Low cost face shield developed by NITK Surathkal, in Mangaluru.
It costs only ₹12 to make such a shield
The National Institute of Technology-Karnataka (NIT-K), Surathkal, has developed an economical, reusable and transparent face shield using locally available low- cost material to fight against COVID -19.
According to Arun M. Isloor, Professor and Head, Department of Chemistry at the institute, the production cost of each face shield will be a maximum of ₹12.
Mr. Isloor who supervised a team of volunteers who prepared the shield at the institute said that the Director of the institute K. Uma Maheshwar Rao handed over 300 such face shields to Sindhu B Rupesh, Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada on Saturday.
A yoga mat, a polyester transparent sheet, a synthetic adhesive and velcro tape have been used for making the shields. “Each shield can be used for at least 90-100 days by washing it in soap water or by using some four droplets of hand sanitiser,” Prof. Isloor said.
He said that during mid-March he saw his Malaysian collaborators wearing face shields made of an elastic band, which was not only expensive but inconvenient for long-time wearing. One late evening he observed his seven-year-old son playing with his small yoga mat, which suddenly made him to think that the strip of yoga mat can be used for making the face shield.
One of the important reasons for the rapid spread of the COVID-19 across the globe is lack of availability of Personal Protecting Equipment (PPEs) such as hand gloves, protective coverage, masks, face shield, etc. The PPEs are out reach of the common people due to high cost and limited supply. Due to complete lock down of industries which can manufacture them on large scale, has also add to the lack of supply, he said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mangaluru – May 12th, 2020
The product is becoming popular with employers including educational institutes, said chief mentor Dr. Joseph Rasquinha.
Mobility solutions startup Royal Brothers, which rents out vehicles by the hour, is also offering rentals by the month.
Bengaluru :
Many Bengaluru-based service-sector startups are finding ways to revamp their businesses to suit a post-COVID-19 economy. While some have moved online, others have found new uses for existing products.
With biometrics-based attendance becoming a passe due to COVID-19 precautions, attendance solutions firm BlueLeaf Cyberspace is offering GPS-based attendance applications for both work-from-home and field staff.
The product is becoming popular with employers including educational institutes, said chief mentor Dr. Joseph Rasquinha. The team of women engineers who created a non-contact sleep and breathing monitor for babies, has redeployed its product for monitoring Covid-19 patients.
Co-founder of RayIoT Solutions Ranjana Nair said, “The same device is used in isolation wards and quarantine facilities. All the devices are connected to a central database from where the government health workers and doctors can monitor people who require ventilators or ICU facilities. The video/audio facility helps doctors assess patients without having direct contact.”
Mobility solutions startup Royal Brothers, which rents out vehicles by the hour, is also offering rentals by the month.
It has also thrown in incentives such as free home delivery of sanitised bikes for those booking for 15 days and more. Corporate gifts company, OffiNeeds.com has added a range of products that cater to whatever one needs when working from home. BE-IVY, which grooms IVY-League aspirants at its Hennur campus, has partnered with institutes in Paris to widen its horizon of mentorship, while also facilitating online-learning.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Pearl Maria D’Souza / Express News Service / May 11th, 2020
This engineer-turned-farmer has ensured technological convergence in farming after developing an online platform for consumers to place orders for vegetables and fruits so that the required quantum could be sourced from farmers and delivered at their doorsteps.
Chetan Dabake, 30, an active member of Bidar Horticultural Farmers Producers Company Limited, has developed www.raithanamitra.in. “Consumers can place their orders with a minimum purchase of ₹100. The orders are in the four categories – vegetables, leafy vegetables, fruits, and ripen-yourself-mangoes under which consumers can buy green mangoes and ripen them at their homes through traditional methods,” he says. “The door-delivery system on behalf of the FPO began on April 14 in Bidar and we are about to extend it to Belagavi.” According to him, there are about 2,300 consumers for the organisation so far in Bidar.
Mr. Dabake, a civil engineer with an MBA degree, says he took to farming as it was his passion. Earlier in February, he was honoured by the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) with the ‘innovative farmer award’.
“I have realised that 10% is growing crops while 90% is marketing. Hence direct and innovative marketing is the key to make agriculture a profitable venture,” he says.
He is planning to extend the scope of door-delivery to all parts of the State.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – May 10th, 2020
Mysuru-based JSSAHER has come up with ICU on-wheels, low-cost ventilator, DentiSafe, multimode air sanitizer and hand-held UV surface sanitizer
The research team of the Mysuru-based JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research (JSSAHER), the health sciences-focussed deemed university, has developed new bio-safety technologies in support of the global initiatives for research to prevent the spread and impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
The university said it has developed five technologies/products including ICU on-wheels; low-cost ventilator; DentiSafe; multimode air sanitizer; and hand-held UV surface sanitizer.
