Haage Summane... ಹಾಗೆ ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ

Moodbidri based environmentalist-surgeon Dr Krishna Mohan part of the research team An international team of wildlife researchers including Dr Krishna Mohan, Moodbidri based environmentalist and surgeon, have recently recorded a moth from Mumbai city, which was previously only reported from the region in 1892, back when it was known as 'Bombay'. The discovery is published in the latest issue of ELA Journal of Forestry and Wildlife , a peer-reviewed science journal, which is also the official science journal of the Maharashtra State Forest Department. The moth species Orvasca cf. subnotata , commonly known as the Yellow Tail Tussock Moth, was discovered in the Mumbai Port Trust Botanical Garden, during a survey conducted to document the biodiversity of the public park.  The survey was part of a larger, ongoing, urban wildlife documentation, research and conservation project heralded by Mumbai based naturalist and wildlife biologist Javed Ahmed, in collaboration with Scotland bas

Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) on June 30 released a book Covid-19 A Multidimensional Response. This was the 210th publication by Manipal Universal Press (MUP).  Releasing the book, Lt Gen (Dr) M D Venkatesh, Vice-Chancellor, MAHE dwelt about the role that MAHE and the Manipal group of hospitals played in healthcare management during the Covid19 outbreak. Being one of the largest healthcare providers, MAHE built a creative alliance between higher education and the wider community to control and mitigate the pandemic in constant engagement with civil society.  This was done through mass testing, innovative Covid19 treatment protocols, mass health literacy programs, vaccination drive and technical innovations like vaccine carriers, the VC said. Releasing the book on Covid19 was a continuation of these efforts by MAHE where 305 papers on Covid19 have been already published by faculty members, Dr Venkatesh said, highlighting the academic and research contribution of the Univers

AI and ML to decode script and provide automated farm advisory on a mass scale Leading fish and shrimp farming startup Aquaconnect has launched ‘Pond Diary’ a first of its kind feature to help farmers in maintaining a log of their farm activities on the Aquaconnect application. AI and ML technologies will enable Aquaconnect to decode the collective intelligence and issue a mass advisory to all farmers.  A simple innovation coupled with a smart chatbot will enable 44,000 farmers to manage their farms better. India is the second-largest aquaculture economy but the adoption of technology is very limited. Lack of technology has resulted in lower productivity in farmers and wider diseases in aqua produce. Farmers traditionally keep the log of the activities manually in a notebook. Due to the absence of data capturing systems farmers suffer from poor maintenance of farm data to unavailability of farm credits & insurance.  The ’Pond Dairy’ feature captures farmers' culture production

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on June 29 flagged off the Kisan Rail from Chintamani to New Delhi from Yelahanka Railway Station in Bengaluru. Farmers will be able to get access to markets located in faraway places and be able to realise better and higher prices for their produce. The CM lauded the initiative of the Prime Minister in starting the Kisan Rail Scheme. CM BS Yediyurappa With Senior Ministers Flags Off Kisan Rail To Delhi Kisan Rail started in August 2020, has since been beneficial to farmers, farm produce aggregators. An upfront subsidy of 50% on the freight charges is provided for Kisan Rail, which helps farmers to transport their produce to distant markets at a fraction of the cost incurred by road. Five Kisan Rail trains have carried 1250 tonne mangoes from Kolar and Chikaballapur districts to Delhi since June 21, 2021. CM BS Yediyurappa Lauded Initiative Taken By PM To Launch Kisan Rail Kisan Rail runs on the timetabled path, thereby ensuring assured transit t

As Namma Kudla braves these challenging times accentuated by the global pandemic, this coastal city - Mangaluru is committed to making its buses, trains, and other transport services like shared autos, e-rickshaws Covid-safe. This one can do so by participating in the 'Transport4All' challenge— an initiative of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) that will help 'Kodial' improve public transport to better serve the mobility needs of all citizens, especially during and after this pandemic.   To this end, Mangaluru Smart City Ltd, an SPV set up to implement the Smart Cities Mission of MoHUA is seeking support from NGOs, social enterprises, academic and research institutes to help the city understand the needs of the people and develop solutions to improve public transport that will help all citizens’ access jobs and essential services. Why improve public transport now? Covid19 has brought our city to a halt. Yet buses, trains, shared autos, and e-rickshaws co

