It has been developed by students of Bengaluru’s Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology
Gannet, a sea bird, is known to pursue its prey under water and is capable of hunting fish by diving into the sea. This Gannet, however, is an unmanned aerial vehicle that is capable of remaining under water like a submarine.
Developed by students of Bengaluru’s Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, the UAV called Gannet on Sunday won the best college project award at Aero India 2019 and students walked away with a cash prize of ₹2 lakh. The UAV can not just fly, but also remains under water and does not require much power.
“It has a separate propeller to move under water and also has navigational wings for the autonomous mode,” said Shiv Varun Singh Rajput, a third year mechanical engineering student of MVIT. He along with D. Revanth, an electronics and communication student, and Aman Singh, student of electrical and electronics, have jointly developed Gannet. The vehicle, which weighs 2.6 kg, can go to a depth of up to 20 metres and can remain under water for months. When required, it can be triggered to move. It can fly for 14 to 20 minutes while can be operated under water for four to five hours.
Currently, Gannet is being incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay to scale it up for commercialisation. “We are the first in the country to do an underwater vehicle. We do not want to keep this as a project but want to commercialise the product. It may take about four months to make it market ready,” he added.
Among others, the camera equipped Gannet has civilian application in fisheries industries and pollution monitoring of rivers. “You don’t require divers in many aspects. Instead, the UAV can be operated.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – February 24th, 2019
A 25-year-old bartender from Bengaluru, Rohan Matmary won the Brown-Forman American Whiskey Legacy Cocktail Challenge 2019 held in New Delhi on February 6.
Rohan Matmary
Bengaluru :
A 25-year-old bartender from Bengaluru, Rohan Matmary won the Brown-Forman American Whiskey Legacy Cocktail Challenge 2019 held in New Delhi on February 6. The third edition of the challenge saw participation of 300 mixologists from Delhi, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Pune, Mumbai, Goa, Chennai and Bengaluru and 17 of them were shortlisted for the finale.
The competition was judged by industry experts, including Yangdup Lama, one of India’s finest and well-known mixologist; Vikram Achanta, CEO and co-founder of the popular portal Tulleeho and Vinay Joshi, Brand Manager, Jack Daniel’s for Indian subcontinent and Maldives, Brown-Forman Worldwide LLC. The annual championship expects mixologists to create some signature cocktail recipes with some of the most well-known American whiskies. Matmary, a mixologist at the Byg Brewsky, Sarjapur Road, prepared Lillianaire and Aztec Mule at the finale. Lillianaire is a combination of whiskey, hibiscus plant and egg white and Aztec Mule is a mix of whiskey, pineapple, jaggery and jalapeño.
He says, “I created these cocktails over three months with several trials and errors and received feedback from my customers. Some said it’s spicy and others found them too sweet. So I worked on creating a balance between sweet and sour so that it suits the Indian palate. Indians prefer their drinks slightly sweeter, while Americans prefer it sour.” He adds that as these combinations for cocktails are rare, people were initially hesitant to try. Coming up with these recipes weren’t easy for Matmary. “These ingredients are a rare combination. Some, for example, would associate hibiscus with whiskey. So, I did a lot of trials before making these creations,” he says, adding that these cocktails will be included in the menu and patrons can try them with some meat options. “Lillianaire is quite velvety while Aztec Mule is very tiki-like, fun-loving and a good drink during a brunch,” he says. But, his personal favourite is
Aztec Mule.
This was the second time Matmary participated in this challenge. Last time, he secured the second position. “This time, luckily, I came first,” says Matmary, who has always been interested in bartending and loves trying out different combinations with whiskey and gin.
Now, the 25-year-old bar chef will go on a guided tour to the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, and the Woodford Reserve Distillery in Versailles, Kentucky, USA. Besides the distilleries, he will also attend the Bar Convent Brooklyn, a leading international bar and beverage trade show, as part of a global bartending contingent and rub shoulders with some of the best bartenders globally.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Akhila Damodaran / Express News Service / February 18th, 2019
Drones delivering goods ordered online and being used to photograph exotic locations which are inaccessible to humans are already well known.
