Category Archives: Education

College of Air Warfare signs MoU with Osmania University

Education

Hyderabad :

Indian Air Force’s College of Air Warfare (CAW) at Secunderabad has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Osmania University for conducting PhD courses for its officers.

The MoU, which aims at academic collaboration between both the institutions to enable IAF officers to enhance training prospects in the area of defence and strategic studies, was signed by varsity Registrar K.Pratap Reddy and the college’s deputy commandant, Air Commodore Neeraj Yadav, Saturday, said a defence statement

The training programmes being conducted at CAW aim at enhancing international strategic understanding of armed forces officers in various disciplines and application of the same to address various defence related issues pertaining to strategic planning.

A premier training institution of the IAF, CAW also conducts courses for the other two services as well as friendly foreign countries.

Osmania University is one of the oldest and largest institutions of higher learning in the country. The university was assessed by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in 2008 and is accredited with the highest ‘A’ grade.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Education> News / IANS / March 22nd, 2014

Osmania Medical College team wins Hyderabad round

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All, Science & Technology

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Hyderabad :

A team from the Osmania Medical College pipped five other short-listed teams at the regional round of Cerebrations, The Hindu Business Line Corporate Quiz 2014, held here on Tuesday.

The winning duo, brothers Syed Murtuza Hashmi and Syed Mustafa Hashmi, first and fourth-year students at the medical college, took early lead and managed to retain it, with the team from Reckitt Benckiser coming a close second and Sai Constructions at the third place.

Of the 20 teams that took part in the quiz, six were short-listed after they fielded a general elimination round of 25 questions.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News  / The Hindu Bureau / Hyderabad – March 18th, 2014

A shoe to help do away with the white stick

Education, Science & Technology
Visakhapatnam: 15/03/2014: I. Krishna Sai, a student of third year Industrial Engineering of GITAM University, explaining about his innovation of a shoe with sensors to visually challenged people in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, March 15, 2014. ---/ The Hindu
Visakhapatnam: 15/03/2014: I. Krishna Sai, a student of third year Industrial Engineering of GITAM University, explaining about his innovation of a shoe with sensors to visually challenged people in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, March 15, 2014. —/ The Hindu

Visually challenged individuals may soon be able to enjoy a free-spirited walk without having to rely on the white stick if a young inventor’s patent for a shoe with sensors gets accepted. Krishna Sai Inkoolu, third year student of Industrial Engineering at GITAM University, has designed a shoe which has a sensor range of 2 cm to 3.5 m. The sensor detects presence of any obstacle in front of the shoe and alerts the user by giving a tap. “The sensor is placed at the weld point of the shoe, which identifies the obstacle and gives a tap on the arch of the shoe,” says Sai, who worked on the project for two years before applying for patent at Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks.

First of its kind

A similar concept was designed by Secunderabad-based Ducere Technologies called ‘Lechal’, a brand of interactive footwear, that uses a smartphone GPS (global positional system) app. But Sai claims that the use of micro-electronics and sensors in designing a shoe is a first of its kind.

With the help of micro-electronics, the entire circuit is placed in the shoe socket, which has a connection with the weld point where the sensor is placed. The shoe works on a rechargeable battery and in this case, there is no need to use a smartphone. But while a white stick can seldom go wrong, what if the sensor fails? How will the visually challenged individual cope in such a situation? Sai has an answer to that. “No product is 100 per cent fool proof. And in this case it is particularly critical to know if the shoe sensor has stopped working. I have embedded a mistake-proofing device in the shoe to detect any errors. If the sensor fails, it will give alarm sounds to alert the wearer,” says Sai.

The idea to design a shoe for the visually challenged first occurred to Sai during his first year engineering course while he was working on a project on a shoe that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy and has a capacity to recharge cell phones while walking. “After working on the technical part for six months, I realised that a shoe can be designed with simple modifications using the same principles,” he adds.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / Nivedita Ganguly / Visakhapatnam – March 17th, 2014

Will to fight poverty: Hyderabad girl makes it to ‘Forbes 30 under 30 list’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion

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Hyderabad:

Twenty-six-year-old Svetha Janumpalli didn’t go to “Stanford or any of the big schools”. Neither was she born with a silver spoon. Her father from Jadcherla, a small town in Mahbubnagar district, went to the US on a scholarship while her mother, who’s from Gadwal, studied only till Class VI.

“My father moved to the US in the ’70s, but the department he was studying in closed down; so he set up a repair business to earn a living. My mother used to work for an insurance company, and when my father’s profits were negative, my mother supported the family. We are three sisters and I was pretty young at that time. But we used to joke that we would get new jeans only during holidays,” says Svetha, who was born in the US.

