City scientist among Infy Prize winners

Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Bengaluru :

The Infosys Science Foundation, on Monday, announced the winners of the 2015 Infosys Prize. Each prize carries a cash award of Rs 65 lakh and a gold medallion.

Bengaluru-based scientist Umesh Waghmare of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) has won the prize in engineering and computer science, while five others won in categories like humanities, life sciences, mathematical sciences, physical sciences and social sciences (see list).

From a monk to an ex-army officer, the award winners are a mix of people. Even their works cover a good range from analytical Indian philosophy to the atomic structure of the killer malaria parasite and India’s foreign and security policies to geometric group theory. But no woman has made the cut this time.

The winners were selected by six jury committees headed by experts in their fields. The jury chairs are Prof Pradeep K. Khosla (University of California, San Diego) for Engineering and Computer Science; Prof Amartya Sen (Harvard University) for Humanities; Inder Verma (Salk Institute of Biological Sciences) for Life Sciences; Prof Srinivasa S R Varadhan (New York University) for Mathematical Sciences; Prof Shrinivas Kulkarni (California Institute of Technology) for Physical Sciences; and Prof Kaushik Basu (The World Bank) for Social Sciences.

The six winners were selected from 206 nominations -44 in engineering; 32 in humanities; 42 in life sciences; 27 in mathematical sciences; 40 in physical sciences and 20 in social sciences.

S D Shibulal, president, Board of Trustees, Infosys Science Foundation, said, “We set up the Infosys Science Foundation and instituted the Infosys Prize to restore the romance of research. As we move into our seventh year, the Infosys Science Foundation continues to foster a culture of scientific thinking through various initiatives.”

Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy said: “Today, Infosys Prize is the prize for science and research. There is a lot of influence that this lends and we are happy to be encouraging people to do better. Some of the people who were recognised first by us have gone on to win international awards.Manjul Bhargava, for example, went on to win the Fields Medal.”

The awards will be handed over on February 13, 2016, at a function in New Delhi.

THE IGNITED MINDS

PROF UMESH WAGHMARE | Engineering

and Computer Science A professor at the Theoretical Sciences unit of JNCASR, Umesh Waghmare has been researching on designing new materials, among other things. He has been awarded for his innovative use of theories and models in probing microscopic mechanisms responsible for the way materials like topological insulators ferroelectrics, multiferroics and graphene behave. The materials are then suitably designed for better use.

AMIT SHARMA | Life Sciences

He is a Group Leader, Structural and Computational Biology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi. Amit Sharma has been awarded for his pioneering contributions towards deciphering the molecular structure, at the atomic level, of key proteins involved in the biology of pathogenesis of the deadly malarial parasite.

PROF MAHAN MAHARAJ | Mathematical Sciences

Mahan Maharaj, monk and Associate Professor of Mathematics at the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Belur Math, Howrah, has been honoured for his contributions to geometric group theory, low dimensional topology and complex geometry. He established a central conjecture in the Thurston programme to study hyperbolic 3-manifolds and introduced important new tools to study fundamental groups of complex manifolds.

PROF JONARDON GANERI | Humanities

A Global Network Visiting Professor of Philosophy, New York University, and Recurrent Visiting Professor at the Department of Philosophy, King’s College London, Jonardon Ganeri has been honoured for his outstanding scholarship and originality in interpreting and scrutinizing analytical Indian Philosophy. His efforts in shedding light on shared ground as well as the dichotomy between Indian and Greek traditions of philosophical reasoning have been acknowledged as well.

PROF G RAVINDRA KUMAR | Physical Sciences

Ravindra Kumar, professor in the Department of Nuclear and Atomic Physics (DNAP), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, has been awarded for his pioneering experimental contributions to the physics of high intensity laser matter interactions.

SRINATH RAGHAVAN | Social Sciences

Srinath Raghavan is an ex-army officer and Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.

