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Phagwara, Apr 17 () Terming Phagwara-based Lovely Professional University's attitude as "extremely callous and irresponsible" in handling the case of a 21-year-old, corona-positive woman hosteller and keeping itself open, the Punjab government has sought the varsity's explanation over the breach of lockdown orders. The LPU violated the government of India's lockdown orders under the Epidemic Act and section 144 of Cr P C for closure of the educational institutes across the country, the state government said, asking the varsity to explain why the no objection certificate given to it should not be revoked. The notice, issued on Thursday, sought to remind the LPU that Punjab's Higher Education Ministry had on March 13 ordered suspension of all kinds of teaching work in all institutions, including the private ones. Confirming that LPU was issued a show cause notice on Thursday, Kapurthala Deputy Commissioner Deepti Uppal said a copy of the same was received by her on Friday. In the notice, the state's Higher Education and Language Department asked LPU, which also has several foreign students on its rolls, to explain within seven days why the NOC issued to it should not be revoked for violating the government orders and endangering the lives of 3,200 people, and many more. The notice said the Punjab higher education minister had also ordered the suspension of teaching in all institutions, including the private ones, on March 13. "It has now come to light that in spite of the instructions, ignoring the gravity of the situation and jeopardising the lives of about 3,200 people and thousands of others to which infection can spread, you did not shut down completely," it said. "Considering the highly infectious nature of the disease and despite the fact that there was sufficient time for you to send all students to their respective homes from March 13 to March 22, you continued with the functioning of the university and its hostels and made no efforts to send them to their homes," the notice said. The notice said, "It might be argued by you that the movement of students was not possible in the light of the complete lockdown.""But, there is no denying the fact that norms about maintaining social distancing were flouted and the administration was informed that the university was shut and vacated, while that was not the case."It is amply clear that you did not pay any heed to instructions of the district administration on March 23 and kept it in dark," the government told the LPU authorities."When the world is battling this deadly virus and the only remedy is the complete isolation, your administration threw all instructions to the winds and put hundreds of lives at risk," it added. Referring to the case of 21-year-old Maharashtra student testing positive on April 12, the notice said, "There was a corona positive case in your institution and that too was not handled in right earnest.""The university authorities did not cooperate with the district administration and the Health Department in sending the patient to hospital. It is clear from above that your conduct and response of the university have been extremely callous and irresponsible," said the strongly-worded notice. At present, the student is undergoing treatment at Kapurthala civil hospital. The notice also mentioned that the issue of the university functioning despite the lockdown had been raised by "some dignitaries". Former Union minister and ex-Hoshiarpur BJP MP Vijay Sampla and Kapurthala ruling party MLA Rana Gurjeett Singh had taken up the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Amarinder Singh respectively earlier this week. LPU Additional Director Aman Mittal, however, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.. CORR VSD RAXRAX

