Monthly Archives: July 2013

IIIT-Hyd develops Heritage App

Education, Science & Technology

One can take picture at a heritage site or monument and obtain associated annotations on a mid-end mobile phone instantly

The Centre for Visual Information Technology (CVIT) , a research centre at the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-Hyd), has developed  Heritage App , a computer vision application on mobile phones. Using this app, one can take a picture at a heritage site or monument and obtain associated annotations on a mid-end mobile phone instantly.

Cellphone image via Shutterstock
Cellphone image via Shutterstock

For instance, if a tourist or a student visits a heritage monument and is interested in specific artistic details of the structures, he/she can query the app with concerned images and the relevant information is returned as text or audio.

“The app, which is all about taking large number of pictures, extracting information and storing in a condensed form, is still in a lab-prototype stage. It should be available for the common man for free download hopefully in a year from now,” Anoop M Namboodiri, assistant professor at, IIIT-Hyd, told Business Standard.

CVIT, which has four faculty members and over 60 research students including a couple of PhDs working on different projects, has already demonstrated the app on Golconda Fort in Hyderabad and Hampi Temple in Karnataka with a dataset of around 5,000 images covering most parts or locations at these sites.

“We can also package this app with face-recognition algorithms etc. These, however, are future directions,” Namboodiri said, adding that CVIT was also working on areas like medical image processing, primarily focusing on analysis of retinal images for diagnostic purposes.

Ties up with Polycom 
Polycom Inc, a Nasdaq-listed, over $1.5-billion company that provides unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) solutions, on Tuesday signed an MoU with IIIT-Hyderabad for collaborative research and development of new video collaboration products and solutions.

The MoU envisages joint research in developing video technology solutions, which will be commercialised by Polycom globally. The company is also looking at other institutions in India for similar joint research collaborations, Balaji Iyer, general manager (R&D), Polycom India, told mediapersons here.

According to Vasudeva Varma, dean of research at IIIT-Hyd, working with Polycom will give the institution access to a much bigger playground to harness its research capabilities, especially in potential technological areas like computer vision, pattern recognition and cloud computing.

“At present, around 40 per cent of our revenues are flowing in from externally-funded research projects. Our goal is to further increase this so that students get to pay lesser fees,” he added.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Technology> Personal Technology> Mobile / by K Rajani Kanth / Hyderabad – June 18th, 2013

Vizag lad presents paper on Mars project at ISDC

Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Ramesh Reddy Nidrabangi, son of an auto driver from the city, presented a research paper on Martian Atlantis Rover and Space Exploration (MARSE) project at the recently concluded International Space Development Conference (ISDC-13) at San Diego, California.

The conference was organised as part of space development contest by National Space Society (NSS) in association with NASA. The MARSE project was conceived in the context of the under-design Atlantis Mars Rover. Although he attended similar conferences in US twice, this was the first time his research paper was accepted. Elaborating on the MARSE project, Ramesh told The Hindu “Almost 40 per cent of the project is completed and it took me 18 months to achieve this. The project report was submitted to NSS-ISDC 2013, San Diego, and it was one of the selected 120 research papers.”In appreciation of his presentation he was offered a challenge to design a nano-satellite by a Los Angeles-based company.

The Nano-Sat designing programme is being carried out worldwide where the assigned teams are required to design a satellite of 10 cm triangular dimensions. A private firm is planning to launch 27 Nano-Sats to Mars to develop a complete GPS system of Mars, and provide information for the future Mars missions. He started the project in December 2011 while studying bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Designing at National Aerospace University in Russia (Khai-Kharkov Aviation Institute).

In the second year of bachelor’s degree he moved to the Rocket and Space Technology department. Ramesh Reddy said he was launching a space organisation called DCube Space for the benefit of students worldwide and to give them exposure to space science. The organisation involves 300 scientists, 600 professors, 1,200 teachers and 1,000 contributors who will enrich the 12,000 strong student DCube Space club. Also 160-200 Indian schools spread in 25 Indian cities and 7 international cities, including Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, and Hyderabad will get access to a galaxy of space scientists.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Ravi. P. Benjamin / July 26th, 2013

Thermal Powertech inks 20 year FSA with Mahanadi Coal

Business & Economy, Science & Technology
 RTT News reported that Gayatri Projects Ltd announced that its subsidiary Thermal Powertech Corporation India Ltd had signed Fuel Supply Agreement with Mahanadi Coal Fields Ltd, a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd. for a period of 20 years.

TPCIL is in the process of setting up a 1,320 MW coal-fired generation plant with 2 units of 660MW each, in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, located near the cost of Krishnapatnam. The plant has been designed to run on 70% domestic coal and 30% imported coal. The imported coal requirement will be met through TPCIL’s coal supply agreement with PT Bayan Resources, which was secured in February 2012.