Mentioned in the annual lists of ‘Forbes 30 under 30’ social entrepreneurs, PartyCorps, Changemakers and the Clinton Global Initiative (2012), here is Svetha, years later, heading an organisation that the international press states is the “the world’s favourite anti-poverty device”.

And that device, where one “can save a child for the cost of a pair of shoe” is called New Incentives. Founded by Svetha at 23, it is a non-profit organisation dedicated to Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) — poor women are given money to visit HIV clinics or children are given money to go to schools.
As an experiment, Svetha moved to Nigeria two weeks back to prove that this model can work in a country that needs it the most. More than three million people living in Nigeria are affected with AIDS and one out of three mothers transmits this virus to their child. “So I am here for a year. And if the model works successfully, it will be easier to replicate it in other countries, including India.”
Svetha had set up the organisation in San Francisco after graduating from the University of Minnesota in 2008. Till date, her organisation has been able to help around 400 mothers and their families and she hopes to take the number to 1000. “There are   free clinics in Nigeria, but when the time spent by a woman at a clinic results in her losing money, why would she come to the clinic? And that’s where the CCT model helps.”
Svetha travelled to India with her mother frequently till 2009, and it was during one of these visits that she came across drastic poverty levels. “The idea to start New Incentives came after the realisation that there are many in India who have resources and if divided well, they can be used to help the poor.” She had tested the pilot projects in a few villages in Andhra Pradesh.
Svetha is not sure where she will be heading to after Nigeria. “My fiancé is from Nepal and he might want to stay there after marriage. I love India and San Francisco, so I am not sure where I’ll be staying next”.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / by Anusha Dhiman / March 22nd, 2014

Faces out to make a difference

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education
Students of GITAM University performing a street play in Visakhapatnam./ Photo: K.R. Deepak / The Hindu
Students of GITAM University performing a street play in Visakhapatnam./ Photo: K.R. Deepak / The Hindu

Drama group of GITAM students is creating awareness on issues plaguing society

On a hot sultry morning at the Beach Road, an unusual sight greeted the visitors. A team of youngsters dressed in black outfits were playing drums and clapping hands to narrate a story. It was an issue which affected everyone – the plaguing issue of corruption. Minutes after they began their performance, the large gathering of audience around them was engrossed in their stories. This was precisely what students of GITAM University had envisaged two years ago when they formed their drama group ‘Faces’. They wanted to create awareness among the public on burning social and political issues by staging street plays on college campuses and public places.

With this motive, a 25-member team was created after a series of auditions of students from all branches on the campus. Two years hence, the young energetic team of ‘Faces’ has staged more than 15 street plays on issues ranging from rising incidences of rape cases, corruption cases like the 2G scam, child trafficking and women empowerment to name a few. The team also took part in IIT-Kharagpur’s cultural fest last year. “We read newspapers and watch news shows every day to keep a tab of current issues and highlight it through the plays,” says Syed Shahed Mahmood, a student of third year Mechanical Engineering branch of the university. It takes about two to three weeks time for Shahed and his team-member Raj E. Gandhi to write the dialogues.

The team is now busy planning their next topic of street play which will be on ‘vote-bank politics’ and the provision of ‘NOTA’ (None Of The Above) option for voters. The street play will be performed in early April when the election heat is at its peak. “Very few people know about NOTA option. If you don’t have choice of good leaders, giving power to a wrong person is not the solution. We want to highlight this in our street play so that people can use NOTA effectively,” he adds.

Representation

The team has a balanced representation of students hailing from different parts of the country.

“These are issues that affect everyone notwithstanding which part of India you come from,” says Madhushree Gupta, a student of third year, Civil Engineering Department. Stage fear is something that most of the students had to deal with. But the senior students of ‘Faces’ came out with a smart solution to address it.

“Each of us was told to stay frozen for a few minutes in an awkward position at the busiest centre of our college campus. This was done to help the students adapt to public gaze and help them be comfortable with being the centre of attention in public,” says Shahed. Every year, auditions are held in the university during which fresh batch of students are selected to be a part of ‘Faces’.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities /by Nivedita Ganguly / Visakhapatnam – March 15th, 2014

IICT, German Varsity Sign Pact on Cancer Research

Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion
IICT natural products division head S. Chandrasekhar, CNRS research director Rene Gree, IICT director M Lakshmi Kantam, GVK Biosciences Discovery general manager KV Sharasrikar and professor Goverdhan Mehta of University of Hyderabad at a symposium in Hyderabad on Monday | A RADHAKRISHNA
IICT natural products division head S. Chandrasekhar, CNRS research director Rene Gree, IICT director M Lakshmi Kantam, GVK Biosciences Discovery general manager KV Sharasrikar and professor Goverdhan Mehta of University of Hyderabad at a symposium in Hyderabad on Monday | A RADHAKRISHNA

CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) and Dortmund University, Germany, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for taking up research work for cancer screening.