He has bagged the award for outstanding research that synthesizes military history, international politics and strategic analysis into powerful and imaginative perspectives on India in global context. He has written three books focusing on foreign policy and military history in South Asia.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bengaluru / TNN / November 17th, 2015

Children’s Day : 4 from City receive State Honour

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All
Aprameya Karthik, Abhigya Anand, Rea Elizabeth & Dhanush
Aprameya Karthik, Abhigya Anand, Rea Elizabeth & Dhanush

Mysuru :

Four children from city were among 25 children from across the State, who were felicitated for their achievements in the respective fields on the occasion of Children’s Day celebrations at Jawahar Bal Bhavan in Bengaluru on Saturday. City’s young artists Aprameya Karthik, N. Danush, Abhigya Anand and Rea Elizabeth Acchaiah were felicitated by Women and Child Welfare Minister Umashree during the event.

S.R. Aprameya Karthik, a student of Maharshi Public School in city, has drawn more than 3,000 different sketches of Lord Ganesha and also holds a national record for the same. He is the son of S. Ramanathan and M.V. Anitha, residents of J.P. Nagar here.

N. Dhanush, an 8th student of Manasarowar Pushkarini Vidyashrama, is an upcoming singer. Danush has participated in many competitions and won prizes. He is the son of A.N. Nanje Gowda and T.S. Sudha, both teachers as Shiskarni Central School in Hebbal and Government Higher Primary School, Manchegowdana Koppal, respectively.

Abhigya Anand, a 6th std. student at the Government Higher Primary School in Bastipura in Srirangapatna Taluk, developed interest in Bhagavad Gita and has learnt all the chapters of the Holy Book.

He also conducts free Bhagavad Gita classes at Sri Krishna Temple in Gokulam everyday during which he teaches the chanting of slokas and also gives lectures on ill-effects of consuming junk food. Abhigya is also pursuing PG Diploma in Aryuvedic Microbiology. He is the son of Anand Ramasubramanian and Annu Anand, residents of Hebbal.

The other child prodigy from Mysuru to receive the award was Rea Elizabeth Acchaiah, a 9th std. student of St. Joseph Central School in Vijayanagar. She was awarded for her achievements in Roller-Skating. Rea is the daughter of Acchaiah and Priya, residents of Vijayanagar.

Among the awardees were 10-year-old M. Siddesh and 11-year-old Siya Vamanasa Khoday, who risked their lives to save people. They were felicitated with the ‘State Bravery Award’ on the occasion.

Governor Vajubhai R. Vala honoured M. Siddesh, a resident of Avaragere in Davanagere with the prestigious award for risking his life to save passengers traveling in the Harihara-Chitradurga Passenger Train on Mar. 15, 2015. Siddesh, who noticed craks on the railway track near Avaragere, quickly removed his red shirt and started waving at the train, thus averting a major mishap.

Siya Vamanasa Khoday from Dharwad, who also received the Bravery Award, had saved her younger brother Kumara Yallappa when he had come in contact with the live-wire while playing at the terrace of his house in Dharwad.

The State Government also honoured four organisations and four individuals working for the welfare of children namely Ranga Kahale (Bengaluru), Belagavi Roller Skating Akademi (Belagavi), Samruddhi Charitable Trust (Bidar) and Sneha Sadana (Mangaluru), K. Prabha Narayanagowda (Chikkaballapur), Parampalli Narasimha Aital (Udupi), Ismail Moulasab Ukkali (Vijayapura) and Mehaboob Killedar (Koppal).

While the organisations received a cash prize of Rs. One lakh each, individuals were given Rs. 25,000 each.

The other children who received award are: Pranil Satare (Shivamogga), Deeksha Moolya (Udupi), N.B. Pragathi (Bengaluru), B. Likhith (Bengaluru), M. Panchami (Moodabidri), D.S. Bhoomika (Ballari), Sahana (Ballari), M.V. Alok Parla (Davanagere), Surakshit Gowda (Kolar), G. Gagana (Udupi), S.S. Gautham (Madikeri), Mohammed Suhail (Mandya), R.P. Rahul (Bagalkot), M. Mohammed (Raichur), Ganashri (Doddaballapur), J. Nihal (Tumakuru), Meghana (Chitradurga), Amruth Nagesh (Dharwad), K.G. Ananya (Hassan), M. Dhruthi (Dakshina Kannada), Yashaswi Ajit Kumar (Gadag) and Anthakarna (Shivamogga).