Under the FSA signed for Annual Contracted Capacity of 2.13 million tonne per annum, MCL would be supplying coal to TPCIL’s plant for a period of 20 years starting from the operationalization of the plant which is expected in FY15.

The company said that with the assured quantity of coal supply for TPCIL for the next 20 years, TPCIL will be able to supply power to the lakhs of consumers in AP and other parts of the country.

source: http://www.coalguru.com / Coal Guru / Home> www.rttnews.com / June 27th, 2013

Scientists bag award

Records, All, Science & Technology

Hyderabad :

B. Venkateswarlu, Director of the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture here has won the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Award of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for the year 2012.

The award is in recognition of the research done by the scientist along with three of his associates — Mohd. Osman, Sreenath Dixit and K.V. Rao for developing and popularising water harvesting technology in tribal areas of the country.

The award will be presented in New Delhi on the occasion of the foundation day of ICAR on July 16, a press release said.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> Science / by The Hindu Bureau  /  Hyderabad  – July 02nd, 2013

Photonics chapter in Hyderabad

Uncategorized

Hyderabad : 

The Hyderabad Chapter of Photonics Society of the IEEE has been launched.

The Director, Research Centre Imarat, G. Sateesh Reddy, who is also the founder Vice-President of Sensors Research Society, India formally inaugurated it at a function at the IIIT here.

In his inaugural address at a one-day workshop, Satheesh Reddy said, “Integrated photonics and nano-photonics are predicted to be an enabling technology for many sectors like communications, security, life sciences, health.”

The Registrar, IIIT and Atul Negi, Chairman IEEE (Hyderabad), were present. Chris Emslie, CEO, Fiber Core Ltd, UK, delivered the keynote address at the workshop on photonics and lasers, organised on the occasion.

The workshop on Tuesday saw participants from defence laboratories, major Industries and academia both from India and abroad.

The potential economic impact of Photonics technologies in the future is considerable, and a number of industrial organisations have predicted growth rates of up to 25 per cent with total markets of hundreds of billions of dollars.

The Opto Electronic Industry Development Association estimates that photonics industry is worth $40 billion.

source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> Science / by The Hindu Bureau  – somasekhar.m@thehindu.co.in /  Hyderabad – June 19th, 2013

Hyderabad techies smell scent of money in sandalwood farming

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Science & Technology

Hyderabad :

It’s a new crop of farmers that’s seen making an entry into AP’s agro industry now.

Far removed from the traditional sickle-carrying uneducated bunch, these laptop-totting modern  agriculturalists are mostly suave techies with a plush job in the hi-tech hub of Hyderabad. And what they seem to be putting their money on to further `cultivate’ their wealth is not just another seasonal vegetable or fruit, but the much profitable sandalwood.

Rough estimates suggest that well over 1,000 acres of land spread  across areas such as Alair, Vikarabad and Zaheerabad, all located within 100 km from the city, have been brought under this new-age plantation activity that until a few years ago was restricted to dedicated zones within Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The low cost of land in these pockets __ industry experts claim that the prices are as low as Rs 20 lakh per acre __ coupled with a recession-hit real estate market  and the surge in interest among young professionals to go back to the `fields’, has given the lucrative business that extra boost.

Far removed from the traditional sickle-carrying uneducated bunch, these laptop-totting modern agriculturalists are mostly suave techies.
Far removed from the traditional sickle-carrying uneducated bunch, these laptop-totting modern agriculturalists are mostly suave techies.

So much so that M M Rao, after spending a good 14 years in the BPO sector , is now mulling giving up his present career and don the role of a full-time farmer. “I have bought half acre in Alair for this purpose with an initial investment of Rs 4 lakh. The value of this property has already shot up to Rs 6 lakh and post cultivation, it is only expected to rise further,” Rao said.

“Also, considering I am growing vegetables and mangoes here (sandalwood needs `host’ plants) in the intervening period, I expect to earn anywhere between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000 annually from the sale of the fruit till the sandalwood plants are ready for yield,” he added.

On an average, it takes around 15-20 years for a sandalwood tree to be rich in its oil content.

Apart from himself, the techie has also managed to persuade some of his friends  to take to this ‘new profession’ as he is highly optimistic of impressive returns in the future.

To cash in on this swelling enthusiasm for sandalwood among novice farmers, corporate groups from the city have come up with special profit-sharing ‘packages’ to encourage more and more people to take to agriculture, especially organic farming .