LPU asked to explain breach of lockdown orders

<ul> <li>Researchers at the Lovely Professional University (<keyword id="1003941" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="LPU">LPU</keyword>) developed an IoT device — ‘<keyword id="654332" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kawach">Kawach</keyword>’ — to make sure the people practice social distancing. </li> <li>This mobile-like device, which can be worn as a pendant, vibrates and lights up as soon a person breaches the user’s safe space of 1 metre. </li> <li>It also reminds people to wash hands every 30 minutes and has a temperature sensor that would notify people via SMS, if their body temperature crosses the specified limit. </li> <li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=coronavirus&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Follow the comprehensive coverage of the Coronavirus pandemic and its impact, and other useful resources that can help you in the fight on Business Insider India.</a> </li></ul>Researchers at the Lovely Professional University (LPU) developed an IoT device — ‘Kawach’ — to make sure the people practice social distancing. <div type="image" title="lpu" msid="74813821" hostid="261"></div> “The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended a minimum 1 metre distance between oneself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing. KAWACH has been designed to help people adhere to this guideline,” the university said as the country went into a lockdown yesterday to contain the spread of <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">Coronavirus</keyword>. The mobile-like device, which can be worn as a pendant, vibrates and lights up as soon as any person breaches the user’s safe space of 1 metre. The device also reminds people to wash their hands every 30 minutes. It also has a temperature sensor that would send a notification SMS, if body temperature crosses the specified limit. “While the whole world is grappling to find a vaccine for Covid-19, ‘KAWACH’ is our effort to contain the spread of this deadly virus. Social distancing and avoiding physical contact are keys to staying safe today. KAWACH enables one to achieve that by warning people in case their safe space is breached. We have already tested it internally and are now looking for the right partners to commercialise it,” said Lovi Raj Gupta, executive dean of science and technology at LPU. The device is equipped with a human body temperature sensor, ultrasonic sensor, and a storage card. It has been successfully tested among the staff of the university. “If everyone is so casual about social distancing India will have to pay a heavy price. And it is impossible to know how deep the price will be,” PM Modi said while announcing the nationwide lockdown. “Forget what it feels like to go outside for the next 21 days. This is a ‘Laxman Rekha’ on your door. Only one step outside the house will invite a grave pandemic like Coronavirus into your homes,” he added. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that an incubation period of the novel Coronavirus is anywhere between 2-14 days. In most cases, symptoms start to show up after five days of infection. On the other hand, there are asymptomatic cases too, which are much more difficult to identify. India announced a complete nationwide lockdown for 21 days as the number of active Coronavirus cases hit over 500. The pandemic has cost over 18,000 lives so far — and is showing no signs of dying down. Initial experiments and research shows that summer temperatures, humid environment may not slow down the spread. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/heres-how-a-21-day-lockdown-might-help-break-the-covid-19-chain/articleshow/74802999.cms">Here's how a 21-day lockdown might help break the Covid-19 chain</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/food/news/cooking-tips-for-the-21-day-coronavirus-lock-down-to-save-supplies/articleshow/74808278.cms">Cooking hacks to save supplies during the 21-day Coronavirus lock down</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/experts-are-divided-on-indias-wonder-drug-that-could-cure-coronavirus/articleshow/74807136.cms">Experts are divided on India’s ‘wonder drug’ that could cure Coronavirus</a>

This new IoT device ‘Kawach’ will remind you to wash hands every 30 minutes and keep distance

The Aam Aadmi Party has nominated five persons for <keyword id="48510" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rajya-sabha" source="Orion">Rajya Sabha</keyword> from <keyword id="6354953" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="punjab" source="Orion">Punjab</keyword> where it swept the assembly polls and has formed the government. The five Rajya Sabha MPs include two businessmen, one IIT professor and cricketer <keyword id="368" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="harbhajan-singh" source="Orion">Harbhajan Singh</keyword>. While <keyword id="78659" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ashok-mittal" source="Orion">Ashok Mittal</keyword> and <keyword id="255145" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sanjeev-arora" source="Orion">Sanjeev Arora</keyword> are businessmen, former cricketer is Harbhajan Singh. Apart from that, <keyword id="66" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="delhi" source="Orion">Delhi</keyword> MLA <keyword id="6394261" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="raghav-chadha" source="Orion">Raghav Chadha</keyword> and IIT professor <keyword id="348756" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sandeep-pathak" source="Orion">Sandeep Pathak</keyword> have also been nominated for the Rajya Sabha. Ashok K. Mittal is the founder chancellor of the prestigious academic institution, Lovely Professional University (LPU). Hailing from a humble background, Mittal worked his way up to become an accomplished entrepreneur. As a way to serve the society and the state of Punjab, he founded LPU which is one of the largest universities in India today with students from over 50 countries. Sanjeev Arora runs the Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Charitable Trust that was established after his parents lost their lives to cancer. But main business is export house. Arora is also on the governing board of Dayanand Medical College &amp; Hospital, Ludhiana, and is also a member of the Apex Council of Punjab Cricket Association. He has been the Secretary of Sutlej Club, Ludhiana, a prime institution of Punjab that provided ample help to the Ludhiana District Administration by donating ambulances, PPE Kits, and other essentials. Raghav Chadha was appointed as the youngest spokesperson of the party and has executed crucial party campaigns in Delhi &amp; Punjab. Chaddha spearheaded the critical water reforms as Delhi Jal Board Vice-Chairman and is one of the architects of the party's resounding victory in Punjab. A graduate from the London School of Economics, Chaddha met <keyword id="260213" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="arvind-kejriwal" source="Orion">Arvind Kejriwal</keyword> in 2012, who urged him to get involved in the drafting of the Delhi Lokpal Bill as his first task. In the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly Elections, Chadha registered an emphatic victory as the party's candidate from Rajinder Nagar Assembly Constituency. Harbhajan Singh is India's most successful off-spin bowler who played for the Indian national cricket team between 1998 and 2016. Singh was captain of the Indian Premier League team Mumbai Indians and captained Punjab for the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy season. Under his captaincy, Mumbai won the 2011 Champions League Twenty20. An Arjuna and Padma Shri awardee, Singh has been actively working for the upliftment of disadvantaged children through the Smile Train Foundation and Tera Tera Foundation. Sandeep Pathak is touted as Aam Aadmi Party's Chanakya, responsible for the party's spectacular win in Punjab elections in 2022. Pathak is an IIT-Delhi Associate Professor who joined the party to realize Arvind Kejriwal's dream of a corruption-free India. Pathak received his PhD from the University Of Cambridge, UK in 2011. He has been working behind the scenes for many years and built the entire organization cadre in Punjab. He was the man behind conducting accurate and scientific surveys in the state, selection of candidates, and deciding the entire strategy for the party's resounding victory in Punjab. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/sensex-slightly-down-at-57793-while-nifty-is-trading-almost-flat-at-17000/articleshow/90350690.cms">Sensex slightly down at 57,793, while Nifty is trading almost flat at 17,000</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/markets/news/ruchi-soya-stock-tanks-after-the-baba-ramdev-backed-company-announces-4300-crore-fpo-at-a-35-discount/articleshow/90351347.cms">Ruchi Soya stock tanks after the Baba Ramdev-backed company announces ₹4,300 crore FPO at a 35% discount</a>

