Monthly Archives: December 2017

Hyderabad welcomes ‘Robocop’ prototype

Records, All, Science & Technology
H-Bots Robotics founder Kisshhan PSV and his team present the robot in Hyderabad on Friday.

The ‘smart police robot’ has capabilities to identify suspects and record video clips

Hyderabad may soon get its first ‘robocop’, with the launch of a prototype in the city on Friday. Unlike its famous Hollywood counterpart, however, this five-foot-seven-inch tall ‘smart police robot’, weighing 43 kg, is not yet capable of chasing down criminals.

But according to its makers, it can take complaints, record audio and video clips, identify suspects, detect metals, and monitor temperature.

The policing robot has been made by H-BOTS, a Hyderabad-based artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning start-up. It was conceived at Makers Leeway, the start-up’s research lab, six months ago.

Multi-touch screen

The life size prototype was launched by Telangana Information Technology Secretary Jayesh Ranjan on Friday. Made of nylon plastic, said to be ten times stronger that regular plastic, the robot has a multi-touch screen. “It recognises voice and can interact in English. In the near future, it will recognise Telugu and Hindi as well,” said Kisshhan PSV, CEO of H-BOTS.

The robot is expected to be familiar with basic policing work, regulation of traffic, and details of the Indian Penal Code. “On subjects it is not familiar with, the robot will reply to queries by sourcing information from Wikipedia or Google,” Mr. Kisshhan said, adding that it has an AI unit inside.

If someone tries to tamper with it, the robot is programmed to blow a siren similar to that used by police vehicles. Though far from a complete ‘police person’, unlike a human cop, it can work round-the-clock and its AI-enhanced surveillance capabilities would be far superior.

Its makers say it can be showcased as an advance in policing technology and eventually be introduced to carry out basic police work such as registering cases. But a lot of new ground needs to be covered in the development AI, machine learning, and robotics before there is a realistic chance of robots replacing humans in policing.

In its present form, the smart police robot can assist people at malls, streets, airports and railway stations. After a few more months of fine-tuning the robot, the company plans to produce 700 units a year by 2020.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Marri Ramu / Hyderabad – December 29th, 2017

An eventful year for the seed sector in Telangana

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, World Opinion

Seed exported to a few OECD countries for the first time this year

The year that is coming to an end has been the most eventful for the seed sector of Telangana since it has seen the State taking the leadership role at the national level and also making a mark at the international level with export of seed under the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) programme.

Setting the house in order first, the State government ensured timely availability of seed before the commencement of every agriculture season for the last three years, although the problem of inferior quality seed raised its head every now and then. As it had little or no powers to deal with the spurious seed issue/offenders, the State government amended an existing law bringing the subject under the purview of Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act.

Admitting that all incidents of farmers suffering losses due to spurious seed may not have been addressed, a senior officer of the Agriculture Department said: “A good beginning has been made this year by making two seed companies pay compensation to chilli farmers in Gadwal, Khammam and Warangal (Rural) districts after they suffered crop loss due to inferior quality seed”.

On the other hand, the Telangana government hosted stakeholders’ conferences on OECD seed certification twice and national meeting of public sector seed entities towards improving the quality of seed to international standards. It was decided to promote inter-State sale of seed by public sector entities to make them affordable to the farming community.

“We have mooted setting up seed export promotion council and a centre of excellence to promote seed exports through single window system to OECD countries in South and South East Asia and Africa and the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare is examining it,” Agriculture Production Commissioner C. Parthasarathi, who has been recently appointed as co-chairman of the national task force on OECD seed schemes, said when contacted.

After becoming the nodal agency for OECD seed certification for four States, Telangana State Seed and Organic Certification Agency (TSSOCA) has achieved the distinction of exporting sorghum and paddy seed for the first time to Sudan, Philippines, Vietnam and Egypt. “About 17,000 qunitals seed raised with international standards in 2,271 acres in Telangana has been exported to those countries and we have plans to increase it to 50,000 quintals this year from over 6,000 acres,” Director of TSSOCA K. Keshavulu explained.

