** Karnataka ranks sixth in Good Governance Index

On the other hand, Karnataka has a higher disposal rate of consumer court cases, while nine other states have shown decline.

Karnataka has been placed sixth in the composite ranking among ‘Group A’ states with incremental progress in Commerce and Industry in the Good Governance Index 2021. Union Home Minister Amit Shah released the index, prepared by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) on ‘Good Governance Day’ in New Delhi on Saturday.

** Grasslands are treated as wastelands and diverted for other uses: Infosys Prize 2021 winner

Says window of opportunity to combat climate change is closing rapidly

COVID-19 has put the focus on zoonotic disease like nothing else did before. The bigger issue here, Mahesh Sankaran from National Center For Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru says, is habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation.

Prof. Sankaran was awarded the Infosys Prize 2021 in the Life Sciences category in recognition of his work on the ecology of tropical savanna ecosystems, and his contributions to highlighting the biodiversity of important Indian ecosystems such as the Western Ghats.

** Aerospace incubation centre launched at NAL

The centre was described as the first public-private partnership in India

The announcement was made by Social Alpha, a venture development platform for science and technology start-ups.

Dubbed mach33.aero, the centre was described as the first public-private partnership in India.

The centre is housed on the CSIR-NAL campus and will focus on aviation, defence, space exploration, agriculture and climate action.

** Platform by engineering graduates to help students chart higher education path

To tackle the problems in the higher education system and the concerns over unemployment among the youth, two graduates from RV College of Engineering, have established a platform called ‘Sapientury’. The platform will be used to equip students with academic and psychological know-how to tackle college and thereafter.

Their module, Chiguru, was rolled out to students and managements of 12 colleges in and around Bengaluru on Saturday. The module is created to help students transition smoothly from Class 12 to selecting a professional course, choosing a particular domain and also informs about their employment avenues.

Kushal SL and Komala Chenna, who studied Aerospace Engineering, set up the education management platform ‘Sapientury’ in 2020. 

** KLS GIT team wins Hackathon Manthan

A team of students from KLS Gogte Institute of Technology won the National Security Hackathon Manthan-2021 jointly organised by the Ministry of Education Innovation Cell and the Bureau of Police Research and Development.

The team developed a solution to a problem statement, Analysis of Hinglish Text, where the task was to identify abusive content written in language that combines Hindi and English words on social media posts and report it to the authorities.

Belagavi….

** Discovery Channel Makes A Feature Film On The First Indian Wildlife Photographer, Yashas Narayan

Yashas Narayan, one of the most reputed wildlife photographers of India. It would be prudent to say that he is one of the best big cat trackers that India has seen. Proudly known for his astonishing and mesmerising portfolio of India’s tigers, leopards, and black panthers, he is now the first Indian wildlife photographer to get a feature film made by the Discovery networks.

Titled “Eye to Eye With a Tiger”, Yashas got an opportunity to lead a team of highly dedicated professionals to capture the serenity amidst the short lives in the modern world. Partnering with the World Wildlife Fund to support Project CAT, Discovery’s collaboration aims to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022 by spreading awareness about deforestation, poaching, and overhunting of the tigers’ prey. Similarly, Samsung has sponsored this film to raise awareness about Project CAT.

** With second-largest AI talent pool, Bengaluru ranked fifth in world

Bengaluru has emerged among the top five cities in the world for Artificial Intelligence (AI), ranked at No. 5, with the first four being cities in the USA. The ranking is among top 50 AI cities, measured by the TIDE Framework and listed by Harvard Business Review (HBR).

The top four cities are San Francisco, New York, Boston and Seattle. The ranking factors in diversity and inclusive talent pool. Reviewers have noted that Bengaluru also has the world’s second-largest AI talent pool and is ranked fifth for diversity among AI workers, as measured by data from Fletcher school, Tufts University, and derived at based on a framework of indicators such as talent pool, investments, diversity of talent, evolution of the country’s digital foundations (TIDE). 

** Shankar Foundation awards for Sudarshan, Choontharu

Medical practitioner and chairman of the State Government’s Technical Advisory Committee on COVID-19 M.K. Sudarshan and dentist Muralimohan Choontharu have been selected for the prestigious Dr. P.S. Shankar National Vaidyashri Award and Dr. P.S. Shankar Shreshta Vaidya Sahitya Award, respectively.

Dr. Sudarshan, who is serving as the Director of Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences in Bengaluru, was a former member of the World Health Organisation (WHO). His work in the field of rabies control is recognised worldwide.

Mangaluru-based Dr. Choontharu is known for his writings on various topics in the field of medical science. He has published over 20 books in Kannada that deal with different aspects of preventive care.

“P.S. Shankar Foundation has been offering financial assistance to medical students from poor and rural backgrounds in the form of scholarships

** The man and his vision

Did you know as a tribute to former Prime Minister HD Devegowda, farmers in Punjab have named a rare variety of rice crops by his name?

Author Sugata Srinivasaraju has penned down more such lesser known facts in his latest book Furrows in a Field:

Furrows in a Field: The Unexplored Life of HD Deve Gowda (Penguin Random House, `799) which is a biography of the former prime minister. 

** MMCRI turns 100 in 2024

The Mysuru Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI), reckoned to be one of the country’s oldest medical colleges, will be completing 100 years in 2024. It was founded in 1924.

he associations of old students and others who have a close association with the MMCRI have started drawing up plans for the 100th anniversary.

As the MMCRI college building and the hospitals attached to the college – K R Hospital and Cheluvamba Hospital – are housed in heritage buildings and are in need of restoration without altering the original building architecture, the restoration is being timed ahead of the centenary celebrations.