Category Archives: Amazing Feats

Indian youngster creates 3D printer for just Dh1,000

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Kannur, KERALA :

supplied photo

The architecture sector tops the revenue generation for the 3D printing sector in the UAE.

Research shows that the UAE’s 3D printing market size is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 55.3 per cent between 2018 and 2024.

The architecture sector tops the revenue generation for the 3D printing sector in the country.

Binder jetting has been found to be the most widely used technology for architectural modelling.

Though 3D printers have been gaining popularity across the world, the price point has been a deterrent of sorts and more so in developing countries like India.

But Melvin George, 24, from Kannur in north Kerala, the southernmost Indian state, has come up with an innovative and inexpensive way of developing a 3D printer amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic that is evoking widespread enthusiasm in the UAE.

George, a guitar aficionado, who is pursuing a postgraduate degree in commerce, wanted to print out parts of the musical instrument, but found that a 3D printer at Dh7,500 was way too expensive for him to afford. This got his curious mind ticking: why not make a 3D printer all by himself?

“Though I had made a guitar out of wood, I was keen to use original parts of the musical instrument. Initially, I wanted to take a 3D printout, but later because of the prohibitive costs decided to make one on my own that proved to be quite a resounding success,” he told .

The Internet proved to be a great leveller as he learnt the tricks of the trade from available online resources.

He has been constantly upgrading his homegrown 3D printer, whose making charge is only Dh1,000 and still a work in progress.

For the uninitiated, 3D printing, or additive manufacturing is a process of making three dimensional objects from a digital file using additive processes.

The maximum print size of a 3D printer is 120 centimetres (cm) x 83cm x 83cm.

So far, he has printed out figurines and showpieces besides parts of a guitar and its amplifier.

“I’m making my own polylactic acid (PLA), one of the key ingredients used in 3D printing, with corn. The PLA, which is industrially produced, uses additives and us ecologically harmful, but the homegrown stuff is 100 per cent biodegradable and safe,” he added.

George is into Western pop music and has fancied himself a lyricist since his high school days. And that’s where his penchant for playing guitar stems from.

His 3D printing innovation received a further boost from his uncle Byju Mathew, who works as an automation consultant in Australia.

“My self-learning skills have emboldened me to build India’s second concrete printed house.

I’ve even discovered a brand-new 3D printing kinematics, which will change the printing speed drastically. However, building a printer to those specifications will be more complicated, as parts for a printer like that exist. The future hinges on this concrete printer, which is in the works,” he added.

George’s homegrown technical skills, passion and a ready demand for 3D printing technology in the UAE and the wider region make him an ideal candidate to leave his native Kerala and make a dash for the Arabian Gulf nation, which is a home-away-home for an estimated over 60 per cent of the Indian expatriates.

Will George bite the bullet and come to the UAE soon on a hop, skip and jump fuelling an archetypal Malayalee’s Gulf dream?

joydeep@khaleejtimes.com

source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com / Khaleej Times / Home> Technology / by Joydeep Sen Gupta in New Delhi, July 11th, 2021

Lifetime award for Dr Thayil

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Dr. George Thayil has been honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions in the field of cardiology and for publishing awareness books for heart patients.

Thiruvananthapuram :  

Dr George Thayil has been honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions in the field of cardiology and for publishing awareness books for heart patients. The award was presented by Education Minister C Raveendranath during the Onam celebrations jointly organised by the Tourism Department and Mangalam Publications in Thiruvananthapuram.

Dr Thayil is the founder head of the department of cardiology at Lourdes Hospital, Kochi. He has authored six heart disease awareness books. He has received 10 medical excellence awards and is the former state president of Indian College of Cardiology and Indian Academy o f Echocardiography

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / September 18th, 2019

Kerala’s first woman hunter ‘Shikkari Kuttiyamma’ passes away

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Kuttiyamma took to hunting after shooting a bison in order to save her brother’s life

[File] Kuttiyamma was also known as ‘Shikkari Kuttiyamma’ | Rijo Joseph

Kerala’s first woman hunter Kuttiyamma, 87, is no more. ‘Shikkari Kuttiyamma’, whose real name was Thresya Thomas, had shot dead hundreds of wild animals.