One more recognition that has come to the Telangana State seed sector this year is selection of Mr. Keshavulu as the chairman of the advisory council of the International Seed Testing Association to coordinate the international seed agencies and the seed industry. The Union Agriculture Ministry has already appointed him as the nodal officer for taking up a field-level study for the country’s membership in the Europe Equivalence.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by B. Chandrashekhar / Hyderabad – December 29th, 2017

Striking the right balance between academics, sports

Sports
Twin sisters Laasya and Sasya to compete in both singles and doubles in the national-level events to be held in January.

Table tennis duo Laasya and Sasya have their Inter exams when they have to compete in three major events in January.

When most of their friends would be in a holiday mood, the twin sisters, Laasya and Sasya, would have an enviable task at hand – to balance their studies and play as they have to write Intermediate exams and also compete in three major national events in January.

The most-familiar table tennis duo from the city, with a twin objective of making it to B.Tech programme and also excel in the sport, are having extended training sessions under the tutelage of coach K. Sreedhar at AWASA Academy in Khairtabad.

These sisters did not have a great year not for want of performance, but because they opted for sciences which meant spending more time studying.

“Thanks to our dad who booked flight tickets so that we will be back in Hyderabad on our exam days and also don’t miss out competing in the three major events – the SGFI Nationals, the Junior Nationals and the Senior Nationals,” says the 16-year-old Laasya.

For the record, Sasya (State no. 2) and Laasya (State no. 3) would be competing in both singles and doubles (partnering with each other). Is it too taxing? “Not really, they enjoy the game so much that they never complain,” insists the coach.

What are the strong points of their game? “Laasya is attacking on both flanks while Sasya is technically more correct. But I must tell you, once they make it to the engineering course, they will be totally different players for they can focus more on their game,” says Sreedhar, who traverses a long distance from ECIL to Khairtabad for extended training sessions to both the sisters every day.

Interestingly, Laasya was a south zone champion in swimming and pursued both swimming and table tennis till class VII when her mother Sathya Lakshmi, herself a table tennis player, felt it would be too much to focus both on academics and the two disciplines and made them stick to only table tennis.

The sister duo has won 18 national-level titles in 2015 and 2016, and look ahead with a lot of hope.

“We know it’s going to be a difficult journey from now onwards. But we are preparing in right earnest to make a mark at the highest level,” sign off the sisters.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by V. V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – December 23rd, 2017

Hyderabad man engineers a new spin on Ravana, scripts his story

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion

Hyderabad :

Ravana is not the villain that he is made out to be. There is his side of the story too. A city engineer has given Sri Lanka just the kind of account they would like to read about Ravana. Bala Sankuratri, who has authored the book ‘My Name is Ravana’, gets Ravana to tell his story from his perspective. Next on agenda is a translation of the entire Ramayana in a way that Ravana is understood in context.

To unveil the book, Isura Devapriya, chief minister of Western Province, Sri Lanka, flew down to Hyderabad on November 25.

It will soon be released in Sri Lanka. Telugu version is also in the pipeline.

“My name is Ravana. Yes, I am the Ravana. I was the one who abducted Sita. I was the one who set fire to Anjaneya’s tail and I was the one who fought with Rama. You may think I am mad. I don’t care. You may think, being me is bad. I still don’t care…Fact is, I am The Great and being me is next to impossible,” book begins with Ravana introducing himself.

“Every action of Ravana is justified. He has a reason for his behaviour. He allowed himself to be misunderstood and even for this there was a reason,” Sankuratri told TOI. To understand Ravana, Sankuratri read Valmiki’s Ramayana and other versions also.

He also got to understand the legends surrounding Ravana in Sri Lanka, of which he was the king. “I made three trips to Sri Lanka and found out from the people there what understanding they had of Ravana. The research took five years,” he said.

