Department of Architecture and Regional Planning

IIT Kharagpur launches PUBBS: 4th Generation Public Bicycle Sharing Systems

IIT Kharagpur launches 4^th generation “Make in India” Public Bicycle Sharing system including a smart electro-mechanical IOT module for locking bicycles and its software. Integrated Hardware, Software and Firmware development for a fully automatic bicycle lock and a cloud-based sharing system which is freely available on a subscription basis so that the system can be setup by private individuals without specialized equipment and personnel. This project is funded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and involves pilot-scale demonstration within the IIT Campus. Dr. Subhas Sarkar, Minister of State for Education inaugurated the Public Bicycle Share System in the presence of Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur; Prof. Amit Patra, Deputy Director IIT Kharagpur; Prof. Debapratim Pandit, Department of Architecture & Regional Planning, and other dignitaries.

PUBBS being a provider of a product-service system for enabling a smart and hassle free public bicycle sharing system that prepares the bicycle for a sustainable future presents the following products, developed indigenously for enabling the service. One bicycle sharing app connects multiple PUBBS operator. Some of its important features are listed below:

GSM/GPRS/GPS Manual Lock – features GSM/GPS/Communication; GPS Location tracking; theft detection with GPS location; energy efficient hardware design; enhanced battery life.
GSM/GPRS/GPS Manual Lock- features GSM/GPS/Communication; GPS Location tracking; efficient locking and unlocking with robotic hardware driver; energy efficient hardware design; enhanced battery life.
BLE Semi Automatic – BLE Communication; GPS Location tracking from user device; update circuit and battery protection; energy efficient hardware design; enhanced battery life.
BLE Auto Lock – BLE Communication; GPS Location & operations Tracking from user device update circuit and battery protection; efficient locking & unlocking with robotic hardware driver; enhanced battery life.

Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, remarked, “PUBBS is the first Make in India smart lock for bicycle/e-bike sharing system. Currently, we have manufactured our first batch of smart locks (Bluetooth based) and we plan to deploy the system for the benefit of guests at the Technology Guest House. We will make the system available free of charge initially for a few weeks and then make it available at a minor charge which will be fixed. PUBBS was also demonstrated at IInvenTiv 2024. A separate project proposal will be prepared before deploying the system on a commercial basis.”

Features of PUBBS User App:

Station and Individual Bicycle Detection
Advanced Operator Detection
You can take a break when on ride using the hold function anywhere in the service area
View Ride History
You can connect with the app through Bluetooth, or via GSM
Customized subscription plans and operational constraints like: Maximum Hold Time or Maximum Ride time

The PI of the project Prof. Debapratim Pandit, Department of Architecture & Regional Planning, IIT Kharagpur remarked, “Multiple variants of the product are created including Bluetooth based, GSM-GPS based, Semi-automatic and Fully-automatic. The product offers extensive customization options based on product and operator requirements. This product will enhance last mile connectivity, reduce travel time and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The product has the potential to promote entrepreneurship where the rental/sharing system can be deployed using our cloud-based services with limited technical knowhow.”

City Future Research group (www.arp.iitkgp.ac.in/cfl) of the Architecture & Regional Planning at IIT Kharagpur has also present PUBBS Transit v2.0, India’s first Integrated Planning and Operation Software for Bus Transit Operators. This software can be used for building solutions synonymous to current manual practices of depot and route level bus operations and management, with the advantages of artificial intelligence, information technology, and data visualization (https://youtu.be/IsiD1oovee8).

Highlights:

The software is designed to reduce the operation cost of all buses for each trip for each route from each terminal while improving passenger comfort.
System is flexible to work on various levels of ITS infrastructure (On board driver console, CCTV cameras within buses and bus stops and APC modules within buses).
Real time bus dispatch and control system for operators at terminals.
The software features include frequency setting, timetable development, bus scheduling, crew rostering etc.

