Category Archives: Science & Technology

Bengaluru-based company hands over the 3000th Heat Pipe to ISRO

Science & Technology

Bengaluru :

A Bengaluru based company contributing to areas of nuclear power, factory automation, engineering construction, space and healthcare announced handing over 3000th Heat Pipe to Padmashree awardee, Dr M Annadurai, director of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to commemorate the long standing relationship with ISRO.

The Heat Pipes which were handed over to ISRO, have been manufactured in the Bommasandra facility of Avasarala Technologies and are used as critical components in Aerospace Applications for spacecraft cooling and temperature stabilization.

TT Mani, managing director and CEO of Avasarala Technologies, said “Today, Avasarala is one of the leading manufacturers of specialized and critical systems and components to Strategic Sectors under Make in India Program. We are extremely happy to receive Dr Annadurai to our facility and equally honoured to hand over our 3000th Heat Pipe to him, endorsing our longstanding association with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)”.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bangalore / by Sreemoyee Chatterjee / TNN / May 25th, 2016

City lad bags Intl. Science Fair Grand Award

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

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Mysuru :

City’s 17-year-old Siddarth (in pic.) has become the first Indian to win an International Science Fair Grand Award at the 9th annual International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering and Environment Project (I-SWEEEP) Olympiad held in Houston, Texas, USA recently in which 385 highly qualified projects from 62 countries participated.

The Grand Award was given to Siddarth Eswarachari, a resident of city who now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA and Sarah Carlson.

Siddarth’s research project ‘Cleaner Water: Investigating Homogentisate Chemotaxis Receptors in Pseudomonas Putida F1 for Bio-remediation of Aromatic Hydrocarbons’ has won four International awards and two National awards. He is also the captain of his schools Robotics team and led his team to the International Robotics competition held in St. Louis, Missouri, USA where his team won the ‘Engineering Inspiration’ and ‘Excellence in Engineering’ awards.

He will be attending the Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering, where he plans to major in Robotics and Biotechnology Engineering.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / May 21st, 2016

Chandrayaan-2, Aditya are the projects on focus : ISRO Chief

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Science & Technology, World Opinion

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Born in Hassan, Aluru Seelin Kiran Kumar, well-known as A.S. Kiran Kumar, is a renowned Indian space scientist and Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He has held several techno-managerial positions at ISRO since 1975. In his capacity as Associate Director and subsequently as Director of Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, he steered the design and development of microwave, communication, navigation payloads and their application activities.

In recognition of his contributions, he was conferred with Padma Shri award by the President of India in 2014. ISRO’s Individual Service Award in 2006 and Performance Excellence Award in 2008 Bhaskara Award of Indian Society of Remote Sensing in 2007 to name a few. Star of Mysore (SOM) caught up with A.S. Kiran Kumar for a brief interview during his recent visit to Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering in city. Excerpts:

SOM: Can you tell us about recent achievements of ISRO?

Kiran Kumar: I am really pleased to say that country’s prestigious organisation ISRO has been very active in contributing memorable and laudable achievements for the societal needs. The two great achievements are successive launching of Chandrayaan-1 and Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). In addition to these accomplishments, I wish to strongly mention that ISRO has been responsible for the development of three-tier imaging system for many satellites, ocean colour instruments by using push broom technology, high resolution stereo imaging system for Cartosat-1, sub-meter resolution optical imaging sensors and meteorological payload channels. India is expected to move ahead of other nations to become a premier nation in the world in all spheres. For this to happen, people should acquire knowledge and harness skills for the societal benefit.

SOM: How do you think satellites and space technology will benefit the common man?

Kiran Kumar: There are nearly 35 satellites providing communication, navigation and information to the planet Earth. Today, we are in a position to generate digital television model for India, where information is very resourceful for various application. This is helping in planning infrastructure and providing information on tunnels and railway tracks for effective construction. The State and Central Governments are also making use of space technology for planning and monitoring activities. In future, technology will help the farming community for agricultural purpose.

