THAPAR ,GOVIND SINGH , LUCKNOW UNIVERSITY

Born 15th November 1893 ;Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Ph.D (1925) University of London, UK

Specialization : Zoology, Helminthology

Research Achievements : Thapar did extensive work in helminthology. Discovered new helminths in many animals. Established a new classification of Acanthocephala ; studied diseases of domestic animals and discovered the parasites of hump-sore and nasal granuloma of cattle, while making a survey of parasitic infections of domestic animals in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa,Bengal and Assam

Positions : Professor of biology, Islamia College, Peshawar (1917-1918) and Canning College, Lucknow (1918-1922), Professor of Zoology, University of Lucknow (1922-1964).

Learned and Professional Societies : Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences, Zoological Society of India and Helminthological Society of India, Member, Royal Microscopic Society (London).

Awards and Honors : President Zoology section, Indian Science Congress (1937); Bhalerao Memorial Gold Medal (1957), Dr SN Singh memorial gold medal (1983-1984).

Author; Editor Served as editor of Indian journal of Helminthology and Proceedings of All India Congress ,Zoology (1965).

Died (date not available).

DR HD SRIVASTAVA , IVRI

If you see my post on HOD of IVRI, the first is Dr HN Ray ,second Dr GD Bhalerao and third was Dr HD Srivastava- thus in between the two ,there is Dr Bhalerao whose details I am trying to gather.

Dr HD Srivastava was the student of Dr Mehra from Allahabad University. No doubt Dr Srivastava has reshaped the department and beside doing survey work , initiated experimental work in parasitology particularly helminthology.

I can say without any doubt that Dr Srivasstava was fortunate to have a good team of scientists who led extensive growth in research. The name of Dr SC Dutt comes on uppermost who came ,after partition of the country,to join division of Parasitology,IVRI. Dr Dutt was contemporary scientist with Dr HD Srivastava and became his student as well since he submitted his Ph.D thesis to Bombay University under his supervision. It is an open secret that research work on schistosomes and many other parasites and discovering life cycle of Stephanofilaria assamensis to which the duo were awarded Rafi Ahmed Kidwai award of ICAR was mainly handled by Dr SC Dutt as at times reflected by authorship of research papers. As I have mentioned somewhere that retirement of Dr HD Srivastava was celebrated by scientific fraternity by publishing a commemoration volume on Dr HD Srivastava in 1969. Now the volume is rare and may be found only in selected places. I have good occasion to read this volume which contained research papers on Parasitology contributed by international parasitologists. Below is the brief on Dr HD Srivastava taken from the book published by Indian Science Academy, New Delhi as commemoration volume, sadly, does not include any articles ,reflecting personality of Dr HD Srivastava

Dr Srivastava HarDayal

Born 15th June 1908

DSc(1938) ,University of Allahabad

Research Achievements :Srivastava studied various aspects of helminthology-survey,morphology,taxonomy,life history,pathogenecity,etiology of obscure diseases, treatment,control,including biological control, host-parasite relationship,immunity and zoonosis.He did extensive work on the morphology and taxonomy of trematode parasites of Indian fresh water and marine fishes,life history,pathogenecity and biological control of Cotylophoron cotylophorum of ruminants ; a unique form of dermatitis in cattle(cutaneous microfilariasis),referred to in literature as Srivastava's dermatitis of cattle; causative parasite of cutaenous bleeding in buffaloes; prenatal infection of Neoascaris vitulorum in buffaloes; life history of Stephanofilaria assamensis , the causative parasite of hump sore of cattle, and its treatment; schistosomiasis in Indian domestic animals; verminous pneumonia in buffaloes and life history of Artyfechinostomum sufrartyfex and Gastrodiscoides hominis, trematodes of great zoonotic importance.

Positions : Helminthologist, Senior Professor of Parasitology, Head Division of Parasitology and Director , Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Mukteswar/Izatnagar; Emeritus Scientist, ICAR.

