Category: Uncategorized

“Today a lot of visually impaired students cannot continue their education with their other fellow mates in schools, owing to their disability.

According to a report published in the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology in 2022, there is an estimated 4.95 million blind persons and 70 million vision-impaired persons in India, out of which 0.24 million are blind children. However, this number could soon become less of a hindrance for the visually impaired as students from the International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIIT-B) developed a first-of-its-kind technology to help vision-impaired students get a seamless learning experience in physical classrooms.

Mayank Kabra, a final year M.Teach student with his peers– Divyansh Singhal, Chinmay Sultania, Soham Pawar and Anshul Maduwar made this cost-effective technology to promote inclusivity in all educational institutions and has also acquired a patent for ‘System and method for assisting the visually impaired.’

“Today a lot of visually impaired students cannot continue their education with their other fellow mates in schools, owing to their disability. There are no solutions for it yet, either one has to invest in a very expensive device, study separately or discontinue their education, told Kabra to TNIE. He added that they wanted to address this issue and help the visually impaired to have a seamless learning experience.

“The idea was to create something that would help the visually impaired track what professors are teaching in live classes. The technology comes with hardware which is mounted on the finger and uses a digital board. When the student puts his/her finger on a flat surface, the board is virtually mapped on it. The vibration inside the finger device will help them trace the shape of the diagrams, figures or text on the digital board,” explained Kabra.

The device works on a six-dot braille system, tiny motors and microcontrollers. The device is as heavy as an oximeter that was used during COVID-19. He further added that the device is equipped with braille dots, allowing the user to understand the text in real time. These devices will be connected through Wi-Fi or the local board to transfer information. The team has been working for about a year on the device. Kabra informed that similar devices in the market are valued at over Rs 50,000, however, this one will be cost-effective and accessible to all groups in the society.

The finger-mounted device is built keeping in mind school children as they are the first ones to drop out of pursuing formal education. The IIIT-B team is looking at testing it in some schools and NGOs, with a firm belief that it would need only basic adjustments and children can activate it with just a button’s click. The team is looking for collaborators who will help them manufacture the device on a large scale and take it to the public.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edtied)

There was little impact of drought and reported restrictions on rain dance on Ranga Panchami celebrations on the fifth day after the Full Moon as part of Holi festival on Friday in Hubballi, which got soaked in myriad colours with people of all age groups coming out to indulge in revelry.

After the morale boosting route march a day before, a large number of people descended on the streets to celebrate the festival of colours and did not even spare police personnel on duty, many of whom resembled revellers by the end of the celebrations.

Like on earlier occasions, the streets in the central business district of Hubballi were drenched in colours. The talk of restricting water tankers by the municipal authorities had no impact on rain dances organised by various Kamanna Pandals.

The revellers, especially young girls and boys, danced their heart out at rain dance installations where high decibel sound systems played foot thumping music of hit numbers.

The usual road restrictions imposed during Holi to prevent movement of vehicles in a few sensitive areas did not dampen the spirit of celebration. It was a common sight to see motorcyclists riding their two-wheelers with two-three pillion riders. Several girls too were seen riding two-wheelers with two-three pillion riders, visiting various localities.

Couples with children dressed to suit the celebration mood, with masks and other paraphernalia, too roamed around the city. Some pillion riders were seen beating the drum while proceeding from one locality to another.

Children, including toddlers, had a great time under the supervision of their mothers and grandparents in the vicinity of their houses. Armed with water ballons and pitchkaris, the children sprayed coloured water on passersby.

In Kamaripet area, women and girls standing on their balconies poured coloured water in buckets on the revellers and visitors. Elders of the family too enjoyed the revelry by sitting in front of their houses, watching the celebrations.

As has been the practice, idols of Kamanna (Lord Manmatha) and Rati were taken out before Kamanna was burnt in effigies to mark the end of the celebrations.

This year too, the celebrations continued till late in the evening. Channapet area in Old Hubballi witnessed colourful procession with the organisers getting several folk troupes to play the Jaggalige (large traditional drum that is rolled on the ground while playing) and other drums.

In some localities of Old Hubballi and the central business district, Muslims welcomed the processions and played Holi with the revellers. At a few places, juice was offered to the revellers. Vendors of powdered colour did brisk business amid the celebrations, while the rest of the shops and commercial establishments remained closed for the day.

Despite the order for a dry day, there were several spirited youths among the revellers, who had planned in advance for the celebrations. The police heaved a sigh of relief as the celebrations concluded peacefully.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

Pushpak was lifted by an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter and was released from a 4.5-km altitude.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has added another feather to its cap by successfully demonstrating the autonomous landing capability of ‘Pushpak’, the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), as part of its RLV-LEX 2 mission.

The second experiment in the series was conducted at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga, Karnataka, at 7.10 am on Friday. This was Pushpak’s third flight after the RLV-LEX-01 mission was accomplished last year. “The RLV was made to undertake more difficult manoeuvres with dispersions, correct both cross-range and downrange and land on the runway in a fully autonomous mode,” said ISRO in a statement.

Pushpak was lifted by an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter and was released from a 4.5-km altitude. After release at a distance of 4 km from the runway, Pushpak autonomously approached the runway along with cross-range corrections. It landed precisely on the runway and came to a halt using its brake parachute, landing gear brakes and nose wheel steering system.

This experiment has successfully simulated the approach and high-speed landing conditions of RLV returning from space. Another success in the space frontier for ISRO was that all flight systems used in RLV-LEX-01 were reused in the second mission after clearances.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)