Last year, the company acquired the medical equipment business of L&T.
Mysore-based medical device company Skanray Technologies Pvt Ltd has acquired healthcare business of Coimbatore-based auto component maker Pricol Ltd for an undisclosed amount.
“This is strategically a very important transaction for us, as it increases our strength in the respiratory segment, with the addition of Ventilators to our portfolio,” Vishwaprasad Alva, managing director of Skanray, said.
According to the company, respiratory ailments are on the rise and some of the biggest pandemic outbreaks in the recent past like avian flu have seen hospitals fall short of ventilators.
The company sees business from government epidemic and disaster management departments in several developed countries which are planning to buy large volumes of ventilators in case any pandemic outbreaks.
“With this addition, we will be able to offer complete ICU packages for hospitals and be a single point contact for supply, custom solutions and life cycle management of all equipment in the ICU,” Alva said.
This is the second acquisition of the company in as many years. Last year it acquired medical equipment business of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) through its fully owned subsidiary Skanray Healthcare.
Between Skanray Healthcare and Skanray Technologies, the group has 12 USFDA approved products in segments such as X Ray imaging, vital sign monitoring and surgery devices. The company plans to launch more products in the US and European markets.
“We started the healthcare business to use the synergy of the core technology that Pricol has in embedded hardware and software, mechanical subsystems, engineering plastics and systems integration. We are happy to transfer the healthcare business to Skanray who are growing aggressively in the primary healthcare segment,” said Vikram Mohan, MD of Pricol.
Skanray Technologies, which was set up in 2007, specialises in high frequency X-Ray imaging systems, critical care devices and primary healthcare & telemedicine-compatible devices.
The company recently raised $14.7 million from Ascent Capital. It has also raised an undisclosed amount from Arun Kumar, promoter of public listed pharmaceutical company Strides Arcolab.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
source: http://www.vccircle.com / VC Circle / Home> M & A / by Lohit Jagwani / Tuesday – November 26th, 2013
HCG Hospitals, organized a press conference on treating 36 year old Indian from USA, diagnosed with liver cirrhosis, underwent marathon 16 hour liver transplant surgery, with the organ donated from his wife.
A year ago, the patient had weakness and loss of appetite. During his routine health check-ups, he was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis, due to autoimmune hepatitis. After further investigations he was placed on the Liver Transplant waiting list in USA. With time running out, he did not get any organ offers and returned to India, for the liver transplant surgery.
Dr. Basant Mahadevappa, Consultant, Liver Transplant Surgeon, HCG Hospitals, said, “The patient was in a difficult situation, as he was decompensated with severe ascites (Liquid in the abdomen). His wife was worked up for donation. Anatomy of the donor was complicated, and was left with no other donor. With a multi-disciplinary team approach we took up the challenge and performed the transplantation. The patient & the donor are doing well and are on regular follow up.”
(From Left): Mrs. Shilpa Arun Kumar, Donor, Dr. Basant Mahadevappa, Mr. Arun Kumar, Recipient and Dr. Ganesh Bhat
Dr. Ganesh Bhat, Consultant, Gastroenterologist, HCG Hospitals, “The incidence of liver disease is on the rise and 2% to 3% of the people are living with Hepatitis B & Hepatitis C. People diagnosed with hepatitis B, are more likely to develop into liver cancer. Most of the times, its asymptomatic and when the patients start to see the see the symptoms, it’s in an advanced stage, which may require liver transplantation or a liver surgery. Early diagnosis of the disease helps in better medical outcomes.”
Mr. Arun Kumar, Recipient, said, “I was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis, and the only medical solution was Liver Transplant. With my condition worsening & surgery being an emergency I was lucky to find a donor in my wife. She came forward to donate her liver, though it was high risk surgery. I have recovered and got a new lease of life.”
source: http://www.moneylife.com / MoneyLife / Home / Bangalore, Karnataka, India / Business Wire India / November 27th, 2013
(Top left ) Syed Faizan (Top right) Robinson Samuel (Below) Shireen Reginald, Associate Marketing Manager, N. Ranga Rao & Sons, who won second prize in the District-level Arm Wrestling Championship for the award ‘Mysore Shree’ held at Sarada Vilas Centenary Hall in city recently, posing with the runner-up shield.