Learned and Professional Societies : Fellow, National Academy of  Sciences(India), President, Zoological Society of India and Helminthological Society of India; Founder President, Indian Society for Parasitology.

Awards and Honors : Bhalerao memorial gold medal (1960), Rai Ahmed Kidwai memorial prize ,in collaboration with Dr SC Dutt (1968).

Policy making Bodies : Member Unesco Expert Committee on Animal Ecology for Arid Zone, ;also served on several expert committees of ICAR.

Died 26 October 1989

DR H N RAY , FIRST HEAD OF IVRI

The librarian of Natioanl Academy of Sciences, India, Allahabad helped me to take out photocopy of the Parasitologists, mentioned in the two volumes of the book on Fellows of Indian Science Academy from 1935 to 1993.
Initially I scanned a photocopy of Dr HN Ray and tried to upload the same on this post but this tactics did not work hence I am writing the matter taken out from the book. There may be some additions from my side,depending on the knowledge I possess.
   Dr Ray happened to be the first Head of division of Parasitology from 1936 when IVRI was at Mukteswar and later shifted to Calcutta school of tropic medicine. Here is the brief mentioned in the book

RAY HARENDRA NATH
Born 31 January 1899 ;Meerut , Uttar Pradesh
Ph.D (1930) , University of London, UK

Specialization : Parasitology

Research Achievements : An eminent parasitologist,Ray was widely recognized for his researches on parasitic protozoa. He discovered a number of new genera and species of Rhizopoda , Mastigophora,Ciliophora, Gregaria,Coccidia and Haemosphoridia. He researched on the systematics and bionomics of a good number of parasitic protozoa in odd types of hosts.Discovered several sporozoan species in polychaeate worms,millipedes,intestinal amoeba of an ascidian, a coccidian form in the eggs of Thalesemma neptuni etc Developed the stillamidine test for the detection of the latent trypanosomal infection in zebra cattle, buffaloes and in camels. He was a pioneer to establish the method of transmission of Theilaria annulata in cattle through the eggs of infected ticks, Hyaloma saisgnyi. His discovery of the presence of small cyst clusters in the liver of the Himalayan giant flying squirrels depicting the exoerythrocytic schizogony of a malaria parasite,referred to as a genus Royella, won him international repute. He made notable contributions to the study of the malaria parasite.

Positions : Research Officer(Protozoology )and Head, Parasitology Division, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Mukteswar (1936-54) ;Professor of Protozoology, Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine, Calcutta (1954-65), Research Scientist (ICAR),Department of Zoology, Presidency College, Calcutta, Emeritus Scientist (ICMR) and Retired Scientist CSIR (1965-69)

Learned and Professional Societies : Fellow, Royal School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, American Society of Parasitologists ,Zoological Society(Calcutta) and Zoological Society of India (some time President).

Awards and Honours : Joygobinda law memorial medal (Asiatic Society) (1956) ,President Zoology and Entomology section, Indian Science Congress; Sectional President Third international  congress of Protozoology, Leningrad.

Died 30 May  1969.

what we know about our Parasitologists

If I ask my young Parasitologists about a short life-sketch and contributions of our eminent Indian Parasitologists like Drs GD Bhalerao, HN Ray, HR Mehra, Babbar Mirza ,HD Srivastava ,AB Chaudhary, GD Thappar,  MAN Rao, AK Verma , BP Pande, VS Alwar, SC Dutt ,BS Gill  etc , it is very unlikely that many of them may tell about these scientists-even their affiliations and contributions . They might have come across these names and their important work while referring a Parasitology book but beyond that, there is a lot to know about these legends of Indian Parasitology which is unknown to most of our young Parasitologists.

In my opinion, it is more important to know their struggle for advancement of science in that odd period with limited facilities  and their planning of research by which most of their research findings are still hold true and have paved the way for further advancing the subject.