So why did Ravana detain Sita? Wasn’t that what brought him a bad name? “There cannot be any suspicion about the character of Ravana. He had no evil thoughts about Sita,” Sankuratri said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Hyderabad News / by Ch. Sushil Rao / TNN / December 29th, 2017

Innovative teacher devises a new script

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All
Srikanth Rangachari who invented a new language script using symbols of the world currencies. | Photo Credit: K_V_RAMANA

Srikanth Rangachari uses symbols of different currencies to denote each letter.

Much before the alphabet evolved and scripts were developed for the languages spoken around the world, symbols were used to denote letters in the rudimentary scripts of the ancient times and the Egyptian Hieroglyphic writing is the best example.

Perhaps taking inspiration from the past, Srikanth Rangachari, a teacher in a private school at Tanur mandal headquarters in Nirmal district, has devised a new script using the symbols of different currencies, which, he claims can be utilised for the tribal languages that have no scripts.

Interestingly, Mr. Rangachari has transliterated all the 702 stanzas in 18 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita and the national anthem into his new script, that has 51 letters. Working day and night for three months, he improvised the script which he has named the ‘Currency Script’.

Hailing from Sunket village of Morthad mandal in the district, the 24-year-old always wanted to be different since childhood and try new things. He had already etched his name in the Telugu Book of Records and Limca Book of Records — breaking the world record of Geetha Smith and Mathew Jackson — by reciting the English alphabet 37 times in a record low time of 1.420 seconds.

Mr. Rangachari used the symbol of US dollar for ‘Da’ in Telugu; the UK pound for ‘A’ and Nigerian nirasigin for ‘Na’ and so on. Slash [/], @ and * denoted ‘Aa’, ‘E’ and ‘Ee’ in Telugu respectively. “ People who do not have a script for their mother tongue can use it for writing their language,” he says.

The young teacher has also incorporated zero, diamond, laokip and symbols of Indian rupee, Japanese Yen and Korean wonsign and Judaism and Swastik of Hindusim. For his endeavour, he secured the recognition of Amazing Book of Indian World Records last month, winning the admiration of his colleagues and friends.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by P. Ram Mohan / Nizamabad – December 25th, 2017

This Telangana weaver weaves profits overseas

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, World Opinion

The tie and dye ikat designs of Kolanupaka Bixapathi were also exhibited at Lakme Fashion Show in Paris which was conducted three weeks back.

Kolanupaka Bixapathi with his designs

Yadadri-Bhongir:

A sixty-year-old weaver Kolanupaka Bixapathi, who has created more than 1,000 designs for tie and dye ikat handlooms, is setting an example for other weavers by receiving higher prices for his products than his counterparts’. Innovative designing and dying methods have helped in fetching a good price for his clothes, nearly 30 per cent more than the price other weavers could get in the market.

Tie and dye ikat curtains prepared by Laxmipathi were used as door and window curtains at White House in US for five years. He received the order from Mumbai Export Company that supplied it to the US government.

Receiving inspiration, other weavers at Vellanki village of Ramannapet mandal in Yadadri-Bhongir district are also switching over to innovative methods to get the best price for their produce.

The tie and dye ikat designs of Kolanupaka Bixapathi were also exhibited at Lakme Fashion Show in Paris which was conducted three weeks back.

He also set up an exclusive shop of his designs in New Delhi which gets seven to eight foreign visitors daily.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Bixapathi said that he had set up Surya Textile in New Delhi in 2012 but had incurred a loss of Rs 80 lakh due to a fire accident in 2014. After a gap of four months, he renovated the shop with a lot of hardships. He has been getting orders from export companies as his tie and dye ikat designs have a high demand in foreign countries. He was surprised when a German woman, who visited his shop in New Delhi, told him that a piece of his design, which costs less than Rs 10,000 here, was selling in US at Rs 80,000.

Bixapathi, who has a habit of adopting the latest technology in the textile sector, also learnt to manufacture Jakat, used for weaving high cost saris and successfully complete an order of 200 Jakat boxes from a Chennai-based firm. Laxmipathy is trying to invent a machine for rubber rolling yarn in Ikat methods which is now made manually. He informed that he would use Aso Reactive Dies (Chemicals without Benzene) for preparation of the cloth as foreigners would also prefer it as it would not cause skin related problems.