The project is funded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, SRIC Project Code: UBA (“An intelligent urban bus transit dispatch, control and surveillance system using artificial intelligence and user perception”). The theory development, algorithms, python programs and the software interfaces are all developed by the students, project staff and interns who have worked on this project over the last 3-4 years. Th detail capabilities of the program are listed in the website. (Website: www.pubbs.co.in)

Link for Live demonstration:

https://youtu.be/WP7afvqxSWE

Media Coverage:

Times of India	Telegraph	News 18 Bangla
Economic Times	Statesman	Republic World
Economic Times (Auto)	The Print	The Week
Bizz Bizz	India.Com	Tech Expert

Dainik Jagran

Inputs by: Prof. Debapratim Pandit, Department of Architecture & Regional Planning IIT Kharagpur
Email: debapratim@arp.iitkgp.ac.in

Edited By: Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007

Follow us: Facebook – IIT Kharagpur; Twitter – @IITKgp; Instagram – @iit.kgp; LinkedIn – Indian Institute of Technology
For news visit: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in/

Every setback is an opportunity to learn and grow

Mudita Kumar, Ananya Singh Parmar and Anuranjan Singh, final year undergraduate students of BArch (Hons) of the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, won the INSDAG (Institute for Steel Development & Growth) organized ‘National Competition for Students 2019 for the Best Innovative Use of Steel in Architecture’ recently. Their brief was to design an international cricket stadium with a seating capacity of 45,000 with a dedicated space for a cricket academy using steel. The stadium was required to have an open parking space for 2,500 vehicles, modern facilities, proper signage and make ample use of natural lighting and artificial lightings. The team was mentored by Prof. Sumana Gupta of the Department and went on to create a structure made up of eight arches. They studied the Wankhede and Sydney Cricket Ground as part of their work that saw a lot of team synchrony. Anuranjan Singh, with inputs from his team members, talks to KGP Chronicle on the experience.

What was the most unique feature of your project that you think contributed to your win?

Anuranjan: The three major features we focused on were -1) Efficient crowd management, starting from site level segregation itself. Different zones for different users based on the level of scrutiny and security, usage, time frame etc., easing out circulation and ensuring hassle free movement.

2) Addressing structural complexity through aerodynamic form for sustainable maintenance over the time, interlocking arch form which supports the roof structure as well as protects it from seismic activities, and a balancing cantilever structural unit that offered unobstructed view to spectators.

3) Cultural integration and a landmark creation that would give a sense of belonging to its users. Efforts were made to create a unique outlook of the stadium in the context of the city of Ghaziabad.

At all stages of the design development, our prime focus was on user behaviour, safety and convenience, and this helped us come up with this user-sensitive design and helped us win.

How difficult or challenging was it to come up with the plan?

Anuranjan: A stadium environment is a complex one, with varied areas of security, multiple services provided in different areas of the arena, tiered accesses for VIPs, talent, staff, and others, and of course, the huge crowd that sports, concerts, and other events draw. While handling close to 50,000 people, it becomes really challenging to prioritize the best experience for all of them and integrate them together without compromising on the needs of any group. It took us around 20 iterations and frequent overnight working to finally come up with an optimized plan.

Every contest is a learning process. What have you learnt from this particular experience?

Anuranjan: There were several design setbacks and things that didn’t work out as per our expectations. These moments were really disheartening and demotivating for us. Team work kept us going at all times. We were very supportive of each other at difficult times and encouraged each other to come back stronger with every setback. So we learned to be patient and resilient throughout our journey. We learned not to fear these adversities, because each setback and imperfection was an opportunity for growth and improvement for us.

How has the curriculum at IIT KGP or mentoring helped you?

Anuranjan: The curriculum at IIT KGP has made us technically adept to handle such scale of projects with ease. It taught the foundation and basics of everything we needed to work on this design challenge. It was important for us to emphasize on structural feasibility along with design. The study program at IIT KGP offered us to take courses from other departments such as civil engineering and mechanical engineering. This makes us different from other architecture colleges. IIT KGP gives access to labs and advanced facilities which extends our knowledge and helps us in implementation. Our professors constantly monitored our progress and gave quality feedback which helped us to focus on our shortcomings. There were a lot of calculations, advanced simulations, drawings and details done by us which helped us take this project from idea conceptualization to reality. Summing up, all this led to the INSDAG say comment, “Your work is beyond academics! And you have taken this to the next level!”

Why do you think it necessary to participate in such contests?