If you ever have a chance to peep into their life, you will notice that each of them have devoted their whole life for a single cause which was dear to them- this might be preparing a checklist of the parasites for ruminants or domestic animals , finding pathogenicity of a particular parasite ,or intermediate host of an important parasite or studying details of Indian schistosomes, or taking up matter of  appointing teachers in medical/ veterinary colleges with specialization in particular subject or writing a monograph to fill up the gap of knowledge . Still we do not know details about them? Who is responsible for such neglect ?

One reason, to me, appears the apathy of our institutes where these scientists devoted their whole life for achieving scientific goals and advancing science in India. These institutes do not recognize contributions of their own scientists- evidence of my allegation erupts by vetting their websites ( pl see my post of 15^th August,2013- websites of our premier institutes on my blog www.indianparasitologists.blogspot.com)  which lack even their name , if retired from the institute , leave aside their contributions. Even if you look to the awards or milestones of an institute, they are mentioned without name of the scientist who took all the pains to achieve these milestones. Even, website of our ICAR does not reveal name of national award winners, summary of research schemes for which a lot of public money has been spent etc .

 In contrast, it’s amazing to log in the website of London School of hygiene and Tropical Medicine where you will find not only contributions of present and past faculty members but all the details including diaries which were written during conducting particular research by the eminent scientists .

 To some extend our Indian  Societies of Parasitology are also responsible for this neglect. These societies have instituted many awards in the name of eminent Parasitologists like Dr BP Pande , VS Alwar, BN Singh, SC Dutt and each year competing Parasitologists are bestowed with these and other awards. But if you log in the website of these Societies you will not find any details of those Parasitologists on whose name the scientist is receiving these awards. Thus , even after receiving the award in the name of a  particular Parasitologist, the recipient is unaware about importance of the particular scientist in advancing Parasitology in India. Then how our contemporary Parasitologists will know  our past legends ?

And what is the way to know  personal struggles , sorrow , happiness ,felt  during achievements by these scientists ? Certainly, these are their family members who can throw light on these issues else there is no way to know personal  details of our past Parasitologists though , with some efforts, it is possible to prepare list of their research papers with summary of important papers .

I have tried to write more details about Dr VS Alwar  ,for which Indian Veterinary Journal very kindly provided his obituary which I added along with my personal experiences  on my blog . However, I have failed to add  more about this scientist and failed to receive  details from any other source . Again , on each year, Madras Veterinary College is arranging Dr VS Alwar lectures but these are not visible any where ?  Will it be possible to  search these lectures , after lapse of some years ?

Recently Dr B S Gill has expired and we do not have even his obituary ,published by any Parasitology journal (except a few lines by Journal of Veterinary Parasitology) hence it will be difficult for future generation to know more about Dr Gill.

In 1970, a Commemoration volume on Dr H D Srivastava  was published by IVRI, Izatnagar  , that contained research papers by national and international scientists. However, I am not aware , if this volume contained personal memories of Dr Srivastava and his contemporary fellows. It is also difficult to find this volume in most of Indian Research Institutes .

I am pleased to mention that comparatively we have been able to gather more information about Dr SC Dutt who ,in 1964-65, along with Dr HD Srivastava was awarded ICAR Rafi Ahmed Kiddwai award for their research in animal sciences- this happened first in animal sciences as prior to that the award was given only in Agriculture sciences. The importance of scientific contributions of Dr SC Dutt became more glaring by the fact and even “After fifty years of Research” his findings still holds true.

We have been able to publish a book “ Remembering Dr SC Dutt : The Parasitologist” in Nov  2002 which provides details (Part A) about Dr Dutt, as expressed by his contemporaries, students, family members, his research publications with summary of research papers on schistosomes ;  Part B possesses five Dr SC Dutt memorial lectures  ,delivered till that time, while Part C contains five articles reflecting present problems in Parasitology.

