S. Sharanya, a native of Uginahalli in K.R. Nagar taluk of Mandya district, has secured gold medals in four categories of the 40th Sub-Junior and 50th Junior National Aquatic Championship-2024 (Swimming) held at Bhubaneswar in Odisha recently.
He won the first place in 1,500 mts Freestyle (16.45.40 minutes), 800 mts Freestyle (8.53.89 minutes), 400 mts Freestyle (4.14.63 minutes) and 4×100 mts Freestyle (3.45.86 minutes).
A 9th standard student of Jain Heritage School at Kampapura in Bengaluru, Sharanya had previously won gold medals in Khelo India Swimming Championship and Swimming Contest held at Rajkot in Gujarat.
Sharanya is the son of Sridhar, a Computer Engineer and Dr. H.K. Lakshmi, a Gynaecologist at Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru.
Para-athlete Nishad Kumar, who lost his right hand in an accident at a very young age, talks about clinching the silver medal in the men’s high jump T47 event at the Paris Paralympics 2024.
Reflecting on his silver medal in the men’s high jump T47 at the Paris Paralympics, Nishad Kumar recalls focusing on staying calm and composed just before the competition.
Although aware of the expectations, he tried to ‘shut all the noise in his head to focus on himself.’ “I was not trying to overthink and was keeping myself calm. I was going through all that we had planned and where to take the jump. I had prepped well; at that point, I was just focusing on implementing all that I had learned from training,” says Kumar, speaking to us from Paris.
The 24-year-old, who trains in Bengaluru, achieved a season-best jump of 2.04 metres, finishing behind the USA’s Roderick Townsend. “I was never intimidated by anyone. I knew where I stood and was hoping for a silver. Anything more than that would have been a pleasant surprise, but I am quite happy,” says Kumar, who trained in the USA under coach Jeremy Fischer, coach of Olympic medallist Will Claye, before the Paris Paralympics.
Among the long list of congratulatory messages that followed his podium finish was one from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took to X to hail Kumar’s achievement, calling it a ‘remarkable’ at the ongoing Paralympics.
Kumar, originally from Badaun village near Amb in Himachal Pradesh, called his mother after clinching the medal. “They were happy and quite proud. My mother promised to make kheer when I returned home; that’s my favourite dessert. Now I am looking forward to reaching home,” says Kumar.
The 6-foot-4-inch para-athlete credits his success not only to his coaches but also to his mother, who never gave up on him after he lost his right hand to a freak accident in 2007 involving a fodder-cutting machine. As a young child, Kumar had always wanted to serve his country and aspired to join the Indian Army.
Although that dream was cut short by the accident, it did not stop him from achieving his goal of representing the country. “It is always an honour to represent India. You become the face of the nation at that point, and that is not something small. I cherish it,” says Kumar, who also won silver at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago.
Kumar plans to stay in Paris until September 9 before returning to India for a grand welcome. “I am planning to first go to my village to meet my mother. But before that, I am looking forward to climbing the Eiffel Tower,” says Kumar.
Karnataka Science and Technology Minister N S Boseraju inaugurated Sci560 at Science Gallery Bengaluru on August 24.
Science Gallery Bengaluru began an exhibition at its Bellary Road premises to showcase the city’s science history. The exhibition named Sci560, after the city’s PIN code of 560, was inaugurated by Karnataka Science and Technology Minister N S Boseraju. Other prominent guests at the event included Rohini Nilekani and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, who sit on the Gallery’s board, and Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi.
The exhibition spans a broad and varied cross-section of the city’s scientific history. For instance, the nearly two-century-old tradition of brewing is represented by an ongoing fermentation process from Scoby Labs, in the form of a container of kombucha that visitors can taste at different points in its fermentation. A couple of rooms over is a Bangalore torpedo contributed by the Madras Engineer Group. These long explosive devices were developed in World War I to remove battlefield obstructions such as barbed wire fortifications.
Other interesting exhibits are a set of tablas owned by Sir CV Raman, sitting a few feet away from a set of ‘Simputers,’ touch-screen devices developed in the early 2000s that heralded the upcoming smartphone age. Nature lovers will also be glad to see a display titled ‘Wingbeats and Warbles’, matching the sounds of birds to the parts of the city where they are likely to be heard.
According to Gallery director Jahnavi Phalkey, this exhibition is the first one at the Gallery to lean more towards the historical side, with the hope that more additions can be made as it goes on. She said, “There are many people that know far more than we do about science in this city….we have a project called Recollect, where my colleagues will be collecting stories, objects, etc. And at the end of the exhibition, we will have this entire collection of stories, objects and documents that will allow us to present a more comprehensive story of what science is in the city.”
