Mangaluru Prof develops QR Code for trees to save them from the axe

Arza Safiya | coastaldigest.com
May 5, 2019

Mangaluru: The ‘Fern Doctor’ of Mangaluru, Professor Smitha Hegde has now launched a crusade against felling of trees by developing a Quick Response (QR) Code to save the city, some greenery. The Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research (NUCSER) Professor Dr Smitha Hegde has involved her students to develop the code for all the trees on the campus.

As many as ten students have volunteered for the project wherein they have been tasked with documenting over 1900 trees which were earlier geo-tagged by Dr Smitha and her team.

As of now, over 100 trees have received QR codes and a quick scan on the mobile will reveal the tree’s botanical name, the common name, its origin and mind you, its benefits as well.

“If you walk on the streets of Hampankatta or Falnir, you’ll notice very few trees. Most of the trees have been felled for road widening projects,” said Smitha.

Plant saplings were not planned and planted randomly on either side of the road, only to be cut down to accommodate further road works.

“Our town planners need to have a proper plan in place before carrying out sapling planting drive. It does not hold any good if you plant a sapling today and tomorrow you axe it for civic projects,” said Smitha.

Through her efforts, Smitha wants her students and others to be aware of the carbon released into the atmosphere. “Such projects sensitize them as they are directly involved with the plants and they maintain a bond while documenting them,” believes Prof Smitha. QR codes on trees are a perfect way to know about a tree. “It is something like when you meet a person for the first time, you would ask his/her name. Isn’t that a way to build a bond?” argues Prof Smitha. She now plans to include students from other institutions of the campus in the project.

The novel initiative was launched to commemorate the International Day of Forest. The United Nations had declared this year’s International Day of Forests theme to be “Forests and Education – Learn to Love the Forests.”

A Pteridologist, Smitha has been relentlessly working on to conserve and educate about trees. Prof Smitha has been awarded the Professor SS Bir gold medal in Pteridology for her scientific work towards the advancement of science in the area of ferns. She has extensively worked on ferns of the Western Ghats region, particularly the Kudremukh National Park region. Besides, she has also undertaken a project on DNA fingerprinting of ferns of the region.

From June 2018 to February 2019, Smitha and students who volunteered for the project, have been geo-tagging more than 1,200 trees, plus over 700 medicinal plants on Google Earth. In a span of one year, she had also audited the plants and geo-tagged them at her former employer's campus at St Aloysius College.

"The tree auditing has immensely helped in assessing the total carbon emission at St Aloysius campus.  Through the process, the amount of carbon corrected by a tree was calculated and compared it to the amount of carbon released by human beings. If the score was equal, the carbon emission would be null," she said.

Dr. Smitha points to a recent report of NASA which says the earth is greener due to India and China which shows clear images of the Northern parts of India being greener than the Western Ghats. “It is a matter of concern, have the citizens in this region taken our tree cover and natural resources for granted? The need to educate the masses in this region is urgent and immediate,” says Prof Smitha.

In due course, Dr Smitha says she wants the policymakers to take cognizance of the importance and role of the tree and further intends to roll out a similar drive to conserve trees in the public sphere.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi, Jul 29: Air Commodore Hilal Ahmad Rather has become a buzz name in Kashmir overnight. Hilal saw off the first batch of Rafale jets which took off from France to India on Monday. Among other things, he has also been associated with the weaponisation of the Rafale aircraft for acclimatisation to Indian requirements.

Hilal is presently India's Air Attache in France.

The career details of this officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) read like the decoration scroll of the best flying officer anywhere in the world.

Born in the south Kashmir's Anantnag district to middle-class parents, Hilal's father, late Mohammad Abdullah Rather retired as a deputy superintendent of police (Dy SP) in J&K police department. He has three sisters and is the only son of his parents. Hilal studied in Sainik School in Nagrota town of Jammu district.

He was commissioned in IAF as a fighter pilot on December 17, 1988, became flight lieutenant in 1993, wing commander in 2004, group captain in 2016 and air commodore in 2019.

He graduated from defence services staff college (DSSC). He also graduated from air war college (USA) with distinction. He won the sword of honour in NDA. Hilal is also the recipient of Vayu Sena Medal and Vishisht Seva medal.

With an impeccable record of 3,000 accident-free flying hours on mirage-2000, MIG-21 and Kiran aircraft, Hilal's name will now forever be associated with Rafale in India.

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News Network
March 19,2020

New Delhi, Mar 19: Senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes on Wednesday extolled the virtues of 'gaumutra' and shared an anecdote about a man claiming to have cured his cancer by drinking cow urine to drive his point home.

Participating in a debate in Rajya Sabha on two bills for setting up national commissions for homoeopathy and Indian systems of medicine, the former Union minister said, "My extreme friend Jairam Ramesh pulls my leg, when I talk of 'gaumutra'."

Sharing an anecdote, Fernandes said once during a visit to an ashram near Meerut he had met a person who claimed to have cured his cancer by drinking 'gaumutra'.

Many BJP leaders have earlier spoken about the healing power of 'gaumutra'. The Congress has reacted sharply to such remarks.

He also praised the virtues of the Indian systems of medicine. He said when he had severe pain in knee joint and doctors had suggested for replacement surgery. However, he refused and started doing 'Vajrasana'.

"I started Vajrasana, practising yoga, and today I am able to do wrestling without any difficulty," the septuagenarian leader said.

"When (former) prime minister (Atal Bihari) Vajypee ji had a knee surgery, I thought if I had known him earlier, I would have definitely gone to him and ask him to follow 'Vajrasan' and it could have been cured," he said.

He also claimed to have met a person in US aged around 104 years and moving swiftly as a young man.

"Yoga is our wealth. If you practise yoga, may be our budget cost of health can be reduced by 50 per cent. It's way of life," he said.

"Our own Indian systems of medicine will provide a lot of reliefs even before going to a doctor," he said.

Though Fernandes supported the bills but raised objection over the exclusion of yoga and naturopathy.

"I would urge the minister either to amend the bill or bring an assurance that it will bring a separate legislation to cover yoga and naturopathy," he said.

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News Network
March 10,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 10: Three more positive COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Karnataka taking the tally to four, state Health Minister B Sriramulu on Tuesday informed.

"Their family members have been isolated and their health is being monitored. I urge citizens to take precautionary measures and co-operate in preventing the spread of this infection," Sriramulu said.

As on Monday, the national tally of persons affected by the coronavirus is 45.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), in the past 24 hours, one positive case from Kerala, two from Pune, and three from Bengaluru have been confirmed.

Apart from the ICMR; National Institute of Virology in Pune; 51 Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratories; and National Centre for Disease Control, New Delhi are carrying out tests for COVID-19.

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