health – The KGP Chronicle

India’s Climate Challenge: Increasing Population Exposure to Compound Extreme Events

How is the growing population currently being affected, and how will it be impacted in the future by climate change-induced compound extreme events? This study delves into exposure of the Indian population to compound precipitation-temperature extremes, specifically hot-dry and hot-wet extremes. The study reveals an increase of over 10 million person-years of exposure across various regions in India. In densely populated areas, the increase in hot-wet extremes has been more pronounced compared to hot-dry extremes, a trend that is expected to persist into the future. The research identifies the Indo-Gangetic plain and southern coastal areas as future hotspots.

India being world’s most populous country and sixth most vulnerable to climate extremes, faces escalating climate challenges. The country’s reliance on rain-fed agriculture intensifies the repercussions of increasingly frequent dry spells and heavy rainfalls, a result of erratic precipitation patterns observed since the beginning of the 21st century. Further exacerbating the crisis, India has been warming steadily since the 1980s. This rise in temperatures has led to a spike in heatwaves, causing substantial human fatalities and posing serious threats to health, agriculture, and natural ecosystems. The simultaneous or successive occurrence of these temperature and precipitation extremes, known as compound extremes, poses a greater societal and environmental risk as compared to their individual occurrence.

The journal paper titled “Population Exposure to Compound Precipitation-Temperature Extremes in the Past and Future Climate across India”, authored by Prof. Rajib Maity, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Kharagpur; Prof. Harald Kunstmann, Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany and Ms. Subhasmita Dash, Research Scholar, IIT Kharagpur provides a comprehensive analysis of the impact of climate change on the Indian population through the lens of compound extremes. The research, published in Journal of Hydrometeorology under the American Meteorological Society, delves into the increasing number of compound extremes events due to climate change and their societal consequences in terms of population exposure.

The study specifically focuses on compound precipitation-temperature extremes (hot-dry and hot-wet) across India, a region characterized by a wide variety of climatic regimes and significant variation in population density. Utilizing a copula-based statistical approach, the researchers evaluated changes in population exposure to these compound extremes in the past i.e. 1981-2020 and project future changes for the periods 2021-2060 (near future) and 2061-2100 (far future), under different future warming and socioeconomic development scenarios.

In recent years, from 2001 to 2020, India has experienced a notable increase in both hot-dry and hot-wet extreme weather events, surpassing the frequencies observed in earlier decades. The study highlights that densely populated regions in India are expected to experience more adversity due to the hot-wet extremes in the future as compared to the hot-dry extremes. Considering both hot-wet and hot-dry extremes, the influence of climate is identified as the predominant factor towards the increase in exposure. This emphasizes the crucial role that climate change plays in amplifying the population exposure to compound extremes in a warmer future. Regions like the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the southern coastal areas are identified as future hotspots with maximum increases in exposure under projected warming and population scenarios.

This study explores the population exposure to an increasing number of hydroclimatic extreme events owing to the warming climate. It is well agreed that the extreme events are increasing in terms of frequency as well as intensity due to climate change and that the exposure to compound extreme events (concurrent occurrence of two or more extreme phenomena) affects population, ecosystems, and a variety of socioeconomic aspects more adversely. The results indicate an increase of more than 10 million person-year exposure from the compound extremes across many regions of the country, considering both near and far future periods. The increase is as much as sixfold in many parts of the country, including the Indo-Gangetic Plain and southernmost coastal regions, identified as the future hotspots with the maximum increase in exposure under all the projected warming and population scenarios. The study helps to identify the regions that may need greater attention based on the risks of population exposure to compound extremes in a warmer future. It underscores the critical need to confront climate-related challenges arising from increasing exposure to compound extremes in India.

Prof. Rajib Maity Ms. Subhasmita Dash
Department of Civil Engineering Research Scholar
IIT Kharagpur IIT Kharagpur

Publication:
https://www.uni-augsburg.de/en/campusleben/neuigkeiten/2024/04/15/climate-hotspots-in-india/

Inputs By : Prof. Rajib Maity, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Kharagpur
Email: rajib@civil.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

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“Staying Healthy is anything but easy,” said the Gogineni Sisters – The Alumni Story of the Week

Sisters Sudha Gogineni (2010/DD/CH) and Veda Gogineni (2013/DD/BT), both graduates of IIT Kharagpur, left their high-paying corporate careers to address a significant issue in India: Undernutrition. Growing up in a health-conscious household and practicing yoga, the importance of good health was ingrained in them from a young age. However, the demands of their professional lives took a toll on their health, leading to issues like knee pain and fatigue.

Their decade-long corporate story could be anyone’s story. They have worked their way to great jobs, worked incredibly hard, and felt like they had it all. Before, it all began. Their health was slowly but surely, deteriorating. Lack of time and a sedentary lifestyle impacted them in many ways – skin pigmentation, low energy levels, acid reflux, hair loss, back pains. You name it, and they had it. They desperately wanted to fix their health, but the recommendations that came their way were either too synthetic, or too difficult to implement. They were looking for a safe and easy alternative.