Space technology has been benefiting the fisherman and saving Rs. 15,000 crore approximately for the government annually. Additionally, technology is saving precious lives by predicting cyclones and other natural calamities. We must emphasise on adopting technology based on innovations and discover solutions for the specific problems with ease.

SOM: There has been a misconception that studying engineering is better or preferable compared to basic sciences. What is your opinion or suggestion on this?

Kiran Kumar: It is shocking to hear such things. I believe that the misconception is mainly in parents or adults which has to be completely erased and to do that there is a need for creating awareness on the significance of pure or basic science authoritatively.

Without the comprehension of elementary sciences — Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and others — the learning process for a student will be incomplete and he/she will never understand the technological aspects or its advancements.

SOM: Sir, can you tell about the future projects or plans of ISRO?

Kiran Kumar: ISRO has been extremely active and ambitious from four decades. With the able guidance of Dr. Vikram A. Sarabhai, Dr. Homi J. Bhabha, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Dr. Satish Dhawan, this organisation has accomplished many achievements.

I believe that, the next year or by 2018, Chandrayaan-2 may be launched. Chandrayaan-1 and MOM have been successful and been sending very good information to the earth station. Astrosat has been functioning effectively. We have been keenly working for the design and development of Aditya, an ambitious venture for Sun during 2018 or 2019.

[This interview was done by Prof. S.A. Mohan Krishna, amateur Astronomer and Associate Professor, Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering, Mysuru, on behalf of Star of Mysore]

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / May 18th, 2016

CSIR-CFTRI conducts stakeholders meet for Banana Farmers , Processors & Market Players

Business & Economy, Education, Science & Technology
A group photo of the Stakeholders at the interactive session held at CFTRI recently.
A group photo of the Stakeholders at the interactive session held at CFTRI recently.

Mysuru :

CSIR- Central Food Technological Research Institute (CSIR-CFTRI), Mysuru, had organised a half-a-day Stakeholders Meet involving the Growers, Processors and Market Players in the Banana Processing Industry recently to create a robust food value chain, which would be beneficial to the processing industry.

There were press reports during December 2015 that farmers were forced to sell banana for a meagre Rs. 2 per kg. In this context, AcSIR students as part of their project studies initiated interactions with farmers of Chamarajanagar district.

Accordingly, around 2 tonnes of fresh banana was procured and processed at the Institute’s Pilot Plant, packed and stored in cold storage. Some of the buyers were brought to the loop for the purchase of banana pulp. Samples were sent to pulp exporters for evaluation of products from their end. And some quantity of the pulp was sold through this route.

New plant variety : Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Ram Rajasekharan, Director, CSIR-CFTRI, stated that the Institute would be releasing a new plant variety which has the potential to protect banana crop from spoilage. The plant can be grown as an inter-crop along with other plantations.

The Institute asserted to work for establishing a semi-processing unit through farmers co-operatives with support from Government and other agencies, transfer of technology free of cost to such agri-enterprises, training and creating a network amongst them for ensuring proper returns to growers.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / May 12th, 2016

City’s Senior Gynaecologist Dr.Nirmala passes away

Science & Technology, Uncategorized

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Mysuru :

City’s senior Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and former Professor & Head, Dept. of OBG, JSS Medical College, Dr. G.S. Nirmala (85), daughter of late G. Shankar Chetty, a Public Prosecutor during the old Mysore State and a resident of V.V. Puram, passed away early this morning at Aaditya Hospital following brief illness. Incidentally, today is her 85th birthday.

A spinster, Dr. Nirmala leaves behind a sister, brother and a host of relatives and friends.

Dr. Nirmala was a popular figure in city and was often seen in her vintage black Fiat car.

Dr. S. Sudhir, Senior Surgeon, JSS Hospital, Dr. Mahesh Kumar and Dr. Chitralekha of Chitra Hospital were among those who paid their last respects to the departed soul.

