Science & Technology – Page 9

** ElectricPe aggregates 2,500 EV charging points in Bengaluru, partners with Electric One

ElectricPe, an EV charging aggregator platform, claims to have 2,500 public charging points in Bengaluru.

ElectricPe has a B2C EV charging and demand generation app that offers EV users a one-stop platform where users could identify, access, and pay for EV charging points to make e-mobility easier.

ElectricPe has a mandate to facilitate 1,00,000 public charging points across India on its platform by the end of 2022.

To expand its charging infrastructure in Bengaluru and in other parts of India, the company has entered into a partnership with Electric One that has 82 EV super stores across the country.

** IISc develops device to improve data encryption

‘This will provide better protection for digital data such as credit card details, passwords etc.’

A team at the Department of Electrical Communication Engineering (ECE), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has developed a true random number generator (TRNG), which, the team says, can improve data encryption and provide improved security for sensitive digital data such as credit card details, passwords and other personal information. The study describing the device has been published in the journal ACS Nano.

“Almost everything we do on the internet is encrypted for security. The strength of this encryption depends on the quality of random number generation,” explained Nithin Abraham, a PhD student who is a part of a team led by Kausik Majumdar, Associate Professor at ECE, which has developed the device.

** BMRCL to run indigenously built trains soon

First indigenously built coaches of Namma Metro have been recently given the green signal to be inducted into operations by the Railway Board. The seven brand new trains with 42 coaches, readied by BEML, are stationed at Peenya.

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) now has a fleet of 57 trains with six cars each. They will be mainly used on the Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield line, which is set to be launched by year-end.

The Railway Board communicated to the BMRCL director on May 18 that the coaches have been cleared to run at a maximum speed of 80kmph. It has also given permission to use the rolling stock for the Purple and Green Line corridors.

BMRCL MD Anjum Parwez said, “We will utilise these trains for the Baiyappanahalli-Whitefield line and between Kengeri and Challaghatta”

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Megaravalli student’s innovative system selected for national level

Sushanth N. Prabhu developed a system that can prevent a bike chain from getting loose

An innovative project presented by a high school student of Government Junior College at Megaravalli in Thirthahalli taluk of Shivamogga has been selected for the national-level exhibition and project competition. Sushanth N. Prabhu, a SSLC student, has developed a ‘self chain adjustment system’ for bikes.

The competition, popularly known as Inspire Awards – Manak, is conducted by the National Innovation Foundation of the Department of Science and Technology. Sushanth presented the model for district level and state level competitions under the guidance of his mentor Raghavendra A.Bhat, a teacher in the school. Now it has been selected for the national level competition.

Ahead of the competition, the student and the mentor have been invited to take part in the mentoring workshop to be held at National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Suratkal in Dakshina Kannada on May 24.

** Inspired by Modi’s life, Hubballi firm comes up with tea dispenser

Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s life from a tea seller at Vadnagar railway station in Gujarat to become the Prime Minister who advocates for innovations and start-ups, Steira Technovations, a company from Hubballi, has come up with mobile tea dispensers to help poor tea vendors at railway stations and bus depots.

The tea vendors and sellers carry the hot tea or coffee in stainless steel containers. Holding the heavy container is tiring, and to reduce the burden, an insulated container with a capacity of 5 litres will be placed in a durable heat-resistant backpack attached to a cup dispenser.

Steira Technovations engineer Ganesh Balikai told TNIE that the company is not pursuing profits but it wants to solve the problems in the society. “We wanted to help the tea vendors who carry heavy containers to sell tea or coffee. The situation is the same in hotels and offices,” he said. Balikai said that the product can be carried easily on the back.

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** Nimhans ranked second in Education World India list

The National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (Nimhans), Bengaluru, was ranked second in the country in the Education World (EW) India Higher Education Rankings 2022-23. Nimhans, with a score of 1,126, was listed second among government universities in the Natural & Life Sciences category.

Under the EW ranking system, the universities are evaluated according to various parameters of higher education excellence, including competence of faculty, curriculum and pedagogy (including digital readiness), infrastructure and quality of leadership/governance, among other key factors.

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First successful bone marrow transplant performed at Kidwai

The State-run Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology has successfully conducted its first Autologous Stem Cell transplantation on an eight-year-old boy from Tumkuru.

The patient, Jeevan Kumar, had been diagnosed with Refractory Hodgkins Lymphoma, S4, nine months ago. The transplantation was done on April 28 and the patient was discharged on Monday.

A team of doctors comprising Vasundhara Kailasnath, Linu Jacob, Smitha Saldanha and Gayatri from the Bone Marrow Transplantation unit at the hospital performed the surgery. The unit was inaugurated on February 15 on the occasion of International Childhood Cancer Day.

“We initially collected the healthy stem cells from the patient and cyropreserved (a process in which the cells are stored at minus 80 degree celsius). Subsequently, the patient was given high dose chemotherapy to kill the residual cancer cells and the stored stem cells were transfused back into the patient. This procedure is called Autologous Stem Cell transplantation,” said Dr. Kailasnath.

“The entire process has taken about 20-24 days and the patient has done well through the procedure. Autologous Stem Cell transplantation enables us to give very dose chemotherapy to the patient,” she said.

** Nanobots to prevent recurrence of infections after root canal

A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has designed a nanobot that helps prevent recurrence of infections after a root canal.

The researchers, who also belong to IISc-incubated startup Theranautilus, were able to devise a way to remove all infection-causing bacteria left behind after a root canal procedure.

The procedure needs to be undertaken when the flesh or ‘pulp’ inside a tooth becomes infected due to bacteria. The procedure involves removing the infected pulp or tissue and cleaning out residual bacteria. The bacteria often hides within microscopic canals in the tooth.

“The dentinal tubules are very small and bacteria reside deep in the tissue. Current techniques are not efficient enough to go all the way inside and kill the bacteria,” said Shanmukh Srinivas, one of the founders of the startup and a research associate at IISc.

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** Over 130 participate in challenge to build robot janitors

Janitorial tasks include vacuuming, mopping, sanitising restrooms, taking out trash, recycling, washing and cleaning windows and mirrors

India may soon witness robot janitors in washrooms, if the initiatives carried out by city-based not-for-profit foundation, AI & Robotics Technology Park (ARTPARK) find success.

A not-for-profit foundation received over 130 applications from across India in response to a challenge that required robots to demonstrate janitorial tasks that would be typically performed in a public washroom.

The challenge was posted by Bengaluru-based not-for-profit foundation AI & Robotics Technology Park (ARTPARK) as part of a mission to support, nurture and co-create a robotics ecosystem to make India the global leader in robotics platforms and technologies.

** Mangaluru: KMC Hospital treats 10-year-old patient with first-of-its-kind surgery in India

KMC Hospital has successfully performed a dentofacial deformity procedure correction caused by TMJ Ankylosis via Total temporo mandibular joint replacement on a 10-year-old patient. Philip (name changed) had a previous history of multiple surgeries following diagnosis of ankylosis with various modalities. For the child, the medical condition had started 10 days postnatal in the form of a parotid abscess and had progressed to the current condition of ankylosis.

The full spectrum of treatment by way of multiple surgeries involved the use of ribs to promote growth in the lower jaw, creating a gap after the removal of bone at the level of joint and interposing muscle to prevent refusion. In addition to the above maneuvres, the child was also subjected to the principles of bone lengthening using distraction osteogenesis, which stems from the principles of orthopaedics by Ilizarov.