Bengaluru firm chosen for building hyperloop pod prototype

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Bengaluru :

Hyperloop India has tied up with a city-based Workbench Projects to build the prototype pod that will feature in the global design competition for the super fast transportation system using magnetic levitation technology.

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Highlights

  1. Hyperloop India and Workbench Projects brace up for a design competition for the super fast transportation system.
  2. Hyperloop India’s scaled down pod prototype ‘OrcaPod’ has been selected for the final stage of SpaceX’s Hyperloop Pod Design competition.

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“Hyperloop India team has partnered with us to build the prototype pod in Bengaluru by the end of July. The building work will start from May 22. This will mark India’s entry into the international Hyperloop race,” Workbench Projects founder and CEO Pavan Kumar said today.

Hyperloop India comprises more than 80 students from BITS Pilani, Indian School of Business and IIM-Ahmedabad, and their scaled down pod prototype  ‘OrcaPod’ has been selected for the final stage of SpaceX’s Hyperloop Pod Design competition, he told PTI.

OrcaPod, being developed by Hyperloop India — one of the five teams shortlisted for Hyperloop One Global Challenge — can reach speeds up to 460 kmph.

Hyperloop envisages transporting passengers or goods inside capsules put inside vacuum created in special tunnels above the ground at speeds of over 1,000 kmph.

On the funding, Kumar said Rs 75 lakh was required to build the pod and so far he had been able to raise Rs 20 lakh through sponsorship.

“As much as Rs 75 lakh is required to build the pod, and so far, I have raised Rs 20 lakh through sponsorship. I have raised this money from corporates, and I am confident I will be able to reach the target before the work begins,” he said.

Hyperloop India signed the partnership with Workbench Projects three days ago for building the 4X2 metre pod.

“My firm will assist Hyperloop India team to connect with fabricators and experts from Peenya and Electronic City for this build,” he said.

The pod will be raced inside a mile-long vacuum tube built by SpaceX at Hawthorne in California, the official said.

Hyperloop Transport Technologies had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several others, including chief ministers of various states, expressing interest in starting the project in India.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Bangalore News / PTI / May 09th, 2017

Homage to filmmaker Bennurkar

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The Centre for Information Education Development Studies (CIEDS) Collective will soon organise a memorial event to pay tributes to Chalam Bennurkar, a pioneer of documentary film making in Karnataka, who passed away recently.

Film societies are also planning to hold a festival of documentaries made by him. The 62-year-old filmmaker was found dead at a pond in Bagur, Chitradurga district.

He had gone missing for a few days and his wife Kalpana had filed a missing person complaint.

Chalam’s Kutty Japanin Kuzhandaigal (Children of Mini Japan), a Tamil documentary on labour conditions in Sivakashi, had won Golden Dove award at International Leipzig Festival of Documentary and Animation Film (Germany) and Citizen’s Prize and Prize of Encouragement at Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival Japan in in 1991. “Through this documentary Chalam took images of land to different platforms across the world. He brought value to the serious documentary films in Karnataka,” says Kesari Harvoo, filmmaker.

Chalam had taken up various social issues, especially about women, through his films. He was instrumental in organising film festival on women’s issues in Bengaluru Film societies in 70s.

He was also known as the voice of trangenders because of his documentary All About Our Famila.

He also worked with Amitabh Chakraborty for Bishar Blues about Bengali Fakirs which undertakes a journey to understand Marfat, indigenous form of Islam in Sufi tradition.

He also made documentary on Kunde Habba, a unique festival of the tribal people in Kodagu and Naave Yeravara on the Yerava community.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – May 08th, 2017

75-year-old one man army in Mangaluru

Amazing Feats, Education, Records, All

 

Narayana Nayak briefing students about scholarships and other facilities that they are entitled to, at Balmatta First Grade College for Women in Mangaluru |Rajesh Shetty Ballalbagh
Narayana Nayak briefing students about scholarships and other facilities that they are entitled to, at Balmatta First Grade College for Women in Mangaluru |Rajesh Shetty Ballalbagh

Mangaluru :

The clock strikes 8 at Karpe house in Bantwal taluk and sprightly 75-year-old K Narayana Naik is already at the gate, ready to begin his day. Clad in a pant and shirt and a cotton bag on his shoulder, his appearance is unassuming but Naik is the reason countless students have achieved higher education.

