Power minister Aryadan Mohammed inaugurated the state’s first floating solar plant at Banasura Sagar reservoir in Wayanad on Thursday.
The 10-kilowatt-capacity plant, spread over 1,200 sq ft has been installed on concrete floaters with hollow insides. The platform can carry 45 tonnes and the power generated will be fed to the KSEB grid through cables drawn through the reservoir bed. KSEB officials said that it is the first floating solar plant to be set up inside a reservoir in the country.
The innovative power generation system, set up at a cost of Rs 20 lakh, is the brainchild of two young entrepreneurs from Wayanad – Ajay Thomas and V M Sudhin. The duo’s startup firm Vatsaa Energy Private Ltd has implemented the project with financial aid from KSEB under its Energy Open Innovations Zone.
Inaugurating the plant, Aryadan Mohammed said that KSEB was making a big push in the area of renewable energy. He added that the government has acquired 500 acres of land in Kasaragod to set up a 200 MW solar park. A further 1500 acres will be acquired for the project.
The KSEB also has plans to convert the largest earthen dam in the country to a hub of solar power generation with the launch of construction works for two other solar projects at the site.
The projects include a proposed 500-kW floating solar plant at the reservoir and a 400kW ‘dam- top’ solar power generation project. The former is a scaled-up version of the 10kW concrete floating plant. The Rs 9.25-crore project will be spread over the water surface of the reservoir across 1.25 acres.
The minister will also inaugurate the works of the 400-kW dam-top solar project by installing solar panel canopy over the walkway atop the dam at a cost of Rs 4.6 crore. Another hydel tourism development project is being envisaged near the dam premises.
Ajay Thomas, who had developed the indigenous technology for the floating plant, said the device has around 20% higher efficiency compared to ground-mounted units as the cooling effect of water helps in keeping the temperature of the solar panels low, thus boosting output.
“The low dust environment in the reservoir also aids in enhanced performance of the photo-voltaic panels. Water bodies in the state, including those in large hydroelectric projects, can be used for large-scale solar power generation through floating plants,” he said.
KSEB chief engineer (renewable energy and energy savings), Suku R, said the floating solar plant was designed for dam reservoirs in the state, also taking into consideration the seasonal water level variations, heavy rain and winds.
M V Shreyams Kumar MLA presided over the function. KSEB chairman and managing director M Sivasankar, academician RVG Menon among other spoke.
www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kozhikode / K.P. Rajeev / TNN / January 21st, 2016
Our society needs to change; we are generating a society of merits. We need to understand our children in such a way that education is mixed with passion.
These lines describe Abdul Kaleem’s life in a nutshell. In 2009, Abdul was felicitated by the President of India for his innovations, when he was barely 22 years old. That same year, he was also honoured by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) for Grass Root Innovation.
Innovator and entrepreneur Abdul Kaleem
But it was never about good grades or staggering dreams; as a student, Abdul always thought a little differently, a philosophy he still lives by:
“Whenever something happens, I think about the logic behind it. I keep questioning.”
And this questioning always took the form of little innovations. In the seventh grade, he saved Rs 2 from his pocket money to buy a crystal bird, which he turned into a greeting machine. It would open out with banner saying Id Mubarak whenever someone entered his room. A theft in his neighborhood caused him to create an alert mechanism that would call the last dialled number on the owner’s phone as soon as the door was opened.
But the contrast of all this sets in when one realises that Abdul was brought up in a small village in Deoria, in Uttar Pradesh born to an Urdu tutor father and an uneducated mother, where an alert mechanism was unheard of!
His parents could never understand what their child was really up to. What they wanted for him was a basic education that would lead to a secure government job. His father was disappointed to see his son’s unconventional ways, and his neighbors constantly felt the need to remind them how he was wasting his time.
But Abdul was only interested in his innovations, electronics, machines, and not the world’s opinion of them. He was undeterred; he smiles and says:
On one hand, Abdul continued to think about wider impact and what the community really needed, while on the other, he finished his high school exams and joined a Psychology course in Deoria. Staying deeply grounded to his roots, Abdul started looking deeper at his inventions. He created a device that could gauge moisture in the soil using sensors, and water pots automatically. The device would stop watering the plants once the sensors gauged enough moisture in the soil.