Speaking to the media on the inauguration day, Nilekani said, “We needed some way to bring the city and its institutions close. Even people just coming to Bangalore need to feel like they are part of what is happening. This is about fostering a culture of scientific exploration along with ordinary citizens.”
The collection, assembled over three months and spanning 12 languages, includes Mahatma Gandhi’s collected works, publications such as Harijan and Young India and audio recordings.
The Servants of Knowledge, a non-profit group, has announced that 11,720 books from the library of Bengaluru’s Gandhi Bhavan have been digitised as part of the All India Gandhi Library project.
The group announced this at the valedictory session of a seminar held on Sunday to mark the 75th year of the Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi Organisation.
According to a statement by the non-profit group, Gandhi Bhavan had already made 1,272 books publicly available online. The freshly digitised collection, assembled over three months and spanning 12 languages, includes the collected works of Mahatma Gandhi, his publications such as Harijan and Young India and audio recordings of him speaking on All India Radio.
The digitised libraries have been presented to 12 Gandhian organisations.
Among the speakers at the seminar was American public domain information advocate Carl Malamud, who is also part of Servants of Knowledge and the founder of the US-based Public.Resource.Org.
“For the last several months, we have been digitising every book here at the Karnataka Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi libraries. Today we are presenting all of those books in digital format to the organisations here, making them the trustees of this knowledge….this is the first release of the All India Gandhi Library. We have offered to digitise at no cost additional Gandhi materials these organisations may possess to add to the collection. We have already assisted the Gandhi Smaraka Nidhis of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and we welcome additional materials…..as we say ‘scanning is the new spinning’,” he said at the seminar.
Explaining the digitisation process, Malamud told indianexpress.com later, “We make the scanners and frames here in India and have 17 scanners here at Gandhi Bhavan and can scan 15 lakh pages every month… Once you get good at it, you can do 500 pages in an hour. After the scan, a post-process happens where you crop the pages, de-skew it, run optical character recognition and create a PDF file—a whole chain of processes.”
Explaining the challenges of working with old books in general, Malamud added, “If the material is truly fragile, we work with INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) and they help us conserve the books. The same goes with fragile palm leaves. We’re careful while turning the pages with older books, but if the book is going to disintegrate we have it go through the conservation process.”
About some other work done by the Servants of Knowledge, Malamud said, “Om Shivaprakash (another archivist with the Servants of Knowledge) has been instrumental in finding old Kannada books and gotten permission to digitise old Kannada magazines from publishers…. We’re also working on Lalbagh right now and digitising their library of 6,000 books and digitising old and rare prints. There are all sorts of materials that are on the internet for the first time and that is something we’re particularly proud of.”
As the private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) landscape in India continues to grow, IIM Bangalore on Saturday announced to set up country’s first global centre on PE-VC.
Professor U Dinesh Kumar, Dean, Faculty at IIM Bangalore signed an MoU with Mathew Cyriac, Executive Chairman, Florintree Advisors Pvt Ltd, to set up the Tony James Centre for Private Equity and Venture Capital.
Named after the legendary investment banker Tony James, the Centre aims to be a global thought leader for research in matters relating to the PE and VC landscape.
Cyriac is contributing Rs 17.5 crore towards the centre. “This is the single largest-ever contribution from an alumnus and we are grateful to Mathew not just for his generous support but for his extreme thoughtfulness in contributing to the naming of four classrooms on campus after faculty who taught his batch,” said Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIM Bangalore.
Cyriac said he expects the Centre “to emerge as a globally reputed ‘go-to’ place for all players interested in private equity as well as venture capital.”
The Centre will serve as a hub for cutting-edge research, education and industry collaboration in the field of PE-VC, where students will connect with industry leaders, gain hands-on insights, and explore the latest trends in the sector.
James has watched the Indian PE landscape flourish. He said that private equity is a strong contributor to the vibrant Indian economy.
The opening of the Centre comes at a time when foreign investment in the country is booming across sectors, riding on the country’s robust domestic macros.
VC investment in the country surged to $4 billion in the April-June period (Q2 2024), from $2.9 billion in the previous quarter. VC investment is expected to continue to pick up in India, driven in part by the country’s stable government and positive economic environment, according to a latest KPMG report.
India Inc saw impressive 195 deals worth $8.4 billion in July, a 16 per cent jump in volumes. PE deal activity continued to lead the volumes for the month, contributing to 57 per cent of the overall volumes, according to ‘Grant Thornton Bharat Dealtracker’.
The Ministry of Education (MoE) released the ninth edition of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2024 Rankings on August 12, providing a detailed evaluation of India’s top universities.