Mysore :
Arm Wrestling, though not new to the globe, is definitely new to the city as very few people know about it.
Mysore, which has produced a lot of sports persons in various sports like body-building, athletics and cricket, with some of them reaching international-level, has also produced arm wrestlers.
Syed Faizan and Robinson Samuel from city are among those who have taken up arm wrestling.
The 23-year-old Faizan, a body-builder who took up body-building for fitness participated in the Mysore Shree Arm Wrestling Men’s Championship organised by Karnataka Arm Wrestling Federation, Mysore, held for the first time in city recently and won the title.
Son of Syed Abdul Khader, Proprietor of Biriyani Paradise on Sayyaji Rao road, Faizan, a B.Com graduate from MES College in city took up body-building at the age of 18 and is being coached by Mansoor, himself a body-builder who has won ‘Mr. Mysore’ title numerous times.
Faizan, speaking to Star of Mysore, recalled that his parents were hesitant to send him to gym in the beginning, but later agreed and allowed him to pursue body-building.
Apart from being a body-builder and an arm wrestler, Faizan is also an actor, who has acted in an African movie as a fighter and a model for many brands.
Faizan said that one has to work hard honestly and without taking short cuts to achieve in the sport.
Mansoor, coach of Faizan, said that arm wrestling has been around since the days humans figured out that they had arms and added that the sport became more popular in 1950s and 1960s when contests took place all across the United States and today, arm wrestling competitions are held around the world for men, women and kids in various weight categories.
Mansoor said that various factors play an important part in one’s success in arm wrestling. Technique and overall arm strength are the two important contributing factors to win an arm wrestling match. Other factors such as length of the arm, muscle and arm mass, hand grip, wrist endurance and flexibility, reaction time, etc. can add to the advantages of one arm wrestler over another.
Faizan said that his aim is to win ‘Mr. Mysore’ and ‘Mr. Dasara’ titles and also to win a medal for the State.
Robinson Samuel, 25, a final year M.Sc (Medical Biochemistry) student at JSS Medical College in city, is the son of Krupanand Samuel, a retd. Employee of District Tuberculosis Centre in city and Esther Celestian, a senior Lab Technician at Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI) in city.
Robinson won the second place in the Mysore Shree Arm Wrestling Men’s Championship held in city recently.
He said that initially he was into arm wrestling with his friends and took it seriously drawing inspiration from his elder brother Calvin Cornelius, a body-builder.
Robinson said that his parents were surprised when he expressed his desire to take up arm wrestling as a sport and supported him in all ways.
He says that he would exercise at home with the equipments he had made by himself for the training and added that he also goes to a gym just to keep himself fit. Robinson said that there are many different moves in arm wrestling such as Hook, Toproll, i Press etc. and added that arm wrestling is really a leverage sport. These moves all create different types of leverages, helping you to beat your opponent.
He said that because different moves work for different individuals, it is important to figure out which move provides the best leverage advantage to get the best chance of winning.
Apart from arm wrestling, Robinson has a music band in Chennai which plays Gosple music and soft rock.
Robinson said that his aim was to win titles but to be a full time Biochemist.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by S. Kenneth Shishir / December 02nd, 2013
Dr. Ajai Kumar Singh has been selected as President of the 11th Akhila Bharatha Sharana Sahitya Sammelan to be held at Dharwad from Dec. 27 to 29.
Dr. Singh, the retired State Director General of Police (DGP), has obtained Post-graduate degree in Hindi from Bangalore University and a doctorate from Bangalore University for his thesis ‘Studies on 12th century spiritual leader Allamaprabhu and Saint Kabir of 16th century.’
Apart from two poetry collections, many of his short stories, poems and articles on tour experiences have been published in English and other language newspapers.
Even though Dr. Singh has professionally served the Police department, he has interest in different fields including literature, spirituality, yoga, expedition etc. Dr. Singh, who has special interest in Vachana sahitya is originally from Uttar Pradesh.
