* City team enters Wharton Investment Competition semi-finals

Five Bengaluru students have entered the semi-finals of the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition. The team, ‘Team Comrades’ was one of the 50 teams to reach the semi-finals, out of 1,300 teams comprising 7,000 students across 64 countries.

The six-member team consists of five students from National Public School, HSR Layout – Anushka Dalal, Aryan Dixit, Arundhati Satyam, Atharv Kaushik, Shaina Dulles and Yuv Verdia from Delhi Public School, Hyderabad

* Bengaluru-based biotech lab develops tabletop papaya variety ‘Dawn Delight’

Developed by Thomas Biotech Lab, the papaya variety, christened ‘Dawn Delight’, grows only up to three or four feet and is best for cultivation on the terrace, balconies, and kitchen gardens.

* Karnataka’s first multi-organ transplant centre opens at Bengaluru’s Sparsh Hospital

The Sparsh Group of Hospitals launched Karnataka’s first multi-organ transplant centre in Bengaluru on Friday. It brings together a team of 50 transplant specialists to provide integrated care during the transplant process. 

* BEL to supply IoT devices to US firm

Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Hyperion Global Group, an infrastructure telecommunication distribution company, have entered into a contract to develop, manufacture and supply Internet of Things (IoT) devices for the US market.

As per the contract, BEL will manufacture and supply IoT devices worth US $73 million to Hyperion, based in the US, during the first year of commencement of supply, with a provision to negotiate and supply upgrades of the products, worth US $365 million, in the next five years, said a statement issued by BEL.

The contract was signed on January 21, by BEL’s New York Regional Office and Hyperion in the presence of M V Rajasekhar, Director R&D, BEL, Nick Studebaker, CEO,

* Bengaluru doctor writes crucial chapter in Comprehensive Textbook of Clinical Radiology

A doctor from a government medical college in the city has written an important chapter on ‘Imaging of Spleen’ in ‘Comprehensive Textbook of Clinical Radiology’, a first-of-its-kind reference book in the country, brought out by the National Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA).

Dr KR Vijaykumar, Professor and Head of the Department of Radiology, Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, told The New Indian Express that it is a lifelong reference book for radiologists and was published recently by the prestigious Elsevier Publications in six volumes.

* Bopanna-Ramkumar win Adelaide doubles title

The unseeded pair of Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan beat the top seeds, Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 7-6(6), 6-1 in the doubles final of the $521,000 ATP tennis tournament here on Sunday.

It was the first professional tournament together as a pair for Bopanna and Ramkumar, who had partnered each other in the last Davis Cup tie against Finland.

In five matches, the Indian pair dropped one set and did not drop even one service game, to collect the winner’s share of 250 ATP points and $18,700.

* ‘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).

* Karnataka’s Covid war room wins national award

We are the support network for the Covid warriors in the forefront. We make their lives easy by giving the details they want to act upon.

The Karnataka State Covid-19 war room on Friday received the national award under the category of using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in management of the Covid-19 at the 24th national conference on e- governance in Hyderabad. War room head Munish Moudgil, who received the award, told TNIE that the facility is an e-governance solution for effective management, integrated response and approach. 

* 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.