Incidentally, she had taken up the gun to hunt in order to save the life of her brother. Kuttiyamma had joined a convent in Raichur, Karnataka to be ordained as a nun when a bison attacked her brother Pappachan in Kerala, leaving him gravely injured. Though he was admitted to a hospital, the family could not pay the bills. However, the hospital authorities said that instead of money, meat of wild animals would suffice as payment.

Kuttiyamma rushed to Kerala and ventured into the forest along with her younger brother Tomy to hunt. Deep in the woods, they saw a bison which Kuttiyamma felled with a single shot. The bison weighed 800kg, but was cut into pieces and given to the hospital authorities. The saga of Kuttiyamma the hunter was thus born.

Hailing from Edamattom in Pala, Kuttiyamma discontinued her studies due to poverty in 1958. She settled in Marayur along with her father Thomman and brothers Vakkachan and Pappachan in 1963. Later, they also bought 20 acres of land at Churulippetty in Chinnar. Kuttiyamma later married Thomas, who belonged to Sri Lanka. He was a friend of her brothers. From then on, the couple went on hunting trips together.

People from other places heard that Kuttiyamma would protect them from wild elephants in Chinnar forest and began settling there. Soon, Churulippetty village came into being with 42 families in 82 acres.

However, the hunting of wild animals came to the notice of the government and a decision was taken to evict Kuttiyamma and the other villagers. At that time, Kuttiyamma owned 17 acres of land. The government took over her land in 1993 promising monetary compensation. However, an error in the gazette notification led to delay in payment and no villager left the dwellings.

Kuttiyamma decided to fight a legal battle. She approached the High Court in 2005 pointing out that no compensation was paid. In January 2006, the court ordered payment of Rs 45 lakh including interest to Kuttiyamma. Still, she received only Rs 29 lakh. Kuttiyamma moved the court again and in 2013, she received the full amount.

Subsequently, the first woman hunter left the forest and shifted to Anakkallu in Kanjirappally. She distributed her property to her son and his children. Advancing age did not deter Kuttiyamma from fighting for her causes as she took up social work. She often visited her Churulippetty, the village she had helped set up, and offered service to its residents.

The funeral prayers for Kuttiyamma would take place at her house in Kappad and the burial at St Antony’s church cemetery, Anakkallu. Her husband Thomas Chacko had died earlier. Kuttiyamma is survived by son V.T. Joseph (Babu) of Matha Organic and daughter-in-law Sherly, belonging to Mathathipparambil family, Marayur.

source: http://www.theweek.in / The Week / Home> News> India / via OnManorama / August 20th, 2019

Manned by women, Vanitha Transport stands the test of time

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An initiative of the district panchayat, ‘Vanitha Transport’ is managed by Thrissur District Vanitha Transport Co-operative Society.

Vanitha Transport

Thrissur :

As the state government is gearing up to recruit women drivers in KSRTC to enforce gender equality, a private bus in the district manned by women has been on the road since 1999.

An initiative of the district panchayat, ‘Vanitha Transport’ is managed by Thrissur District Vanitha Transport Co-operative Society. When it started, there were two buses operating on the Thrissur-Kodungallur and Thrissur-Thiruwilvamala route. Though one bus was cancelled, the other service is in full swing even though the society has financial issues. 

“It has been almost 20 years and we have never stopped the service. At present, our driver is on leave as she met with an accident while riding a two-wheeler and hence we have employed a male driver. But all these years, we had women as drivers, conductors and cleaners,” said K G Sathi, secretary of the society. The service begins from Thrissur at 7.38 am. “In the morning hours, we operate on the Kodungallur route while after 3 pm we ply on the Thiruwilvamala route,” she added.


They faced serious financial issues last year. But then District Collector T V Anupama intervened to rearrange the timings of the bus and got it approved. 