Dr. Singh is the second non-Kannadiga, who has been selected as President of Akhila Bharatha Sharana Sahitya Sammelan.
Earlier, Dr. Bhagwan Das Tiwari of Madhya Pradesh was selected as the President of the Akhila Bharatha Sharana Sahitya Sammelan held in Raichur.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / December 02nd, 2013
Dr. Meenakshi Hegde, a Paediatric Oncologist at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, was awarded the 28th Schweisguth Prize from the International Society of Paediatric Oncology for her scientific paper “Combinational targeting offsets antigen escape and enhances effector functions of adoptively transferred T cells in High Grade Glioma,” which was presented at the 45th Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology in Hong Kong last month. The award is given in honour of Dr. Odile Schweisguth, renowned clinician, investigator, founding member and the first President of the Society.
Dr. Meenakshi, hailing from Sirsi, is the wife of Dr. G. Bharath Raj, a renowned Tennis Player and a Psychiatrist at Houston and the proud daughter-in-law of Sumana and D. Guru Raj of Kuvempunagar, Mysore.
Her completed research paper was recently published in Molecular Therapy. The prestigious Schweisguth Prize is awarded only to best scientific contribution to the Paediatric Oncology field in the world.
Her research focuses on developing novel treatment for malignant gliomas that targets more than one tumour associated-proteins simultaneously with the aim of decreasing the risk of tumour recurrence. Malignant gliomas are tumours that often do not respond to even the most aggressive forms of therapy currently available. Less than 25 percent of children with this type of brain tumour survive after five years.
Dr. Meenakshi Hegde completed the research during her fellowship training at Texas Children’s Cancer Centre and at the Centre for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / December 01st, 2013
A file photo of Mysore Grahakara Parishat [MGP] holding its first meeting which was attended by (from left) Chiranjiv Singh, IAS, Dr. Bhamy V. Shenoy (Working President), V.P. Baligar, IAS, Dr. H.A.B. Parpia (President) and A.K. Ranganathan (Secretary).It was a cold winter night. Dr. Bhamy Shenoy and his wife were returning from Vontikoppal after making some purchases to their house on Vivekananda Road in Yadavagiri at about 8 pm. As they were nearing the house, walking, Dr. Bhamy Shenoy got a bit curious to find a person standing at his gate with a bicycle. On enquiry, about the reason for his being there at that odd hour, the answer surprised Bhamy. The man was wanting to complain to the Mysore Grahakara Parishat [MGP] against the Principal of the Regional College of Education [RCE] where he himself was employed as a Group D employee. His name was K. Madhu.
Madhu had two children, M. Tara and M. Bhaskara. After they completed their CBSE X, he admitted them to vocational courses at DMS in 1989. He had seen an advertisement in Star of Mysore by Demonstration Multipurpose School (DMS) that these courses were recognised by the government of India.
However, when his children completed their studies and got their certificates, he found that because of the failure on the part of RCE to get them recognised by the State government, they could not get jobs. It was then that he decided to approach MGP seeking help.
Usually MGP does not help individual cases. Since Madhu was illiterate and did not have one to help, MGP took his cause. He used to come to office by bike from RCE campus in the night and wait patiently for MGP members, says Dr. Bhamy Shenoy. “Even today I remember how he used to wait when MGP was closed. Some times he might have returned without meeting anyone. I do not know how many times he must have travelled to MGP office,” says Dr. Bhamy Shenoy trying to recollect the past.
“We first wrote to RCE and DMS officials. When it did not produce any results, we complained to Consumer Court in Mysore in 1993. They gave a judgement in favour of Madhu’s children in 1997. They gave an award of Rs 10,000 in each case finding fault with RCE. RCE went on appeal to State Consumer Court which again ruled in favour of Madhu in 2001. They then went on appeal to the National Commission,” recalls Dr. Bhamy Shenoy.
As Dr. Shenoy could recall, Madhu won the case at the National level also and RCE appealed to the Supreme Court.
In the mean time, as the case was going through, Madhu died. His children contacted MGP and it continued to help them. However, MGP did not think they got any compensation despite all our efforts. Bhaskara, despite his qualification, ended up as a day labourer and Thara worked as a seamstress. This is our justice system.