Publication of this book became possible by the efforts of many contemporary personalities  but particularly by Shri Shekhar Dutt, the eldest son of Dr SC Dutt.  Now, this book ,after further editing, has been published by Har Anand Publisher, New Delhi and was released by the Director General,ICAR Dr Aayyapan in  Dr BP Pal auditorium at IARI, New Delhi on 14th October2015 

However, to me, this appears a rare example where we have so much details about an eminent Parasitologist- Dr SC Dutt . This is high time that we should pay attention on this aspect and start gathering information of our past eminent Parasitologists from all sources else it will be too late with no way out to extract correct information from past events.

Recently, on 16th February,2016 , we visited Allahabad and made an effort to visit National Academy of Sciences, India, offices and library. There, with the help of librarian Mrs Deepti and executive secretary Dr Neeraj Kumar I could read two volumes of a book on the Fellows of the Academy from 1935 to 1993 , published by National Science Academy, New Delhi. I was able to find briefs of some Indian Parasitologists who have shaped the subject just prior independence of the country and continued thereafter. However, I could not find any details of Dr HR Mehra of Allahabad University and Dr Babbar Mirza of Aligarh Muslim University. I have requested the respective heads of zoology to provide me some details for this blog. Meanwhile I am posting the details of Drs HN Ray,HD Srivastava,AB Cowdhary,GS Thappar, BS Gill,Soparkar and Dr Moghe which are taken from these books with due acknowledgement ..
To be frank enough these briefs are data on their scientific achievements and it would have been much better if we could have a personal write up on these scientists as has been done on Prof SC Dutt.

PARASITIC INFECTIONS IN THOSE OLD DAYS OF PRE-INDEPENDENT INDIA

What was the life style of an ordinary Indian in Pre-Independent India ? There is  literature in our historical books narrating India being "sone ki chiriya" prior british rajya and how we were deprived of the wealth by destroying our handicrafts. There is great literature about all the wars and battles fought against Mughals and Britons but there is no way to know how an ordinary person was living, travelling , educating, getting services etc. Therefore, it is much interesting to know about these facts even at the start of twentieth century- much later than ancient India . We can peeve those conditions by reading an autobiography written by Dr SS Prabhu as mentioned below :

Days of struggle and hope life and times of Dr S S Prabhu (kogan)

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY DR S S PRABHU Ex head of Animal Genetics,IVRI,Izatnagar, Ex Dean College of Animal Sciences, ( H.A.U.Hissar, Haryana) Acknowledgement by Shri RS Prabhu (his son) ,Dated 15.05.2014 Mangalore

It may be said safely that in those days there was a great gap in our culture and those of English persons. Unlike to present days, we have not adopted their dress, living ,conditions etc. These were the days of second world war and living or getting service, even by graduates, was a difficult task- unemployment among educated persons was rampant.  The houses were mostly of mud, kitchen having great place and every house has a cattle shed.There was not many toys and  children were passing time by watching nature,  moving cycle tyre or playing where no toys are needed and  gossiping etc  Even going to schools/college   was either in half pant or pyajama and kurta/kameej and persons remained barefoot. Roads were not Tar coal and having many pots; the bus in those days took more than 4 hours to cover a distance of 16 miles. Mostly ,Persons were covering the distance either on foot or on the bullock cart. Importantly, persons were also using ferry ,water rout , to travel from Mangalore to Mumbai which was more comfortable than road rout. 

There was a great problem of diseases ; Ashma ,TB, typhoid were the conditions where it was difficult for the person to get rid of in his life time. 

Even parasitic diseases are a great problem. Malaria was a recurrent problem . Elephantiasis was causing deformities thereby creating marriage problems for young girls. 

There was an inferiority complex also among Indians and this is the reason why we have not tried to search  our home tried drugs as Dr Prabhu is mentioning how his aunt was able to cure him permanently by using a home grown plant.

I have taken out below material, related to parasitic infections from the autobiography  as described by Dr Prabhu. I am thankful to his son Shri RS Prabhu, an engineer by profession , settled at Mangalore, after retirement , who provided me hard copy of the autobiography.

