Category: Science & Technology

** Konkan Railway accomplishes ‘Mission 100 percent electrification’

Indian Railways is on a mission mode to electrify its entire broad gauge network to provide environment friendly, green & clean mode of transport to its people under the ‘Mission 100% Electrification – Moving towards net Zero Carbon Emission’ plan.

In view of the above, making an important step towards green transportation one of India’s biggest stretches of railway electrification, Konkan Railway has been accomplished under the able leadership of  PM and the guidance of the Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways Raosaheb Patil Danve & Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways Darshana Jardosh.

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** Bengaluru to host the 24th Annual Free Mega Limb Camp from March 21 – 27

The 24th Annual Free Mega Limb Camp in Bengaluru will be helf from March 21 – 27, where Jaipur artificial limbs, callipers and forearm fitments will be distributed freely.

The Rotary Bangalore Peenya of RI District 3190 in association with Shri Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayatha Samithi, Jaipur has organized the 24th Annual Mega Limb Camp in Bengaluru from March 21 to March 27.

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** Farmer-bred paddy variety gets official recognition

Shankar Guru of T.Narispur bred NMS-2 variety of rice

In a significant development, a variety of rice bred by a T.Narsipur-based farmer has been recognised for its salient features and qualities by the Plant Varieties Registry, Government of India, which has issued its stamp of approval.

The certificate issued under the provisions of Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001, also gives Shankar Guru exclusive rights to produce, sell, market, distribute, import or export the variety for an initial period of 6 years and renewable subsequently subject to certain conditions. 

Firsts

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** Prof CNR Rao conferred Energy Frontiers 2020 award by CM

 Eminent scientist and Bharat Ratna Awardee Prof CNR Rao was conferred the Energy Frontiers 2020 award by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday.

The Italy Government’s prestigious Energy Frontiers Award is considered the Nobel prize for the Energy Sector and Prof Rao is the first recipient of the award from entire Asia.

Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advance Scientific Research Chairman Prof GU Kulkarni, noted scientist Dr Indumati Rao and other dignitaries were present.

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** Karnataka’s bio-economy to reach $50 billion by 2025

Karnataka is the third-largest producer of bio-fuels among the States which have reached 9% blending of petrol in 2021, he said, adding that the State’s Bio-tech industry crossed $180 million in R&D spend. A total of 95 bio-tech start-ups were set up in Karnataka in 2021, averaging almost 8 start-ups every month, the Minister stated.

Karnataka has emerged as the preferred destination for bio-tech investments in India. At present, the State hosts about 60% of the bio-tech companies in India and employs about 54% of the country’s total bio-tech workforce, according to Mr. Narayan.

Also, the bio-technology industry in the State has been at the forefront of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic by developing and deploying a variety of anti-virals, diagnostic tests, and administering vaccines. For instance; the State provided 2.3 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines per day totaling 86.4 million doses in 2021, he added.

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** Digital campaign ‘Namma Jalamarga’ to mark World Water Day in Bengaluru

Campaign to raise awareness on the importance of storm water drains

In a bid to spread awareness among people about the importance of caring for storm water drains, The Anonymous India Charitable Trust (TAICT) is launching a digital campaign ‘Namma Jalamarga’ on Tuesday, marking World Water Day.

“Our waterways are irreplaceable. Today, Bengaluru is in a crisis to protect and maintain this beautiful network of lakes and waterways as the fast growth in the last three decades has put the entire system in jeopardy. What we see around us most of the time is that our waterways are clogged up with filth, polluted with sewage or encroached upon instead of using this beautiful system as it is supposed to be. Other cities around the world use their canal systems to bring them joy,” TAICT said in a release.

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** Biocon founder elected Fellow of Royal Society of Edinburgh

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw will be joining RSE’s current Fellowship of around 1,700 Fellows who are recognised as being some of the greatest thinkers, researchers and practitioners working in or with Scotland

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Executive Chairperson of Biocon and Biocon Biologics, has been elected as a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE).

Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw will be joining RSE’s current Fellowship of around 1,700 Fellows who are recognised as being some of the greatest thinkers, researchers and practitioners working in or with Scotland.

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** Udupi: Kasturba Hospital presents Dr T M A Pai Arogya Sevak Awards, launches Privilege Card

The Kasturba Hospital Manipal, a well-known healthcare institution worldwide is now reaching a milestone year of its existence. For the past 60 years, Kasturba Hospital has been providing world class healthcare.

On this mile stone year, the hospital management has planned yearlong activities to highlight patient centricity, engagement activities with the general public, corporates, doctors and relationship building activities in the communities. The celebrations will be held under the tagline, “Patient First Always Since 1962.”

The prestigious Dr T M A Pai Arogya Sevak Awards were presented to Dr Shaila S Nayak from Karkala, Dr Girish Shenoy from Karkala, Dr Krishnadeva Kalkura from Udupi, Dr N Sureshchandra Shetty from Mandarthi and Dr Ampar Vasanth Kumar Shetty from Kundapura.

** A vision to guide the challenged – meet Vidhya Y from Karnataka

Mocked for choosing mathematics in her childhood and discouraged by several institutions and teachers against pursuing science, with a ‘caution’ that it would be too difficult for her, visually-impaired entrepreneur Vidhya Y dared to dream big. She defied all odds to not just bag gold medals in her Masters, but is today leading other visually-challenged people to taste success, through effective learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses.

Vidhya, along with Supriya Dey, an IT professional who was into research at IIIT-B; and Amit Prakash, a professor at the institute, founded Vision Empower (VE), a not-for-profit organisation that has designed an accessible learning management platform to promote experiential learning of STEM subjects, computational training, digital literacy, and early childhood programmes.

Its technology arm ‘Vembi Technologies’ has also developed the world’s most affordable Braille book reading solution for children called ‘Hexis-Antara’.

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