A heavy-lift hybrid drone developed by Poeir Jets
Bengaluru :
Drones delivering goods ordered online and being used to photograph exotic locations which are inaccessible to humans are already well known. How about a drone-based fire extinguisher that can reach any spot without the hassles faced by fire tenders or firemen?A Bengaluru-based aerospace firm — Poeir Jets — is developing heavy-lift hybrid drones for the purpose, which has already attracted the attention of a Spanish firm, Drone Hopper, for mass production.
Speaking to TNIE, Devathathan Mookiaha, director of Poeir Jets, said that the ‘Urban Firefighting Hopper’ is designed to restrain fires, especially in high-rise buildings. “The drone uses six micro-jet engines — developed by Poeir — to carry either extinguishing foam or water to douse flames,” he said.
The hopper is among the four heavy-lift drones being developed by the firm. “For the ‘Firefighting Hopper’, one-third of the research grant is being provided by the Department of Science and Technology,” he said.
Mookiaha and the firm’s co-founder Sridhar Balaram have been developing heavy-lift drones for the past three years and were the first company in the country to develop micro-jets. These micro-jets are being used for drones developed by the company.
Poeir Jets has also launched three heavy-lift drones during the ongoing 12th Aero India. While its Turbo Shaft MTS 30 will be able to carry weights of up to 200 kg when fully developed, Hybrid Drone DJE 30 has a capacity to carry weights of up to 75 kg for more than two hours.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Akram Mohammed / Express News Service / February 23rd, 2019
inister for Sericulture S.R. Mahesh, Minister for Higher Education G.T. Deve Gowda, and Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath at the cocoon market in Mysuru on Sunday.
A publicity campaign was held in Manyda, Mysuru, and Chamarajanagar earlier
A cocoon market began functioning on the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Yard in Bandipalya on the outskirts of Mysuru on Sunday with more than 3,000 kg of cocoons auctioned on the first day.
The cocoon market in Mysuru will have to vie with established markets in Ramanagaram, Malavalli, T. Narsipura, Kollegal and Santhemarahalli, among other places in the region.
Nataraj, Joint Director of Sericulture, Mysuru, said the cocoon market received a good response. More than 3,000 kg of cocoon was sold. The maximum price was ₹413 per kg and the lowest was ₹280 per kg.
Officials of the Department of Sericulture had carried out a publicity campaign in sericulture-intensive areas of Manyda, Mysuru and Chamarajanagar ahead of the start of the cocoon market here.
A cocoon market in Mysuru will be of convenience to farmers in the region as they can avoid the expenditure otherwise incurred on transporting produce to other far away markets. “For farmers who grow other produce, a cocoon market in Mysuru will help them bring the cocoons to the APMC yard and sell other produce too,” Mr. Nataraj said.
Earlier, Minister for Sericulture S.R. Mahesh, who inaugurated the market, recalled Mysuru’s more than two centuries old agricultural tradition of sericulture introduced during rule of Tipu Sultan. Presently, more than 12 lakh families are dependent on sericulture in Karnataka with Mysuru earning a name for itself in the silk industry.
In the absence of a cocoon market in Mysuru, efforts were made to establish a market to cater to districts of Chamarajanagar and Mandya along with Mysuru, which together had a total of 36,000 growers and 735 reelers.
55 cocoon markets
Karnataka, which is the leading silk producer in the country, has a total of 55 cocoon markets including 20 seed cocoon markets and 35 commercial silk cocoon markets.
Mr. Nataraj said the cocoon market was presently functioning from a premises rented from the APMC yard. The buyers and sellers have to pay 1% of the transaction amount as market fees.
Though the department was facing a shortage of staff in Mysuru to handle the affairs of the market, about five persons including a demonstrator, a first division assistant, and an inspector have been drawn from different places to assist them in the functioning of the cocoon market.
5,000 acres of land
According to Javare Gowda, Deputy Director of Sericulture, Mysuru, Mysuru district alone has mulberry cultivation spread across more than 5,000 acres of land in 600 villages with more than 3,300 farmers and their families engaged in sericulture activities. “A total of 70,000 to 75,000 kg of cocoons are reared in Mysuru every month,” he said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – February 24th, 2019
If you want to know what a model Green Village looks like, then you have to visit Satageri near Karwar.
