First double lung transplant surgery in the State

Records, All, Science & Technology

Doctors at Narayana Health City conducted the first double lung transplant surgery in the State, giving a new lease of life to Sudeesh M.V., a 28-year-old construction worker from Thrissur, Kerala. The patient had suffered severe bronchiectasis leading to lung failure and was dependent on oxygen support.

Mr. Sudeesh said, “After a long struggle with infections and hospitalisation, I am extremely thankful to the team of doctors at Narayana Health City for giving me a new lease of life. I can now lead a normal life and get back to my work.”

The donor was from Sparsh Hospital, Yeshwantpur.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengluru / by Staff Reporter / July 04th, 2018

The chronicles of Hatworks

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Records, All, World Opinion

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This boulevard on Cunningham Road offers a blast from the past

Do you sometimes wish the world of Narnia were real? That there was an ordinary door you could walk through into an strange, wonderful world? Well, something similar happens on Cunningham Road. The Hatworks Boulevard seems nothing more than a billboard on the outside but when you walk in, you discover a whole new world.

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Initially, the home of the Maneckjee family, now a cottage and a commercial space for various stores which deals in clothing, beauty, crafts, desserts and art, this bungalow is over 200 years old. Stone pathways paralleled with luscious greenery, high roofs of Burma teak, French windows, tall original wooden door frames, Italian floor tiles moulded into fleur patterns are some of the architectural elements that makes this place a walk to remember.

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Rishad Minocher, oldest grandchild and one of the owners of the colonial-era house, says: “This is my family’s ancestral home. The property belongs to my grandfather who went to the UK to study hat making and returned to set up the business.” The imperial hatworks specialised in making hats for the armed forces, polo and horse riding, and also for the Maharaja of Mysore.

They were the pioneers in making the sola topee in India, which provide the wearer protection from the sun. They also made skull caps, velvet hats and other kinds of headwear, he adds.

“My grandfather was the first to develop the pre-tied Mysore peta donned by the Maharaja of Mysore” says Rishad. The business continued until the early 80s. In 2004 Imperial Hatworks was changed to Hatworks Boulevard.

“I am a firm believer that the house has a life of its own,” Rishad says. The Minochers have done their best to preserve the building. The original stone gate posts, high-raised Mangalore tiled roofs and a blue roof are some of the elements preserved. The tiles used here have also been used in the Mysore Palace and the Bowring Institute as well.

The house also boasts of the Poliphone, an ancient musical instrument, preserved as a show piece. There are some grand old trees at Hatworks Boulevard including mango, banana, raintrees, gulmohar and tamarind.

Where we discover hidden and not so hidden nooks and crannies of the city

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Homes and Gardens> Spaces / by Beaulah Sahana A / June 18th, 2018

A desi keyboard for Indian languages

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
Guru Prasad with his Ka-naada keyboard for Indian languages | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Guru Prasad with his Ka-naada keyboard for Indian languages | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Simulator Guru Prasad has developed a keyboard suited for Indian languages

A small room on a terrace in Uttarahalli, Bengaluru, is bursting with a big idea. It is the office of KaNaada Phonetics Pvt Ltd which has just launched their new product, ‘Ka-Naada’, in April this year.

Ka-Naada (ka-naada.com) is a patented keyboard layout available as both hardware (with a USB cable) and software. It groups letters according to phonetics, creating a more intuitive interface for languages based on the Brahmi (the common ancestor of Indian scripts) script. The keyboard is available in multiple languages: Kannada, Gujarati, Gurumukhi, Malayalam, Tulu, Oriya and more. A user can switch languages, using the keyboard of one script to type in another. The current keyboard requires QWERTY for certain commands, such as the control and function keys. The future version of Ka-Naada will have these commands as well.

A long time coming

The idea was born in 2009 when Guru Prasad — a simulator based in Orlando, Florida — saw children struggling to learn their mother tongues. With a Ph.D in industrial engineering (simulation systems) he is an expert in simulation, network architecture, distributed systems and systems modeling. The QWERTY keyboard, he determined, was unfit for Indian languages. Navigating a keyboard meant for English disrupted ‘native thinking’. He worked predominantly with linguist Professor BVK Sastry at theYoga-Samskrutham University in Florida, and a few others, to find a solution. The Ka-Naada keyboard layout was finalised by 2011, the first prototype was done by 2012 and the first full keyboard, by 2015. It was an uncomfortable square shape, and had to be redesigned to be rectangular.

KaNaada has received funding from associations such as Kannada Praadhikaara and ITBT (Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science and Technology of Government of Karnataka) and design assistance from the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Centre of Excellence, IISc. They received their patent in 2017.

