COVID-19: IIT Madras students make face shields, give them to healthcare professionals, police

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The group has supplied around 25,000 shields so far and has an order for nearly 30,000 more

The shields were distributed to Home Guards on Saturday | Photo Credit: S.R. Raghunathan
The shields were distributed to Home Guards on Saturday | Photo Credit: S.R. Raghunathan

Four students from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, in collaboration with an entrepreneur, have developed face shields which have been provided to healthcare professionals and police personnel who come in direct contact with COVID-19 infected people.

The students initially used 3-D printing technology to develop the shields. Their effort was much appreciated and soon demand for the shields increased after which a Chennai-based company came to their help.

Now, the group has shifted to the injection moulding method to cater to the demand. “Now we make 4,000 pieces a day,” said Pranit Mehta, a third-year dual degree student of Engineering Design.

The other students are Hari Ramachandran, a fifth-year dual degree student of Metallurgy; Anuj Khandalikar, third-year dual degree student of Engineering Design and Denil Chawda from the M.S. Aerospace Engineering department. They were guided by a couple of alumni and Professor Satya Chakravarthy of the Aerospace Engineering department.

The group has supplied around 25,000 shields so far and has an order for nearly 30,000 shields. They have supplied to hospitals in Cuddalore, Puducherry and Kanniyakumari so far.

The students are currently helping units replicate their model in Delhi, Indore and Mumbai after they received requests for the shields. “It is a social impact project. We are giving the shields free of cost to the police and we are running a fund-raiser campaign. We have got donations from people now,” Pranit said.

The need for funds came up as the cost of the shields rose. “With 3-D printing it cost us ₹100 each, but with injection moulding it costs ₹60 per piece. It is a not-for-profit initiative. The more people we reach, the more the impact will be,” he said.

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An earlier version of this copy mentioned that the prices of 3D printing and injection mold incorrectly. The error is regretted.

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source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by R. Sujatha / Chennai – April 18th, 2020

384 beds in 5 hospitals made ready by Southern Railway for COVID-19 patients

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The list of these five hospitals has been communicated by the Ministry of Railways to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare who in turn has shared the same with State governments.

These isolation cabins will be an addition to around 1,000 quarantine/isolation beds provided by SCR at railway hospitals, health units, training institutes spread over 30 locations.
These isolation cabins will be an addition to around 1,000 quarantine/isolation beds provided by SCR at railway hospitals, health units, training institutes spread over 30 locations.

Tiruchy :

In its April 17 edition, TNIE reported Southern Railway (SR) has earmarked 11 railway hospitals to treat coronavirus cases. Eight hospitals are in Tamil Nadu and three in Kerala.

It was also reported SR has kept 1,236 beds ready in these hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients. Following this,  SR in a statement said 1,135 is the total number of beds in all Southern Railway hospitals.

Of these, 384 beds in five hospitals – three in Tamil Nadu and two in Kerala-  are being made ready by Southern Railway for treating COVID-19 positive patients, both for Southern Railway and non-railway patients if the situation so warrants.

The list of these five hospitals has been communicated by the Ministry of Railways to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare who in turn has shared the same with State governments.

Of these, in two hospitals at Palakkad and Tiruchy, only part of the hospitals has been earmarked for CoVID-19, as the remaining beds are required for other patients.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / by Express News Service / April 18th, 2020

Coronavirus pandemic: This Erode farmer distributes 8 tonnes of vegetables for free to the poor

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Between April 10 and 14, farmer Mathesh has distributed around 8 tonnes vegetables to more than 800 poor families for free of cost.

GM Mathesh, a 38-year-old farmer from Erode. (Photo | ENS)
GM Mathesh, a 38-year-old farmer from Erode. (Photo | ENS)

Erode :

“In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown, I had two options: one to make most of the profits out of my business or to be generous and support the poor who are struggling for one square meal. And I chose the latter,” said GM Mathesh, a 38-year-old farmer from Erode.

Mathesh, a third-generation farmer is a resident of Alampalayam village in Erode’s Anthiyur Taluk. He owns 10-acre farmland at Udayarpalayam village in Karnataka. During this season, he had cultivated Cabbage, garlic, beetroot, tomatoes, chillis and lady’s fingers which were harvested in March third week. Speaking to The New Indian Express, he said “I got to know that many daily wage labourers in my village were struggling to survive during the lockdown as they were not able to earn. Although they got rice and dal from ration shops, a healthy meal is incomplete without vegetables. So I decided to give all my produces to them, for free.”

