Category Archives: Science & Technology

Multifaceted techno kid

Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology
The young genius Ballakur Vivek Kiran is involved in many projects.-PHOTO:Mohd Arif
The young genius Ballakur Vivek Kiran is involved in many projects.-PHOTO:Mohd Arif

The amazingly talented seventeen-year-old Ballakur Vivek Kiran is a student of Kendriya Vidayalaya located at Hyderabad Central University (HCU). The young genius is involved in many projects and he is in the team of Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IITH) students, who have developed Dexter Assistant useful for doctors. He has taken care of android application of Dexter.

While studying 9th standard in 2012 Vivek developed herbal dictionary on Visual Basic Dot Net (VB.NET). Sanjay Enishetty, founder of IM GEEK, and Vineel Nalla, chief executive officer of NBOS Technologies, are his mentors and they are incubating his project Colorspace under Wave Labs, an angle investor forum, by extending financial assistance and providing work space at their office in the city.

Colorspace is a business module developed by Vivek, through which customers would be offered two photo prints free of cost by Kodak, an internationally reputed photo film production company.

Vivek is also part of a team that has developed an internal communication application for Cyberabad police in 2014.

An Accidental Detection and Rescue System is being developed by Udit Gangwal of SISCO, Manish and Devanjan – students from RV College, Bengaluru, along with Vivek.

“This works with geo-fencing and reverse geo-coding. We are using Kookoo, third party software.

The electronic embedded gadget that would be fixed in the vehicle will respond and send alert message to the nearest hospital from the accident spot based on the Google Maps. While I and Udit are working on software part both Manish and Devanjan working on hardware part,” Mr. Vivek told The Hindu.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by R. Avadhani / Sangareddy – March 26th, 2015

Now, order your drugs online

Business & Economy, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Pharmacy chain MedPlus on Friday rolled out an e-commerce facility for customers in Hyderabad to order medicines online and collect the same from any of the 220 stores near them.

As an introductory offer, MedPlus is offering a discount of 15 per cent on medicines and 5-30 per cent on FMCG products purchased online. More than the discount, it is the accompanying convenience that will make a difference to users of the ‘Click, Pick & Save’ facility, MedPlus Health Services founder and CEO Madhukar Gangadi said at the formal launch of the facility.

With over 1,200 stores across the country, the company plans to extend the service to 50 cities in two years. Bengaluru and Chennai are the other cities where MedPlus has more than 200 stores, he said.

On why home delivery was not being offered to customers ordering medicines online, he said it was not permitted under law.

Explaining the benefits of the new facility, COO Surendra Mantena said the portal provides information about the medicine, the ‘dos and don’t’ and the alternatives, besides offering a host of other FMCG products. Customers ordering medicine need to furnish their prescription at the time of picking up the order, whereas home delivery of other products is available.

MedPlus is looking to have a network of 10,000 stores in three years, Dr.Gangadi said. It was in talks to raise $50-75 million of PE funds in six months, he added.

So far, the investment in the company has been $30 million and with the fresh funds, the company planned to build new facilities.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – March 28th, 2015

IIT Hyderabad emerges joint winner in hacking contest

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

Students from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad, emerged winners along with two other teams from Amrita College of Engineering, Bangalore and IIT Mumbai in the recently concluded Microsoft’s national college hacking contest ‘Build the Shield’, a statement said.

The Microsoft contest provided students a competitive hands-on experience on information security and risk management coupled with real-life scenarios, wherein the team defends attacks from servers of competitors to emerge as the winner. Close to 290 teams and over 1,000 students participated in the online qualifiers stage in January 2015.

Nearly 50 teams were shortlisted for the national finale at Hyderabad who battled for the top three positions. The winners received pre-placement interview offers from Microsoft along with Xbox One and Lumia phones.

“The contest was quite competitive and a great learning experience for all of us,” said Agam Agarwal from IIT Hyderabad.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – March 26th, 2015

A specialised support

Science & Technology, Sports
HELP AT HAND Dr. Prasanth Panchada (left) treating Pragyan Ojha (centre) during Hyderabad's recent Ranji Trophy campaign.
HELP AT HAND Dr. Prasanth Panchada (left) treating Pragyan Ojha (centre) during Hyderabad’s recent Ranji Trophy campaign.

Many a Hyderabadi cricketer owes it to Physio Dr. Prasanth Panchada for putting them on track from injuries

“An army marches on its stomach,” Napoleon Bonaparte famously said. Food apart, fitness fuels sports battles and campaigns short on these rarely succeed. Akin to well-oiled machines, agility of athletes enhances performance and achievement. Making them match-ready is a highly specialised task.