Naik’s routine has remained the same since his retirement as school inspector in 2001. He starts his day by travelling to government-run schools and colleges in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts, paying all the travel expenses from his pockets.

At these schools and colleges, he helps deserving students avail scholarships.Naik says that there are several scholarships available for students. “But there is lack of awareness among students.”

Nisham, a BCom student at Balmatta First Grade College, told Express, “Our ‘scholarship master’ (as Naik is known to students) not only creates awareness about new scholarships launched by government and private entities, but also helps students in completing the application and submitting it.” He even takes the trouble of hand delivering cheques to students who have passed out from college, she says.
Nisham is just one of the hundreds of students who Naik has helped. In 2016, Naik had visited 130 government schools and colleges to help students, especially children of daily wage labourers, avail scholarships. “Many workers are aware of the schemes available for their children. I encourage workers to register with the labour welfare department to make them eligible for the benefits,” says Naik.

Naik himself battled all odds to complete his Master’s degree in Kannada and Hindi and therefore believes he should help poor students have a fair chance at a better future.
His efforts to help students does not stop at finding the best scholarships for those who deserve it. He has even encouraged others to support students’ education.

When a student from Neerumarga in Mangaluru’s outskirts told Naik that she and her sisters would be forced to discontinue their studies owing to financial problems, he immediately approached a couple. The husband and wife were teachers and did not have children of their own. Naik encouraged them to support the three childen.
Naik lives on a pension of `25,000 but he has generously spent at least 90 per cent of it paying fees. “Some students return the money, some don’t,” he says. He adds with a smile, “Being in the midst of students and teachers, I have never experienced post-retirement blues.”

Corpus fund at school
Apart from helping students, his efforts have permeated to helping educational institutions as well. He has helped set up a corpus fund of `26,000 in Koila school in Bantwal. His efforts have earned government colleges in Balmatta and Car Street receive scholarship aid worth `50 lakh to 60 lakh annually.

Naik, an inspiration
Naik’s motto to help others in any manner possible seems to have inspired others too. Five to six construction workers who received help from Naik are now building a house for  a widow  at a cost of  K7 lakh.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / May 07th, 2017

Reversing drug resistance made possible

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Drug-resistant E. coli become sensitive to antibiotics when H2S synthesis is inhibited

Make them vulnerable: (From left) Dr. Saurabh Mishra, Dr. Amit Singh, Prashant Shukla and Dr Harinath have been able to reverse antibiotic resistance in E. coli.
Make them vulnerable: (From left) Dr. Saurabh Mishra, Dr. Amit Singh, Prashant Shukla and Dr Harinath have been able to reverse antibiotic resistance in E. coli.

Indian researchers have unravelled the mechanism by which hydrogen sulphide (H2S) gas produced by bacteria protects them from antibiotics and plays a key role in helping bacteria develop drug resistance. And by blocking/disabling the enzyme that triggers the biosynthesis of hydrogen sulphide in bacteria, the researchers from Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, have been able to reverse antibiotic resistance in E. coli bacteria; E. coli bacteria were isolated from patients suffering from urinary tract infection. The results were published in the journal Chemical Science.

Antibiotics kill by increasing the levels of reactive oxygen species (oxidative stress) inside bacterial cells. So any mechanism that detoxifies or counters reactive oxygen species generated by antibiotics will reduce the efficacy of antibiotics. “Hydrogen sulphide does this to nullify the effect of antibiotics,” says Dr. Amit Singh from the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology at IISc and one of the corresponding authors of the paper. “When bacteria face reactive oxygen species a protective mechanism in the bacteria kicks in and more hydrogen sulphide is produced.” Hydrogen sulphide successfully counters reactive oxygen species and reduces the efficacy of antibiotics.