Between April 10 and 14, Mathesh has distributed around 8 tonnes vegetables to more than 800 poor families for free of cost. “My family and friends go door-to-door to supply these vegetable bags. We had ensured to follow social distancing norms and were equipped with protective gears as well. Apart from this, we have distributed more than 100 bags to tribals settled near the farmland,” he added.

However, as the Tamil Nadu government has ordered to co-ordinate with the district administration to provide relief assistance, Mathesh said that he has stopped door-to-door supply of free veggies. He said that he is planning to coordinate with local authorities and identify more people in need and also provide them with the necessary supplies.

For Mathesh, doing this selfless deed was not easy. Every day he travels 110 km to transport the veggies in the truck. But due to lockdown, he has been facing difficulties in crossing checkpoints and to ease the transportation, he requested for a permission letter from the government.

“All my produces of this season would cost up to 10 lakhs at market rate and each day I spend up to fifty thousand which will include transportation and payment to labourers in the field. But I decided to compromise on profit as this is not the time for it,” he said.

“I believe that together as a community we can overcome this difficult time by doing our part to maintain the health of our people. I hope I would be able to supply free vegetables to the needy till lockdown ends,” he added.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Chandini R / Express News Service / April 16th, 2020

Indian origin doctors come together to battle COVID-19

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Hundreds of doctors of Indian origin came together under the banner of Global Indian Physicians COVID-19 Collaborative on Saturday to share knowledge and foster cross-system learning in the fight against COVID-19.

Addressing the first virtual meeting of the collaborative, Prathap C. Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals, and founder-president of the Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (GAPIO), said that the pandemic was unlike anything he has seen in his 65 years of practicing as a doctor.

Stressing on the need for collaboration by breaking all barriers, he said that the pandemic had made medical professionals realise their amazing ability to find solutions in record time.

Indian response

Vinod K. Paul, NITI Aayog member and co-chair of the Empowered Committee for COVID-19 Response in India, said that India’s response has been calibrated, graded, and it was yielding results.

On the availability of PPEs, he said that the present availability was adequate for the present situation and in a matter of two to three weeks, the availability of PPEs would be sufficient to cater to even worst-case and extreme scenarios.

He said that India was also focusing on developing vaccines for COVID-19, with four possible vaccine candidates being worked on in four of the country’s laboratories.

Sudhir Parikh, secretary general of GAPIO, expressed hope that convalescent plasma therapy would prove to be an effective treatment for COVID-19 and highlighted, in the American context, the need for creating a database of persons who had recovered from COVID-19, for plasma donation.

Patrice A. Harris, president, American Medical Association, highlighted the need for increased collaboration at international, national and local levels, and accurate data collection.

“For instance, the African-American population seemed to be disproportionately affected by the disease. However, we do not have data at the national level,” she said.

Kamlesh Khunti, director, Centre for Black and Minority Ethnic Health in the U.K., said that early data had indicated that South Asians and Black minorities were disproportionately affected by the disease in the U.K. as well.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – April 12th, 2020

L&T supplies beds, ventilators

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Larsen & Toubro Ltd has supplied 100 semi-fowler bed with mattress and lines, 2 ventilators, 7 Bipap ventilators, and 20 multiparameter monitors to King Institute as per the directive of the Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare Department.

L&T will also supply 8 more ventilators shortly, the company said.

It has also supplied 35 COVID-19 test kits and has provided 10,000 N95 masks so far, out of a total of 30,000 N95 masks to be supplied.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – April 14th, 2020

Chennai students win MIT hackathon

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Three students from Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research have won an opportunity to pursue research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

They were among the 40 international medical students who participated in a virtual hackathon, ‘COVID 19 Beat the Pandemic’ contest that MIT organised from April 3 to 5.

The winners — Jayanthi Anbalagan, Ph.D. scholar of Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research; Aswathy Narasimhan and Aishwarya Chander, biomedical sciences students designed a reusable and recyclable personal protective equipment and an integrated testing module.

Each winner will receive $500 as prize too.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – April 13th, 2020

Tamil Nadu techies assemble to give health workers much-needed shield to face COVID-19

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Over a lakh shields have been distributed. (Photo | EPS)
Over a lakh shields have been distributed. (Photo | EPS)

Chennai :

On March 22, as the nation locked itself in observing the government-ordered Janta curfew, Coimbatore-based Ebin Ephrem Elavathingal, senior manager at AIC Raise, and his team — student start-up JK Data Systems incubated in AIC Raise, supported by Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and students of Rathinam Group of Institutions, Coimbatore — came up with an idea.