“To me, the support staff was a white elephant till I heard of Dr. Prasanth Panchada from no less than VVS Laxman,” said P. Jyothi Prasad, Chairman, Senior Selection Committee, Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA).

Says left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, “Prasanth has been treating me since 2008 and diagnoses problems correctly. When bowling for Hyderabad or India over long periods, my shoulders get stiff. The beauty of his approach lies in driving away niggles, allowing me to play freely.”

A graduate in physiotherapy from the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bengaluru, Dr. Prasanth’s major assignments include the Afro Asian Games, the 2005 World volleyball championships in Visakhapatnam, the 2006 All India Coal Meet and working with the Sports Authority of Karnataka.

“In Hyderabad’s first Ranji match against Andhra, many expected G. Hanuma Vihari’s shoulder injury would rule him out of both match and season. Dr. Prasanth rendered immediate medical attention on the ground and nursed it so well later that Vihari played the entire season without a hitch,” said Prasad, who played alongside M.L. Jaisimha and M.A.K. Pataudi.

So was he effective in healing Ashish Reddy’s hamstring tear after the speedster limped out of the ground against Services. “I advised Mithali Raj to see Dr. Prasanth before she left for England. Now he has treated both the Padma Shri awardees from the twin cities, the other being Laxman,” Prasad, former Hyderabad and South Zone spearhead said.

Prasanth rehabilitated Pankaj Singh, down with decade long tears in both knees to enable his participation in two London triathlons at Dorney Lake, venue of the 2012 Olympics rowing event. “I trusted him fully in a four-wheeler in front, setting the pace for my cycling over a gruelling 40 km stretches on the Outer Ring Road in preparation for the big event,” said Singh, Head of Resource Practice, Global Change Delivery, HSBC.

“I aim not to just treat injuries but prevent them in the first place,” says Dr. Prasanth, also a consultant for Microsoft R & D and Apollo Clinics. His methods include muscular/ skeletal and pre-season screening, pre-game and post-game fluid level checks to formulate different programmes for different roles such as for a wicket-keeper, fast bowler, spinner or batsman.

Pool stretches and ice baths are some of the Level 1 BCCI accredited physio’s recovery techniques. “Eliminate simple errors and champs are produced,” says Prasanth, who dreams of working with the Indian team to the Olympics. His most memorable moments so far are doing the victory lap with the Hyderabad team in South Africa, 2009, finding himself surrounded by stars on the team bus and the pleasant surprise at spotting his portrait at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by A. Joseph Antony / March 11th, 2015

One step short of making history

Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology

CaptFathimaTELANGANA07mar2015

Capt. Fatima, the only Muslim woman in India to hold commercial pilot’s licence, needs financial help for additional training

She looks the typical Muslim woman next door – plain, timid and hesitant. It will be a surprise if she can drive a four-wheeler. Hold your breath – she can even fly an aircraft. Meet Capt. Syeda Salva Fatima, the only Muslim woman in India to hold the commercial pilot’s licence.

She is the shining example of Muslim women’s empowerment. What makes her ascent interesting is that she hails from the poverty-stricken old city of Hyderabad where life is a continuous struggle. Even more surprising is her decision to step into a domain which is predominantly male. But her black burqa and red scarf doesn’t betray her accomplishments.

Right from her school days, Fatima used to collect newspaper articles about aviation and pour over pictures of aircraft for hours. Her father, Syed Ashfaq Ahmed, a bakery worker, never imagined that his daughter would become a pilot one day. The dice was cast when she took admission in an institute which offered free EAMCET coaching. “What would you like to become,” the instructor asked. Pat came the reply, “Pilot”. It was a pleasant surprise to everyone present, more so to her father who struggled to make the ends meet. Seeing her determination, Zahid Ali Khan, Editor, Siasat daily, who was present at the time, asked Fatima to meet him later. “I couldn’t believe my ears when he offered to support me financially to undertake the pilot training,” recalls an overwhelmed Fatima.

After five years of rigorous training at the Andhra Pradesh Aviation Academy, Fatima obtained Commercial Pilot’s Licence, Private Pilot’s Licence and Flight Radio Telephone Operator Licence on March 11, 2013. She has logged in a total of 200 hours of flying on Cessna 152 and172, including 123 hours of solo flight. Now she has hit a rough weather. She needs to undergo Type Rating, an additional training beyond the scope of the initial licence and aircraft class training, on Air Bus A-320 or Boeing to be able to fly any aircraft. The training costs about Rs. 30 lakh which the 26-year-old couldn’t think of. But having come this far, she doesn’t want to give up. The Captain courageous has sent an SOS to the Civil Aviation Minister, Ashok Gajapathi Raju. She can be reached on: 9966073368.

