Category Archives: Education

Kalaburagi student honoured with Junior Scientist Award

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology

Praveen Kumar V., a geology student from Central University of Karnataka (CUK), Kalaburagi, has been honoured with the Junior Scientist Award of 2017 for his research on the earth and the environment.

The award was conferred by International Foundation of Environment and Ecology (IFEE), Kolkata, at the fourth international seminar held at Guwahati, Assam, recently.

Mr. Kumar was the one among the ten students and the only one from Karnataka selected for the award that is given to young achievers under the age of 32 in the field of earth sciences.

A joint committee of Association of Indian Universities, New Delhi and IFEE, Kolkata, had been formed to select the achievers for the award.

Groundwater recharge

The CUK authorities said that Mr. Kumar’s research on earth and environment, particularly on artificial recharge of groundwater, water management and conservation, hydrology, solid waste management, the impact of solid waste on surface water and disparity in rains had got him the prestigious award.

With an M.Sc. and a B.Sc. in geology from CUK, Mr. Kumar is presently pursuing a Ph.D. under the guidance of Mohammad Aslam at CUK. University Vice-Chancellor H.M. Maheshwaraiah, in a release, congratulated the young scientist and expressed his commitment to create a conducive and research-friendly environment in CUK.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Staff Reporter / Kalaburagi – February 21st, 2018

110 bird species recorded at Mangalagangothri

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All
The bird-counting exercise was undertaken between February 16 and 19. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The bird-counting exercise was undertaken between February 16 and 19. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Birders from Mangalore University were able to record 110 species of birds during the Campus Bird Counting (CBC), an initiative taken up under Great Backyard Bird Count of Bird Count India, during the three-day bird-counting exercise between February 16 and 19 at the university’s Mangalagangothri campus in Konaje near here.

While the initiative began in 2016, when 77 species of birds were recorded. The number rose to 95 last year. Though the number of species recorded this year is higher, several species recorded earlier were found to be missing, according to a release from the organisers. The increase in numbers indicates the possibility of the presence of more species on the campus — something that can be recorded with more continuous efforts.

CBC is a collaborative effort to document bird life on campuses across the country, to gather information about the diversity, distribution and frequency of bird species outside the protected areas. As many as 230 campuses across India registered for this year’s CBC, including 23 from Karnataka .

Mangalore University, spread over an area of 300 acres, is home to a variety of avian fauna. Birders from the university have been actively participating in the CBC for the past three years.

This year, the team was led by K. Vineeth Kumar, Jagdish Paithankar (both research scholars), and M.Sc students U. J. Bhagya and Donald Preetam Henry from the Department of Applied Zoology.

Students and research scholars from various postgraduate departments of the university, with a few staffers of the university as well as P.A. College of Engineering and Ambika Vidyalaya and Govinda Dasa College, along with a few independent birdwatchers from Mangaluru, participated in the initiative.

Some rare birds found during the survey include the Sri Lanka frogmouth, Savanna nightjar, common hoopoe, Black-headed ibis, Small minivet, Tickell’s blue flycatcher, Yellow-wattled lapwing, White-browed bulbul, Plum-headed parakeet, and Indian roller.

Migratory species recorded during the CBC include Indian Pitta, Brown shrike, Booted eagle, Ashy Drongo, Blyth’s reed Warbler, Green/Greenish Warbler, Brown-breasted Flycatcher, Eurasian Blackbird, Gray wagtail, and Blyth’s Pipit.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Mangaluru / by Special Correspondent / Mangaluru – February 28th, 2018

3D planetarium at Pilikula to open on March 1

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All, Science & Technology
High-tech: A view of the Swami Vivekananda Planetarium at Dr. Shivaram Karanth Pilikula Nisargadhama in Mangaluru.
High-tech: A view of the Swami Vivekananda Planetarium at Dr. Shivaram Karanth Pilikula Nisargadhama in Mangaluru.

The public can view shows from March 2

The Swami Vivekananda Planetarium at the Dr. Shivarama Karantha Pilikula Nisargadhama here will be inaugurated on March 1.

The planetarium, on the premises of Regional Science Centre, will be thrown open to public from March 2.

According to Sasikanth Senthil S., Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada and chairman of the governing council of the nisargadhama, it is the first planetarium in the country having active 3D, 8K digital and opto-mechanical (hybrid) projection system.

Addressing presspersons after a preview show at the planetarium on Saturday, he said there would be six shows daily. The entry fee would be ₹60 per adult per show and ₹25 for children. People can book online tickets through ‘BookMyShow’ from February 27.

For those who attend the inaugural ceremony on Thursday, free passes would be given for the next two day shows, he said.