The researchers carried out simple experiments to establish this. They first ascertained that regardless of the mode of action of antibiotics, the drugs uniformly induce reactive oxygen species formation inside E. coli bacteria. Then to test if increased levels of hydrogen sulphide gas inside bacteria counter reactive oxygen species produced upon treatment with antibiotics, a small molecule that produces hydrogen sulphide in a controlled manner inside the bacteria was used. “Hydrogen sulphide released by the molecule was able to counter reactive oxygen species and reduce the ability of antibiotics to kill bacteria,” says Dr. Singh.

The small molecule was synthesised by a team led by Prof. Harinath Chakrapani from the Department of Chemistry, IISER, Pune; he is one of the corresponding authors of the paper. “We designed the small molecule keeping in mind that synthesis should be easy, efficiency in producing hydrogen sulphide should be high and the molecule should release hydrogen sulphide only inside bacteria and not mammalian cells,” says Vinayak S. Khodade from the Department of Chemistry, IISER, Pune and one of the authors of the paper who contributed equally like the first author. The researchers were able to selectively increase hydrogen sulphide levels inside a wide variety of bacteria.

To reconfirm hydrogen sulphide’s role in countering reactive oxygen species, the team took multidrug-resistant, pathogenic strains of E. coli from patients suffering from urinary tract infection and measured the hydrogen sulphide levels in these strains. “We found the drug-resistant strains were naturally producing more hydrogen sulphide compared with drug-sensitive E. coli,” says Prashant Shukla from the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology at IISc and the first author of the paper. So the team used a chemical compound that inhibits an enzyme responsible for hydrogen sulphide production. “There was nearly 50% reduction in drug-resistance when hydrogen sulphide production was blocked,” Dr. Singh says.

“Bacteria that are genetically resistant to antibiotics actually become sensitive to antibiotics when hydrogen sulphide synthesis is inhibited,” says Prof. Chakrapani. The multidrug-resistant E. coli regained its ability to survive antibiotics when hydrogen sulphide was once again supplied by introducing the small molecule synthesised by Prof. Chakrapani.

“As a result of our study, we have a found new mechanism to develop a new class of drug candidates that specifically target multidrug-resistant bacteria,” says Prof. Chakrapani. The researchers already have a few inhibitors that seem capable of blocking hydrogen sulphide production. But efforts are on to develop a library of inhibitors to increase the chances of success.

How H2S acts

The researchers identified that E. coli has two modes of respiration involving two different enzymes. The hydrogen sulphide gas produced shuts down E. coli’s aerobic respiration by targeting the main enzyme (cytochrome bo oxidase (CyoA)) responsible for it. E. coli then switches over to an alternative mode of respiration by relying on a different enzyme — cytochrome bd oxidase (Cydb). Besides enabling respiration, the Cydb enzyme detoxifies the reactive oxygen species produced by antibiotics and blunts the action of antibiotics.

“So we found that hydrogen sulphide activates the Cydb enzyme, which, in turn, is responsible for increasing resistance towards antibiotics,” says Dr. Singh. “If we have a drug-like molecule(s) that blocks hydrogen sulphide production and inhibits Cydb enzyme activity then the combination will be highly lethal against multidrug-resistant bacteria.”

This combination can also be used along with antibiotics to effectively treat difficult-to-cure bacterial infections.

The link between hydrogen sulphide and Cydb enzyme in the emergence of drug resistance is another key finding of the study.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Science / by R. Prasad / May 06th, 2017

Manipal Institute of Technology engineer receives patent for his invention

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The Indian patent office has granted patent to the invention of Raghunath Manohar of Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal University
The Indian patent office has granted patent to the invention of Raghunath Manohar of Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal University

Manipal :

The Indian patent office has granted patent to the invention of Raghunath Manohar of  Manipal Institute of Technology , Manipal University. His invention – a multi lens system which is a microscope and a component of a telescope – was approved recently. He had applied for it in 2009, and is the only inventor of the device. Earlier, he had received a US patent for ‘Marking Gauge’, for which too, he was the sole inventor.