Next in line was a flood informer system, with a scale fitted at different areas of the river, including the centre and the bed of the river. The minute the water rose to the third level, the sirens would alert villagers to look for higher ground.
Finally, it was a visit by his Psychology professor that put him in the spotlight. He convinced Dr Nagiz Banu to visit his home and the small laboratory where he carried out his experiments. Dr Banu was reluctant, but when she entered the room, she was in for a surprise. Seeing the scale at which Abdul had mastered his experiments, she asked him to send his innovations to NIF. He did and, on 21 November 2009, Abdul was awarded for his grassroots innovations by President Pratibha Patil; what followed was a slew of other recognitions by the state.
We ask Abdul why he pursued Psychology and not Engineering, where his passion truly lay. He replies
“If you see, technology is created by perceiving Psychology, similarly as Psychology perceives the invented technology. So every subject has a correlation, it depends on how you use it.”
When we ask him what we feel is missing in innovations today, he says it is a lack of understanding of Psychology to create technology for the masses, while understanding their needs.
Abdul’s interaction and felicitation from the various Presidents of India
From innovations to business
However, Abdul says that while he may be a good inventor or engineer, he is not a good businessman. He has never understood business numbers.
Abdul constantly innovating, with his GPRS sensor
In 2011, Abdul embarked on the Jagriti Yatrawith around 350 strangers, a journey which completely transformed his outlook on where he aspired to use his potential to startup. Immediately after the Yatra, Abdul started working on a low-cost solar table lamp, another basic innovation catering to the masses.
This business idea required an initial capital of at least Rs 5 lakh. Unable to procure the funds, he shelved the idea and pursued other innovations.
Through reference of a customer Siddharth Jettar, in 2014 Abdul was introduced to G.K. Sinha, who was in awe over how solutions to complex issues came so easily to this young man. Abdul had created a universal light controlling remote for Siddharth’s house. G.K. Sinha was an angel investor, having the experience of guiding multiple startups.
He helped Abdul with starting his venture Eco tronica Pvt. Ltd.
Sinha also introduced him to Gautam Kumar, a graduate from Harvard University. Gautam felt the same potential in Abdul’s innovation and worked with him to refine his soil moisture-sensor-driven innovation and mobile weather prediction station to a requirement at Centers for International Projects Trust (CIPT), which is affiliated with the Earth Institute at Columbia University.
The low-cost weather station of sorts, powered by solar power, works on cloud computing and the installation of sensors on rooftops of buildings. The industrial setup costs as little as Rs 15,000, while the user-friendly and domestic models cost up to Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000, respectively. Jharkhand’s Birsa Agricultural University has planned to set up this technology in the state’s Angara block. This will directly impact 700 farmers of the area.
Today, Abdul is also working on solar powered lighting with dual LED lights, which he claims should work for 24 hours with just five minutes of solar charge. He says he still doesn’t understand the revenues or sales figures because he thinks he is an innovator at heart and will remain one.
Abdul says the biggest challenge in having a manufacturing startup is getting the right vendor, who gives the right product at the lowest cost.
But there is an important lesson for all entrepreneurs when Abdul speaks. Even as Indian entrepreneurs flock to create the next Uber and Amazon, he makes us question what truly comprises innovation for the masses. He makes us question whether business models and revenues are the only success metric for a startup.
For many Indian entrepreneurs taking their product to Silicon Valley – an enduring symbol of innovation – is the highest form of success. But what about innovations for the masses? Is our entrepreneurial ecosystem based on the same system of meritocracy followed in the US?
Innovators like Abdul even make us question our prevailing education system. He rightly says we need to harbor our own culture of innovation. Our challenges are different, and the only way out is to innovate through passion and dedication to solve a problem, rather than look at is as a business.
source: http://www.yourstory.com / YourStory.com / Home> Success Stories / by Tarush Bhalla / January 20th, 2016
Screenshot of the ‘Dial Kashmir’ app. The application has witnessed an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 with a thousand plus downloads on Google Play.
Srinagar, KASHMIR :
23-year-old girl becomes first Kashmiri to develop Android application ‘Dial Kashmir’ with over 500 contacts of government and private departments — a one stop source for ‘essential information’.
