The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has authorised a private lab in Bengaluru to test coronavirus samples.
The approval comes as government labs struggle to test the increasing number of samples. Amid the surging cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, the government last week said it would bring in about 50 private labs and spruce up diagnostic infrastructure.
ICMR sources said the Neuberg Anand Reference Laboratory is Karnataka’s first private lab to get government approval for Covid-19 testing. Capable of testing 100 samples a day, the lab hopes to be ready by Tuesday evening to start testing the samples.
As per the ICMR guidelines, the lab will not charge more than Rs 4,500 per test: Rs 1,500 for screening assay and Rs 3,000 for confirmatory assay.
“As I understand, the ICMR won’t (directly) be sending samples,” Dr Sujay Prasad, Medical Director, Neuberg Anand Reference Laboratory, told DH. “Nursing homes and hospitals interested in getting the Covid-19 samples tested and walk-in patients falling in the criteria set by the ICMR will be tested here.”
Reiterating that the lab is bound by ICMR guidelines, Dr Prasad said if the patient has no travel history but has been in hospital with symptoms of respiratory illness like pneumonia, he or she can be tested.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City> Top Bengaluru Stories / by Suraksha P / DHNS, Bengaluru / March 24th, 2020
A benchtop test setup of a ventilator prototype being built by IISc scientists and volunteers at IISc’s High-Speed Wind Tunnel Complex.The prototype is created out of components from the Indian automotive and RO filter industry. The white canisters contain air and o2, which are mixed in the blue cylinder. The control circuitry is composed of PCL board and Raspberry Pi. The medical test lung is for experimentation testing only. (Photo courtesy IISc Project Praana Team)
As the clamour for medical ventilators reaches a fevered pitch amid the escalating COVID-19 crisis, a group of IISc scientists and students have been working night and day to develop a high-quality indigenous ventilator which makes use of sensors and parts sourced from the local automotive and RO water filter industries.
“The idea is to circumvent a shortfall of internationally imported components which are holding up the mass manufacture of ventilators in the country,” said Associate Professor Gaurab Banerjee of the Indian Institute of Science’s (IISc) Electrical Communication Engineering Department, a brainchild behind the invention.
“In a worst-case scenario, about 0.006% of COVID-19 cases will require critical care with access to ventilators. For a population of 130 crores, this translates to about 70,000 patients,” he added.
The prototype is designed to make use of materials which are readily available in India and in large numbers such as pressure sensors used in cars and solenoid filter valves in Reverse Osmosis (RO) water filters.
According to the team, the plan is to take a pressurised mixture of medical-grade oxygen and compressed air, and mix it using food-grade containers and tubing found in domestic RO water filters. A programmable logic controller (PLC) board and a Raspberry Pi computer will control the air pressure, the oxygen composition and flow characteristics.
The challenges have been steep. At the heart of ventilator technologies are mass-flow sensors and controllers which accurately tell you (and control) how much oxygen is flowing through and what volume of oxygen the patient is inhaling in one breath. These are commonly imported from Switzerland.
The team said it has now duplicated that technology using automotive-grade sensors and solenoid valves by using basic principles of fluid mechanics and gas dynamics and has verified the results experimentally.
“By using these checks, we are able to work out what this oxygen concentration should be and what the flow rates are,” explained Associate Professor Duvvuri Subrahmanyam, of IISc’s Department of Aerospace Engineering who said that similar flow physics is at play in high-speed flight and rocketry.
The prototype, which has been in development for 14 days, is expected to be completed by the end of April. Professor Banerjee explained that the team has set itself five milestones before the prototype can be deemed complete.
“On Friday, we completed the second milestone, which was to combine pneumatics and an industrial controller to time-cycle air-flow,” he said.
