Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras declared that its researchers had advanced an Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to convert brain signals of speech impaired humans into English language.
Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad Researchers have developed essential-oil-based drug delivery systems to treat fungal infections without running the risk of inducing drug resistance. This medication can even counter fungi that have developed resistance to conventional antifungal drugs. The research was led by Dr Mudrika Khandelwal, Associate Professor, Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad. It was funded by the Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Grants from the American multinational conglomerate AT&T.
OPPO, Chinese smartphone brand, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad to promote research in the field of science and technology for multiple projects over a period of two years. The MoU will help to conduct research in core areas of software, hardware and internet services to ensure integrated user experience for the Indian audience.
‘cVIGIL‘ and ‘Voter Helpline App’ — two innovative ICT applications of the Election Commission of India, developed in-house, have won the eGovernance ‘Award of Excellence’ for the year 2019. These awards were given by the Computer Society of India (CSI), Special Interest Group on e-Governance (CSI SIG e-Gov) at KiiT, Bhubaneswar.
Dr Kushal Pathak, Director, ICT and CISO, ECI and Chief Electoral Officer of Odisha, Sushil Kumar Lohani, received the award on behalf of the Election Commission. cVIGIL empowers citizens to report the Model Code of Conduct violations such as bribery, free gift, liquor distribution, playing loudspeakers beyond the permissible time during the elections. Voter helpline App with 16 crore downloads has taken roots as a major tool for citizen empowerment.
Goa’s capital city Panaji is hosting the 5th edition of Science Film Festival of India (SCI-FFI 2020). The festival will take place at the Inox Complex and Maquinez Palace. The festival aims to instill the knowledge of science among the youth with the help of exhibitions, masterclasses, workshops, and other activities.
The event is being supported by Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute and National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAR), along with Goa Government and Government of India. During the SCI-FFI 2020, students of different schools will get hands-on experience in different physics and chemistry experiments.
Films that have been selected to be screened at the event are ‘Mission Mangal’, ‘Antariksham 9000 KMPH’, ‘Everest’, ‘Aamorie’, ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’, ‘Geostorm’ and, ‘Virus‘ among others. A special workshop titled ‘Million SoUL’ will also be conducted by IIT Bombay on training about making solar lamps.
Indian researchers have received first Merck Young Scientist Award 2019 in Chemical Sciences recently at Bangalore instituted by Merck, a science and technology company operating worldwide. Merck Young Scientist Award is given to researchers with less than ten years of experience with expertise in solving some of the toughest problems in chemical sciences. The winners received cash award of INR 2,00,000 and Travel Award of INR 1,50,000
Dr. Sakya Singha Sen, a senior scientist from National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL), Pune has been awarded for doing remarkable research in chemical science. Sen and his research team specializes in main group chemistry and involves in the synthesis of compounds with main group element and their catalytic application.
The other recipient of the award are Dr Debojyoti Chakraborty, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi (IGIB); Dr Dipyaman Ganguly, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata (CSIR-IICB); Dr Siddhesh S Kamat, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune; Dr Mahendran K .R, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram (RGCB) and; Dr Basker Sundararaju, Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) Kanpur.
The union cabinet granted the approval making the status of Institution of National Importance to a cluster of Ayurvedic institutions at Gujarat Ayurved University in Jamnagar. With the (INI) status, Jamnagar Ayurveda University will become the first Ayurveda institute to join the ranks of the IIT’s and AIIMS. The status of the institution will provide it with the autonomy to upgrade the standard of Ayurveda education, frame various courses in Ayurveda as per national and international demand.
The 1st edition of Khelo India University Games is scheduled to be held at the KIIT University in Bhubaneswar, Odisha from February 22 to March 1, 2020. Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled the logo and jersey of Khelo India University Games.
Khelo India University Games will witness over 4,000 athletes from 100 Universities across India vying for top honours in 17 different disciplines namely archery, athletics, boxing, fencing, judo, swimming, weight-lifting, wrestling, badminton, basketball, football, hockey, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, rugby and kabaddi.
Delhi’s first smog tower will start working at Lajpat Nagar central market. The 20-feet-tall tower is fitted with exhaust fans to suck in polluted air and can remove up to 80% of the particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM10). The smog towers were to be installed on the lines of China, which has experimented with this technology.
A separate pilot project has been proposed to consider the efficacy of smog towers and this is being undertaken by the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-Bombay) in collaboration with IIT-Delhi and the University of Minnesota.
This tower will purify the air within a circumference area of up to 750 metres. Such initiatives are important to combat air pollution in Delhi, which has also become a pollution capital. In February 2018, the Delhi government had installed an anti-pollution tower at ITO in central Delhi on pilot basis.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 5 new scientific laboratories of DRDO in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, which will employ only scientists under the age of 35 to develop cutting-edge and futuristic technologies for military weaponry.
A committee, chaired by the Principal Scientific Advisor to the government, K Vijay Raghavan, has selected the directors of these laboratories. Each lab is working on key advanced technology of importance to the development of futuristic defense systems.
Research in the area of rapidly evolving artificial intelligence will be carried out at Bengaluru. The all-important area of quantum technology will be based out of IIT Mumbai. The future is dependent on cognitive technologies and IIT Chennai will house the lab embarking in this area of research.
New and futuristic areas of asymmetric technologies, which will change the way wars are fought, will be based out of the campus of Jadavpur University, Kolkata. The research in hot and critical areas of smart materials and their applications will be based out of Hyderabad.