MoU signed between NIF and Dabur earlier this year
In what could give Indian indigenous medicine a boost, a herbal concoction used by a 60-year-old woman to treat early stage cataract of people in in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai district may soon make its way to market shelves.
This traditional wisdom used by herbal healer Muthulakshmi for decades may be commercialised after Ahmedabad headquartered National Innovation Foundation (NIF) which supports such grassroots innovations has signed an MoU with Dabur Research Foundation earlier this year to develop and commercialise the product.
The herbal medicine which was used to treat early stage cataract patients is currently up for clinical trials and is expected to hit the markets in 6 months.
“We scouted this product with the help of Honey Bee Network, our collective a few years ago. In the past we have validated traditional knowledge and practices of people that are unavailable in classical codified texts with the help of ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research). We got excellent results with the herb that treats patients with early state cataract after preliminary tests were conducted on this herbal medicine tested with PERD (Pharmaceutical Education & Research Development) Ahmedabad.
Later we signed a co-development agreement (MoU) with Dabur Research Foundation earlier this year for testing and developing the herbal medicine. Dabur also has the first right of refusal and can pay market cost for the technology,” said Vipin Kumar, director & chief innovation Officer(CIO) of NIF-India, an autonomous body of DST, Govt of India.
Kicking off the momentum for indigenous traditional medicine made from a flower and administered by Muthulakshmi to treat cataract patients in her region, may be available commercially in an affordable format after it is developed as a viable herbal product.
“We have signed a broad-based MoU and are working with NIF to develop herbal-based products to treat humans through the non-codified herb. The flower is indigenous and grows widely in the country. However, knowledge of this traditional medicine may be lost if it is not passed on to the people. The formula needs to be checked for efficacy on cells and duplicated and made affordable to poor. Through preliminary data we are trying to see if the extract has the potential to cure and will be conducting a clinical trial on 200 subjects.
We are currently in the process of finalising a chemical centre. The money generated through the IPR or patent of this herbal medicine and its royalty will go to the inventor Muthulakshmi and not to us or the NIF. The product can be commercialised within 3 to 6 months once clinical trials are over. Once the product formulation is complete we would obviously not like to refuse it and bring it at affordable rates as our CSR and try to make it low cost for people,” said Dr Manu Jaggi, chief scientific officer, Dabur Research Foundation.
“I have been urging everyone to switch to solar for the last decade. It is the best decision I have made. If people just understood how simple it is, they would be willing to try it. It has to do more with the mindset” says Chennai citizen D Suresh, who has been bestowed the moniker Solar Suresh for his efforts to take solar energy to the general public in the city and the state.
A study by Greenpeace India and GERMI titled Rooftop Revolution:Unleashing Chennai’s Solar Potential estimates that Chennai has an untapped rooftop solar power generation potential of 1.38 GW, with the largest segment being residential rooftops that constitute 46% of the potential at 586 MW.
The push towards renewable energy has seen central and state subsidies for those who opt for solar power, with capital incentives and credits as part of their electricity bill payments. The effort on the part of the government has so far focused on getting households to set up grid-connected solar rooftop plants that are linked to the existing system.
How does a solar rooftop system work?
A grid-connected solar rooftop system set-up along with a bi-directional meter can be used to monitor the energy generated and consumed by solar-powered households. If surplus power is generated, the energy is fed into the grid and the household receives an annual credit in the electricity bill based on net meter readings.
The grid-connected system eliminates the use of batteries, thereby bringing down capital cost and space required for setting up a solar power plant.
So, if you want to join in too, and not only do your bit for renewable energy, but also bring about some savings in your energy bill, here are some more basics that you might want to know.
Cost and savings implications
Under the Chief Minister’s Domestic Rooftop Solar Incentive Scheme, individual houses or flats with grid-connected rooftop solar panel installation in Chennai are eligible for a maximum subsidy of Rs 20,000 for a 1 KWp (kilowattpeak) plant to be used solely for residential purposes. This is in addition to the 30% central subsidy offered by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) on the benchmark cost or project cost, whichever is less.
For residential flats, a capacity of 5 kW, 10 kW and multiples thereof can be applied for common usage as group application.
The average cost of a 1KWp plant is close to Rs 70,000, with subsidies bringing down the cost to close to Rs. 45,000.
A 1KWp plant produces 4-5 units of electricity per day. Households can decide on the capacity of the plant required to power their needs based on their existing consumption. The feed-in credit on the consumer’s electricity bill from excess power generation can be availed for a year, as per the rates fixed by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB).
