Month: June 2021

** Editor of Sanskrit newspaper passes away

K.V. Sampath Kumar ran the world’s only Sanskrit daily

K.V. Sampath Kumar, 64, editor of Sudharma, reckoned to be the country’s and the world’s only Sanskrit daily, passed away in Mysuru on Wednesday afternoon following cardiac arrest.

He, along with his wife Vidushi K.S. Jayalakshmi, were awarded the Padma Shri in 2020 by the government in recognition of their untiring efforts to keep the publication alive against all odds

Sampath Kumar had taken over the mantle from his father Pandit K.N. Varadaraja Iyengar who had launched Sudharma in 1970, and ensured that the publication reached its readers. He worked as a reporter, proof-reader, editor and publisher.

** P. Sainath awarded 2021 Fukuoka Prize

Selected for the Grand Prize for promoting civil cooperation through his writing

Noted journalist P. Sainath has been selected as one of the three recipients of the Fukuoka Prize for 2021. Mr. Sainath will receive the ‘Grand Prize’ of the Fukuoka Prize while the Academic Prize and the Prize for Arts and Culture will go to Prof. Kishimoto Mio of Japan and filmmaker Prabda Yoon of Thailand respectively.

** Hyderabad physicist solves mathematical problem unsolved for 161 years

Hyderabad: 

A city-based mathematical physicist, Kumar Eswaran claims that he has found the solution for the Riemann Hypothesis (RH), the famous mathematical problem that has remained unsolved for about 161 years.

First posited by Bernhard Riemann in 1859, the Riemann hypothesis is one of the top ten unsolved mathematical problems by American mathematician Stephen Smale. In 2000, RH became one of the seven millennium mathematical problems from the Clay Mathematics Institute of Cambridge and is worth up to $1 million to the person who solves it.

Eswaran is a known mathematical physicist at Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology, Hyderabad and had placed his research titled ‘The final and exhaustive proof of the Riemann Hypothesis from first principles on the internet almost five years ago. However, editors of international journals were reluctant to put the paper through a detailed peer review.

** ‘Was challenging’: Mangaluru doctor on leading world’s first mucor lung surgery

Dr Klein Dantis, a 35-year-old thoracic surgeon from the coastal city of Mangaluru, was part of the world’s first successful mucor lung surgery that took place at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Raipur, early this month.

Raised in Kinnigoli, Klein completed his MBBS and MS in Mangaluru, and superspeciality training at National Institute of TB and Respiratory Diseases, New Delhi. He worked for a year at All India Institute of Medical Sciences-Bhopal, before being appointed consultant at AIIMS Raipur.

** Krithi Karanth becomes first Asian woman to win WILD Innovators Award for her work in understanding human-animal conflict

For her efforts, Krithi was awarded the WILD Innovators Award, the first for an Asian woman on April 27, 2021.

This award is bestowed by the WILD ELEMENTS Foundation that brings together innovators, advocates and partners to identify solutions for conservation.

The foundation partners with premier science and conservation experts across the world and also with celebrities and influencers who promote interdependence.

According to the citation, Krithi was given the award for researching human dimensions in wildlife for over 20 years.

** Renowned ENT surgeon S. Kameswaran passes away

S. Kameswaran, renowned ENT surgeon, passed away on Saturday. He was 98 years old.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin along with Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma. Subramanian paid homage to his mortal remains.

Professor Kameswaran was born in 1923 and had his early education in Loyola College and Madras Medical College. He trained in the UK where he got his FRCS from Edinburgh and Glasgow.

He was the former director of the Institute of Otorhinolaryngology at the Madras Medical College and mentored generations of ENT surgeons from various parts of the country. He also served as director of University of Madras’s Basic Medical Sciences at Taramani.

Professor Kameswaran was a surgeon to former President R. Venkataraman, and a short-term consultant to the World Health Organisation. He was also a member of the three-member committee that was responsible for laying the foundation for starting Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University.

He has received numerous awards and accolades including Padmashri and Dr. B.C. Roy award.

He is survived by his son Mohan Kameswaran, managing director and chief surgeon of Madras ENT Research Foundation and daughter Chitra Sankaran, professor of English at National University of Singapore.

Tamil Nadu

** First-ever genetically modified rubber planted in Assam

Rubber Research Institute of India had developed the plant tailored for the climatic conditions in the Northeast.

A Rubber Board research farm on the outskirts of Guwahati now sports the world’s first genetically modified (GM) rubber plant tailored for the climatic conditions in the Northeast.