GIT Team with ICAS Alumnus in Guinness World Records for Ceramic Based Mech Pump

Malavika Vasishta Bagepalli and her research team from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA made it into the Guinness World Record by designing a ceramic-based mechanical pump capable of containing & circulating liquid tin at a temperature range between 1,200 °C and 1,400 °C tested for over 72 hours. Malavika is an alumnus of Manipal University’s unique engineering programme offered by International Center of Applied Sciences (ICAS). She belongs to the 2010-12 Mechanical Engineering Batch.

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA is ranked 71 in QS World University Rankings 2017. Director, Dr Radhakrishna S Aithal said that Malavika was a top performing student at ICAS with a CGPA of 3.29 out of 4. After completion of two years in Manipal she got transferred to the prestigious Ohio State University, USA under the Twinning Engineering Programme. Later, she joined Georgia Institute of Technology, USA as Research Assistant. She is the daughter of B N Mohan, a businessman and Malathi Mohan from Hyderabad.

The extremely happy director of ICAS said, “The whole ICAS family is glad and proud of its alumnus, Malavika, for her outstanding research accomplishment. While wishing her more such laurels to follow, I am sure it would give a lot of motivation and inspiration to all ICAS students pursuing the International Transfer Programme in Engineering”

The extremely happy director of ICAS said, “The whole ICAS family is glad and proud of its alumnus, Malavika, for her outstanding research accomplishment. While wishing her more such laurels to follow, I am sure it would give a lot of motivation and inspiration to all ICAS students pursuing the International Transfer Programme in Engineering”

The Guide for the project is Prof. Dr. Asegun Henry and the others in the team include; Caleb Amy, Diane England and Daniel Budenstein. The demonstration for the record was held on January 23, 2017 at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The time taken to complete the project is two years and five months. The research group's pump is unique as they use ceramic instead of metal, an inorganic, non-metallic material that has a brittle nature. The research group overcame this challenge with careful engineering. The ceramic pump is directly exposed to the heated liquid tin, thus is able to operate at extremely high temperature, unlike other pumps which often require a cooling system to perform.

Canon is Back with its 8th Edition of Photo Marathon in India

Fostering photography talent worldwide, Canon, leader in the digital imaging space, is back with its largest live photography competition, the Canon Photo Marathon 2017. The first leg of the Canon Photo Marathon in India took place at Bhaidas Auditorium, Ville Parle West, in Mumbai. The one-of-its-kind, theme based day-long photo contest witnessed photo enthusiasts put their photography skills to test in a bid to win name, fame and exciting prizes.

The Mumbai edition of 8^th Canon Photo Marathon in India was flagged off by Kazutada Kobayashi, President  & CEO, Canon India and attracted over 800 entries. The eminent jury of judges included Dharma Chandru – Indian sport photographer, renowned wildlife photographer – Sagar Gosavi and award winning photographer, researcher and educator – Abin Alex.

Canon Photo Marathon is an annual event and is being organized across 12 Asian regions apart from India. Deemed as one of the largest photo competitions, the event brings photography enthusiasts closer, while challenging them to push their boundaries and showcase their photographic creativity through their own perspective. The day-long photo competition offers a memorable experience and attractive prizes for various category winners. The grand winner wins Canon Photo Marathon Asia Championship which is an all-expenses paid photography tour specially organized for the grand winners of respective regions. The winners of the Photo Marathon from each region will travel to Japan to participate in the Canon Photo Marathon Asia Championship 2018.

Elaborating on the evolving photography culture in India and commenting on the event, Kazutada Kobayashi, President and CEO Canon India, said, “We at Canon India, believe that each picture captured is a work of art that deserves to be celebrated and appreciated. Photography culture is significantly progressing in India, as we grow further, we are focused on nurturing and enhancing this culture.  Backed with the same objective, we bring Canon Photo Marathon, which is a recognized platform for photography enthusiasts, who, consistently contend to win the coveted winner title and get rewarded for their exemplary skills. Just like our 20 years of remarkable journey in the country, the Canon Photo Marathon has also been receiving the appreciation of customers for several years. As we commence the eighth edition of the Photo Marathon in India, we would encourage the photographers to unleash the artists and story tellers within them and create lifetime memories with the powerful and magical medium of photography”.