Speaking to reporters here on Monday, head of the natural products chemistry division of the IICT, S Chandrasekhar said that the objective of the collaboration is to find drugs for cancer therapy which develop resistance. ‘’If we develop a new chemical for cancer therapy we will share with Dortmund University and if they come across new drug they would share with us,’’ he said.

He said that all the tests will be done at Max Planck Institutes, Germany.

IICT is working on Alzheimer’s disease and was trying to find a better and more effective chemical than Galantamine. Chandrasekhar said.

Galantamine belongs to the family of  cholinesterase inhibitors and is used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, he said.

Chandrasekar said that the IICT and Mayo Clinic, USA, had developed four new chemicals through neem plant for treating renal cancer. “We have found that the new chemical can kill renal cancer cells 100 percent,” he informed.

He said that as part of 70th year celebrations, CSIR-IICT is organising a four-day international symposium on ‘Nature inspired initiatives in chemical trends.’ The symposium was inaugurated on Monday by University of Hyderabad professor Goverdhan Mehta. About 600 delegates from various countries including US, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, China and South Korea are participating in the conference.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / March 04th, 2014

‘Technology Veda’ for visually-challenged students

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Science & Technology
A student of Danekula Engineering College explaining a few basic machines to visual impaired students at Vijaya Mery Integrated School in Vijayawada on Friday./ Photo: Ch.Vijaya Bhaskar / The Hindu
A student of Danekula Engineering College explaining a few basic machines to visual impaired students at Vijaya Mery Integrated School in Vijayawada on Friday./ Photo: Ch.Vijaya Bhaskar / The Hindu

Final year students of Dhanekula Institute of Engineering and Technology under the guidance of Professor T.V. Rao from Department of ECE organised a camp on machines functioning

For Anjusha, Ramya, Naga Chaturya and hundred other visually-challengedchildren of Vijaya Mary Integrated School for the Blind, it was a day of unique experience.

They had a feel of the machines such as gear box, motor engine and windmill that they have been studying.

The final year students of Dhanekula Institute of Engineering and Technology along with the members of US-based Global Business Incubation (GBI) organised a camp called ‘Technology Veda’, wherein models of different basic machines were showcased and their functioning was explained by the students.

Ramya studying in Std. IV said that she was excited to feel the working of the day and night sensor and the feel the contours of a gearwheel and piston of an engine. “We can’t see but we have learnt about their use and functioning and today we had feel of it, thanks to our friends from Dhanekula College,” she said. Ramya dreams to become a doctor and she is confident that by the time she grows up the Government will find a way to allow the challenged children to take up science courses.

The five-member team from the college comprising Md. Basheer (ECE), Abdul Rahman (Mech), D. Siva (Mech), A. Sindhu (CSE) and Md. Basheer (CSE) under the guidance of Professor T.V. Rao from the Department of ECE, created miniature models and had a field day explaining the visually-challenged.

We have participated in many technical festivals, but this was something different. The kids have a very sharp mind and their grasping power is twice the normal kid and we have decided to come at least once a week to engage with them, said an emotionally charged-up Sindhu.

K. Naga Chaturya went to the extent of not only documenting every bit of the workshop, but punch a vote of thanks for the student friends from the engineering college and a press note for the media persons. Prof. T.V. Rao said that the college will take up more such activities. GBI member Siddharth said that the programme was the brainchild of the GBI founder Gogineni Srinivas.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities / by Sumit Bhattacharjee / Vijayawada – March 01st, 2014

Gitam students go innovative for fest

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

Visakhapatnam :

Students of Gitam University have come up with innovative events for this year’s GUSAC Carnival to be hosted on the campus from March 6 to March 8. These include an ‘Author’s Workshop’ as part of the literary segment, a ‘Wizard’s Chess’ event that will see people take the place of pieces on a life-sized chess board as well as ‘Future Probe’ that will see participants choosing a topic and talking about how it would change over the next 100 years.

There are also a slew of fun events lined up like ‘Make a Friend’ where two strangers would be dumped into a ball pit and get to know each other as well as ‘Ad Dharma’ where students have to come up with ad concepts that they have to pitch to potential clients.
“One of the key features of this carnival would be the Author’s Workshop for which we have invited Durjoy Datta, one of India’s youngest and upcoming writers. The author will interact with over 500 participants from various schools and colleges and discuss the nitty-gritty of going about story writing. Apart from talking about the various genres involved, he would also shed light on what kind of stories would work in today’s India,” said Tenali Shyam, one of the main organisers of the literary fest.