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Monday – November 16th, 2015

2-Day National Workshop on Sericulture from tomorrow

Business & Economy

Union Textile Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar to inaugurate

Central Silk Board Member Secretary Dr. H. Nagesh Prabhu is seen addressing the press meet in city this morning
Central Silk Board Member Secretary Dr. H. Nagesh Prabhu is seen addressing the press meet in city this morning

Mysuru :

The two-day National Workshop on ‘Innovative Technologies and Best Practices in Sericulture,’ organised by Central Silk Board, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, will be inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Textiles Santosh Kumar Gangwar at Central Silk Board premises on Manandawadi Road, said Central Silk Board Member Secretary Dr. H. Nagesh Prabhu. Addressing presspersons at Pathrakartara Bhavan here this morning, he said that the Minister would also lay foundation stone for Silk Mega Cluster in Mysuru.

Dr. Nagesh added that Dr. Sanjay Kumar Panda would deliver a keynote address on ‘Emerging Challenges of Sericulture in India’ and a booklet ‘Awardees of Excellence in Sericulture-2015,’ New Mulberrry Varieties and Silkworm Breeds will be released by the Union Minister on the occasion.

The Central Silk Board will also present awards for Excellence in Sericulture to the selected silkworm farmers. Baburao Chinchansur, Minister for Textiles, Ports and Inland Transport, Government of Karnataka, Animal Husbandry and Sericulture Minister A. Manju and MP Pratap Simha will be the guests of honour.

Organisers have also invited experts from across the country to deliberate on various topics related to sericulture.

Central Silk Board Joint Secretary K.K. Shetty, Director Shivaprasad were present during the press meet.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Monday – November 16th, 2015

Prof. Usha Rani to United Nations

Education, World Opinion

Mysuru :

Dr. N. Usha Rani, Professor, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mysore, has been awarded with ICSSR fellowship to do research work in United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.

She will leave for Geneva today, for four weeks to study international perspective on Media and Social Development.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> In Brief / November 16th, 2015

Cash from scrap: three IIT graduates show the way

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

EncasheaBF16nov2015

You can now book an appointment with a raddiwala on an Android app, after which professionals turn up at your apartment and collect scrap and pay you a handsome amount too. Three Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduates, who quit their cushy corporate jobs and turned raddiwalas, have made this possible. The three – Priyank Jain (IIT Kharagpur), Harshal Chowdary (IIT Madras), and Rahul Jaiswal (IIT Kanpur), who worked in various technology firms, are now excited at the good response to their startup, encashea.com.

They started it in August by collecting scrap from residents of apartment complexes.

Presently, the firm is providing service to only apartment complexes in the south-eastern part of the city.

Mr. Jain said that it all started with the residents of high-rise apartment complexes finding it difficult to dispose off scrap. “We identified that residents of apartments had very restricted access to raddiwalas due to their secluded nature. It was a gap in the market which we decided to fill,” he said.

The firm has trained around 10 pick-up boys to professionally collect scrap from households. They operate the app, evaluate the worth of scrap and generate a digital invoice. The firm segregates and sells the waste to secondary recyclers.

Mr. Jain said that unlike most of the disruptive technology aggregators coming up, they were a logistics firm with operations on the ground.

He said a resident sold them over 100 kg of newspaper he had stacked up in his house for want of better avenues to dispose it. “Such avenues will encourage segregation of dry waste and wet waste in the house every day. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the e-waste that you sell a raddiwalah will be disposed off responsibly. We ensure that,” he said.

Ragpickers were the pioneers

The first to start such doorstep waste management in the city were ragpickers themselves, trained by Hasiru Dala.

Total Waste Management started a year-and-a-half ago. Today, it services 77 apartments in J.P. Nagar and Whitefield areas. You can book an appointment on the Total Waste Management app, and ragpickers arrive to educate and manage your waste — a 360 degree service, including wet waste.

The ragpickers visit these apartments twice a week and help the residents in composting as well, apart from collecting all dry waste and scrap.