The NIRF framework assesses institutions based on several critical parameters
The NIRF framework assesses institutions based on several critical parameters, including Teaching, Learning & Resources (TLR), Research and Professional Practice (RP), Graduation Outcomes (GO), Outreach and Inclusivity (OI), and Peer Perception.
The NIRF Rankings serve as a valuable tool for students, educators, and institutions, highlighting achievements and areas for improvement and driving continuous development across India’s higher education landscape.
The centre will focus on improving operational reliability, low-carbon energy solutions, and subsurface geology for carbon storage.
Global energy solutions provider Chevron is investing $1 billion in a new research and development (R&D) hub called Chevron Engineering and Innovation Excellence Center (ENGINE) in Bengaluru. This marks the company’s first engineering and innovation center in India of scale.
Chevron ENGINE, to be located near Bellandur, will be hiring talent with specialised skills encompassing both engineering and digital services, with approximately 600 positions to be filled by 2025-end, and plans to add more positions over time.
Akshay Sahni, incoming country head, Chevron India, stated that the setting up of this center marks a significant milestone in Chevron’s 145-year history. Other than a large technical center in Houston, US, and California, the company has some smaller labs in Aberdeen. India will house one of the larger technology hubs of the company.
“We believe this is a fascinating time for the energy sector, with the dual challenge of meeting growing energy demands while building a lower-carbon energy system for the future. And the people here at the ENGINE will help work towards those technology solutions,” he told Business Standard in a video interview.
The company plans to hire and recruit from all the disciplines of engineering — mechanical, chemical, computer science and electrical. It will also be recruiting specialists in geology, geophysics and environmental science.
Sahni emphasized that the $1 billion investment signifies not only financial commitment but also the sharing of global expertise. “We’ll see collaborative partnerships resulting in technology solutions developed at scale in Bangalore. We truly believe that it’ll take partnerships between the immense talent that is available in India and some of our subject matter experts around the world.”
The center will focus on improving operational reliability, low-carbon energy solutions, and subsurface geology for carbon storage. Sahni noted that Chevron’s relationship with third-party tech services will continue to be beneficial, with plans for both external partnerships and in-house collaborations.
The Sci560 exhibition at Science Gallery Bengaluru highlights the HAL HT-2 aircraft, a key symbol of the city’s military-industrial-academic synergy.
Bengaluru is much more than just a hub for IT giants and startups; it’s a city with a rich scientific heritage spanning over a century, shaping its identity as India’s premier science and technology city. Starting Saturday, Science Gallery Bengaluru is inviting the public to explore this legacy through its latest flagship exhibition, Sci560. Running until the end of the year, the exhibition takes visitors on a journey through the city’s transformation from a serene garden city to a bustling industrial, military, and IT powerhouse.
Jahnavi Phalkey, director of Science Gallery Bengaluru, explains that Sci560 explores the ‘long 20th century,’ beginning in the late 19th century and extending into the present. “We aim to unravel the various layers of Bengaluru’s evolution into the city it is today,” she says. This transformation is illustrated through a series of thoughtfully-curated exhibits, borrowed from the city’s premier scientific institutions.
A central theme of the exhibition is Bengaluru’s identity as a ‘military-industrial-academic complex,’ a concept that Phalkey finds particularly fitting. Drawing a parallel with Silicon Valley, she notes, “The history of Silicon Valley is often described as a ‘blue sky metropolis,’ reflecting both visionary thinking and the aerospace industry.
Many of these elements also apply to Bengaluru in its own unique way. The exhibition’s primary focus is to explore what makes Bengaluru a military-industrial-academic complex. Over the years, these elements have become deeply embedded in the city’s fabric.”
Bangalore Torpedo
Gayatri Manu, senior programme associate at Science Gallery Bengaluru, highlights how the exhibits showcase the city’s diverse scientific contributions. “One of the key exhibits is the HAL HT-2, the Hindustan Trainer 2 aircraft, which was India’s first domestically-designed and developed aircraft – a significant milestone achieved in 1951,” she says.
“The idea originated from a professor at IISc, the manufacturing was carried out in Bengaluru at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), one of the first major public sector undertakings post-Independence, and the aircraft served the Indian Air Force for nearly three decades. This story exemplifies how industry, military, and academia collaborated to advance scientific research in India, a crucial narrative we wanted to highlight.”
Another fascinating exhibit is the Bangalore Torpedo, developed in the early 20th century with origins in the weaponry devised during Tipu Sultan’s reign.
Throughout its duration, Sci560 will be accompanied by a variety of workshops, lectures, and live experiments, offering visitors opportunities to engage directly with the scientific concepts on display. These programmes are designed to be highly interactive, encouraging visitors not just to observe but also to participate in the scientific process.