A version of face shields to protect the essential workers in the frontlines of the pandemic.

Now, three weeks later, with over one lakh shields distributed across the country, they’re not done just yet, creating a working prototype of an Intermittent Positive Pressure Breathing ventilator (IPPV).

The five-member team headed by Ebin and comprising the student start-ups by Karthik S, Gowtham Santhakumar and their team, with support of the Bio-Medical and Computer Science department of Rathinam College, are the people behind this ambitious project.

But despite their remarkable final model, you’d be surprised to find out that none of them has any prior experience with medical equipment.

“Once we started watching the global news and understanding the urgent need for ventilators in this pandemic, we immediately dropped what we were working on, and began to educate ourselves about ventilators through open source libraries and other resources,” says Ebin. Within a week, they already had their first prototype with basic features.

EbinCoimbatore02CF13apr2020

But keen on enhancing the model even further, the team re-engineered the design of an international open-source ventilator project to produce their second working prototype, with improved control facilities, within four days.

“We haven’t gotten an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) license yet, but this device can monitor control of the tidal volume, breath per minute and inspiration expiration ratio adjustments. It is also enhanced with pressure, flow and oxygen monitoring systems,” he explains. With most of the country’s ICU ventilators costing over Rs 5 lakh, their simpler model comes in at just Rs 25,000, with the basic first prototype at RS 10,000.

Ready to take the next steps, Ebin assures us that they are currently at a production capacity of 100 ventilators a day.

Once they receive government approval, the team is ready to spring into action. “Our thoughts upon taking up this massive new project was to help save our nation. It’s as simple as that. I even quarantined myself at the office to ensure that we can truly build something of value,” says Ebin.

Still choosing not to rest on their laurels, the team is already brainstorming on their next project, something that could help in a post-coronavirus world. And while they’re hard at work on it, Ebin’s only plea — if you have the intellectual property to make a difference, now’s the time.

The team

The five-member team headed by Ebin and comprising student start-ups by Karthik S, Gowtham Santhakumar and their team, with support of the Bio-Medical and Computer Science department of Rathinam College, are the people behind this project.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Shwetha Surendran / Express News Service / April 13th, 2020

Two disinfectant tunnels in Avadi, six more to come: Corporation

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On Wednesday, Chennai Corporation had introduced a disinfectant tunnel in Tiruvanmiyur.

A disinfectant tunnel in Avadi (Photo | EPS)
A disinfectant tunnel in Avadi (Photo | EPS)

Chennai :

Avadi Corporation on Thursday introduced two disinfectant tunnels to spray anti-viral disinfectants at commuters. The tunnels will spray the disinfectant while people pass through them.

Avadi Corporation Commissioner said six more such tunnels will be introduced in the area soon.

On Wednesday, Chennai Corporation had introduced a disinfectant tunnel in Tiruvanmiyur.

The concept is popular across the country and can be commonly found in busy places such as railway stations and markets.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / April 09th, 2020

Chennai graffiti artist Vijz brings Tamil pride to city’s walls

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Graffiti01CF11apr2020

One of Chennai’s oldest graffiti artists Vijz develops different fonts in Tamil script while painting freestyle

On the walls near the cab pick up point at Palladium, the Tamil word ‘Thaazhmai’ (which translates to ‘humble’) is painted in bright bold blue and orange. “All artists think they have these invisible crowns,” says its painter Vijayaraj, cheekily. “We are constantly comparing our works, trying to be better than the others. So I wanted to remind ourselves that we should all be humble in what we are doing. Only then can we learn something new each day.”

Across the city, under flyovers, in restaurants, offices and malls, you can find Vijayaraj, aka Vijz’s works. He also recently participated in St+Art India’s graffiti jam, where around seven artists from across India got together to paint the walls of a compound at Kannagi Nagar. On a 12-foot high wall is Vijz’s work: the word ‘Chosen’ is in monochromatic tones.

One of Chennai’s oldest graffiti artists, Vijz is most famous for his Tamil lettering. He is the founder of the city’s five-member Tamil Graffiti Crew.

“Tamil is a beautiful script to write. The sharp lines, angles, curves… you can experiment with all of these,” says Vijz. In one of his works under a bridge in Erode, Thiruvalluvar and Bharati’s faces are painted next to a farmer and his bull. In the centre is written ‘Enna thavam naan seithen tamizha naalai pirapatharku’ (What penance did I do to be born a Tamilian!). Tamil pride is a recurring theme in Vijz’s works.