Nalini Sekhar of Hasiru Dala, said that the very fact that ragpickers go to these apartments with uniforms and use an app to calculate the value of the waste has given them immense confidence. She also said that only Total Waste Management collects all waste from the residents and not cherry pick. “Regular raddiwalas also take only high-value waste like metal and paper, leaving behind low-value waste which attains a critical mass. In our model, high-value waste subsidises low-value waste,” she said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by K.V. Aditya Bharadwaj / Bengaluru – November 16th, 2015

A gadget for a safe road journey

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Science & Technology
Elsys Intelligent Devices co-founders Jayanth Jagadeesh (left) and Prasad Pillai showcasing Raksha SafeDrive
Elsys Intelligent Devices co-founders Jayanth Jagadeesh (left) and Prasad Pillai showcasing Raksha SafeDrive

Raksha SafeDrive automatically alerts rescue services in the event of an accident

The high number of casualties in road accidents has prompted two entrepreneurs, Prasad Pillai and Jayanth Jagadeesh, to manufacture a gadget that automatically alerts rescue services in case of an accident. Raksha SafeDrive, an innovation from Elsys Intelligent Devices, a Thiruvananthapuram-based startup with an office in Bengaluru, debuted on KickStarter, the world’s leading crowdfunding platform, last month.

In the event of a crash, Raksha Safedrive, placed on the rearview mirror in front of the driver, will also send the location details of the vehicle and an initial assessment of the severity of the accident. It has a Smart Panic Button that provides a one-touch two-way voice connectivity with the support network, and can be used in case of an emergency. Officials from the centre will call the vehicle in distress, assesses the situation, and provide the needed assistance.

“Most drivers live through a near-miss accident scenario every week. We thank our stars, curse the other guy and move on. There is no reason why accident preparedness and management has to be so disorganised,” says CEO Prasad, who calls himself a safety freak, who likes to dream big and use technology to solve our everyday problems.

The gadget has been designed in such a way that there is minimal impact of the crash on the gadget itself. It’s an accessory that can be charged like a mobile phone. With a single charge, it works for six to eight hours. Mr. Prasad says they eventually plan to tie up with car manufacturers so that it comes inbuilt in all cars.

Mr. Prasad says that the company takes privacy issues very seriously, and data security features are as strict as in banks. The data collection features are turned off by default. All personal data are anonymised. Only in the event of an accident, the location of the vehicle is made known to the command centre.

“Most of the apps now can be used only to send an SOS alert. But ours provides a full infrastructure to provide all forms of assistance to occupants of a car involved in the crash,” says CMO Jayanth Jagadeesh, an avid biker, who has done a solo motorcycle road trip from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

The founders are also looking at beyond the gadget being merely an accident-alert system. It can gather data on driving patterns such as overspeeding, sudden applying of brakes or how often and where a vehicle has gone over potholes. The data analytics can warn motorists of stretches that have dangerous road conditions.

Mr. Prasad and Mr. Jagadeesh feel the current system of enforcing road discipline by only penalising errant drivers must be changed to one that will also incentivise good driving. “We can now measure driving pattern, and the data can be used to give a scorecard to the drivers, and even give discounts in insurance premium as a discount for good driving skills.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by B. Prasad Nair / Bengaluru – November 11th, 2015

She gets global recognition twice in two years.

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion

Bengaluru :

All of 23, Swati Bondia, a fresh MBA graduate from a city business school, received an international recognition from Junior Chamber International as one among 10 outstanding young persons of the world at a function in Kanazawa, Japan on Saturday. She ecomes is the first Indian woman to receive the award during 100 years since JCI established.

This is the second global honour for her. In July last year, she was the only Indian businesswoman to have made it to the BoP, which is being organized by the University of Colombia in association with United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Management Education Secretariat.

The founder and chief decorating officer of Bangalore-based social venture Om Shanti Traders has been selected for the Base of the Pyramid market-entry challenge at Colombia.

Om Shanti Traders is a social, sustainable venture supporting at least 1,000 individuals from the poor and underprivileged sections to improve their lifestyle and, thus, reduce the economic gap between the various layers of the society. Swati identifies individuals on the streets, trains them in arts and crafts, employs them and helps them to create a livelihood for themselves by selling their creations to corporate and individual households. The profit is shared with the employee families and a portion will go to the employee welfare corpus. Swati and her team ensure the children of the employee family compulsorily go to school.

Hailing from Jharsuguda in Odisha and a daughter of an industrialist, Swati is today a big name in social enterprise.

“It is like reverse mentoring. I was her professor and mentor in her venture in empowering poor and rural women, but she leads me now in my ideas. I am the founder director of www.enrichexpo. But is her drive behind this venture as its CEO and one of the directors,” her professor at the business school where she pursued her MBA, GS Sreekiran told TOI.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bengaluru / by M K Madhusoodan, TNN / November 11th, 2015

City students top international exam

Education, Records, All, World Opinion

Four students from Bengaluru have excelled in the Cambridge International Examinations emerging as world toppers in individual subjects.