“I don’t want to be a second someone, I want to be the first me,” this is how a 23-year-old ambitious computer engineer, who has become the first Kashmiri to develop an Android application, describes herself on her Facebook page.
The Android application named ‘Dial Kashmir’ contains over 500 contacts of government and private departments — a one stop source for ‘essential information’.
‘Dial Kashmir’ contains important contacts of different departments, officials and public utilities and would be of immense help to the locals and tourists alike, says Mehvish Mushtaq, who holds a Bachelors (B.E.) in Computer Science.
“I felt a need to develop such an application because unlike outside where there are many apps and websites which contain such information, Kashmir had none. ‘Dial Kashmir’ would provide information easily to the people here. There are many users of Android platform based mobile phones here,” Ms. Mehvish, a resident of uptown Barzulla in Srinagar, told PTI.
Ms. Mehvish claims that the application has witnessed an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 with a thousand plus downloads on Google Play.
Ms. Mehvish did an online course on Android application designing in January and put together her skills and desire to develop a “helpful Kashmir centric application” and with an “actually, I can” attitude — as her display picture on Facebook suggests — developed ‘Dial Kashmir’. “I did this online course at the end of which I had to develop something, as part of the project. It took me about 2 weeks to develop this application,” she said.
‘Dial Kashmir’ provides users detailed information like addresses, phone numbers and email ids of various essential services and other departments in Kashmir. It is a one stop source for information on healthcare, education, transport, police and so many others and one does not need to surf through internet pages, official websites and directories,” she said.
A music lover and an ardent Atif Aslam fan, Ms. Mehvish says technology fascinates her and her love for “any-thing-tech” was the sole inspiration behind her “dream of developing something which would help the people of my native place”.
Ms. Mehvish, who did her B.E from SSM College of Engineering and Technology in Pattan area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, says girls in Kashmir are “second to none” and “can achieve anything“.
“We just have to keep a dream alive and start working towards realising it. We are second to none and once we set on something, we can achieve it,” she said.
The response to the application, she says, has been “encouraging”.
“Heartening to see a Kashmiri girl develop an android app when everyone claims to be a geek in Kashmir. Good work although app is simple. Keep it up,” one Android user, Rais Bhat, who downloaded the app from Google Play, wrote as feedback.
Another user, Wani Kamraan, wrote, “SPEECHLESS..! Well the application should be improved but this work of you should be appreciated by me, by your own people…So 4 stars for your outstanding work and extra one for being citizen as well as sister of me from my Kashmir… Thank You!“.
Ms. Mehvish says she is now working on making the application “much better” and trying to add “as more details and information as possible”.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Technology> Gadgets / PTI / Srinagar – April 16th, 2013
Liver team at Pandorum Technologies: Dr. Abdullah Chand, senior scientist (left); Arun Chandru, co-founder and managing director (centre); and Dr. Sivarajan T., senior scientist / @ABHINAV_MAURYA
Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :
Pandorum Technologies, a Bengaluru-based biotech startup, has developed an artificial tissue that performs the functions of the human liver.
Pandorum said these 3D printed living tissues made of human cells would enable affordable medical research with reduced dependence on animal and human trials. It will also eventually lead to full scale transplantable organs.
Arun Chandru, 30-year-old co-founder of Pandorum, said liver toxicity and drug metabolism are the key hurdles, and contributors to failed human trials.
Pandorum’s 3D bio-printed mini-livers that mimic the human liver will serve as test platforms for discovery and development of drugs and vaccines. The firm said these drugs would have better efficacy, less side-effects and be developed at lower costs.
“We developed everything here in India,” said Mr. Chandru. “We can grow thousands of these tissues in the laboratory and test the efficacy of drugs on them for diseases including cancer.”
He said large pharma companies on an average spend about $10 billion (Rs. 66,290 crore) and 10 years on research and development to get a single new drug to the market.
Tuhin Bhowmick (34), another co-founder of Pandorum, said development of artificial organs has numerous clinical uses. The cell-based miniature organs can be used to develop bio-artificial liver support systems for preserving life in patients who have developed liver failure.
“In the near future, such bio-printed organs will address the acute shortage of human organs available for surgical transplantation,” said Dr. Bhowmick, who holds a Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science.