“Now, we get a five-minute halt in the north b there was no time for anything,” said Sathi. It was during C Raveendranath’s term as district convenor of People’s Planning Programme that such a project took shape. 

When the state government is all set to appoint women drivers ,  here are a bunch of ladies, including Thankamani, the conductor of Vanitha Transport, who are happy to be the pioneers in this field. “We were able to bring many women behind the wheel all these years. In some cases, girls were trained by our staff to get a driving licence,” said Sathi.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Gopika Varrier / Express News Service / August 22nd, 2019

Meet the man who taught Malayalam script to computers

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Santosh Thottingal  

Santhosh Thottingal wins national recognition for the pioneering work

Until the middle of the past decade, typing Malayalam on the computer was not as easy as it is today. That was around the time when a group of technology and language enthusiasts got together under the banner of Swathanthra Malayalam Computing (SMC) with the aim of “my language for my computer”.

Within a few years, their efforts paid off, with the development of tools and fonts in the Unicode system, enabling a standardised Malayalam script in computers, which is now commonly used in everything from government orders to online newspapers to Internet memes.

Chosen for award

Santhosh Thottingal, a software engineer who played a key role in this transformation, has now been chosen for the Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman by the President in recognition of his contributions to Malayalam language. A principal software engineer with the language engineering team of Wikimedia Foundation, Mr. Thottingal is behind some of the most commonly used fonts like Manjari and Chilanka.

Free software

“I was active with the free software movement during my college days. The assumption then was that local languages are unsuitable for computers. That is when I came across the work done by a team of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) scientists to develop text-to-speech system for palm-held devices in Kannada. I tried to make something similar in Malayalam when I realised that we have to address the fundamental issues first — being able to type in a proper form in Malayalam. Our attempt through SMC was to build a foundation for Malayalam computing,” he says.

The technology for Malayalam fonts was much more complicated than for English. In Malayalam, the combined letters (Koottaksharam) and their shifting patterns had to be coded. He set aside his spare time for five years to perfect these.

History of the language

“We had to learn the core of Malayalam, how the language has been portrayed and the history of printing in Kerala. That is when we realised that the ‘old Malayalam lipi’ was much more scientific and beautiful. The ‘new lipi’ was developed around the 1980s, cutting down the number of letters and separating the combined letters, under the assumption that the old one could not be replicated on computers,” he says.

Following the work of SMC and the release of fonts in the ‘old lipi’, the Kerala government, in 2010, issued an order that all official communication online should shift to the old system.

Voluntary

“All of our work is voluntary and does not generate any revenue, although this work did secure me a job with Wikimedia,” says Santosh. Now he is about to finish an even more important project, to “teach Malayalam grammar to the computer”.

“Now, the computer understands Malayalam only as a sequence of bytes. It does not understand the language like it does English, which enables the working of devices like Alexa and Siri. For that, grammar has to be algorithmically represented and machine-translated. The work is almost over,” he says.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by S.R. Parveen / Thiruvananthapuram – August 18th, 2019

MCH leads the way with a ‘dress bank’

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Along the corridor adjacent to ward number 16 of the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, a box resembling a postbox is seen.

Members of the Rotary Club, Kowdiar, who donated the first set of clothes

Thiruvananthapuram :

Along the corridor adjacent toward number 16 of the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, a box resembling a postbox is seen. It is not a mere spectacle but serves a greater purpose. The initiative ‘Dress bank’ which was conceptualised by Health Minister K K Shailaja to provide new and clean clothes to patients admitted to the ICU or those without bystanders, has been garnering much attention. Contributions are flowing in abundance. 

After her recent visit to the Medical College, K K Shailaja examined the poor conditions and problems faced by the patients and bystanders. This triggered the idea. The project is being sponsored by the hospital employees and authorities including Dr Thomas Mathew, principal of Medical College Hospital and Dr M S Sharmad, superintendent.

Dr Mohan Roy, the regional medical officer (RMO), said, “We often get patients who have no bystanders and lack basic necessities. Their clothes are either torn or stained. So we considered installing a dress bank in the hospital which will be helpful to patients and bystanders in case of emergency. Dr Mohan Roy is the nodal officer for the project and Dr Sharmad is one of the sponsors associated with the Rotary Club, Kowdiar.  