“We work on a 50-50 revenue sharing model wherein the land owner gives us the property and we take care of everything – right from setting up infrastructure to cultivation to harvest. This spares the owner the trouble of not just the initial plantation but also securing the plot till the trees grow,” said K Srinivas Rao, director, Village Organics Pvt Ltd, the company that presently has over 500 acres of land (for sandalwood farming) under its belt. It also has on board specialized wood and horticulture scientists to assist with the project.

“Contrary to popular conception, the Rayalaseema-Telangana region is well suited for this cultivation as they are not waterlogged areas,” Rao, who is also the president of the Sandalwood Growers Association of India, said.

Among the many hi-tech Hyderabadis who have signed up with his firm is Sheik Rasheed Basha, an IT professional , working with the railways at present. “I was looking at an investment option and this sounded interesting. The real estate market is anyway down so I thought of putting my money here,” Basha said. Only two months ago, he bought 1,200 sq yards (approx) in Vikarabad. “I have invested about Rs 3.5 lakh, which I am sure, will grow by at least three times soon,” he added.

But while this fresh group of farmers is sure of good returns, city environmentalists do sound a word of caution. They fear that such long-term business models might fizzle out before the buyers make any money.

source: http://www.economictimes.indiatimes.com / The Economic Times / Home> News> Economy> Agriculture / by TNN / June 20th, 2013

Here sleeps the earliest urban planner

Business & Economy, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All

 

HYDERABAD: ANDHRA PRADESH: 03-06-2013:The tomb of Mir Momin Astarabadi situated at the Mir Momin Ka Daira in old city of Hyderabad. / --- PHOTO BY: ASIF YAR KHAN / The Hindu
HYDERABAD: ANDHRA PRADESH: 03-06-2013:The tomb of Mir Momin Astarabadi situated at the Mir Momin Ka Daira in old city of Hyderabad. / — PHOTO BY: ASIF YAR KHAN / The Hindu

He was the first prime minister during the reign of Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah and was instrumental in the planning of Hyderabad including the location of the magnificent Charminar. But not many know about him or his grave.

Mir Momin Astarabadi now is buried at a graveyard at the Mir Momin Ka Daira in Sultan Shahi, a little ahead of Charminar.

The place gets its name through his tomb. Historians say that Mir Momim himself got the tomb constructed at the place when he was alive.

MirHF03jul2013

Iranian immigrant

A first generation Iranian, he migrated to the Golconda Kingdom in the late 15th century and is known to have embossed Iranian influence on the city. He held a crucial position in the administration and governance.

His tomb was lying in a state of neglect for many years until the Iranian consulate intervened. A fresh coat of plaster was given to the lime structure, and plans were afoot to undertake beautification works.

Work stopped

The work was stopped for some reasons, and now the structure presents a dull look, says Syed Hameed Hussain Jaffery, president, A.P. Shia Youth Conference.

The premises have numerous tombs and mausoleums including that of Mir Abul Qasim, also known as Mir Alam after whom the tank near the zoo park is named. However, the necropolis is now riddled with problems.

Govt alerted

Except for the maintenance of a couple of tombs, many other old structures of the 18 and 19 century are fast losing their sheen. The other day Mr. Jaffery represented the matter to the Wakf Board and other departments demanding that the government take steps to restore the structures at the Mir Momin Ka Daira.

“The historic structures as well as the entire graveyard is in pretty bad shape,” Mr. Jaffery complains. He wants the government to take up immediate restoration work.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Asif Yar Khan / June 18th, 2013

Sunday Shots

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Nature, Records, All

MasoodHussainHF02jul2013

Among the artworks and photographs on display at Waterscapes, an on-going exhibition based on the theme of water, the photographs of Masood Hussain automatically catches the eye.

A beautiful shot of a Pied Kingfisher emerging from water after catching its prey and the reflection of a Spot-billed Duck caught in crystal clear water ignites one’s interest to know more about Masood. “The shot of the Pied Kingfisher at the exhibition was the result of three days of waiting at Gir National Park, Gujarat,” says Masood, a full-time businessman and a “Sunday” photographer.

A self-taught photographer, Masood might just be the youngest member of the AP Photographic Society to be awarded the distinction ‘Artist FIAP’ by International Federation of Photographic Art (IFIAP), an organisation comprising more than a million photographers globally.

The distinction is given to photographers whose artistic qualities and techniques  have been acknowledged through participation in international salons under FIAP Patronage.

Masood2HF02jul2013

“Every country has its own photography salon and to apply at IFIAP, a photographer needs 40 such acceptances for different pictures. I have participated in 15 international salons and got acceptance from Canada, UK, USA, Thailand, Serbia, Belgium and France. You need to visit IFIAP’s Website and once they approve of your work, they award you this distinction. I’ll be getting the documentation by next month,” says the wildlife photographer.