Prerequisites of installation
A 1kw panel requires a rooftop space of 12 sq.m or 100 sq. feet for installation.
An existing TANGEDCO service connection under the LA-A1 (domestic use) tariff
Applications are available online and at the office of the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA).
The last date for applications is June 30. A list of empanelled vendors is also available on the website.
Benefits of going solar
A substantial reduction in electricity bills over a period of time
It is a renewable source of energy that can be harnessed on a daily basis
Protection against tariff increase as the life of a solar panel is 25 years
Savings made on solar is tax-free
It is an environment-friendly alternative to conventional electricity, reducing the reliance on coal and fossil fuels
Encourages self-sufficiency and reduces wastage as excess power is transferred to the grid
source: http://www.chennai.citizenmatters.in / Citizen Matters / Home> City Guide / by Aruna Natarajan / June 29th, 2018
M. Savithru displaying his micro carvings on pencil tips. | Photo Credit: M_Periasamy
A 24-year-old engineering graduate from Coimbatore is attempting to get into Universal Book of Records (World Records) through micro art carved on pencil tips.
M. Savithru completed his B.Tech in Fashion Technology and is passionate about micro art since the age of 16. He has carved Tamil letters, statues of leaders like Kamaraj, Jayalalithaa, and Nethaji on the pencil tips.
Apart from pencil tips, he has done carvings in soaps, chalk piece, fruits and vegetables too. He attempted to enter the Universal Book of World Records on January 24 this year by making 100 carvings from 1.10 p.m. on January 24 to 1.10 p.m. the next day. He had created 30 micro arts on pencil tips, 50 in soaps, 10 in chalk pieces and another 10 in vegetables and fruits. His attempt was witnessed by a representative from the Universal Book of Records.
He also plans to enter the Guinness Book of World Records by creating world’s tiny chess board in the size of 1 cm x 1 cm, as the previous world record was 1.53 cm x 1.53 cm.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by R. Arivanathan / Coimbatore – June 25th, 2018
A device that helps school children with kinesthetic dyslexia has bagged the top honours at the Smart India Hackathon 2018 – Hardware Edition under the ‘Smart Communication’ category held at the CSIR-CEERI here.
A brainchild of students from KCJ College of Engineering, Chennai, the device makes life easier for dyslexic kids who find it difficult to read, write or interpret words, letters and other symbols.
The second and third spots went to the teams from Bengaluru and Delhi respectively for coming up with a solution to the perennial problem of lost baggage at airports.
This was the second edition of the hackathon, a national level technical event conducted by the Union Human Resources Development Ministry to harness the creativity and energy of the country’s youth and boost the digital India initiative.
In the first stage, 27 ministries and departments and 17 state governments shared their problems on the website.
Following that, over one lakh students from more than 1,200 high schools sent in their solutions to the ministry.
The grand finale was held on Friday at 10 major centres including the CSIR-CEERI, Pilani, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Roorkee and IISC Bengaluru. Before the prize distribution ceremony, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar addressed the participants through video conferencing.
While appreciating the efforts of the participants, he interacted with two teams each from every centre.
Underlining the importance of the event, Javadekar said innovation was of utmost importance for a country like India. The students are talented and they must contribute to the development of the country with their creativity.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the event earlier, the minister had said that the 27 inventions, developed by students in the previous edition of the hackathon, were in the final phase of testing and will be put to use soon.
At the CSIR-CEERI finale, a total of 13 teams had participated with six members each.
The other teams too presented their hardware prototypes that could help in solving a range of issues from preventing forest fires to issuing flood warning.
Notably, a team of students from Kolkata’s Guru Nanak Institute of Technology showcased a pair special gloves for mute people that can convert the hand gestures of the individual into audio format using a smartphone app.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> Education / by PTI / June 24th, 2018
The Indian flag at the War Memorial. Photo: R. Ravindran.
The Ministry of Defence on the care that goes into ensuring the Indian flag fluttering over the War Memorial is at its best
It is only when something goes wrong that we realise how well it had been running all along, without a hitch. Recently, passers-by noticed that the massive Indian flag fluttering high over the War Memorial, on the way to the Secretariat, was slightly damaged at the edges. One of them even posted a picture of the flag on Facebook, following which the flag was promptly replaced.
Through sources from the Ministry of Defence, it was learnt that great effort is taken to protect the Indian flag. Due to windy conditions prevailing on the coast, the edges of the flag, which is supplied by a private firm, get damaged regularly.