Though this was not the biggest achievement of MGP, which over the past 25 years has fought many battles for the consumers and the citizens of Mysore City, the case is suggestive of the sincerity of purpose with which MGP takes up any common cause or a complaint that comes before it.
Mysoreans are familiar with the city’s renowned-NGO Mysore Grahakara Parishat which was set up on March 15, 1989. It will be celebrating its silver jubilee in March 2014 and plans are underway.
MGP, like all well-intentioned organisations for common cause, had its own birth pangs. The first impediment came from the Government itself. Instead of playing the role of a facilitator in a Democratic Welfare State like ours, the Sub-Registrar’s office where the founders of MGP went to register the organisation as a society, found the officer their first road block. Dr. Bhamy, Dr. Parpia and others of the first seven members of MGP registered their first protest, in their long 25 years journey, in the Sub- Registrar’s Office !
Dr. Bhamy called the District Registrar to complain with no result except the assurance that he would look into it. When this was mentioned to the then Congress MLA D. Jayadevaraja Urs, the politician, as if by habit, said he would get it done. Dr. Bhamy refused the offer saying no such influence should be used.
The Deputy Commissioner was approached. The DC was requested to tell the Sub-Registrar not to make them visit his office again and again to give one document or the other; instead, ask the Sub-Registrar to give a checklist of documents he required so that they would furnish the same to him in one visit. They also said no bribe would be paid as a matter of principle. This worked and then came into existence the MGP.
Interestingly, the same group of good Samaritans of MGP had also formed an organisation called Mysore Lokswaraj Andolan to fight for civic rights, environment etc. However, this was ruined when certain persons with vested interest came to occupy the office of President and Secretary. The organisation died a natural death; of course, not without a Court battle.
According to Dr. Bhamy Shenoy whom this writer met, there are 687 members in MGP. Out of this, 676 members are life members and there are 11 annual members as on March 31, 2013. The members meet regularly once in a month at Dr. Bhamy Shenoy’s residence. Though there are 687 members, about 25 members who are active attend the meeting.
Over the years, MGP has fought many battles. Some may be mentioned here: The greening of the barren land around the Lakshmikanth Temple in Hebbal Industrial Area; the court battle fought against City Corporation to prevent it from constructing buildings inside the Cheluvamba Park; preventing the unholy barter deal the City Corporation and the Government of Karnataka had entered into in the matter of constructing a Public Library in the People’s Park with a land developer in exchange for leasing out a huge area of the park by the side of the main road free of cost for constructing a shopping complex and helped to conserve Kukkarahalli, Lingambudi, Hebbal, Bogadi and Karanji lakes.
Similarly, MGP had taken up steps to control air pollution in certain industrial areas. It was primarily responsible for closing down a lead battery factory which was polluting the air causing health hazard to the people living in the surrounding areas. It was the time when the unscrupulous elements in the society were selling petrol by adding lead into it to improve the petrol octane rating which enables the vehicle to run faster. It is a worst pollutant of the atmosphere. Happily these days lead-free petrol is also available.
At present MGP is pre-occupied with the Mysore Master Plan 2031 and also the issues related to JNNURM and JUSCO.
Asked about the nature of calls MGP receives, Dr. Bhamy Shenoy says there is a variety ranging from a complaint against dry cleaners, telephone exchange, electricity, water supply, MRP issue to such major issues like garbage accumulation and disposal and the Master Plan.
To run an NGO of this kind, it is imperative to have advocates to take matters to Court where it is unavoidable and inevitable. When asked if MGP has a panel of advocates, Dr. Bhamy says yes. It has right now four advocates on their panel and their service is free because MGP is an NGO. However, MGP gives them out-of-pocket expenses.
The MGP has for all its 25 years in the service of the tax payers of Mysore city has about Rs. 15 lakh, raised from the membership fee, put in Fixed Deposit. The interest derived from this is used for filing PIL, buying stationeries, to meet travel expenses and more importantly to publish its monthly newspaper called ‘Grahaka Pathrike’ in Kannada.