“Nutrition supplements were a great solution, but were too synthetic for our liking. But the idea of creating nutrition supplements that were entirely plant based was very appealing to both of us. So, we brought Earthful to life – nutrition supplements that are 100% plant based and pack powerful elements of mother earth.”

When they discovered that 75% of Indians lack at least one essential vitamin, Veda and Sudha knew they had to make a change. Unwilling to rely on synthetic supplements, they began searching for natural alternatives. This journey led to the creation of Earthful, a brand dedicated to 100% plant-based nutrition solutions.

Veda, with a background in biotechnology, had initially pursued a career in investment banking before moving to a high-growth startup, Meesho. Her sister, Sudha, brought her expertise from working in FMCG with ITC Limited and Uber to their new venture. Together, they decided to leave their lucrative jobs to launch Earthful.

“Launching our own business was no easy task. Leaving our high-paying jobs for this was a tough decision. We aimed to create 100% plant-based products, a novel concept in India. To achieve this, we had to scout for experts from various countries to understand and source the right ingredients,” said co-founder Sudha.

“Building a team that shared our vision posed a significant challenge,” said Veda. The challenges seemed endless, but we persisted, trying different approaches each time. We live by Albert Einstein’s words: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’ Learning from our mistakes, we succeeded in creating the cleanest products in the market, which now enables us to launch new products more efficiently.”

Their range of natural products include:

MULTIVITAMIN
PLANT PROTEIN
KIDS MILLETS MIX
ZEN MODE
ROOT NOURISH
HER SUPPORT
INNER GLOW

STAYING WELL, NATURALLY

“We are on a mission to eradicate nutrition deficiency, the natural way. Our products are science-backed nutrition supplements that help you stay healthy without breaking a sweat.”

With ambitious goals to become a 500 crore business within the next three years, Earthful aims to significantly improve the health of Indians. It is valued at 13 billion USD and expanding at 17-18% annually.

Visit https://earthful.me/pages/about-us for more

A Financial Express Exclusive

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

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On the eve of National Doctor’s Day, IIT Kharagpur inks a MoU with AIIMS Kalyani on medical amenities and research collaboration

On the propitious occasion of National Doctor’s Day, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Kalyani, a beacon of medical excellence under the aegis of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, created by an Act of Parliament under the initiative of the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY). The MoU was signed in the august presence of Dr. Ramji Singh, Executive Director, AIIMS Kalyani and Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur along with Dr. Kalyan Goswami, Head, Department of Biochemistry and Dean, Academics, AIIMS Kalyani; Col. (Dr.) Ajay Mallick, Head, Dept. of ENT & Medical Superintendent, AIIMS Kalyani; Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti, Dean, Faculty of Bio-Technology and Bio-Sciences; Prof. Soumen Das, Dean, Dr. B. C. Roy Multi-Speciality Medical Research Centre and Prof. Debashish Chakravarty, Associate Dean, Alumni Affairs, International Relations & Branding.

The two premier Institutes in their respective domains have, in principle, agreed for institutional collaboration in education, research outreach programmes and medical services. The primary objective of this collaboration is to promote collective and collative teaching and research collaboration involving faculty members and students at IIT KGP and at AIIMS Kalyani to ensure teaching and research of highest medical standard, carry out joint academic and research programmes, joint supervision of masters and doctoral students as well as collaborative research projects.

On the lines of the above collaboration, Dr. Ramji Singh, Executive Director, AIIMS Kalyani remarked, “AIIMS Kalyani was conceived with the noble objective of bridging regional disparities in tertiary healthcare and fostering excellence in medical education promoting ground-breaking research. AIIMS Kalyani stands as a testament to India’s commitment to healthcare and aims to develop collaborative programmes with premier institutions in India like IIT Kharagpur where the undergraduate and graduate medical students, researchers, doctors and faculty members will rise up to the occasion to lead the healthcare system of India.”

Both the institutes agreed to share professional expertise for infrastructure development and academic resources along with collaborative activities concerning Dr. B. C. Roy Multi-specialty Medical Research Centre (BCRMMRC) at IIT Kharagpur after detailed evaluation by both institutions and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Education, Govt of India. Micro-Specialization and Micro-Credit Courses may be designed for the undergraduate and postgraduate students of the two institutions on a collaborative basis with a vision of appraising them about recent developments in advanced topics relevant to their respective domains of study and internships at respective institutes.

Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur remarked, “On this auspicious day of National Doctor’s Day, IIT Kharagpur joined hands with AIIMS Kalyani on the lines of establishing a research driven medical college, Dr. B. C. Roy Multi-Speciality Medical Research Centre (BCRMMRC) and a hospital, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Superspecialty Hospital (SPMSH) within its campus at Kharagpur. The upcoming medical college will be equipped with state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities embedding world standard technologies and IT connectivity in providing a stimulating academic environment for faculty members willing to stretch their clinical boundaries. The primary objective of this endeavour is to run Undergraduate and Postgraduate Medical programs and to nurture world class translational medical research in a multi-disciplinary environment in collaboration with allied academic partners like AIIMS Kalyani. The hospital in the first phase has started out-patient service, and the in-patient services with critical care and operation theatre to follow.”

