Category Archives: Science & Technology

Commissioning of State’s first canal bund solar project today

Records, All, Science & Technology

Vijayawada  :

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will commission the 5 MW Polavaram Right Canal Bund Solar Power Plant at Gollagudem village in Ungutur mandal of West Godavari district on Monday.

It is a part of the government’s endeavour to transform the State into India’s solar hub with a target of 10,000 MW generation by the year 2022.

On the occasion, Mr. Naidu wished that the milestones of AP power sector like commissioning of 800 MW supercritical boilers, promotion of solar parks in a big way, and implementation of energy efficiency measures would act as a motivation to the entire country.

According to a press release by the State Energy Conservation Mission CEO A. Chandra Sekhar Reddy, Mr. Naidu directed the Energy Department to adopt a special mechanism for getting cost-effective power generation and make efforts for establishing hybrid plants at strategic locations.

Principal Secretary (energy) Ajay Jain told the Chief Minister that the present solar capacity in the State was around 1,000 MW and expected to double by March 2017.

AP-Transco Chairman and Managing Director K. Vijayanand stated that the power utilities contemplated a total investment of nearly Rs.20,000 crore in the next five years.

The Gollagudem canal bund plant would generate about 8.06 million units of power per year. Of the project cost of Rs.37.58 crore, Rs.7.50 crore came from the Central government in the form of capital subsidy.

The State government acquired 37 acres for the project.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Staff Reporter / November 20th, 2016

Most knee implants are suitable for whites: Expert

Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
South Africa based knee replacement specialist Rob McLennan Smith explaining the differences in the knees of Asians and Caucasians in Vijayawada on Friday.
South Africa based knee replacement specialist Rob McLennan Smith explaining the differences in the knees of Asians and Caucasians in Vijayawada on Friday.

Dr. Smith says the lifestyle of Asians makes special demands on the knee joints

Most of the commercially available totally knee arthoplasty (TKA) implants are designed according to the anthropometrics (measurement of human individuals) of Caucasian (white) people, but the knees of the Asian races are different said South African based knee and hip replacement expert Rob McLennan Smith. Using such implants was causing problems for Asians and Indians also, he said.

Talking to The Hindu, Dr Smith, who came to supervise the knee joint replacement using the Anthem Global knee which catered to racial anthropometric differences at the Manipal Hospitals here on Friday, said that the ‘lower extremity’ (technical name) of the thigh bone (femur) was comparatively narrow in Asians and so was the ‘upper extremity’ of the tibia (shin bone).

The sizes of the thigh and shin bones of African and Afro-American were similar to that of the Caucasians, he said.

With suitable implants recipients were able to bend their knees by an additional 15 degrees, Dr Smith said.

The lifestyles and religious practices of Asians made special demands on the knee joints.

People had to sit on their hunches or with their legs crossed to offer prayers and unless suitable implants were used there would be pain and complications, Dr Smith said.

Dr Smith said efforts were being made to reduce the cost of knee replacement procedures.

Seven to eight trays of instruments have to be sanitised and that cost of sanitising itself was huge, he said.

The number of instruments used in the global knee system was also less, he added.

Dr Smith is currently the president of the South Africa Arthroplasty Association.

Manipal Hospitals knee replacement specialists Nallamothu Jagadeesh said that knee replacement using Anthem system had been done today for the first time in the Telugu States.

Clinical services chief Manoj Kumar was present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / Special Correspondent / Vijayawada – November 12th, 2016

MGM’s neo-natal unit gets Unicef honour

Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Warangal :

Mahatma Gandhi  Memorial (MGM) Hospital has bagged the National Neo-natal Forum (NNF) accreditation to become the only such hospital in South India to have a neo-natal unit attached to a teaching hospital to achieve NNF level accreditation.

The hospital’s neo-natal wing is attached to Kakatiya Medical College. Unicef deputy representative James Gitau, chief of field office Ruth Leano and Unicef consultant from the state Dr Sri Krishna visited MGM hospital SNCU (special newborn care unit) where the news about the accreditation was announced earlier this week on Monday.
The Unicef representatives, Ruth and James, said they were very impressed with the `Kangaroo Mother Care’ of pre-term newborns at the hospital. The KMC ward is the largest such facility in South India.