Pandorum was founded by a group of friends in 2011 who were pursuing their higher studies at IISc. They came together to work on the development of artificial human organs after winning a business competition.
Surviving initially on money from friends and family, the team approached the Department of Biotechnology with their vision. The company was awarded funding support by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council in 2012. The same year, the company got incubated by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms in Bengaluru.
Mr. Chandru said they created the innovation with a funding of about Rs. 1 crore, more than half of which came from the government.
Scientists and startups across the globe are growing artificial organs made of human cells to better study diseases and help test drugs. A team of researchers led by Hebrew University professor Eduardo Mitrani is growing pancreas in a petri dish to better regulate blood sugar in diabetic patients.
The global artificial organ and bionics market is expected to reach $38.75 billion (Rs 2.5 lakh crore) by 2020 at an estimated CAGR of 9.3% from 2014 to 2020, according to a study by Grand View Research.
Pandorum’s ultimate aim is to make personalised human organs such as lungs, liver, kidney and pancreas on demand, according to Mr. Chandru.
Pandorum’s innovation takes the area of making artificial organs to the next level. Bengaluru-based bioinformatics firm Strand Life Sciences founded by IISc. professors had earlier developed a virtual liver that mimics the functions of liver through software simulation. It is a predictive method that integrates data and insights for deeper understanding of the impact of a drug on the liver. The platform can predict the toxicity of several known drugs and toxins and explain the mechanism.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech / by Peerzada Abrar / Bengaluru – December 23rd, 2015
Two quick thinking interns perform a miracle on a road accident victim
The mini-bus echoed with laughter and song of doctors and interns returning from a trek to Anantagiri hills on Sunday evening before it stopped at a roadside eatery in Bandalguda. All the doctors stepped out to stretch and walk into Dwaraka hotel, when a miracle happened. Rather, two doctors Dr Faizah Anjum and Dr Savitri Devi, performed a miracle on a road accident victim.
Armed with just a pen and a newspaper the quick thinking doctors created a bespoke contraption to save a life. “It was 7 p.m., as the other doctors went into the restaurant we were resting when the driver said he would move the bus as there was an accident. We rushed there and waded through the crowd to see the victim lying on the road near the divider. He had feeble pulse and his pupils were dilated and we got to work,” says Dr Faizah Anjum.
The accident victim was a 30-your-old man, who while running on the road, slammed onto an onrushing RTC bus and fell aside near the divider, informed an official of Narsingi police station.
“We started work on him right there without moving him on the road itself,” says Savitri.
“We kept a pen to keep his tongue from blocking the air passage. While Savitri used the newspaper to blow air into his lungs, I kept working on his chest for the CPR. After about 20 minutes, the patient came to his senses and started breathing on his own and even started screaming. Then the ambulance came and we gave him an IV drip before he was taken to the tertiary care centre of Osmania General Hospital,” said Faizah.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Serish Nanisetti / Hyderabad – January 13th, 2016
Repository of the ancient wisdom of Unani medicine, 110 year-old Syed Mohammed Sharfuddin Quadri lives a Spartan and frugal life that has worked wonders for him, as Partha Mukherjee discovers
Almost 55 years ago, while I was journeying through a field in a cart, I caught sight of an old towering neem tree, immersed in soundless symphony with a swarm of fireflies. Barely five years old then, I didn’t know that the silhouette of a tree in hushed twilight silence would be a metaphor for a man around whom the sparkle of life never dims, even when ‘night’ tiptoes into his life.
Syed Mohammed Sharfuddin Quadri is famous for treating India’s first president Rajendra Prasad in Gaya in 1942-43 for breathlessness. Fondly known as Hakim saab, he has a photographic memory, sense of humour, never-say-die spirit and, above all, energy that never runs out. On 25 December 2011, he will turn 110. Yet he works for 17 hours at a stretch, preparing concoctions from dry fruits, herbs and roots and advising close to 100 patients (free of cost) every day. At 5 pm, every day through the year, Hakim saab attends to his patients at his Wellesley Square clinic in central Kolkata as well as those in the US. “Abba has patients all over America,” says his 40 year-old son Mohammed Sadique, who assists Quadri in his clinic. “He gives instructions to them over email or through a video conference. Earlier, he used to go to California, Los Angeles and New York, but now he’s restricted because of his gout.”