According to an official release from Cambridge International Examinations, these are the results of the exams conducted in November 2014 and June 2015 for Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge International AS Level and Cambridge International A Level exams.

This apart, as many as 23 students from the City have emerged as national toppers. The world toppers are: Srirama Prakhya from Primus Public School (IGCSE, Chemistry, Physics), Umika Sinha Paul, The International School Bangalore (IGCSE, Additional Mathematics), Papineni Nikhil, Vidyashilp Academy, (AS Level Mathematics) and Aarushi Mohan, Vidyashilp Academy, (AS Level, Psychology).

There are 22 world toppers from India and majority of the students have topped in Mathematics and Physics. Indian students have also excelled in subjects such as travel and tourism and psychology, according to the release.

There has been a substantial increase in the number of Cambridge qualifications in India. There are now over 350 Cambridge schools in India.

Entries
There were over 70,000 exam entries for Cambridge qualifications in June in for both 10th and 12th standard students. This year, there has been a 12 per cent increase in entries compared to 2014. In India there has been a 10 per cent increase in entries for Cambridge IGCSE (10 board exam), with more than 40,000 entries, the release stated.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City / DHNS, Bengaluru – November 10th, 2015

Kiran Shaw gets honorary fellowship

Business & Economy, Education, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology

Bengaluru :

The Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), a central government-funded interdisciplinary research institute founded by noted scientist CNR Rao, on Monday announced that it has conferred an honorary fellowship to Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.

Stating that the centre has a tradition of honouring distinguished people with fellowships, an official note said it had earlier awarded the same to scientists C Subramaniam, Raja Ramanna and others like former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy.

Kiran said she will fund a bioscience laboratory focused on proteins at JNCASR.

“I have promised to fund a biosciences lab that will house an ultra microscope and also sponsor two post-doctoral fellowships at the institute. A lot of research is happening at the institute from which the industry can benefit,” Kiran told TOI.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bengaluru / TNN / November 10th, 2015

Lalbagh to host India’s first national landscape fest

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

Bengaluru :

The country’s first national landscape fest is all set to begin from November 11 to 15 in Lalbagh under the joint endeavour of the horticulture and agriculture departments that would demonstrate and exhibit several aspects of landscaping, urban horticulture and spiritual gardens.

A unique initiative, the fest would showcase the biggest vertical garden in the history of Lalbagh – at 7 feet tall and 1000 feet wide, covering an area of 7,000 square feet all around the glass house at Lalbagh.

Dr Jagadeesh M, joint director of horticulture department, said, “Bengaluru being known as the garden city and losing the grandeur of its name in recent days, we have tried to organise this fest to drive the city more into landscaping and beautifying a spot. The show will be arranged inside the glass house. In addition to that, the concept of organic urban roof gardening will also be explored outside the glass house, by which the bio-waste from each household will be used to produce organic manures. This method of growing vegetables and fruits ensures the consumption of organic plant products.”

“The Bonsai Garden will host exhibition on spiritual gardening which will have Nakshatravana, Raashivana, Navagrahavana, Shivapanchayatvana and several other spiritual plants. It would have landscape technology stalls as part of the show,” he added.

The fest would receive more than 3,000 landscape experts and architects and over 3 lakh visitors are expected to visit Lalbagh during the fest.

Dr Krishna Chavan from Belagavi, an international landscape architect, who has organised the fest, said, “The fest will enable Bengalureans to explore and balance nature and colour their lives with plants and flowers. I have used the concept of five elements of nature – water, air, soil, stone and plant for beautifying the landscape.”

Speaking to TOI about police security to be provided in Lalbagh during the fest, DCP Lokesh Kumar, said, “More than 400 cops will be deployed for security and traffic in and around Lalbagh. Tickets will be available till 6.00 pm and visitors can stay till 7.00 pm in the garden. Only two-wheelers can be parked in Alameen College and both two-wheelers and cars have to be parked at Shantinagar Bus depot, JC Road and near Lalbagh HOPCOMS stall.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bengaluru / TNN / by Sreemoyee Chatterjee / November 09th, 2015