Last rites were performed at the foot of Chamundi Hill in city this afternoon, according to family sources.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / May 09th, 2016

Bags ‘Bharat Ratna Mother Teresa Gold Medal’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technology
Dr. P.D. Padmakumar (second from left) is seen receiving the award from former Union Minister M.V. Rajashekharan (extreme left) as others look on.
Dr. P.D. Padmakumar (second from left) is seen receiving the award from former Union Minister M.V. Rajashekharan (extreme left) as others look on.

Mysuru :

Dr. P.D. Padmakumar, retired Joint Director of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services and a resident of Kuvempunagar here, was conferred ‘Bharat Ratna Mother Teresa Gold Medal-2016’ by Global Economic Progress & Research Association (GEPRA), Bengaluru, during the ‘34th National Unity Conference’ held at Bengaluru on May 1.

The award was given in recognition of his outstanding contribution to society through individual achievements and national economic growth. The award, which comprised a trophy, a certificate and a gold medal, was given away by M.V. Rajashekharan, former Union Minister, V. Padmanabha Kedilaya, District & Sessions Judge, Dr. H. Shivanna, Vice-Chancellor, University of Agricultural Sciences and Dr. I.S. Basha, General Secretary, GEPRA.

Dr. Padmakumar, a gold medallist in BVSc, has also won gold medal in MA (Jainology & Prakrit) from University of Mysuru. Apart from this, he has won several awards including ‘Best Veterinarian’ and ‘Best Deputy Director’ award from the Department of AH&Vs, Karnataka and ‘Best Horanaadu Kannadiga’ by Delhi Kannadiga Monthly Magazine during the 24th National Kannada Sammelana.

He has authored and published a book titled ‘Keraladalli Jainadharma’ which was later translated to English, Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil. He also runs a free Vet Clinic in city.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / May 06th, 2016

Bengaluru’s other Murthy is a master at handling big data

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Nri's / Pio's, Science & Technology, World Opinion

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Bengaluru :

Meet the other Murthy from Jayanagar in Bengaluru -Arun Murthy. No relation of N R Narayana Murthy, also a Jayanagar resident. But the 35-year-old’s life, in some ways, is moving along the same extraordinary lines of the Infosys doyen.
Arun Murthy is one of the founders of one of today’s hottest Silicon Valley startups – Hortonworks. Yes, named after the elephant in Dr Seuss’ ‘Horton hears a who!’ The company, founded in 2011, has become the fastest ever software venture to touch $100 million in revenue – in just 4 years. Salesforce did it in 5, Palo Alto Networks and Workday in 6, Informatica in 7 and Splunk in 8, according to Barclays Research.

In 2014, when it went for an IPO, it touched a billion dollars in valuation. The valuation has dropped since then, but recent revenue numbers are again pushing the share price sharply up.

Murthy’s one of the tech brains behind Hortonworks. He started coding when he was just 10. From an early age he was fascinated by Go – the 2,500-year-old game that’s exponentially more complex than chess; in March, a computer system, built by Google, for the first time beat a Go grandmaster. Murthy would play this abstract strategy board game for hours on end.

He also had an entrepreneurial streak in him. When he was still in school, he read an article on Michael Dell in Readers’ Digest. He was inspired by that to assemble and sell computers. “I would go to Avenue Road (the hub for electronic items) and buy computer parts, assemble them and sell them to friends. By the time I was 16-17, I was making more money than my parents combined. I would also develop websites for doctors and lawyers,” Murthy told TOI on a visit last week to Bengaluru, where his mother still resides. Murthy went on to do engineering at RV College of Engineering, one of Bengaluru’s best private engineering colleges, and, on graduation, joined Yahoo’s R&D centre in the city. He was part of the small team at Yahoo that was then beginning to develop Hadoop, the open source software framework used to store and process vast quantities of data and which has become all the rage in enterprises today given the avalanche of data they have to deal with.

