Category Archives: Education

INTERNATIONAL: WALES, U.K: Deputy Minister Dawn Bowden Appoints Ashok Ahir as New President and Andrew Evans as Vice President of the National Library of Wales

The Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden has announced the appointment of a new President and Vice President for the National Library of Wales.

Ashok Ahir has been appointed as the new President. Mr Ahir has been Interim President of the National Library since September 2021.

Andrew Evans has been appointed the new Vice President. Mr Evans is a consultant specialising in fundraising and business development for start-ups, charities and not-for-profits, particularly in the cultural sector.

The Library’s President is accountable to the Welsh Government’s Deputy Minister for Arts and Sports for the library’s performance and for the delivery of strategic priorities

source: gov.wales (headline edited)

WORLD RECORDS: Arts & Media: Laiba Abdul Basit an NRI Qatar-based Indian Student is the Youngest Female Person in the World to Publish a Book Series Certified by Guinness World Book of Records

A Qatar-based 11-year-old student Laiba Abdul Basit has won the Guinness World Records as the youngest female person to publish a book series. 

Laiba, hailing from the southern Indian state of Kerala, has accomplished this feat after  her second book was published on August 29, 2021, while she was 10 years and 164 days old. 

Laiba Abdul Basit surpassed the record of Ritaj Hussain Alhazmi of Saudi Arabia, who penned three novels before the age of 12 years 295 days. 

Laiba published a three-book series called “Order of the Galaxy”, a fantasy story related to children’s fiction. The first book in this series titled “The War for The Stolen Boy” was published by Amazon and later by Lulu Online. The second book “The Snowflake of Life” was published by the Rome-based Tawasul International, while India-based Lipi Publications brought out the last book in the series, “The Book of Legends”. The second edition of her first and second books was also published by Lipi Publications.

A sixth grade student at the Olive International School, Doha, Laiba has been showing interest in reading and writing since the very young age. She started to write small stories and phrases on pieces of papers and used glue on walls of her house. 

source/content: thepeninsulaqatar.com (headline edited)

INDIA RECORDS : ARACHNOLOGY: New species of Jumping Spider ‘Pseudomogrus Sudhii’ from the Thar desert is named after Sudhikumar A.V., Arachnologist, Head of Dept of Zoology, Christ College, Kerala and Founder of Centre for Animal Taxonomy and Ecology (CATE).

Pseudomogrus sudhii inhabits dry glass blades of the desert.

A new species of spider discovered from the Thar desert of Rajasthan has been named after a Malayalee arachnologist.

The new species of jumping spider, Pseudomogrus sudhii, has been named after Sudhikumar A.V., Head, Department of Zoology, Christ College, Irinjalakuda, and founder of the Centre for Animal Taxonomy and Ecology (CATE) in recognition of his contributions to the field of Indian arachnology.

The jumping spider was discovered during a joint exploration by Dmitri Logunov (curator, Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester, UK), Rishikesh Balkrishna Tripathi and Ashish Kumar Jangid of Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INDIA RECORDS: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: For the First Time both IIT Mumbai and IIT Kharagpur jointly build a ‘Quantum Diamond Microscope to Image Magnetic Fields’ that Change within Milliseconds.

Researchers tap fluorescence changes in special, diamond sensors to image time-varying fields.

Researchers from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) at Mumbai and Kharagpur have built a microscope that can image magnetic fields within microscopic two-dimensional samples that change over milliseconds.

This has a huge potential for scientific applications, such as in measuring the biological activity of neurons and the dynamics of vortices in superconductors.

The work, led by IIT Bombay professor Kasturi Saha, from the Department of Electrical Engineering, has been published in  Scientific Reports. 

This is the first time that such a tool has been built to image magnetic fields that change within milliseconds. 

The team had started a collaboration with IIT Kharagpur in 2017 with the ambitious target of building a novel system to image the brain. They collaborated with Sharba Bandopadhyay, who brought in an expertise in neurobiology and bioengineering to complement the knowledge of quantum optics, quantum computing and quantum sensing that was Prof. Saha’s forte.