Solar light and battery at a house in Satageri
Karwar :
If you want to know what a model Green Village looks like, then you have to visit Satageri near Karwar. Until three years ago, women had to blow and invariably inhale the smoke while cooking on firewood. Not any more. Now they boast of an LPG connection. This is not the only clean and green change in this village.
Satageri, located about 25 km from Karwar and surrounded by forests of the Western Ghats, proudly displays solar power, LPG connection and toilet in every house. Solar lamps light up the houses. People do not throw any waste on the streets, and even make vermicompost for use in their garden and fields. The village, with 70 houses and a population of about 270, sets an example of how people can live with forest and nature without harming it.
“We are happy to live here and nobody is interested in leaving the village any more,” says Gajer Vaikuntha Marathe, a farmer from Satageri.The villagers cannot thank the forest department enough for the change that it ushered into their hamlet over three years ago. The forest department took Satageri under its wing in 2016, as part of the Green Village and Smokeless Village schemes of the state government.
LPG cylinder and gas stove;
It distributed free LPG connections and two solar light systems to each house. A total of 12 solar street lights were also set up.According to a senior forest officer, since 34 houses already had LPG connections, they distributed free connections to the remaining 36 houses. All the people were also given fruit and flower saplings, and encouraged to grow trees near their houses. The place has now been converted into a Green Village.
The situation was far different here earlier. The village was like many others in the country. People collected firewood from the forest, electricity was a nightmare during the monsoon months and the surroundings, though enveloped by a verdant green cover, were not clean.Women had to go to the forest every day to collect firewood, otherwise they faced shortage to meet the daily household needs, says Malita Mohan Marathe, talking about how the practice has been stopped over the last three years since food in every house is now cooked using LPG.
Gajer Vaikuntha too points out that all the villagers have happily adopted the new way of life. Each house got a toilet constructed under the Gram Panchayat scheme.Vinod Marathe, who runs an autorickshaw, says he earlier used to pay `100 towards the electricity bill every month, but the charges have come down by half after solar light system was installed at his house. His family uses electricity only to watch TV, and to run the refrigerator and mixer-grinder while the house is lit using solar power.
Satageri has a primary school, and after completing Class 5, children travel 3 km to Ulga village for pursuing higher education, including graduation and some professional courses. People here are engaged in various occupations, including farming, daily wage labour, and small businesses. Some of them work in Karwar and other nearby towns while four persons hold government jobs. Women mostly look after the house and work in their fields.
They are also involved in making vermicompost, and are part of the Village Forest Committee (VFC), that strives to conserve the forest and wildlife, and protect it from poachers. They plant saplings and take up other work with the forest department, for which the latter shares its profit with the VFC.Satageri, which comes under Gopishitta range forest, was selected to be developed as a model village in 2015-16, says K Ganapathi, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Karwar Division. He lauds the women of the village for their commitment towards protecting the forest. “We wish such VFCs come up in other villages too,” Ganapathi says.
What is a Green Village?
State forest department’s Green Village scheme aims to make the whole village smokeless by making people stop using firewood and opting for LPG stoves. Satageri village of Karwar taluk was selected under the scheme on a pilot basis.
Tackling Poverty
More than 65 families of the village have Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards, and all of them have enrolled in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). They have been earning money by taking up activities such as developing the school ground, desilting the pond, and other works.
Natural Treasures
The village is surrounded by the thick and evergreen forest of Western Ghats. Along with precious wood, it is home to wildlife such as leopard and black panther. The Kali river flows just a few kilometres away from the village.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Arunkumar Huralimath / Express News Service / February 24th, 2019
Ko Channabasappa | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
He died at a private hospital on Saturday morning.
Ko Channabasappa, former judge, writer and a well-known liberal voice in Karnataka , passed away on Saturday. He was 97.
He presided over the Kannada Sahitya Sammelana at Vijayapura in 2015. In his Sammelana address, he had defended an individual’s right to expression. He was the recipient of several awards including the Rajyotsava award.
Channabasappa died at a private hospital on Saturday morning. He is survived by two sons and two daughters.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – February 23rd, 2019
A Kannada film, Kalbettada Darodekoraru, based on a novel written by Mysuru youth Anush A Shetty is all set to hit theatres this Friday.