Anuranjan: It is necessary to participate in such projects to gain in experience. For any design or problem solving challenge, there are several approaches to think of a solution. As we develop our approach, we may get biased on our design solution. We focus more on thinking about making that approach work. However, when we participate in such events we see how other people come up with alternatives. For the same design problem we see so many approaches and ways it could be solved. Such exposures are priceless. It gives us an opportunity to learn and explore things beyond our cognitive bias. It broadens our horizon of knowledge.

What is the future of this particular project?

Anuranjan: Cricket is the most watched sport in our country. Cricket stadia are large scale projects that require a lot of land and other resources. Projects like these should not be restricted to cricket and sports. In the near future, we see them as community centres fostering the identities of places. We have designed our structure to support mixed use development. The seating remains closed and other spaces can be converted to commercial usage. Concourse of these stadia is developed as shopping malls. We have provided a museum as well which can be visited by people beyond match days. We have provided an extensive landscaped area with mounds, walkways, water bodies and plaza type of setting for people near the Hindon river. This creates a beautiful recreational experience for people. These areas will be accessible and can be used by the communities throughout the year. This will increase community vitality, which is crucial for the happiness of people. Cricket stadia in India have immense potential. However, the current stadia are not designed flexibly to accommodate mixed use.

Bringing cheer

A team of three students from the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning of the Institute has clinched the first prize at the ‘National Competition for Students 2019 for the Best Innovative Use of Steel in Architecture’. The competition was organised by Institute for Steel Development & Growth. INSDAG, an organization established by the Ministry of Steel, Government of India, which has been hosting this competition since 1999-2000, intends to promote and create an awareness of the use of steel in building design among students.

Mudita Kumar, Ananya Singh Parmar and Anuranjan Singh, the winners of the INSDAG contest, are final year undergraduate students of the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning. This is the third time that the Department is securing the first position in the competition, having earlier won the top prize in 2014 and 2017. It may be mentioned that the Department was adjudged the best in Architecture by NIRF for the last two years.

Three teams from IIT Kharagpur’s Department of Architecture and Regional Planning made it to the finals held at Kolkata earlier this month. A total of 16 teams were selected for the finals from four zones of the country by the zonal selection committees. The teams were evaluated for the finals by the Jury members consisting of renowned architects and faculties from the academia.

The call was for designing a cricket stadium with a seating capacity of 45,000 apart from a space for a cricket academy. As a concept of the winning design, the team came up with a structure made up of eight arches. “Intersections of these arches help in shading the concourse and permitting ventilation as well. They also help in creating recognizable entry points, helping different types of users in way-finding. The octagonal periphery formed by the arches also supports the extended roof which converges to a circular periphery,” said Mudita Kumar and Ananya Singh Parmar of the team.

“All this makes the design iconic and landmarks the city for its heritage,” added Mudita. In fact, cultural integration and creating a landmark to foster a sense of belonging among all users were among the major concerns of the team which looked at Ghaziabad’s tortuous history down the ages. “Efforts were made to create a unique outlook of stadium in context with the city of Ghaziabad for which the citizens can take pride in. At all stages of design development, our prime focus on user behaviour, safety and convenience helped us come up with this user sensitive design and helped us win,” said Anuranjan Singh. (Read Anuranjan’s interview to KGP Chronicle)

The second team from the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning

Dr. Sumana Gupta, Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning mentored the student teams. She said, “Architects through this exercise exploit use of steel in different forms. Their expression is totally innovative. The motto of the contest was to assess how well steel was being used, not merely to express its ability to take tensile or compressive forces but to demonstrate how innovatively this fluid material can be used to give shape to the architect’s thought. The problem statement was also assigned as a studio task for the students hence there was continuous monitoring and participation was intense and wholehearted.”

The third team to qualify for the finals

A second team of students consisting of Gunjal Jain, Runjhun Goswami, Gauri Pathak and Aman Yaduwanshi missed the third prize by a whisker. They, however, earned a “special mention” from the jury. Talking about their project, Gunjal said, “We wanted our stadium to be a symbolic representation of playful contemporary India. So the form had to be modern, yet relatable to the people.” Her team members thus designed the stadium together with “3 green breathing spaces” around the stadium. “The entire origami structure around the green spaces was extended outward to form shade above this area, creating a beautiful play of light and shadow below it. This is what made us stand out of all other teams,” explained Gunjal.