Capt. Fatima, the only Muslim woman in India to hold a commercial pilot’s licence, needs financial help for additional training

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Swathi V / Hyderabad – March 07th, 2015

SRL Diagnostics Honour Five Outstanding Women From Hyderabad

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology

SRLDiagnosticsTELANGANA04mar2015

Hyderabad :

With International Women’s Day fast approaching, SRL Diagnostics, a diagnostics chain, on Monday honoured and felicitated five exceptionally spirited women from the city, who despite all odds in their lives emerged winners became role models for many.

They were provided high end cervical cancer screening and a lifetime offer of SRLs premium health screening package.

Among the women felicitated during the event were Sonia Choudhary (29) an acid attack survivor. Anjina Rajagopalan (61) who runs a home, Sai Kripa, for abandoned and orphaned children, on the outskirts of the Capital in Noida. Anjina takes care of the children, educates them and even marries them off.

Anna Marie Lopes (28), a victim of domestic violence and sexual harassment, presently works with an NGO that works for gender violence. Omkari (35) is strong and confident woman who entered the male dominated career as a commercial driver to support her family. Rajni Bhagat Arora (63) was diagnosed with malignant breast cancer almost 12 years back. But she fought back fearlessly and presently she is a volunteer for an NGO that supports people with cancer. In an endeavour to promote the message of preventive healthcare on the occasion, the diagnostic chain also released a report on ‘Importance of early diagnosis in women’. Some startling facts were reported.

findings

■ According to the National Family Health Survey, 55 per cent have anemia.

■ Cardiovascular diseases are the most important cause of death in women, as per Registrar General of India

■ 40 per cent of women constitute almost two million death caused by diseases of circulatory system

■ 2.1 million women die of diabetes each year in the world.

■ 60 per cent of around 40 million Indians who suffer from thyroid related disorders are women.

■ Osteoporosis is estimated to affect 200 million women worldwide.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / March 04th, 2015

‘Stem Therapy can Save a Diabetic from Amputation’

Science & Technology
Dr Kanaka Bhushanam
Dr Kanaka Bhushanam

As various advances are made in regenerative medicine, stem cell therapies are seen as the innovative solutions to treating diseases where standard treatments available at present are proving to be ineffective. Dr Kanaka Bhushanam, head of the stem cell therapy dept at KIMS Foundation and Research Centre, throws light on stem cell therapy and its merits in an interview with Express.

What is stem cell therapy?

A stem cell is an initial cell which multiplies into a number of cells which, in turn, form into different groups and each group develops into a specific organ. The whole of human body is developed from the embryo which, in turn, is developed from one single cell. Stem cell therapy is the process of treating diseases using the ability of a stem cell to multiply into different cells.

How is stem cell therapy better than others?

Stem cell therapy is useful to persons suffering from diabetic foot, scleroderma, systemic lupus erythematosus, paralysis, stroke, blindness, hearing loss, orthopedic problems, etc. It is effective for degenerative and autoimmune diseases. Though stem cell therapy can do wonders in the treatment of several diseases, right now it is widely used in treating diabetic foot, lupus and scleroderma. Stem cell therapy is still in clinical trials stage and once the trials succeed there will be revolutionary changes in treating several chronic diseases. It can even be an answer to organ transplantation as cells from the same person can be used to develop new organs in the body.

How is stem cell therapy given?

Stem cells are taken from the bone marrow of a patient, developed and cultured in a lab, and injected into the person again. For example, the diabetic foot problem occurs when blood vessels carrying blood to the limbs are blocked and the blood supply is stopped. In that case, a stem cell is taken from a diabetic whose foot is affected and injected into his blood vessels again to de-block them and restore the blood supply to the limbs. As result, new cells start forming in the limbs thus obviating the need for amputation of the leg.

How is patients’ response to this therapy?

Stem cell therapy is yet to become popular as only a few medical institutes in India offer it. There is a need for awareness about stem cell therapy because if debilitating conditions like diabetic foot are diagnosed early and stem therapy is given, patients can be saved from amputation.

What about the cost?

