Category Archives: Science & Technology

India, UK to collaborate on cancer research

Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion

CancerResearchBF15mar2015

The United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council (MRC) and India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) have entered into a 3.5-million pound agreement, under which the Bengaluru-based National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) will work with the University of Cambridge to unearth the multiple causes of cancer.

While the UK’s MRC is keen on application-based research, the NCBS has also been pursuing a similar research line. All the prime research bodies from both the countries have been invited to set up their best teams on cancer research. This project will be carried out under the MRC-DBT Joint Centre for Cancer Biology and Therapeutics. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that the number of new cancer cases will rise by about 70 per cent over the next two decades.

Describing the joint effort, Prof K Vijay Raghavan, secretary, Department of Biotechnology, said, “The Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, is delighted to partner with the MRC in creating research centres that will address the vexing challenges in medicine, through quality science and collaboration.”

Dr Mark Palmer, MRC director of International Strategy, has put the collaboration in perspective. “With a 100-year history of strategic international collaboration, the MRC scientists today work with researchers in more than 100 countries. We know diseases don’t recognise international borders and that addressing health problems around the world demands a global response. These partnerships between excellent scientists in India and the UK is a key part of our international effort to pool expertise and resources, and deliver research that will make a real difference to global health.” On his NCBS page, Dr Sudhir Krishna has written that cervical cancer, a major cause of female mortality in the developing world, is caused by high-risk human papillomaviruses.

“Papillomavirus belongs to the family of small DNA tumour viruses and the study of these agents has been extraordinarily influential in driving key concepts in cancer biology. Our laboratory for over two decades has been interested in the signals that complement the function of papillomavirus oncogenes (for review see Malliekal T. et al., Oncogene 2008) and our focus has been on the role of Notch signaling.”

Tumours
Krishna has also said that in recent times, it has been found that unique sub-sets of cells with enhanced tumorigenic functions and resistance to conventional therapy, drive many tumours. “The origin and nature of such cellular heterogeneity is of enormous clinical significance. However, even in extensively characterised tumours like human breast cancers, no clear consensus has emerged on the biological features including plasticity, differentiation status, mechanism of induction or evolution of metastatic characteristics in such subsets.”

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City / by Prashant GN / DHNS – Bengaluru , March 15th, 2015

The ‘golden daughter’ of a farming family

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology
Geetha N, who secured 13 gold medals, and Kunduru Bharath, who got 7 gold medals, at the 49th convocation of the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru on Saturday.— Photo: V Sreenivasa Murthy
Geetha N, who secured 13 gold medals, and Kunduru Bharath, who got 7 gold medals, at the 49th convocation of the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru on Saturday.— Photo: V Sreenivasa Murthy

Geetha N. graduated with a record 13 gold medals

All that this poor farming family from Doddaballapur taluk has is one acre of land which fetches them just Rs. 11,000 a year.

But, they have a ‘golden daughter’. Geetha N., daughter of Narasimha Murthy and Chikkathayamma, graduated with a record number of 13 gold medals at the convocation of the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bangalore here on Saturday.

“My parents were not in a position to bear my educational expenses when I got a seat for an agricultural course. So I took an educational loan to support my studies,” says Geetha, who is now pursuing her post-graduate studies in Agricultural Genetics and Plant Breeding with a fellowship from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

Excitedly showing her parents the box of gold medals, Geetha said, “Though my parents did not have money, they did everything for me to excel in studies and I owe my success to them.”

Having experienced the difficulties of a marginal farming family, her dream is to become a researcher in the field of genetics and plant breeding in a bid to do something good for farmers in distress. “I am pained to see farmers in distress, especially owing to crash in prices. I want to do something for them,” she said.

Geetha also has plans to set up a non-governmental organisation to help farmers. “Please do not quit farming as that is our backbone,” is her plea to youth who quit agriculture to move to cities in search of menial jobs. Similarly, A.P.-based Kundur Bharath, who graduated with seven gold medals, also hails from a farming family. He too wants to serve the farming community by becoming a researcher.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by B.S. Satish Kumar / Bengaluru – March 15th, 2015

This IISc researcher makes books accessible to visually challenged

Amazing Feats, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technology

Bengaluru :

Sridhar S (22), a visually challenged degree student from Shivamogga, was good at academics. But he couldn’t study for his final-year BA or take the exam simply because no textbooks were available in Braille.
As books were part of old literature, they were not available in digital version either. His father Srinath would read out from the printed textbooks whenever he had time. But that didn’t help Sridhar much as he found it tough to memorize and recall the portions.

Now, an innovation by Shiva Kumar HR, a student at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has made life easier for the likes of Sridhar. Shiva’s innovation helps scan printed books and instantly makes them text compliant for the visually challenged.