By introducing a dress bank, the hospital employees and authorities believe the issue will be resolved to some extent. Dhotis, towels and nightwears are available at the dress bank installed at the Medical College. The first donation was made by the Rotary Club, Kowdiar. Two weeks since its launch, Dr Mohan opined that many organisations and individuals have come forward for the cause. To check the misuse of the facility, the clothes are given to the patients upon examining their economic background.

A register is being maintained and clothes are being distributed under the supervision of the head nurses and higher hospital authorities. The contributions can be made by the people by contacting the superintendent’s office at MCH. Mohan said, “We have received good feedback from everyone who have made generous contributions. We plan to add more dress banks.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Express News Service / May 28th, 2019

In 4.5 acres, she nurtures a dense forest

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Devaki Amma, who was presented the Nari Shakti Puraskar recently, began planting trees 35 years ago

President Ram Nath Kovind after presenting her the Nari Shakti Puraskar on March 8, 2019, wrote this on one of his social media accounts, “Her contribution towards the environment has been a driving force of change and has raised awareness and consciousness of people.”

At the age of 85, G. Devaki Amma, a native of Puthiyavila in Kandalloor panchayat, near Kayamkulam, is showing the way to safeguard biodiversity and secure our future. She has transformed 4.5 acres of her ancestral property into a thriving forest.

Close to the backwaters, Kollakal Thapovanam, which is intrinsically green, is an ecosystem teeming with life, a fruit of nearly four decades of relentless planting and nurturing by this nature lover.

3,000 trees

At a time when forests are fast disappearing, Devaki Amma’s forest has around 3,000 trees, including over 1,000 trees of common, rare, endangered and biologically important species that support a wide variety of organisms. Huge trees and chirping of birds on them make it a special place in the coastal district.

Devaki Amma says she turned to planting spree following a road accident. “I used to enthusiastically participate in paddy cultivation. But, following the accident I was bedridden for almost three years and was forced to abandon rice cultivation. But it led to something more important. Helped by the family members, I started planting saplings 35 years ago. I never thought at that time the place would become a forest,” she says.

Today, Krishnanal, musk trees, star trees, and mahogany, among others, grow in the sandy soil in natural environment. It is also home to a wide variety of medicinal plants, fruit-bearing trees and tuber crops. The forest has ponds and different species of birds like Paradise Flycatcher and Emerald Doves visit the place.

Family’s backing

Devaki Amma’s age and physical challenges have not deterred her from planting new saplings and taking care of the forest. “I get enormous support from my children, grandchildren and their children in conserving the forest.

They contribute in a big way and want to protect the forest in the best way possible,” she says.

Her daughter D. Thankamoney, former head of Environmental Engineering Division, College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, says planting trees is the best way to reduce carbon footprint and fight climate change. “Our mother started planting trees when nature conservation was yet to gain momentum. We are committed to continuing her legacy,” she says.

The place receives a lot of people, including students and researchers, regularly.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Sam Paul A / Kayamkuam (Alappuzha) – May 04th, 2019

‘Amritanandamayi’s life is a role model for women’

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Mata Amritanandamayi’s life, which has witnessed success after overcoming several obstacles, is a role model for each and every woman, said Malayalam writer P Valsala.


Writer P Valsala handing over the kit to the members of Amritasree gathering at Puthiyappa in Kozhikode | Manu R Mavelil

Kozhikdode :

Mata Amritanandamayi’s life, which has witnessed success after overcoming several obstacles, is a role model for each and every woman, said Malayalam writer P Valsala. She was speaking after inaugurating the Amritasree district conclave held at Puthiyappa Sree Bhagavathi temple ground in Kozhikode on Sunday.

Amritanandamayi Math Kozhikode chief Swami Vivekamrita Chaitanya, who delivered the benedictory address, spoke on the power of Mata Amritanandamayi’s spiritual benevolence.