Harbhajan Singh,  Ashok Mittal, Sanjeev Arora, Sandeep Pathak, and Raghav Chadha are AAP's new Rajya Sabha nominees from Punjab

By Shakoor Rather New Delhi, May 8 () Researchers have developed an easy-to-use cloud-based web interface powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that they say can detect COVID-19 quickly from radiology reports such as CT scan or X-Rays. The system may enable doctors and medical staff even in remotest villages of the country to get quick results on the COVID-19 status of a patient, the researchers said. AI technologies that study CT Scans and X-Rays are being deployed as part of global efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, according to the researchers from Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab. However, one of the biggest roadblocks in their adoption has been the need for a high-tech device or computer to support the software, and a qualified technician for operating it, they said. "The unavailability of resources in our healthcare system is a big hindrance in COVID-19 detection and treatment, especially in the remote areas of the country," Prabin Kumar Das, a B.Tech student at LPU told . "We wanted to build a cloud based system which could be accessed at minimal costs even from the remotest possible locations in the country while ensuring high quality results," Das said. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the novel coronavirus causes respiratory illness resembling viral pneumonia, resulting in fever, cough, and shortness of breath. A study published in the journal Radiology found that chest X-ray scan features can aid in the early detection and diagnosis of the virus. The interface developed by researchers at LPU is cloud-based, and does not need any high-tech device or technicians to operate. It can be accessed by an authorised healthcare professional any where in the world via a basic mobile device with internet connectivity and a web browser, they said. The researchers noted that the user will have to upload a patient's scan on the website and it will return the diagnosis result "within a few seconds". The interface is connected to an AI model at a centralised server which processes the image received from the web portal and sends the results back to the web portal, they said. The researchers said no extra technical skills are required to use the portal, except for uploading the images. The portal is capable of hosting any AI model that is preferred by a hospital, and will accordingly be able to detect the infection as well as the extent to which it has affected the patient, they said. "Several experts from around the world have strongly recommended the use of CT scans for quick diagnosis of COVID 19. We are proud to have come up with a solution that can rapidly scale these tests," Lovi Raj Gupta, Executive Dean of Science and Technology at LPU told . He said the team is in touch with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for further evaluation, and is also in talks with industry partners to collaborate by providing the most promising medically-certified AI models which can be used for diagnosis of COVID19. This, Gupta said, will help doctors to segregate patients and make decisions to triage, isolate or put a patient on a ventilator, in order to use the available resources efficiently. The images uploaded on the interface will be AES encrypted ensuring complete privacy for the patient, according the researchers. It took the team, including B. Tech student Biswajyoti Roy, and professors Rajesh Singh and Anita Gehlot, around one month to develop the framework, they said. The AI model that that the team built for testing the framework was trained and tested over more than 13,000 chest radiography images, according to the researchers. SAR SARSAR

