Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Monday, October 29, 2018
Real life Phunsukh bags honorary D.Litt
Innovator Sonam Wangchuk accorded
degree for his work in Ladakh
Sonam
Wangchuk, the Ladakh-based engineer whose life inspired a character in the
Bollywood blockbuster 3 Idiots , has been awarded an honorary D.Litt
degree by a university here.
He
was awarded in recognition of his work as an innovator and educationist by the
Symbiosis International (Deemed University) on Tuesday. President Ram Nath
Kovind was the chief guest.
The
engineer-turned-educationist set up the Students’ Educational and Cultural
Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), a non-traditional school which has brought in
educational reform in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. It has also
improved the number of students clearing exams up to the intermediate level.
While
accepting the degree, Mr. Wangchuk, the real life ‘Phunsukh Wangdu’ said, “I
did what humanity demands people to do.” It had motivated him to work towards
the best use of solar energy and creating artificial glaciers to address water
scarcity, he said.
When
he saw students failing, he decided to take action. “My house was on fire and
my young brothersand sisters in distress. When your house is on fire, it’s
nothing special to throw water on it. It is your duty”
IIT-B India topper in QS ranking of Asian universities
NEWDELHI:
The Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT) Bombay emerged as the top Indian educational institution in the latest QS
rankings for Asian universities released on Wednesday, securing the 33rd
position.
Not far below its counterpart in Mumbai, IIT Delhi bagged the 40th rank
while IIT Madras was placed at the 48th position. A host of Indian institutions
figured in the top 100 slots but none made it to the top 30.
IIT Bombay was the topranked Indian institution in last year’s QS
rankings for Asian varsities too, when it bagged the 34th position. IIT Delhi
was at the 40th position last year as well.
The National University of Singapore emerged at pole position this year.
The University of Hong Kong secured second place while the Nanyang
Technological University (NTU) of Singapore stood third.
The prestigious Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, bagged the 50th
position. IIT Kharagpur was placed 53rd and IIT Kanpur in the 61st position.
IIT Roorkee was placed 86th and IIT Guwahati in the 107th position. Delhi
University bagged the highest rank among Indian varsities at 62. The University
of Hyderabad secured the 106th position and the University of Calcutta stood at
134th position.
The ranking body, QS, had only recently released its firstever list for
top Indian universities. IIT Bombay had topped that list as well, earning
highest scores on academic and employer reputatioin indicators. IISc Bangalore
was placed second on that list, which otherwise was dominated by the IITs.
For the Asia Rankings, QS said it had used 11 indicators including
employer reputation, academic reputation, facultystudent ratio, international
research network, staff with PhDs and international faculty.
Former University Grants Commission (UGC) member V S Chauhan
said: “IITs have a good research output and their funding is robust, which is
why they consistently do better. But I believe there are several universities
which will come up, especially with increased autonomy. The way towards the
future is focusing more on foreign collaboration as well as research. I,
however, believe Indian universities will benefit in more investment in
infrastructure.”.
Friday, October 26, 2018
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Hawking’s wheelchair, thesis set to be auctioned
A total of 22 personal items used by cosmic visionary Stephen Hawking will be open for bids between October 31 and November 8.
The online sale announced on Monday by auctioneer Christie’s features 22 items from Hawking, including his doctoral thesis on the origins of the universe, some of his many awards, and scientific papers such as Spectrum of Wormholes and Fundamental Breakdown of Physics in Gravitational Collapse .
The auction includes one of five existing copies of Hawking’s 1965 Cambridge University Ph.D. thesis, Properties of Expanding Universes , which carries an estimated price of 100,000 pounds to 150,000 pounds.
Source: THE HINDU-23rd October,2018
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
CareerBytes: Tips for engineering students to crack campus placement interviews
In any
engineering student's life in India, Campus placement is one of the most
important phases- in-fact, it's a career-determining stage.
The experience
can, by nature, get nerve-wracking.
However, with
decent preparation and composed state-of-mind, one can crack it. Apart from
subject-oriented knowledge, you need smart play and confidence to score that
dream job.