Media Coverage:

Hindu Business Line	Times Now
News 18	Outlook India
Kolkata News	Latestly
Jantaserishta	Dainik Jagran

The Print

Career 360

The Bengal Post

Dainik Jagran Coalfield Mirror

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 on: Facebook – IIT Kharagpur; Twitter – @IITKgp; Instagram – @iit.kgp; LinkedIn – Indian Institute of Technology
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A happy soul, a fresh mind and a healthy body are achieved through Yoga – International Day of Yoga 2023

IIT KGP celebrates Yoga Mahotsav to commemorate the 9th International Yoga Day (IDY 2023)

You cannot always control what goes on outside but you can always control what goes on inside. Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self. Yoga teaches you how to listen to your body and makes us find the peace that lies within us. Through Practice comes Yoga, through Yoga comes Knowledge, through Knowledge comes Enlightenment and through Enlightenment comes Peace.

Technology Students’ Gymkhana, IIT Kharagpur in commemoration of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, ‘FIT India Movement’ and ‘Jan Bhagidari’ in India’s G20 Presidency, scheduled a series of Yoga activities- A ‘Yoga Mahotsav’ for the students and the campus community from 3rd June to 21st June 2023. Experts from Technology Students’ Gymkhana (TSG) has conducted Yoga sessions on a regular basis during weekdays with a focus on specific topic each day. The session on weekend has been conducted by renowned experts from other organizations. A total of 790 members registered for the events.

The event was inaugurated by Prof. V. K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur in the presence of Prof. A. K Singh, President, TSG, Prof. Jayanta Chakraborty, Coordinator, Yoga Mahotsav & ISY, Prof. K. Bhattacharyya, Treasurer, Gymkhana and Other Invited Guests, Faculty Members, Staff Members and Students. Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director IIT Kharagpur, who has given inaugural speech on Benefits of Routine Yoga Practice and motivated the campus community to perform yogic activities on a regular basis. Prof. Ajay Singh, President, Technology Students’ Gymkhana has enlightened campus community in line with Jan Bhagidari during India’s G20 Presidency. Prof. Jayanta Chakraborty, coordinator of Yoga Mahotsav and 9th International Day of Yoga (IDY) explained about the Objectives of 9th International Day of Yoga, that includes: branding India, awareness, good health and well-being, scale up the level, pool the resources and joint efforts.

The event was live telecast for the campus community and students, so that they can participate from their place of residence. Caps were distributed to motivate and encourage routine practice of the learned methods. In the afternoon, quiz on Yoga and Yoga competitions were conducted for campus school children and campus community.

Programs like Introduction to Yoga, Yoga Protocol Practices and Workout, Stay Fit with Gentle Hatha Yoga, Power Vinyasa (Immunity Booster), Iyengar Yoga were conducted. Lecture on Stress Management and Meditation Practices, Yogic Life of SAMANVIT Yoga that comprises breathing and asanas, S Vyasa – The Inner Engineering and Yoga practices for body and mind were also conducted along with Yoga to cure postural deformity and physical development through Yoga. Yoga Quiz for campus school children and Yoga IDY theme poster presentation were also organized on 21^st June, 2023.

On this profound day of yogic rejuvenation, Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur remarked, “The foundations of IIT Kharagpur rests on the eternal motto of ‘Yoga Karmashu Kaushalam’ from the Gita. It means that the individual interests behind any action which is either driven by material success or failure must be transformed to a higher and universal process of Yoga i.e., a communion between the self of an individual with the web of self in all, the Cosmos itself. As the Mother of all IIT system, spread over the lush-green ‘Gurukul’ ambiance of a campus, neither close to nor away from a big city, IIT Kharagpur brings under one fold the ancient and the modern in unison. As the pioneering pace setter of science and technology, IIT Kharagpur preaches the journey of the self, through the self, to the self that can be achieved by the sound balance of inquisitive mind and an active body.”

More than 250 members practiced different forms of yoga regularly along with trainers from Gymkhana and invited Experts. On 21st June 2023, the 9th International Day of Yoga around 400 members have participated and practiced Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) demonstrated by Mr. Sudhir Kumar & Miss Sangita Mondal.

Prof. A K Singh, President, Technology Students’ Gymkhana, IIT Kharagpur, “Being an Institute of National Importance and the mother of all IIT system in India, IIT Kharagpur works in a very distinguished manner to promote health and fitness among the faculty members and the students of the Institute. Technology Students’ Gymkhana is in the process of setting up structured processes to identify, facilitate and develop talent (Sports, Health & Fitness) with involvement of all stakeholders.”

