Category Archives: Science & Technology

Kasaragod’s online radio, State’s first

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology

District panchayat president A.G.C. Basheer releasing the logo of the internet radio services to be launched by the district administration in the presence of Collector K. Jeevababu and Superintendent of Police K.G. Simon in Kasaragod on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: K. Vinaya Kumar

The venture is district administration’s effort to disseminate info on government projects

An Internet radio service, to be launched here from December 23, is the State’s first effort by a district administration for dissemination of information on government-initiated programmes and schemes to the public.

The online radio service would be inaugurated at 11 a.m. by Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan in Neeleshwaram, Collector K. Jeevanbabu told a press conference here on Tuesday.

The new generation radio service that could be accessed by visiting www.thejaswiniradio.com would help a person get acquainted with various services and schemes offered by the district administration as well as the local bodies and other institutions like schools, hospitals and other government and utility establishments.

“Usually, the public come to learn about any government-initiated schemes through newspapers. The situation needed to be addressed by putting in place a mechanism so that the people are informed about the schemes well in advance,” Mr. Jeevanbabu said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Staff Reporter / Kasaragod – December 20th, 2017

‘Missile woman’ receives award

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

Tessy Thomas receiving the Dr. Pinnamaneni and Smt Seethadevi Foundation Award in Vijayawada on Saturday. | Photo Credit: CH_VIJAYA BHASKAR

Advises students to draw inspiration from Abdul Kalam at a college here

‘Missile Woman of India’ and Director of Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) Tessy Thomas was presented the Dr Pinnamaneni and Smt. Seethadevi Foundation award here on Saturday. Foundation Managing Trustee C Nageswara Rao and trust member and daughter of Pinnamaneni Venkateswara Rao after whom the awarded is named, Ch Sudha, presented the award.

The Missile Woman now shares the award with distinguished scientists like A.P.J.Abdul Kalam— who was also her mentor, M.S.Swaminathan and Prof C.N.R. Rao.

Prof V Ramalingaswami and Sribhashyam Appalacharyalu were the first to be conferred the award in 1989. The other eminent persons who received the award include V Kurien, Lata Mangeshkar, S.P.Balasubramanyam, R.K Laxman, K.J.Jesudas, Karan Singh, B.G.Verghese, Ramanand Sagar, Sudha Murty, E.Sreedharan, Zakir Hussain, Y.V.Reddy and Changati Koteswara Rao.

The Gramapragathi Puraskaram was presented to the Swacha Sundara Challapalli Udyamam represented by doctor couple D R K Prasad and Padmavati.

Earlier the Missile woman spoke to the students of the V.R. Siddhartha Engineering College, Kanuru.

She asked the students to ensure a strong hold on the basics of engineering, mathematics and physics to be successful in any area.

Sharing her experiences of working along with former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on the missile technologies, she urged the students to take Abdul Kalam as their role model and work hard for the overall growth of the nation.

She stressed on the need to be skilful in the latest technologies such as cloud computing, big data analytics, Internet of Things and cyber security as there were many opportunities across the nation in both public and private sectors.

Space technologies

Students were all charged up after listening to her talk and actively participated in the interaction that primarily centred around missile and space technologies.

President of the Siddhartha Academy N. Venkateswarulu, vice-president C. Nageswara Rao, Principal A.V. Ratna Prasad, CSE HoD V. Srinivasa Rao and heads of other departments M. Suneetha and PVRL Narasimham were present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Vijayawada – December 16th, 2017

Get ready for a rich viewing experience at Nishagandhi

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

The new Barco Lazer Projector installed at Nishagandhi theater which would be used to screen films during IFFK, in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday / Rakesh Nair

Thiruvananthapuram :

The 22nd edition of IFFK will create history by introducing laser projection for the first time in the state.

Nishagandhi Auditorium has been installed with the most advanced Barco laser cinema projector designed to provide a great viewing experience.

“Normally projectors use Xenon lamps, which can run only for 1,000 to 1,500 hours. Laser projection gives the purest white colour because the colour depth is so great resulting in stunning cinema viewing experience. Besides we don’t have to go for replacements as in Xenon lamps which need to be replaced after 1,000 hours. Laser projectors could run movies for as long as 30,000 hours,” explains Litto Tom, manager, technical services, at Qube Cinemas, who is in the city co-ordinating screening in theatres as part of IFFK.