Here are tips
for engineering students to crack campus-placement interviews.
Research
about the employer; Build a solid resume
Research:
Do conduct a thorough research about the interviewer/company, beforehand. This
will boost up your confidence, and your ability to answer the interview
questions well.
Resume:
At
times, your resume is the first thing the employers get to know you through.
So, make sure to write a professional, crisp, honest and attractive resume to
impress the interviewer right away.
Mind
your body language and dressing sense
Campus
placements are not just about how much subject-oriented knowledge you possess.
You also have to look presentable and professional, in order to impress the
employer.
So, you must
present yourself in a mature and professional manner.
Plus, act smart,
maintain good posture, and talk confidently.
Also, make sure
to wear crisp, well-ironed and clean clothes to improve your chances of getting
selected.
Your
state of mind is vital during the interview
It's important
to strike that mental balance- so, neither be overconfident, nor anxious,
during your campus placement interviews. The key here is to showcase your
talent and knowledge while maintaining a calm and composed state of mind.
A
few more general tips for campus placement interviews
Practise mock
interviews before actually appearing for the hiring round. This will enhance
your confidence and improve your comfort level.
Avoid
back-to-back interviews. Shortlist companies you really are interested in, and
make time for only those.
Always arrive on
time, as late comers often lose their chances.
Also, end the
interview on a positive note, say a generous "Thank you".
Novel method to deliver drugs to the brain
Researchers
have discovered a potentially new approach to deliver therapeutics more
effectively to the brain.
The findings,
done on mice, showed that the research could have implications for the
treatment of a wide range of diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and brain cancer.
"Improving
the delivery of drugs to the central nervous system is a considerable clinical
challenge," said lead author Maiken Nedergaard from
the University of Rochester Medical
Center (URMC) in the US.
"The
findings of this study demonstrate that the brain's waste removal system could
be harnessed to transport drugs quickly and efficiently into the brain,"
Nedergaard added.
The study taps
into the power of the glymphatic system, the brain's unique process of removing
waste that was first discovered by Nedergaard in 2012.
It consists of a
plumbing system that piggybacks on the brain's blood vessels and pumps cerebral
spinal fluid (CSF) through the brain's tissue, flushing away waste.
In the study,
published in the journal JCI Insight, the researchers took advantage of the
mechanics of the glymphatic system to deliver drugs deep into the brain.
The team
administered antibodies directly
into CSF. They then injected the animals with hypertonic saline, a treatment
frequently used to reduce intracranial pressure on patients with traumatic brain injury.
The saline
triggers an ion imbalance which pulls CSF out of the brain. When this occurs,
new CSF delivered by the glymphatic system flows in to take its place, carrying
the antibodies with
it into brain tissue, the team said.
The researchers
developed a new imaging system
by customising a macroscope to non-invasively observe the proliferation of
the antibodies into
the brains of the animals.
USFDA
1) Strides
gets USFDA nod for Gabapentin capsules
2) Zydus Cadila gets USFDA
nod for generic gout attacks drug
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/pharmaceuticals/zydus-cadila-gets-usfda-nod-for-generic-gout-attacks-drug/articleshow/66275725.cms
4) Zydus Cadila receives approval from USFDA for
Colchicine Tablets
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/pharmaceuticals/zydus-cadila-gets-usfda-nod-for-generic-gout-attacks-drug/articleshow/66275725.cms
3) Lupin gets USFDA nod for psoriasis treatment spray
Friday, October 19, 2018
Larsen & Toubro Helps Build World’s Largest Nuclear Fusion Reactor
The
world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor is on track to go online in France in
2025, with Indian company Larsen and Toubro (L&T) delivering major
components for the international project from its strategic facility in Hazira.
The
ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) project, for which 35
nations, including India, China and the US, are collaborating to demonstrate
that nuclear fusion can be used as a safe, alternate energy source, will see
significant contribution from L&T, which says that work on the facility has
ensured its entry into a select group of global companies. As many as 54
segments for the world’s largest fusion device that can generate 500 MW of
power are being made in India, including the base of the 3,850-tonne cryostat
at the core of the system.