MALARIA (page 29)

"When I think of the poor and indifferent health care present during my childhood, I often wonder how we at all survived. Malaria was a regular visitor so as to speak.Suddenly, one developed shivers and felt cold ,which failed to be relieved through use of any number of blankets. Then came high temperature that remained for 14 hours with sudden dropping at the end which left your body perspiring. It took couples of owels ( or towels) to dry you and then you felt weak. You felt hungry. The next day you are normal. The following day it started once again its depredations. I was a regular victim of malaria for a long time and consumed so much quinine that at time I nearly went deaf. I used to get fever in the school when the teacher will send me home with as escort. This fever bothered me so much that it was very much there when I went to Mangalore after the floods and joined Canara High School for my studies. A couple of times I got shivers in the class and came home. I was given the standard medicine which worked for a while and then it started again.

Then Shambakka,s mother in law took charge. She had contempt for allopathy. She told me to forget about the drug her son have given me to be taken. She would give me her medicine and it should drive away the disease for good. Then she went down and got hold of some leaves of some plants that grew in the compound and using liberal amount of garlic made a fine decoxation that I was to take for couple of days. This I did and the Malaria that bothered me for a long time disappeared for good and never visited me again.

I do not know whether this is just coincidence or whether there was real punch in the medicine. The plants, she used for preparation the potion (decoxation) used to be found in plenty round about the house compound earlier,but now they have disappeared.

The inferiority complex has taken such a deep root in our mind that we have no pride in our own ancient medicine,even when as in my case , it produced good results. They never bothered to take a second look at the native medicine ,analyse it scientifically and find what is the active principle in it that produce positive results" (autobiography page 29- I GET GYPOID)

ELEPHANTIASIS (page 53)

" Raman master was the kindergarten teacher of Canara High School. He was a deeply religious man and daily in the evening bhajans would go on for hours at his house..... At the time I knew them Raman master's mother had a mild attack of elephantiasis. His brother had a severe form that made his two legs swell. Swelling would increase each time he got fever and recovered. Under the stress of the fever she used to utter loud shouts that I would hear in my upstairs room in the Subba Shetty bungalow.

Sometime I too would take part in the bhajans which on certain auspicious days went on and on, and prevented me from concentrating on my studies. This teacher wanted to make me his son-in-law, but it got no encrouragement. Bhavaji used to visit Raman master's place and it will not be a surprise that it was from that place he got his infection of elephant legs that became a major problem for him in later life. His daughter Vasanthi too got it from him. Luckily for her Dr Kini's prompt treatment prevented it from growing furhter and only one foot was swollen a bit. That came in the way of her marriage as wherever they tried , the bridegroom party baulked at thegirl with the swollen leg ! Vaikunta Baliga too had a daughter with a similar problem. But he had enough money so that he could get rid of her by paying big dowry! Where will our poor school teacher get that kind of dough? One good thing for which we had to be thankful was that others who slept in the same house as Bhavaji and Vasanthi did not contract the disease ( but in above para, Dr Prabhu has mentioned that both Bhavaji and Vasanthi developed elephantiasis). Raman master too got the infection and so did Vishwanath master  who use to visit his place. Both got such swollen legs that they could not move properly .It was a horrible sight to see them"

BED BUG ( Page69,  70)

"....Respite came in the form of an offer to get me a seat  in the old hostel by Babli's husband Prof VD Dabholkar which I readily accepted and moved into the old hostel- a place made up of wood and full of bugs! They used to reside in the cot notches, come out at night as soon as the lights went off at 9.30 and start attacking people who were asleep. Some had got so much used to be bitten by the bugs that they never woke up and continued to sleep. One could see the bugs attacking their body and they were still fast asleep.