Commenting on the Canon Photo Marathon, Eddie Udagawa Vice President, Consumer Imaging and Information centre, Canon India, said, “Canon Photo Marathon is one of the most awaited events of the year for photography enthusiasts and our endeavour is to make it more exciting each year. As Canon Photo Marathon enters its glorious eighth edition, we are overwhelmed with the responses of photography enthusiasts with respect to the day long live photography contest. We see the number of participants grow year on year and have also seen a lot of change, since we first started Photo Marathon in India. Initially it was more of professional photographers who participated in this live photo contest, gradually over the years we have seen beginners, hobbyists, youngsters and females who have started participating in Photo Marathon. Looking at the young talent, we have also introduced student’s category last year where students from various schools participate in this event. We are working towards bringing out extraordinary talent through this platform and give an opportunity to cultivate every participant’s interest into their passion. We look forward to a great edition of Photo Marathon where participants play their tricks and techniques with cameras to present exemplary imagery”.

Sharing winning experience at the 8^th Canon Photo Marathon and expressing the delight, Niyati Vaghela said, “Unlike various other photography contests that require participants to simply submit pre-shot photographs, ‘Canon Photo Marathon’ is a live experience, compelling you to get out of comfort-photography-zone. It truly tests your photography skills while offering an adrenaline rush of an adventure sport. I congratulate Canon India for organising this one of a kind contest and relentlessly encouraging photography culture in India. I would also like to express my gratitude to the digital imaging leader for bestowing upon me the once in a lifetime opportunity to attend the Canon Photo Marathon Asia Championship 2018 in Japan. It is a dream come true for me as a photographer to be a part of this thrilling contest and be recognised amongst my talented peers by Canon.”

As part of this challenging contest, each contestant had to shoot pictures within a limited timeframe and on given themes. Canon also encouraged students to participate, under a special ‘student category’, in order to nourish their photography skills. Students from more than 15 schools participated in this event. Two unique themes – ‘Enlightenment’ & ‘Shadows and Light’ were announced for the general category. For the student category only a single theme was given, which was ‘Peace’. First prize winner for the student category was Tushar D’Souza, from St. Mary’s School, Mazgaon. St. Mary’s School also bagged most of the awards in the student category and was felicitated as the top school in the competition. The pictures were judged by well-known photographers based on their creative, technical and narrative sense.

Commenting on his win, Tushar D’ Souza, winner in the student category, said, “This is an extremely exciting opportunity for me. Having won the first prize at the prestigious Canon Photo Marathon surely gives a boost to my interest in photography. I am very thankful to Canon for this unique platform and also for adding a special category for students. I would also like to acknowledge the support of my school, St.Mary’s Mazgaon, for the regular training in photography through our ‘Photography Club’. Our school and photography club teachers continuously encourage us to attend these classes and hones our skills in the space. I am thrilled to have won this grand recognition. Taking home a bunch of prizes, like the Canon EOS 1300D is definitely going to support my love for photography and further build my confidence”.

Every year, Canon India associates with selected brands to deliver maximum value to the participants. This year was no different with 6 partners for the Mumbai leg of the Photo Marathon, including Adobe India, Make My Trip, Western Digital, JTB, Huion & OLX. Besides showcasing some of their products, these brands also offered some lucrative prizes to the winning participants.

The highlight of the event was not only the Grand prize but exquisite prizes awarded to the second and the third winners with EOS 6D Mark II and EOS 80D respectively. Additionally, there were exciting prizes for theme based winners and students category.

To inspire photo enthusiasts and offer them a hands-on experience, Canon cameras and printers were on display at the event. Living its commitment to the community, Canon had set up a free camera health check-up camp for the participants.

The second leg of the India edition of Canon Photo Marathon 2017 is set to take place in Delhi on Saturday, November 18 at Jawahar Lal Nehru Indoor Auditorium, Lodhi Road, Delhi.

ONGC Adds 10-15 Years Life to Existing Offshore Assets with Bentley SACS

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) started its hunt for “Black Gold” in Indian waters in 1976 and is currently operating more than 265 offshore fixed jacket platforms in water depths ranging from 25 to 90 meters. Most of these platforms had a 25-year design life, with many of them having already outlived this milestone and many more approaching it. Additionally, modifications on many of the platforms have been made due to updated design criteria or because of revamping projects executed for enhanced oil recovery. As a result, the requalification of these structures was highly important to ensure continued oil production, thus sustaining the energy supply needed for the national growth. ONGC also wanted to avoid installing new platforms at a net cost of US$25 million per platform.