Giving details about the invention Manohar, deputy engineer (lab), department of Mechanical and Manufacturing MIT said that the telescope has nine lens which form the erecting lens system using nine biconvex lenses of same focal length and diameter 10 cm and 50 mm respectively. The optical system in the apparatus has eight PVC tubes of the required size. This is called the distance tube pieces. The above are slid into a slightly larger PVC container pipe having a collar at one end with a hole at the centre to view the image.

This housing tube has external screw threads cut on it in order to focus and see distant objects clearly. This container tube is now the erecting eyepiece cum compound microscope. To use this as a telescope another bigger tube was used as an objective lens with larger diameter and focal length of 110 mm and 210 cms. This is called the objective tube. This objective tube is fixed to the container tube housing the 9 lens erecting lens system. Thus this now functions as a telescope.

Manohar says that this invention of his has certain advantages over existing microscopes and telescopes: It has a wider field of view about 3 times of existing ones; It can be used as a compound microscope of 80X while some existing ones in addition to giving inverted image give 10X magnification only when used as a simple microscope; This can be made using locally available lenses and PVC pipes; Color free image is obtained due to achromatism of the equivalent lenses which is the characteristic of the optical system.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Mangalore News / by Kevin Mendonsa / TNN / May 02nd, 2016

The most heavyweight museum in India

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A measure of history: The museum in Davangere has 3,000 varieties of weighing scales and measures.
A measure of history: The museum in Davangere has 3,000 varieties of weighing scales and measures.

In the heart of Karnataka, one man’s obsession has resulted in the first collection of weights and measures

The first museum of weights and measures in the country sits in the Chamarajpeth market area of Davangere, Karnataka. Called Tula Bhavan, its exhibits include more than 3,000 varieties of weighing and measuring devices, some dating back at least three centuries.

A visitor can see, for example, wire gauges and a depth-measuring tape made in Germany and folding scales from America and England. The bulk of the collection, though, originates in India, and includes devices from almost every part of the country, including from the times of the Nizams of Hyderabad, the Mysore Wadiyars, the Adil Shahis, and the Keladis. Among the prize pieces are wooden beam scales from Mysore, and weighing stones used during the Adil Shah period.

The museum is the creation of a family which makes its living in the trade.

Chennaveerappa Yalamalli had been in the business of selling weights and measures for 45 years. His son Basavaraj joined the family business in 1982. In 1997, he decided he wanted to set up a museum to create awareness of varieties of measuring devices. He began travelling across the country to collect information and models for his project. In 2006, he had enough to start the museum.

When his father died in 2012, he took over the running of the business; two years later, in 2014, he set up the Chennaveerappa Yalamalli Memorial Trust to run and grow the museum.

The museum entered the Limca Book of Records in 2016, and in January this year, the Department of Posts declared it the ‘first of its kind’ in the country in its in-house magazine.

Mr. Yalamalli told The Hindu that he is sad that he has had little help from local authorities or the government, but he is happy that his son, Sriraj, has joined him, not just in the business but also in the mission of developing the museum.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Pradeepkumar Kadkol / Davangere – May 02nd, 2017

Book chronicles journey of unsung heroes of freedom struggle

About Bangalore(Bengaluru) / Karnataka, Amazing Feats, Records, All, World Opinion

Bengaluru:

Looking at the accused, the judge thundered: These five men are guilty of being ‘enemy agents’ and have to be hanged by the neck till they are dead. The five subsequently vanished off the face of the earth; there were no records to show where they were killed and buried. This was in 1943.

