Category Archives: Science & Technology

Kolkata engineering college student winner of South Asia ‘Present around the World’ competition

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology

Chennai :

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) announced the winners of South Asia ‘Present around the World’ competition on Friday. Present around the World (PATW) is the IET’s presentation competition for young engineers and technicians aged 18 to 26 years.

This year, the competition witnessed participation from engineers across India and Sri Lanka vying for the top honours. Individual competitors give a presentation for 10 minutes on a subject related to engineering and technology and answer questions posed by the jury for a further five minutes. The focus of the competition was on presentation skills of the young engineers and their ability to convey technical ideas to a non-technical audience.

Vishnu Hurkat from Techno India College of Engineering, Salt Lake, Kolkata, was declared the winner of the South Asia PATW finals. He was awarded a cash prize of Rs. 40,000 for his presentation on CMOS image sensors and will now compete in the global finals to be held in London later this year for a cash prize of £1,000 (approx Rs 100,000).

Angelin Indira J, student of St Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering, Kanyakumari, was declared runner up for his presentation on “An outclassed hexacopter design with specialized robotic arm’ and received a cash prize of Rs 30,000.

Shekhar Sanyal, director and India head, the IET, issued a statement stating they were delighted to witness a peaked interest from engineers in a competition that focuses on soft skills of engineers.

“In an increasingly competitive world, we require engineers who possess not just technical skills, but are able to articulate technical ideas clearly and solve real-life engineering problems,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> Education> News / by Vinayshree Jagadeesh, TNN / August 21st, 2015

Young in age, big in achievement

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Science & Technology

Winners of the first edition of Siddha and Camellia Group present ABP Ananda’s Sera Bangali, Kalker Sera Ajke, 2015, at GD Birla Sabhagar on Thursday

(From left) Artist Pitambar Khan, International Junior Science Olympiad winner Debaditya Pramanik, shooter Ayonika Paul, actor Riddhi Sen, writer Ritika Nath and singer Lagnajita Chakraborty. The award salutes talented young Bengalis in the field of science, art and culture. Picture by Pradip Sanyal
(From left) Artist Pitambar Khan, International Junior Science Olympiad winner Debaditya Pramanik, shooter Ayonika Paul, actor Riddhi Sen, writer Ritika Nath and singer Lagnajita Chakraborty. The award salutes talented young Bengalis in the field of science, art and culture. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / Friday – August 21st, 2015

Shy boy to tech showstopper – ‘Sundi’ who sang Anjali

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Education, Leaders, NRI's / PIO's, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Sundar Pichai, the toast of the technology world, learnt his engineering 110km from Calcutta two decades ago.

In the records of IIT Kharagpur, P. Sundararajan was the topper in metallurgy and material science in the Class of 1993. Outside the classroom, he was known as the ” chhupa rustam” who had wooed and won his life partner from the chemical engineering class without any of his hostel mates getting a whiff of it.

Metro spoke to some of the new Google CEO’s old friends and teachers to get an insight into the man that holds that brilliant mind.

Sourav Mukherji, dean of academic programmes at IIM Bangalore; studied civil engineering at IIT-K and shared the Nehru Hall with Pichai

The world may be hailing Sundar Pichai but to us in Kharagpur, he was Sundi. And he would sing ” Anjali Anjali, pyari Anjali ” all the time.

SundiKOLKATA12AUG2015

We would often hear Sundi hum the lines from the title song of a popular film of our time: Anjali (1990). He loved music and we all thought he sang the song because he liked it. It was much later, after we left Kharagpur, that we realised why he loved this particular song.

It was probably meant for Anjali, the girl from chemical engineering who would become his wife. We all knew Anjali and Sundi knew each other but we never came to know of their relationship in our four years on the campus. It was ‘surprise-surprise’ when we came to know that Sundi and Anjali were seeing each other.

He was a brilliant guy. In fact, a lot of people in the IITs are brilliant. But Sundi was absolutely brilliant. He was the topper in most exams when we were students at IIT. But nobody would call him bookish.

I feel that this (Pichai’s elevation at Google) is a moment of great joy and pride for us as Indians because two of the world’s most powerful IT companies now have Indians as their CEOs (Satya Nadella is the CEO of Microsoft). These gentlemen have truly been able to break the so-called glass ceiling. Twenty years ago, who would have thought that Indians would head powerful American companies, especially companies at the forefront of technology?

Sanat Kumar Roy, professor metallurgy and material science, who taught Pichai

At IIT Kharagpur, we all knew him as P. Sundararajan and it was only in 2012 that we came to know his new name: Sundar Pichai.