At present MGP has an Executive Committee of nine members. The new Executive Committee of Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) was installed at its 24th annual general body meeting held recently.
The nine-member Committee, which will serve for the period 2013-2016, consists of Prof. R. Chandra Prakash, President; Ashok Kacker, Working-President; Vishwas Krishna, Secretary; K.R. Seshadri, Treasurer; Maj. Gen. (Rtd.) S.G. Vombatkere, B.V. Shenoy, Uma Shenoi, Prof. S. Sobana and Prof. S. Sekhar, are Executive Committee Members.
When MGP was registered on March 15, 1989 the Founder-Members were Dr. H.A.B. Parpia, who recently passed away, President; Dr. Bhamy V. Shenoy, Working-President, who has offered the cellar of his house free for running the office of MGP; D.K. Ranganathan, a retired Railway employee, Treasurer and A.K. Ranganathan, Secretary.
It may be interesting to mention here how politicians pursue their personal agenda, well reinforced with a big ego, that often affect the developmental works, discourage those who want to take up social service and sometimes even embarrass the lesser mortals.
It appears the Treasurer and Founder-Member of MGP D.K. Ranganathan was also a social activist at Metagalli, where he lived. The simple folks of the area with a sense of gratitude named a park in that area after Ranganathan. However, the politician changed the name of the park to his own name. No comments.
May the MGP, a torch-bearer for Mysore city as an NGO when there was none, grow from strength to strength.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / December 01st, 2013
So far, 69-year-old Sudha Durg has helped more than 90 households also get Aadhar cards and senior citizen cards
Government authorities, including the MLA and corporator of Jeevan Kendra Layout in Ulsoor, know that a call from Sudha P Durg always means business. Neither diabetes nor age — she is 69 — deters this grandmother of three from doing what she loves to do: Lending a helping hand to the needy. From shuttling between houses in her locality collecting voter ID card, Aadhar card and senior citizen’s card forms to admitting impoverished children to school, Sudha does it all.
Homemaker Sudha was always restless as a young bride, but in a positive way. Although she loved mothering her children – a son and a daughter – the magnanimous side of hers was compelling. “From a very young age, I tried to do whatever I could for the people around me,” Sudha said with a smile. “We were more privileged than many other people around us, so I couldn’t sit back and do nothing.”
For the last 40 years, Sudha has been involved in social work such as educating the underprivileged — she got 25 children from families of construction workers admitted in government schools in Murphy Town — paying tuition fees for her maid’s children and attending to the needs of the backward classes. About four years ago though, she began championing the importance of voting.
“I would go from house to house, telling people to vote. That’s when I learnt that there were many people who did not have voter ID cards and didn’t even have a clue where to get it made. Many people did not have the time to run around government offices, so I decided to take it up for them,” she said.
Now, all the residents in her layout – 90 odd houses – and many others in neighbouring areas owe a debt of gratitude to her for getting their government documents made. “I started out by helping a few people here and there near my house, but soon, a lot of people came to know about me. They would come to my house seeking help. Since the government officials in my area such as the MLA and corporator know me well, it was never a trouble to get forms.”
Her immediate neighbour Jyothi Verma and her family of seven have Sudha to thank for getting their documents made. “Sudha herself got us the forms. All we had to do was fill those out and stick the photographs which she later came to collect. After a few weeks, our documents were delivered to our home. We did not have to go and collect even voter ID cards. Sudha received them herself and delivered them to us,” says Jyothi.
Sudha has also got residents in the area to contribute to appoint a security guard to watch over the area. Each house donates Rs 100. At the start of his duty every day, the security guard reports to Sudha and he knows better than to miss a single day on the job. Since 1996, beat police tick a register — now a card access system which they swipe — at her house, while pourakarmikas inform Sudha about their leave, and she accordingly informs everyone else.
While several other residential areas in the city suffer from parking problems, Sudha has streamlined parking in Jeevan Kendra Layout.
MH Naagthe, inspector, Ulsoor police station, lauds Sudha’s crime awareness initiative. “I always say prevention is better than detection. Sudha has been actively attending the workshops organised at the police station and is very knowledgeable about crime and the importance of being alert. She goes back and relays our messages to the residents, thus tutoring them on how to prevent crime.”