"One disadvantage that the old hostel possessed was the presence of bed bugs of which there was a huge supply. They could never be eradicated with the method followed then- namely to take out the cots ,shake them and put them in the sun. This I did regularly.I would then hunt for them and kill them by burning them or applying oil to the body.The problem is no one knew where they hid as they are invisible during the day. Once the lights were off they would emerge from their hideouts and attack their prey. I noticed that they would crawl up and stay on the roof of the rooms. The roof was made of wood and so one cannot detect hidden bugs there. But as the lights went off at night , they would drop onto the bed like bombs let loose from an airplane and proceed to attack their victims. In due course I too got used to getting bitten by the bugs same as other hostel mates and did not notice them. In the morning I would see the tiny bite marks. On summer days one simply took one's bedding, spread the same on the front lawn and went to sleep there. The hostel had no fans !"

I have observed with interest that there is no mention about havoc created by mosquitoes by Dr Prabhu in his autobiography. As we know now that both above parasitic diseases, malaria and elephantiasis, spread by the bite of mosquitoes but no mention of this fact is suggesting that transmission of these diseases was still not clear in those times. His mentioning of bed bugs and problems by them  and frequent recurrence of malaria further substantiates my contention.

It may not be out of place to mention that within this hundred years, a tremendous difference may be observed in treatment of above diseases. We have so many broad spectrum antibiotics , to fought TB and typhoid. You are well aware that this year the noble prize is awarded to one Chinese scientist for treatment of malaria and two other scientists for filariasis, - elephantiasis is a type of filariasis. 

NEED OF CONCLUDING PANCH GAVYA THERAPY IN PRESENT TIME

         

I was avoiding writing on Panch Gavya  (means therapeutic use of milk, curd , ghee, urine and dung of cow origin for curing ailments ) , an old Ayurvedic therapy encrypted in Indian Vedas, as I do not know Sanskrit to understand the subject correctly. Secondly, our central council for research in  Ayurveda and Siddha , (Department of Ayush) GOI etc  appear little interested to participate in discussion of the ancient subject in light of modern science. My this assumption rests on my posting “ Schistosomiasis, small pox and malaria in ancient times”  (dated 5^th May,2015) on my blog www.indianschistosomiasis.blogspot.com  and no answer on use of “inoculation” for small pox in ancient India from any authorities of the above council etc . We are well aware that prior development of “Vaccination” by Jenner , a British doctor, inoculation method was in practice in India and this was transferred to Europe by the Arabs; However, there are many questions ,raised in my post , to be answered , if we really wish to take credit of this old practice of India and reply rests on searching our old sculptures which are either in Sanskrit or in Brahmi (older language than Sanskrit ) hence an expert in that language will do justice . My request went unnoticed with the President and other executives of the organizations.

Other reason of my reluctance is that the subject is hyped emotionally where any scientific discussion may not be possible . However, the subject is important ; moreover  new Veterinary Universities are coming up in India, many of them are given the mandate to work on development of indigenous cow breeds and some are directed to make Panch Gavya research centers ( like Chhattisgarh Kamdhenu Vishwa Vidyalaya, Durg) hence it becomes important  to view the subject in its right perspective.

As I have said earlier, I am not knowing Sanskrit hence all my discussion depends on general perceptions and also on two books on Panch Gavya published  in Hindi by Govigyan Anusanthan Kendra, Kamdhenu Bhavan ,Nagpur 440032 ( email gauseva@yahoo.co.in  ; gauvigyan@gmail.com ; website www.govigyan.com ). They have given a long list of projects run by various prestigious  institutes with Go Vigyan Anusanthan Kendra, Nagpur but have failed to provide references, if any publications are made by these efforts.  Obviously, such work can not be accepted by scientific community when we do not have assess to their work and their results.

As is practiced in true scientific research , I may mention “ Na kahu se dosti , na kahu se bair” hence this discussion should be taken in that spirit . My only wish is that this Panch Gavya  therapy should be investigated in its right perspective . As said in our “Bhagvat Geeta”  our right is on our work without knowing its results ; we don’t know what will come out after scientific investigations .