It was December 2012 when we got a call from the Wall Street Journal, informing us that Sundar Pichai, an alumnus of our institute, had been appointed vice-president of Google. The journalist wanted details about him.

PichaiKOLKATA12aug2015

We checked our records but couldn’t trace anyone by that name. Later, the journalist gave us a clue: that he had been a recipient of a silver medal. That helped us track P. Sundararajan. Later, we contacted our alumni office in the US to check whether P. Sundararajan and Sundar Pichai were the same person and finally it was they who confirmed it.

I had taught him in all the four years he studied metallurgy and material science here. I found him exceptionally bright.

The IIT selected him for its Distinguished Alumni award this year and he was supposed to receive the honour at the annual convocation that was held recently. He couldn’t attend the event this time but he has promised to visit the institute when he comes to India next.

Phani Bhushan, co-founder of Anant Computing and Pichai’s batchmate and co-boarder at Nehru Hall, where he had stayed at “CTM” (that’s section C, top floor, middle wing)

Sundararajan was a shy person who was more comfortable in small groups, and now he is making speeches and heading a global conglomerate like Google. It is like he has had a personality U-turn.

We are super excited that our batchmate and hall mate has achieved such a feat, although it isn’t as surprising as the news that he married a fellow KGPian, Anjali!

We hall mates and batch mates tend to spend a lot of time together and we thought he was shy about talking to girls. But he turned out to be a chhupa rustam! We wonder how he managed to have a girlfriend without us knowing about it.

Partha Pratim Chakrabarti, director, IIT-KGP

We are all delighted that a student from Kharagpur has achieved this. Sundar Pichai was always a very quiet and studious person. I never taught him but have interacted with him several times. He recently did a video chat with an auditorium full of students who talked to him about everything from life to technology and leadership.

He hasn’t made any public statement as yet. That’s the kind of person he is. He likes to do his work. Sundar has proved that technological leadership can lead to global leadership and has given aspiration to a new generation of IITKgpians that you can achieve global leadership through technological leadership.

He is a quiet worker, a technical wizard, a great thinker and visionary who is also an extremely humble person, quite in sync with his alma mater IIT Kharagpur. He is an Indian who is a global leader and epitomises future generations of Indians.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / Wednesday – August 12th, 2015

He who could feel, see and smell diseases

Leaders, Science & Technology
Author Sanjib Chattopadhyay offers floral tribute to a portrait of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy at Bidhan Sishu Udyan as cartoonist Chandi Lahiri looks on
Author Sanjib Chattopadhyay offers floral tribute to a portrait of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy at Bidhan Sishu Udyan as cartoonist Chandi Lahiri looks on

“Dr Roy was a rare combination of talent, personality and power. His upright gait and towering figure inspired awe in people. All officials were scared of him as he understood administrative matters inside out,” recalled author Sanjib Chattopadhyay, reminiscing about Bengal’s visionary chief minister. He was speaking at a programme organised on July 1 at Bidhan Sishu Udyan in Ultadanga.

Dr Roy was a friend of Chattopadhyay’s grandfather Swarup Bandyopadhyay who was a well-known doctor as well. Dr Roy did a lot of election work from his house while contesting from Barrackpore. “When I joined the cottage and small scale industries department as a 25-year-old, senior officials would send me to his house with the files, not daring to face him themselves. Dr Roy was a miracle worker as a doctor. He used to say that he could see, feel and smell a disease as the patient walked into his chamber.”

Chattopadhyay recalled his father’s colleague going to Dr Roy with a complaint of his head spinning every time he got off the bed. “Treatments for vertigo and spondylosis had failed. The man was about to lose his job due to continuing illness. Dr Roy saw him on my request and simply wrote ‘Reverse your head’ on the prescription. His family thought it was a rude joke. When I went back for an explanation, he said the man was surely sleeping with his head to the north and feet to the south and therefore was acting like a needle to the earth’s magnetic field. He changed his sleeping posture and in three days was fully fit!”

Educationist D.K. Sinha talked of Roy’s contribution as an administrator. “He used his proximity with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to expedite Bengal’s growth.”

Tagore’s Tasher Desh was staged in chhou dance style.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta, India / by A Staff Reporter / Friday – July 10th, 2015

New bone cancer cure without amputation

Science & Technology

Kolkata :

Osteosarcoma, or cancer of the bone, now has an easier and cheaper cure. While the most commonly used treatment is to replace the affected bone with a prosthetic one, a team of city doctors has now used bone scraped out of a patient’s left leg to reconstruct the bone above the right knee (autograft). This has not only cut out cost of the prosthetic replacement, but also made recovery faster and less complicated.