Mr. Senthil said the nisargadhama would introduce a comprehensive fee package of ₹100 per head per person from March 1. With this, visitors can see all tourist attractions inside the nisargadhama. It applies to watching the science show at the planetarium. However, the single ticket facility for each tourist attraction like for the zoo, science centre, lake garden and boating, botanical garden and cultural village would continue.

The Deputy Commissioner said a digital gallery would be set up in the planetarium this year.

He said Antrix Corporation Ltd., the commercial arm of ISRO, would organise an exhibition at the venue on the inaugural day. There would be demonstration of water rocket by ISRO.

J.R. Lobo, MLA, Mangaluru City South, said the planetarium has cost ₹36 crore.

He said the Pilikula Development Authority would be constituted this year as both Houses of the State legislature have approved the Bill to this effect.

Uncomfortable seats

Swami Vivekananda Planetarium has a 170-seating capacity. But the seats in the first three rows are the most uncomfortable for viewers, who do not get a full view of the 18 diameter dome during the science show.

During the preview on Saturday, reporters in the first three rows were not able to push the seats back to a comfortable level to get a full view of the dome. One had to either turn their head either to the right or left of the seat by taking their head out of the headrest, which is not flexible.

Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil S. said it could be corrected as seats could be tilted back to the comfortable level. Terming it a minor issue, he said it would be done before the planetarium is opened to the public.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mangaluru – February 24th, 2018

Honour for SOAHS faculty member

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Abraham Samuel Babu, Associate Professor in the Department of Physiotherapy, School of Allied Health Sciences (SOAHS), has been made ‘Endeavour Ambassador’ by the Department of Education and Training, Australian High Commission, India.

The 2018 Ambassadors’ event was held in New Delhi on February 16.

As many as 20 ambassadors from India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh have been appointed.

Among them, 10 are from India: Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bhopal, Mizoram, and New Delhi.

They will also be recognized in the Australian government publications and events and will have the opportunity to meet and network with others from the region.

For MAHE, Dr. Abraham is the second ambassador. The first was Arun Chawla, Professor, Department of Urology, Kasturba Medical College (KMC) here.

Dr Abraham received the Endeavour Executive Fellowship in 2015 to train in heart rate variability measurements and scale development under the supervision of David Hare, Department of Cardiology, Austin Health, University of Melbourne, Australia. MAHE has also been home to 13 various Endeavour Fellow recipients.

Following his training, he was offered an Honorary Research Fellow position in the Department of Cardiology at Austin Health, Melbourne to continue research activities.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Mangaluru / by Special Correspondent / Manipal – February 24th, 2018

Writer Vijaya Dabbe dead

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

Noted writer Vijaya Dabbe, 67, a native of Dabbe in Belur taluk, died in Mysuru on Friday evening. The writer had settled at Dabbe village with her siblings. According to her family members, she had developed breathing problems four days ago and her sister had taken her to Mysuru for treatment. But she developed complications on Friday evening again, and she breathed her last on the way to hospital.

Ms. Dabbe is a well-known name in the Kannada literary world. She has written poetry, travelogues, criticism, and brought out many research papers. Her collections of poetry include Iruttave, Neeru Lohada Chinte and Tirugininta Prashne. She has brought out readers on Tirumalamba, Shyamaladevi Belgaumkar and Saraswati Gowda – all writers. She had done extensive research on the first generation of women writers of modern Kannada.

She taught Kannada literature at Kuvempu Kannada Adhyayana Samsthe in Mysore University for many years.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Hassan – February 24th, 2018

4,850 college students create a record

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All, World Opinion
As many as 4,850 students from 23 degree colleges wearing the same badge sing Vande Mataram to enter the Golden Book of World Records on Malpe beach in Udupi on Saturday.
As many as 4,850 students from 23 degree colleges wearing the same badge sing Vande Mataram to enter the Golden Book of World Records on Malpe beach in Udupi on Saturday.

They all wear the same badge and sing Vande Mataram on Malpe beach

A new record of the “Largest congregation of people wearing the same badge” was created and entered into the Golden Book of World Records on the Malpe beach here on Saturday.

This record was created by 4,850 students from 23 degree colleges, who wore the same badge with the slogan “Save nature for the future” and sang the full version of the national song, Vande Mataram.

Vivekananda birth anniversary

As many as 23 singers also joined the students in singing the full version of Vande Mataram. The event, organised by a voluntary organization, Samvedana Foundation, aimed at creating awareness for saving nature.

This event was organised to mark the 155th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

Certificate

After the students wearing the badges sang Vande Mataram, the representative of Golden Book of World Records, Santhosh Agarwal, handed over the certificate of “Largest congregation of people wearing the same badge” to Prakash Malpe, coordinator of the programme and the head of Samvedana Foundation.

The certificate was handed over in the presence of Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports.

Earlier, the students brought a 1,750-ft long and nine-feet wide national flag in a procession from the Gandhi Shatabdi Grounds to the beach here.