ONGC invested US$150 million to assess its jacketed platforms for extended “fit for use” and strengthen the platforms as required to meet industry safety requirements. ONGC used SACS for design-level analysis to carry out detailed structural analyses and SACS Collapse for ultimate strength analysis. This technology became part of ONGC’s methodology for platform life extension/requalification, which added 10-15 years to the average life of each structure

The analysis included dent modeling, member/joint component strengthening, additional pile modeling, and soil convergence, as well as extensive load modeling to recommend equipment removal if necessary. SACS and SACS Collapse, with the efficient multi-run option, allowed multiple analyses with parametric variations to be carried out simultaneously and enabled ONGC to optimize the strengthening/mitigation measures, saving at least 12 resource-hours per platform.

Dinesh Kumar-GGM, head structures, IEOT-ONGC, India, said, “The wide range of applications offered under the umbrella of Bentley technology has resulted in ONGC being able to manage our offshore assets much more efficiently.”

Explore the Diverse Landscapes of Karnataka in One Night at The Serai Resorts

Break from the monotony of mundane life and gear up to add a dash of adventure to your life as The Serai Resorts introduces their One Night at The Serai package.  This package has been thoughtfully designed for those who live life on the fast lane and want to experience the finest destinations offerings in Karnataka. Wander into the lush green lands or enjoy the luxurious & rustic settings of The Serai Resorts at its Chikmagalur, Kabini and Bandipur properties.

The Serai Resorts believe that each of the property destinations are lands of immense inspirational value and showcases the destinations in its entirety by creating unique experiences based on these inspirations. So experience the coffee splendor of Chikmagalur, marvel by the waterfront in Kabini or unravel the verdant lush forests of Bandipur with The Serai Resorts. From complimentary cocktails and mocktails, lazy breakfast in the room, early check-in and late check-out timings, guests at The Serai Resorts can enjoy the best of uncompromised luxury if they book the rooms on The Serai’s official website.

Make each day count! Take that small break to rejuvenate and celebrate the traveler in you. Enhance your experience with the special One Night at The Serai package. (Valid till December 20, 2017)

~        Stay at The Serai Resorts, Bandipur
Prices start from Rs. 12,500

~        Stay at The Serai Resorts, Chikmagalur
Prices start from Rs. 17,500

~        Stay at The Serai Resorts, Kabini
Prices start from Rs. 14,000

Sula’s Karnataka Vineyards Unveils Kādu Wines Towards Tiger Conservation

Kādu, (pronounced Kaa-du) is the first premium wine offering from the Sula’s Karnataka vineyards, India’s leading wine producer.

Kādu, meaning “wild” in Kannada – the regional language of Karnataka – is India’s first “Wine for a Cause”. The beautiful label, handiwork of renowned label designer Simon Frouws, depicts a tiger in all its glory in the wild jungle.

Karnataka is home to the most wild tigers on the planet in its many reserves. But the majestic beast – India’s national animal – is endangered, with its habitat under threat.

Sula has decided to take up the cause of the magnificent tiger with Kādu. With each bottle sold, Kādu will contribute towards tiger conservation in Karnataka. To ensure the optimum end-use of the funds contributed, Sula is collaborating with Mud on Boots, the pioneering initiative by the Sanctuary Nature Foundation that is designed to empower and support grassroots conservationists across India

Kādu was launched by Rajeev Samant, Founder and CEO, Sula Vineyards Bengaluru on 6^th November. In a bid to mark the grand occasion, Rajeev presented the first Kādu cheque to Sanctuary Nature Foundation. Their Mud on Boots project leader Nagaraj will spearhead the project.

Speaking of the launch, Rajeev Samant, Founder and CEO, Sula Vineyards, stated, “The Kādu wines are the most significant launch for Sula in the past 10 years. Kādu is our first wholly ‘Made in Karnataka’ wine and we thought it was also the perfect occasion to give something back to a cause we hold very dear – that of wildlife conservation. It made total sense to choose the tiger as the focus of Kādu and it’s our way of giving a little something back one sip and one glass at a time. Kādu is Sula’s homage to Karnataka as one of India’s most important wine regions and is the fruit of Sula’s efforts to bring the best from Karnataka’s terroir to your glass.”