Apart from the workshop, there will be side events like the Literary Kaleidoscope, whereparticipants would be divided into various groups to indulge in book reading sessions and debate on various works.

Another organiser A Revanth, elaborated on the Wizard’s Chess that could turn out to be a real eyeball catcher. “Just imagine playing chess Harry Potter style!! Actually it is slightly different, faster and will last just 20 minutes. Instead of pieces, you will actually see people on the chequered board that will move at the command of the king. It may not exactly be magical, but we hope it will turn out to be equally enchanting,” said Revanth.

Talking about the Future Probe, another organizer pointed out: “The participants will be given 10 different topics to choose from, ranging from climate change to electronics, politics, modes andmeans of transport and will be asked to predict how things might change after a 100 years. Of course, the participants will have to build a case study and logically elaborate. They cannot just randomly shoot in the dark.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Visakhapatnam / by Venkatesh Bayya, TNN / February 28th, 2014

IIIT Students Display Their inventions

Education, Science & Technology

The International Institute of Information Technology- Hyderabad (IIIT-H) is holding a two-day exhibition titled ‘R&D Showcase-2014’ from Saturday to showcase the kind of research that is being carried by students and the works of students which have helped various businesses.

Students who are currently pursuing courses at the institute and alumni who have made it big in the outside world are exhibiting their works related to Robotics, Cognitive

Science, Education Technology & Learning Sciences, etc. ‘’Exhibiting our works at the event gives us a chance to get feedback from the industrialists and others,’’ said Akhil Nagaraya, a B Tech student who along with two others is working  on ‘Autonomous Robotic Wheelchair’, an easy-to-operate wheelchair for the disabled.

“This showcase is to demonstrate research results to technical and non-technical   people. We have invited major companies to visit the ‘R & D Showcase” said P J Narayanan, Director of IIIT-H.

“As ours is a research institute, we try to show people the technology we are  developing. It is not only about our achievements but to inspire students and others”,   said Vasudeva Varma, Dean, Research & Development.

Citing an example, Vasudeva said that in 2008, members of Rediff who had visited a   similarexhibition then had licensed the work of a student who had created a search engine which understood Indian languages. “We have also created a Centre for  Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE), wherein students are provided with resources to  develop their ideas” he said.

He added that when students joined the institute the institute dinned into their minds that grabbing a job in a big organisation was something ordinary but creating such an   organisation was something extraordinary.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / March 02nd, 2014

Tikkana association wins hearts with its munificence

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence
District Collector S. Suresh Kumar unveils thebronze statue of Tikkana Somayaji on the premisesof Pulipaka High School in Guntur on Friday. MLCK.S Lakshmana Rao, MLA Sk. Mastan Vali andsecretary, Tikkanna Literary Association MachirajuSeethapathi Rao are seen./ PHOTO: VIJAYA KUMAR / The Hindu
District Collector S. Suresh Kumar unveils thebronze statue of Tikkana Somayaji on the premisesof Pulipaka High School in Guntur on Friday. MLCK.S Lakshmana Rao, MLA Sk. Mastan Vali andsecretary, Tikkanna Literary Association MachirajuSeethapathi Rao are seen./ PHOTO: VIJAYA KUMAR / The Hindu

Bronze statue unveiled on school premises in Guntur.

A government school, facing an uncertain future over its existence, has got a new lease of life thanks to an act of munificence by the Tikkana Literary Association.

The school with over 350 inmates has been caught in a legal wrangle till recently with the association claiming ownership rights. Recently, the Supreme Court had given a judgment in favour of the association.

On Friday, the association showed its magnanimity by handing over the valuable site to the Department of Education for a benevolent cause. In a symbolic gesture, secretary of Tikkana Literary Association Machiraju Seethapathi Rao handed over a silver tray to the Collector marking the handing over of the property.

Member of Legislative Council K.S Lakshmana Rao, who had convinced the association to part with the property for the sake of the school, said that they had fulfilled the first desire of the association — to have a bronze statue of great poet Tikka Somayaji on the school premises. District Collector S. Suresh Kumar unveiled the statue on Friday.

One of ‘Kavitrayam’

The association had also wanted the school to be named after great Telugu poet who was born in Old Guntur and lived during 13th century. He was one of the three great verse poets (Kavitrayam) who translated Mahabharatha into Telugu. Mr. Rao has pledged Rs.5 lakh out of his MLC constituency funds to develop ‘Tikkana Vidyanilayam,’ a treasure trove of classical books in old Guntur.

The library remains the only monument preserving the legacy of Tikkana in the town.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by Staff Reporter / Guntur – February 22nd, 2014