Cut to 2017: The five men have been resurrected as unsung heroes of the Indian Independence movement in the book titled Unsung Freedom Struggle, brought out by the Karnataka State Archives in Bengaluru on Tuesday. The book is based on the judgment delivered by special judge E E Mack (the then district judge in Ballari) on April 1, 1943 under the Enemy Agents Ordinance (Madras) against the five: V Mohammed Abdul Khadir, S A Anand alias Thanu Pillay, S C Bardhan, Boniface B Pereira and Fouja Singh.

These five men, along with 14 others, had been charged on two counts — for conspiring against the British empire by colluding with the Japanese government and for entering India as enemy agents of the Japanese government.

Historian Ko Chennabasappa, who has written the foreword, stated: “This case has been a well-guarded secret; it is not known to historians or the outside world. It is for the first time that this sacrifice for the country’s freedom is coming to light.”
The 19 accused were working in Malaya and Singapore when they were picked up by the Japanese army (following the fall of Singapore on February 15, 1942) to go to India and spy on the British. They were enrolled into the Malaya’s Swaraj Institute, a front for espionage training, where the Japanese tried to generate patriotic feelings in these men.

However, the British Empire was of the view that the Japanese adopted an insidious policy of preferential treatment towards Indians in order to capitalize and exploit the latter’s nationalist feelings for expansion of their military domination under the cover of a new order in East Asia. The Japanese employed Indians working in Malaya as Fifth Columnists.

The 19 men landed in India in three groups: While one group got off a Japanese submarine and arrived in two rubber boats at Tanur on the Malabar coast on the night of September 27,1942, another group comprising three men arrived in two rubber boats at Okhamadi village on the Kathiawar coast two days later. The rest entered India by land. However, some of the members were picked up the British military following suspicion and, subsequently, the cover was blown away.

While the five were convicted as they maintained they had arrived in India to gain independence, the rest were acquitted as they claimed they came to escape from the Japanese. The five martyrs included a muslim, a christian, two hindus and a sikh.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Bangalore News / TNN / May 03rd, 2017

Get ready for a musical experience

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IME’s Instrument Gallery, with collections from renowned musicians and music connoisseurs, will soon open its doors to the public

There are over 300 instruments native to India and more than 120 regional forms of music. Such nuggets of information will soon be available on touchscreen and computer-based interactive installations in the three-storey Centre for Indian Music Experience (IME). Spread over 50,000 sq. ft, the IME is expected to be ready later this year. It is located on a 2-acre property within the Brigade Millennium Enclave in J.P. Nagar.

“The Instrument Gallery will house items donated by renowned musicians and their families, and connoisseurs. Their generosity is touching,” said Manasi Prasad, project director, IME. The gallery will house 250 instruments, of which 108 will be part of the permanent collection.

Music as a shared experience

In September 2014, the family of Ustad Bismillah Khan donated one of his shehnais to the IME. Although giving away the family’s treasure was a heart-breaking moment, the maestro’s son Zamin Hussain is happy that it would become a “national treasure” once it becomes a part of the ‘Bharath Ratna Memorabilia’.

Later, the IME received Pandit Bhimsen Joshi’s silver paan box.

“Vocalist Sudha Raghunathan donated one of her antique tamburas, as she felt IME will help people re-discover Indian genres of music, both traditional and contemporary,” said Suma Sudhindra, director, Outreach, IME.

Chitraveena Ravikiran donated one of his gottuvadhyas so that people can see, feel and understand the instrument. “I have seen my father making this instrument at home. The Instrument Gallery will also be a tribute to the makers. Gottuvadhya’s history goes back a few centuries. It is mentioned in Bharata’s Natya Shastra by the name Maha Nataka Veena with 21 strings,” said Mr. Ravikiran.

Other valuable contributions include Bickram Ghosh’s tabla, B. Rajashekar’s three morsings, B.R. Ravikumar’s ghata and Palanivel’s nagaswara.

Memorabilia from Carnatic vocalist late M.S. Subbulakshmi, sitar maestro Ravi Shankar and singer Lata Mangeshkar are expected to reach IME soon.

