** Student develops mini-oxygen plant in just eight months, all by himself

A 19-year-old engineering student has single-handedly invented a prototype of a mini-oxygen plant that produces up to 94.5 per cent pure oxygen and can be used in homes, hospitals as well as industries.

Called OxiPlant, the device works on the pressure swing adsorption (PSA) process.

It took Tejas P Karanji, a first-year student of electronics and communication engineering at PES University, all of eight months to conceptualise, design, fabricate and develop the product.

** Karnataka Bank bags awards at tech conference

The bank bagged three awards at the 17th Annual Banking Technology Conference and Awards 2020-21 Next Gen Banking, organised by Indian Banks’ Association

Karnataka Bank has bagged three coveted awards at the 17th Annual Banking Technology Conference and Awards 2020-21 Next Gen Banking, organised by Indian Banks’ Association on February 14.

The bank has won won awards for Best Technology Bank of the Year, Best Fintech Adoption and Best Use of AI/ML and Data Analytics, emerging second in all these categories.

** Bengaluru’s M Visvesvaraya terminal to be India’s third ‘world-class’ railway station

The M Visvesvaraya railway terminal in Bengaluru is ready for commissioning as the country’s third ‘world-class’ railway station in the near future.  Earlier, the Gandhinagar capital railway station in Gujarat and the Rani Kamlapati railway station in Madhya Pradesh were redeveloped and commissioned as the country’s first and second ‘world-class’ stations of the Indian railways.

** Mindtree co-founders donate Rs 425 crore to IISc to help build an 800-bed multi-specialty hospital

This is the single largest private donation IISc has received to build the postgraduate medical school and multi-specialty hospital, officials of the Institute said.

Philanthropist couples Susmita and Subroto Bagchi and Radha and NS Parthasarathy collectively donated Rs 425 crore to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to set up a postgraduate medical school along with an 800-bed multi-speciality hospital in its Bengaluru campu

** Ravi Kakyapadav selected for annual Mangaluru Press Club Award

Ravi Kakyapadav, who became a successful entrepreneur despite illiteracy, provided jobs to about 300 people and is helping the poor is selected for the annual Mangaluru Press Club Award being presented to the special achievers.

The selection was made by the committee of senior journalist Manohar Prasad, Indian Red Cross society, Dakshina Kannada branch executive committee member, social worker Ravindranath K and Sahyadri Engineering College professor Dr G Ananta Prabhu.

He came to Subrahmanya in 2000 and became painter and transport worker before becoming a contractor. He later started his own Anugraha construction and Amratha Anugraha Industries at Anekal and became a successful contractor. He has constructed more than 265 houses and five apartments providing jobs to about 300 people.

** A golden future for turmeric

Soil-less agriculture could be the solution to increasing the yield and quality of turmeric cultivation in India, says this Bengaluru-based expert

For CV Prakash — a former naval officer who is also recognised as an expert in soil-less agriculture — making turmeric ( Curcuma longa ) more profitable for the ordinary farmer has become a passion during lockdown.

His ongoing Mission Turmeric 2021 aims to begin an “orange revolution”, he says, by teaching people to cultivate the spice in grow bags (large porous containers made of high density polyethelene) packed with coco-peat (made from the pith of the coconut husk) instead of soil, in shade houses.

Introduced to soil-less agriculture after he migrated to Australia in 2000, Prakash brought his interest back to his homeland in 2008. He has trained over 10,000 people in cultivating different crops using hydroponics and other soil-free alternatives at his CV Hydro training centre, which functions under the auspices of Aggragannya Skills, Bengaluru.

** How Bengaluru fell in love with the rose

When it comes to cut roses, Bengaluru is the biggest exporter in India. Pune is a close competitor. But Bengaluru roses are of better quality, says M Vishwanath, joint director, horticulture, Karnataka.

NRI teen girl invents problem-based learning to helps kids

“I saw my parents testing lead levels in water at home and the process was tedious, unreliable and expensive,” she said.

 Gitanjali Rao, a child prodigy and inventor, said the cause of her success was her community, a supportive environment as well as the focus on problem-based learning in schools.

Speaking at the Diaspora Diplomacy speaker series, organised by the US Mission in India, the 16-year-old talked about her experiences, her thought processes as well as her upcoming inventions. Gitanjali, an Indian-origin student from the US, is an accomplished inventor, having come to the forefront with Tethys, a device that detects lead levels in water and transmits the information over Bluetooth.

** Experts recall success story of CFTRI’s infant food from buffalo’s milk

The story behind the formulation of infant food (Amul) from buffalo’s milk using the technology developed by the scientists from CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) was retold during a webinar organised on Monday, in commemoration of 80 years of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

Under the title “80 years and 80 success stories”, experts, including present and former CFTRI directors, former senior official of Amul and others brought to light how the infant food using buffalo’s milk was formulated and the efforts put in by the scientists of CSIR-CFTRI decades ago when resources were in scarce.