Records, Bengaluru (Bangalore) – Page 20

KARNATAKA: ARTS & CULTURE: 4th ‘Bangalore International Centre (BIC) Hub’ba’ kicks off

The fourth edition of Bangalore International Centre’s Hub’ba features a dedicated children’s corner, policy discussions on a variety of topics, short films in addition to music and dance .

The annual Bangalore International Centre (BIC) Hub’ba is kicking-off today and features a variety of events for Bengalureans to participate in: lectures, conversations, panel discussions, traditional dance, music programmes and a dedicated corner for children.

For the first time, the fourth edition of the festival also features a section for short films about the city produced by citizens from different backgrounds.

“This year, we are hoping to create a carnival-esque vibe. It’s called a ‘hubba’ for obvious reasons. The idea is to emulate a good-old fun fair. But it is mainly characterised by the sheer variety of events. Everything that people will be interested to know about or participate in, but may not know where to look for,” says

Lekha Naidu, thespian and programming manager at BIC.

It was the success of the original event in 2019 that prompted its return as an annual event ever since. “The whole point of the fest was to create a packed-up version of all different sorts of events that we do throughout the year,” Naidu explains.

This year, the festival also features a section titled ‘B-LORE’ that is dedicated to stories about Bengaluru from a variety of perspectives told through the short films. “We wanted to garner many perspectives and stories about the city. What Bengaluru means to people and what they see in the city. We wanted a repository of information and stories connected to the city. And that led us to putting out an open call for films,” she shares, adding that among the 60 entries that they received, 26 were picked up by the jury and will be premiered at the festival.

While BIC Hub’ba has continued to add events each year, this time the organisers have made a key change to help the audience have a better time at the festival. “We have spaced out the sessions to give the audience a bit more breathing time. In the earlier editions, we had back-to-back sessions, and people would complain about having too many options at the same time and not being able to catch all of them,” Naidu concludes.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

KARNATAKA: ’19th Toto Funds the Arts (TFA) Awards 2023′ Ceremony returns to Stage, February 18th

The 19th edition of the Toto Funds the Arts (TFA) awards recognised 10 winners across various categories, including literature, music, short film, photography, and digital art.

Dadapeer Jyman, a promising talent in the Kannada literary scene, could hardly contain his emotion as he accepted the award for creative writing in Kannada at the 19th edition of the Toto Funds the Arts (TFA) awards ceremony held at Bangalore International Centre on February 18. With a tremulous voice, Jyman expressed his joy at winning the prize. “I’ve dreamt of winning a Toto for three to four years now. I’ve been longlisted and shortlisted… It feels like finally being accepted after pursuing a loved one for long,” he said.

Having won the Sahitya Akademi’s Yuva Puraskar in 2022, Jyman is making a name for himself as a rising star in Kannada literature. His award-winning story, Taha’s Letter, explores the clash between two worlds, through the lens of two close friends, Dileep and Taha. One is stuck in the village, while the other has become an activist in the city. Taha is queer, and, as the story unfolds, we see how two worlds collide and get a chance to examine why it did not work out between them.

Following two years of virtual editions, the Toto Awards finally made a return to the physical stage. “Nothing compares to meeting young artists in person and hearing a live audience cheer them on. All of us at TFA were excited to do an on-ground event,” said CK Meena, chaiperson, TFA.

The TFA is a non-profit trust that was founded in 2004 to commemorate the passing of Angirus ‘Toto’ Vellani, a 20-year-old art and literature lover. Every year, the trust awards prizes in a range of categories, including literature, music, short film, and photography, and hosts workshops, talks, readings, film screenings, and intimate addas to discuss arts-related topics.

A new category was established this year to pay tribute to the memory of abstract artist Mehlli Gobhai, dedicated to digital art, and an additional award was presented for music. The ceremony included a short ghatam performance by Sumana Chandrashekar.