“The response, particularly, has been very overwhelming,” Prasad says. “It is highly intuitive for users, right from the get go. Children, particularly, are thrilled to use it. I have heard comments like, Maine aankhe band karke, type kiya (I was able to type with my eyes closed), from them. For adults, there were some training issues because they are so accustomed to QWERTY. We are trying to work to come closer to that keyboard ergonomically.” While maintaining their current layout, the company is experimenting with the size and qualities of the keys and keyboard for the most user-friendly combinations.

For Prasad, the most fascinating part of his journey has been reviving the script of his mother-tongue — Tulu. “The language came alive. All of a sudden, we have a user interface for Tulu. It is the same with Kashmiri (in the Sharada script) and for all the other languages that might go out of use. This might be a boon, that we can keep them alive through our children.”

Increase accessibility

The entrepreneur lights up when asked about the potential of his product. It could open up job opportunities for those in the rural areas who do not know English. It could be a key learning device, and he plans on introducing a toy keyboard for children to use, as they learn their mother tongue. It could be used in government offices, for desktop publishing, or by visually-impaired users. It will soon be available in foreign languages, including Malay, Sinhalese, and Nepalese, which are all Brahmi-based.

As his dreams grow, so does his work. Currently, the entrepreneur is juggling production, research and development, and marketing. He receives his supplies from vendors across the country and is co-sharing a production facility in Bengaluru. However, a large machine has been ordered in anticipation of a full-scale production unit. He has now tied up with NGOs and is working with overseas students who come as part of a Youth Ambassador programme to distribute the keyboard in various rural schools in India.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Technology / by Priya Saraff / July 02nd, 2018

Karnataka man eats 3kg ragi balls, wins competition for 9th time

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Sports
Eregowda swallowed six ragi balls.
Eregowda swallowed six ragi balls.

Mandya :

Fifty-four-year-old Meese Eregowda is the talk of the town after he ate a mind-boggling three kg of ragi balls, which are also called ragi mudde. It is to be swallowed along with Nati Koli Saaru (country chicken rasam).

Ragi mudde, meaning ‘lump’ (flour) is a wholesome meal in Karnataka and the Rayalaseema region in Andhra Pradesh.

Eregowda won a trophy along with Rs 5000 prize money at a competition held at Mangala village of Mandya district in Karnataka. The event was held at Anjaneya Swamy temple premises.

Eregowda has won this competition for ninth time.

Eregowda – from Arakere village of Srirangapatna  in Karnataka – swallowed six ragi balls (three kg in total) in 20 minutes and was declared winner, while Suresh who ate 2.75 kg (5.75 balls) was declared runner up and got Rs 3000. Ramamurthy ate 2.5 kg and got Rs 2000 as prize. Nandish, Karasawadi Shankaregowda, HD Yogesh, Nagesh each ate five ragi balls and got Rs 1000 each.

Sixty-five people participated in this district-level Ragi ball eating competition, where the lone woman competitor Jayamma of Siddakalehalla ate two ragi balls.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Bangalore News / by Channamade Gowda / Vijaya Karnataka / July 02nd, 2018

Remembering an icon who strove for harmony in society

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
Santa Shishunala Sharif (right) and his guru Govinda Bhat strived hard for unity and brotherhood between the two religions.
Santa Shishunala Sharif (right) and his guru Govinda Bhat strived hard for unity and brotherhood between the two religions.

Stage is set for the bicentenary celebrations of Santa Shishunala Sharif from tomorrow

The stage is set for the bicentenary celebration of Karnataka’s Kabir — Santa Shishunala Sharif from Tuesday. The legendary 19th century saint, mystic minstrel poet, philosopher and social reformer had strived for communal harmony and traversed across the region (which now forms part of Karnataka ) carrying his messages through songs accompanied by his ‘Ekatare’ (a single string instrument).

Considered to be the first sufi poet in Kannada literature, Sharif lived between 1819 and 1889, offering his ‘Tatvapada’ (moral poems) in Kannada. While historians differ over Sharif’s date of birth — some believing he was born in March while others saying it was July 3, 1819 — the celebrations are starting on Tuesday. “Though historians and researchers differ over the birth date, they are unanimous in their opinion that Sharif breathed his last on the day that he was born that is July 3. As 2018 marks the beginning of the bicentenary year (completing 199th year and beginning of the 200th), it was decided to celebrate,” said Mahesh Joshi, a descendant of saint Govinda Bhat, the Sharif’s guru.

