Category: World Opinion

** Infosys Foundation opens OPD at Kidwai hospital

A 75,000 sqft, multi-disciplinary Outpatient Department (OPD) was opened at the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology in Bengaluru on Monday.The block was the initiative of Infosys Foundation and was inaugurated by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar, in the virtual presence of foundation chairperson Sudha Murty.

Built at a cost of Rs 25.5 crore, the OPD will cover 12 departments and aims to accommodate nearly 1,800 patients daily. “This is a small effort by the foundation to ensure that people have access to clean, hygienic, and timely medical intervention, especially at a time when we are engulfed by a pandemic,” Sudha Murty said.

** Sailing along

Even when he’s not performing a surgery, Dr Antony Robert Charles is busy suturing ice cream sticks, toothpicks and buttons for his miniature ships.

As a paediatric surgeon, Dr Antony Robert Charles’ schedule is unpredictable, with no idea of what the day holds.

In the midst of this, there’s one thing that remains constant, his miniature ship -building activity. A hobby that started eight years ago after his team and he from St John’s Hospital went to Andaman and Nicobar Islands as part of the tsunami relief effort, Charles now finds solace in building these ships from scratch. “I suppose being there and seeing everything we did on the Islands is what inspired me to come back and want to learn how to make the ships on my own. The conventional way would have been to buy the kits and fix it like a jigsaw puzzle, but I wanted to create something with my own hands,” says the doctor, who currently practices with Kindersurge.

** Peekay Group ties up with BACL to develop 3D printing facility at Bengaluru airport city

Kerala-based Peekay Group has signed a pact with Bengaluru Airport City Ltd (BACL) to develop a 3D printing technology facility at the airport city that is being developed at the Bengaluru airport premises, according to a statement released said on Friday.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), BACL was formed to develop the airport city at the Bengaluru airport, consisting of business parks, health district, retail dining and entertainment village.

** Postal department to release special covers on 42 GI tags of Karnataka

To showcase the unique features of Karnataka, the postal department plans to bring out special covers on all the 42 Geographical Indication (GI) tags of the State. They will be displayed at all airports in the State.

Appemidi Mango, Coorg Arabica Coffee, Devanahalli Pomello, Gulbarga Tur Dal, Byadagi Chilli, Sirsi Supari, Bangalore Rose Onion, Mysore Sandal Soap and Dharwad Peda are among the iconic products.

** `Karnataka to play a critical role in increasing domestic consumption of coffee’

Coffee growing countries, India, Brazil, and South Africa, should collaborate to combat common challenges they face such as global price volatility, high cost of production, and labour shortage, suggested International Coffee Organisation (ICO).

** New plant found in Tumakuru takes the district’s name

B. tumakurense comes from a tuber and belongs to the Apocynaceae family of flowering plants.

A new plant of the Brachystelma R.Br. species has been found in Tumakuru, and has been named after the district from where its type material was collected. ‘B. tumakurense’ comes from a tuber and belongs to the Apocynaceae family (a family of flowering plants).

The findings were published recently in ‘RHEEDEA Journal of the Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy’ by Gundappa B.V. from the Wildlife Aware Nature Club, Tumakuru; Sringeswara A.N. and Vishwanath S. from the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), GKVK Campus – Bengaluru; and P. Venu from the Environment Protection Training and Research Institute – Hyderabad.

** Wrestling against all odds… and winning

Meet Raju M, 33, whose never-say-die attitude helped him shake off the agony and pick himself up.

Since 2013, he has been bringing home awards and medals after winning competitions at the district, state, national and international levels, both in the para-athletics and general category competitions. In the last decade, he has netted more than 30 medals and several trophies. All these helped him qualify for the National World Championship held in 2018. After clinching a gold medal in the national category, Raju participated in the 21st World Para Arm-Wrestling Championship held at Antalya in Turkey in the same year.