While a prosethetic bone replacement costs Rs 1.5-2 lakh, an autograft can be done for just Rs 50,000.

Amputation of the affected bone was the only cure for osteosarcoma till recently. The ailment is triggered by a cancerous tumour on the bone, which is usually an aggressive form of malignancy. It is more common among children and young adults.

In this case, 19-year-old Sabaqur Nahar Begum, a resident of Burdwan, was affected by osteosarcoma last March. She had a cancerous tumour on her femur and amputation seemed to be the only option. Looking for another way, her husband Syed Badshah Ali got in touch with doctors at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Cancer Research Institute.

“I was told that her leg would not only be saved, but that she would not even require an artificial replacement to heal the affected bone,” he said.

Led by orthopaedic surgeon P Pujari of Ramakrishna Mission Seva Prathisthan, the surgery removed the cancerous part of her femur and used bone fragments from her tibia to fill the gap. The surgery was preceded by a series of three chemotherapy sessions.

A rod has been inserted into the area to support the implanted bone. It will be removed after three to six months depending on how quickly the area heals.

“The trend is now to saving limbs and body organs affected by cancer. While previously we would ampute the bone or limb, now it is possible to save them with modern and more accurate surgical procedures. In this case, the patient has responded well to the surgery and is on the path of recovery,” Pujari said.

Osteosarcoma patients usually do not suffer a relapse in the area of the operation. “But metastatis or a recurrence can’t be ruled out in another part of the body. This is true of any form of cancer, though,” added Pujari.

Oncologist Subir Ganguly felt that while the surgical technique has opened up the option of saving the limb, a recurrence of the cancerous tumour can’t be ruled out.

“Microscopic cancerous cells, that are hard to detect, might linger in the area. It often happens that the tumour forms again, a reason why surgeons earlier preferred to ampute the affected bone. But the new procedure is useful for it allows the surgeon to delay or rule out the amputation as far as possible,” said Ganguly.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Prithvijit Mitra, TNN / July 09th, 2015

Kolkata engineer replicates Zurich model to address cerebral palsy

Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, NRI's / PIO's, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Kolkata :

Much like the campaign on polio, another one in right earnest will start soon. And this time Kolkata will be the city to anchor it. The audio visual campaign, that is presently getting designed will have voices of Babul Supriyo, Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet and Jolly Mukherjee to stress on the fact that cerebral palsy can largely be prevented through pre-natal and neo-natal care. The campaign is being spearheaded by a man, who is better known in the city for some of the iconic structures that he had created, but whose life is now governed by a tragedy – the death of his 27 year old son, Abhishek, a cerebral palsy patient.

Gautam Mitra, who now lives in Zurich on business, started by setting up an NGO for cerebral palsy patients in Switzerland, which attracted a lot of attention there. Enthused by that success, he has now come to Kolkata to start his Bishwa Bandhan, an NGO that will work to spread awareness and also provide supplementary support to children with cerebral palsy and their parents.

During his heydays as a structural engineer and consultant to Tata Steel, some of the structures that Mitra built were, Nazrul Mancha, the steel galleries of Mohammedan Sporting after the wooden ones got destroyed in a fire, the traffic diversions on Vidyasagar Setu, the mini bus shelter at BBD Bag and pedestrian over bridges at Ultadanga and Manicktala. But such accolades have stopped having any meaning for him anymore.

In Switzerland he continues to build tunnels, overbridges, pre-fabricated structures and other constructions using cutting edge precision technology, that is coming of age in Europe today, but only when he is not engaged in a dialogue with the WHO or state authorities in Zurich regarding his cerebral palsy awareness programme. Though he accedes that the level of awareness is very high in Europe, the fact that a large number of babies are born prematurely or with extremely low birth weight as a result of artificial insemination arising out of growing numbers of infertility cases, incidences of cerebral palsy are very high in Europe.

Bishwa Bandhan, which is headquartered in Zurich, has already partnered with WHO there and started its two pronged intervention – spreading awareness among pregnant women that cerebral palsy is preventable and supplementary therapy can make life bearable for children who are born with the problem. The NGO is making waves with its awareness campaigns that stresses on the fact that in most cases when sufficient volumes of oxygen do not reach the brain, babies develop cerebral palsy, so a great stress needs to be laid on administering oxygen on the mother during birthing. It has also started a unique music therapy on children with palsy to help rejuvenate them.