Inputs from : Prof. A K Singh, President TSG, IIT Kharagpur & Prof. Jayanta Chakraborty, Coordinator of Yoga Mahotsav, IIT Kharagpur
Email : singh@phy.iitkgp.ac.in and jayanta@che.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 on: Facebook – IIT Kharagpur; Twitter – @IITKgp; Instagram – @iit.kgp; LinkedIn – Indian Institute of Technology
For news visit: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in/

Action Research Project for Ladies’ Toilet Facility by Mr. Mukul Khandelia & Prof. Somnath Ghosal

IIT KGP Foundation extend their hand to develop health and hygiene facilities for Gopali IM High School, Kharagpur

Just imagine going through your day without access to clean water and a toilet. This is a harsh reality that millions of Indian women face every day. The lack of proper sanitation and hygiene facilities for women in India is a pressing issue that needs to be addressed with immediate effect. Improving access to clean sanitation and providing adequate hygiene facilities in schools and workplaces will empower women and promote gender equality in respective areas of concern. In modern India, where women are driving the workforce by increasingly participating and striving for economic independence, the lack of access to basic sanitation facilities, clean water, and improper feminine hygiene is a hindrance to their growth. Not only does it affect their capability to develop, but also limit their ability to fully participate in society by increasing the rate of female dropouts from school.

Proper toilet facilities are essential for the schools especially when we are still suffering from the abrasive effects of the pandemic. Unfortunately in India, many schools lack the adequate and safe toilets for their students. The Rural Development Centre at IIT Kharagpur conducted a survey at Gopali IM High School near Kolkata to assess the toilet facilities available for students. The survey found several critical issues that require immediate attention to ensure that students have access to safe and hygienic toilets. One of the most significant concern is the lack of toilet facilities for girls. This is a great concern for healthcare and education of the young girls as many girls tend to miss schools due to mensuration. Unfortunately many schools lack proper menstrual hygiene facilities including clean and private places for changing sanitary pads and disposal of used pads.

Funded by US-based IIT Kharagpur Alumnus Mukul Khandelia (B.Tech/CS/1998/Azad), Dr. Somnath Ghosal, Centre for Rural Development & Innovative Sustainable Technology initiated the “Ladies Toilet Project” which stood out as an example towards changing the narrative of societal development in terms of health and hygiene. The objective of the Ladies Toilet Project, according to Dr. Ghoshal, is to build a hygienic toilet facility at one of the co-educational higher secondary schools, located in rural West Medinipur district, to address the issues of school dropouts for female students.

One of the high school student of the Gopali IM High School said, “At the time of periods when I was in school, I really had a tough time. After listening to my problems and many requests the school allowed me to go home as there was no other option. I was in a lot of pain which is why I want the school to take some actions which will make things better for all the girls.”

The student reported the lack of privacy due to the toilets location near the entry gate leading to discomfort and embarrassment for those who use it. Exposure to elements was also the another issue as the toilet lacked the roof, making it difficult to use it rainy or hot weather. Safety and privacy concerns were also prevalent as the open location can lead to harassment and assault. The toilet’s poor construction quality, inadequate ventilation insufficient lightening and unstable structures pose safety risks to the students. Additionally students with disabilities and mobility impairments face challenges with the lack of accessibility such as the absence of ramps, grab bars and other assistive devices. The toilets also lacked basic amenities like tap water, soap and hand sanitizer impacting health and hygiene of the students. Moreover limited availability of toilets led to long waiting times and over crowding particularly during peak periods like recess or lunch time.

The lack of proper sanitation facilities including running water also contributed to unhygienic toilets due to poor maintenance and irregular cleaning. Girls faced further issues from inadequate menstrual hygiene management facilities leading to social stigma around using the toilets with many girls avoiding them all together. After the survey, it was found that the Gopali IM High School is in critical need of improving their toilet facilities to ensure the safety privacy and hygiene of their students. It also highlighted the need for awareness and education around proper hygiene and sanitation practices in schools.

Prof. Somnath Ghoshal
Centre for Rural Development & Innovative Sustainable Technology
IIT Kharagpur

Through this project we are trying develop girls toilet facility at Gopali IM High School to address two important issues – One is to reduce girls’ student drop-out rate from class 7 onwards and two is to increase girls’ student daily school attendance throughout the year. With the help of generous funding from Khandelia family, the Center for Rural Development and Sustainable Technology (CRDIST) at IIT Kharagpur initiated a project to improve the girls’ toilet facilities at the school. In this documentary, we showcase our baseline survey results, the challenges we faced during the initiation of the project, and the expected transformative impact of our efforts. Join us, as we demonstrate the power of Action Research Project in addressing critical social issues, like health and hygiene. We would like to propagate such initiatives more at the rural level if we get some more national and international endowment,” said Dr. Somnath Ghoshal, Assistant Professor, Centre for Rural Development and Innovative Sustainable Technology.