The new safety devices were launched here on Friday in the presence of Shivarathri Deshikendra Swami of Suttur Mutt, Minister in-charge of Mysuru district S.T. Somashekar, Minister for Large and Medium Industries Jagadish Shettar and Minister for Urban Development B.A. Basavaraj.
The ICU on-wheels ensure the isolation and ICU facility in remote sites of disaster and supports the golden hour of treatment – be it pandemics or disasters. The facility can be made available at home. The approximate cost of this set-up at the present development stage is about ₹4 lakh and the cost will get reduced in large-scale manufacture, a press release from the university said.
The low-cost ventilator is a portable device with adjustable tidal volume and provides positive-end expiratory pressure (PEEP) “which is not apparently found in other low-cost ventilators”. The cost of this ventilator is ₹30,000 and can be reduced further, according to the research team.
DentiSafe is an application to ensure the practice of dentistry safe for both patients and dentists. The application is a mobile device developed to sterilise dental chairs and treatment areas in less than 20 minutes using a non-chemical intervention and relies on the specific wavelength of UV light for safety. The approximate cost of the device is ₹30,000 and can be reduced in large-scale manufacture, the release stated.
“The multimode air sanitizer has a three-step sanitisation process – UV treatment at a specific wavelength to kill the virus; ionisation that kills all microbes, including virus; and lastly a HEPA filter that reduces the particulate matter in the air. The cost of the device is ₹4,500 which can be reduced further if produced in bulk,” the release said.
The University Registrar said lithium-ion battery-operated hand-held UV surface sanitizer device uses UV radiation for sanitising small surfaces frequently used by others such as lift buttons, keyboards etc. This sanitizer can be carried by individuals in their pockets. The cost of the device is ₹1,250 and can be reduced further on bulk production.
The release said JSSAHER will continue to work on these technologies and make them more cost-effective, robust, and highly efficient.
The JSSAHER has thanked Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swami for his support to develop the technologies besides C.G. Betsurmath, Executive Secretary; B. Suresh, Pro-Chancellor; and Surinder Singh, Vice-Chancellor. The research team is led by S. Balasubramanian, Director-Research.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – May 08th, 2020
Addressing the shortage of ventilators in the country, the Bengaluru-based Reva University has launched ‘Jeeva Setu’ — an affordable medical ventilator.
According to Chancellor of Reva University P Shyama Raju, the ventilator is the university’s contribution to help the fight against coronavirus.
Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to the scientific community to work on innovative modes of building scientific power and support, a team of faculty members at Reva University got together an affordable model of medical ventilator — Jeeva Setu.
The launch of Jeeva Setu proves the strength of the university and its capacity for innovation in a short period, the university officials said.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City> Top Bengaluru Stories / by DHNS, Bengaluru / April 28th, 2020
One of the researchers told TNIE that as a virus has a negative-charge surface, and as the outer layer of the mask also gets negatively charged, the virus repels.
A tailor makes protective masks. (Photo | BP Deepu, EPS)
Bengaluru :
A group of scientists from Bengaluru-based Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS) under the Department of Science and Technology (DST) have proposed using static electricity (Triboelectricity) to make COVID-19 masks more effective.
One of the researchers told TNIE that as a virus has a negative-charge surface, and as the outer layer of the mask also gets negatively charged, the virus repels.
One has to vigorously rub the mask, made out of non-woven polypropylene cloth (a material used often as grocery store bags), with nylon or silk or wool cloth to create the electrostatic energy.
However, this proposal is based on theories and are yet to be tested in laboratories.
The team of Dr Pralay Santra, Dr Ashutosh Singh, and Prof Giridhar U Kulkarni from CeNS has developed a simple three-layered face mask that holds electric charges to restrict the entry of infections.
It uses no external electricity and is called ‘Tribo E mask’ (derived from Triboelectricity).
It can be stitched at home with just a nylon/silk/woollen cloth placed between polypropylene layers.
The outer layer of the three-layered mask, when rubbed together, develops negative charge while nylon holds a positive charge, say the researchers, thereby creating double-electric-wall protection against viruses.
The cloth mask is washable. It reduces dependence on surgical and other technical quality masks. The mask is expected to reduce transmission of micro-droplets that linger in the air, the researchers explained.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Pearl Maria D’Souza / Express News Service / May 04th, 2020
Once the youngest CEO in the world, Bengaluru boy Suhas Gopinath tells CE how he’s had to be “shamelessly aggressive” to reach where he has.