Sharfuddin Quadri answers all questions, except those about his achievements. Founder of the Unani Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, Quadri published a magazine titled Hikmat-e-Bangala (Hikmat means Unani medicine) in 1959, which folded up soon for lack of funds. “Success means how much one has been able to help others,” he says, adding that he does honour the Padma Bhushan he was awarded by the President in 2007. He brings out the medal attached to his pocket by a silk ribbon. “I carry it to show my respect to the recognition of Unani treatment. Though I would be happier if I were given a grant so I could at least cover the place with a shed where my patients wait.” Indeed, patients wait for him for hours, sometimes till midnight, even in the rains. “There is no help from the government to collect herbs at a reasonable price,” adds Mohammed Sadique, Quadri’s youngest son (he has six siblings) who assists his father. “Sometime Abba is so frustrated that he thinks of giving up. If medicines aren’t available what is the use of continuing the treatment?”
From a family of hakim in the remote village of Kumrava in Nawada district of Bihar, Quadri trained in Unani treatment from Shafakhana Darsgah Tibbia (Gaya) in 1930. After immersing himself in the freedom movement, he started his practice in Calcutta where his family shifted in 1935-36. “Herbal medicines have a magical effect on our body; besides they have no side-effects,” he says sipping neem juice. If diagnosed, every disease responds to Unani treatment, Quadri claims, adding that with medication one must strictly follow instructions on diet and lifestyle as well. “During the diagnosis, one has to study the dam [blood], balgham [phlegm], safra[yellow bile], and sauda [black bile] of the patient [just like kapha, vata and pitta, the three dosha in Ayurveda], as they are the roots of all diseases,” he explains. “Anyone with any sort of ailment definitely has an abnormality in one of these.”
As for his own frugal diet—neem juice and half a piece of bread—he says, “The less you eat the more you live; the more you eat, the more you court ailments and health hazards. And to lead a healthy life you should have a healthy mind. My father lived to be 122 and never allowed any ignoble thought to cross his mind.”
How does he keep himself so physically fit even at 110? “I never sleep at night; I read books on Unani medicine when others are fast asleep. In the calm of the night, I try to explore things I don’t know about and let them melt into my inner self.” Unani medicine, he says, actually has its roots in Greece following extensive research by Hippocrates (460-377 BC). “It was he who laid the foundation of clinical medicine based on diet and symptoms.” He adds that a number of Greek scholars after Hippocrates—Galen (131-200 AD) followed by Arab physicians Rhazes (850-932 AD) and Avicenna (980-1037 AD)—enriched the system considerably. Rhazes and Avicenna authored Al-Hawi and Al-Qanun respectively, which were later translated into Latin and other European languages and taught in medieval European universities. They are said to have influenced western medical thought.
Unani medicine disappeared from the country of its origin, but found roots in India through Arab traders long before the Mughals. The Khiljis, Tughlaqs and Mughal emperors provided state patronage to Unani scholars and employed many as court physicians. The British imposed strict restrictions on every form of treatment but allopathy. Despite suspension of aid to Unani institutions, the system survived owing to the commitment ofhakim like Ajmal Khan, who served as the president of Indian National Congress in 1921—the Unani physician and scholar founded the Ayurvedic and Unani Medical College in Delhi.
Quadri reads till 4 am, when the city wakes up to fight for the day. “After my daily ablutions, I go to the mosque for namaz which involves many a yogic mudra—I do each of them,” he shares. “I walk back home at 5 am and sleep till 9, after which I go to my clinic. There’s no time to waste till 5 pm, when I go to the clinic, which I believe is the key to my fitness.”
Sharfuddin Quadri thanks his health for having been witness to an eventful century. The Dandi March with Mahatma Gandhi, confinement in Cuttack Jail and a memorable encounter with Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. “In 1943-44, in Ramgarh—then in Hazaribagh and now in Jharkhand—Maulana Azad was addressing the people and suddenly the skies opened up in a heavy downpur making everyone rush for sheds. Azad roared, ‘You are so scared of raindrops, what will happen when the British will rain bombs and bullets on you?’ And then no one moved even an inch.”