Shiva has deservedly bagged the Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award for 2015.

The young scientist, who is pursuing his PhD under the guidance of Prof AG Ramakrishnan at the Medical Intelligence and Language Engineering (MILE) Laboratory, department of electrical engineering, IISc, has developed high-accuracy optical character recognizers (OCR) for Kannada and Tamil languages. This converts scanned pages of a printed documentbook into e-text.

By using the OCR along with the Printto-Braille tool, it is easy to scan any printed bookdocument and convert it into Unicode text in a short span of time.The visually challenged person can listen to that e-text through any text to speech (TTS) synthesis software. The etext can also be converted into Braille codes and printed using a Braille embosser. Shiva said the study substance for English and European languages were available in digital and Braille versions for visually challenged. “But not so with Indic languages (classical literature, novels and even school and college books). Here, much of the printed material e-text is not available and hence inaccessible to visually challenged. Converting books into Unicode text by manual typing takes time and is costly,” he added.

It reduces time, cost

Shiva said the high-accuracy OCR cuts down on time and cost. “We have demonstrated it already and found it is possible to convert more books in a short span of time and make them accessible to the visually challenged. The Worth Trust in Chennai has opened a facility using our product.Family members or friends of visually challenged students come and get digitalized or Braille versions of printed textbooks in minutes. The number of the visually challenged in India is over 18 million and the product goes a long way in helping them,” he added.

Applications aplenty

Shiva and team have also developed an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) called Print-to-Braille tool that enables even non technical people to quickly use their OCR and make corrections to the mistakes, if any, in the text output by the OCR. Hundreds of Tamil books, including textbooks, story and general books, have been converted into Braille format, and distributed to the needy.A Kannada version of the software has been given to some voluntary organizations and individuals in Karnataka associated with visually challenged students. Apart from pursuing PhD, Shiva is a software engineer at IBM Software Labs.

Awarded for its social relevance

The award to Shiva has been given by the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) and aims to recognize student projects that have social relevance. Shiva’s work, Gift of New Abilities, was chosen for the award in the Computer Science, Information Technology and Related Fields category. The award was given at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on March 8.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bengaluru / TNN / March 12th, 2015

Mysuru firm develops critical technology for missiles

Business & Economy, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Bengaluru :

On March 13, 2013, India had to destroy its nuclear-ready cruise missile Nirbhay which was on its first flight trial. The reason: Nirbhay deviated from its intended course, sparking fears. The kind of damage and loss such incidents can cause in the absence of a self-destruct mechanism is grave. Yet India doesn’t completely posses the software and intellectual property for such technology.

As the Prime Minister’s Make-in-India campaign gains pitch in the defence sector, the DRDO has found a reliable partner in Kaynes Technology, a Mysuru firm.

A senior DRDO official said the company has developed an Electronic Safe Arm Fire Systems (ESAFS) ballistic missile actuator unit, which is being evaluated by DRDO’s missile teams for integration into various platforms.

Kaynes’ system consists of two processor cards and one communication/connector card that carries the commands, and facilitates relay control.

“Not only can the missile be self-destructed after launch, it also has a feature wherein it destroys itself upon recognizing unauthorized access,” the official explained. Apart from the self-destruction feature, the system also helps prevent tampering and is able to function in most conditions.

“It’s thermal, humidity, vibration and shock-compliant,” he added.

Kaynes vice-president (business development) Lt Col (retd) Sharath Bhatt said: “I can’t comment on the technology as it’s sensitive and DRDO is evaluating it. Only DRDO can speak about it.”

“What such technologies mean is that India will have its own intellectual property in critical areas and will not have to depend on other countries,” Bhatt added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Business> India Business / by Chethan Kumar, TNN / March 02nd, 2015

KMC doctor Dr Narasimha Pai makes it to FACC fellow

Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Mangaluru :

Dr Narasimha Pai, Associate Professor in the Department of Cardiology, KMC Hospital Ambedkar Circle, here has been made fellow of the elite panel of American College of Cardiology (FACC).

The certification and citation will be officially presented to him at the annual convocation of the college on March 6 in San Diego, California.

“KMC Hospital Mangalore is proud to have Dr Pai on the panel of consultants in Interventional Cardiology. We congratulate him on his achievement” said Dr Anand Venugopal, Medical Superintendent.

Every year, the American College of Cardiology recognizes selected cardiologists from around the world, based on their long term contribution to the field of Cardiology, and inducts them as a fellow of American College of Cardiology (FACC). American College of Cardiology is the foremost professional society, representing heart specialists in the UD and throughout the world. Based on their outstanding credentials, achievements and community contribution to cardiovascular medicine, those who are elected to fellowship can use fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC) as a professional designation.