'Novel cloud-based web interface detects COVID-19 from CT scans'

By Shakoor Rather New Delhi, Apr 9 () Researchers have developed an interactive dustbin that can be installed in hospitals and medical centres dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic for contactless waste collection and disposal, leading to a safer environment for front-line workers. The dustbin, called Ally, follows voice commands and moves on the predefined paths autonomously inside a controlled environment, said the researchers from Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab. The three-feet-tall and 1.5-feet-wide smart container performs contact-less collection by opening its flap automatically, they said. The researchers explained that a sensory system checks the current status, or level of the dustbin, and initiates the disposal procedure once it is filled up to a predefined threshold. Ally can move to the disposal centre autonomously, dispose the waste and get ready on its own for reuse, according to the researchers. "In the current situation, a smart dustbin can play a crucial role in collecting waste and leftovers, especially from sensitive areas like quarantined rooms, where appointing a human worker for waste collection and disposal may expose them to infection," Lovi Raj Gupta, Executive Dean of Science and Technology, LPU told . "Ally can be easily summoned using a voice command. For example, if the medical staff wants some garbage to be collected, they just need to say, 'Ally, come to bed number 18'," Gupta explained. He noted that the dustbin responds immediately to the voice command and moves to the respective place using its indoor mapping algorithm. The researchers have used Raspberry Pi -- a credit-card sized small computer -- and Atmega 2560, a low-power microcontroller in the dustbin. After performing the collection of garbage, the dustbin returns to the predefined home position on it own. The Word Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that best practices for safely managing health care waste should be followed, including assigning responsibility and sufficient human and material resources to dispose of such waste safely. However, there is no evidence that direct, unprotected human contact during the handling of health care waste has resulted in the transmission of the COVID-19 virus, WHO said. Ally has been conceptualised and developed under the aegis of the USD one million fund set up by LPU to help combat the outbreak of COVID-19, the researchers said. The research team, including B. Tech. third year students Prabin Kumar Das, Vanka Vinaya Kumar, and KM Vaishnavi Gupta, along with Professors Rajesh Singh and Anita Gehlot, said their prototype has successfully conducted its trials within the university. The prototype costs Rs. 20,000, but the team is now looking for industrial partners for its commercialisation and expects the price to drop by almost 25 per cent. The final product is expected to be ready for deployment within two months of time, after getting industrial partners, they said. SAR VIS SARSAR

COVID-19: Smart dustbin for contactless waste collection at hospitals developed

By Shakoor Rather New Delhi, Mar 4 () Scientists have developed a new digital security algorithm which they say can help prevent fraudulent online transactions by increasing the randomness in the generation of user-authenticity tests like one-time passwords (OTPs) and CAPTCHA. The algorithm, called BaReNPI, uses a software-based random number generator that makes it more difficult for cyber-attackers to crack compared to Advanced Encryption Standard 256 (AES 256) -- the current gold standard for electronic cryptographic encryption, the researchers said. Lead scientist Geetha G, from Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab, explained that BaReNPI is named after its unique properties -- balancedness, resiliency, non-linearity, propagation, and immunity. "The main difference between our technology and the existing technologies are these properties. The existing technologies do not consider these five properties simultaneously, therefore, the outcomes of those technologies are application specific," Geetha told . The technology involves random number generation with symmetric properties which are required by the security algorithms for the development of ciphers, or algorithms for performing encryption or decryption, as suggested by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Geetha explained. She said that security algorithms like BaReNPI are used by messaging apps like WhatsApp and many signal programmes like VeraCrypt in addition to a range of hardware and other applications to transmit data securely. The need for such a system is not only applicable in India, it's a worldwide requirement to enhance the security of the existing ciphers by incorporating randomness in their features, the scientists said. Geetha noted that NIST, which is one of the premier bodies for standardising the security algorithms, has also urged for randomness in ciphers which can be used for internet traffic easily. "The security of internet surfing is primarily dependent upon security algorithms applied in transport layer. All such cryptographic security algorithms are facing the problem of cryptanalysis, and therefore their robustness is required to be enhanced with the help of such BaReNPI," she said. The researchers, including Rahul Saha and Gulshan Kumar, both Associate Professors at LPU, said that they have used properties of random numbers to develop a solution in the form of Symmetric Random Function Generator (SRFG) which brings randomness in the key generation process, thereby making their solution more efficient. Noting that the algorithm may help make the security algorithms better in terms of performance and resistance to cyber attacks, the LPU scientist said in the coming days of internet of things (IoT), BaReNPI may be very useful with various devices for generating OTPs. The scientists added that the SRFG offers three times better confusion property, which is the degree of ambiguity, and 53.7 per cent better avalanche effect -- a small change in input leading to a big change in output. According to the research, published in the journal Security and Communication Networks, this makes BaReNPI better than AES on key parameters like nonlinearity, resiliency, balancedness, propagation characteristics, and immunity. "In the current digital economy, computer system and network security are intended to achieve many purposes including confidentiality, authentication, non-repudiation and access control by the use of various security algorithms," Geetha said. "BaReNPI has opened the path for further improvement of these security algorithms which eventually leads to better digital security and more secure social and economic encounters," she said. The researchers added that web browser security algorithms can also be strengthened with BaReNPI. Geetha said her team has filed a US-patent, and has bagged funding from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) for the hardware implementation of the algorithm. SAR VIS SARSAR