After the ferocious second wave of Covid-19 pandemic that swept India in April-May, insurance companies have settled about 80%, that is, over 15.39 lakh health claims exceeding an amount of ₹ 15,000 crore as of June 22, a top Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) official said at an ASSOCHAM e-summit. “Over 19.11 lakh covid health claims have been reported as on June 22 as far as medical insurance or hospitalisation is concerned. While in terms of death claims, which is handled by the life insurers, about 55,276 claims have been intimated and nearly 88%, 48,484 claims amounting to ₹3,593 crore has already been settled,” TL Alamelu, member (non-life), IRDA said inaugurating 13th global insurance e-summit and awards organised by ASSOCHAM. The repudiated claim for health is just about 4% and in life, it is just about 0.66 per cent, which is negligible. These figures showcase the opportunity available for insurers, though Ayushman Bharat does cover health for many

With total donations of US $102.4bn, Jamsetji Tata of India tops 2021 Edelgive Hurun philanthropists of the century US $832bn total donations from world’s most generous individuals in last century, of which US $503bn from foundation endowments and US $329bn from donations to date USA topped the list with 39, followed by the UK with 5, China 3, India 2 & Portugal/Switzerland 1 each Newyork, which is home to 10 of the foundations of the top 50, is the philanthropy capital of the world, followed by London which is centre to 5 Bill and Melinda Gates second with donations valued at US $74.6bn Warren Buffett fifth with US $37.4bn, mainly to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 13 alive and 37 passed away Mackenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, donated US $8.5bn directly to charities, most ever in a single year by a living donor US $30bn in annual grants The average age of foundation 58 years, with the oldest foundation set up in 1892 by Jamsetji Tata and youngest in 2016 by pony Ma Huat

The risk appetite of the investors differ so it is very important for the market regulator to come out with newer products from time to time to cater to them, VS Sundaresan, Executive Director, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said. He made this observation at the launch of new products at the virtual event - Indian Capital Market @US5$Trillion Mark - The Way Forward organized by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM). Sundaresan said India has a higher percentage of the younger population as compared to people from other countries. “There is a need to create an ecosystem with a robust enforcement system leveraged by technology,” he said. W ith the launch of the Gold Spot exchange, India has an opportunity to become a price setter. “With the launch of this Gold Spot Exchange, there will be an opportunity to offer both spot gold and the electronic gold receipts to be traded on the exchange as securities,” he said. Capital Markets Must Offer New Products

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has granted autonomy to St Joseph Engineering College (SJEC), Mangaluru from the academic year 2021-22. SJEC has been conferred fresh autonomous status under the UGC scheme for autonomous colleges 2018 in response to its application of November 2019. Recently, Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Belagavi, notified autonomy for nine years starting from the academic year 2021-22.  The staff of SJEC Display Letter From UGC Granting It Fresh Autonomous Status The UGC expert team had visited the college on November 28-29, 2020 and rigorously assessed the college on multiple parameters. The fact that only a handful of engineering colleges in the state have attained autonomous status, adds to the credibility of SJEC that has been on a constant upswing.  As the college steps into the twentieth year of its existence, it remains committed to offering quality education to all its students leveraging autonomy to design a curriculum that is more indus

Formula Manipal, one of MAHE’s longest-running, accomplished, and well-known student project is partnering with professional non-profit alliance Swasth Foundation and set itself an ambitious goal to raise enough funds required to procure approximately eight high flow oxygen (HFO) concentrators.  Founded in 2009, Swasth Foundation is a non-profit social enterprise committed to health and joy for all and focus on the well-being of the poor by providing a range of affordable and high-quality primary-preventive health services Formula Manipal has decided to harness the power of social networks via ImpactGuru, a reliable crowdfunding platform, to collect donations for the financially weak members of the society currently facing medical emergencies. While ImpactGuru supports a diverse range of causes, aiding nonprofits, personal and creative projects, one can agree that in the post-pandemic world, healthcare financing can no longer be an option, it must be a priority.   Having noticed that I

DigiSparsh, an Indian fintech focused on healthcare lending has announced securing a seed round from Silicon Valley-based investor GoAhead Ventures.  Co-founded by Saurabh Soni and Akhilesh Gandhi in May 2020, DigiSparsh offers lending solutions including insurance receivable financing, supplier financing and patient financing to the entire value chain of the healthcare ecosystem. The distribution strategy of tying up with healthcare aggregators to source the end customers makes them very unique in healthcare lending. They have already tied up with seven aggregators, onboarded 14 hospitals, have funded loans to patients, pharmacies and healthcare merchants in more than 50 locations across India. Saurabh Soni, co-founder & CEO, DigiSparsh, said, “With this funding, we plan to strengthen our team and also widen our reach - targeting to tie up with 50 aggregators, on-board 100 hospitals by the end of this year and 500 hospitals by the end of the next year. We will be razor-focused in

Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd (KMBL) has announced an exclusive offer for its customers in a tie-up with Metropolis Healthcare Limited (Metropolis). Kotak Debit and Credit cardholders can avail the Coviprotect Spike antibody blood test at a 30% discount at all Metropolis diagnostics centres in Mumbai and over 90 cities across India.   This test will help assess one’s antibody levels.   The Quantitative SARS CoV2 antibody test against spike protein helps measure the level of antibodies that a person has either after having been vaccinated or post Covid-19 infection. These antibodies protect one against future infection. Thus, this simple test can help people measure their immunity levels against Covid19. The test which costs  ₹ 1200 will be available at a reduced price of ₹850 for all Kotak customers. KMBL debit and credit card customers can book the test online on Metropolis’ website or via its call centre.  The test can be done at home or at any of Metropolis’ diagnostics centres. For the h

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)  has selected  St Joseph Engineering College (SJEC), Mangaluru as one of the 49 institutions from across India and one among the five colleges in Karnataka where it will establish AICTE IDEA (Idea Development, Evaluation & Application) Labs. This achievement comes on the heels of SJEC being identified as one of the 255 institutions pan India to have received approval for implementation of the National Innovation and Start-up Policy (NISP). The IDEA Lab is aimed at encouraging students to apply science, technology, engineering and mathematics fundamentals towards enhanced hands-on experience, learning by doing and product visualization. The IDEA Lab will make engineering students more imaginative and creative in addition to imbibing skills of critical thinking, problem-solving, design thinking, collaboration, communication and lifelong learning. The lab will have an area of 5000 sq. ft. AICTE Has Selected SJEC To Set Up IDEA Lab.

The Ministry of Education's Innovation Cell (MIC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has selected Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management to host the grand finale of Toycathon 2021. This is an event conducted by the union government to promote the indigenous toy industry. Around 20 teams from different parts of India have confirmed their participation. MoE mooted the idea of a multi-track nationwide inter-ministerial toycathon based on PM's idea of  ‘Vocal for Local’ in the toy industry.  The Ministry of Education in coordination with five other ministries, namely the ministry of women and child development (MWCD), the ministry of information and broadcasting, the ministry of commerce and industry, the ministry of small and medium enterprises, and the ministry of textiles is jointly organising Toycathon 2021. Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell at All India Council for Technical Education is acting as the nodal agency for organizing Toycathon 2021.

50% Transport Cost subsidised in Kisan Rail by Union Govt 250 Tonnes Mango transported from Kolar to Delhi Farm producers to benefit from swift transport of fruits & vegetables to destinations across the country Karnataka's first Kisan Rail carrying 250 tonnes of mango grown in Kolar region chugged off from Doddanatta halt station (Chintamani), Kolar district for Adarsh Nagar Station, Delhi on June 19. S Muniswamy, Member of Parliament, Kolar with M Krishna Reddy, Chintamani MLA flagged off the train in the presence of Ashok Kumar Verma, divisional railway manager, Bengaluru division of Hubballi headquartered South Western Railway (SWR). Indian Railways started 'Kisan Rail' services in the union budget 2020-21. The primary objective of these trains is to increase income in the farm sector by connecting production centres to markets and consumpion centres across every corner of the country and are run on time-tabled paths. Their punctuality is monitored very strictly to

Timely assistance rendered by the Indian Coast Guard helped MV JSW Mihirgad that suffered a total power failure while on its maiden voyage enter New Mangalore Port on its own propulsion on June 19. Built by M/s Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL), this vessel was on its way from Kochi to Jaigarh when the ship suffered blackout conditions on June 17 following a power outage.  T he 122m long vessel with 14 crew suffered a failure of all three diesel alternators as well as a backup generator. This development necessitated the ship  owned by JSW Shipping  to drop anchor about 4.5 nautical miles (some 8.3-km) off Kasargod in emergency and raise an SOS to its shipbuilders M/s Cochin Shipyard and other authorities. In addition to the loss of propulsion system, lighting and forced ventilation due to total power failure, the crew was unable to prepare food or make water through onboard reverse osmosis systems adding to their difficulties. ICG Helo Air-Dropping Critical Repair Equipment On Board MV JSW Mi

QS World University Rankings Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) is now ranked as the second top-ranked private university in India according to the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Ranking 2022. In the 18th edition of the rankings, MAHE figures in the 751-800 band, among 1673 analyzed universities and 1300 institutions ranked from 93 countries.  MAHE’s performance was noted among the top 58 per cent in the rankings this time.   For the Quacquarelli Symonds, World University Ranking universities are evaluated on six performance indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, student-to-faculty ratio, citations per faculty, international faculty ratio, and international student ratio. Four of the indicators are based on hard data, and the remaining two are based on major global surveys – one of the academics and another of employers – each the largest of their kind. For the 2022 rankings, QS has analyzed over 96 million citations from more than 14.7 million recorded pu