Anush Shetty
Bengaluru :
A Kannada film, Kalbettada Darodekoraru, based on a novel written by Mysuru youth Anush A Shetty is all set to hit theatres this Friday. Shetty, a writer and a musician ventured into novel writing while pursuing his Masters. A multi-faceted personality, he not only writes books but is also an exponent in Tabala, Mridangam and other percussions. Kalbettada Darodekoraru isn’t Shetty’s first novel and he has penned four books in total. Ahuthi was his first work, then followed Kalbettada Darodekoraru, Jodpala was third and then Neenu Ninnolage Khaidi was his fourth.
His fiction novel Kalbettada Darodekoraru turned out to be a milestone in his career as a writer as the novel inspired filmmaker Deepak Madhuvanahalli to bring the story to the big screen. It all began when Madhuvanahalli read an article about Shetty and his book. Having liked the novel penned, the filmmaker decided to transform the story into visual art and contacted Shetty for the rights.
“In the past, many people got in touch with me to make a film or short film on the novel, but most of them did not turn up later. Similarly, when Deepak got in touch with me, I did not take it seriously but was surprised when he came with a producer and asked for the rights,” says Shetty.
He added that since he had watched Madhuvanahalli’s previous film Bhagyaraj, which he found “sensible”, he decided to give the rights to the filmmaker. Shetty played an active role in the scripting process and was in constant touch with the team. “They retained the structure of the novel and have made a few necessary changes to fit the story into the film’s format,” he said.
An ardent follower of columnist Abdul Rasheed, Shetty is planning to publish a book soon, on a collection of stories of Rasheed under Anugraha Prakashana. “I am also penning a few short stories that will be made into a book collection of short stories in the near future,” said Shetty, who has also been associated with two music bands ‘Naavu’ and ‘Rhythm Adda’ as well. Kalbettada Darodekoraru is made under the banner of Bridge Cinemas, starring Nataraj, Shwetha R Prasad and Hemanth Sushil in major roles and has music by composer and singer J Anoop Seelin.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Karthik K K / Express News Service / February 19th, 2019
Professor P.R. Mukund and MegaVision president Ken Boydston with the multispectral imaging.
It is currently being used on rare texts in Udupi’s Ashta Mutts
Thousands of manuscripts scattered across India — many lying in neglect or threatened by the exposure to vagaries of nature — are facing threats of destruction. To preserve them, a Bengaluru-based not-for-profit organisation has procured a highly advanced multispectral imaging technology to capture their images. The technology is currently being used on rare texts in the Ashta Mutts of Udupi.
What is special about multispectral imaging is that it can capture texts in manuscripts that are affected by pests, fungus, over written, scribbled, blackened or scraped and cannot be seen with bare eyes. It uses infrared rays and ultraviolet rays to retrieve texts.
Its importance
“Mapping of knowledge is important in the current context. People are not bothered about these manuscripts because they do not see a direct relation with them and understand the importance of the stuff in it,” says P.R. Mukund, professor, Electrical Engineering, at Rochester Institute of Technology and founder of Bengaluru-based Tara Prakashana. “We have brought the technology for the first time in the country and the services would be offered for free. Our aim is to preserve the important written scripts in the country for posterity,” he said.
Tara Prakashana has acquired the imaging system from the U.S.-based MegaVision, a leading digital imaging company, that has worked in similar projects across the world and MegaVision president Ken Boydston has been training people in handling the multispectral imager over the last week.
Prof. Mukund’s interest in developing technology that would help conserve the knowledge for posterity started more than a decade ago when his guru Bannanje Govindacharya sought his help in conserving the 800-year-old Sarvamoola Grantha, authored by Saint Madhvacharya. The text is in the possession of Palimar Mutt and was found to be in bad shape in 2006.
“At that time, I did not have any idea about processing of manuscripts. Help came from a fellow professor from the imaging department at Rochester,” said Prof. Mukund. Since then, more than 3,000 rare manuscript bundles have been digitised, a small part of which has now been published into 500 archival books and nearly 1,000 more archival books will be ready shortly. Currently, ancient texts belonging the lineage of Saint Madhvacharya that are in the possession of the Ashta Mutts in Udupi are being digitised using the technology.
For Mr. Boydston, his association with the project comes from his love to protect ancient works, though he says cultural imaging is still not profitable. “I get to meet people who really know stuff. Even if no money is being paid, there is a lot of stuff to do. Objects [antiquities] have great value. Experts know historical contents and to be in the project is a great honour,” he said.