Novel algorithm may help prevent fraudulent online transactions

By Shakoor Rather New Delhi, Apr 17 () Researchers have developed a portable racket with ultraviolet (UV) light which they say can disinfect almost every surface -- from groceries, e-commerce packets, keys, currency notes to vehicles -- simply by waving the device over them, and may help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The 80-centimetre-long racket comprises of an oval head which has tubes of UVC -- ultraviolet light with wavelengths between 200-280 nanometres -- embedded on the one side, the researchers said. The other side of the device is covered with a metallic sheet to shield the person holding it from bodily contact with harmful UVC rays, they said. "The current pandemic has shown that we need to be more vigilant about our safety and should ideally disinfect anything that we carry from outside into our homes," Mandeep Singh, an assistant professor at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab, told . "Our UV racket is a perfect solution to achieve this. Whether it is keys, bags, food delivery or e-commerce packets; one needs to wave the racket over them just for a few minutes to disinfect them," Singh said. The researchers explained that all one needs to do is to wave the racket over the surfaces while holding it at a distance of 4-5 inches from the object for 60 seconds to disinfect it. The racket is also equipped with an object movement identification feature, which means the device shuts the sanitising process if it observes any human intervention, to avoid any harm to the human skin, they said. The racket has been fitted with a timer which beeps after 60 seconds when sanitisation is complete, said Anant Kumar Rajput, a B. Tech student at LPU, who developed the racket under the guidance of Singh and project officer Ruhul Amin Choudhury. Once the disinfected item is sanitised with the UV rays, users can touch or hold the product immediately, said Rajput. The racket can run either on electricity or using an inbuilt battery which can be recharged in half an hour, and can provide power for 15 minutes. The team has filed a patent for the racket and is looking for industrial partners for its commercialisation, adding the racket would then be available for Rs. 1,000. "We are confident once the racket hits the market, consumers will find it very useful," Singh added. Research has shown that UV light can penetrate the cells of pathogens, and damage the DNA or RNA that contain their genetic code. UV can also damage the amino acids and proteins that either protect the virus or allow it to attach to and infect a host cell, studies have found. According to the World Health Organization, UVC is the highest-energy category of ultraviolet light, and is also the most damaging. The UV light used in medical disinfection devices is a particular wavelength of UVC, WHO said. SARSARSAR