Backing Sudha in her noble cause is her husband Prabhakar Rao Durg as well as their son, daughter and their families. “She has been doing social service for the last 40 years and I know she loves everyday of her job. I help her out in any way I can like keeping a record of the amount collected from the society, payments, etc.,” says 77-year-old Durg.
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Others / by Tapasya Mitra Mazumdar, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / November 20th, 2013
Organ receiver now runs foundation for organ donation.
Reena Raju (second from left), is the first woman in Karnataka to undergo a heart transplant. – A Veeramani/DNA
Reena Raju, the first woman from the state to undergo a heart transplant four years ago, is now running an organisation, Light a Life, that raises funds for and spreads awareness about organ transplantation.
“The best way to honour a donor is by living life to the fullest and making it worthy,” says Raju, as she celebrates the 4th year of her rebirth, post the transplant.
The awareness drives and funds raised have helped many patients across the country. The six patients who received free life saving medicines and over 75 patients and their family members who received counselling, remain thankful for the support.
“Everyone knows that transplant is a costly affair. But the ones who want to save lives of their loved ones often miss some critical information – of the challenges and cost involved in post transplant care,” she pointed out.
“A kidney transplant can cost anywhere between Rs5 lakh and 15 lakh and patients who sell their property and jewellery to manage this expense are then left with nothing to look after the post transplant expenses.”
Jayaram G, a second year B Com student who underwent a kidney transplant agrees.
“I only wanted to live. But I had no organ and no money. My parents are labourers. After the surgery, I realised that the anti-rejection drugs that I need to take everyday to ensure that the new organ does not get rejected by my body are very expensive.”
He is currently being given free medicines by Light a Life. The other challenges they are exposed to is that of infections.
“Maintenance and care are so crucial,” says Mayanna K, a 41-year-old kidney recipient and farmer, “After the surgery, I now know that life has become very difficult. I have to take so many precautions and care to maintain the organ and avoid infections. Even a fever can lead to an organ failure.”
Mayanna managed to undergo the transplant and avail medicines at subsidised rates from a government hospital and is now receiving free medicines for a year from Raju’s foundation.
Manikantan A, a cable operator from Chennai earns less than half of what he needs to spend on post-transplant medication, and so decided to reduce his dosage of the immuno suppressant drugs which led to many complications.
For a transplant to be viable, it should be affordable and people should be completely informed about the extra care, regular tests and the side effects that the medicines could bring, Raju said.
The first heart recipient in the country to complete a 5.7km marathon and 8km cyclathon, Raju did not allow anything to take her life away from her.
“The most thrilling experience was parasailing and underwater sea walk that I recently went to. Isn’t it wonderful that one could take one’s donor heart to the sky and the sea bed?” the adventurous woman asked. Awareness about transplant is not just in terms of financial or medical aspects.
There are a bundle of myths waiting to be busted, she explained.
“Many patients reject organs because they think their feelings and emotions will be changed with a new organ coming in, which is ridiculous. And religious views such as ‘eye donors will go to heaven without eyes’ and ‘bodies must be cremated within a certain period of time’ stops a donor from helping the needy.”
The 32-year-old also believes that Indians are givers and if we can spread sufficient awareness and make the system of transplantation transparent, people will come forward and donate.
source: http://www.danindia.com / DNA / Home> Bangalore> Report / by Shruthi EN / Place: Bangalore, Agency: DNA / Wednesday – November 20th, 2013
Prof. C.N.R. Rao with wife Indumathi in Bengaluru —DC/R. Samuel
Bengaluru:
Professor C.N.R. Rao’s office at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru received a steady stream of visitors all through Sunday morning. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was the first to arrive, at 8.30 am, followed by a brief interaction with the media.
A visibly exhausted Prof. Rao then retired to his study, where friends and well-wishers continued to drop by.
“I even got a phone call from someone at 1 am,” he told us, later. Why the rush? On Saturday afternoon, Prof. Rao, one of the foremost authority on solid states and materials chemistry, was conferred the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, felicitating decades of breakthrough research, 1,600 papers and 45 books.
