE EXPERT COMMITTEE WITH RESPECT TO 66 PESTICIDES

 

 

 

S.No. Category No. of Pesticides Name of the Pesticides
1. I– to be continued 18 Aluminium phosphide, Bifenthrin, Carbosulfan, Chlorfenapyr, Chlorothalonil, Dazomet, Diflubenzuron, Ethofenprox, Fenpropathrin, Iprodione, Kasugamycin, Mepiquat chloride, Metaldehyde, Paraquat dichloride, Pretilachlor, Propargite, Propineb and Zinc phosphide
2. II– to be reviewed again in 2018, after completion of the recommended studies 27 Acephate, Atrazine, Benfuracarb, Butachlor, Captan,  Carbendazim, Carbofuran, Chlorpyriphos, Deltamethrin, Dicofol, Dimethoate, Dinocap,  Diuron, 2,4-D, Malathion, Mancozeb, Methomyl, Monocrotophos, Oxyfluorfen, Pendimethalin, Quinalphos, Sulfosulfuron, Thiodicarb, Thiophanate methyl, Thiram, Zineb, Ziram
3. III– to be phased out  by 2020 6 Alachlor, Dichlorvos, Phorate, Phosphamidon, Triazophos, Trichlorfon
4. IV– ban to be continued 1 Fenitrothion
5. V– to be banned 13 Benomyl, Carbaryl, DDT, Diazinon, Fenarimol, Fenthion, Linuron, MEMC, Methyl Parathion, Sodium Cyanide, Thiometon, Tridemorph, Trifluralin
6. VI– not reviewed as it is sub-judice 1 Endosulfan

Biochemists feed ‘poison pill’ to deadly Virus

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Biochemists_indianbureaucracy
Biochemists_indianbureaucracy

Summary:It has a funny name — coxsackie virus — but there’s nothing funny about how this tiny germ and its close relatives sicken their hosts. Researchers have designed a genetic modification to one type of coxsackie virus that strips its ability to replicate, mutate and cause illness. They hope their work could lead to a vaccine for this and other viruses like it.

It has a funny name — coxsackievirus — but there’s nothing funny about how this tiny germ and its close relatives sicken their hosts.

Colorado State University researchers led by Olve Peersen, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, have designed a genetic modification to one type of coxsackie virus that strips its ability to replicate, mutate and cause illness. They hope their work could lead to a vaccine for this and other viruses like it.

The results are published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry, and co-authored with Marco Vignuzzi at Paris’ Institut Pasteur. Peersen’s group seeks to understand the complex biochemical replication machinery of positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses, a group that includes coxsackie virus, poliovirus, dengue and Zika.

For their most recent work, the team focused on the coxsackie virus B3, which causes heart disease. (It is closely related to coxsackie A viruses, which cause hand, foot and mouth disease in children.)

Coxsackie viruses have relatively small genomes made of single-stranded RNA. The viral RNA encodes for about a dozen proteins, one of which is the enzyme responsible for making new copies of the virus.

In earlier work published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Peersen and co-authors had discovered the exact chemical steps by which the RNA-dependent RNA polymerise copies the virus genome. During this process, the polymerise makes three or four random mistakes that allow the virus to continually evolve and survive.

The researchers have built upon this breakthrough to design a way to “outsmart Mother Nature,” Peersen said, by re-engineering one key part of the polymerise enzyme so the virus can’t grow very rapidly in a cell. Their technology could lead to what’s called a live-attenuated vaccine. Such vaccines contain a weakened version of the virus, purposely injected to trigger the production of antibodies and create immunity rather than cause disease.

The classic live-attenuated vaccine is for polio virus, invented by Jonas Salk in the mid 20th century. But the process isn’t foolproof. The simple RNA genome lets viruses make millions of copies within days, and many of those copies contain “mistakes,” or mutations, that can slightly alter the vaccine virus and restore its ability to cause disease. That’s one reason why RNA viruses are hard to eradicate and why some people get vaccine-induced sickness.

To minimise the chances of a vaccine-induced infection, the researchers changed one specific amino acid in the RNA polymerise (a phenylalanine) to another amino acid (a tryptophan).

First, they showed that the tryptophan caused the polymerise to make fewer mutations, and this in turn reduced its ability to replicate and cause disease. Second, even if the virus tries to mutate the change away, then it can no longer replicate, so the virus self-destructs — which is why the researchers call their modification a “genetic poison pill.”

The demonstration of this poison pill in the coxsackievirus B3 could theoretically translate to other positive-sense RNA viruses, including those linked to asthma and to foot-and-mouth disease that is a major animal health concern in Europe and South America.

This past spring, Peersen received a new National Institutes of Health grant to continue testing the genetic modification in live animals, in partnership with researchers at the University of Wisconsin.

“We think it’s going to work, but we have to show that it will,” Peersen said. “Trying to outsmart Mother Nature is pretty daunting, especially in these viruses. There are ways that things happen you never anticipate, and the virus finds a way to survive.”

More:Science