COVID-19: New portable UV racket can disinfect surfaces just by waving

By Shakoor Rather New Delhi, Apr 17 () Researchers have developed a portable racket with ultraviolet (UV) light which they say can disinfect almost every surface -- from groceries, e-commerce packets, keys, currency notes to vehicles -- simply by waving the device over them, and may help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The 80-centimetre-long racket comprises of an oval head which has tubes of UVC -- ultraviolet light with wavelengths between 200-280 nanometres -- embedded on the one side, the researchers said. The other side of the device is covered with a metallic sheet to shield the person holding it from bodily contact with harmful UVC rays, they said. "The current pandemic has shown that we need to be more vigilant about our safety and should ideally disinfect anything that we carry from outside into our homes," Mandeep Singh, an assistant professor at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab, told . "Our UV racket is a perfect solution to achieve this. Whether it is keys, bags, food delivery or e-commerce packets; one needs to wave the racket over them just for a few minutes to disinfect them," Singh said. The researchers explained that all one needs to do is to wave the racket over the surfaces while holding it at a distance of 4-5 inches from the object for 60 seconds to disinfect it. The racket is also equipped with an object movement identification feature, which means the device shuts the sanitising process if it observes any human intervention, to avoid any harm to the human skin, they said. The racket has been fitted with a timer which beeps after 60 seconds when sanitisation is complete, said Anant Kumar Rajput, a B. Tech student at LPU, who developed the racket under the guidance of Singh and project officer Ruhul Amin Choudhury. Once the disinfected item is sanitised with the UV rays, users can touch or hold the product immediately, said Rajput. The racket can run either on electricity or using an inbuilt battery which can be recharged in half an hour, and can provide power for 15 minutes. The team has filed a patent for the racket and is looking for industrial partners for its commercialisation, adding the racket would then be available for Rs. 1,000. "We are confident once the racket hits the market, consumers will find it very useful," Singh added. Research has shown that UV light can penetrate the cells of pathogens, and damage the DNA or RNA that contain their genetic code. UV can also damage the amino acids and proteins that either protect the virus or allow it to attach to and infect a host cell, studies have found. According to the World Health Organization, UVC is the highest-energy category of ultraviolet light, and is also the most damaging. The UV light used in medical disinfection devices is a particular wavelength of UVC, WHO said. SARSAR

COVID-19: New potable UV racket can disinfect surfaces just by waving

New Delhi, Jan 30 () Scientists have developed an efficient, economical, and environment-friendly technology that uses sunlight to degrade toxic liquid waste, an advance they say could significantly reduce the waste-management costs of industries.
 The technology, developed by the researchers from Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Phagwara, Punjab involves photocatalytic degradation -- a chemical reaction that involves the absorption of light -- using nanoparticles as catalysts.
 The technique is extremely efficient for the degradation of toxic organic chemicals produced by companies across sectors like pharmaceuticals, textiles, pesticides, paper, paints, and other chemical industries, according to the study published in the Asian Journal of Chemistry.
 Liquid waste management is a major challenge for many industries globally, especially those in the manufacturing space, owing to the extensive use of chemicals, the researchers said.
 These industries produce several kinds of liquid wastes which can cause serious environmental damage, like water and soil pollution, ground water contamination, and landfill contamination, if not treated properly, they said.
 The researchers, which included Mandeep Kaur, an M.Sc. student at LPU, and Assistant Professor Chandan Adhikari, noted that a huge amount of liquid waste is produced in India due to the presence of a large number of industries.
 They noted that the country's Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has set standards and guidelines regarding disposal of liquid waste.
 However, because of the high cost, most of the industries do not follow the proper waste management techniques to prevent the pollution caused by hazardous waste, they said.
 Currently, the industry spends about INR 120 to degrade one litre of liquid waste, according to the researchers.
 Apart from the cost, they noted the conventional way to degrade these chemicals has several disadvantages, for example, huge amount of energy requirement, and inefficiency.
 The new method developed by the researchers uses sunlight and Bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl), a new photocatalyst to purify the toxic chemicals.
 "This technology uses only sunlight to destroy the dyes by degrading them," Adhikari told .
 "As soon as the sunlight strikes the surface of the nanoparticles, it generates highly reactive oxygen species (ROS) which destroy the organic dyes," he said.
 ROS are chemically reactive chemical species containing oxygen, such as peroxides, and superoxides.
 To understand the potential of Bismuth oxychloride, the researchers conducted several studies and chose methylene blue as the model dye due to its resemblance with a number of waste chemicals produced by the industries.
 The study shows that 100 per cent of dye degradation can be achieved up to 20 parts per million (ppm) of dye concentration in presence of sunlight over a period four hours.
 This catalyst can also be reused for 4-5 cycles with efficiency retention of more than 80 per cent, the researchers noted.
 The new technique can reduce the cost of liquid waste management by almost 30-40 per cent, leading to significant savings for companies, they said.
 The researchers noted that solid wastes are generally recycled in several steps or burned to produce energy through a process known as incineration.
 However, when it comes to liquid waste, it is more difficult to dispose or destroy them because most of the time liquid wastes come with a mixture of several chemicals.
 These chemicals are majorly soluble in water, which causes water pollution both in surface as well as groundwater.
 "With this new method developed by our student, treating such waste will not only become easier but up to 40 per cent cheaper," Adhikari said.
 The researchers noted that after the treatment, it is sometimes a little difficult to separate the photocatalyst from the mixture.
 To solve this problem, they are working to develop a "magnetic photocatalyst" which will be easily separated by the application of magnetic field externally. SAR
SAR