Moggam weavers

Expressing happiness over the State’s initiatives to promote handloom sector, he felt that the initiatives have started showing results as weavers were reversing to moggams again.

He felt that there would always be demand for handlooms if the weavers ensure good design and quality in clothes. He stated that he migrated to Yallanki from Chandoor in the year 2008 due to problems of availability of workers. When I come to the village, the weavers were selling the bedsheets at Rs 100-150, which would not meet their daily requirements. He found that the weavers were using low-quality yarn. When he explained the local weavers that they can get better price by using quality yarn, the weavers’ works began fetching of Rs 600 per bedsheet, he added.

He suggested the government to conduct awareness programmes on new technologies and market trends for weavers as it would help them receive benefits.

source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home> Telangana> Yadadri Bhongir / by Srinivas P / December 27th, 2017

Drink in the essence of Telangana at photo exhibition

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
The Hindu ’s Senior Assistant Editor S. Harpal Singh explaining a ritual being done as part of Keslapur Nagoba Jatara to the visitors, at photo exhibition in Hyderabad on Friday.

Seven photo galleries inaugurated at Chitramayee State Fine Art Gallery
Delegates at the World Telugu Conference would be in for a visual treat what with seven photo galleries being inaugurated as part of the prestigious event at Chitramayee Telangana State Fine Art Gallery, Madhapur, depicting Telangana heritage, art, culture and landscape.

Among the three galleries on Telangana festivals is the collection of photos by The Hindu’s Senior Assistant Editor S. Harpal Singh on Keslapur Nagoba Jatara, an important religious and cultural event of the Mesram clan of Raj Gond Adivasis in Adilabad.

The photos of several rituals followed during the festival were shot by the The Hindu’s representative in Adilabad district over a period of four years.

The jatara is a month-long affair that starts at the beginning of Poos month of Pushya Masam and witnesses the Mesram clan families indulging in preparations for the actual event that takes place on the last three days of the month. The most important ceremonies and rituals take place during these three days. The other galleries are Telangana Gramaseema by award winning filmmaker B. Narsing Rao. The collection relates to visuals of life in Telangana villages shot by Mr. Rao over a period of time.

The two other festivals being featured at the exhibition are Bonalu and Samakka Saralamma Jatara and the artists are Satyanarayana Gola and Rama Veeresh Babu respectively.

Acknowledged photographers Madhu Gopal Rao and Vishwendar Reddy are exhibiting photographs on Kakatiya Shilpakala or Warangal sculpture and landscape respectively, the latter underscoring the beauty of rock formations in the region. The famous photographer from Hyderabad, late Raja Deendayal’s works under the title Hyderabad Varasatwam are also being exhibited.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – December 15th, 2017

The Hyderabad connection to U.S. water polo team

Nri's / PIO's, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
Naresh C. Rao, U.S.-based sports medicine expert (centre), and his parents with his book Step Up Your Game .V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM

Naresh is a sports medicine doctor whose clients included Olympic and professional athletes
Not many might be aware of a Hyderabadi connection to the U.S. water polo women’s team winning gold medal at the Olympics. Well, Naresh C. Rao, born to Govind Rao and Jyothi Rao from the city, was the head physician of the U.S. team in the 2016 Rio edition.

For someone based in New York and having been a water polo player, Dr. Naresh qualified for the job by the virtue of being a sports medicine doctor, whose clients included Olympic and professional athletes over the years.

“It was a huge honour. I always longed to be at the Olympics as a player. But I am glad that at least I made it as a support staff member of a gold-medal winning team. It was a complete team effort which I cherish forever,” said Dr. Naresh, whose father was a renowned paediatrician in the city’s Niloufer Hospital and was also involved in many philanthropic activities, especially on the medical front here, before moving to the U.S.