COW  EPICENTER OF ANCIENT ECONOMY : In our old scripts  cow was epicenter of  almost all human activities ; it was most important in  ancient agrarian  economy  and referred as “Kamdhenu” the object of fulfilling all the wishes .  Even in present time ,there is  belief in some segments that if we put cow in the center ,we may attain best economy of the world; perhaps this is far fetched idea. This is because they fail to recognize the developments that took place centuries, thereafter . Presently, all where agriculture is not epicenter of  economy though countries like Denmark, Netherland  depend largely on animal husbandry .However, there is a vast difference in animal husbandry practices between our and these countries. Presently our animals are maintained mainly by land less or small farmers on agriculture wastes  while that will require shift of cow to well organized large farms ( maintained mainly by  industrialists) on high diet and new technologies that may snatch cow husbanding from poor farmers to rich industrialists . Here, I may cite a good example of Poultry development in India. Earlier, it was a backyard activity of house wife or rural woman providing  her some extra income   whereas  it is now  shifted to large poultry farms being maintained by big houses with no share  to these poor persons .

In present circumstances ,  it will be more prudent if we are able to impress our farmers that instead of using tractors they should use bullocks for farming and bullock carts for carrying the goods and even persons ; likewise  they should use vermicompost or cow manure instead of chemical fertilizers . This can be achieved only with a great will power and protest against the industries which are depending on tractors and chemical fertilizers . No doubt, a devoted drive in this direction  will result in debt ridden farmers to live in a better life than always taking loans and may place cow in its right place in rural economy . It is a bitter fact that our Indian farmers  have dislodged   cow in their present  agriculture practices hence this neglect for cow all over the country ( buffaloes are being used for milk production even in the farms of well to do farmers).

INDIGENOUS OR CROSS BRED COW : If you read out above two books, they are emphasizing that Panch Gavya should be from an indigenous cow and not from a videshi or cross bred cow.  Obviously, in ancient times we were having only indigenous cow hence their products were employed in the therapy. Though the books emphasize to use indigenous cow for Panch Gavya, they have not provided any scientific reference which substantiate their arguments. Again , they are prescribing prior conditions for collection ;even they prevent to use urine and dung from vaccinated cows for 3 days. As per our knowledge, vaccine may affect milk of the animal but not urine or dung unless proved otherwise.

It will be prudent to support these claims by biochemical studies of Indigenous and cross bred cows as well as their products. One has to discover biochemical molecules present in different cows under different conditions and which molecules are beneficial and which are contradictory.   Whether, the cross bred cow are devoid of beneficial molecules or its milk possesses some contradictory substance that may hinder good effects of the therapy. Again , as admitted in the book , there are more than 15 Indigenous cow breeds and if they claim that only Indigenous cow should be used for Panch Gavya therapy, argumentably it is possible that these indigenous breeds differ in milk constituents thereby leading different effects on the ailments.

PANCH GAVYA  A FOOD OR MEDICINE :   Presently , the eatable items have been divided in two categories. One is drugs or medicines which are taken in specific quantities, certainly lesser than your food items, and if taken more by mistake , it has wide side effects, even may lead  to death. On the other hand, eatables are those products that may be consumed in larger quantities and are required for maintaining our life . If we examine Panch gavya on these criteria, they are eatables ,particularly milk, curd and ghee. Therefore, it is difficult to put them under drugs. Generally, some eatable items may be good for our health while others may not be so. For example ‘Amwala” is a fruit which is termed “Amratya” at many places and this has been considered a very important health tonic in Ayurveda . Our Rishi Chavyan emphasized its importance in human health and we are having in his name ‘Chawanprayas’.

Other important difference between the drug and eatery is while drugs are prescribed for specific ailments, eatery are recommended  in general in all ailments- they are known to enhance our immunological system.  If you refer the above published books this Panch Gavya is recommended in so many maladies ; obviously this may prove 100% effective in only limited ailments and unless and until we will not identify  these specific ailments , modern medicine may not accept its claims . If we wish to use Panch Gavya as medicine, it is necessary to analyze the ingredients and to concentrate them to enhance their therapeutic effect .