Sharif was born in Shishuvinahala in Shiggaon taluk to Imam Hazarat Saab and took Govinda Bhat as his guru. Both strived hard for unity and brotherhood between the two religions. Even now, both Hindus and Muslims can be seen worshipping Sharif at the temple in Shishuvinahala. Interestingly, Sharif was known to compose poems in accordance with the situation and sing them to spread his philosophy. Though Sharif never wrote down his compositions, his poems were passed by word of mouth to the future generation.

Filmmaker T.S. Nagabharana made Santa Shishunala Sharif in 1990 based on Sharif’s life, whose preachings are likened with those of Kabir of north India. The film starring Girish Karnad, Sridhar, and Suman Ranganath went on to win the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration, besides winning multiple awards at the State level.

It was the efforts of Lakshminarayana Bhatta and various sugam sangeet artists who popularised the soulful poems of Sharif in the southern part of Karnataka, where he was less known. Recently, Raghu Dixit also contributed to popularising his poems.

Programmes

The celebrations is being organised by the Saint Shishunala Sharif and Guru Govinda Bhat Foundation, in association with the Department of Kannada and Culture and other cultural organisations. Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda will be inaugurating the function. A special music and dance programme based on Tatwa Padas of both Sharif and Govinda Bhat, ‘Tatvarasayana’, will be held at Ravindra Kalakshetra. To mark the occasion, the Department of Posts will be releasing a special postal cover.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Muralidhara Khajane / Bengaluru – July 01st, 2018

India’s biotech queen Kiran Mazumdar elected to MIT board

Business & Economy, Education, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

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Bengaluru:

India’s biotech queen Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw got elected as a full-term member of the MIT Corporation, the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), her company Biocon announced on Thursday.

“I am honoured to be elected as a full-time member of the MIT Board and look forward to contributing to its journey of making a difference in solving challenges of the world,” she said. “Shaw is among the eight members who will serve the five-year term on the Board from July 1,” said the city-based biotech firm in a statement here.

She is also on the board of directors of the US-India Business Council and the board of trustees of the Keck Graduate Institute at California’s Claremont.

Shaw was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in 2006.

source: http://www.nyoooz.com / Nyooz / Home> Bengaluru / by Siyasat / June 29th, 2018

IISc to boost science start-up incubation

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

Indian Institute of Science (IISc) campus | Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar
Indian Institute of Science (IISc) campus | Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

Plans to open research park in 3 years

The Indian Institute of Science, founded in 1909 by Jamsetji Tata and former Maharajah of Mysore Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, plans to open a research park at its Bengaluru facility within the next three years to incubate sci-tech companies.

“Currently the Society for Innovation and Development is incubating about 15 companies,” said Prof. G.K. Ananthasuresh, chairman of the Centre of Biosystems Science and Engineering. “We want to scale it up ten times and the tenders for setting up the facility has already been issued.”

Corporate collaboration

The institute has collaborations with companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Volvo, Google Inc., General Motors, Microsoft Research, IBM Research, Boeing, Robert Bosch Foundation and Pratt & Whitney. It also works with the Indian Space Research Organisation, Aeronautical Development Agency and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing.

The institute, spread over 400 acres, is home to more than 40 departments.

Of about 12 companies incubated by the Society for Innovation and Development arm, an inter-disciplinary body, include simulators used for endoscopy, microsatellites to access the Internet at lower costs, a medical diagnostic kit and a superwave technology to extract oil from sandalwood.

“Many of these companies employ core technology. There are deep science and deep technology involved and the impact they can create is big,” Prof. Ananthasuresh said in an interview.

“We have years of research behind us and comprehensive research is done before commercialisation.”

Pathshodh, the name for the equipment that uses superwave technology, can also be used instead of needles to inject medicine into patients, Mr. Ananthasuresh said. “It is close to being commercialised.”

“Another example is one project we did with Bellatrix where we used our knowledge to position and propel microsatellites. In Open Water, another project, we produced clean water from a contaminated [sample],” Mr. Ananthasuresh said.

An air-conditioned blanket invented by scientists in the institute enables one to cool “in cycles,” he said. “It is a layered blanket and one does not have to cool the whole room. It is a personalised air-conditioner,” he said.

The Robert Bosch Centre for Cyber-Physical Systems was established in 2011 at the institute as an interdisciplinary research and academic centre to promote research in cyber-physical systems.

Mimyk Medical Simulations, incubated at the centre, had developed the endoscopy simulator for gastroenterologists.

“This centre does works on physical networks where devices talk to each other. It is based on the Internet of Things. We also have an energy centre where work is going on in the field of solar energy. Another area we are focusing on is robotics and autonomous systems.