Among those reportedly evincing interest in mass manufacturing the prototype is Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). The team clarified that they were ready to transfer the technology free of cost to any interested parties.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City> Top Bengaluru Stories / by Akhil Kadidal / DHNS, Bengaluru / March 30th, 2020
Helping hand: Members of an NGO distributing food in Bengaluru on Friday. | Photo Credit: V. Sreenivasa Murthy
NGOs and even individuals are reaching out to the needy
With the entire State in lockdown, thousands of daily wage workers trapped in the city and the homeless are struggling to survive and get two square meals a day. Most of them are relying on non-governmental organisations and unions that have stepped up to support them and provide temporary assistance to labourers and their families. There have also been spontaneous offers of help from citizens.
Nalini Shekar, co-founder of Hasiru Dala, an NGO that works with waste-pickers, said they are trying to provide aid to 1,000 families and have sought donations. They plan to give families of waste-pickers five kg of rice/wheat, two kg of lentils, and two bars of soap, costing ₹550. This amount includes transportation to their homes. “We have chosen families who don’t have a ration card as the government is already giving two months’ supply to such families. These supplies will last the families for about 12 days,” said Ms. Shekar. Within a day of circulating the messages on social media, Hasiru Dala received donations that would help around 200 families.
Anand N.R., a freelance driver, said an NGO, CAPS Foundation, got his family groceries worth ₹2,000. “It is a desperate situation as the number of bookings have reduced to a large extent. One of my customers told the NGO about my situation and the help extended was timely,” he said.
In film industry
Meanwhile, with shooting and all other aspects of film production coming to a halt, members of the Kannada film industry too are stepping up to offer support to colleagues, including technicians, drivers, stuntmen, and those part of the production team. Film-maker Pawan Kumar started this initiative last Sunday. “I wanted to tell everyone that at a time when we are all at home, we can do something constructive for people in our fraternity,” he told The Hindu. As of Friday, he has collected ₹5.81 lakh. Actor Chetan Kumar, who is in touch with many of the unions, has also decided to help Mr. Pawan Kumar in identifying people who may be in dire need.
Volunteers needed
Naavu Bharateeyaru, a platform of various civil society groups which came together in November last year to oppose NPR and NRC, is now focussing on fighting the pandemic by ensuring food security and emergency medical relief. “While doing so, we will take utmost care to ensure that our volunteers are safe,” said a note from members of the platform. The platform needs volunteers for several tasks, including rapid assessment of needs and procuring relief material.
In several areas, police personnel on patrol duty are distributing food to the homeless and those from lower economic background as a majority of the hotels and eateries are closed. However, a few hotels in the city are distributing food boxes to migrant workers and labourers.
Several residents are doing their bit to help out, too. Sujaya M., a homemaker who lives at Rajajinagar, for instance, is cooking lunch for five homeless people in her locality. “It is during these testing times that we need to help each other. I may not be able to help a large number of people, but I decided to do the best I could,” she said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Tanu Kulkarni / Bengaluru – March 28th, 2020
Among the worst-affected sectors, daily wage workers are undoubtedly the biggest sufferers during the pandemic.
Bengaluru :
Among the worst-affected sectors, daily wage workers are undoubtedly the biggest sufferers during the pandemic. To handle this issue, city-based non-profit organisation Give Foundation is currently running a campaign where the members have collected more than Rs 30 lakh within a span of three days, which will be used towards creating hygiene kits for underprivileged people and extend support to blue-collar workers who have lost jobs due to the lockdown.
“We started this campaign on Sunday and reached out to different donors from all over the country. The amount will be used to pay two months’ salary to people who have blue-collar jobs,” says Somdutta Chatterjee, head of corporate partnerships in GiveIndia Foundation. She added that apart from the existing list of affected people that they have, the foundation is also reaching out to various other NGOs to gather more lists. They will reach out to people directly after doing a background verification of the affected persons. “A part of the collected fund will also be used to provide a hygiene kit to the underprivileged. The kit will consist of protective mask, hand sanitiser, antiseptic soap, antiseptic lotion, phenol and thermometers,” adds Chatterjee.
Apart from organisations, others are also trying to do their bit for the good of the society. Champaca, a book store and café in the city, has appealed to people to buy an annual voucher from the store to support those who work at the bookstore.