In came Dr Roddam Narasimha, one of the country’s most prominent aerospace scientists and a dear friend to Prof. Rao. Dr Govindarajan Padmanabhan, Prof. Balram’s predecessor as the director of the Indian Institute of Science, the AGP and Prof. Kumar, and former director, Raman Research Institute, were also among the elite list of visitors.
Meanwhile, we were ushered into another room to speak with Prof. Rao’s wife, Indumathi, about the CNR Rao Educational Foundation.
The Foundation was formed back in 2005, the year Prof. Rao won the prestigious Dan David Prize for Science, a million-dollar grant. “We decided to use that money to give back to society,” said Mrs Rao.
The CNR Rao Hall of Science, Madan Mohan Malviya, was funded by the Ambani Trust. Each year, the Foundation honours two teachers, one from Karnataka, usually from a Kannada medium school and one from across the country.
“It’s not just what they do in class, but what they do outside of it, to enthuse their students,” Mrs Rao explained.
Prof. Rao celebrates his birthday each year (June 30) by organising a Teachers’ Day, of sorts, with lectures and a music concert. “Music is very important to us,” Mrs Rao added, with a smile. Why? “It’s so beautiful, don’t you think?” she replied.
The Foundation has remained, with intent, a tiny organisation, run on very low funding. “We don’t want to ask anybody for money and besides, I’m the one who has to manage it, which I really can’t do anymore,” Mrs Rao admitted. The couple is nearing eighty now and although they do seem full of beans, age has undoubtedly taken its toll.
The Foundation has worked with over 60,000 children since it was formed, with an average of about 2,000 students each year. “We work with rural children in particular, because they are so motivated and talented, but have no opportunities,” she said.
Prof. Rao, who was born into an educated middle-class family, attributes his success entirely to education. “We had no godfathers,” he remarked.
Nearly an hour later, we are allowed in to Prof Rao’s office. His little study is piled high with bouquets, hiding a most eclectic collection of books. Being of the firm belief that you are what you read, I rummaged only to find books on Persian poetry, music and art lying side by side with heavy volumes on Science.
I’d learned, through the grapevine at the Institute, that Prof. Rao had a green thumb.
“I’m the official tree planter,” he agreed, happily, saying he’s planted over 20,000 trees in his lifetime. Not too long ago, four trees on the border of the IISc campus were uprooted because the branches got in the way of a high-voltage wire.
“All they needed to do was trim the branches, but they cut down the trees. I was outraged and nobody said anything!” he said.
“I created a forest here, but they’ve gone and put a road there and done all kinds of foolish things,” he added crossly. “The JNCASR campus is beautiful. I don’t allow vehicles to drive through either. I like to stay in harmony with nature.”
We return to a question that first arose the evening before — should the government do more to bridge the gap between industry and research? “The industry isn’t interested in funding research,” said Prof. Rao. “In other parts of the world, nearly 60 per cent of the research being done is funded by private companies.” It is a little known fact that Prof.
Rao received a $5 million grant from Sheikh Saud of Saudi Arabia. “We met at a conference once and he really seemed to like me,” Prof. Rao explained. “Soon after, he flew down to JNCASR and gave me a grant, with no strings attached!” The Sheikh paid him another visit only last month.
“Wealthy Indians are more interested in funding universities abroad. Ratan Tata has done nothing for IISc yet, for instance. Give me three or four million dollars,” he said suddenly, “I’ll set up a university as good as Harvard.”
It doesn’t take him long to meander towards his second favourite thing in the world — music. “I listen to Hindustani classical music,” he said, delving into the small mountain of bouquets to locate his music collection —which includes cassettes, by the way! It has become customary for Prof. Rao to bring well-known musicians down to the institute, the most recent being Pt Amjad Ali Khan.
The conversation slowly veers back to science and the Bharat Ratna award. Will the award give careers in science and research a touch of glamour? Prof. Rao dismisses the idea. “Science doesn’t involve glamour for me,” he said at once. “All that matters is asking the right questions.” Prof. Rao is currently working on artificial photosynthesis, which he hopes to recreate in his lab. “I want to create material that is ordinarily useless, but which can be made to absorb sunlight.”
