** ‘Was challenging’: Mangaluru doctor on leading world’s first mucor lung surgery

Dr Klein Dantis, a 35-year-old thoracic surgeon from the coastal city of Mangaluru, was part of the world’s first successful mucor lung surgery that took place at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Raipur, early this month.

Raised in Kinnigoli, Klein completed his MBBS and MS in Mangaluru, and superspeciality training at National Institute of TB and Respiratory Diseases, New Delhi. He worked for a year at All India Institute of Medical Sciences-Bhopal, before being appointed consultant at AIIMS Raipur.

** Bengaluru gets largest Miyawaki forest

“The project started in November 2018 and now the saplings stand tall and dense. The area will be with us till January 2023 after which it will be handed over to the Railways.

The 4.75 acres of Miyawaki forest created on Indian Railway Institute of Disaster Management land in Hejjalla, Mysuru Road, is the largest man-made forest in Bengaluru, according to Say Trees, an NGO group. The area is covered with 60 native species in four layers — trees, sub-trees, canopy and shrubs.

** Krithi Karanth becomes first Asian woman to win WILD Innovators Award for her work in understanding human-animal conflict

For her efforts, Krithi was awarded the WILD Innovators Award, the first for an Asian woman on April 27, 2021.

This award is bestowed by the WILD ELEMENTS Foundation that brings together innovators, advocates and partners to identify solutions for conservation.

The foundation partners with premier science and conservation experts across the world and also with celebrities and influencers who promote interdependence.

According to the citation, Krithi was given the award for researching human dimensions in wildlife for over 20 years.

** Farmer’s feat in growing apples in Chitradurga surprises others

Jyoti Prakash from Godabanahal village in Chitradurga has made people turn to him in awe. The farmers here have struggled and lost in their effort to successfully grow areca nuts.

Many have maintained plantations by getting water in tankers for years together. Jyoti Prakash thought differently and planned to raise this alternative crop.

After getting to know that apples can be grown in this climate, he planted 300 apple saplings in his plantation. He brought these saplings from Himachal Pradesh.

** Innovation award for Index App

The city’s Index App, which was developed following the outbreak of COVID-19, has been recognised for using technology to set up the COVID-19 war room. It has been adjudged the winner in the third round of the COVID-19 Innovation Award in the India Smart Cities Awards Contest (ISAC) 2020.

The results of ISAC 2020 along with Climate Smart Cities Assessment Results 2.0 were announced by Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri in New Delhi on Friday. Bengaluru bagged three stars with an overall score of 1,271 out of 2,800. It fared fairly well and bagged three stars each in the areas of energy and green building (330/600) and urban planning, green cover and biodiversity (244/500).

The city also bagged four stars in waste management (395/600), but fared poorly in the areas of mobility and air quality (two stars; 187/500) and water management (one star; 115/600). Tumakuru’s Digital Library Solution also bagged third place in ISAC 2020 under the social aspects category.

** Trials for India’s first medical drone delivery service begins in Karnataka

India’s first drone delivery service, that specialises in medical supplies, will begin operating in Karnataka soon. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s green signal is awaited, Throttle Aerospace Systems (TAS) CEO Nagendran Kandasamy said.

The trial, which started on Monday and continued till Tuesday, was successful, Kandasamy said. He said India’s first official beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) medical drone delivery experiment started in Sembhukha Nagar of Gowribidanur taluk in Chikballapur and the trial will continue for 30 to 40 days.

** IBM, IISc. set up Hybrid Cloud Lab

IBM and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) on Wednesday launched the IBM-IISc Hybrid Cloud Lab to advance research in hybrid cloud technologies and drive breakthrough innovations.

** Bengaluru students make it to screens at New York’s Times Square

All interns were able to savour their moment of fame as part of a marketing initiative by Morgan Stanley called ‘India Interns Lights on Broadway’.

Tejaswini was among 277 college students from India who landed an internship with financial services giant Morgan Stanley, whose individual photos were beamed on a screen at the firm’s headquarters, which it says is very visible to Wall Street.