Recently, director Pavan Kumar started a fund raiser campaign to support daily wage workers of the Kannada film industry, like makeup artistes, lightman, drivers, carpenters and more. Till now, he has collected more than Rs 3.5 lakh and will be handing it over to different workers’ unions.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Monika Monalisa / Express News Service / March 25th, 2020
Around 200 participants battled it out to build solutions to drive – Language Equality on the Indian Internet. The event was won by team “got_r00t” and “PMRY”. Read on to know more…
The main objective of the event was to build an ecosystem to drive language equality on the Indian Internet space. (Representational image)(HT file)
The Silicon Valley of India – Bengaluru on Saturday hosted RevHack 2020 – first Indian language based hackathon.
Around 200 participants battled it out to build solutions to drive – Language Equality on the Indian Internet. The event was won by team “got_r00t” and “PMRY”.
The hackathon was organised by Reverie Language Technologies and NASSCOM. The main objective of the event was to build an ecosystem to drive language equality on the Indian Internet space.
“India has a literacy rate of 69.1 per cent and only .01 per cent of Indic content is available on the Internet for consumption. While there will be 536 million language first digital users in India by 2021, there still is a long way to go for achieving ‘Language Equality on the Internet’,” said Arvind Pani, CEO and Co-founder of Reverie Language Technologies.
“With the first edition of #RevHack we look forward to inspiring coders, developers, and the student community to create innovative Indic language technology-based solutions so that the Internet can be truly accessible for all. Our regional language users can progress beyond browsing and India can realize the potential of the next 500 million users.”, he added.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Education / by Indo Asian News Service – Bengaluru (Karnataka) / January 19th, 2020
Like many other Bengalureans, Suraj Moraje too has been spending his quarantine working from home.
Pic: Meghana Sastry
Bengaluru :
Like many other Bengalureans, Suraj Moraje too has been spending his quarantine working from home. This means back-to-back calls with other colleagues, but the incoming group CEO of business service provider Quess Corp has found something that has helped calm nerves. In between work commitments, Moraje finds a moment or two to spin a vinyl record on any one of the three players he has at home.
“I listen to jazz or some music in the background. These are stressful times, so it’s nice to listen to a piece of music,” he says, adding how his wife and two sons, aged 13 and 10, spent a part of their Sunday listening to Top of the World by The Carpenters. “My elder son groans about how we’re all singing together but the rest of us like it,” he laughs.
Though having harboured a love for music for as long as he can remember, Moraje’s love for vinyl records took off seriously 6-7 years ago. His collection, which stood at a simple 50 then, has grown to 800 now. Arranged alphabetically, the collection includes Pink Floyd, Queen, Carol King, Dire Straits and more. “What can I say, I’m a bit of a control freak, I like knowing exactly where to find Billy Joel,” he says. It’s then easy to imagine how music is a constant fixture in his house. The 44-year-old affirms, “My younger son is often our DJ. Music definitely plays a central role in our lives. I even met my wife at a discotheque.”
For Moraje, life before his vinyl record collection meant spending weekends downloading mp3 songs, but one conversation with him is enough to show that he truly loves his vintage collection. “You connect to a vinyl in more ways. There’s the crackle, the ability to hold it and see the art work. Vinyls sound messier because it’s like live music being recorded. But it’s more real too and comes together well,” he says, adding that he often keeps time apart during his travels to hunt for some records.
So far, his collection includes finds from the Philippines, Italy, Portugal, USA, Malaysia and Singapore. Most of them, however, are secondhand records. He explains, “There’s something special about collecting older records. Some might have a name in the cover, some are older than you and make you wonder about the previous owner, the room the record was played in or more.”So what’s he been listening to lately? Pat comes the reply: Why Worry by Dire Straits. “It goes something like this: Why worry now, there’s always laughter after pain, sunshine after rain,” he says. “It’s a great soothing song.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Simran Ahuja / Express News Service / March 24th, 2020