At the age of 80, Prof. Rao still manages to publish an astounding 30 papers each year, more than most scientists still in their prime. “I work all the time, I’m always writing something. I actually dream about how I’m going to phrase a particular sentence,” he said.
Back in 2007, Prof. Rao raised many eyebrows, by saying that IT employees are like coolies who work for wages without producing any significant intellectual material. Did Narayana Murthy call to congratulate him? “No,” he said. “I don’t call him; he doesn’t call me.” The Infosys Foundation has started giving out a Science Prize, we ventured helpfully.
“That’s not a very good prize,” Prof. Rao retorted. “There are far more deserving scientists. Besides, the Infosys Foundation tends to laud Indian scientists who are working abroad. They don’t need the help, while scientists in this country do,” he said angrily. “Narayana Murthy’s committees are full of nepotistic relationships.”
Prof. Rao then wades into an ocean of nostalgia for a little while, talking about Rajiv Gandhi, whom he served as Chairman of the PM’s Advisory Council from 1985 to 1989. “He was a wonderful man,” he said, staring glassily into the distance. “People would portray him as a party person, but he was a teetotaller.
He was also quite the moralist. The day he was assassinated was one of the saddest in my life,” he said, adding, quite succinctly, “I really admired Indira Gandhi too. She had class,” he said. Does that mean today’s politicians don’t have class? “Today’s politicians are a bunch of crazy guys,” he replied.
“Just look at the sort of language they use and the way they talk about women. The mindset in our political class today is that women are merely sex objects,” he said, a look of disdain marring his otherwise smiling face for a moment.
As the conversation drifted in and out of a plethora of issues, science, it seemed, was foremost on Prof. Rao’s mind. Funding science, he remarked, is last on the government’s priority list. “At best, we get about 20 per cent of the funding we require. I’ve never had political patronage and I’ve never sought it either. Politicians are here today and gone tomorrow.”
Prof. Rao’s Foundation does try to fill this void by promoting scientists from some of the least developed nations.
“We do offer grants of up to Rs 5 lakh each year,” he said. His family has been sending urgent messages to his study, beckoning him for lunch at once, so we take our leave too. What we did get, in the end, was a glimpse of the man behind the science – a remarkable man he is, too. All that’s left to say is this, “Professor Rao, you’ve done India proud.”
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / by Darshana Ramdev / November 18th, 2013
Linguistic Society of India (LSI) President Prof. Anvita Abbi is seen lighting the lamp as CIIL Director Prof. Awadesh Kumar Mishra, New York State University’s Prof. S. N. Sridhar and others look on.
Mysore :
The three-day 35th annual and first international conference of Linguistic Society of India (LSI) commenced yesterday at the premises of Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) on Hunsur Road here which has been organised jointly by CIIL and LSI.
The conference is being attended by 200 delegates from 18 countries which features paper presentations and discussions.
Inaugurating the conference, CIIL Director Prof. Awadesh Kumar Mishra said that the institute was striving to develop small languages. He opined that all linguists should work together to promote and develop all the Indian languages. He contended that education was mandatory in all the languages for an overall development.
Presiding over the programme, LSI President Prof. Anvita Abbi opined that language of North Eastern States were rich in culture which need to be developed fully. She suggested linguists to also focus on research in the field.
New York State University’s Prof. S.N. Sridhar delivered the keynote address on ‘The world of a multilingual: An Indian perspective.’
LSI Secretary Dr. Shailendra Mishra, Conference Co-ordinator Dr. L. Ramamurthy and others were present.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / November 28th, 2013
![A file photo of Mysore Grahakara Parishat [MGP] holding its first meeting which was attended by (from left) Chiranjiv Singh, IAS, Dr. Bhamy V. Shenoy (Working President), V.P. Baligar, IAS, Dr. H.A.B. Parpia (President) and A.K. Ranganathan (Secretary).](http://www.bangalorefirst.in/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/MGPbf07dec2013.jpg)