Novel technology uses sunlight to degrade toxic liquid waste

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A Marine Corps assault amphibious vehicle sank last summer, and nine people drowned.</li><li>Troops didn't have <keyword id="57905" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="breathing">breathing</keyword> <keyword id="6355190" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Devices">devices</keyword> because the Corps cut the program years ago to save money.</li><li>In the wake of the accident, the Corps has changed its mind and is bringing these devices back.</li></ul>When a Marine Corps assault amphibious vehicle sank off the coast of California last summer, the troops inside did not have any breathing devices. Nine US service members drowned.The embarked service members were not carrying the devices because the Corps made the decision to get rid of them several years ago after assessing that program's $15.9 million cost outweighed concerns about a possible catastrophe, two Corps officials told Insider.Embarked <keyword id="60476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Marines">Marines</keyword> used to carry Waterborne Egress Capability (WEC) breathing systems as a component of their LPU-41 life preservers. In the event that an <keyword id="155708" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="AAV">AAV</keyword> sank, the bottled breathing devices would provide up to five minutes of air.It is not a lot of time, but it is more than enough time to remove your gear, get your bearings, and take action, a Marine official, a former division commander, said.Troops trying to escape a submerged vehicle can easily find themselves disoriented and struggling with their heavy gear as they desperately fight to reach the surface. A few extra minutes of air beyond what is in their lungs might be the difference between staying alive and dying.The WEC bottled breathing device program was canceled in 2015, just four years after it began, as the Corps grappled with budget concerns."So 2011 to 2015, we have this program," another Marine official, a former Marine Expeditionary Unit commander, said. "2015, if you recall where we were fiscally in 2015, we're in sequestration."During the Obama administration, a deep budget cut known as sequestration impacted all federal spending, including that of the Department of Defense."I'm a big believer in the bottles," the former division commander said. "But, in 2015, we were scrambling for money, looking under the cushions of the sofas, trying to make ends meet. This was a convenient thing."The former MEU commander explained to Insider that the Marine Corps measures risk by likelihood of occurrence and severity of outcome.In this case, a decision was made that an accident requiring supplemental air was unlikely given the limited number and nature of fatal AAV accidents. The decision to discontinue the WEC bottled breathing device program was reassessed after tragedy struck last summer.<div type="image" title="amphibious assault vehicle" height="785" width="1000" msid="81716316" hostid="261"></div><h2>A tragic mishap</h2>Last July, an AAV assigned to Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, part of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, sank off the coast of California as it returned to the amphibious transport dock USS Somerset from San Clemente Island during a training exercise.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happened-to-marine-corps-aav-that-sank-killed-nine-2021-3">Failure after failure ended in disaster</a>. Eight embarked Marines and a Navy sailor drowned, making this incident the deadliest AAV training accident in the vehicle's decades of service.The commander of US Marine Corps Pacific blamed the <keyword id="156658" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sinking">sinking</keyword> and the resulting deaths on "a confluence of human and mechanical failures" in a statement attached to the investigation. He added that "this tragic mishap was preventable."The biggest problem was that the vehicle, which was initially carrying 16 service members, was not evacuated until it was too late. The vehicle sank with 11 people still on board. All but one service member made it out, but only three made it to the surface.The three service members who made it to the surface each suffered drowning injuries. One did not survive.As for the troops who died without reaching the surface, all of them were wearing body armor. Some had tried to drop their gear but were unsuccessful. In addition to the problem of excess weight, the life preservers they had on were not as effective as they would normally be given the depth at which they were operated.The Marine officials Insider talked to about the accident did not say whether or not WEC breathing devices would have made a difference and saved lives in this situation. Though the investigation was silent on this point, the Corps has, as a result of this terrible accident, changed its mind on the program, the officials said."It has been reinstated," the former MEU commander revealed. "This year, we will field WEC bottles for all our MEU units."AAV crews are temporarily using Helicopter Aircrew Breathing Devices (HABD) borrowed from the Marine Expeditionary Force air wings, but the WEC devices are being brought back for AAV passengers and crews."We have on contract now - and we'll bring back as a program of record - the full WEC system, which includes the bottles [and] the charging station for the bottles," he said, adding that "it will be a requirement to be trained and equipped with a Waterborne Egress Capability device to be in the back of an AAV or ACV."The ACV, or Amphibious Combat Vehicle, is the replacement for the ageing fleet of AAVs, some of which have been around since the mid-1970s. The Corps began rolling them out ahead of schedule last October.Since the deadly accident last summer that claimed the lives of nine service members, the Marine Corps has not conducted any waterborne operations with its amphibious vehicles. These are not expected to resume until the service has finished making changes to the way these vehicles are maintained and operated.Marine officials have stressed repeatedly that they are committed to preventing something like what happened last July from happening again.