The team interacted with Dr B Balaram and Dr M Yogri nodal officers of SNCU and enquired about functioning of the unit. The SNCU was upgraded into a 140-bed unit from the earlier 60-bed strength.Dr Balram and Dr Yogi congratulated the unit’s staff for helping achieve NNF accreditation.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City News> Visakhapatnam / TNN / October 13th, 2016

Vizag doctors perform liver transplant without blood

Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology
A matching liver from a brain dead patient was available and was allocated under Jeevandan scheme of AP
A matching liver from a brain dead patient was available and was allocated under Jeevandan scheme of AP

Visakhapatnam :

The first liver transplant without any blood or blood product transfusion in Andhra Pradesh was held at a corporate hospital in the Healthcity, Arilova recently.

The surgery was performed on a 54-year-old male patient on July 30.The patient has since recovered and is all set to be discharged.

The male patient hailing from Vijayawada was suffering from NASH (Non-Alcoholic steatohepatitis) related cirrhosis and decompensated liver failure. He had a very poor quality of life due to accumulation of excessive water in his body, episodes of bleeding in his gut and hepatic encephalopathy (liver failure related mental changes), said Dr Sandeep Chatrath, Central Regional CEO, Apollo Hospitals.

“In addition, his cirrhotic liver also had a cancerous tumour, which necessitated an immediate operation. Unfortunately his family had no matching live donor and therefore had no option but to wait for a cadaveric organ from a brain dead person. A matching liver from a brain dead patient was available and was allocated to him under Jeevandan scheme of AP,” informed Dr Manish C Verma, chief transplant surgeon, Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad and Vizag.

This operation, which lasted for about eight hours is also a landmark operation as it is the first liver transplant in the state to be done without any blood or blood product transfusion. Dr Varma said, “Liver transplant has always been an operation which requires high volumes of blood product transfusions and this operation without any transfusion is a clinical benchmark which is rarely achieved.”

The team of specialists who performed the liver transplant included, Dr Manish C Varma, Dr Anand Khakhar, Dr Manjunath B, Dr Kirubakaran, Dr N Muralidhar, Dr Disha, Dr N. Srinivas, Dr Satish, Dr Atchyut, Dr Bhushan and Dr Sasidhar Reddy.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Visakhapatnam / TNN / August 11th, 2016

UK team performs free heart surgeries on 19 children

Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Science & Technology, World Opinion

An eleven-member United Kingdom paediatric team performed heart surgeries on 19 children in association with the Heart and Brain Institute of the Andhra Hospital Group.

In a meeting organised to thank the U.K. charity called the Healing Little Hearts, Andhra Hospitals managing director P V Ramana Murthy said that this was the second year that the Healing Little Hearts had performed the surgeries free of cost on underprivileged children who were suffering with congenital heart and other cardiac disorders. Complex cardiac operations were performed on 17 children last year. Heart operations were performed on another 15 children in March this year and within six months operations have been done on 19 children this month, he said.

The kids are doing well

All the 19 children are doing well and they would be discharged in a few days, he said. The team members came from hospitals of international repute like the Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, Glenfield Hospitals, Leicester, Royal Liver Pool Children’s Hospital of U.K. and the Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia, he said.

Paediatric interventional cardiologist from Leicester Vikram Kudumula, Paediatric intensive care specialists Marijuana, Julia and Nayan Setty from Liverpool led the team.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Vijayawada – August 14th, 2016

‘ICU on Wheels’ launched by Apollo

Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology
ACP K Prabhakar flagging-off ‘ ICU on Wheels’ ambulance at Apollo Hospitals as regional CEO Dr Sandeep looks on in Visakhapatnam on Friday
ACP K Prabhakar flagging-off ‘ ICU on Wheels’ ambulance at Apollo Hospitals as regional CEO Dr Sandeep looks on in Visakhapatnam on Friday

Visakhapatnam :

Apollo Hospitals have launched five ‘ICU on Wheels’ ambulances, the first of their kind in the state, on Friday. The GPS-enabled (Geopositioning system) was flagged off by ACP (traffic) Prabhakar.