“It is a great platform for youngsters riddled with self doubt about their potential,” said chief guest MS Sriram, Kannada writer and chairperson of the Centre for Public Policy at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. “This award is a big endorsement from the community. While there are several language-based art communities in Bengaluru, what makes this one unique is its diversity. I was amazed by the different regions the award winners came from, as usually in these gatherings we only see local talent.”

Moachiba Jamir, who won the award in the creative writing in the English category, said, “The story, Expecting Caterpillars, talks about grief in a way that also touches the culture that I come from, where very strong emotions such as grief and happiness are not really shared. We don’t really hug people, we don’t say we are sorry… I wanted to explore that in my story,” said Jamir.

A native of the Ao tribe in Kohima, Nagaland, Jamir includes his cultural roots in his writing. “I am inspired by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who said there’s not just one story. So, I am not the only story from my culture; I am just a little voice out of all the voices that are around.”

This year’s ceremony recognised 10 winners across various categories, each of whom received a cash prize. In the music category, both Dindūn and Rudy Mukta were awarded ₹60,000 each. The creative writing in the English category saw Moachiba Jamir and Aparna Chivukula winning ₹50,000 each. Dadapeer Jyman won ₹50,000 in creative writing in the Kannada category. The photography category was won by Aswin Sharma and Anuja Dasgupta, with each of them receiving ₹50,000. In the short film category, Pratik Girish Bhoyar and Nikhil Vinay received ₹50,000 . Sankalpa Raychaudhury won the digital art category, receiving a cash prize of ₹50,000.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: HEALTH & MEDICAL SCIENCES: NIMHANS signs MoU with Mpower for implementation of Tele-MANAS across India

Tele-MANAS is a 24/7 mental healthcare facility which was launched under National Mental Health Programme (NMHP).

Taking a step forward towards the implementation of Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States (Tele-MANAS) services on the ground level across the country, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) on Friday, February 24, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mpower, a mental health initiative of the Aditya Birla Education Trust.

Tele-MANAS is a 24/7 mental healthcare facility (14416) which was launched under National Mental Health Programme (NMHP).

To support the implementation of the programme, Mpower has taken up the responsibility of setting up, operating and managing all day-to-day affairs at the Tele-MANAS centres. Mpower will be provided with the necessary access to the platform, operating guidelines, training and mentoring, monitoring and framework needed to operate the centres.

The collaboration is expected to integrate Tele-MANAS services locally and make qualified professionals and expert mental health counselling services available to individuals who need them.

“There is no health without mental health and the pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues among people of all ages. Now, we are looking forward to see how we can expand Tele-MANAS to the length and breadth of India,” said Pratima Murthy, Director and Senior Professor of Psychiatry at NIMHANS.

She added, “Our goal is to make sure that the Tele-MANAS services are accessible to all and in this journey, we are happy to look at Public Private Partnerships with strong knowledge of the space. At Tele-MANAS, we offer counselling services in 20 regional languages. We have a framework and we look forward to Mpower expanding this programme in various States.”

The two-tiered structure of Tele-MANAS includes State Tele-MANAS cells (Tier 1), which are staffed with qualified counsellors and mental health professionals. Specialists in Tier 2 are accessible at District Mental Health Programme (DMHP)/Medical College resources for in-person consultations and through e-Sanjeevani for audio-visual consultation.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: HORTICULTURE: National Horticulture Fair (NHF2023) Organised by ICAR and IIHR begins Packed with Activities to have Stalls, Workshops and Conferences Feb 22 to 25

The National Horticulture Fair 2023 (NHF2023), which will be held between February 22 and 25 in Hesaraghatta on the outskirts of the city under the theme of ‘Innovative horticulture for self-reliance’, will be inaugurated by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar virtually on Wednesday at 12 p.m., said Sanjay Kumar Singh, Director of ICAR-IIHR and chairman of the organising committee NHF 2023.