In West Medinipur district of West Bengal where IIT Kharagpur is located, there are 438 co-educational high schools of which 115 are girls high schools. Out of these high schools, 73 schools are located in rural areas and 42 schools are based in municipal areas. Presently, the total number of female students in higher secondary schools are more than two lakhs fifty thousand in this district. The percentage of enrolled female students (13-19 years age-group), out of the total female population of the same age group is 82 percent of the district.

Mr. Mukul Khandelia
Alumnus
B.Tech, Computer Science,1998
IIT Kharagpur

“Thanks to IIT KGP foundation, I feel privileged to be a part of this initiative which promotes the causes of women’s health and education empowering women to shape India’s future,” remarked prominent donor and KGP Alumnus Mr. Mukul Khandelia, B.Tech, Computer Science, IIT Kharagpur. Mr. Khandelia has previously established the Aruna & Ram Gopal Khandelia Innovation Award in his parent’s name at IIT KGP that supports student groups to do innovative projects related to the field of Electronic Product Design (both software and hardware).

As an initial pilot project, Prof. Ghoshal is setting up a modern toilet facility at the Gopali Indranarayan Memorial High School (H.S) which was founded in 1972. There are a total of 750 students at the school of which 370 are girls. Because of a lack of funds, the school has not been able to provide proper toilet facilities to the girls who are always at risk of getting sick due to poor hygiene.

According to the Head of the School, “The adolescent girl students at their specific periodic cycle in a month generally remain absent due to unavailability of proper toilet facilities. This has been a regular problem regarding attendance of girl students every month.”

The socio-economic condition in rural areas of the district are in dire need of financial aid since there are limited livelihood opportunities. Schools located in rural areas are being operated with inadequate and outdated infrastructures including toilets. As a result, the rate of school dropouts, particularly for female students, increases from primary to upper primary and secondary levels. The primary reasons behind this increasing school dropouts for female students are a lack of transport facilities and the deficiency in terms of hygienic toilet facilities.

The need of the hour in terms of hygiene and healthcare for women in India is to improve access to basic sanitation facilities that includes investing in infrastructure such as toilets and water wells, as well as education campaigns to raise awareness about the importance of hygiene along with providing menstrual hygiene management facilities in schools. Other important steps include increasing the number of trained healthcare providers, especially in rural and underprivileged areas, to ensure that women have access to the healthcare they need. Improving the availability and affordability of essential medicines and supplies can also help to ensure that certain conditions are treated at the early stage of treatment. Improvement in basic hygiene and healthcare is necessary to empower women by creating awareness and educating a girl child about correct hygienic measures is the only way to change the attitude of the society towards basic healthcare and hygiene.

Join us on a journey to Gopali I M High School, Kharagpur where we uncover the harsh realities of inadequate sanitation facilities and security issues. Watch this short video about the Ladies Toilet Project produced by Prof. Ghoshal and his team. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2f5CUvAdaQ.

The survey team of the Action Research Project for Ladies’ Toilet Facility comprises of Poulomi Chakraborty, Yasaswini, Sneha, Snehal, Annu Pandey, Simran, Mehak Sharma. IIT KGP Foundation would like to extend its special thanks to Neha & Mukul Khandelia and family for funding the project. The project has been supervised and executed by Dr. Somnath Ghosal, Centre for Rural Development & Innovative Sustainable Technology, IIT Kharagpur.

Contact Person: Prof. Somnath Ghosal, Centre for Rural Development & Innovative Sustainable Technology, IIT Kharagpur
Email : somnath@iitkgp.ac.in

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

REALIZING THE METAVERSE: ‘BETAVERSE’ WINS THE SAMSUNG INNOVATION AWARD 2021

A few weeks prior to Facebook’s Meta announcement plunged the world into a new era of social
media connectedness and metaverses, some of the most brilliant minds of the country were
competing to create metaverse technologies of their own in the 2021 Samsung Innovation Award
Silver Jubilee Edition.

This year’s competition was won by Ojas Deshmukh, a third-year dual degree B.Tech
Biotechnology student at IIT Kharagpur for his Betaverse project. He is also the Managing Head
of Computer Graphics Society and a Head at SWARM Robotics at the institute.

The project intends to act as a platform that users and developers can use to engage or participate
in the metaverse. It attempts to create such a framework that can be leveraged by developers to
publish their works on a single unified free platform, forming a base to build a metaverse. The
platform can host multiple games in the same spot while being flexible enough to allow users to
create their own personalized metaverse without any additional effort on the developer side.

Before diving deeper into the Betaverse, let us briefly familiarize ourselves with the Samsung
Innovation Awards and what exactly is a metaverse.

The Samsung Innovation Award
Since 2011, the Samsung R&D Institute India in Bengaluru has been organizing the Samsung
Innovation Award to encourage research, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the student
community. It supports talent who can present an innovative approach and develop solutions,
products that can solve real-time social problems. Students in teams of 3 from the same institute
participate, brainstorm, innovate and present their work. This year teams from approximately 12
IITs participated in the competition.