“We are trying to replicate the Zurich model here,” Mitra said. He is presently in the city to start up the the Kolkata chapter of Bishwa Bandhan. A teaser campaign on prevention of palsy will be up soon and the audio visual is getting readied now. Just like in Zurich, where the initiative is being partnered by WHO, Bishwa Bandhan here has tied up with the Institute of Child Health, the Indian Medical Association, leading gynaecologists and fertility experts. They are all enthisuastic about the impending campaign. “It is true that a large number of cerebral palsy patients would have been born normal had oxygen been administered on the mother well, this would not have happened. It is not a genetic disorder. Hence, a systematic campaign is a must. All stakeholders in the birthing process, right from the doctor to the nurses and even the mother should be made aware of this,” said Apurba Ghosh, director of the Institute of Child Health.

The Indian Medical Association has also thrown its weight around the campaign. “There are plenty of pre-natal routine procedures that are not followed in many cases. Again forcep birthing causes a lot of damage since it obstructs the flow of oxygen to the brain. When babies are born pre-mature or with low birth weight, oxygen deficiency is a related hazard. Inorder to maintain WHO standards, one has to eliminate negligence at every stage and that is possible only through an intensive campaign,” said Shantanu Sen, secretary of IMA Bengal chapter.

A 6000 square feet space at Red Cross Place off Raj Bhavan is being prepared as therapy space of Bishwa Bandhan for children with cerebral palsy. “We will experiment with different kinds of music and colour to excite and activate the slow moving brain of palsy kids. Physiotherapists will also work on their limp limbs and make them as active as possible,” Mitra promised.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Jhilmil Pandey, TNN / July 07th, 2015

Shelter for cancer patients opens door – Premashraya will house 200 patients, 300 relatives

Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Science & Technology
Kids with cancer (top) play at Premashraya in Rajarhat after it was inaugurated by Union minister Piyush Goyal, flanked by Tata Steel managing director TV Narendran and Tata Medical Center medical director Mammen Chandy, on Friday. Pictures by Amit Datta
Kids with cancer (top) play at Premashraya in Rajarhat after it was inaugurated by Union minister Piyush Goyal, flanked by Tata Steel managing director TV Narendran and Tata Medical Center medical director Mammen Chandy, on Friday. Pictures by Amit Datta

A shelter for outstation cancer patients and their relatives visiting Tata Medical Center for treatment was inaugurated at New Town on Friday.

Premashraya, an 11-storeyed building less than a kilometre from the hospital in New Town Action Area III, can house 200 patients and 300 family members with separate wings for children and those needing palliative care.

“Relatives of cancer patients need to be with them. Poor patients can’t afford expensive hotels; but they need to stay in the vicinity of the hospital as they can’t travel for long,” Piyush Goyal, minister of state for power, coal and new and renewable energy, said after inaugurating the building.

Coal India Ltd has funded the Rs 41-crore project.

Goyal said his ministry would like to help out the hospital, run by the Tata group, with its annual operational expenses that have been calculated at around Rs 30 crore. He also urged the authorities to approach the people of Calcutta for funds.

“I would request Geeta Gopalakrishnan (director, donor relationships, Tata Medical Center, who raised funds for Premashraya) to approach every industrialist, businessman and Rotaries of Calcutta; connect with them and get a promise for Rs 30 crore. Then that’ll give them a satisfaction,” Goyal said.

Mammen Chandy, the medical director of Tata Medical Center, said many patients could not afford treatment for want of a place to stay. “Premashraya was planned when there was no money,” he said. “Then Coal India came forward. But maintaining and running it and keeping the place clean is a big challenge.” St. Jude’s Child Care Centre, a voluntary organisation, would look after the children’s wing.

The hospital authorities said they would hire agencies for housekeeping, cleaning and other daily jobs. Once the daily operational costs have been worked out, the charges for staying will be decided, an official said. The charges will be minimal though, he said.

“In some cases, cancer can’t be cured. But if we can’t cure cancer, we can allow a person to die with dignity. That is why we have two floors for palliative care,” Chandy said.

The third and fourth floors will house patients in need of palliative care. The hospital will counsel and train relatives of such patients in palliative care. The official said patients could return home after completion of the training.

Premashraya, spread over 100,000sq ft, has a library, prayer hall, cafeteria, physiotherapy centre, auditorium and a play area for children.

Four shops on the ground floor will sell vegetables, fruits, grocery and gift items. For every six-seven rooms, there’s a kitchen where family members of patients can cook.