The reduced operating expense and simplified operations have added to the growing popularity of laser projectors across the world “The brightness levels and image quality are going to be incomparable when we use laser projector. It not only does away with lamp-related expense but installation and operation are also easier,” says Noby P, senior engineer, Qube Cinemas.

Some major films, which have been critically acclaimed, are scheduled to be screened at Nishagandhi. The new laser projector will also add to the effects of the much anticipated midnight screening of the Indonesian horror film ‘Satan’s slave’ on the fourth day of the fest.

The projector room of Nishagandhi has been slightly decked up to welcome the prestigious new projector. The room has been fully air conditioned in addition to a pre-installed chiller that comes with laser projector. Aneesh Kumar, the projectionist who has been associated with IFFK for the last few years, can’t conceal his excitement. “It is one of the most advanced projectors. To operate it for our viewers and that too at an event like IFFK is really thrilling for any operator,” says Aneesh Kumar.

Meanwhile, an IFFK flex erected at Vazhuthacaud invited protest as it blocked traffic signals for commuters coming from the Bakery Junction side. Following protest, the traffic police removed the flex board.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City News> Thiruvananthapuram News / by Aswin J. Kumar / TNN  / December 08th, 2017

World record? 191 tumours removed from Omani woman’s uterus at Kerala hospital

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

A doctor at the hospital said they performed the operation in four hours without removing the patient’s ovaries or uterus. The previous record was held by an Egyptian woman, who had 186 tumours removed from her body last December.

Mediapersons interview the medical team that conducted the surgical procedure. (HT Photo)

As many as 191 benign tumours were removed from the uterus of an Omani woman at a private hospital in Kozhikode, north Kerala, on Saturday.

Doctors at the city’s Starcare Hospital claimed this was a new world record. They said the previous one was held by an Egyptian woman, who had 186 tumours removed from her body last December.

Dr Abdul Rashid, the hospital’s chief gynaecologist, told Hindustan Times they performed the operation in four hours without removing the patient’s ovaries or uterus. “We blended keyhole and traditional mechanisms to do it. We were expecting 80-odd tumours, not so many,” he said, adding that the woman was now recuperating from the procedure.

The existing record in the country is 84 tumours.

Dr Rashid said the hospital will soon update Guinness World Records authorities on the development. “We did not operate on the 34-year-old woman to break any record. We had initially considered laparoscopic surgery, but decided against it when we realised that the tumour was really big,” he added.

A team of three doctors had performed the surgery.

The chief gynaecologist said a leading medical body has already confirmed that this was a unique case. “The woman seemed to be in an advanced stage of pregnancy when she first came here, but we were keen on protecting her ovaries and uterus. She can now lead a normal life, and even conceive after a couple of years,” he added.

According to Dr Rashid, there has been a significant rise in middle-eastern patients visiting super-specialty hospitals in the state lately. “Our facilities are economical when compared to hospitals in the West, while keeping with similar standards. Kerala has always been a leading tourist destination, but it may soon become a medical hub too,” he said.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan  Times / Home> India / by Ramesh Babu – Hindustan Times, Thiruvananthapuram / November 19th, 2017

Kerala start-up makes it to top 10

Records, All, Science & Technology

Infopark-based Inntot Technologies chosen for Industrial Innovation Awards 2017 instituted by CII

Thiruvananthapuram :

Inntot Technologies, a media entertainment start-up incubated at the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), has been chosen as one of the Top 10 Promising Start-ups of India for the Industrial Innovation Awards 2017 instituted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Inntot has also bagged the CII Industrial Innovation Award for the best service start-up.

Based at Infopark, Kochi, Inntot Technologies specialises in providing cost-effective radio digital solutions and offers software solutions and services in consumer electronics, Internet of Things, and the mobile sector.

The company was founded by Rajith Nair and Prasanth Thankappan at Kakkanad in 2014. It was shifted to Infopark this year.

Inntot is also working on other technologies including a communication facility that enables safe and comfortable vehicular traffic. It participated in the 26th edition of the IT Week held in Japan recently.

Infosys co-founder and CII Startup Council chairman S. Gopalakrishnan was the chairman of the jury.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States / by Special Correspondent / October 29th, 2017

Organic near-infrared filter developed by NIIST team

Records, All, Science & Technology

A. Ajayaghosh, right, and Samrat Ghosh. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Can be used in night vision glasses and night photography

An organic filter that allows only near-infrared (NIR) light to pass through has been developed by scientists at the CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST) based in Thiruvananthapuram.