Finding his shadow lengthen by the day, Sharfuddin Quadri remembers Rabindranath Tagore through his lines and a brief meeting in 1912: Moron jedin diner seshe asbe tomar duare/sedin tumi kee dhan debe uhare?(When Death will knock at your door at the end of the day/What will you offer him as a gift?) “I wonder what I will be ready with to welcome the inevitable,” he signs off.
Featured in Harmony – Celebrate Age Magazine
July 2011
source: http://www.harmonyindia.org / Harmony India.org / Home> H People> Diary 100 / Featured in Harmony – Celebrate Age magazine, July 2011
The Sangeen Jame Masjid at Taramandalpet in Bengaluru.— Photo: Bhagya Prakash k
Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :
In the congested old market area of the city, where vehicles and pedestrians jostle for space on narrow lanes, lies a tale of Tipu Sultan’s ingenuity that time seems to have forgotten.
It is in this small clearing, now flanked by a sprawling masjid, that thousands of workers had gathered nearly 300 years ago to cut metal, roll gunpowder into barrels and attach sharp metallic pieces to make the once-feared ‘Bangalore Rockets’.
All that remains now of this ingenious machinery that sustained Tipu Sultan through four wars against the British is the name assumed by the few buildings in the area — Taramandalpet , or roughly, the market of the constellation of stars, a name that refers to the pattern of mid-air explosions of these rockets that then rained shrapnel on an unsuspecting enemy.
Residents — primarily shopkeepers and staff of the masjid and madrassa — seem unaware of the place’s rich history that once fuelled Indian rocketry.
“Workers would prepare these rockets that proved very effective against the British. This would then be transported to the armoury at K.R. Market, which still exists,” says Suresh Moona, a historian.
The entire street was a sort of military laboratory, a fact seen in the unearthing of two cannons during the metro construction work between 2012 and 2015.
Much of these signs, however, have disappeared. Activists point out this irony: while the government announced celebrations of the Mysuru King’s birth anniversary — which ended in violent protests — recently, symbols of the Sultan in Bengaluru and even his birthplace near the swanky International Airport on the outskirts continue to fade away.
Syed Shafiullah, vice-president of the Tipu Sultan Publicity Committee, says: “One armoury that we saw is now just piles of thrash and shops. It is a shame that all of it is going. We have been persuading the government to preserve these areas, or at least, to highlight it. It should be a pride that the technology of the British army came from Karnataka,” he says.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National / by Staff Reporter / Bengaluru – December 27th, 2015
The Bengaluru solution – Triaminopyrimidine (TAP) comes with many advantages over existing drugs
Bengaluru :
Three scientists from Bengaluru, who led a team of global reserchers looking for an antimalarial drug, have found a fast-killing solution. After completing some tests, it’ll go in for clinical trials on humans. That this drug has the potential to cure the dreaded disease in one dose makes it more attractive to healthcare providers.
The Bengaluru solution — Triaminopyrimidine (TAP) — comes with many advantages over existing drugs. Vasan Sambandamurthy, one of the senior authors of the research paper, said: “It’s a fast-killing and long-acting antimalarial clinical candidate. TAP acts exclusively on the blood stage of Plasmodium falciparum (the stage responsible for clinical symptoms) in a relevant mouse model. This candidate is equally active against causative agent Plasmodium vivax.”
He added, “The compound has shown good safety margins in guinea pigs and rats. With a predicted half-life of 36 hours in humans, TAP offers potential for a single dose combination.”
The rapid spread of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite which causes malaria in humans, has left nations battling it with a weakened arsenal and coping with thousands of deaths every year. This parasite has gradually become resistant to available medication.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 3.2 billion people in 97 countries, including India, are at risk of being infected with malaria. In 2013, WHO reported an estimated 198 million cases and the disease was responsible for an estimated 5.84 lakh deaths, including 4.53 lakh children less than five years old.
Every person infected with malaria has to deal with millions of parasites and existing drugs have a limited effect in humans. “The half-life, which isn’t more than 2 hours, means it allows parasites to bounce back. Existing drugs are not fast-killing, which means that not only does a human need more doses but each dose is capable of only killing a few parasites,” he said.