The third team who qualified the zonals consisted of Preetish Priyadarshi Nayak, Aman Kumar Agarwal, Atul Singh, Keshav Kumar. Although they did not win a prize, their design was much appreciated by Dr. Gupta for being truly innovative.

Urbanizing the Brownfields of India

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is geared up to bolster Professional Partnerships, expand Study Abroad Programs and initiate Research Collaborations with select Global universities. In line with this, the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning has come up with its second collaborative research programme with the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology USA. The topic of research is “Integrating Brownfield Sites of India into the Urban Fabric”.

Brownfield redevelopment is relatively new within the Indian context. Given that remediation projects wherever applicable are long-term commitments; careful ex-ante planning is required to ensure the resulting projects are economic and effective. As yet, no standard definition or guideline for brownfield redevelopment is available in India. There is a scarcity of planning instruments, which are needed to manage complex spatial information and to provide planners with actionable results. US being one of the pioneer countries to have adopted a successful Urban Brown Development (UBD) Policy, this study would compare urban brownfield sites in different contexts in the US and document planning options for the range of stakeholders involved in redevelopment procedures.

As part of this project a team of students led by Prof. Subrata Chattopadhyay and Prof. Haimanti Banerji along with Prof. Brent D. Ryan from MIT visited many brownfield sites in the US in June 2019 and has done exhaustive documentation of the successful models and planning policies. UBD in the United States is handled by various acts, legislations and development protocols at the federal, state and local levels. To have a holistic understanding of the process, the team visited 8 towns in three states viz: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Various models of brownfield development were observed.

The town of Flint had adopted a community participation approach and has developed public green space popularly known as Chevy Commons on the site where the Chevrolet factory was earlier located. Detroit has a well-established Brownfield Redevelopment Authority which approves and manages re-development of all brownfield sites in the town and encourages the involvement of private developers in the process within some established development protocols and zoning regulations. Bethlehem, a steel manufacturing town, north of Philadelphia, once known for supplying steel to Golden Gate Bridge was taken over by Leigh Valley Planning Commission who has developed revenue-generating facilities like hotels, warehouse for Walmart, visitors’ centre and a Cassino by integrating the massive original machinery and the structures. This can be considered as an ideal example of Industrial Heritage. Philadelphia, on the other hand, has developed the unused piers on the river Delaware into vibrant public places and has integrated the same into the city master plan. The towns of Lawrence and Lowell in northern parts of Massachusetts have ventured into developing affordable housing in place of closed down mills. The interiors have been meticulously worked out so that the residential spaces can be best fitted into the huge factory bays.

This exposure will help the IIT team to further develop planning instruments in India that would combine environmental, economic and social concerns.

The team from MIT led by Prof. Brent D. Ryan will visit India in January 2019 for an assessment of urban brownfields in the country. The objective would be to generate and analyze pragmatic urban brownfield development scenarios within the contexts of environmental contamination, community preferences, regulatory constraints and economic viabilities for the study area, proposing the best fit solution. These preliminary findings could be translated to state-level policies or guidelines which would act as a road-map for other Indian cities for prioritizing, planning, redeveloping, and financing Brownfield sites integrating the same to the urban fabric.

This collaboration will facilitate interaction between a bi-national team of scholars, practitioners, policy-makers, faculty and graduate students from both MIT and IIT. Ideas generated during proposed workshops and seminars will suggest road maps for Indian planners and policymakers. US faculty and students will learn about emerging challenges in socio-economic, policy, and urban design that confront the study areas in particular and India in general and can transfer lessons back to the US context.

Feathers in the Cap

Careers 360 India Education Diary

IIT Kharagpur has emerged among the country’s best and as the only IIT to qualify and excel in four disciplines – Architecture (1st), Engineering (4th), Law (4th) and Management (6th), taking on specialized schools in their domains.

Speaking about the feat of excelling in non-engineering categories, Director Prof. P P Chakrabarti emphasised on the uniqueness of each of these specialized disciplines within the IIT system.