While working on Hadoop, Murthy and his colleague Owen O’Malley took on the Sort Benchmark challenge of sorting 100 terabytes (TB) of data in a particular order. The first attempt set a new record and when someone else beat that record, they did it again in 2009 and that record stood for several years. The Sort Benchmark home page records Murthy and Owen’s accomplishment at 0.578 TB per minute. “It’s the most amount of fun I have had in my career,” said Murthy.

In 2011, Murthy and seven others, most of them from Yahoo’s Hadoop team – five of them Indians – came together to found Hortonworks, a venture to further develop Hadoop and support it for clients who adopt it. They thought of `Horton’ because Ha doop bore the logo of an elephant. They convinced Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang that it may be the best way forward for them, and Yang was excited enough to get Yahoo to participate in the initial investment in Hortonworks.

Among the other Indian founders, Suresh Srinivas was also in Bengaluru and had studied at NIT Karnataka. Devaraj Das studied at BITS Pilani and IISc Bengaluru, Mahadev Konar graduated from IIT Bombay. Sanjay Radia, who grew up in Uganda and Canada, is the oldest among them, having held senior positions at Sun Microsystems before moving to Yahoo to be an architect of a Hadoop project.

In 2014, the year Hortonworks went for its IPO, Fortune Magazine ranked Murthy among its 20 Big Data All Stars – “20 extraordinary people who we think are the best at connecting the dots, digging deep, and discovering the information that will transform the way businesses operate.”

Fortune noted Murthy at Yahoo had helped develop a sort of OS for Hadoop, called YARN, that lets users plug many applications into the system to store all sorts of data. “I have two kids at home.YARN is sort of my third,” Murthy told the magazine.

He is also a Murthy and has a lot in common with legend NR Narayana Murthy: Tech entrepre neurial streak, a house in Jayana gar, and looking into the future.

Arun Murthy, 35, is a product of RV Engineering College and a big-data star, write Shilpa Phadnis and Sujit John. He is a cofounder of Hortonworks, one of Silicon Valley’s hottest startups which was the first to clock $100 million in revenue in just four years. In 2014 when the company went for an IPO, it touched a billion dollars in valuation.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bangalore / Sujit John & Shilpa Phadnis / TNN / May 06th, 2016

KMC alumnus has a street named after him in Mississippi

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Manipal :

Dr Sampat Shivangi, a 1962 batch alumnus of Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Manipal is in the news once again as a street in the US state of Mississippi has been named after him for the services rendered to local community there. The Dr Sampat Shivangi Lane was formally named on Saturday in recognition of Shivangi, eminent Republican from the state. Dr Shivangi conveyed news of street being named after him Dr M Ramdas Pai, Chancellor, Manipal University.

Dr Ramdas Pai as per a communique shared by Manipal University on Monday, in reply wrote: “I am glad to have your e-mail of 24th instant and to know that a street in Mississippi has been named after you. It is indeed a great recognition of your services to the community. My congratulations to you.” Dr Pai said, “It is indeed a joyous moment for Manipal University. All of Manipal (University) is proud of the great work Dr Shivangi is doing in the US”

Phil Bryant, state governor reappointed him for second sever-year term to board of Mississippi’s department of Mental Health. In June 2014, he became first Asian-American to become chairman of the Board which has close to a billion dollar budget with staff strength of over 8500. From 2005-2008, Dr Shivangi served as adviser to US secretary of health and human services. He is the founding president of American Association of Physicians of Indian origin in Mississippi.

He is also the past president and chair of the India Association of Mississippi.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Mangalore / by Jaideep Shenoy / TNN / April 25th, 2016

Bengaluru City Gynaec Who Once Took Calls Horseback

Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Science & Technology

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Bengaluru :

Sita Bhateja may be one of a kind in the obstetrics-gynecology world. She has been an active practitioner for the last 67 years, and at the age of 88, she shows no signs of slowing down. “I love my job… I wouldn’t have survived 67 years if I didn’t enjoy it,” Bhateja says laughing.