The new NIR filter can be used for night vision glasses, night photography, and will have applications in security and forensics such as identifying blood stains on a dark fabric.

Currently available inorganic filters are expensive and brittle whereas organic filters are easy to process and flexible too.

The filter was prepared by mixing a black dye (diketopyrrolopyrrole or DPP) having an amide group that helps the molecules to be in close contact with each other and interact, leading to changes in their optical properties.

“The amide group helps in binding and self-assembly of the molecule leading to the formation of a soft organogel,” says Ayyappanpillai Ajayaghosh, Director of NIIST, who led the team of researchers.

Organogel is key

The organogel-based filter has the ability to absorb both ultraviolet and visible light while allowing the near-infrared light alone to pass through. The nanofibres formed through the self-assembly of the DPP molecules are responsible for the broad light absorption of the material, making it appear dark.

The researchers developed the filter by mixing the organogel with a transparent polymer (polydimethylsiloxane). The addition of the dye turns the transparent polymer into a semi-transparent one and the filter appears black as it absorbs most of the ultraviolet-visible light.

“Only very little of the organogel has to be added to the polymer to make the filter. The material is present throughout the polymer matrix even though very little is added,” says Samrat Ghosh from the Chemical Sciences and Technology Division at NIIST and the first author of the paper published in the journal Advanced Materials.

The filter was found to absorb light from 300-850 nm (both ultraviolet, visible and a part of NIR light) and transmit NIR light from 850-1500 nm. The researchers tested it for night photography and found the filter responsive only to NIR light.

Dried blood stains on a black cloth that remained invisible to naked eyes became clearly visible and detectable when viewed through a camera with the NIR filter. Tampering of a cheque which was not discernible to naked eyes could be easily identified when viewed through a camera with the filter.

A potential application of the new material is in the design of hidden security codes on documents which can be viewed only through a NIR-readable camera.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Science / by R Prasad / October 24th, 2017

India’s largest floating solar plant ready

Green Initiatives & Environment, Records, All, Science & Technology

The solar farm on 18 floating platforms in Banasura Sagar reservoir

___________________________________________________________

Highlights

  • The solar photo voltaic panels of the floating solar farm have been installed on 18 floating platforms made of ferrocement floaters with hollow insides.
  • KSEB sources said that they were waiting for the availability of chief minister to inaugurate the plant possibly by next month

_____________________________________________________________

Kozhikode :

The construction works of the largest floating solar plant in the country have been completed at the Banasura Sagar reservoir in Wayanad.

The 500 kWp (kilowatt peak) solar plant of the KSEB floats on 6,000 square metres of water surface of the reservoir. The outlay for the project is Rs 9.25 crore.

The solar photo voltaic panels of the floating solar farm have been installed on 18 floating platforms made of ferrocement floaters with hollow insides.

“The installation works of the floating solar panels is over and the plant will be ready for inauguration soon,” said Manoharan P, assistant executive engineer at the KSEB research and dam safety sub-division, Thariyode.

He said the 500 kWp project is the largest floating solar project to come up in the country. The work of the project had begun on March 2016.

KSEB sources said that they were waiting for the availability of chief minister to inaugurate the plant possibly by next month.

Officials of Thiruvananthapuram-based Adtech Systems Ltd, which set up the plant, said that the plant would be able to generate 7.5 lakh units of power annually which will be fed to the KSEB grid using underwater cables.

“We have used high efficiency solar panels for the project as per KSEB stipulations. Also, we have set up a floating substation on the reservoir to convert the output into 11kV considering economic and safety aspects,” said Raveendran T Nair, vice-president (projects) of Adtech Systems Ltd.

He said that the floating solar plants had higher efficiency compared to ground-mounted installations due to the moderating effect of water bodies on panel temperature.

“Also, when compared to ground based units, the floating panels will accumulate lower concentration of dust,” he said.

The 500kWp project is a scaled up version of the 10kW floating solar project which was commissioned in Banasura Sagar reservoir in January 2016.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City News> Kozhikode News / TNN / October 17th, 2017

Expertise of engineering college to go virtual

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

Local libraries, reading rooms in Taliparamba constituency to be linked to GCEK’s virtual learning facility

The interactive virtual learning facility of Government Engineering College, Kannur, (GCEK), at Dharmasala here will be linked to the local library-cum-reading rooms in the Taliparamba Assembly constituency for the dissemination of e-contents of expertise useful for the public.