COW URINE AS INSECTICIDE : Either alone or in combination with Neem Patti  ,cow urine is claimed a very effective insecticide which is able to kill agriculture pests but protecting  the good insects. This statement requires two explanations. What is the effect of individual ingredient as pesticide and how it synchronizes the effects of other  pesticide- whether there is formation of a new product ?  

Obviously, this statement carries no weight age in scientific language. It will be important  to identify the molecule which is acting as insecticide and how it is combining with neem leaves. Again,  we have to identify which insects or pests are killed and at what stage (larva, pupa ,imago ) and which insects (good for farming) are resistant to this insecticide.

COW MANURE : Like other subjects, the book  has also mentioned different types of cow manures; the one vermicompost is much popular and need not to elaborate but the book also mention some other type of manures. Among them, I wish to mention about ‘Samadhi Khad” which is prepared by burying dead body of the cow (male also or only female?) with salt ; the soil , recovered after considerable time ( period not mentioned) is a good manure and is termed as Samadhi khad. Again, there is no mention about the crops where these different manures have been tried and given excellent results. I think work may be carried out with this Samadhi khad as  this will prove a by –product with out much investment and may be carried away vigorously . However, these manures should be tried in various seasons on different crops to find their best effect.    

My above discussion throw light that the subject requires complete scientific investigations , using modern equipments and techniques  to separate the active ingredients in Panch Gavya which are effective either for enhancing our general immune system, body health, or effective against particular diseases ; urine is to be tested against harmful and useful insects and different types of manures are to be investigated to see their best effect on specific crops in specific seasons . Without undertaking such work and publishing them in important scientific journals ,  it is very difficult to convince use of Panch Gavya as a remedy for all diseases or use of urine as best insecticide .    

OUR CHANGING EDUCATION PATTERN

It is heartening that we are changing our old education system slowly  and trying to renovate some thing new which should be beneficial to our new generation. We have changed our annual examination system with  semester system, though there is the need to remove shortcomings of this system.

As per paper news (27th August,2015) Rajeev Gandhi Technology University (RGPV), Bhopal ( that regulates all engineering colleges of Madhya Pradesh) is experimenting to inculcate book reading habits among the engineering students. Initially, the university has selected ten books; student will select any of these books and will write his observations on the book in each semester and in four years duration he has to earn 180 marks. The students will be evaluated on the basis of assignment and interview. Hopefully this will give incentives for reading and writing to our students. The books are as follows  

1.The experiments with truth (M.K.Gandhi)               2. The Argumentative Indian ( Amratya Sen )

3. Wings of fire ( Dr APJ Kalam)                              4. A passage to India  (E M Foster)

5.Theory of Everything (Hawkins )                            6. The Alchemist  (Paul Koila )

7.The old man and the sea (Urnest Hamingway)        8. Life of Pie        (Yen Martel)

Our professional education is best world over  with regards to imparting knowledge of the subject to the students . However, it fissile out when students are assessed on the basis of their arguments, new ideas, or application of the knowledge ; in that sense European countries are ahead to our system and if we wish to make advances in science , a culmination of both will be best.

Many senior teachers , while imparting post graduate teaching to science, medical , engineering students have observed that our students even after completing the courses are unaware about history of their subject - both at world level as well as that of India. If our students will not read books/papers of our past scientists how they  will  understand  India problems .

Though very few, yet there are some books in the market like 

Climbing to the ladder - by CNR Rao  , Jagdish Chandra Bose , Remembering Dr SC Dutt ; the Parasitologist etc

And  far away from India, Dr Alok Kumar, Professor of Physics, New York University is writing on ancient Indian science contributions without which no progress could have been made (pl see my blog "Modern science would be ...dated 30th March,2015) in modern science.

There is need that our education controllers like ICAR, VCI , ICMR, UGC , HRD  should recognize that studying history of the subject is essential if we wish to advance our sciences. These organizations should gather book information from the publishers/market and make every university compulsory to have these books in their library and students should be encouraged to write briefs about the book and achievements of the scientists under bare minimum conditions.