“String instruments from Rajasthan, percussion pieces from Kerala and veena varieties such as the Bobbili, Tanjore and Mysore are part of our collection,” said Ms. Sudhindra, who has donated her Mysore veena. Non-Indian instruments, such as the clarinet, saxophone and mandolin, which are now integral to Indian music, will also be showcased.

The rare collection

“We have 28 instruments in the classical section and nearly 80 in the folk section of our permanent exhibits,” said Ms. Sudhindra.

Rare instruments include the Nagphani (wind instrument) from Bengal used in Garhwali folk; Gopi that preceded the Ektara used in Baul music; the deep resonators from Rajasthan Tarpi and Bankia; the stringed tribal folk Jogiya Sarangi; the stringed Surinda from Rajasthan; Timila from Kerala; Hudak from Bengal; Taus and the Mayur veena from Uttar Pradesh.

Bengaluru’s percussionist Anoor Anantha Krishna Sharma has donated four instruments, including a Thavil, Manipur Pung and a mridanga.

Vikram Sampath, who has written books on music, said, “IME will definitely enter the tourism map of Bengaluru. Foreigners will be surprised to see the different existing forms of music outside of Bollywood.”

First interactive music museum

The IME is touted as South Asia’s first interactive music museum. It is a ₹50-crore initiative designed by Gallagher & Associates who also worked on the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles and the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, and are familiar with the Indian aural culture.

IME will have 11 thematic spaces, including a sound garden, learning spaces, tribute to classical schools (some of them demonstrated by musicians Ranjani, Gayathri, and Ravikiran), folk traditions and several computer-based installations that allow visitors to experience the process of making music, including recording.

The contemporary section will have an autorickshaw in which people can sit and listen to individual bands. Melting Pot will showcase an amalgam of Indian and foreign melodies on touchscreen, including military bands patronised by the maharajas, which had a great influence on the army; shaadi (marriage) and jazz bands.

“The entire effort transcends the idea of IME being a mere artefact-driven museum,” said Ms. Prasad.

Listening to lore

Visitors are likely to enjoy the fascinating stories that accompany rare instruments. Take the case of the Surbahar whose predecessor is the Rudra Veena. Maestro Omrao Khan Beenkar is believed to have designed the Surbahar after being denied music lessons on the Rudra Veena. Over time, the Rudra Veena started to see a decline, as Dhrupad is said to have been easier on the Surbahar.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Ranjani Govind / Bengaluru – April 29th, 2017

Hitting the right notes

Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Rajendra Hosamani. | Photo Credit: ARUN KULKARNI
Rajendra Hosamani. | Photo Credit: ARUN KULKARNI

Seven years of practice and zeal to learn has enabled 28-year-old Rajendra Hosamani to see some success in the field of music. This self-trained guitar player brought laurels to the district by winning State-level cultural event held at Mysuru recently and also participated in national-level event at Haryana. He is also invited by colleges to perform during cultural events.

Mr. Hosamani, hailing from Kalaburagi city, is pursuing his Master of Science from Reshmi College in the city. His father is a retired government employee and mother works in Cooperative Dairy Federation. Though his family is in no way associated with music, he chose it.

Speaking to The Hindu, he said that he started learning guitar through Internet in 2010 and gradually started attempting to play song. He would spend hours trying to get the sound right. “Though I didn’t get any support from my parents towards my hobby, I dedicated 8-10 hours every day to learn the guitar. Today, I can play same song in different styles including free-hand, tapping, rumba style, flamenco and so on,” he said.

Rajendra is an ardent admirer of Spanish Guitarist Daniel Munoz and had a greater inclination towards his style. The rendition of Munoz’s Malita Mala and Madonna’s La Isla Bonita and Enrique Bailamos series by Mr. Hosamani have gone viral on the Internet.

Rajendra spends most of his time for learning new techniques adapted by guitar legends across the world. Mr. Hosamani prefers to master the basics. “One needs formal training in music theory to compose own music. But, being self-taught helps artist stand out and set new trends.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Staff Correspondent Kalaburagi / April 30th, 2017