Fellow of the ACC generally are adult cardiologists, paediatric cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, researchers and academicians or specialists in the cardiovascular – related field.

Candidates are selected to the elite panel of FACC based on letters of sponsorship from other fellows or faculty, who attest professional competence and commitment to excellence that are at par with the best international standards.

source:http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mangaluru / by Stanley Pinto, TNN / February 27th, 2015

Netherlands beckons pioneering 9th grader

Business & Economy, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technology, World Opinion
Ahalya Saraswathi Bhat
Ahalya Saraswathi Bhat

Ahalya Saraswathi Bhat J, a class nine student of Vittal Jaycees English Medium School, has developed a working model for preparing medicinal charcoals used in Ayurveda by slow pyrolysis using Masi Maker technology.

Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, she said medicinal charcoals known as Masi Kalpana in Ayurveda, is prepared by partial burning of medicinal herbs and has greater use in preparing medicinal oils, ointments and pastes. They exhibit wound-healing, anti-poison properties apart from working as adsorbents in clinical terms.

Ahalya developed a new working model named as “Masi Maker” using the principle of slow pyrolysis using stainless steel. Pyrolysis is a thermo-chemical decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen. It involves the simultaneous change of chemical composition and physical phase, and is irreversible. The working model “Masi Maker” consists of three chambers – the heating chamber for creating heat, charring chamber for charring medicinal herbs and the bio-oil outlet, to express any bio-oils produced.

Ahalya’s project that was demonstrated at the regional fair at Belagavi, secured the gold medal. The event was organised by the Science Society of India. At the national-level fair held at Chennai on January 10, 2015, the project secured the silver medal. Five students from the State have been selected to attend the International Environment & Sustainability Project Olympiad (INESPO) in the Netherlands from May 31 to June 4. Ahalya is the daughter of Dr Ganapathi Bhat Jeddu and Dr Manorama B Bhat who are both Ayurveda practitioners.

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> News> State / by Deepthi Sanjiv, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / February 08th, 2015

Puttur Man Shows how to Build Cool Homes with Mud Bricks

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Science & Technology

Puttur1BF25feb2015

Puttur :

Call it green revolution or a new building technique—Chidananda Rai of Puttur shows how to build a dream house which is cooler and at 40 per cent the cost of construction. He has introduced a brick that is not burnt or mined from the laterite plates of the coastal areas. In fact, the brick is produced from your neighbourhood mud. He calls it the mud brick.

Perching on a hillock in Bolwar on the outskirts of Puttur town, Rai’s brick plant has machinery that no conventional brick producer has.

There is no furnace or a big pile of firewood, but just a mechanical sieve, and a pounder which compresses the loose soil into a hard brick.

But will it take the pressure of weight as well as brave the rain and shine?

When asked, Rai explained: “Mud has an extraordinary quality when it is compressed with moisture. This is a simple technique: freshly dug mud is sieved and mixed with a compound of 10 per cent of cement and two chemical additives, directed into a mould and compressed under a 30 tonne pressure. And we have a brick that is as solid as a laterite stone and perhaps stronger than the burnt brick. The bricks will have to be cured under moist conditions for three days and they are ready for taking the load.”

Puttur2BF25feb2015

This product can be termed a green housing technique unlike the conventional ones.

In the case of burnt brick, the makers use tonnes of firewood which denude forests and the burning of wood creates environmental pollution. The laterite stones that are generally used in construction in the coastal region are mined from the laterite blocks which leave large voids in the ground. Moreover, laterite stocks don’t last forever, Rai said.

Rai displayed a strength report issued by the National Institute of Technology Karnataka.

He said the certificate has mentioned that the mud brick had 16.8 psi (pressure point) load-bearing capacity which was as good as the laterite stones. People who have used mud bricks have told me that their houses were relatively cooler inside. The bricks have ridges that alleviate the need for using cement between the blocks.

They are placed on each other with the help of the ridges and to make them more stable a thin coat of cement grout is used.

Since there is no need of plastering it, the wall is ready for painting which saves nothing less than 40 per cent of the cost of construction. There is no need for sand too, he added.

He has found a market in Kodagu district where mud bricks are being used for constructing homestays and other buildings. This is because a load of sand costs nothing less than `25,000 against `7,000 per load in the coastal areas and in Mysuru, he said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by M Raghuram / February 17th, 2015

Aequs expects more business at its SEZ plant

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

Aerospace components manufacturer Aequs said it is sitting with an order book of $150 million over five year period and investment commitment of five more units at its SEZ facility in Belagavi.

Aequs chairman and chief executive Aravind Melligeri told Deccan Herald the company’s SEZ has 10 units operating. “We have 250 acres of land, of which 25 acres are for the SEZ. We have already made investment of $30 million to the facility,” said Melligeri.