L&T
has already delivered 24 parts for the project and is on target to complete its
share of the work by the end of 2019, senior company officials told ET.
At
present, the cryostat base — the largest single component of the project — is
being assembled by Indian engineers at the site in France.
“Such
high-quality welding at a mega scale is being carried out first time in India…
It is a unique ‘Make-in-India’ achievement as precision-manufactured sub-assemblies
produced here will be finally assembled together in France to deliver the
mammoth 30-meter diameter cryostat — the world’s largest vacuum vessel,” S N
Roy, MD at L&T Power, told ET.
Officials
said the project has given L&T a unique experience in working with highend
technology that will help it in the global market.
“We
are glad that this breakthrough project, once completed, will have significant
contributions from India’s engineering sector towards development of global
nuclear fusion energy. It (puts) L&T in the league of very few select group
of global companies,” Roy said.
While
the Indian share of the fabrication work will finish by the end of 2019, the
first experiments on the project are planned for 2025.
India Inc to Join Modi’s Mission at CSR Portal Launch
Common portal will help cos pool
their resources and align social work with key govt initiatives
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi will unveil a portal for corporate social responsibility
(CSR) and volunteering at a town hall with technology, startup and telecom
chieftains on October 24 in an ambitious bid to consolidate such efforts to
maximise their effect and help boost the government’s initiatives.
The
ministry of electronics and IT is making hectic preparations for the launch of
the portal, which is being developed by MyGov and will host CSR activities that
have already been kicked off.
The
idea is to create a resource pool and find a way to “harmonise efforts,” not
just across companies, but also to “align” them with the priorities of the
government in areas such as the Skill India, Digital Literacy, Financial
Inclusion, and Swachh Bharat campaigns, said a person aware of the development.
“Companies already have a lot of initiatives underway in the social sector —
the concept is just to work out a way to work together,” said a person aware of
the development.
The
focus is also on giving employees of these companies an opportunity to
volunteer for social causes, added the person.
IT
Talent Base of 4 million Employees:
The
invitees include Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, Tata Sons chairman
N Chandrasekaran, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, Bharti
Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal, Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani and
Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra along with CEOs of top IT companies and
startups such as Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma and inMobi’s Naveen Tewari.
The
Indian IT industry has a talent base of 4 million employees and companies are
already engaged in significant CSR work while encouraging workers to
contribute, said Sangeeta Gupta, chief strategy officer of the Nasscom lobby
group. “If having a common portal can help direct objectives toward scaling up
missions such as Swachh Bharat, then it will be very helpful,” she said.
Apart
from Nasscom, the ministry has also roped in groupings such as the Internet and
Mobile Association of India and the Indian Cellular Association to help put the
event together.
While
2,000 people will be present at the venue, more than 100,000 IT professionals
from companies such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are expected
to join from over 500 locations via video conference. IT industry veterans such
as FC Kohli, the first CEO of TCS, and Raman Roy, a pioneer of India’s business
process outsourcing industry, have also been invited.
Earlier
this month, union minister for electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad held a
meeting with IT industry executives at which the issue of pooling expertise for
various social initiatives was discussed. Prasad had stressed that the IT
sector needed to work toward coordinated CSR efforts on a common platform to
help with uplift in backward districts and social inclusion.
“There
is a larger need to bring corporate social responsibility (CSR) into a common
pool for sharing best practices,” he had said
IIT Guwahati fabricates superior scaffold for cartilage repair
The silk scaffold has seamless
junction between the cartilage and bone portions
Implanting
cartilage alone or injecting cells found in healthy cartilage (chondrocytes) at
the site of injury to heal the damaged cartilage in patients with
osteoarthritis does not produce favourable results. Similarly, implanting two
different scaffolds joined together to simultaneously regenerate the cartilage
and reconstruct the bone too has many limitations.
The
problem arises because the interface between the cartilage and bone scaffolds,
which are made of different materials, is not connected but has a distinct
boundary. As a result, the interface tends to delaminate and degrade. Now,
researchers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati have addressed
this shortcoming by fabricating a silk scaffold where the junction between the
cartilage and bone scaffold is continuous and seamless and hence less prone to
damage under load-bearing environment of the joint.