“We want to make the imaging complete and accurate following which several bundles of copies can be generated to preserve the knowledge for future generation,” said Mr. Boydston.
The next stage
The conservation efforts does not stop at capturing the images of manuscripts. While creation of e-library of manuscripts for the scholars to retrieve and research is currently under way, Tara Prakashana has published about 500 books of manuscripts.
“We have used the acid-free cotton archival paper for publishing these manuscripts. These special papers can last another couple of hundreds of years,” said Prof. Mukund.
To enhance the time span of the texts captured in images, a patented technology developed by Prof. Mukund called the wafer fiche, is being used. Using photo lithography technology, the images are imprinted on silicon wafers. “These copies can last for thousands of years,” he said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Sharath S. Srivatsa / Bengaluru – February 17th, 2019
12th edition brings back civil aviation, ‘India as global runway of opportunities’
Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu at the launch of Aero India Show 2019, Bengaluru, February 20, 2019 | Photo Credit: K. Bhagya Praksh
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rolled out a red carpet of opportunities in local defence and aerospace manufacturing to global investors as she launched Aero India 2019 here on Wednesday.
As the 12th edition of the biennial international military and civil expo and air show opened at the Air Force Station Yelahanka, the gathering and airmen showered tributes to Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi, who was killed during a rehearsal on Tuesday.
“Aero India 2019 endeavours to put India as the global runway of a billion opportunities,” Ms. Sitharaman told a gathering of a few thousand invitees. Ministers, heads of global defence aerospace companies, corporate and government policymakers, military brass, entrepreneurs, delegates and exhibitors from across the world were at the event.
The chiefs of the three Armed Forces — Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa, Admiral Sunil Lanba and General Bipin Rawat — were in attendance at the show organised by the Ministry of Defence.
Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre, Union Ministers D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Suresh Prabhu, Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra, Secretary-Defence Production Dr. Ajay Kumar and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Chairman Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy were at the event.
Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy highlighted Bengaluru’s establishment of itself as the country’s capital in design, research and production in aerospace and defence.
After many years, the edition brings civil aviation back to a largely military show. The Ministry said it was the biggest so far, with 403 exhibitors and 61 aircraft in static or flying displays.
‘Missing man’
Three IAF fighter jets and a Rafale aircraft paid an aerial tribute to Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi, who was killed in a midair mishap during a rehearsal on Tuesday. The Indian jets Tejas, Sukhoi Su-30MKI and Jaguar flew past in a formation called Missing Man. The pilot of a French Rafale fighter in a flying demonstration made a sombre flypast for the killed airman.
Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) did a jaw dropping vertical climb called the Charlie in memory of the late Atal Behari Vajpayee.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Madhumathi D.S / Bengaluru – February 20th, 2019
According to Venkataramana, the cost of this machine is one-third the cost of the other machines available in the industry.
Bengaluru :
Medical science and engineering technology have come together to bring out a stereotactic frame, 3DR Stereotactic System, which will be used in performing stereotactic and functional neurosurgery. Bengaluru-based Brains Hospital, a neuro spine centre, in association with Mahalasa Medical Technologies, has designed the 3DR Stereotactic System.
According to Dr N K Venkataramana, founder chairman of Brains Hospital, and a chief Neurosurgeon, “This is a versatile machine which can be used during MRI, CT scans, and during surgeries that are carried out for treating tumours, epilepsy and other brain-related diseases.”
According to Venkataramana, the cost of this machine is one-third the cost of the other machines available in the industry. “I can proudly say this is manufactured under Prime Minister’s Make in India concept,” he added.
Launching the product on Tuesday, Union Defence Nirmala Sitharaman Minister said, “One should look at funders from India and not outside India. Bengaluru is blessed as it has all kinds of people, including funders.”
How this frameworks
This is used to carry out minimally invasive surgery. This frame is fixed to the head that guides the surgeon to reach specific targets in the brain. Stereotactic surgery or stereotaxy makes use of a three dimensional coordinates to locate small targets inside the brain and to perform procedures on them such as ablation, biopsy, lesion, injection, stimulation, implantation, and radiosurgery.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Express News Service / February 20th, 2019