The fair, being organised by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), will showcase latest technologies such as vegetable, flower and medicinal crop varieties for import substitution, pollination in protected cultivation, leaf curl virus resistant chilli varieties, carotenoid content rich marigold varieties, flower waste utilisation, terrace gardening solutions for urban horticulture, production technologies for exotic fruits such as dragon fruit and avocado and cost-effective traps for management of invasive pests, etc. for the benefit of horticulturists and other stakeholders during the NHF2023 at ICAR-IIHR.

The NHF-2023 will have 250 hi-tech stalls on various products and 50 nursery stalls, according to ICAR-IIHR officials.

Apart from this, officials said that special workshops and conferences on horticulture development on various aspects, including value added millet products, composting of bio-waste, urban horticulture, mushroom production and value addition, safe use of pesticides, preparation of incense sticks from floral waste and tribal horticulture, will be organised during the four-day fair.

Last year, the event was cancelled due to the pandemic, and in 2021, the fair was in a hybrid mode because of the pandemic. The institute is expecting about 50,000 farmers from various States of the country.

Hopcoms fair at Lalbagh

The Horticultural Producers’ Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society (Hopcoms) will oragnise grapes and watermelon mela at Lalbagh from Wednesday. Three to four varieties of watermelon and 13 to 15 varieties of grapes will be sold at the fair, according to a Hopcoms release.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

KARNATAKA: HEALTHCARE / NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH: Pratiksha Trust signs MoU with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) & Centre for Brain Research (CBR)

CBR is uniquely positioned to take on the challenge of tackling this impending healthcare and socioeconomic crisis.”

The Pratiksha Trust signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) and Centre for Brain Research (CBR), an autonomous centre of IISC, to accelerate breakthrough discoveries and translational research on neurodegenerative diseases.

Under this MoU, the charitable trust, founded by Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalkrishnan, has agreed to provide support to CBR in perpetuity with an initial outlay to the tune of Rs 450.27 crore over the next 10 years, for research, innovation and translation.

IISC Director Prof G Rangarajan said, “India’s elderly population is expected to grow rapidly to a staggering 32 crore by 2050, leading to a corresponding increase in the burden of dementia and other age-related neurodegenerative diseases. CBR is uniquely positioned to take on the challenge of tackling this impending healthcare and socioeconomic crisis.”

Gopalakrishnan said, “The human brain is one of the world’s biggest mysteries, which is yet to be fully understood. By funding this centre, we are working towards creating and sustaining a globally recognised, state-of-the-art research and innovation hub that will be at the cutting edge of research on the human brain.”

CBR has already been pursuing research in this area and this MoU will help scale up the research and activities at the centre.

It is also a part of nation-wide initiative involving 20 institutions called “Genome-India” (supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India), which aims to discover India-specific genetic basis for diseases through whole genome sequencing of 10,000 samples collected from across the country.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

KARNATAKA: ARTS & CULTURE / MUSEUM: Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) Opens Physical Museum in Bengaluru

The museum includes virtual exhibits, artists lectures, virtual reality encounters and a number of keynote discussions that foucs on the collections.

The Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), the first major private museum in Bengaluru, opened its doors at Kasturba Road with the inaugural series, ‘Art is Life: New Beginnings’. In view of the launch, the museum is holding week-long events from February 18-24.

Supported by cutting-edge technology, the museum has been constructed on the pillars of an innovative digital format that was introduced in 2020. This entails virtual exhibits, artist lectures, virtual reality encounters and a number of keynote discussions with leading museum directors from across the world that focus on the collections.

igital interventions, such as the Sasken Multimedia Gallery, enhance the museum experience for MAP’s visitors and make the whole collection accessible even when individual pieces aren’t on show.

Four exhibitions

The brand-new series feature four exhibitions and a series of new commissions. Curated by the director of MAP, Kamini Sawhney, ‘Visible/Invisible’ includes works by leading Indian artists such as Jamini Roy, Bhupen Khakhar, Mrinalini Mukherjee, Ravinder Reddy, Arpita Singh, M.F. Hussain and examines the role of women in art.