Bittu Sahgal, Founder, Sanctuary Nature Foundation, speaking on the association with Kādu, said, “Through the Mud on Boots project, Sanctuary is empowering a network of grassroots conservationists across the country who are doing critical but unsung work. With Sula’s support this network now extends to Bhadra landscape of Karnataka where Project Leader Nagaraj is spearheading diverse conservation efforts through collaborations with the forest department, NGOs and local communities.”

Winemaker Gorakh Gaikwad has crafted Kādu from the choicest premium Karnataka wine grapes to produce this wonderful “wine for a cause”! Kādu comes in 4 different wine varietals – Kādu Chenin Blanc, Kādu Sauvignon Blanc, Kādu Shiraz Rosé and Kādu Cabernet Shiraz.

Excited about the launch, Gorakh Gaikwad, Head Winemaker, Kādu said, “Karnataka has a perfect climate for growing a wide variety of international grapes. It has taken the viticulture and winemaking teams a lot of efforts and hard work to get to this! I am really looking forward to the Kannadigas tasting our very first vintage wines Kādu and us raising a toast for a good cause!”

Four delicious Kādu wines in both 750 ml and 375 ml are available in Karnataka.

·         Kādu Chenin Blanc – delicious, slightly sweet, floral and fruity. 750ml: ₹ 625 | 375ml: ₹ 340

·         Kādu Sauvignon Blanc – delicate aromas and flavours of passion fruit, cut grass and green peppers.  750ml: ₹ 675 | 375ml: ₹ 365

·         Kādu Shiraz Rose – light, fruity and full of luscious berry flavours. 750ml: ₹ 650 | 375ml: ₹ 350

·         Kādu Cabernet Shiraz – lush, medium bodied and peppery with subtle oak. | 750ml: ₹ 695 | 375ml: ₹375

CFSI’s Globally Acclaimed Little Directors Programme Goes Rural

Children’s Film Society, India’s ‘Little Directors’ programme, which was initially started in International Children’s Film Festival in 2013 has now gone rural in the country, where workshops are being planned for the rural children from the age groups of 7-16 enabling them to make their own films.

To begin with CFSI would hold Little Directors programme in the Rural areas of Bihar and Rajasthan, slowly entering other states including Maharashtra.

In the pilot programme,which concluded last week, CFSI, in partnership with World Bank-DIME and Asian Centre for Entertainment Education (ACEE)conducted workshops under ‘Little Directors’ programme for the rural and underprivileged children in Bihar.

The next leg of this programme would cover rural areas cities like Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Udaipur and others from Rajasthan in the month of December. This will be followed in rural areas of Maharashtra too.

Dr. Shravan Kumar, CEO, Children’s Film Society, India said, “Our concept ‘Little Directors’ has been one of the most unique experiments anywhere in the world being conducted in a professional environment through trained experts. Since we launched this concept in the 18^th International Film Festival in 2013, it has become a star attraction in our Festivals, and we now received 100s of entries from dozens of countries every year for ‘Little Directors’. We are extremely happy that this programme was supported by World Bank and they will be undertaking an impact evaluation study based on this programme.”

As a part of this programme, children will make a 3 to 5 minutes short film on the issues concerning Water & Sanitation and Gender, specifically related to Swachh Bharat Mission. Children will only produce, create, act and develop these films after leaning these nuances from the workshops. As a part of training the creators CFSI films like Pinti Ka Sabun (a film on hygiene), Bandu Boxer (a film on rural development) and Pani Re Pani (a film on water sanitation)were shown to children audience.

Introduction and discussion on eight important issues related to water and sanitation and gender with respect to Bihar was undertaken with children. Besides this, the children were also provided a training on storyboarding, budgeting, shooting and editing (post production) etc. during the workshop.

“Our biennial event 20^th International Children’s Film Festival 2017, which is scheduled to be held Hyderabad from 8^th to 14^th of November will be showcasing these films to the International audience. Moreover, the children ages 13 to 18 have made films on khadi, local weave & fabric and on the rapidly growing textiles mission in Bihar, where they have spoken about how they see careers as entrepreneurs in the industry of fashion today.” said Dr. Shravan Kumar, CEO, CFSI.

