Category Archives: Education

Global laurel for Christ College team

Education, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
A team from Centre for Animal Taxonomy and Ecology of Christ College, Irinjalakuda, which has been invited to the European Congress of Arachnology in Hungary.

Only Indians to participate in European Congress of Arachnology

A six-member team from the Centre for Animal Taxonomy and Ecology (CATE) of Christ College, Irinjalakuda, has been invited to the 31st European Congress of Arachnology (ECA), which will be held at Vac, Hungary, from July 8-13.

They are the only Indians at the congress in which 150 arachnologists will take part from all over the world. “This is a prestigious recognition given on the basis of the contributions made by CATE to arachnological research,” said Sudhikumar A.V., who led the six-member team. Five budding arachnologists working under the guidance of Dr. Sudhikumar (Head, CATE) will present papers on Indian arachnology. Nafin K.S., research scholar, will present a paper on the diversity of spiders in Kole wetlands of Kerala and the role of spiders in biological pest control. Drisya Mohan, another member, will present a paper on the social behaviour of a rare spider (Stegodyphus sarasinorum) and the diversity of kleptoparasites (web parasites) associated with the web of this spider.

Diversity of spiders in the sacred groves of Kerala and the influence of environmental variables on them have rarely been explored. Sumesh N.V. will present a paper on this study. Forest fire has a devastating effect on the biodiversity of Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS), a biodiversity hotspot of Kerala. Sudhin P.P. will focus on the effect of forest fire on the diversity of spiders in the WWS. Kashmeera N.A. will present an interesting study on the diversity of venomous spiders in Thar Desert, Rajasthan.

Dr. Sudhikumar will lay stress on global warming upon the feeding potential of a grassland spider, (Pardosa sumatrana), and its consequences on the food web which causes imbalance in the ecosystem. Travel expenses of the researchers are sponsored by European Society of Arachnology (ESA), University Grants Commission (UGC), and Department of Science and Technology (DST), Delhi.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Staff Reporter / Thrissur – July 04th, 2018

K A Chandrasekharan passes away

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All

Thiruvananthapuram :

K A Chandrasekharan, a strong voice for the disabled and the first blind person to be appointed as lecturer by Kerala Public Service Commission  on merit, breathed his last at Medical College Hospital here on Wednesday. He was 75.

A native of  Veliyam in Kollam  district, Chandrasekharan had dedicated over fifty years of his life for welfare and rehabilitation of disabled persons. He was a driving force behind several national and regional initiatives for developing policies and programmes for the disabled.

The cremation will be held at 10:30am on Thursday, on the premises of his residence at Veliyam.

Late Dr Jagadamma was his wife. He is survived by three children-Felicia Chandrasekhar, Rishi  Chandrasekhar and Kavi C J.

He played an instrumental role in framing Persons With Disabilities Act, 1995. He served as a member of the working group constituted by the Planning Commission in preparation of plan documents consecutively for three five-year plans (9th, 10th and 11th) with regard to secondary and higher secondary education for the disabled.

For long, he had held various positions in Kerala  Federation of the Blind.

Chandrasekharan went as a delegate to the UN – ESCAP conference in Osaka, Japan which issued Osaka  Decade Declaration 2002, urging a barrier-free inclusive and right-based society for persons with disabilities.

He had served as the member of technical committee under Bureau of Indian Standards for granting standards and ISI mark to assistive devices for the handicapped.

Chandrasekharan was also a member of NCERT expert committee for developing national curriculum framework in schools, representing disability sector.

State president of the Kerala Federation of the Blind K J Vargheese, in his condolence message, remembered Chandrasekharan as a towering personality who relentlessly worked towards the upliftment of the disabled and said his demise left behind a deep vacuum in the society.

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

Engineering students develop robotic arm

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
Students of Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Arakunnam, with the Electromyography-controlled prosthetic arm that they developed.

It will meet the basic daily requirements of an amputee

Five engineering students of Toc H Institute of Science  and Technology at Arakunnam near here have come up with an Electromyography (EMG) controlled prosthetic arm.