(Sci560 opens on Aug 24 at Science Gallery Bengaluru, Bellary Rd and runs through Dec 31. For more info, visit bengaluru.sciencegallery.com)
The innovative system aims to address the challenges of data management in sectors such as banking, finance, and tourism, offering a robust solution for compliance with UIDAI’s stringent security requirements.
After sustained efforts, the Bengaluru-based cybersecurity firm SISA Infosec has been awarded a government patent for a groundbreaking system designed to manage Aadhaar data, marking a significant advancement in data security and compliance technology.
The newly patented system, known as the SISA Radar Aadhaar Data Discovery Engine, aims to transform how organisations handle sensitive Aadhaar information, ensuring adherence to Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) standards.
Dharshan Shanthamurthy, CEO- cum- founder of SISA, expressing enthusiasm about the patent, said that the new technology will streamline the automated detection, masking, and secure management of Aadhaar data. This development, Shanthamurthy explained, represents a major leap forward in protecting Aadhaar data and fortifying organizational security protocols against potential breaches. “We are thrilled to introduce a technology that not only identifies but also manages sensitive Aadhaar data securely. The SISA Radar’s new system ensures that confidentiality breaches are a thing of the past,” Shanthamurthy said.
The innovative system aims to address the challenges of data management in sectors such as banking, finance, and tourism, offering a robust solution for compliance with UIDAI’s stringent security requirements. The SISA Radar system stands out for its unique features, which include automated detection of Aadhaar data, masking of sensitive information, and secure data storage. The technology facilitates these processes without requiring user intervention, thereby simplifying compliance with regulatory standards and reducing the risk of data breaches.
The system’s one-click solution for truncating or masking Aadhaar data is designed to minimize the time and effort required to secure information effectively. In a statement here, it has been claimed that the SISA’s new patent is expected to set a new benchmark for data management practices across various industries, providing a reliable and efficient tool for organisations to protect critical information. It said that the system’s capabilities not only ensure data security but also enhance overall operational efficiency for businesses handling Aadhaar data.
A senior functionary of SISA said that this development underscores a broader government strategy to collaborate with industry leaders in advancing data protection technologies and reinforces ongoing efforts to safeguard the personal information of Aadhaar number holders.
Filmmaker Dinesh Shenoy was shooting on St Mark’s Road on Friday when he got the news that the editor of his film Madhyantara is to be honoured for best editing in a non-feature section at the 70th National Film Awards. He immediately called Suresh Urs to share the news. A few minutes later, he got a call from Urs and this time, Shenoy was being congratulated. Initially puzzled, Shenoy later realised that his short had also won big – The best debut film of a director award.
Having been an ad and corporate filmmaker since his late 20s, Shenoy took a turn towards cinema in his 50s with Madhyantara. But he reveals that it was never supposed to be a short film. “I actually wanted to make a feature-length film. I have been doing ad and corporate films and made this short film as a different way to pitch my idea to producers, more like to convince them that I could work with a feature-film format,” shares the 56-year-old, adding that getting a National Film Award for his effort was never really on his mind. “I hadn’t imagined this [winning] in my wildest dreams,” he says. However, he still hopes he can turn it into a feature film when he finds a producer who believes in the project.
Set in Bengaluru of the ’80s, Madhyantara, which translates to intermission, is the director’s ode to Kannada movies and the people who work passionately on them. The genesis of the story began during the Covid-induced lockdown when Shenoy came across interviews with technicians and a producer who worked in the Kannada film industry.
“What was fascinating about the interview was they were talking about the movie which I had watched during my childhood. In one of the interviews, a producer revealed a story where he and his best friend shared a single movie ticket, where one watched the movie from the beginning to interval and the other watched the second half,” says Shenoy, whose eureka moment was right then, leading him to create his main characters, Raja and Kumara.
The film follows two friends with a deep passion for movies and their journey to become filmmakers. The film uses understated humour with a lot of the plot being inspired by Shenoy’s own experience with filmmaking. “I studied cinematography but when I ventured into filmmaking, I could not find my footing. I didn’t get a job immediately so I started my career as a light boy, just like my characters, Raja and Kumara in the films,” Shenoy shares.
With homages to Kannada superstars Dr Rajkumar and Ambareesh, the short is also a treat to cinephiles and enthusiasts of regional cinema. “It was important to get the costume and hairstyle right. I got in touch with a photographer friend who had categorised his shoots from different eras. That became the base of most of the looks,” says Shenoy.
Shenoy is quite happy that his film is sharing the spotlight with films like Kantara and KGF: Chapter 2 . “You hear a lot about feature films. But when a film like Madhyantara wins, which people hardly know about, that feeling is something else,” says Shenoy.
