Daily Archives: December 22, 2014

Dr Joshy John leaves behind his work in medicine and literature

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Leaders, Nri's / Pio's, Science & Technology, World Opinion

DrJoshyKERALA22dec2014

London:

Dr Joshy John, known for his work in the field of HIV and AIDS, died at the age of 71. He was a consultant physician at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London.

Dr John left for London in 1967 after graduating from the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College with a gold medal. Though he wanted to specialise in cardiology, Dr Mckee, the dean at the University of Edinburgh, convinced him to opt for one of the emerging areas. Dr John selected venereology.

He started practice at the St Bartholomew’s Hospital, the oldest hospital in Europe. By the time he obtained his M.D., HIV and AIDS had emerged as one of the biggest health threats of the century.

Dr John became an HIV specialist. He became a consultant physician within eight years. He travelled around the world and attended numerous conferences on AIDS.

A hectic period followed as a member of the Royal Society of Medicine in London, the director of the AIDS and STD clinic at St Albans City Hospital and honorary professor at Sheffield University and other institutions.

The UK government entrusted him with the duty of preparing a report on the AIDS clinics in the United States in 1984. He was instrumental in designing the four hi-tech AIDS/STD clinics in the UK.

Dr John was equally deft in carrying on with the legacy of language inherited from his father. He started a research centre named after Prof. Ulahannan Mappila in St. Berchmans College, Changanassery. He also started a research library in the college in memory of his daughter Mary Anne John Stuttgen, who died in an accident in 2009.

The library is unique in Kerala. Dr John scouted the universities and libraries of London for rare classics and first editions. He bought the original edition of John Milton’s Paradise Lost for Rs 1.5 lakh. He brought to the library a rare collection of dictionaries, including a copy of Dr Samuel Johnson’s first dictionary. The library cost Rs 1 crore. Of these books worth Rs 35 lakh came from London.

Dr John is survived by wife Tresa (Thangamani) and sons Jaison and James. The late Prof. Aniyamma Abraham, Dr Lisy Nair and Jordy John are his siblings.

source: http://www.english.manoramaonline.com / OnManorama / Home> News> Kerala / by Manorama Correspondent / Friday – December 19th, 2014

City firms bask in GSLV MK III success

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

Thiruvananthapuram  :

As ISRO successfully test-fired GSLV Mark III, two firms in the city are on cloud nine. Medium scale engineering firms based in Thiruvananthapuram — Kortas Industries and Intimate Machines Private Ltd — have been closely involved in the development and production of many of the key components of GSLV-Mark III. Thursday’s launch was an experimental suborbital flight of 630-tonne GSLC Mark III to validate its ability to carry heavier communication satellites and crew modules for future manned missions.

Kortas Industries at Kochuveli has supplied around 12 components for the mission. Intimate Machines Private Ltd, a small and medium enterprise in Manvila, has supplied a model of GSLV Mark III to ISRO in March last. The miniature model was precisely made for conducting wind tunnel test, a crucial prelaunch operation.

“One of the major components supplied by Kortas is flex seal assembly of the gigantic 200 tonne booster motor for its flex nozzle. This is the most critical item for controlling the mission trajectory,” said M Shahabudeen, MD of Kortas.

Kortas also supplied multi-layer thermal boots for two S200 boosters and L-110 engine, nozzle closure assembly with thermal protection cover for L-110 liquid engine, separation system hardware for S200 boosters, nose cone and AFT shroud assemblies of flexi nozzle control tanks, etc. “In case if the GSLV deviate from its trajectory, it has to be destructed before falling at inhabited locations. We have supplied destruction charge sheaths for S200 boosters which will destroy the vehicle on air,” he said. It has also supplied various other auxiliary and pyro systems of the vehicle.

Kortas Industries has been engaged in technology development and manufacturing of aerospace systems, mechanical systems and precision components for the last 14 years. It has earlier supplied critical systems and components for all satellite launch vehicles of ISRO such as Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV), Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions.

Intimate Machines’ MD K C Sanjeev said that the successful launch of GSLV Mark III was a proud moment for them. The company has been associating with ISRO since 2006. After the Mars Orbiter Mission, ISRO had congratulated Intimate Machines for their role in the mission.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Thiruvananthapuram / by Jisha Surya, TNN / December 19th, 2014

Documentary on M K Arjunan

Arts,Culture & Entertainment

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: 

A documentary film on music composer M K Arjunan titled ‘Sangeethan: M K Arjunan’ and produced by Trivandrum Music Fraternity will be premiered at Kalabhavan Theatre here from 8.30 am on Monday.

The documentary directed by Sajeev Pazhoor  portrays the life and work of Arjunan who has composed music for over 160 movies and will remind the viewers that the maestro is yet to be recognised with a state or national award, the makers of the film said. G Ashok Kumar is the executive producer of the documentary which has been completed in 10 schedules.

The Trivandrum Music Fraternity is a Thiruvananthapuram-based community for musicians that functions state wide. “The film will act as a medium to transfer the works and achievements of Arjunan master to the younger generation,” said Trivandrum Music Fraternity secretary O V Rapel.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Express News Service / December 22nd, 2014

‘Mentoring calendar’ initiative to kick off

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

StartUpVillageKERALA22dec2014

Come March, and the country’s first technology business incubator in the private-public-partnership mode will launch its ‘mentoring calendar’ initiative. In the programme, IT stalwarts from the Silicon Valley and India’s leading Internet entrepreneurs will offer lesson plans to those incubated at the Startup Village here.

“This will be one of the major programmes to be launched in 2015. The aim is to provide the young founders of start-ups an opportunity to interact with mentors and learn from their rich experience,” said Pranav Kumar Suresh, Chief Executive Officer of Startup Village.

Explaining that the mentoring programme would be extended over a period of 10 weekends, Mr. Suresh pointed out that there were several issues that the young entrepreneurs needed to learn. “They may not know the intricacies of how to negotiate with an investor. Sometimes issues may crop up between a founder and co-founder or they may fall into a confused state after realising that the initial goals have not been met. Only a successful entrepreneur would be able to clear their doubts through the proposed face-to-face sessions,” he said.

Expanding space

Racing ahead of their expected target of incubating 1,000 start-ups in 10 years, the Startup Village will host 250 to 300 more ventures by next September.

Currently, over 50 start-ups are housed in the village located at the Technology Innovation Zone in the Kinfra Park. Work to add about 1.5 lakh sq.ft to the existing space is expected to be over in eight to nine months.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had recently opened an additional 10,000 sq.ft to the existing 15,000 sq.ft in the expanding incubator in view of the growing number of youngsters launching unique and innovative start-ups.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi /  by G. KrishnaKumar / Kochi – December 11th, 2014