People can call the ambulance by dialing 1066. High-end medical equipment including provision for ventilator, defibrillator and spine boards are provided in the ambulance to serve critically ill patients..

The ambulances are placed in different parts of the city and during any medical emergency, the ambulance nearest to the patient’s location will be alerted by the control room in the hospital and using the GPS system that ambulance will reach the patient. Depending on the type of emergency, the patient will be shifted to either of the Apollo Hospitals located at Arilova and Ramnagar.

“Most of the trauma deaths occur while the patient is en route to the hospital and thus timely intervention is required. An ambulance in the nearest location during the ‘golden hour’, with all the required facilities would be a life-saver. The transit time can be utilised for the emergency treatment inside the ambulance,” said Dr Ranjith Kumar, specialist in emergency medicine at Apollo Hospital.

“The launch of International standard Trauma care services would help providing fast services under one roof for cases of cardiac attacks, brain strokes, head injuries, poisoning and accidents,” said, Sandeep C, regional CEO, Apollo Hospitals.

“An awareness program on the ambulances will be organised for policemen by the Apollo hospitals later this month,” the CEO added.

To clear any traffic obstruction for the ambulance to commute faster, a green channel concept for emergency vehicles will be launched shortly,” said the ACP.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express ./ Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / August 06th, 2016

AP ties up with US varsity to increase Ongole Bull population

Agriculture, Education, Nature, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Hyderabad :

Efforts are being made by the state government to increase the population of ‘Ongole bull,’ the pride of Prakasam district, which is on the verge of extinction. The state government tied up with University of Pennsylvania to achieve this objective.

As part of the Milk Mission project of the University of Pennsylvania, the university will make efforts to increase the population of ‘Ongole bull’ and ‘Punganuru cow’ through artificial insemination (IVF) procedures, special chief secretary (Animal Husbandry department) Manmohan Singh has said.

“The breed of Ongole bull is on the verge of extinction, hence the government had joined hands with Pennsylvania University,” he added.

The Punganuru cattle, a popular dwarf cow breed, which are being reared mainly in government livestock farms, are also on the verge of extinction, with some 60 odd animals remaining. The University of Pennsylvania team will also work towards increasing the population of this rare breed of cow.

The government, which had recently entered into an agreement with the Milk Mission project of the University of Pennsylvania, on Tuesday formed a six-member experts’ panel headed by Andhra Pradesh Livestock Development Agency (APLDA) CEO Dr PD Kondala Rao.

The panel will work in coordination with the Pennsylvania University for implementing the project in the state.

According to officials of the animal husbandry department, the university will help the state in enhancing milk production and cattle population in the state. As per the agreement, the university experts will impart training to farmers to enhance milk production, livestock population and transfer technology to increase cattle population.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Express News Service / July 06th, 2016

ENC to observe World Hydrography Day

Science & Technology

 Visakhapatnam:

The Hydrographic Ships and Units of the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) is to organise a hydrographic symposium on Tuesday to mark the World Hydrography Day.

Papers on professional topics would be presented and contemporary issues discussed at the event. In order to increase awareness, a visit by school children to hydrographic ships is also being organised where the state-of-the-art survey equipment would be on display.

World Hydrography Day is celebrated on June 21 every year with the aim of giving suitable publicity to the work of hydrographers at all levels and of increasing the coverage of hydrographic information on a global basis.

The theme for this year’s celebrations is ‘Hydrography – the key to well-managed seas and waterways’. Hydrography is a branch of applied sciences that deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers as well as with the prediction of their change over time for the primary purpose of safety of navigation and in support of all other marine activities.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Visakhapatnam / TNN / June 21st, 2016

Innovation Society to control Sunrise village

Business & Economy, Education, Science & Technology
The Sunrise Startup Village on Rushikonda Hill No 3 in Visakhapatnam.
The Sunrise Startup Village on Rushikonda Hill No 3 in Visakhapatnam.

MobMe to focus on technical side, create 1,000 student startups

In a significant development, Innovation Society, an autonomous body formed by the Andhra Pradesh Government to spread culture of innovation, will take the physical possession of Sunrise Startup Village here, the first one started in Visakhapatnam about one-and-a-half years ago.