Unlike other advanced treatments, stem cell therapy is well within the reach of the common man. For instance, the treatment for and surgery on diabetic foot using stem cell therapy costs about Rs 1.50 lakh. The cost is not a barrier to popularising stem cell therapy in India but shortage of expertise is.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / March 01st, 2015

Global Hospitals conducts total laparoscopic surgery

Science & Technology

Surgeons at Global Hospitals conducted a total laparoscopy whipples surgery on a 45-year-old male patient who had pancreatitis and a tumour in pancreas.

The usual surgery to remove tumours from pancreas is to conduct whipples surgery, which involves surgical removal of some parts of pancreas, bile duct and portions of intestines.

After the removal of the tumours, the surgeons undertake reconstruction where all the organs are reconnected again. According to surgeons, this procedure is demanding for patients as well as the doctors.

“Under normal circumstances, whipples operation would have been performed. But this patient is a young male and a strenuous worker by occupation. Also, after considering the risk of respiratory and wound problems, we undertook a total laparoscopic whipples surgery. This procedure consists of small incisions and recovery is very quick,” said Vijaykumar C. Bada, Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, Global Hospitals.

According to doctors, the patient had severe abdominal pain and unexplained weight loss of more than 10 kg in three months.

“Upon evaluation, we detected that he had pancreatitis with dilated liver, pancreas and a tumour in the head of the pancreas. We decided to do laparoscopy and it took us around 10 hours to complete the surgery,” Dr. Vijaykumar said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – February 26th, 2015

Progress Software turns incubator

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

Progress Software on Tuesday got into a new role of external incubator with the opening of a 23-seater, 1,600 sq ft facility on its Hyderabad campus. It is the first such facility in the corporate sector and will host four start-ups initially. Going forward it can take two more.

At the inauguration, the software firm announced RiskEdge and DoConf have signed contracts and become the first set of occupants of the Progress Pacific Incubator.

Briefing presspersons, Progress Software India managing director Ramesh Loganathan said the selected start-ups were expected to develop products on Progress products.

“If they are successful, we get licence revenue,” he explained, adding the incubator will not take equity stake in the start-ups. Such investments, he said, may be considered only after the proposed fund of Progress for start-ups is launched.

The pilot programme runs in six months cohorts, Mr.Loganathan said, adding apart from the infrastructure, Progress engineers will be available for the start-ups to provide domain expertise, mentoring and access to markets. The incubator programme, a release said, will be extended to universities and institutions in the next phase.

Progress EVP and CIO Dave Benson said depending on the success of the Hyderabad model the company may replicate it at its engineering locations, which includes Boston, North Carolina besides Sofia in Bulgaria, where it recently acquired a firm, Telerik AD.

“It is a great initiative,” declared Nasscom vice chairman BVR Mohan Reddy and described start-ups as crucial to the economy, particularly as job creators.

IIIT Hyderabad Director P.J. Narayanan said for the benefit of students setting up start-ups the Institute has introduced a deferred placement programme. Such students, in the event of the venture not clicking, remain eligible to participate in campus recruitment after three years.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by N. Ravi Kumar / Hyderabad – February 24th, 2015

Hyderabad Girl Sets World Record in Mid-brain Activation Technique

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

Hyderabad :

Ten-year-old Gade Parineetha seems to have a special ability. She can identify or read from flash cards when blindfolded, by smell and sense. She has set a world record by doing so with as many as 101 flash cards in a matter of 60 seconds and entered the Limca Book of World Records, Unique World Records, Wonder Book of Records and four more book of records.

She set these world records, a couple of days ago, in front of a full house of guests and luminaries like justice Challa Kodanda Ram of Hyderbad High Court; GD Priyadarshini, director of department of agriculturem S Kumar, BJP Telangana state secretary and several others at Ravindra Bharati here. The technique is simply called Mid-Brain Activation. “Mid-brain activation gurus Hitesh Satara and Dr B Sai Kiran have been training over 5,000 students in this technique. They realised that Parineetha has special talent. She has been training only for about three weeks,” says her father Pawan Kumar Gade, who is a High Court Lawyer.

G Parineetha performing mid-brain activation skills blindfolded while her father G Pawan Kumar looks on at a function in Hyderabad | NEERAJ MURALI
G Parineetha performing mid-brain activation skills blindfolded while her father G Pawan Kumar looks on at a function in Hyderabad | NEERAJ MURALI

A class 5 student of Johnson Grammar School in Habsiguda, Parineetha says the new found ability has helped her in her studies too. “What I do now is only a first level. In a few months, I should be able to identify a card from a distance, without touching or even summarise a book by just flipping through it,” says Parineetha who aspires to become a scientist.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / February 23rd, 2015