The theme for the 2021 edition was the ‘Metaverse’. Students were asked to explore the
intersection of physical, augmented, and virtual reality. They were asked to present working
prototypes and demonstrations on their ideas on AR / VR, Vision, Multimedia & Graphics, Photo
Realistic Rendering, 3D Spaces and Reconstruction, Immersive Multimodal Interaction Systems,
and other enabling technologies like Communications, Sensor Networks and Common Interfaces
The scope included experiences in gaming, art, entertainment, live events, tourism, health,
education, marketing, digital payments, etc.

A Little More On The Metaverse
The metaverse is essentially any virtual reality space on the internet that is accessible through
PCs, virtual and augmented reality headsets, and on select gaming and chat platforms. The term
was coined and popularized through the 1992 dystopian sci-fi novel by Neal Stephenson, Snow
Crash.

Presently, the metaverse addresses technological limitations through virtual and augmented
reality equipment. It is also centered on the expansion of metaverse spaces to education, retail,
entertainment, business, and research.

The Betaverse

The beta for any application is a preview build that adapts and changes based on the users. In
simple words a testing ground for a product before it is launched. The open-world scene in the
project allows users to customize and personalize their “virtual worlds” in the form of asset
bundles, thereby creating a unique Betaverse experience for themselves.

Moderators can create a world by requesting a build token that gives them authority to create
positions for developers, who can share Asset Bundles on any third-party site, which will be
downloadable and used on the user’s end during runtime. The project will not control the
Content Delivery Network or the Asset Bundles that are used. Developers can create their own
ecosystem within the Betaverse and build many worlds in it.

The Betaverse is built using the Unity Game Engine, taking inspiration from games and
simulators like Kerbal Space Program, where “mods” can be added simply by placing packages
in folders; it can accept all forms of Asset Bundles from third party websites. It will eventually
be made open-source.

The prototype was demonstrated by including a multitude of subsystems, essentially becoming a
testament to the versatility of this framework. Mirror was used to enable a large client-server
connection and support traffic for the multi-player system. GPU rendering was used to get better
framerates and support particle effects. Compressed height, albedo, and normal maps are used to
optimize the experience. Ads were inserted by merging textures and searching a list for
keywords, which has the option to be replaced by NLP and Google Speech API. Further builds
can easily be used for VR by adding a VR-Plugin using the server-side asset update ability.

The fact that Asset Bundles are imported implies that multiple devices can be used without
changing a single line of code in this build, essentially enabling cross compatibility as a side
effect of the Betaverse.

The Road Ahead
The metaverse is like the Wild West, with a technological Gold Rush just upon us. Ojas believes
that it has a huge potential to create dynamic virtual reality user-interaction spaces in the years to
come. Having worked on the tech development side of the project, he realized that the metaverse
in the future must be democratic. Developers must have the freedom to navigate, experiment,
and innovate. They must have control over their metaverse. Any particular organization or a
group of organizations having a monopoly or oligopoly over the space would forfeit the very
purpose of the metaverse. The maintenance of data privacy is also crucial in this regard.

The metaverse is the new age of social media. It will become an integral part of daily lives in the
near future. Young and brilliant minds like Ojas, who are highly motivated by cutting-edge
technologies of the future, are the torchbearers who will lead us into the new future.

Content Writer:- Arkaprabha Pal, Office of Alumni Affairs & Branding

Email: pal18arkaprabha@gmail.com

Photo credits: Ojas Deshmukh

IIT KGP Develops Telemedicine Homecare Technology

IIT Kharagpur Rolls Out Telemedicine Technology for Home Care during COVID Physical Distancing Protocol

It has been more than half the year since the world has been struggling through the challenge thrown by COVID-19. With the passage of time, and vaccines still not being on the cards, the pressure on the healthcare system is only expected to rise while the healthcare workers continue to remain vulnerable to infection. To address this issue, researchers at IIT Kharagpur’s Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering have developed a telemedicine system, iMediX.

The system integrates homecare with healthcare services from the hospital. Considering the emergent needs due to COVID-19 Pandemic, the system facilitates critical health care support to patients at their doorsteps through remote consultation by a physician. The system is accessible by any standard internet browser and also from a mobile device.

In this system, a patient signs up to get an account by providing her Email ID or Mobile number. Then the patient can make a request for consultation by choosing a Department of the hospital, entering her chief complaints and uploading necessary scanned medical records. The hospital administration processes the request and assigns a doctor. The doctor after logging in sets an appointment date and time for the patient and the system communicates the information to the patient by Email and SMS. On the day of the visit, the doctor consults the patient using video conferencing and advises her by writing a prescription, which is sent by Email to the patient. The patient can also download the prescription from her account.

Prof. Jayanta Mukhopadhyay, the lead researcher remarked, “As the number of cases of home isolation and home quarantine are increasing, the system will cater to the needs of the present situation. It would be useful also to follow up and treat aged patients.”

iMediX is being adopted for public use right at its home, IIT Kharagpur on-campus healthcare system.

