* ‘This Is Us’ Honours Nasir Ahmed in Ep 8, Season 5 – Who is He?

Nasir is the man behind Discrete Cosine Transform – the technology which makes it possible to share photos & videos.

Nasir Ahmed hails from the southern city of Bengaluru, in India. He was born in 1940, and subsequently completed his schooling from Bishop Cotton Boys School. He earned his Bachelors in electrical engineering from the University College of Engineering in Bengaluru in 1961. Thereafter, he moved to the US for his higher studies and pursued both his MS and Ph.D at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

Inventor – DCT Technology

* Bengaluru virologist’s test kit ‘Omisure’ for Omicron variant cuts delays

“Globally, all other test kits for Omicron are either made for gene dropout or mutation specific detection. Omisure is the first test kit combining both.”

In a major and global breakthrough towards cutting down procedural delays in genome sequencing to ascertain the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV2, Dr V Ravi, former head of the Department of Neurovirology at National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences and Head, Research & Development, Tata Medical & Diagnostic Centre, Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, and his team have developed the world’s first test kit, Omisure, that can detect the Omicron variant by combining S-gene target failure (SGTF) and S-gene mutation amplification (SGMA).

* Udupi: UAE businessman B M Zaffer Thonse gets Indian Achievers Award-2021

B M Zaffer Thonse Chairman Thonse Health Centre (Nature cure and Ayurveda hospital) has been selected for the prestigious Indian Achievers Award-2021 by the Indian Achievers’ Forum for his outstanding professional achievements and contributions in national building.

Zaffer is a known businessman from UAE and the award is given for recognizing his excellence in business, health sector and social activities

* Citizens can now get help for khata-related issues

The Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) and its allied organisations will provide free assistance to citizens, and provide solution for the difficulties faced in getting khata from the BBMP.

They can reach out to KSLSA via phone number 080-22111729 or email kslsapgbng@gmail.com for redressal of their grievances related to change of khata.

They can also contact the Karnataka High Court Legal Services Committee (HCLSC) at the High Court building via phone number 080-25521111 or email hclscpgbng@gmail.com.

Assistance can also be sought by contacting the Bengaluru City District Legal Services Committee in the city civil court complex through phone number 080-22215143, and the Bengaluru rural district legal services authority, also housed in the city civil court complex, via 080-22222919.

S.N. Hegde, Secretary of the HCLC, said citizens can approach any of these organisations if they are facing any problem with the BBMP related to change of khata and the officers of these organisations would take up the matter with the BBMP after verifying the documents of the respective properties.

Mr. Hegde said property owners are not required pay any charges to these organisations for providing assistance in change of khata.

* Techie-turned-farmer teaches kids about forgotten flora

He is a storehouse of knowledge on Indian trees, plants and herbs, and in his farm, which is nothing like the traditional setup, the flora grows wildly and naturally.

The farm has over 300 species of plants and trees, all either edible or used for medicinal purposes. 

Srivathsa Govindaraju, a software engineer-turned-farmer, started his farm 13 years ago with the intent of “respecting nature as it is and to understand how it functions”.

* Mangaluru: ‘Mohtisham Canopy’ bags ‘Well-built Concrete Structure’ Award

‘Mohtisham Canopy’, the residential apartment project of Mohtisham, the most acclaimed and trusted real estate developers of the city, has been conferred with ‘Well-built Concrete Structure (multi-storey) in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru districts’ category for 2021.

The award will be handed over to team Mohtisham at an awards nite which will be held on January 11 at Milagres Hall.

* Bengaluru firm Strides Pharma Science to launch oral drug to fight Covid

n a statement, Strides said it will “immediately launch” its generic Molnupiravir, indicated for high-risk adult patients with Covid under the brand Stripiravir.

Bengaluru pharma company Strides Pharma Science Limited said that it has received Emergency Use Authorisation from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to launch Molnupiravir, an oral medication for Covid-19 in India.

In a statement, Strides said it will “immediately launch” its generic Molnupiravir, indicated for high-risk adult patients with Covid under the brand Stripiravir. The company is commercialising the product with a group-integrated supply chain for active pharmaceutical ingredients and solid oral dosage from its large-scale WHO pre-qualified manufacturing capacities, the company stated.

* BMTC launches electric bus services in Bengaluru

The first service will be to Kengeri

In a green milestone, the first fleet of electric buses and BS-VI diesel standard buses hit the city’s road on Monday. With this, the long wait for green public transport of seven years has come to an end.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai flagged off the State’s first batch of these buses deployed on a long-term basis on Monday morning and the buses hit the streets making their maiden trips later in the day.

* Karnataka ranks sixth in Good Governance Index

On the other hand, Karnataka has a higher disposal rate of consumer court cases, while nine other states have shown decline.

Karnataka has been placed sixth in the composite ranking among ‘Group A’ states with incremental progress in Commerce and Industry in the Good Governance Index 2021. Union Home Minister Amit Shah released the index, prepared by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) on ‘Good Governance Day’ in New Delhi on Saturday.