With more than 160 images, renowned Indian artist Jyoti Bhatt’s collection “Time and Time Again” traces his path as a photographer in the second half of the 20th century. The installation highlights his experimentation with multiple exposures and fragmented mirror imagery, as well as his depiction of rural villages, portraits of other artists, and self-portraits.

The MAP also feature LN Tallur’s series of sculptures and movies called “Chirag-e-Al,” which explore the link between artificial intelligence and ritualistic belief systems while forcing viewers to consider humanity’s increasing reliance on technology. The themes of darkness, conversations between celestial entities, and white spaces are established via the use of imagined chatbots, neural networks, composite figures, and white spaces.

Three years of research-backed work

Speaking about what makes MAP so distinct, Ms. Sawhney said, “MAPs collections are spread over six categories — premodern, modern and contemporary, textiles, photography, indigenous art, and popular culture such as Bollywood posters and film scripts. It tells the stories of all communities that make up India. We tell much wider stories as compared to other museums. Visible/Invisible showcases the permanent collection of MAP but we also commissioned various artists to create work which became part of the works. We worked for three years on this exhibition and it is accompanied by a catalogue.”

MAPs collections are spread over six categories — premodern, modern and contemporary, textiles, photography, indigenous art, and popular culture such as Bollywood posters and film scripts.

The MAP started first as a digital museum. “We developed the concept of MAP Labs which looks at the intersection of the science and the arts and how we can use technology to find art solutions. In our first collaboration with Accenture, we came up with the idea of creating a 3D persona or a hologram of M.F. Hussain, an iconic artist with whom a lot of young people have not interacted. It enabled them to have a chat with M.F. Hussain and understand his work,” Ms. Sawhney said.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

KARNATAKA: ROBOTICS – PETROLEUM INDUSTRY/ TECHNOLOGY: Start-up ‘Beta Tank Robotics’ Specialised in Hydraulic Robots for the Petroleum Industry Wins the ‘Best Startup Award’ at India Energy Week 2023

The start-up is developing specialised hydraulic robots for the petroleum industry.

City-based start-up Beta Tank Robotics Pvt. Ltd., which is developing specialised hydraulic robots for the petroleum industry, has won the best start-up award at the India Energy Week 2023, which was held in Bengaluru last week.

The robot can operate in oil tanks in petroleum refineries, and thereby eliminate risks to human beings.

It was incubated at IIT Guwahati, and the project was funded by State-owned Oil India Ltd.

The specialised robot can go from one taker to another, and it does the job similar to a vacuum cleaner. The robot at present is undergoing safety assessment as there are very stringent standards set by the oil industry.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL : NATIONAL: KARNATAKA Showcases Ecotourism Hotspots to G20 summit Delegates from 30 countries

G20 summit delegates from 30 countries visited the Bannerghatta Biological Park, Kalkere Arboretum, and the Jungle Lodges and Resorts as part of the series of events organised by the Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG).

During this excursion, curated by the Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka, the state showcased its models for the restoration of forest ecosystems and the different types of forests curated at the arboretum, stated in its official release.

At Bannerghatta, the delegates visited the famous butterfly park and a short animal safari curated for them, where they were able to learn about the state’s sustainable ecotourism model. The Globally acclaimed “Wild Karnataka” movie was screened for the delegates at Jungle Lodges and Resorts.

The visit is part of India’s efforts to shift focus to the climate-change challenges and towards sustainable models of development such as eco-tourism, which can play a vital role, and will balance the needs of the growing economy with necessary measures for protecting the environment.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. V. Ram Prasath Manohar, IAS, Director, Karnataka Tourism said, “Karnataka has an abundance of natural beauty, including the Western Ghats, a site listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This mountain range is renowned for its great diversity of flora and fauna. The state has 35 wildlife sanctuaries and five national parks. It is also home to over 100 species of animals, and 600 species of birds, including 524 tigers and over 6000 elephants, making Karnataka, truly India’s wildlife capital.