The plan, outlined as part of the entrepreneurship support initiative Samruddhi, launched in the constituency under the leadership of local MLA James Mathew, envisages provision of computers, LED display boards and printers to 164 library-cum-reading rooms in the constituency for linking them with the interactive virtual learning centre of the GCEK started under its Centre for Information, Communication and Educational Technology (CICET). Mr. Mathew had announced the other day that a workshop for five functionaries each of the libraries would be held at Taliparamba on October 20 to discuss activities to be carried out under the Samruddhi scheme using the libraries as centres.

“Once the libraries are connected to the interactive virtual learning facility of the college, the e-content stored in the college’s server can be accessed by them,” GCEK Principal C. Sreekumar said. Another feature is a programme being organised by one of the libraries can be streamed to rest of the others, he added.

The CICET includes a resource studio and a server that would used as a platform for interactive classroom programmes and contents involving the expertise of the colleges faculties in different disciplines.

The CICET was inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan last month. Under the Samruddhi scheme, this facility is being extended for the benefit of the public through libraries and schools. The e-contents will be created, stored and disseminated under the initiative.

As the Samruddhi scheme envisages dissemination of information on socially beneficial programmes of the government among their beneficiaries, including aspiring entrepreneurs, the facility would function as a common link between government departments and the public.

Mr. Mathew said the funds would be accessed if the clusters of entrepreneurs propose projects that cannot be established on their own. Water conservation, waste treatment and good agricultural practices are being given priority under the scheme, he said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Mohamed Nazeer / Kannur – October 16th, 2017

Mahatma Gandhi University’s faculty to lead expedition team to Arctic

Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Kottayam :

CT Aravindakumar, a faculty at Mahatma Gandhi University’s (MGU) School of Environmental Sciences, will lead an eight-member team of Indian scientists for an expedition in the Arctic region this month. National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) in Goa, the nodal agency that coordinates India’s polar research, will organize the expedition, which will last four to six weeks. MGU had recently signed a MoU with NCAOR on joint polar research.

Under this agreement, MGU researchers can take part in Artic expedition  every year. India conducts nearly 5 expeditions each year. The team will be studying atmospheric, biological, marine and earth sciences, glaciological and pollution issues. The main research programme is on pollution in the Arctic region which will have a long-term impact. It has already initiated a long-term programme with NCAOR on the study of air and water pollution, fate and transport of pollutants, aquatic organism etc.

India is one of the leading contributors in polar research and had started its Arctic expedition in 2007. India’s first Arctic research station, named Himadri, was inaugurated in 2008 at the International Arctic Research base, Ny-Alesund, located 2,000km north of Norway.

India is the 11th country to set up a permanent research station in the region. Himadri can host 8 scientists at a time under normal conditions. Members of the station are given weapon training to protect themselves from polar bears.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Kochi News> Schools & Colleges / TNN / July 14th, 2017

ST radar inaugurated at Cusat

Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan visits the Stratosphere-Troposphere Radar Facility at Cusat in the city on Tuesday

Union Minister says researchers must work towards people-centric science

Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan has said that scientists and researchers have to work towards a people-centric science and emphasised the need for scientific social responsibility on the lines of corporate social responsibility. The Minister was speaking at a press conference after the dedication of the Stratosphere-Troposphere (ST) Radar Facility at the Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) here on Tuesday.

He said scientists and researchers had the responsibility to give back to society. The scientists behind the achievement had to be congratulated because they had followed the call for ‘Make in India’ and the effort had been appreciated internationally by countries such as Japan, Korea and Sweden. He said climate science was doing well in India, and the country had entered into high quality collaborations with countries like Israel recently.

A handout issued at the dedication of the facility at the university said that it was the first stratosphere troposphere wind profile radar operating on 205 MHz installed in the world. The facility will aid monitor atmospheric wind conditions across altitudes up to 20 km and beyond. The research has applications in meteorology, cloud physics, thunderstorms, convections, atmospheric electricity and climate change.

Mr. Vardhan said India expected to provide optical fibre cable facility to all panchayats in the country by 2018. The 38 CSIR laboratories will be made accessible to students in Kendriya Vidyalayas for two to three weeks to create awareness about the work being done in the laboratories. The programme will help familiarise people with the scientific research being done in the country. The government wanted to create a passion for science among students, the Minister added.

Director of the Centre K. Mohankumar and Cusat Vice Chancellor J. Letha were among those present at the dedication of the facility.

source:  http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – July 12th, 2017