Enquiries by The Hindu revealed that MobMe Wireless Solutions of Kochi Startup Village, which was entrusted with the job of incubating startups at Visakhapatnam on the model of technology incubators of the Silicon Valley following an MoU at the CEOs’ Conclave here on September 29, 2014, has agreed to reorient its strategies.

Sources said Innovation Society CEO Nikhil Agarwal, who is based at Tirupati, will visit the city shortly. The village housed in Technology, Research and Incubator Park (TRIP) built by the APIIC at sea-facing Rushikonda virtually took a leap in January 2015 with the organising of bootcamps for students.

Kochi Startup Village Chairman and MobMe Wireless Solutions co-founder, Sanjay Vijayakumar, denied they were exiting the Sunrise Startup Village. He told The Hindu , in an email interview, that the MoU signed with the AP Government was valid for five years to help build 1,000 student startups.

“What we are doing is changing our role from managing the physical infrastructure to going deeper into the school and college education system to build a culture of entrepreneurship. After a year of operations, we realised that the technical and entrepreneurial depth of teams is weak and needs to be strengthened from the college side to create strong founders,” he said.

Tie-up with JNTU

Mr. Vijayakumar said that to achieve it they had been working with JNTU-Anantapur and Kakinada to roll out “minors in entrepreneurship” programme for college students.

“This is exactly the same what we are doing in Kerala and Gujarat with the State technical universities here,” he claimed.

He disclosed that the Department of Science and Technology Government of India last week approved their plans to align with Startup India Action Plan and build Startup Village into a digital incubator platform (www.sv.co) for scaling up.

Physical infrastructure has limitations as students cannot come every day from all parts of Andhra Pradesh. Currently, 28 teams are in the pilot programme, including six student teams from the State. “Instead of exiting, we are going to scale this up now to 100 teams this academic year together with the two universities in AP,” he pointed out. When MobMe entered AP, the AP Innovation Society was not formed as well but now a CEO had taken charge and things had stabilised.

This allows for the Society to manage the physical infrastructure which is similar to how the physical infrastructure is managed by the Kerala Startup Mission in Kochi, Mr. Vijayakumar averred.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Santosh Patnaik / Visakhapatnam – June 07th, 2016

V-C releases book on metaheuristic applications

Education, Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Science & Technology, World Opinion
JNTUK Vice-Chancellor V.S.S. Kumar releasing a book titled ‘Metaheuristic Applications to Speech Enhancement’ in Kakinada on Wednesday. —Photo: Special Arrangement.
JNTUK Vice-Chancellor V.S.S. Kumar releasing a book titled ‘Metaheuristic Applications to Speech Enhancement’ in Kakinada on Wednesday. —Photo: Special Arrangement.

Vice-Chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Kakinada (JNTUK) V.S.S. Kumar released a book titled Metaheuristic applications to speech enhancement penned by Prajna Kunche in association with Professor K.V.V.S. Reddy at a programme held here on Wednesday.

Ms. Prajna did her Ph.D. from Andhra University in metaheuristic applications and Springer, international publisher of science, technology and medicine, came forward to publish her thesis for worldwide release.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Kumar congratulated Ms. Prajna on the venture and called upon the research scholars to focus on getting their thesis papers published so that they could be useful to future generations. “We must feel proud of Ms. Prajna as the publisher of international repute came forward to publish her thesis. This makes the book get circulated to all the technological universities worldwide and come in handy for the students who are undertaking research in the subject,” he said.

Thanking her research guides Prof. K.V.V.S. Reddy and G. Samba Siva Rao for encouraging her to complete the project work in a short period, Ms. Prajna said that the Springer international journal first published her thesis in its website and going by the response the firm decided to bring out the printed version.

“Presently, I am the technical reviewer for Springer international journal of speech technology and Springer pattern analysis and applications. I am getting invites from universities of international repute to deliver talks on speech technology,” she said.

Rector of the JNTUK B. Prabhakara Rao, senior faculty members, Ms. Prajna’s parents K.S. Vara Prasad (Principal, Andhra Polytechnic) and Krishna Kumari (lecturer in Botany, ASD Government Degree College) were present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Staff Reporter / Kakinada – June 02nd, 2016