Team Manipal gearing up for Bulington off-road competition

May 1, 2012

Racing

Manipal, May 1: Team Manipal Racing (TMR) is all set for the Burlington, Wisconsin off-road competition, SAE BAJA Wisconsin to be held from June 7 to 10, 2012. Their vehicle, “TMR V3”, was formally launched by the Chancellor of Manipal University, Dr Ramdas M Pai at the Health Sciences Library of Manipal University here on Monday. This is the third time that the Manipal Institute of Technology students will be participating in this event, organised by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), USA. “It is a perfect platform to apply engineering knowledge and skills in a real world environment,” said team leader and captain, Siddharth Singh of 3rd mechanical, at the launch.

“We hope to do far better this time with a lot of improvement in our all terrain vehicle (ATV),” Siddharth said. It was at Wisconsin in 2009 that TMR made its first appearance. On that occasion, the team finished 97th out of 115 overall, and 14th in design. At Rochester in 2010 the team finished 62nd out of 94. Incidentally, TMR had been the best Indian team at both these meets. “Past experiences have helped us tremendously in the present venture to improve the vehicle in every way,” the team leader said.

TMR V3 features various technical advancements over previous designs; being one of India's lightest BAJA car through extensive use of advanced, lightweight materials. Besides, better electronics are being showcased on this year's car by the inclusion of an onboard speedometer, various instrumentation gauges permitting real-time monitoring of various vehicle performance parameters from the pit-crew. The incorporation of a Limited Slip Differential (LSD) has drastically improved turning performance and stability.

The team comprises 36 students divided into six technical and three management departments. The departments include suspension, steering, transmission, chassis, brakes and electronics under technical, while the management team is subdivided into finances, logistics and public relations. David Furtado, also a 3rd Mechanical student, is the manager of the team handling the various business aspects.

Preparations for this year's race began way back in 2010 after the team decided to skip the 2011 event in Illinois, USA. That time was utilised to develop the design and come up with a better vehicle. The final design was completed by mid-2011 and the fabrication began in October 2011. The team channelized more effort, squeezing in hours of work around college schedule to ensure the car's completion by mid-April. The vehicle has been extensively tested and found to be better in many ways than the previous ones. One hundred and fifteen teams from all over the world are expected to participate in this year's competition which will include other teams from India as well.

Some of the main sponsors of the vehicle which cost Rs 11 lakhs are: Sahara India, Polaris Industries, DHFL and Idea Cellular. Dr. Krishnamurty from Mechanical Engineering is the faculty advisor while Dr. Divakar Shetty S, HoD, Mechanical and Dr. B. Rammohan Pai, HoD, Automobile Engineering have lent full support through the duration of the project.

Racing-1

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News Network
February 22,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 22: President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said an ideal trade-off needs to be reached between new media -- which is fast and popular -- and traditional media which has developed skills to authenticate a news report, which is a costly operation.

Addressing the fourth edition of ‘the Huddle’ – the annual thought conclave of the Hindu here, he asserted that the internet and social media had democratised journalism and revitalised democracy, but had also led to many anxieties.

While the new media was fast and popular and people could choose what they wanted to watch, hear or read, traditional media would have to introspect on its role in society and find ways to earn the reader’s full trust again as "the project of democracy was incomplete without informed citizens – which means, without unbiased journalism."

Debate and discussion were internalised in India’s social psyche to arrive at truth since time immemorial, he said.

"There is no doubt that perception of truth is conditioned by circumstances. The conditions that cloud the truth’s positions are effectively dispelled by a contestation of ideas through debate, discussion and scientific temper. Prejudices and violence vitiate the search for truth."

Expressing happiness to attend ‘The Huddle’ organised by The Hindu, he said the Hindu group of publications had been relentlessly aiming to capture the essence of this great country through its responsible and ethical journalism. He commended them for their insistence on sticking to the five basic principles of journalism – truth-telling, freedom and independence, justice, humaneness and contributing to the social good, an official release here said.

Mr Kovind said dogmas and personal prejudices distorted the truth. In the 150th year of Gandhiji’s birth, he asked all to ponder over this question: "will it not be proper to pursue truth itself as the ideology? Gandhiji has shown us the path by walking ceaselessly in search of truth which would ultimately encompass every positive attribute that enriches the universe."

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News Network
April 21,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 21: The Karnataka Government may spare its employees from salary cuts this month despite severe resources crunch it faces following steep fall in revenue collection due to the ongoing lockdown to fight the coronavirus, official sources said on Tuesday.

As of now, there is no problem with April salary and we can manage. But if May also turns out to be a wash-out (in terms of revenue collection), then the situation is going to be very tough, a senior Minister said.

Ministers and members of Karnataka Legislature are taking a 30 per cent pay-cut for a year from April 1 this year. Opposition Congress in the state has vehemently opposed any possible move to cut salaries of government employees.

You just cant even imagine, the Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had told news agency in an interview earlier this month on the economic impact of the lock-down on the state's finances. Yediyurappa had also said that the government is now not in a position to implement Budget proposals, barring important ones, with all kinds of revenue collections having completely stopped following the lockdown.

The government recently said it proposes to regularise unauthorised properties in the state by imposing penalty, and also auction more than 12,000 corner sites belonging to the Bengaluru Development Authority, as part of resource mobilisation drive.

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News Network
June 19,2020

Bengaluru, June 19: The throat swabs of a Bengaluru-based Kannada journalist, who passed away on June 18, were tested positive for the covid-19, officials said.

Gauripura Chandru (54), who was one of the sub-editors of Vijaya Karnataka Kannada daily newspaper, had reportedly suffered cardiac arrest.

It is learnt that Chandru wasn’t keeping well for past few days. He collapsed at his home on Thursday afternoon and was immediately rushed to a hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.

A native of Gauripura in Chitradurga district, Chandru had completed graduation in engineering. However, he had chosen journalism as his profession.

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