** IIT Kanpur-incubated start-up’s composting machine converts waste to manure in 10 days

Taking a step towards sustainable and efficient waste management, Agnys Waste Management Private Limited, a start-up incubated at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, has developed an automatic composting machine that can convert waste to manure in just 10-20 days.

The start-up has named the machine BHOOMI which is an acronym for Bio-composting of horticulture & organic waste into manure indigenously.

** Bengaluru Metro’s First Vinyl-Wrapped Train Flagged off . Marks 75 Years of Independence

The first Metro train in Bengaluru with its exterior wrapped completely in vinyl was inaugurated on Friday from Platform 2 of the Kempegowda Metro station towards Kengeri on its Purple Line.

This initiative by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to commemorate 75 years of Independence was flagged off by its Managing Director Anjum Parwez at 10.15 am.

** Jharkhand undergrad illuminates village with his power-packed ‘jugaad’

The handmade turbine is now generating 5KW electricity, which is illuminating the streets and a temple in the village.

 Troubled by frequent power cuts, Kedar Prasad Mahto, a 33-year old undergraduate in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh, succeeded in making a turbine on a rivulet flowing near his village through ‘jugaad’ after 18 years of hard work.

** Open House showcases student innovations at IIT-Madras

60 projects developed by various teams of students were featured at the event

The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras’ Centre for Innovation (CFI) held its annual Open House, featuring over 60 innovative student projects. The event showcased autonomous vehicles, rockets and the electric Formula racecar developed by the student team Raftar.

The CFI is a round-the-clock innovation lab with 13 clubs, four competitive teams and over 700 members, who apply their engineering knowledge to come up with products.

Institute director V. Kamakoti, who launched a new website for the CFI on the occasion, said the CFI not only provided a platform for young innovators to showcase their creations but also served as an inspiration for other young students to innovate.

Nilesh Vasa, dean of students, said the student-driven facility inspired students to work creatively and collaboratively. The CFI team Abhiyaan’s autonomous vehicle ‘Bolt’, team Abhyuday’s rocket, team Avishkar’s hyperloop, a sports science and analytics project in collaboration with Sports Science Centre of Excellence, a bird diverter project in partnership with the Wildlife Institute of India and projects on blockchain technology were on display.

Prabhu Rajagopal, faculty advisor of CFI-IIT-Madras, said nearly 10% of the students of the institute are engaged with the CFI, cutting across the undergraduate-postgraduate divide. Quite a few teams and projects had graduated to form start-ups, making Open House the largest calendar event of the CFI and showcasing the best student projects of the year.

Asokan Tondiyath, faculty advisor of team Anveshak, said the team had steadily progressed in the past three years and was in the process of making ‘Foresight’ with custom-made wheels, a lightweight manipulator and a state-of-the-art electronic system.

Among the new developments is the chennaiwaterlogging.org platform that enables users/public to report details such as location of floods and water depth and add photos of waterlogged sites with a description. These reports are used to develop a real-time flood map.

A group of students have converted an electric golf cart into an autonomous shuttle. Team Abhyuday has qualified for the Spaceport America Cup, an annual international event for intercollegiate rocketry teams, in its first attempt. It is the first across IITs to qualify for such an event.

** ‘Art for Hope’: 25 Indian artists felicitated with grant of Rs 1 lakh by HMIF

The HMIF is the philanthropic and CSR arm of Hyundai Motor India Ltd.

As many as 25 multidisciplinary Indian artists were felicitated with a Rs 1 lakh grant under the ‘Art for Hope’ initiative by the Hyundai Motor India Foundation (HMIF) recently.

The initiative, aimed towards supporting and encouraging traditional artisans, small art businesses and traditional art forms, is currently hosting a four-day exhibition at Bikaner House showcasing an unparalleled experience of India’s heritage from multidisciplinary art fields created by the same artists.

** Alaska Air selects IBS for air cargo IT solution

BS Software, an IT solutions company headquartered in the capital city, has signed a long-term agreement with Alaska Air Cargo to transform and modernise its air cargo IT ecosystem.

IBS Software will implement its full suite cargo management solution across the air cargo business of Alaska Airlines.

iCargo will digitally transform Alaska Air Cargo’s sales and inventory, cargo terminal operations, air mail handling and revenue accounting, and mobile applications. It will also enable the airline to have an end-to-end view of its air cargo value chain activities and provide important operational insights across the entire network.

** After port terminal deal, Adani group bags power projects in Sri Lanka

India’s Adani Group has signed a deal for two large power projects in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, six months after it bagged a strategic port terminal project in Colombo that it is now executing with majority stakes.

** RGIA declared best airport by size and region in Asia-Pacific

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, has been declared the best airport by size and region in the Asia-Pacific region for 2021.

This is in the category of 15 million to 25 million passengers per annum.

Luis Felipe de Oliveira, director general, ACI World, congratulated GMR Hyderabad International Airport and said that the award reflects their commitment to improving passenger experience.

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** First ever GI-tagged Kashmir carpets flagged off to Germany

The QR code will certify genuineness of hand-knotted carpets with info on manufacturer, weaver, raw material

The Jammu and Kashmir government has finally started a Geographical Indication (GI) registry for the famed Kashmiri carpet with a quick response (QR) code with details of artisans and the material used. The first ever consignment of GI-tagged carpets were exported to Germany from New Delhi on Friday.

The Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC), in collaboration with the Jammu and Kashmir Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom, held a seminar in New Delhi to raise awareness about the GI registration of authentic carpets from Kashmir.

** Indian scientists discover strategy to synthesise novel solid adsorbents for CO2 capture

Amidst the growing attempts to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the Indian scientists have discovered a strategy to synthesise novel solid adsorbents for CO2 capture and utilisation.

Although several industrial advancements have already been demonstrated, none of the technologies can provide an economically viable and complete CO2 capture and utilization solution. Therefore, fundamental research on novel solid adsorbents might offer a critical material for CO2 capture and CO2 utilisation.

Professor Rahul Banerjee’s group at IISER-Kolkata, with support from Department of Science & Technology, Government of India under Mission Innovation programme, has demonstrated a strategy to synthesise novel solid adsorbents, especially for CO2 capture and CO2 utilisation.