Director, Prof. V K Tewari stated, “In April we had announced eight R&D projects for providing COVID healthcare services. This telemedicine project was key among them especially keeping in mind its effectiveness in our own community. When our campus will start operating in full strength close to 30000 people including students would be in need of healthcare services and this technology will reduce over-exposure of the healthcare staff while efficiently catering to the population. While we are promoting physical distancing, it seems only appropriate to introduce this digital platform to meet the healthcare needs of the campus community effectively. We are creating user accounts for our medical cardholders who can avail the consultation facility home through video conferencing.”

The software was launched on October 2, 2020, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti and will be integrated at the Dr. B. C. Roy Technology Hospital of the Institute which provides emergency healthcare services for the campus residents and employees, confirmed the office of Principal Medical Officer Dr. Samir Dasgupta.

Deputy Director, Prof. S K Bhattacharyya remarked, “I am extremely happy that we are able to launch the telemedicine facility at BCRTH as this was one of our dream projects. Since we have a large number of OPD patients, it will be extremely beneficial to them as movement to the hospital is extremely difficult for them. Also, for our students the waiting time at the hospital will get reduced as this will be very helpful to them.”

Director Tewari further shared his plan to expand the use of this technology to people outside the campus through the upcoming superspeciality hospital of IIT Kharagpur. The researchers are already in touch with healthcare MSMEs for commercialization of the copyrighted version of the technology. A base model was installed at Swasthya Bhawan, Govt. of West Bengal on a trial basis. Field trials are also underway for the base model in Bangladesh.

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Project Contact:

Prof. Jayanta Mukhopadhyay, jay@cse.iitkgp.ac.in

Media Contact:

Shreyoshi Ghosh, shreyoshi@adm.iitkgp.ac.in

For news about IIT Kharagpur visit: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in

Healthy Vegetable Oil – award winning innovation by IIT KGP researchers

IIT Kharagpur researchers have developed a low-cost polyunsaturated, antioxidant-rich vegetable oil powder for a healthy heart

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Researchers from IIT Kharagpur have developed a novel formula for a vegetable oil powder to keep your heart healthy. The innovation, led by Prof. Hari Niwas Mishra from the Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering involved tailoring vegetable oils through the preparation of oil blends which are inherently endowed with natural antioxidants as well as well-balanced fatty acids.

Oils vary significantly in their fat saturation. The healthiest are those containing mostly polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats that are healthy for the heart. The role of such fats is widely known for reducing low-density lipoprotein or harmful blood cholesterol.

“The novelty of the research team is in its formulation of a nutritionally balanced polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) enriched with antioxidants and producing a synergistic vegetable oil blend,” explained Prof. Mishra.

The PUFA-rich oil powder will find extensive use in replacing dairy fat in bakeries and confectionaries, believe researchers Monalisha Pattnaik and Dr. Mousumi Ghosh from the Food Chemistry and Technology Laboratory run by Prof. H N Mishra.

“There is already a shortage of dairy fat which can not only be compensated by this product but also have a healthy impact particularly mitigating heart-related diseases on the consumers,” they said.

Another critical area the researchers have addressed is the susceptibility of PUFA-rich vegetable oil to rancidity and reduced shelf-life under severe environmental conditions.

“We have developed a novel process to protect the lipids from oxidation by microencapsulating with appropriate materials,” said Prof. Mishra.

The innovation has already been patented and is ready for commercialization at low costs.

Congratulating the researchers, Prof. Virendra Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur remarked, “Even after seven decades nutritious and healthy food are seen as lifestyle products due to affordability issue and lack of awareness. But under the holistic approach in the present scenario, we must remove this bias which is a toll on the health of millions in this country. This product answers this call by making available PUFA and antioxidant-rich vegetable oil for mass-scale consumption by large sections of the population especially in the lower-income groups, who are otherwise forced to buy oil with saturated fats due to their low prices.”

The researchers have received several awards for this product. A key among them is the Gandhian Young Technological Innovation (GYTI) Award 2020. Furthermore, this work has been recognized for Young Student Invention and the best thesis work in IIT Kharagpur. The team is working incessantly towards providing low-cost healthy foods to a wider section of the society.

Contacts:

Project Information: Prof. H N Mishra hnm@agfe.iitkgp.ac.in; Institute Related: Prof. B N Singh, registrar@hijli.iitkgp.ac.in;

Media Outreach: Shreyoshi Ghosh, shreyoshi@adm.iitkgp.ac.in; More News:: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in/;

Follow IIT Kharagpur on Social Media: Facebook:@IIT.Kgp; Twitter: @IITKgp; Instagram: @iit.kgp

IIT Kharagpur Start-up Launches Low-cost Surgical Face Masks

IIT Kharagpur incubated start-up has developed P3 layered surgical face masks. Anigiene Technical Textiles, led by a group of researchers at the Institute’s Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park, has developed the product keeping in mind the affordability by India’s low income groups as well as the quality requirement by those working in the healthcare sector.