“We have, along with PhD student Madhur Parashar, developed an algorithm to image neurons in 3D using NV quantum sensors,” says Prof. Saha.

This work was published in  Communications Physics in 2020. We have jointly filed a patent for the present work, she adds.

  • Researchers from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) at Mumbai and Kharagpur have built a microscope that can image magnetic fields within microscopic two-dimensional samples that change over milliseconds.
  • Prof. Saha explains that the ideal frame rate to capture a changing magnetic field is one that captures data at twice the frequency of the changing field.
  • The key aspect of this sensor is a “nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defect centre” in a diamond crystal. Such NV centres act as pseudo atoms with electronic states that are sensitive to the fields and gradients around them (magnetic fields, temperature, electric field and strain).

source/content: thehindu.com(headline edited)

INDIA RECORDS: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay Team has Developed the First Neurosynaptic Spiking Core based on 45-Nanometer Silicon-on-Insulator Technology

A network of spiking neurons demonstrated.

Using the phenomenon of quantum tunnelling, IIT Bombay researchers have demonstrated, for the first time, a spiking neuron network that is highly compact and shows potential for brain-scale implementation.

The research, published in the journal  IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems, demonstrates the use of a 36-member network of spiking neurons in a speech recognition module.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INDIA RECORDS: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY – HEALTH & MEDICAL ENGINEERING: Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) Develops Specially Designed Low-Cost Prosthetic Leg that allows Deep Squatting

Research for developing artificial limb is funded by Union ministry of education and the department of biotechnology.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG) have developed an affordable prosthetic leg with advanced features, specifically designed for Indian conditions.

The IIT Guwahati said on Monday that the artificial limb allows its user to sit cross-legged and squat deep and is suitable for uneven terrain.

“Affordable prosthetics that are available in the market have many functional limitations. In addition, the Indian lifestyle and uneven terrain require prosthetics with specifications unique to India, which are not widely available in the market. The leg developed by us is state-of-the-art technology, affordable, light weight, stable and capable of mimicking most of the human joint’s motion, the IIT-G said, adding cost of around Rs 25,000 is ensured using the technology.

IIT Guwahati researchers collaborated with 151 Army Base Hospital, Guwahati, Tolaram Bafna Kamrup District Civil Hospital, Guwahati Neurological Research Centre (GNRC), North Guwahati, and North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGHRIMS), Shillong, to develop the leg.

A team led by professor S. Kanagaraj, department of mechanical Engineering, IITG, set out to tackle these issues. Prototypes of their models developed by this research team are currently undergoing trials.

Professor Bhaskar Borgohain, head of department (Orthopaedic) at NEIGHRIMS told The Telegraph that work on the project started in 2013 with the objective of developing a “user-friendly and light weight” limb.

He has been associated with the project from the beginning.

“The legs developed by us will not only help cut down on imports of prosthetic legs, especially from Germany and UK, but will also be a huge relief to those in need of such legs. An imported artificial limb will cost anywhere between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 3.5 lakh. Our legs would cost much less. It will be launched soon,” Borgohain said.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

WORLD RECORDS: ARTS & CULTURE: Sucheta Satish 16-year Teenage Indian holds the Guinness World Record for Singing 120 Songs in 120 Languages (the most) in a Concert

pix: Twitter

Suchetha Satish is a 16-year-old Dubai based expat girl from Kerala who is making headlines today for her ability to sing in 120 languages, earning her a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. At an event hosted at the Indian Consulate in Dubai, she set the world record for singing in the most number of languages.

Satish achieved this feat at the ‘Music Beyond Borders’ performance held on August 19 in Dubai. Kesiraju Srinivas, another Indian national, held the record before her in the category in 2008, having sung in 76 different languages.

Satish is said to have achieved this feat by singing in 29 Indian languages and 91 global languages. She started at noon with Janaki Jane, a Sanskrit song from the Malayali film Dhwani. Her final song was written by her mother and produced by Bollywood musician Monty Sharma, and was in Hindi.

