Category: Science & Technology

** Texas Instruments to set up 86 ICU beds

Texas Instruments on Saturday announced setting up of 86 critical care beds in a modular ICU unit at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases in Bengaluru. Given as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, the ICU unit will come up at an investment of Rs 3 crore and will be ready in 3-4 weeks.

** BBMP gets tech firm’s help to set up COVID-19 Care Dashboard

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is in the process of setting up a COVID-19 Care Dashboard and a data-driven analytical system in collaboration with ITC Infotech, a wholly-owned subsidiary of business conglomerate ITC Ltd.

The move is aimed at upgrading the local body’s existing pandemic care infrastructure and removing the multiple hurdles people have been facing in the chase for beds. The second wave has seen horror stories of people scrambling to find oxygenated beds.

** Give India Foundation to donate 2,000 oxygen concentrators

Bengaluru-based Give India Foundation has come forward to donate 2,000 oxygen concentrators and the first batch of 80 concentrators was handed over to GKVK Covid Care Centre on Saturday.

Hospital coming up

A 250-bed COVID hospital will be set up in Yelahanka region immediately by Boeing company, manufacturers of Boeing jets, and the work has already been initiated. Boeing was also willing to set up another 250-bed COVID hospital in the same region.

** Indian in UAE to produce O2 cylinders instead of CNG to aid patients back home

An Indian expat at a UAE-based free zone firm has set aside producing Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) cylinders and shifted to manufacturing oxygen containers for India to help out the Covid patients in the country.

Speaking to Gulf News, Pushkar Khurana, Managing Director of the company EKC International FZE, said, “We are an Indian subsidiary and as soon as we came to know about the oxygen cylinder shortage in India, we had to rise to the call of our nation and serve the needs of our country.”

K.N. Kutty, sales manager of the company, a subsidiary of Everest Kanto Cylinder Limited in India, said the UAE unit has been producing CNG cylinders for Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV) as well as industrial cylinders since 2002.

** IISc finds spot in QS top 200 rankings

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) is the topmost Indian institute as per the QS University Rankings out on Thursday. It stands at rank 172 globally, 20 places lower than its 2020 ranking.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru is ranked second in the country with a global ranking of 185, one place lower than last year’s rank. Almost all of the Indian institutes on the top 500 list have dropped down a few places from the previous year.

** NMPT receives 40 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen from Bahrain

The Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya, said on Wednesday that New Mangalore Port has received Indian Navy’s INS Talwar carrying 40 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen filled in cryogenic containers donated by the Kingdom of Bahrain.

“The New Mangalore Port is handling the oxygen cargo on priority basis,” he tweeted.

** Officer turns ambulance driver, ferries Covid-19 victims in Karnataka

An officer attached to Mysuru City Corporation turned an ambulance driver and transported Covid-infected dead bodies

Birth and death division statistical officer Anil Christie drove an ambulance carrying a dead body, as the driver developed health issues, recently.

** Remdesivir to be manufactured in Belagavi district

A Belagavi-based pharmaceutical company has obtained licence to manufacture COVID-19 drug, Remdesivir injection.

Shree Anand Life Sciences, which has plants in Belagavi and Mudhol, will manufacture the injection that is in scarce supply.

Satish Ghargi, who hails from Bagalkot district, has set up Shree Anand Life Sciences pharmaceutical industry in Mudhol and Belagavi. The Belagavi plant is in Honaga Industrial Area.