The company has completed the field testing using local volunteers with encouraging feedback. The target for a full commercial production is expected to be one lakh units per month and to be priced at ₹10/-.

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“We have kept in mind typically the needs of the people who are economically challenged while strictly avoiding any compromise on the part of health protection. Our product also caters to the health workers,” said Dr. Satyabrata Ghosh, Research Associate at the Department of Biotechnology at IIT Kharagpur and Director of Anigiene Technical Textiles.

Recently WHO has confirmed that eliminating COVID-19 pandemic would be a long haul. Thus with the health mandate to wear facial masks, it is expected that over the next several months its demand would remain exceptionally high. Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur has been emphasising on the role of technical institutions like IIT Kharagpur in addressing the health and hygiene, and other technological needs to combat COVID-19.

“Addressing basic needs of the public and making them available at affordable prices is critical. Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park at IIT Kharagpur is catering to this need by incubating and facilitating start-ups. I congratulate the researchers who have come forward with this product and contributed to keeping the country safe,” he said.

The startup is conducting end-to-end business operations at the facility allotted to them at STEP, the incubation hub of IIT Kharagpur. The infrastructure support is from faculty mentors at IIT Kharagpur and Focus Incubation Centre sponsored by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, located in STEP IIT Kharagpur.

“We are conducting further experiments on using natural fibres such as fruit peels for fully biodegradable masks,” remarked Anigiene Director Dr. Ghosh.

Contacts:

Project Information: Dr. Satyabrata Ghosh, satyabrataghosh23@gmail.com

Institute Related: Prof. B N Singh, registrar@hijli.iitkgp.ac.in;

Media Outreach: Shreyoshi Ghosh, shreyoshi@adm.iitkgp.ac.in;

More News:: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in/;

Follow IIT Kharagpur on Social Media: Facebook:@IIT.Kgp; Twitter: @IITKgp; Instagram: @iit.kgp

IIT Kharagpur Students Innovate Social Distance Tracking Device

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IIT Kharagpur’s Autonomous Ground Vehicle (AGV) research group under the Centre of Excellence for Robotics Research has developed a low-cost AI-based cyber-physical system for monitoring social distance in public places.

COVID-19 has set the technological researchers on high alert with many of them spending days and hours in their laboratories to develop solutions for combating the pandemic situation. While a large section of these solutions are targeted towards the healthcare system, key among them are frugal innovations for disease preventive and hygiene systems. In one such initiative, a students research group at IIT Kharagpur, Autonomous Ground Vehicle (AGV) has developed a low-cost AI-based cyber-physical system for monitoring social distance in public places.

Implementing social distancing in a country as densely populated as India is a vital yet behemoth task for the administration. As the nation unlocks after more than 75 days, the new normal is going to be very different. Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, has requested the citizens to maintain proper social distance as it is the best offence against COVID-19 at this stage.

To aid them, the students have developed a device which can visually detect the gap between individuals and play a proximity alert sound through audio output, for any violation of the social distancing norms. The device uses images in the field view of a camera and computes the distance as per criterion set by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Team AGV, working under the Centre of Excellence for Robotics Research and led by Prof. Debashish Chakravarty and Prof. Aditya Bandopadhyay, has engineered this device leveraging readily-available hardware while the lockdown was in place. The group comprising Indu Kant Deo, Yash Khandelwal, Apoorve Singhal, Harimohan Jha, Abhra Majumder, Rishabh Singh, Pravanjan Nayak, Debasish Mishra along with online support from other members of the Autonomous Ground Vehicle Research Group, also worked with experts from other areas including Prof Siddhartha Mukhopadhyay, Prof Surjya K Pal and Prof Samir K Pal.

“Our objective was to ensure that we are able to manufacture the device and not merely put forward a design due to the lockdown situation. We further focused on the ease of deployment even in remote locales and curtailing the cost by using inexpensive and easily accessible hardware stack,” said the AGV innovators.

The researchers are confident that the device would find its utility in maintaining the social distancing norms in locations attracting crowds and queues such as markets, malls etc. It has already been successfully tested with installations of three prototypes at the marketplace of the IIT Kharagpur campus.

Recently a demonstration was also given in the presence of Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur. Appreciating the researchers he said,

“It is our responsibility to improve the quality of life of the last person in the society. While we are working on national mission projects related to COVID-19 healthcare, we are simultaneously working on frugal innovations to cater to the immediate needs at our campus in particular and the country in general, keeping in mind cost and product delivery period. Our researchers including the students are committed to deliver such technologies within a constrained timeline considering the healthcare and community needs in the current situation.”

Frame 1 (left) depicts the social distancing being obeyed as the distance between the individuals is above the safe criterion, while negative is the case in Frame 2 (right) where the individuals stand at a distance less than the safe criterion (set in the algorithm), hence generating an alert signal.