A
team led by Biman B. Mandal from the Department of Biosciences and
Bioengineering has fabricated the biphasic scaffold where the top portion is
highly porous and spongy thus mimicking the cartilage, while the bottom portion
is reinforced with silk fibre thus imparting more stiffness and less porous to
mimic the bone. Since the entire scaffold is made of silk, the interface merges
with one another and is seamless despite having different porosities and
stiffness. The results of the study were published in the Journal of
Materials Chemistry B.
The
researchers made scaffolds using both wild silkworm (Antheraea
assamensis) and mulberry silk (Bombyx mori) and found scaffolds
made of non-mulberry silk were superior to the one made of mulberry silk in all
respects.
“To
make the biphasic scaffold we prepared silk solution by completely dissolving
the silk. We then added chopped silk fibres to the solution so the bottom half
portion of the scaffold becomes fibre-reinforced silk composite while the rest
of the top portion had only the silk solution,” says Prof. Mandal. The solution
is processed by reducing the temperature to –20 degree C and then vacuum dried
to remove water. The top portion of the scaffold is highly porous and soft like
a sponge whereas the bottom portion is less porous and strong. The biphasic
scaffold was treated with alcohol to make it water-insoluble.
The
porosity is intended for neighbouring cells to migrate, infiltrate and
regenerate in the scaffold, and support better nutrient exchange. The less porous
silk-reinforced scaffold portion allows bone cells to optimally grow. Owing to
the RGD sequence in the non-mulberry silk, more cells tend to migrate to the
scaffold and proliferate.
Seeding stem cells
“It
is also possible to take a patient’s bone marrow stem cells and seed them on
the scaffold. The stem cells will differentiate to become mature cartilage-like
and bone-like cells. Our scaffold is amenable to stem cell seeding and
differentiation protocols,” Prof. Mandal says.
Validation
of the scaffold that was seeded with cartilage and bone cells was first done
through in vitro studies. “We saw elevated levels of cell proliferation,
extra-cellular matrix deposition and higher tissue-specific gene expression
within the construct. These proved that the construct was compatible and good,”
says Yogendra Pratap Singh from IIT Guwahati and first author of the paper.
“The cartilage cells prefer a softer matrix compared to bone cells and our
construct was suitable for both types of cells to proliferate.”
The
compatibility and ability of the scaffold to regenerate cartilage and bone was
then tested in rabbits. The scaffolds were studied eight weeks after
implantation. “The fibre-reinforced scaffold allowed more bone formation, while
regeneration and complete repair of the cartilage was seen,” says Singh, who
currently is a Newton-Bhabha Fellow at the University of Sheffield. “We found
the non-mulberry silk scaffold outperformed the mulberry silk one.”
The
researchers found the non-mulberry silk scaffold had 1.5 and 0.5 times more
bone and cartilage cells respectively attached than in the mulberry silk
scaffold. Gene expression was nearly double in the non-mulberry silk scaffold
than in the mulberry silk scaffold. Also, the extra-cellular matrix in both the
cartilage and bone portion of the scaffold increased six-fold in 14 days.
The
fibre-reinforced scaffold mimicking the bone was 10 times stronger than the
sponge-like portion. Greater compressive and tensile strength of
fibre-reinforced scaffold are desirable.
A finger that sticks out of your phone
Aimed at bringing the emotion of
touch in human-computer interfaces
A
French researcher has invented a robot finger that attaches to your mobile
phone. It can wriggle across your desk. It can stroke your hand.
“My
PhD subject is around touch in communications,” explains Marc Teyssier, a
researcher at Telecom Paristech engineering school. “When we talk with people
in real life we touch each other to communicate emotions, for example a stroke
on the arm, or stuff like that. But for mobile devices and interaction in
general in computers, we don’t use touch at all. So my starting point was: how
can we bring touch in human-computer interfaces?”