“While there are specialized institutions in these subject areas, being part of IIT Kharagpur has catapulted the growth of these disciplines in a matter of a few decades due to the convergence culture of IIT Kharagpur typically focusing on research, multidisciplinary academics and overall career development of students enabling a unique symbiotic approach to excellence.”

IIT Kharagpur is leading in ‘Research and Professional Practice’ and ‘Graduate Outcome’ in the categories of Architecture, Law and Management while holding a competitive rank in Engineering.

“Our research publications and citations are extremely high domestically as evident from Scopus and SCI. However, there is a need for transforming research into industrial and consumer applications. In recent times we have undertaken several initiatives in the forms of Centres of Excellence which are focused towards technology development for industry and giving a thrust to the startup culture,” he said.

The Institute has launched centres of excellence and undertaken projects of national importance in six thrust areas which include Advanced Manufacturing, Intelligent and Smart Transportation, Affordable Healthcare, Digital Convergence, Innovative Infrastructure and Geoscience for Future of Earth with support from the government and industry. The research collaboration and impact thereof can be witnessed across various engineering and other disciplines such as management, law, social sciences, architecture etc.

Also, the multidisciplinary approach has led to specialized thrust areas in academics which is flexible and unique. The course design and curricula of the programs above deliver the country’s crème graduates leading to the best-in-class graduate outcomes.

“Focus on the integrated and growth-oriented strategy adopted by IIT Kharagpur has enabled us to sustain our top position while keeping the societal and industrial needs in mind in launching new courses and also massively using our alumni resources,” says Dean, Planning & Coordination Prof. M K Tiwari.

The Department of Architecture and Regional Planning clearly exhibits this trait with its key area of regional planning addressing the diverse regional planning needs of a country like India which are more in the lines of a subcontinent with intermittent regions within her cities, townships and villages, opines Prof. Joy Sen, Head of the department, who himself is a well-known Regional Planner.

“We focus on regional sciences, regional econometrics and regional programming which enable us to develop inclusive and innovative regional planning models,” remarks Prof. Joy Sen.

Similar is the case with the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law at IIT Kharagpur which has carved its excellence in the domain of Intellectual Property law while successfully running LLB with specialization in IP, LLM and Doctoral programs.

“I do see a lot of interest in students to take up courses like AI and Law, Energy Law, IP Management, IP and Competition Law, Law of the Sea, Information Technology Law to name a few,” says Prof. Padmavati Manchikanti, Dean of the School. “In fact, some of the thrust areas of the School, AI and Law, Biodiversity Law, Energy Law, Energy Policy and Governance, are unique in the country,” she adds.

Prof. Prabina Rajib, Dean of Vinod Gupta School of Management which has been ranked 6th following the top 5 IIMs, emphasized at the interdisciplinary elective courses in engineering, science and mathematics offered by other departments, centres and schools at IIT Kharagpur. This sharpens their interdisciplinary knowledge and capability as efficient managers.

“Our students are mostly from engineering background and their career path follows a direction more oriented towards technology management. Keeping in line with the industry needs, we have introduced many new electives in Business Analytics area and also offer electives in emerging topics like Artificial Intelligence and Business Law, Internet of Things Cyber Security, Intellectual Property Rights ,” says Prof. Prabina.

The teaching, learning and resources parameter has been affected in this year’s NIRF rank as well, acknowledges the Director. However, he indicated this has more to do with the high number of students at IIT Kharagpur which has the largest number of academic disciplines with 19 departments, 12 schools and 17 centres of excellence.

“We are further working on recruiting more faculty which will also accelerate up our research initiatives. In the past three years, more than a hundred faculty members have been inducted in the system,” he added.

Live it up

The goal of modern medicine is no longer confined to the mere treatment of sickness. Equally important is disease prevention and improvement of the basic quality of life. This requires knowledge sharing and collaborations among medical profession, architects, administrators, academics and management consultants to help them put forward their view points on the future of healthcare in India.

A conference on “Hospital Planning and Beyond” organized by the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning of IIT Kharagpur on January 28 in Kolkata brought together experts from the medical profession, architects, administrators, academics and management consultants to put forward their view points on the future of healthcare in India.