Meenakshi Bannanje, president of the Udupi City Municipal Council, Dinakar Babu, president of the Udupi Zilla Panchayat, Raghupati Bhat, former MLA, and G. Shankar, philanthropist, were present.

Speaking to presspersons here, Mr. Santhosh Agarwal said that the record of “Largest congregation of people wearing the same badge” was a new one which was created here.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Mangaluru / by Special Correspondent / Udupi – January 13th, 2018

Over 2,000 audiologists from India, abroad to attend Mysuru ISHA meet

Business & Economy, Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion

The Mysuru chapter of the Indian Speech and Hearing Association (MyISHA) is set to host the golden jubilee conference of the Indian Speech and Hearing Association (ISHA) in Mysuru. The conference will be attended by over 2,000 audiologists and speech language pathologists from India and aboard.

The 50th annual convention of the Indian Speech and Hearing Association will be held from Friday to Sunday at the All-India Institute of Speech and Hearing (ISHACON) — the birthplace and headquarters of the association. Governor Vajubhai Vala will inaugurate the 50th ISHACON at AIISH Gymkhana campus here at 6.15 p.m. on Friday. Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, will be the guest of honour.

The scientific session of the conference will start with homage to the founders of the ISHA. Dr. N. Rathna, Prof. Ramesh Oza, and Dr. Shailaja Nikam, signatories of the memorandum of association of ISHA in 1967, will talk about its golden era. Other senior members of the association. Dr. N.P. Nataraja, Dr. M. Jayaram, and Dr. Shivashankar N. will be addressing the delegates during the session, a release stated here.

The deliberations and discussions at the conference will add a wealth of knowledge to the participants who will learn about the state-of-the-art techniques in diagnosis and rehabilitation of communication problems.

Experts in the field will deliver lectures on diverse topics such as language recovery in aphasia, paediatric feeding disorders, and intervention, professional voice management, motor speech disorders in neuro-developmental syndromes, dead regions of the cochlea, clinical applications of OAE, cross check principles of diagnostic audiology, certification of disability, and funding opportunities for aid and appliances, the release added. In addition, around 220 research papers will be presented by students and professionals at the conference.

Prior to the conference, six workshops will be held on Thursday to enable delegates to get in-depth hands-on training on specific issues. More than 50 stalls will be put up by different companies related to speech and hearing exhibiting their products and recent technical advances. The vision document that will be released as part of the conference will give directions to the members of the association to enhance the clinical and research activities. The document will also emphasise on the ethics to be practised by its members and directions to establish a speech and hearing council.

For more details, visit www.ishacon.com.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – January 04th, 2018

Engineering students in Bengaluru launch 3 race cars

Business & Economy, Education, Science & Technology, Sports

AshwaRacingMPOs16jan2018

On the combustion, hybrid and electric platforms

Ashwa Racing, a brand under Ashwa Mobility of RV College of Engineering, Bengaluru, on Saturday launched three new race cars on the combustion (AMF RZX8- CO), hybrid (AMF X8-HY) and electric (AMF-RZX8 -ELE) platforms for the 2018 race season.

Undergraduate students, who conceived, designed and build formula race cars, would be competing in national and global events in the coming months.

The combustion vehicle (210 kg without driver) development is headed by team captain Sweekruth Shetty, project manager Rakesh H.N, chief engineer Prateek Bhustali. The racing hybrid vehicle (300 kg) development is headed by team captain Asfan Khan, project manager Suhas B.U., chief engineer Uday Naik and chief communication officer Tarun Kasa.

The electric vehicle (200kg) development is headed by team captain Pranave Nanda, project manager Rahul S.D., chief engineer Gautam Singh and chief communication officer Srivatsa Deshpande.

The combustion and electric divisions of Ashwa Racing would be competing in Formula Bharat, which will be held in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu from January 24 to 28, 2018.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Special Correspondent / January 15th, 2018

City student wins Young Scientist Award in the field of mathematics

Amazing Feats, Education, Records, All

SebastianBF13jan2018

Curiosity often makes us question, and that is exactly what pushed Sebastian Thomas, a first year BSc student from St. Joseph’s College to work on his research that won him laurels recently.

Sebastian was awarded the Albertian Best Young Scientist Award and the grand prize in the model exhibition at the International Science Conference held in Kochi earlier this month.

From a group of 5,000 participants across the world, his work on the Fibonacci sequence — the golden ratio pattern and its application to five different fields — received appreciation from the panel.

Speaking to us about his achievement, Sebastian says, “The competition has a lot of place for mathematics. So, when I got to know about it, I started working towards participating in this competition. I discovered unique properties in Fibonacci numbers. The Fibonacci series has a special position in analytical number theory, basically for its pattern and golden ratio. Hence, I began exploring and thought of its application in five different fields.”