Graffiti02CF11apr2020

The artist has developed different fonts in Tamil script, painting even the alphabets, and common words in Tamil. “These are not things you can sit and develop at home. They come out when you are painting freestyle,” he says. The skill of an artist, he believes shows only when he/she is painting freestyle. “It shows how much he has practised and how confident he is. Every time I freestyle, I can come up with a different font.”

Graffiti03CF11apr2020

Though he paints in Tamil, for eyes not familiar with his work, the lettering can sometimes be too complicated to read. “When you are painting graffiti, you have to make it complex, for it to look stylish and personalised,” he admits. Which is why the use of monochrome can be helpful, he explains. “It shows the structure of the letters more clearly and you can understand the pattern and foundation of the letter. If I am too complex with my lettering, I will reduce the variety of colours to make it easier to read.”

Vijz has been taking his art form to others who also want to learn Tamil lettering. Many of his graffiti crew members are also part of his dance crew, All for One. So this community is like a milieu of people who appreciate the hip hop lifestyle.

Graffiti04CF11apr2020

And yet, he does not believe in the ‘rebel’ side of graffiti — that it needs to be a covert action done without permission. “You need to ask yourself what is graffiti to you? What are you trying to say? Is it just about your skills, or do you want to convey something to the world? You can’t just go around spray painting your own name everywhere,” he says.

For Vijz, it is about sharing those words that have influenced and transformed him. “Artists can’t speak through words, so we speak through our works.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities / by Sweta Akundi / March 18th, 2020

ICDSS women on the frontline of battle

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The all-women army of the ICDSS does not gain as much attention or appreciation as do police and health employees.

IcdsCF10apr2020

Tiruchy :

The all-women force of 3,200 who work for the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDSS) in Tiruchy district is the foundation stone for the strong overall community health structure combatting coronavirus. The all-women army of the ICDSS does not gain as much attention or appreciation as do police and health employees. As the miasma of despair engulfs the whole State due to the fallout of coronavirus, these 3,200 women ensure all children and new mothers stay healthy and get proper nutrition.

They also keep track of pregnant women in every nook and cranny of the district. When Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced the closure of schools and Anganwadis across the State, he also arranged for doorstep delivery of rations each child in their respective households. With most people staying at home in the lockdown, the  women attached to ICDSS venture out of their houses to deliver rations to households in every village and city. Tiruchy district has 1,850 Anganwadi centres. There are 96,357 children aged between six to 60 months in the district who receive weaning food. This figure includes 42,000 children who  receive rations like rice, dal and eggs.

Apart from this, ICDSS women have to provide nutritious food to 12,750 antenatal and 13,519 lactating mothers. Tamilselvi, who works at the Anganwadi centre in Kannipatti village, travelled 13 km from Manapparai town to deliver rations. “As I was afraid to go alone due to the lockdown, I took my husband along with me on a two-wheeler to go to the village to do my duty. Once, a policeman stopped us midway. When I showed my ID card, he let us go,” she said. Some policemen easily identify them through their uniform sarees and allow them to proceed.

Tamilselvi was to take care of 64 children and also provide antenatal and postnatal care to nearly 20 mothers in the village. She has to do daily follow-ups of health conditions of expecting mothers – who are eight or nine months pregnant. As far as the nutritious diet for children below the age of five is concerned, ICDSS women provide each child’s household with rice, dal, eggs and weaning food. These are otherwise difficult for them to avail for those living in poverty. On April 1, they provided enough rations to last 15 days to children’s households.

Another example of the work being done by these women is Chitra of Kallagam, who travelled to Anna Nagar in Pullambadi on her two-wheeler to provide food and assistance to 20 children and 21 expecting and new mothers who come under the particular Anganwadi’s jurisdiction. All these workers have been asked to take pictures along with every child and mother while delivering rations and weaning food and send them to their higher-ups in order to ensure works are being carried out properly.

Services as tasks
T Bhuvaneshwari, ICDSS project officer, Tiruchy district, said “Our staffers are tasked to follow up on the health conditions of all expecting mothers and newborns. They have to call them every day. If any woman develops labour pain, it is the duty of the Anganwadi worker there to arrange for an ambulance and take her to hospital. Similarly, she has to ensure her safe return from the hospital.

Also, ICDSS workers are accompanying or following up with expecting mothers who undergo regular check-ups. All these works are being done despite the lockdown.” Moreover, in this challenging time, ICDSS women are assisting Health department staff with quarantines, community surveys and also in area containment as they have developed a rapport with local villagers and residents. Their prescience makes it easier for Health department workers to complete the task at hand.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by K Ezhilarasan / Express News Service / April 09th, 2020