Marines who drowned when their AAV sank didn't have breathing devices because the Corps canceled the program to cut costs

By Shakoor Rather New Delhi, Jun 9 () Mathematical models of the progression of COVID-19 show it would be "possible" for Delhi to have 5.5 lakh cases by the end of July, several scientists said on Tuesday, and stated that community transmission of the disease may have started a while ago. Warning of more trouble ahead, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the number of COVID-19 cases could surge to 5.5 lakh by July 31, up from about 30,000 on Tuesday. India's tally has crossed 2,66,000. "The model that I used for India found that there could be around 8-10 lakh cases in India by mid or end of July. So it won't be surprising to get to those figures (5.5 lakh) in Delhi," said Samit Bhattacharya, mathematics professor and researcher at the School of Natural Sciences at Shiv Nadar University. "Delhi getting around 5.5 lakh cases by end July might be possible as the number of cases is growing," Bhattacharya told . According to virologist Upasana Ray, only epidemiologists and statisticians can comment on exact numbers and predictions. "I believe that if the government is telling something, there must be some basis to it," Ray, senior scientist at CSIR-IICB, Kolkata, added. Reaching the alarmingly high figure of 5.5 lakh is possible using mathematical modelling, agreed Lovi Raj Gupta, executive dean of Science and Technology, Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab. "The validity and the accuracy would depend on the selection of the model based on the variation of data. As this is time-series data, trends and seasonality play vital role," Gupta told . Time series analysis is a statistical technique dealing with data in a series of particular time periods or intervals. "You look at what is happening previously and average it out and on the basis of that you can create the differencing pattern of the future. It can be very well done using time series variation," Gupta said. Mathematical modelling can be used to understand how a virus spreads within a population, according to a research article published in the journal BMC Public Health. The essence of mathematical modelling lies in writing down a set of mathematical equations that mimic reality. These are then solved for certain values of the parameters within the equations. The solutions of the mathematical model can be refined when information already known about the virus spread is used -- for example, available data on reported number of infections, the reported number of hospitalisations or the confirmed number of deaths due to the infection. Talking to reporters after a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, Sisodia also quoted officials from the Centre as saying there is no community transmission of COVID-19 in Delhi. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain added in a separate conversation with the media that the source of infection is "not known" in nearly half the fresh cases being reported. Bhattacharya said community transmission "definitely" started a long time back in Delhi. "It doesn't mean the whole of Delhi will have infections uniformly for community transmission to happen. Nearly 30,000 infections in Delhi have already happened and according to the Delhi population it is definitely community transmission," he said. "As far as my understanding of disease transmission, in local transmission there is a small spike in the number of infections. After that it gradually increases, and definitely at that point starts the community transmission." Bhattacharya added. Ray explained that community transmission is said to happen or is a stage of disease transmission which by definition lacks exact source of transmission for many reported cases, that is the source of infection might not be traced back. "We have seen a very long and stringent lockdown in our country. Yet, the number of cases have been seen to be rising. In many cases we can't trace back the source. "If the rise in COVID 19 cases can't be linked to community transmission, then the next question should be.....what is the reason for such an increase? Is the virus more virulent? We don't know that either. Are we bringing in infection from elsewhere? How can that be? It was a lockdown." While all these assumptions are true, it will not be wrong to say that just an increase in infection numbers won't point to community transmission, Ray added. SAR MIN MIN MIN

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