“The U.S. players’ eyes turned red and there were rashes when they were training in the green water in the pool in Rio. I immediately took up the issue with the IOC and the Rio Olympics Organising Committee. And the response was amazing. They drained out the pool completely and ensured fresh and clean water. I made it clear that it was not a case affecting just the U.S. squad, but all those taking part in water polo,” he reminded.

“The biggest challenge for me in Rio was to ensure that the players did not take any medicine, even for normal cough and cold, which would have merited a ban for drug abuse under different guidelines. So my job meant a lot of lecturing and motivational classes too,” said the sports science expert willing to give back to his home State – Telangana.

Dr. Naresh interacted with the students of Telangana State Sports School at Hakimpet on Sunday morning and stressed on how one could be a champion through natural performance-enhancing techniques without resorting to drug abuse.

“My book Step Up Your Game deals with this subject in detail and it has been acknowledged by many for emphasising the ‘entourage’ approach to training. It helps athletes get ready for the starting line,” he said. “The book has all the practical tools for all levels, from a beginner to the Olympian,” he added.

What next? Dr. Naresh has been asked to be with the U.S. teams for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as well. “I am honoured with the offer, but will take a call soon in this regard,” he signed off.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – December 25th, 2017

State gets palmyrah centre

Agriculture, Records, All, Science & Technology

The Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), a premier research institute established by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for coconut, arecanut and cocoa crops, has sanctioned a “voluntary centre for palmyrah in Telangana”.

The voluntary centre is a research centre to which only funding is given by ICAR initially.

The centre will start functioning at the Horticultural Research Station of Sri Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticultural University at Konda Mallepalli in Nalgonda district.

In a communication sent to Vice Chancellor of the horticultural university earlier this week, Project Coordinator (Palms) H.R. Maheshwarappa of the Kasaragod-based research institute stated that the voluntary centre has been sanctioned for carrying out location specific research on palmyrah palm in Telangana State. The centre would get 75% funding as grant from the ICAR.

The CPCRI has also asked the Vice Chancellor to identify a scientist for taking up research on palmyrah and that the plan of work would be intimated in due course of time after completion of formalities.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – December 22nd, 2017

Made in Hyderabad is what Tejas also is

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology

The IAF has ordered for 83 Tejas fighter jets, taking the total order of indigenous fighters to 123.

Hyderabad has a decent contribution in the designing and making of the biggest IAF indigenous fighter aircraft.

Hyderabad:

Indian Air Force has finally moved to purchase its second batch of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, a fighter jet for attack and other operations.

And Hyderabad has a decent contribution in the designing and making of the biggest IAF indigenous fighter aircraft.

Some electronic components of the Made-in-India jet were manufactured in Hyderabad and assembled in Bengaluru’s Hindustan Aeronautical Limited.

The chief designer of the LCA project is former Hyderabad University vice-chancellor Dr Kota Hari Narayana, who spent 10 years on designing the Tejas.

A senior IAF officer, who didn’t want to be identified, said, “Each LCA costs about Rs 400 crore as its electronic components are very expensive, more than even its body. The LCA is equipped with radar, data link, navigation system, weapon aiming sensors and interface and specific radar detector. Components of these electronic parts were manufactured by Defence Electronic Research Laboratories in Hyderabad.

Another city private vendor, VEN Technologies, also chipped in by making some of the aircraft’s body parts.

Talking about the aircraft, defence historian K.S. Nair said, “Earlier, fighter aircraft used to target the enemy with the help of human eye, but the latest ones are equipped with target lock, infrared radars and other wide range of sensors to spot the enemy. However this comes at a cost — most of the electronic components that are manufactured in Hyderabad are extremely precision-oriented and cost more than the aircraft body itself. For example, an airborne early warning and control aircraft with antenna has components costing more than the aircraft body.

The Tejas LCA which is finally tested and assembled at HAL in Bengaluru is designed to have air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities. This means it can attack an enemy aircraft in flight as well target a site on ground.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / by Coreena Suares, Deccan Chronicle / December 23rd, 2017