“During the 19th ICFFI, we had received 187 entries from eight countries in the Little Directors Section as against 123 entries during the 18th ICFFI. This time, we have received 179 entries so far, out of which 101 are from India and the remaining from over 30 countries. This clearly indicates that the festival has gained popularity world over,” added Dr. Kumar.

CFSI is a nodal organisation of the Government of India that produces children's films and TV programmes in various Indian languages. Established in 1955, CFSI comes under the aegis of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the Union Government and is headquartered in Mumbai.

With an enviable catalogue of 260 plus films in 15 different languages, CFSI remains the prime producer of Children's films in South Asia.

CFSI also organises films screening across the country, reaching out to approximately four million children annually. Its marketing division, based in Mumbai, with two branch offices in Chennai and Delhi, is engaged in the promotion of children's films through free exhibitions as well as through sales.

India's 2nd International Cancer Congress 2017 from November 8-12, 2017 in Bengaluru

The second chapter of Indian Cancer Congress (ICC) 2017 will be held from November 8-12, 2017 at the Clarks Convention Centre in Bengaluru.  Cancer being a non-communicable, conquerable lifestyle disease and rapidly changing scenario of cancer worldwide is providing new insights into the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of cancer. The aim of the conference, its four major national oncology partners and Karnataka government is to provide a platform and spread cancer awareness through various initiatives. Bengaluru, known as the silicon valley of India attracts a large number of tourists every year and is one of the most advanced destinations for healthcare in India.

The conference will see prominent national and International delegates in multidisciplinary specialties such as surgical, medical, radiation oncology, oncopath, genomics, radiology, scientists and research come together in Bangalore. Karnataka government understands the implication of cancer and hence, is one of the first to announce it as a “Notifiable Disease”. Along with that, Karnataka government will take various initiatives for oncology awareness and treatment at district and its plans to open super-specialty hospitals.Other highlights of the conference include a major step by National Centre for Disease Informatics (NCDI), the launch of electronic mortality death certificates. Along with that, a full day programme on generic drugs has been organized to explore the possibility of biosimilar drugs.

A critical session on clinical trials will be held on 9^TH NOV in ICC for exploring ideas in cancer research. Indo-US and Indo-UK networking session on collaboration of cancer research in India will be the key highlight of the conference. Apart from these, original research papers will be presented during the event and to encourage young oncologists in research various awards, national and overseas fellowship has been sponsored. 

During the press conference, Prof. K S Gopinath, Chairman, and Prof. Ramesh.S.Bilimagga, ICC 2017, said, “We are very excited to announce the second Indian Cancer Congress 2017 in Bengaluru this year with tremendous support from the Government of Karnataka and Health Ministry. India being the most progressive country in cancer research is a testimony to the hardwork demonstrated by cancer specialist in the country and ICC 2017 is the biggest oncology event showcasing it on the world map. The second congress will further strengthen cancer research and development in the country.”

The four major oncology associations (Association of Radiation Oncologists of India, Association of Surgical Oncologists, Indian Society of Medical and Pediatric Oncology and the Indian Society of Oncology) of the country come together to organize  Indian Cancer congress (ICC) once every four years. ICC 2017 also enjoys support of over 4 professional bodies, 6 leading international associations involved in cancer care. With a confirmed faculty of over 230 global thought leaders, ICC has already received 3500+ delegate registration for the conference Kiran Mazumdar Shaw chairman and MD of  Biocon, the leading biopharmaceutical  company is the patron of this conference.

The conference will benefit the cancer care society and aid in further research and development. There are around 3,300,000 cancer patients in India and each year around 600,000 patients die and doctors diagnose 1,000,000 new cancer cases. India bears a disproportionate amount of cancer cases and possesses 50% of the world’s oral cancer cases. On the other hand, Bengaluru has seen a massive growth of cancer cases with approximately 113 cases for every one lakh male and 139 cases for every one lakh female according to population based cancer registry.

Four days of program as well as a day of pre-conference workshop will be held. The program will consist of presentations, panel, round table discussions, and lectures with an emphasis on audience participation. The ICC will help care providers implement new ideas and research into their practice as well as further the discussion of best practices to curtail the rapid growth of cancer cases and provide quality care to patients.