“In the symposium entitled ‘Hospital Planning and Beyond’ we explored the issues in the area of modern day healthcare from perspectives of lifestyle, affordability, prevention habits, infrastructure of our habitat and hospitals, and technologies such as integrated medical devices, artificial intelligence. As an architect and urban planner, I think it is important for us to make the cities liveable, thus reducing the need for health services,” explained Prof. Subrata Chattopadhyay, Avinash Gupta Chair Professor at the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, IIT Kharagpur.

Ms Sumita Bagchi, Joint Secretary, Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, Government of West Bengal, who represented the Principal Secretary, made this association clear when she talked about the necessity to increase the green and blue covers in residential areas and community spaces, and promoting walkways, cycle lanes, battery operated vehicles in the cities to avoid lifestyle diseases and checking pollution. The smart city mission has percolated as the green city mission for smaller townships involving engagement of architects and planners for effective land use, thus reducing health hazards. She also pointed out the unique urban challenges faced by West Bengal in waste management and the alternative means being thought by the government to finance Green City projects.

Mr Sameer Mehta, Director, Projects, HOSMAC India, talked about how insurance companies have become a critical component of the healthcare facilities, and how to preserve the balance between the payer (insurance companies), the provider (hospitals), and the consumer (patient), it is necessary to concentrate on the ‘value’ of healthcare instead of ‘volume’. A patient centric approach to healthcare design and management with a focus on affordable healthcare was a key component of this shift.

Modern medicine today is also seeing an unprecedented confluence of medical and engineering education and research. Assisted technology has not only enhanced learning and skill development in medicine but also added new dimensions to hospital planning and management. In this purview, Dr Dipendra K. Mitra, Head, Department of Transplant & Immunology, AIIMS, Delhi, emphasized on the need of doctors and engineers working together to develop such integrated and AI devices and installing them in government hospitals and rural clinics. He pointed out how AIIMs, along with Azure Software in Kolkata and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of IIT Kharagpur had developed a cloud based Integrated Medical Device for acquisition of medical data or parameters for early diagnosis, timely intervention aimed at preventing the disease progression. He said that such cloud based IMDs would be game changer in the management of community health for non-communicable diseases in both urban and rural populations. He also pointed out how AIIMS was facilitating the generation of big data in medical sciences so as to enable machine learning and AI based analytics and intervention by the medical fraternity.

The use of advanced technology to facilitate affordable healthcare was further emphasized by Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Head, School of Medical Science and Technology at IIT Kharagpur. The microfluidic based diagnostic devices developed by Prof. Chakraborty could be used at healthcare clinics and diagnostic centres with lesser manpower for carrying on medical tests and generating diagnostic reports which can lead to required medical intervention at a much affordable and convenient manner for a large mass of people with limited healthcare access.

Dr (Prof) Arnab Gupta, Medical Director, and Consultant Surgical Oncologist, Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre and Research Institute, Kolkata dispelled the common misconceptions regarding cancer and insisted on the importance of self-monitoring and tracking in order to defeat cancer. Mr Anjan Gupta, Honorary Secretary and Architect of the Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre and Principal Designer of Anjan Gupta Architects, Kolkata, talked about how the Cancer Centre at Thakurpukur was spreading awareness about cancer in the eastern region of India. He also dealt with the basics of hospital design and planning with reference to Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre.

A panel discussion was held focusing on replacing symptomatic treatment with AI powered diagnostics. A key point which emerged in this discussion was how AI can transform medical consultation based on personal medical history and common medical knowledge, genomics based health diagnosis, virtual caregiving and so on. Principal Secretary, Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, Government of West Bengal, Dr Subrata Gupta, participated in the panel discussion.

The initiative was undertaken under the Avinash Gupta Chair Professorship supported by alumnus Ron Gupta, President of IIT KGP Foundation, USA. A handbook on Creation of a Universally Stimulating and Responsive Environment within Hospitals – A Conceptual Research Model, authored by Prof. Haimanti Banerji, who was the co-convener of the symposium, was launched on this occasion. Tata Trusts, which was the knowledge partner of the event, gave a presentation on cancer awareness, staged a street play on oral cancer, initiated an anti-tobacco pledge, and talked about its plan on the management of cancer at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels in urban as well as rural areas.

Photograph and banner design: Arnab Moitra