Former minister and CPM leader T K Hamza, KPCC General secretary N Subramanian, BJP state vice-president K P Sreesan, Mathrubhumi managing editor P V Chandran, former Malayalam actress Vidhubala and Arjuna award winner and badminton player Valiyaveettil Diju were among the others present for the function.  Amritasree has transformed itself into one of the greatest example of women empowerment in the state, said T K Hamza. K P Sreesan said the organisation has evolved itself into a mega initiative for social work.

N Subramanian who also spoke during the function said Amritasree was an example of care and compassion shown by Amritandamayi in uplifting people.The inaugural ceremony was followed by distribution of pension, saree and food to the members of Amritasree self-help groups in Kozhikode.
Over 10,000 Amritasree members took part in the conclave. Each self-help group consisting of 20 members was given a fund of `30,000 at the event.  

Around 3,000 Amritasree self-help groups are functioning in the district. It was started in 2004 to empower women from lower economic backgrounds. 

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / March 25th, 2019

Rekha Karthikeyan, the lone Indian woman actively engaged in deep-sea fishing

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From the deep sea-fishing Rekha Karthikeyan near Chettuva to mussel farming Praseela Shaji at Moothakunnam, there is in these women a spirit of determination and readiness to take on the challenges of life in their battle for survival. If you thought fishing came easy to these women entrepreneurs living close to the sea and backwaters, it is not true.

“It was so frightening initially,” says Ms. Karthikeyan, about her first venture into deep-sea fishing. “But the fright did go away. I was never intimidated,” she adds.

She has been recognised by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute as the lone woman in the country actively engaged in deep-sea fishing.

She and her husband Karthikeyan use their boat for fishing ventures on a daily basis.

The couple with four children, routinely take to the seas to feed the family.

Undeterred by deluge

For Ms. Shaji, the mid-August 2018 flood was a life-changer. It threatened to derail her life. The floodwaters washed away the mussel farming ventures of dozens of women entrepreneurs like her. While some of them gave up, she did not. Ms. Shaji her friends have put the pieces together and is now fast on the road to achieving normality in mussel production.

The major fishery based micro-enterprises being taken care of by women self-help groups include bivalve farming (mussel and edible oyster culture), seaweed culture, ornamental fish culture, cage culture, Chinese dip-net units, fish amino acid units, fish fertilizer units, clam processing, fish drying, fish pickling, ready-to cook and eat fish products, aqua-tourism, seafood kitchen units, dry fish procuring, fish vending, prawn culture, crab processing, aquaponics and fish feed production, says a CMFRI scientist.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – March 08th, 2019

Her steel will, untouched by cerebral palsy

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23-year-old Dhanya has penned 32 keerthanas and dreams of being an RJ

Dhanya has a disarming smile that even cerebral palsy could not rob her of.

The smile belying her age, however, is also deceptive of her steel will to reduce her physical state to a minor irritant. Her resilience found another manifestation when renowned playback singer K.S. Chitra released an audio CD of 32 keerthanas penned by her at Sharjah last month.

There is a doggedness about the way the 23-year-old pursues her passions — be it listening to music and mythological stories or penning stories and poems for children. But she’s largely dependant on her parents Ramanan and Sunitha for moving around.

Mr. Ramanan, originally from Thrissur and employed with Dubai municipality for the last 30 years, had initially toyed with the idea of sending his only daughter to special schools in Dubai. “But those schools mostly had mentally-challenged children while my daughter only suffered from restricted muscle movements. So we opted for home schooling and she is now doing Class 8,” he said.

Ms. Dhanya is mostly cheerful and active on social media with three Facebook pages to her credit. While she has published all her 32 keerthanas in PDF format in one page, another page dedicated to stories for children features eight small stories written by her. According to her father, she has so far written nearly 72 stories.

The youngster is now experimenting with poetry for children. Her latest Facebook page dedicated to poems features one of her three works.

For someone who loves to laugh, Ms. Dhanya dreams of becoming a radio jockey or a television anchor someday.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by M.P. Praveen / Kochi – March 08th, 2019