The students – Mereena Baby, Aysha Zenab Kenza, Nikitha Sajan, Lakshmi Mohan, and Sharon Alex – are in the final year of their B.Tech Computer Science programme.

A release issued by the college claimed that the robotic arm would meet the basic daily requirements of an amputee, even though it lacked advanced features.

The prosthetic arm is priced at ₹2 lakh while those with advanced features cost anywhere between ₹15 lakh to ₹25 lakh, which is out of the reach of the common man, it said.

The students said that the Myo-armband interprets the electric signals produced as a result of the muscle movements and converts them into accurate hand gestures. They are then read by a micro-controller through a Bluetooth dongle.

Server motors

Based on those signals read, an appropriate number of server motors are rotated to move the prosthetic limb, they said.

The release said that the product could be made faster and easier by using advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence.

The students expressed the hope that they would get support from investors to take the product to users.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / June 03rd, 2018

This IAS officer built her future with a clear vision

Amazing Feats, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All
Maharashtra native Pranjal Patil, who had lost her vision at the age of eight, took charge as Ernakulam Assistant Collector today

Kochi :

Pranjal Patil, who lost her vision at the age of eight, has braved all odds to become an IAS officer. On Monday, she took charge as the assistant collector of Ernakulam district.

Pranjal from Ulhasnagar in Maharashtra had cracked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination in 2016 and secured 733rd rank in her first attempt. Since, Pranjal always wanted to become an IAS officer, she decided to give it a second try and went on to secure 124th rank in 2017.

Pranjal said that she is excited about her posting as the assistant collector of Ernakulam.

“This is my first major assignment. I completed my nine-month training at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussorie, Uttarakhand, two weeks ago. Here I am undergoing further training to become a collector. So, this is like a practical exam for me. At present, I am considering areas that need my contribution, the areas I need to improve and what positive changes I can bring for the overall development of the district as a whole,” said Pranjal, who is looking forward to learn more about the city by interacting with people here.

For civil service aspirants, she said, “Have faith in yourself. Don’t listen to any negative comments but please be open to criticism. However, don’t get bogged down by criticism. Things may take time to get the desired outcome but we shouldn’t give up.”

According to her parents, L B Patil and Jyothi Patil, Pranjal lost her vision when a student in her class poked one of her eyes with a pencil which eventually led to retinal detachment and as a result she lost the vision of her left eye. Doctors warned her parents that she might soon lose vision in the other eye too and unfortunately, the warning proved to be right and she lost the vision in her other eye within a year.

However, Pranjal’s parents never let blindness come in the way of her education. Her parents said that Pranjal has been good at studies right from her childhood. They sent Pranjal to Kamla Mehta School for Blind in Dadar, Mumbai,. She did her graduation in Political Science from St Xavier’s College, Mumbai and later earned a master’s degree in international relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

“People who always look for excuses for their failures should learn from my daughter,” said L B Patil, Pranjal’s father.

Pranjal said that technology played an important role in her education. “I have learnt Braille. Now there is a screen reader software installed on my laptop which would read out chapters from various books for me. This software will scan the pages of the book or material I want to read and the software reads it out to me. The screen reader software also helps in carrying out various activities related with my work. Once you know how to use technology things will be easier,” she said.

Regarding whether cracking UPSC exams was a challenging one, Pranjal said that it was challenging for everyone not just her. “Challenge is in the sense of getting the right material and its accessibility. For me, finding a trustworthy scribe to write my exam was also a challenge. But things fell in the right place for me,” said Pranjal.

Pranjal said that her aim is to learn as many Malayalam words within a short span. “Malayalam is a language which is completely different from other languages that I know. So, it will need a lot of effort. But I strongly believe I can master it once I put in all the effort in right direction,” said Pranjal.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Kochi News / TNN / May 30th, 2018

CBSE Class X results: National topper from Kochi yet to know her marks

Education, Records, All
File photo of Sreelakshmi G | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Sreelakshmi has scored 499/500 in the CBSE Class X examination.