The result of Sebastian’s research can be applied in five different fields — in the field of Fourier analysis, in the growth of Hollyhock flowers (which he discovered on the college campus), in genetics where the human genes follow the golden ratio pattern), in the field of ECG and drug monitoring system.

He says, “In the field of ECG, to get an analysis done is very expensive. During an ECG, doctors mainly look at the QT interval and tell the condition of your heart. So, I thought of inter-linking my work to find the QT wave interval and I devised a new mathematical formula and the result coincided with the results of an ECG.”

Maria Thomas, faculty at St. Joseph’s College and guide for Sebastian’s research work calls him the young Ramanujan, and says, “I feel extremely overwhelmed and proud of his hard work. I am proud to say that I am his teacher. I haven’t seen such potential in anyone in the past 14 years of my career. His month-long research work is being applied in five different areas is something extraordinary. Sebastian’s research work is more about real-life applications such as in the field of ECG, which is cost-effective.”

Sebastian hopes that his findings will help the pharmaceutical industries to come up with cost effective methods in the field of research.

The next step, however, he says will be to submit his findings to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he hopes to have an equation named after him.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Bangalore News / by Sandra  Marina Fernandes / TNN / January 12th, 2018

Presidency and NPS teams bag top honours

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All
There were prizes for members of the audience too. | Photo Credit: K_MURALI_KUMAR
There were prizes for members of the audience too. | Photo Credit: K_MURALI_KUMAR

18th edition of The Hindu Young World Quiz sees huge participation from schools across the city

The regional finals of the multi-city event The Hindu Young World Quiz was held at Chowdiah Memorial Hall on Wednesday. This year’s event, presented by State Bank of India and powered by Eveready Industries India Ltd., saw huge participation of teams from schools across the city. The competition, which is an integral part of The Hindu in School (THiS) initiative, was open for students in two categories — Juniors (from classes 4 to 6) and Seniors (from classes 7 to 9).

Juniors

The team from Presidency School, Nandini Layout, led from the front and aced the competition in the Junior category. Aditya Sharath and Kushagra Agarwal, both class 6 students, won the competition with 120 points. “We never expected to make it to the final round. Last year, I had failed to qualify. But, this year we are the winners. We are extremely happy,” said Aditya. Kushagra said that they spend a lot of time in the library to gather information. “Winning at such events gives us a lot of confidence,” he said. They received trophies and certificates from The Hindu, goodies and a bicycle each from sponsors.

Aryan. A and Sahil. G. from Vidyashilp Academy, Yelahanka took the runners-up position with 70 points. Meenakshi S. V. and V. Varsha from Sishu Griha Montessori and High School, New Thippasandra were the second runners-up.

They were followed by teams from Alpine Public School, Kanakapura Road; Presidency School, Nandini Layout; and Freedom International School, HSR Layout. They received trophies and certificates from The Hindu and goodies from sponsors.

Seniors

The team from National Public School (NPS), Indiranagar, emerged victorious in the Senior category. Class 8 students Vishnu Sampathkumar and Dhyan Vyas built the lead from the beginning and scored 141 points. Vishnu and Dhyan have won at previous editions of the event.

“It feels really good. I am winning this event for the third time. I have won twice in the Junior category. We are active participants in our school’s quiz club activities. We also participate in quiz-related workshops,” said Vishnu, who aspires to a career in pharmaceutical manufacturing.

“You need to know how to analyse questions quickly. There will always be clues in the questions,” said Dhyan, who plans to do develop video games.

They received trophies and certificates from The Hindu, goodies and a bicycle each from sponsors.

Ananya Patil and Merin Scaria from Presidency School, R.T. Nagar took the runners-up position with 96 points. Sampreet and Sahana, also from Presidency School, R.T. Nagar, were the second runners-up.

They were followed by teams from NPS, Koramangala; Sri Vidya Kendra The Smart School, Machohalli; and National Hill View Public School, Rajarajeshwarinagar.

They received trophies and certificates from The Hindu and goodies from sponsors.

Prize distribution

Farooque Shahab, Chief General Manager, State Bank of India, Local Head Office, Bangalore Circle, was the chief guest at the valedictory function. He said that quiz is a mind sport and helps develop self-learning among children. Such events give opportunities to children to put their acquired knowledge to test, Mr. Shahab said. He and Devika Khare, Area Manager (Marketing), Eveready Industries India Ltd., presented prizes to winners.

Sri Aurobindo Vidya Mandir (SAVM), Mahalakshmipuram, was presented a special prize for sending maximum teams to the event. In all, 200 teams participated in the Junior category and 263 teams in the Senior category.

Quizmaster V. V. Ramanan hosted the show. Fantom Bikes is the National Gift Partner of the event. Arrow Publications is the Knowledge Partner. Naturo was the Gift Partner while Bejois was the Beverage Partner.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / Sudhindr A.B. / January 10th, 2018