As a child, Masood was exposed to wildlife during hunting expeditions organised by his grandfather. And gradually, he decided to do the same, expect this time he was using a camera for the shots. “Though I’ve been interested in wildlife photography, it’s only been two years since I have taken it up. Most of my work is shot at places like Sanjeevaiah Park, Ameenpur Lake etc.,” he says.

He even bagged the top honour in the Birds category at the AP state level photography competition organised during CoP-11 last year. “The thing about animal photography is that birds won’t pose for you. This makes it all the more challenging and one needs a lot of patience,” says Masood, whose works were  featured on the cover of the Smart Photography magazine for the August 2012 issue.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Lifestyle> Books-Art / DC / by Anisha Dhiman / July 02nd, 2013

For you, ol’ friend

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

ShishirHF02jul2013

Artist Sisir Sahana’s short film on the life and work of friend and fellow artist Surya Prakash has been accepted for the 2013 4th Annual New Hope Film Festival in New Hope, USA. The 25-minute- documentary will be screened on July 20 at the Stephen J. Buck Memorial Theater.

Surya Prakash, one of AP’s most well-known artists, and Sisir Sahana have been friends for long. After watching Surya Prakash work for years, (Prakash is the resident artist at L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, and Sisir too had his studio there for years) Sisir asked him one day if he could make a film on him and the senior artist agreed.

Talking about the movie, Surya Prakash says, “It took two weeks to make the film. All the phases in my life and work were captured.” Incidentally, the entire crew of the film is from the eye institute.

They began shooting at Prakash’s village in Khammam district. “We hired a big van and travelled to my village. Before we reached I had requested my friends to help shortlist a few young boys and older men who could play me and my father in the film.” Interestingly the boy who was finally chosen for the part was interested in painting in real life too.

Once the village part was wrapped up, it was time to come back to the city and find a 17-year-old who could play the teenage Prakash. “Sisir found a boy at the institute itself, bought a simple white shirt, a pair of chappals and a cycle. Then they went to the old city to shoot scenes around the automobile junk sites, because I used to go there as a youngster and draw inspiration from all the parts lying there. I would paint them,” adds Surya Prakash. The film captures all these significant parts of Surya Prakash’s life.

One person he is particularly looking forward to meet in the US when they travel there is one Mrs Binder, a collector who bought his works in the 70s. “She and her husband bought my paintings 35 years ago,” says the artist.

Once back from the US, Surya Prakash will get busy painting a series of works dedicated to his recent holidays in Venice. “I have been to Venice two times in two years and wanted to paint a series based on my trips, but it was not happening. So, before I leave I want to finish all my pending work and even have five to six paintings ready to be sent to galleries, so that I can dedicate my time to my Venice series when I get back.”

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Lifestyle> Offbeat / DC / by Gayatri Reddy / June 14th, 2013

Two girls break into IIT’s top-10 club

Education, Records, All

For the first time in history, two girls have ranked in the top 10 in the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for admission to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

Aditi Laddha from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh ranked sixth, while Leena Madhuri from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh placed eighth. Both small-town girls want to study computer science.

Pallerla Sai Sandeep Reddy of Andhra Pradesh has topped the IIT JEE 2013 exam, scoring 332 marks out of 360.

While the first two ranks are from the IIT-Madras zone, the next two ranks are from the IIT-Delhi zone. Kartikeya Gupta of Delhi placed fourth becoming the North India topper. “I would choose computer science at IIT-Delhi. Besides reading, I love to play the tabla,” he said.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/Popup/2013/6/22_06_13-pg01c.jpg

The gender swing however continues to be still weighed heavily in favour of boys, with only around 11% of girls being called for counselling, almost similar to that of last year.

The total number of girls in the top 100 this year is four, up by one from last year.

“This is a positive trend. We have two girls in the top 10 this year,” HC Gupta, organising chairman, JEE (Advanced) 2013, said.

“I would like to study computer science at either IIT-Bombay or IIT-Delhi,” Laddha told HT.

Madhuri said she was very happy to see girls performing well.

“I used to study for 12-14 hours,” Madhuri, who scored 97.9% in her boards, said.

Talking to HT, Reddy, who wants to become a robotics engineer, said he was happy to note that two girls have secured a place in the top 10.

While 21,110 candidates qualified  in the exam, 14,336 have actually been  called in for counselling. The filling of courses is scheduled from June 24-30.  The first round of seat allotment is expected to be announced on July 4.

Nearly 1,15,000 candidates appeared for the JEE (Advanced) exam for 16 IITs and the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, on June 2.

This year, selection was a two-stage process – IIT (Main) and IIT (Advanced). Aspirants have to be in the top 20 percentile of their boards to finally get admission in an IIT.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> News / by HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times / New Delhi – June  22nd, 2013