Her passion for her job is exhibited by the fact that she has worked free of cost at the CSI hospital for eight years, and has even funded the setting up of the maternity ward at St Martha’s Hospital.

She goes to the gym thrice a week, is very strict about her diet and is a voracious stamp collector. In fact, she is world famous for her philatelic activities. In her younger days, she was a horse-rider. However, none of these hobbies came in the way of her one passion — gynaecology. In fact, she quips that she used to go on horseback to attend to expectant mothers if the need arose! She also had to witnessed the horrors of the partition, but went on to Bombay to pursue her higher studies.

She has engaged in several philanthropic activities-some of them including establishing an orphanage called the ‘Child Foundation Karnataka’, and engaging in polio eradication activities.

She set up the Sita Bhateja Hospital in 1965. It originally started out as an obstetric hospital, but became a multi-speciality hospital in 1969. Owing to her long years of practice, it should come as no surprise when she reveals that she has helped deliver three  generations of the same family.

Her delivery count exceeds an astounding one lakh babies. On being asked whether mothers opt for normal or C-section delivery these days, she says, “Most prefer C-section, as this prevents further complications like prolapse and urinary infections. They see no reason to persist with difficult vaginal deliveries. Further, women these days are not engaged in physical activity, so the body is not cut out for normal delivery.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Namrata Menon / April 28th, 2016

Narayana Murthy to ‘hunt’ his friends in US

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Science & Technology, World Opinion

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While a trip to the United States may not be unusual for Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy , the one starting this week promises to be different.

Kick-starting one of the biggest alumni hunts, Narayana Murthy and his team will be travelling coast to coast in the US to find and reconnect with the ‘missing’ alumni of the Mysuru-based National Institute of Engineering (NIE).

It is estimated that around 8,000 graduates from the institute who moved to the US – especially in the 1960s and 1970s – had lost touch with their alma mater and their colleagues over the years.

Given the prevalence of social media and various other channels of communication, it is now time to reconnect.

According to NIE principal Gowri L Shekar, NIE had been planning an expansion and had recently inducted Narayana Murthy as a board member. “It was Murthy’s idea to reach out and reconnect with the institute’s global alumni.

It is a fact that thriving institutes across the globe maintain a good relationship and are in contact with their alumni. So, we too are attempting to do this. Murthy, who is on the board of some top institutes in the world, including Princeton, suggested that we take a global tour to connect.

So, as per the plan, our team along with Narayana Murthy will begin our alumni connect in Austin on April 30 and conclude their trip in New York on May 7.

In a span of eight days, they will organize events in six US cities and meet with our alumni,” added Shekar.
Shekar said that Narayana Murthy is deeply involved in their efforts to reconnect with the institute’s alumni. “Narayana Murthy has asked us to concentrate on the San Francisco Bay Area and talk to the alumni there and build a connection. He said doing so will make us a healthier institution and will add immense value to the university.

“His knowledge of higher education is very significant as he is well aware of the industry. His mantra was that well-known universities in the West focus on their alumni and Indian colleges should follow suit. He spoke of adapting good practices of universities and the US alumni connect tour is part of it,” said Shekar.

Narayana Murthy passed out of NIE in 1967 with a degree in electrical engineering and was the highest ranking student from his branch. “One thing I remember was his punctuality, he would not miss a single class even on days when there was a strike or a bandh in Mysuru.

Narayana Murthy would often recall his mother’s words that he was studying in an aided college which was funded by the state government and hence bunking a single day would amount to doing injustice to tax payer’s money. So, Murthy religiously followed his mother’s words and never missed a class,” added Shekar.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> Tech> Tech News / Sridhar Vivan, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / April 26th, 2016