Besides, a potential side-effect of existing drugs is liver damage. “This doesn’t happen all the time, but the possibility does exist. Also, the parasites have become resistant to these drugs. With TAP, there are now known side-effects and the parasites are unable to develop resistance at the same pace as they do for existing drugs,” he said.
TAP was discovered by a team at pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. “The main research happened in its R&D centre in Bengaluru between 2011 and 2014, which has since been shut down. It took us three years of rigorous work by teams across the globe. Today, we confidently nominate TAPs as a clinical candidate to treat drug-resistant malaria,” Vasan said. Shahul Hameed and Suresh Solapure were the two other team leaders.
Times View
The discovery of a malaria drug, yet again, highlights Bengaluru’s leadership in scientific research. The promise that the new medicine can kill the virus in a single stroke and act for a long time is good news for malaria patients. While the scientists deserve compliments on working towards a remedy free of side-effects, the companies that will eventually massproduce the drug should look at making it affordable to the aam aadmi. For their part, public health administrators must renew their battle to prevent vector-borne diseases, which cause untold suffering.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bangalore / by Chetan Kumar, TNN / April 01st, 2015
Solapur (Maharashtra): In an attempt to highlight the great work that Muslims have done in the field of science, an Assistant Teacher of Urdu High School has written a book called‘Muslim Scienedano ki Scienci Khidmat’.
The 92-page book of Junaid A. Qayyum Shaikh, 37, an Assistant Teacher at Social Urdu High School and Junior College of Science, Solapur, was launched by Prof. Dr. N N Maldar, Vice Chancelor of Solapur University.
Shaikh, who has completed Masters in Science (MSc) and Bachelor of Education (B Ed) wrote this book in Urdu. In order to reach out to more readers, he plans to translate it into other languages. He says he has received several requests for translation of the book into other languages and many are ready to even offer help.
The author used many sources in compiling the present book. Shaikh claims “Book of Knowledge by Al Jazari” an Arabic book in original that was translated by Hill and Donald in English is one of the main source for his work.
He also referred : ‘Invention in the medieval Islamic World’ by Rotlink, ‘Introduction to Historyof Science’ by Sarton and George, ’The Muslim Scientist’ by Muhammad Yasin Owadally, Article on Muslim Scientist by Altaf Hussain Memon Tahari, Muslim Sciencedan by M A Siddiqui & Fayeza Siddique, Musalmano ke Scienci Karname by Muhammad Zakriya Virk and Biography- W Hazmy,Zainurashid Z, Hussain R.
The book presents brief information of Muslim scientists’ contribution in the fields of Mechanical Technology, Transport technology, Gun powder technology, Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Optics, etc.
Speaking with TwoCircles.net, Shaikh said, “Today most of us presume that the progress of science and technology is the contribution of Europe and American scientists only. In fact it is our lack of knowledge. The truth is that hundreds of Muslim Scientists have many inventions to their names in the field of science for centuries.”
“I felt that the newer generation is going far from the scientific history of Muslims and therefore thought that they must be reminded of contributions of Muslim Scientists so as to make it guideline and torchbearer for others who are interested in science and technology”, he said while replying to the question of trigger for him to write such book.
“This book is especially written for young Muslims, whose way of thinking is scientific and who are intersected in the research and findings related to science so that they can be motivated”, he added.
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home / by A. Mirsab / December 13th, 2015
This foundation day, on November 25, Lucknow University alumnae society will confer `Lifetime Achievement Award’ to Lord (Dr) Khalid Hameed. Hameed is the chairman and CEO of London International Hospital and chairman of Alpha Hospital Group. Lord Hameed completed his MBBS from Lucknow University in 1967.
LU alumni society will felicitate eight other illustrious former students who have brought laurels to their alma mater by doing exceptionally well in their respective professions.
Among those who will be felicitated this year are Justice SS Chauhan of the Allahabad high court; IAS officer Lov Verma; director general, Archaeological Survey of India Rakesh Tewari; CEO Biotechnology Park Prof Pramod Tandon; senior journalist Rahul Dev; eminent theatre personality SM Kulshreshtha; chairman-cum-managing director, Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd Gopal Dhawan and noted Awadh historian Yogesh Praveen.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / by Isha Jain, TNN / November 16th, 2015