“A futuristic concept is flying cars. Funding comes from different sources. There are other centres which are doing work on water, agriculture, and healthcare,” Mr. Ananthasuresh said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Business> Industry / by Jay Shankar / June 29th, 2018

Kempegowda Jayanti celebrated in Bengaluru

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

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The city recently witnessed riot of colours and traditions in Palace Grounds as folk artistes from across the state performed during the Kempegowda Jayanti  celebrations.

Several traditional and folk artistes were present and performed traditional art forms like Hulivesha and mask show at the event.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Bangalore News / TNN / June 28th, 2018

Bengaluru turns the spotlight on German play scripts

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion

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And the stage is set for the newest edition of German Spotlight in Bengaluru.

Over the past four years, this arts project has facilitated a lot more than just a cultural exchange between India and Germany. It’s a discourse between actors, directors and playwrights of two countries that aims at helping the audience “discover the fact that people around the world have more in common than we think”.

A collaboration between Sandbox Collective  band Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, the 2018 edition of the initiative will showcase English translations of four German plays in the form of dramatized readings.
Debosmita Dam, who is spearheading the project alongside Nimi Ravindran, says, “German Spotlight is a cultural exchange of a different kind. The scripts chosen for the dramatized readings are written by contemporary German playwrights, who are quite excited about their work being presented to the Indian audience. Although there is no set theme for the readings, the stories – which are made accessible through an online bank at Goethe-Institut – are interesting and quite relatable.” In the past, some of the German Spotlight scripts had been staged as full-length theatre productions in the city.

Laced with interactive sessions before and after the act, dramatised readings have been quite popular among theatre lovers of all age groups in the city. “It’s a curious storytelling format that the audiences usually find to be more engaging than watching a play at an auditorium, as they can almost visualise the scenes and be part of the experience,” adds Debosmita, who is also directing one of the four acts, titled Norway Today.

The show is opening on June 30 with the reading of Peer Pleasures, directed by Karen D’Mello. Speaking about the experience, she says, “Rehearsed play readings give a lot of freedom to the actor as well as the director to explore varied modes of acting within the performance. It’s a flexible format – something like the experience between writing a short story and a novel. Cut to Peer Pleasures, although it’s a German script, the story holds universal relevance. The plot is set in 2006, when SMS was the preferred mode of communication. It was fun to work around the basic emojis of that time.” The cast of this play includes artistes Honey Raza, Nisha Abdulla, Pranay Pandey, Sneha Ram, Vishnu Narain and Sunayana Premchander.

The four plays…

Peer Pleasures – directed by Karen D’Mello
The play is about six university students struggling to find their way through their dreams, their longing for love and their insecurities in the quest for something permanent.

Nightblind – directed by Kanchan Bhattacharyya

It deals with issues of familial discord, friendship and abuse in a relationship from a young and urban viewpoint.

The Jazz Conductor – directed by Lekha Naidu

The play speaks of music and war and hope. It brings to life the romance and nostalgia of the Jazz age, love for theatre and the good-old family amid unspeakable horrors.

Norway Today – directed by Debosmita Dam

This story is essentially a conversation between two young people, who belong to a generation where most of their interactions happen through technology.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Bangalore News / by Reema Gowalla / TNN / June 29th, 2018

Army officer from Bengaluru through to Wimbledon Main Draw

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

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A Junior Commissioned Officer from the Madras Engineering Group (MEG) Bengaluru has qualified for the Wimbledon Main Draw.

By qualifying for the Wimbledon Main Draw, Naib Subedar Sriram Balaji has become the first player from the services to do so.

Balaji’s partnership with Vishnu Vardhan qualified for the main draw after a win over Denys Molchanov and Igor Zelenay in the second round of the Wimbledon qualifiers.

“Naib Subedar Sriram Balaji has qualified for the Wimbledon Main Draw. First in the history of Services, player to qualify and reach this level,” tweeted the Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADG PI)-Indian Army

Balaji started his career in tennis in the year 2000 when he was 10 years old and ranked 1st in India in under 12 categories in the year 2002.

He joined Madras Sappers in February 2017 and till date he has won five ATP Challengers Cup.

In May, the Balaji Vishnu Vardhan pair won the Doubles title in Challenger ATP men’s tournament held tournament held at Samarkand, Uzbekistan, defeating Mikhail Elgin of Russia and Denis Istomin of Kazakistan. With that, the duo has qualified for Wimbledon Men’s Doubles. They are the only Indian pair to take part in this Wimbledon.

His present world ranking is 117.

Last year in April, he won the Davis Cup match in doubles category, defeating Uzbekistan.

The MEG personnel also known as Madras Sappers have a rich sporting tradition. Over the years, MEG has had many Olympians and sportsmen.

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Others / by Bangalore Mirror Bureau / June 20th, 2018