On Thursday, the G20 delegates were given a short insight into the state’s rich biodiversity and stunning wildlife during the excursion”.

source/content: daijiworld.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: 4 IISc Researchers get INSA Young Scientist Awards

The award by INSA is given every three years to scientists for the best research paper published in a reputed journal.

Four faculty members of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have been selected for the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Medal for Young Scientists. Dr Srimonta Gayen, Dr Subhojoy Gupta, Dr Mohit Kumar Jolly and Dr Venkatesh Rajendran are among the 42 scientists selected from across India for the medal. The INSA Medal for Young Scientists is awarded annually by INSA to scientists under the age of 40 for their contributions towards Science and Technology. Dr Gayen is an assistant professor at the Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics (MRDG) Department.

INSA stated that his work could help in enhancing the success rates of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) as well as provide a clinical strategy to help prevent the prevalence of gender bias against IVF-born babies. Dr Gupta, an assistant professor at the Department of Mathematics, was awarded for his work on Riemann surfaces.

Dr Jolly, assistant professor at the Centre for BioSystems Science and Engineering (BSSE), is working on minimising cancer metastasis and preventing drug and therapy resistance on cancer cells. Dr Rajendran of the Department of Mathematics specialises in Kac-Moody algebras and their representations. Meanwhile, IISc also announced that Dr Karthik Sunagar, assistant professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), was one of two recipients of the Professor Har Swarup Memorial Award.

The award by INSA is given every three years to scientists for the best research paper published in a reputed journal. Dr Sunagar published a paper on the geographical variations of venom in snakes that could render antivenom ineffective depending on the location. The paper, titled ‘Biogeographical venom variation in the Indian spectacled cobra (Naja naja) underscores the pressing need for pan-India efficacious snakebite therapy’ was published in the PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases scientific journal.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: JNCASR Scientists Develop Brain-like Computing with Industry Compatible Nitride Semiconductors

They used scandium nitride (ScN) to develop a device mimicking a synapse that controls the signal transmission as well as remembers the signal.

A team of scientists from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) have used scandium nitride (ScN) and Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility to develop brain-like computing.

This invention can provide a new material for stable, CMOS-compatible optoelectronic synaptic functionalities at a relatively lower energy cost and also potential to be translated into an industrial product.

According to the Department of Science and Technology, the JNCASR team led by Dheemahi Rao who were working on nitride-based materials used their background for developing hardware for neuromorphic computing. They used ScN to develop a device mimicking a synapse that controls the signal transmission as well as remembers the signal.

“The JNCASR team demonstrates an artificial optoelectronic synapse with ScN thin films that can mimic synaptic functionalities like short-term memory, long-term memory, the transition from short-term to long-term memory, learning–forgetting, frequency selective optical filtering, frequency-dependent potentiation and depression, Hebbian learning, and logic-gate operations,” states the department.

Compared to the existing materials used to demonstrate optoelectronic synapse, ScN is more stable, CMOS compatible, and can be seamlessly integrated with existing Si technology. It can act as a platform for both excitatory and inhibitory functions. The industrial processing techniques of ScN are similar to the existing semiconductor fabrication infrastructure. Response to the optical stimuli also has the advantage of possible integration with photonic circuits known for higher speed and broader bandwidth than electronic circuits.

“Our work enables neuromorphic computing research with a stable, scalable, and CMOS-compatible III-nitride semiconductor that exhibits both excitatory and inhibitory synaptic functionalities. Unlike the previous works on all-electronic synapse, our work shows an optoelectronic synapse with a large bandwidth, reduced RC delays, and low power consumption,”said Dr. Bivas Saha, Assistant Professor, JNCASR.

Apart from JNCASR, researchers from the University of Sydney (Dr. Magnus Garbrecht and Dr. Asha I. K. Pillai) also participated in this study published recently in the scientific journal Advanced Electronic Materials.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)