Sreelakshmi. G, a student of Bhavan’s Varuna Vidyalaya, Thrikkakara, emerged as one of the national toppers in the CBSE Class X examinations.

She was one of the four students to bag 499 marks, dropping just one mark in Maths. However, when the news reached her house at Puthiya Road in Vennala near here shortly thereafter, she was not there to celebrate the success.

Sreelakshmi was away attending entrance coaching at Chavara Public School at Pala in Kottayam district. Only her mother Rema L.P. was at home to receive the good news.

“I could not reach her to share the news and instead had to pass it on to her hostel warden,” an excited Ms. Rema, an assistant professor of Zoology and Controller of Examination at the Maharajas College (Autonomous) told The Hindu. Neither could she immediately reach her husband S. Gopinathan, senior government pleader, as his phone, just like hers, was bombarded with calls from the media and friends.

Asked about her daughter’s preparations for the exam, Ms. Rema said that Sreelakshmi was a very diligent student who left nothing for the next day. “Besides, the school notes, she used to prepare her own multi-coloured special notes. Teachers were also very confident about her performance in all subjects except Maths about which she was a bit sceptic. She was also a bit concerned about English since traditionally high marks are not awarded for that subject,” Ms. Rema said.

However, Ms. Rema was candid enough to admit that not in their wildest dreams did they expect her to emerge as one of the national toppers. According to her mother, Sreelakshmi aims to pursue medicine.

Sreelakshmi enrolled for the entrance coaching in April 16 and was supposed to return home on Tuesday. But then it was postponed by a few days at the instance of the school authorities in the wake of the outbreak of Nipah virus.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by M.P. Praveen / Kochi – May 29th, 2018

Kochi girl emerges CBSE commerce stream topper

Education, Records, All

Maehal Barthwal wins 99.2% to become regional topper

It was a proud moment for Kochi on Saturday when the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declared the results of its Class 12 examinations.

City student Maehal Barthwal emerged as the commerce stream topper in the Thiruvananthapuram region of the board. A student of Navy Children School, Naval Base, Maehal was on cloud nine when The Hindu wanted her to share the secrets of her success.

“There is no secret to success. Just keep working hard. It’s okay even if you are not able to score well in your exams at school. Just keep working hard. Don’t give up. Have a good timetable fitting everything [enjoyment, studies etc.,]. Have everything in the right proportion,” said the young talent.

Daughter of Lt. Col Rakesh Barthwal at the Station Headquarters (Army) at the Naval Base here and Alpana Barthwal, a former Army Captain, Maehal said she never expected this result. She won an overall percentage of 99.2 (496/500). “I was expecting somewhere between 97 and 98%. This was an added bonus,” she said.

Asked whether the re-test of economics paper following the question paper leak had put extra pressure on her, Maehal said it was slightly better for her compared to the exam that got cancelled.

A girl who loves to pursue a career in finance and accounting, Maehal said she had applied for B.Com (Hons) course at Delhi University and was hopeful of joining the prestigious institution.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – May 26th, 2018

City student emerges winner in Google contest

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Abishek V. Ashok

Abishek was roped in by FOSSASIA, which is engaged in open source software development

Abishek V. Ashok is dreaming big these days.

The 17-year-old computer science student from SNDP Higher Secondary School, Udayamperoor, is among the 12 grand prize winners from India in the Google Code-in 2017, a contest held globally to introduce pre-university students aged between 13 and 17 to open source software development.

Third time lucky

He had participated in the contest twice in the past but turned lucky third time around.

Abishek, who lives in Panangad, was among the 1,000-odd students roped in by FOSSASIA, an organisation from Asia engaged in developing open source software, as part of the contest. He was asked to complete 93 coding tasks in 49 days between November and January this year.

“Three days were given to complete tasks while seven days were given for more advanced ones. Many of these tasks required me to spend sleepless nights in preparations before actually coming up with the code,” said Abishek who claims to be the first ever grand prize winner from Kerala in the globally renowned contest. He says writing code to convert a bunch of images in the SVG (scalable vector graphics) file format to the PDF (portable document) format as the most challenging of his tasks.