The auditorium will be used for yoga classes, meditation and counselling. There will be vehicles to ferry passengers and their relatives from the building to the hospital. Vastu Shilpa Consultants has designed the building.

The hospital has expansion plans as well. A seven-storey building with 250 beds will come up on the same campus where the 183-bed hospital is now operating.

An official said Indian Oil Corporation had funded part of the Rs 200-crore project.

“It’ll have three radiotherapy machines. Currently, we have two machines and the average waiting time for a patient is two months despite both machines operating from 11am to midnight,” said V.R. Ramanan, the deputy director of the hospital. The target date for completing the building is 2017.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta, India / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / by Special Correspondent / Saturday – July 04th, 2015

Medica Hospital launches Tele-ICU

Science & Technology

Kolkata :

For Doctors Day on Wednesday, Medica Hospital, in association with Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Indian Medical Association, Bengal branch, launched Tele-ICU facilities. Designed by Philips India Ltd, the technology is a specialist-led ICU care to be monitored from a command centre.

Kolkata’s branch will serve as the command center, which will be connected to other Medica Hospital branches.

“Our specialists sometimes have to fly to other centers to monitor critical cases. This Tele-ICU facility will enable them to monitor patients from Kolkata itself,” said Dr Alok Roy, chairman of Medica Hospital.

“The command center will get all the data about the patient online. These are real time data. The experts in the command center can monitor and intervene whenever the need arises,” said Dr Arindam Kar, director of Medica Institute of Critical Care.

“I am sure this Tele-ICU service is going to help patients. We are also trying to upgrade technology-aided services in government hospitals,” said health minister Chandrima Bhattacharya. The hospital also organized a quiz contest on Wednesday.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN / July 02nd, 2015

Introduction of fair price medicine shop in West Bengal receives international attention

Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technology

Kolkata :

The introduction of fair price medicine shops and diagnostic centers in West Bengal has attracted international attention.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday posted on her facebook page that a research study on the issue has been selected for discussion at the 11th World Congress of International Health Economics Association that will be held at Italy’s Milan during July 12 to July 15. “Our Fair Price Medicine Shops and Diagnostic Centres in Government Hospitals continue to receive more and more international attention and acclaim. A research study conducted on this innovative intervention of our Government to reduce out of pocket expenses of patient parties has been selected for presentation in the 11th World Congress of International Health Economics Association to be held at Milan, Italy during 12-15th July, 2015,” the CM posted on facebook.

“Already, 99 Fair Price Medicine Shops have been opened in just 4 years providing medicines at 48 to 77.2% discount. More than Rs.440 crore discount has been availed of by 157 lakh patients so far. It has been declared Model for the country. Moreover, 58 Fair Price Diagnostic Centres have been set up in just 4 years offering digital X-ray, dialysis, CT Scan and MRI at very affordable price,” the CM further posted on her facebook page.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Suman Chakraborti, TNN / June 26th, 2015

Indian gets prestigious research grant under Obama initiative

NRI's / PIO's, Science & Technology, World Opinion

New York :

An Indian neuroscientist in the US has been awarded a prestigious grant under President Barack Obama’s initiative to map the human brain.

The grant will help him to develop a “virtual neuroanatomist”, an artificial-intelligence system that can identify cell types and neural structures in microscopic images of brain slices.

The two researchers at the National Science Foundation, Partha Mitra and Florin Albeanu, have been awarded Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) under President Barack Obama’s multi-year Brain Initiative, a statement released by the laboratory said.

The award provides $300,000 over two years for the development of innovative conceptual and physical tools to advance neuroscience. The awards are intended to fund short-term, proof-of-concept projects with the prospect of high-payoffs.

Mitra is working to develop an integrative picture of brain function, incorporating theory and experimental work, it said.

He is also the founder of the Mouse Brain Architecture Project, an experimental effort to develop a brain-wide connectivity map of the mouse brain, the statement said.

Mitra’s work extends to the interface of physics, engineering, and biology, where he is developing theories that will allow researchers to extract meaningful information about neural circuit function.

“Florin Albeanu and Partha Mitra are working at the edge of the technology limit in neuroscience, and are actively expanding the limits of what we can do to understand the ultimate mysteries of the mammalian brain’s structure and operations,” said CSHL president and CEO Dr Bruce Stillman.

“On behalf of the faculty I congratulate them on winning EAGER awards, through which the National Science Foundation (NSF) enables them to continue to innovate,” Stillman said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> NRI’s> US & Canada / PTI / August 19th, 2014