The ‘Music Beyond Borders’ concert, held in Dubai, commemorated India’s 75th anniversary of independence and the United Arab Emirates’ 50th anniversary of freedom. The ceremony was also attended by Ajay Puri, the Consul General of India in Dubai. While Satish’s parents, dermatologist T.C. Satish and Ayilliath Sumitha, recognised her potential when she was only three years old, her love of languages developed organically after she heard a Japanese song performed by a guest at her house. She promptly looked up the words on the internet and, within a few hours, she had performed the entire song, recorded it, and sent it to the guest

source/content : femina.in (edited)

INTERNATIONAL RANKING: SOUTH ASIA: EDUCATION : 19th edition QS Ranking | IISc Bengaluru Fastest Rising South Asian University, Two IITs in Top 200

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, is the fastest-rising South Asian university among the coveted QS World University Rankings top 200 varsities, having gained 31 places while four IITs have also figured in the category attaining a higher rank compared to the previous edition.

Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), London-based global higher education analyst, on Thursday released the 19th edition of the world’s most consulted international university ranking.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, which has bagged the 172nd position, is India’s second-best institution, rising five places while IIT Delhi has risen eleven places to bag 174th rank.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INDIA RECORDS: HEALTH & MEDICAL SCIENCES, COVID: Indian Institute of Science (IISC) Scientists Develop Mini Proteins that may Prevent COVID Infection

The mini proteins can not only block the entry of viruses like SARS-CoV-2 into our cells but also clump virus particles together, reducing their ability to infect.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore have designed a new class of artificial peptides or mini proteins that they say can render viruses like SARS-CoV-2 inactive.

According to the study, published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, the mini proteins can not only block virus entry into our cells but also clump virus particles together, reducing their ability to infect.

The researchers noted that protein-protein interaction is often like that of a lock and a key.

Preventing entry

The team used this approach to design mini proteins that can bind to, and block the spike protein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which helps it to enter and infect the human cells.

This binding was further characterised extensively by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and other biophysical methods.

These mini proteins are helical, hairpin-shaped peptides, each capable of pairing up with another of its kind, forming what is known as a dimer. Each dimeric ‘bundle’ presents two ‘faces’ to interact with two target molecules.

The researchers hypothesised that the two faces would bind to two separate target proteins locking all four in a complex and blocking the targets’ action.

“But we needed proof of principle,” said Jayanta Chatterjee, Associate Professor in the Molecular Biophysics Unit (MBU), IISc, and the lead author of the study.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL HONOUR: FIRST INDIAN: Prabhakar Kore, Chairman, KLE Society the First Indian to be Conferred Honorary Degree of PhD from USA’s Thomas Jefferson University

Philadelphia, USA-based Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Science to Prabhakar Kore, KLE society chairman.

Richard Haverstick Jr. Interim President and CEO, Thomas Jefferson University and Mark L. Tykocinski, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Vice Chancellor gave the honorary degree at the University Convocation held on May 25.

It is a matter of pride for India as such an award is the first for any Indian, said a release by KLE society, Bengaluru, Karnataka.

KLE has multiple academic collaborations with international institutes like Thomas Jefferson University, University of North Carolina, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Kings college and others.

The key focus of the TJU collaboration has been on reduction in the burden of mortality/morbidity during pregnancy, childbirth and early childhood development.

The TJU-JNMC Research Unit funded by NICHD Global Network, has led community-based, multi-centre, multi-country trials for prevention of pre-term birth and mortality during childbirth. The results have had far reaching impact at the grassroot levels and have been incorporated in the guidelines by the Ministry of Health, Govt of India and the World Health Organization.

Furthermore it is now a “WHO Collaborating Centre for Research in Maternal and Perinatal Health”.

The Academic and Research collaboration between KAHER and TJU in the areas of Public Health, Urology and Integrative Medicine commenced in July 2017 and has been expanded to include specialties of Neurology, Radiology, Neonatology, Psychiatry, Nursing and Physiotherapy.

The Faculty and student exchange, research grants as well as the upcoming establishment of the India Centre at Thomas Jefferson University on 26th May 2022 is a testimony of the strong academic bond between KLE and TJU, said the release.

source/contents: thehindu.com (edited)