All the completed tasks were submitted by FOSSASIA to Google Code-in team who vetted it and announced him as a Google Code-in Grand Prize Winner. “I now plan to pursue computer science in IIT or even MIT,” said Abishek who fell in love with technology and computers at a very young age.

He is now awaiting a visa for flying to the Google headquarters in the U.S. to accept the award and attend a few seminars next month.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by M.P. Praveen / Kochi – May 22nd, 2018

Tribal research centre for Wayanad

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Field centre to study genetic diseases

The government has initiated measures to establish a tribal anthropological research centre in Wayanad with a field station at Attappady.

The project, to be implemented in association with the Kolkata-based Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI), seeks to make a detailed study of tribal communities in Kerala.  The field station will study the incidence of sickle cell anaemia and other genetic diseases among them.

AnSI Director Srivastava Vinay, Deputy Director Sasikumar, and Senior Human Ecologist Umeshkumar called on Minister for Tribal Welfare A.K. Balan here on Saturday and discussed the modalities of the proposal. The team later left for Wayanad.

The campus of the Institute of Tribal Studies and Research Centre at Sulthan Bathery is one of the possible locations for the project. Institute Director Pushpalatha informed the team that the proposal would be taken up with Calicut University.

The researchers later visited the Manthanam Adiya colony at Thirunelly and interacted with the residents. It was decided to take up a study of the tribe immediately. The incidence of sickle anemia among tribespeople in Wayanad would also be given priority.

A press note issued here said a seminar on the anthropology of tribespeople in the State would be held in August.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Thiruvananthapuram – May 19th, 2018

Kerala: Engineering students develop voice-controlled wheelchair

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology

Pallakad :

Six final year B.Tech students of NSS Engineering College, Pallakad, as part of their final year project, have designed a wheelchair which is controlled by sound.

This wheelchair moves forward, backward and sideways following voice command from the person sitting on it. A bicycle iron frame forms the basis of this innovative wheelchair.
It is made in a cost-effective manner and is quite affordable.

The wheelchair with car’s viper motor costs around Rs 8,000. The same wheelchair with a better motor and other utility systems can be made within a budget of Rs 10,000.

The wheelchair can bear a maximum body mass of 75kg. The sound command is transferred via a small chip called ‘voice module’ which is attached to the wheelchair’s micro controller.

The innovation could be used for patients in hospitals and other health care centers.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Thiruvananthapuram News / by Samayam Malayalam / TNN / April 25th, 2018

City engg. graduate is IAS topper in State

Education, Records, All

Sikha bags 16th rank in exams

Sikha Surendran’s house at Vadayampady in Kolenchery was buzzing with activity on Friday as relatives and well-wishers dropped in to congratulate the 24-year-old engineering graduate on clinching the 16th rank in the Civil Services Examination.

After completing her engineering course, Ms. Surendran had worked hard to realise her father’s dream of her becoming a district collector.

Failure to clear the examinations in the first attempt did not discourage her. “It taught me to face the exam better. The syllabus is really vast. We have to learn how to tackle the exam by learning the tricks of clearing it,” she said.

Ms. Surendran chose Malayalam Literature as her optional subject. Asked why a civil engineer had opted for Malayalam, Sikha said Malayalam was one of her favourite subjects in school. “The Civil Services examination gave me an opportunity to pursue my passion of learning Malayalam. I was also keen on writing essays in Malayalam on various topics,” she said.

The young topper said IAS provided one with a variety of opportunities and challenges. “I feel it is the best profession to serve society and hope that I will be able to contribute to nation building by undertaking the responsibilities of a civil service officer.”

Ms. Surendran’s mother Silo works with a private firm in Kochi, while her father Surendran, who was earlier working with the accounts department of a private firm, is confined to home owing to health-related issues.

For all those aspiring to top the civil services exam, Ms. Surendran has this piece of advice, “Stay focussed and never give up.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Kochi Bureau / Kochi – April 28th, 2018