Aequs established an aerospace industrial hub in 2009 at Belagavi. “We have developed 130,000 square metres of facility from the 65,000 square metres in the last two years. This year we are planning to add 120,000 square metres of property,” he said. The company has already developed 40 per cent of the SEZ land and 50 per cent of the land outside.

Aequs, which began its operations in 1997 as an engineering services company called QuEST Global Manufacturing based out of the US, entered into manufacturing of aerospace and defence components in 2006.

“We import 100 per cent of raw materials and 100 per cent of cutting materials. Even though we have a tie-up with HAL, we export 99 per cent of our products,” he said.

He said the company is into the automotive and oil and gas business. “These verticals help us in balancing the business cycle. Aerospace requires long gestation period in getting business returns. Oil and gas are short cycle, and auto medium cycle,” he said.

“Aerospace sector is a $80 billion-$100 billion industry globally and India is only touching at a few hundred million dollars right now,” said Melligeri.

Even though the high cost of capital, weak infrastructure and power support continue to be a challenge in India, the industry is gaining momentum with the growing skill sets of the country.

He said Aequs is the largest player in machining. “We can touch five per cent of the market in this segment. We are competing in a global scale and there is a cost advantage in India,” said Melligeri.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Business / by N.V. Vijayakumar, Bengaluru / DHNS – February 21st, 2015

Organic agriculture tablet concept attracts farmers in summit

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Science & Technology

Belagavi :

The stall of organic agriculture tablets developed for the crops as a tonic by the Bengaluru based High Tech Agri Services is something innovative concept that pulling the farmers at the ‘Agrovision South’, South India’s largest agriculture and industry summit in Belagavi.

“Generally we use tablets on the doctors’ prescription when we fell sick or feel unhealthy. The same is the concept behind organic tablets,” said Nagaraj Hegde, founder of the High Tech Agri Services, speaking to the TOI.

Agriculture tablet is the formulation of growth tonic and booster, which helps plants to become more healthier and to get higher yield. These tablets can be applied directly in soil, through drip irrigation or even by foliar spray by diluting the tablet in water.

According to Hegde, organic tablets are very advantageous to plants to fight against biotic and abiotic stress. It increases the assimilation of nutrients and boost up growth besides build immunity against diseases. More advantages of tablets are these are safe to handle and no hassle of measurement.

Hegde told that company sells these tablets at various countries including Dubai, Thailand, Chilli, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia apart from India. Company also has products for the plants for disease management, insect management, soil conditioning and nutrition management.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bengaluru / TNN / February 21st, 2015

Research vessel flagged off from Malpe

Science & Technology, Travel
Geo technical research vessel Fugro Scout setting sail amid cheers at Malpe fisheries harbour in Udupi on Monday.
Geo technical research vessel Fugro Scout setting sail amid cheers at Malpe fisheries harbour in Udupi on Monday.

The state-of-the-art Geo Technical Research Vessel (GTRV) ‘Fugro Scout’ manufactured by Tebma Shipyards Ltd. set sail to Singapore via New Mangalore Port from Malpe fisheries harbour here on Monday.

The company constructed the GTRV in 18 months and delivered it to The Netherlands-based company Fugro here. The Fugro Scout has been registered in Panama and will function under its flag. It was constructed at a cost of Rs. 240 crore.

The vessel is a mini-drill ship capable of drawing soil samples up to 3 km below the sea bed for exploration of oil, natural gas and other resources. When the vessel was flagged off by Pramod Madhwaraj, MLA, there was a loud applause, lot of cheering and waving of hands.

P. Aboobacker, Vice President – Operations, Tebma Shipyards, said the entire ship was constructed at its shipyard here. Since beginning operations in Malpe port in 2008, the company had built 18 vessels.

These 18 vessels included 10 tugs for the Indian Navy, while the remaining vessels were built for commercial purposes. “This is the second GTRV we have built for Fugro. The first one – ‘Fugro Voyager’, was awarded the ‘Best Research Vessel of 2014’ by the magazine ‘Work Boat World’,” he said.

Efficient ship

The Fugro Scout is powered by diesel electrical propulsion systems driven by active front-end drives for best fuel efficient operation. The vessel has an automated pipe and tool-handling equipment to promote safe drilling floor operations for sea bed sampling and testing.

Graeme Alexander, Project Director of GTRVs, Fugro, said the Fugro Scout would start its work in Vietnam in May. Then it was expected to sail to Iceland.

Mr. Madhwaraj said Tebma Shipyards had donated Rs. 1.10 crore for the construction of slipway for the third stage of Malpe fisheries harbour. “We want the company to do more for the fishermen here under their corporate social responsibility schemes,” he said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Ganesh Prabhu / Udupi – February 24th, 2015