Bengaluru :
If you believe in something, chase it. That’ what Suhas Gopinath believes in. The 33-year-old is the CEO and chairman of Globals Inc., an IT multinational that is into development of mobile and cloud-based applications, and cybersecurity products. He became a part of the corporate world at the age of 14, three years after which he became the CEO of the company he set up, thereby getting the moniker of being the ‘world’s youngest CEO’.
Putting his belief into practice, Gopinath recalls running after Bill Gates at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2010. “I saw him heading towards the restroom and realised that an encounter there would be my only chance to meet him. He gave me a piece of advice that I often go back to today as well: The past is a thief, if you allow it, it will steal your present and future,” he says. Other instances include an orchestrated appointment with an IAS officer, by requesting their PA for the officer’s flight number, which he then booked a ticket for as well. “As introverted as I am in my personal life, that’s how ‘shamelessly aggressive’ I am in my professional endeavours,” he admits.
His age has always been a talking point, raising eyebrows even to this day. Remarks about a boy who didn’t even have a moustache but was running his own company was something he often heard. “Even when I was in my mid-20s and would meet policy makers, they would want to meet the CEO. And when I’d tell them it was me, they would ask to meet my father,” he says, adding that the whole start-up ecosystem and the idea of entrepreneurship is changing now. “Entrepreneurship wasn’t considered cool back in the day, unlike the way it is now,” he says.
Gopinath’s interest in the world of technology started as a young boy who would accompany his brother to the cyber cafe. While peers would often be seen playing games and understanding the concept of e-mails, Gopinath wondered why he couldn’t develop “something like Hotmail,” and would wonder why he couldn’t be a contributor instead of a consumer.
So he’d spend time on groups for developers (something along the lines of Yahoo chat groups) where he would discuss the nuances of technology with people from around the world. “One of those times, a person in the US asked if I would join his company and he was quite taken aback that so far, he had been in conversation with someone who was barely in high school,” he recalls, adding that parents of his friends would often advise his parents that their son should concentrate on school work rather than his “hobby club”.
But he firmly felt he had to do what he had to do, and has no regrets for the way his life has panned out. But realising that he missed a part of his growing years – learning an instrument, playing a sport – he has taken to picking up those skills now. “And whenever time permits, I watch cartoons like Popeye, Mickey Mouse, Lion King and Aladdin, all of which I now realise have so many underlying meanings,” he says, adding that the lockdown has taught him cooking and cocktail making as well.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Vidya Iyengar / Express News Services / April 30th, 2020
At a time hospitals are overcrowded with patients getting tested for COIVD-19, there’s fear of contracting the virus right at the corridors of the hospital.
Bengaluru :
At a time hospitals are overcrowded with patients getting tested for COIVD-19, there’s fear of contracting the virus right at the corridors of the hospital. Six students from Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) had the answer which got them the second prize at the recently-concluded CODE19 online hackathon. The 72-hour hackathon, revolving around the pandemic, was hosted by the Silicon Valley-based Motwani Jadeja Family Foundation. Jithin Sunny, Joel Jogy George, Rohan Rout, Rakshit Naidu, Megha Baid and Shivangi Shukla bagged $5,000 for their solution, TeleVital, which captures a patient’s vital statistics (heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature) remotely through a web cam and browser.
“After consulting doctors, we realised that vital statistics are the deciding factor if a patient needs hospitalisation,” says Sunny, adding that they built a system to check if a person is a virus carrier through their AI-based chatbot, which checks travel history and other symptoms.
The winning entry was of Abhinand C and Shilpa Rajeev from Government College of Engineering,Kannur, who bagged $10,000 for the idea involving a modern virtual classroom. Called iClassroom, it connects students with teachers through a social media-type interface. “It makes learning easier,” says Abhinand.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Express News Service / April 28th, 2020
Apollo, an iPhone app for COVID-19 testing and research, has been developed by a company headed by a native of Mysuru, Siddarth Satish.
CEO of Gauss Surgical, Siddarth Satish
CEO of Gauss Surgical, Siddarth Satish, is the grandson of Mysuru-based industrialist and art patron K V Murthy. He is the son of Padma (second daughter of Murthy) and M N Satish, who have settled in the USA. Siddarth resides in California.
Dr Prathibha Pereira, his aunt, said that Siddarth studied up to second standard at St Joseph’s School in Jayalakshmipuram. He is an alumnus of the University of California, Berkeley (BS in Chemical Engineering); the University of California, San Francisco (MS in Bioengineering); and Stanford University (SIMDesign Fellow).
Siddarth founded Gauss Surgical in 2011 and served as CTO and chairman initially. He then served as an Entrepreneur In Residence at StartX, Stanford’s Startup Accelerator, and as a SIMdesign Fellow at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He has over 50 issued or pending patents on medical technologies and has raised $50 million in venture capital funding.