So
he designed, built and patented the MobiLimb robotic finger, which plugs into a
mobile phone and looks very much like a real finger. It can drag the phone
across the table. Your friends can activate it and operate it remotely, to give
you a comforting pat on the wrist when they talk to you.
But
when people saw it, everyone had the same reaction.
“We
have a tonne of reaction on the internet, like: ‘It’s creepy’. Everybody tells
me it’s creepy. And it is, actually, in fact,” Mr. Teyssier said. “We
communicate with humans with touch. We use fingers. We use motion. But when we
put that on a mobile device, everybody thinks it’s crazy and creepy.”
The
creepy phone finger tells us something about who we are, and what we expect
from a world where your phone listens and responds to your commands like a
person, but still doesn’t have a moving body, Mr. Teyssier said. For now, he
thinks, the robot finger is both too human, and not quite human enough.
A hug from fridge
“I
think to some extent we are right in the uncanny valley. Technology looks like
human, but its not exactly human, so our brain - we don’t know how to react.”
But
Mr. Teyssier imagines a world one day where you would interact with objects the
way you do with other people or pets. Someday, you might walk into your kitchen
and get a hug from your fridge.
“With
this project, we question a lot: the smartphone and the human being and human
nature,” he said. “What if all devices had arms and limbs and were able to
touch us like a human? I think we would behave totally differently with
technology.
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Indian students finalists in global science challenge
The winner will be announced on November 4 in Silicon Valley and get a $250,000 college scholarship
Three Indian students have made it to the finals of the prestigious annual Breakthrough Junior Challenge, a global science competition for teenagers to share their passion for maths and science.
The three Indian students are among 15 finalists of more than 12,000 original registrants from around the world who submitted engaging and imaginative videos to demonstrate difficult concepts and theories in physical or life sciences. The Indian teenagers are Samay Godika, 16, and Nikhiya Shamsher, 16, from Bengaluru and Kavya Negi, 18, from Delhi.
The winner will be announced on November 4 in Silicon Valley and get a $250,000 college scholarship. The science teacher who inspired the winning student will get $50,000. The winner’s school will receive a state-of-the-art science lab worth $100,000.
Nikhiya was the top scorer in the popular vote contest with more than 25,000 likes, shares and positive reactions for her video on spacetime and gravity posted on the Breakthrough Facebook page. She will receive automatic entry into the final round of judging.
Kavya from Delhi believes that her video about Hawking Radiation might stand a chance to win because it showcases the concept in depth in three minutes.
Samay, an 11th grader, in his project has explored various aspects of the Circadian Rhythm.
Since its launch, the Breakthrough Junior Challenge has reached 190 countries, and the 2018 instalment of the global competition attracted more than 12,000 registrants, a media release said.
The contest is designed to inspire creative thinking about fundamental concepts in the life sciences, physics, and mathematics. The field was reduced to 29 semifinalists, which represented the top submissions after two rounds of judging: first a mandatory peer review, followed by an evaluation by a panel of judges, Breakthrough said.
Source: THE HINDU- 17th October,2018
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Running on sunshine
A solar-powered
ferry boat, charging station and water generator. Three companies providing
renewable alternatives that go beyond household electricity
With great power
comes… pesky electricity bills. But if you are opting to go renewable,
especially solar, you are in luck. With start-ups like PuREnergy, 8minutenergy,
and Oorjan bringing you rooftop solutions for both the home and commercial
establishments, the solar power market has been on a rise over the last couple
of years. In June this year, Anheuser-Busch InBev, one of the world’s biggest
breweries, went fully solar-powered in partnership with energy provider Amp at
its Mysore brewery. Even the government’s gotten into the act — Diu became
India’s first and only union territory to go 100% solar in April. But the usage
of solar power doesn’t end at home. Entrepreneurs are making the sunshine last,
giving you several options to go green even after you step out of your house. A
look at three companies that give us solar solutions that go beyond just
household electricity.
MIT plans to set up a college for AI
The college,
called the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing, will create 50 new
faculty positions and many more fellowships for graduate students. It is
scheduled to begin in the fall semester next year.
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