Aim: The study was carried out to investigate the microbiological quality of packaged drinking water marketed in Jaipur city. Material and Methods:In the present study 'twenty' drinking water samples (15 water bottles and 5 sachets) of different brands purchased randomly, were evaluated to access the water quality on the basis of different bacteriological parameters.Result: Out of twenty, 50% samples were found unsatisfactory in standard plate count. Psychrophillic, coliforms, E. coli and staphylococcal counts revealed that 25%, 45%, 20%, and 5% samples respectively were found unfit for human consumption as per Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) of drinking water. On the basis of results of overall microbiological assessment 55% of samples proved to be unfit for consumption. All brands of water sachet (100%) had high coliforms count which indicates faecal contamination. Amongst those sachets two brands (40%) had presence of E. coli and all the sachet water brands fell below drinking water standards while out of fifteen brands of bottled water 6 samples contained higher microbiological value hence unfit for human consumption. Conclusion:Local brands of packaged drinking water were found unfit for human condumption. So it is suggested that government should intensify the efforts in the monitoring of activities in this rapidly expanding industry with a view to supply potable and wholesome water to the public.

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The downy mildew diseases are caused by different fungus species in several genera in the class Oomycetes. They comprise a major group of diseases affecting a large number of crops. In India, downy mildews have been reported on several economically important crops, including maize, sorghum, pearl millet, onion, soybean, cucurbits, and grapes, causing severe economic losses in some regions and seasons. Pathogens reported to cause downy mildews in India include species in the genera, Perenosclerospora, Perenospora, Pseudoperonospora, Plasmopara, Sclerophthora and Sclerospora. In view of the economic importance of the crops, and prevalence and severity of the disease, the downy mildews have been classified into high, moderate and low research priority problems. In this article we present a brief review of the work done in India related to pathogen biology, epidemiology and management methods, and provide an outlook for future research.

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Forage sorghum cultivars grown in India are susceptible to various foliar diseases, of which anthracnose, rust, zonate leaf spot, drechslera leaf blight and target leaf spot cause severe damage. We report here the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) conferring resistance to these foliar diseases. QTL analysis was undertaken using 168 F 7 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of a cross between a female parental line 296B (resistant) and a germplasm accession IS18551 (susceptible). RILs and parents were evaluated in replicated field trials in two environments. A total of twelve QTLs for five foliar diseases on three sorghum linkage groups (SBI-03, SBI-04 and SBI-06) were detected, accounting for 6.9-44.9% phenotypic variance. The morphological marker Plant color (Plcor) was associated with most of the QTL across years and locations. The QTL information generated in this study will aid in the transfer of foliar disease resistance into elite susceptible sorghum breeding lines through marker-assisted selection.