As leaders in the healthcare artificial intelligence (AI) space, Siddarth and his team wanted to help during the COVID-19 crisis and quickly began collaborating with researchers at Stanford and observing COVID-19 testing facilities in the Bay Area.
After spending time embedded at a testing facility, Siddarth said, he found the current testing process to be heavily paper-based and observed that it exposed testers to potential risks as they interacted closely with patients.
“An iPhone-based testing solution could reduce the exposure to risk at testing centers and make the overall process much faster. The app optimises the existing testing procedures by eliminating paperwork, reducing the need for direct contact between patients and staff. This also helps to reduce the use of precious PPE resources,” he said.
Design Award
Gauss Surgical’s life-saving Triton App, which monitors surgical bleeding using iPhones, had earlier won the Apple Design Award, which reflects the best in design, innovation, and technology on Apple platforms.
“We embarked on Apollo, as we felt that our expertise in clinical-grade digital decision-support tools enables us to build a tool for screening and triage of Covid-19. We teamed up with Evive Care, a national database of COVID-19 test centers to develop the app, which includes Stanford Medicine’s Apollo Covid-19 Screening Survey (Apollo Study),” said Siddarth.
Gauss is among a large group of Stanford alumni, scientists, and physicians participating in the StartX Med COVID-19 Task Force.
Apollo integrates tools that work across the current testing process. It is designed so that a person can analyse one’s symptoms and if necessary, drive to the closest testing centre. A tool locates one’s closest available testing centre on a map. It has tools for communication between the tester and tested.
The self-diagnostic checks whether the potential patient has already transacted and then send the report via the app to the testing agent, reducing duplication of the same process. The data is available in the form of a QR code (the ‘Apollo Pass’) on the screen of the patient’s iPhone, which is read by the equivalent app on the tester’s smartphone. The patients can share their information while the car windows remain shut, minimising contact time with the tester.
Once the patient sample is collected, the tester adds the kit to Apollo and sends the sample to test. Results can be quickly shared, once the procedure is completed. Apollo COVID-19 is available in 10 languages, most commonly spoken in the United States. The app can be downloaded for free on the Apple App Store or at https://covid19.gauss.com.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mysuru / by T R Satish Kumar, DHNS, Mysuru / April 27th, 2020
Members of the Naguvanahalli Gram Panchayat in Srirangapatna taluk firmly believe that representatives of panchayat raj institutions should not work for the sake of awards. If they discharge their roles and responsibilities with dedication, their hard work will be honoured suitably.
The 19-member gram panchayat, half of them women, in Mandya district has been chosen for the Gram Panchayat Development Plan Award (GPDPA), a national award, for its immense contribution towards rural development in its region.
The annual awards being given by the Panchayat Raj Ministry, for the season 2018-19, were announced in Delhi on Wednesday.
Several hundreds of panchayats had competed for the GPDPA and of them 24 from various States and Union Territories have been selected. Sanjeeb Patjoshi, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayat Raj, Government of India, announced the list.
Aggressiveness
The members and staffs at the panchayat are known for their aggressiveness in implementing government-sponsored schemes. They regularly conduct meetings to discuss the issues for the development of villages as well to monitor the progress/process of implementation of government schemes.
The panchayat has procured its own vehicle to collect solid waste, distributed separate bins to every household in its limits for segregating dry and wet waste, installed solar-powered street lights and low power-consuming high mast street lamp posts, and set up a digital library, H.G. Yogesh, visually impaired Panchayat Development Officer (PDO), at the GP, told The Hindu.
Educating the representatives through a projector, discussing widely about the plans and programmes with the members before the implementation, maintaining cleanliness by using weed cutter and other equipment, recording the development programmes/execution of plans through handycam, imposition of blanket ban on the use of plastic bags, and effectively implementing the development schemes are some of the proactive measures being implemented by the GP for rural development.
Questionnaire
The Ministry had assessed the achievements of the panchayat by seeking details with 100 questions. A team from the ministry had also visited Naguvanahalli and other places in February this year.
Naguvanahalli, Naguvanahalli Colony, Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, Chandagalu, Belawadi, Brahmapura and Bommuru Agrahara fall under this panchayat. The total population is 7,029.
President B.R. Nandakumar, computer operator P. Manjula, panchayat secretary S. Shivalingaiah, bill collector M.P. Lakshman, and every member and staff are striving for the development of the villages, the PDO said.
Speaking to The Hindu here, Mandya Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer K. Yalakki Gowda lauded the staff of the Naguvanahalli Grama Panchayat for their contribution.
The award distribution programme is expected to be held after the withdrawal of COVID-19 lockdown.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by M.T. Shiva Kumar / Mandya, April 24th, 2020