To prevent this, the two flags are stitched together.
“The plan to have such a massive flag was to promote the feeling of oneness and patriotism among the citizens and remind them about the sacrifices made by soldiers,” said a source.
However, since the flag is flying near the beach, heavy winds damage it frequently. According to Part 2 of the Flag Code of India, a damaged or dishevelled flag should not be displayed.
“Whenever this happens we bring down the flag and replace it with a good one,” the source added.
“It is common for flags to get damaged easily due to heavy winds, especially at the edges. Whenever the flag gets damaged, it should be de-hoisted immediately and replaced with a good one. We have appointed security guards, on shift basis, to ensure that such flags are replaced on time,” said Shahnawaz Khan, CEO, Flag Foundation of India.
Shahnawaz said that an officer has been appointed to de-hoist the flag and replace it with a good one.
“This flag was changed only two days ago,” the source said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Vivek Narayanan / June 22nd, 2018
On World Music Day, we search for a legendary artiste’s house and find ourselves amidst an entire family of musicians who breathe and live music
Once upon a time, there lived a man called Gaana Palani. He lived in Pulianthope and loved his community more than himself. He hoped for true upliftment of his people through music. He revered BR Ambedkar, did not believe in caste-class segregation, so he sang about equality.
Many of us may not know him, but he is a legend in North Chennai, the hub of gaana music, where he performed for 30 years. Till he passed away a year ago, he would be taken on a horse around the locality, after which he would perform and people would burst crackers to welcome him.
A search for his house in Pulianthope led us to his son, Gaana Ulagam Dharani. This young gaana singer took us through the narrow alleys of Dr Ansari Street in the area. Here Palani’s picture was pasted on the wall as a tribute.
Gaana is intrinsic to North Chennai’s music culture. Pulianthope, Vyasarpaadi, Purusaiwalkam and Kasimedu are neighbourhoods famous for this style of music. Share autos, lorries and tempos here play them almost like anthems everyday.
“Knock every door here, you will find a gaana artiste,” says the 22-year-old musician, who estimates that there are about 100 gaana artists performing in the area.
Everyone in Dharani’s family sings and plays an instrument; his cousin brothers, S Kumaravel and S Muthukumar, his uncle, K Swaminathan, trained by veteran musician, MS Viswanathan and his two-year-old nephew Mitran Kanish whose favourite pastime is twiddling with the drum sticks. They say gaana music has evolved to incorporate many instruments over the years — ranging from the simple harmonium to the advanced electronic guitar, keyboard, drums and pads.
A powerful voice
Dharani says his father used to sing through vintage microphones. He had a powerful voice, recalls Dharani, that sent waves of admiration through crowds. Once a journalist asked him if he earned any money through his music. He answered that he was singing for progress. “He would say, ‘Let my people grow first, then I will’. Father always used to tell us how you need to be political. But, that does not mean we have to enter politics. It can reflect in our music.” Palani wrote around 3,000 songs; on love, humour and caste inequality. Dharani recalls how he used to tag along with his father to many of his concerts. “He would always tell me, ‘When you sing you should feel like you are dying. You must sing with such earnestness’.”
Dharani’s friend, Sarath Kumar, an expert in sattai, a traditional gaana percussion instrument, joins us. Kumar says he learnt the tricks from his uncle. Their jam sessions did not take place in a conventional room, but in a graveyard, says the musician, who has a penchant for dark humour. “And, once practice was over, I would join my friends on the other side of the cemetery to play football or cricket. We had so much fun. I have even spent many nights there. It is home for me.” It could be because of the notoriety of North Chennai (seen as an area high in crime) or gaana’s original association with death, but the music is not seen as respectable by much of Chennai.
However, of late, initiatives such as the Casteless Collective band featuring around 19 musicians including gaana artistes and film music composers are attempting to give the form the respect it deserves, says Dharani, who is also a member of the Collective. Recently, Dharani, along with his friends from the Collective performed at The Park hotel in an intimate talk show hosted by Stray Factory.
“But, despite all this, making daily ends meet is a struggle. I still perform at death and marriage functions. I earn around ₹3,000 per function. My family relies on me,” says Kumar.
He is also a percussion magician, who can juggle around 20 instruments including the udukku, base dhol, and side drums. “There is popularity to this art form, but no money to that measure.”
A knock on the door tells us that neighbours have arrived to listen to the daily family jam, a regular ritual every afternoon. We watch the brothers beat the sattai and parai with energy, with the neighbourhood kids scooting around the place brandishing tablas and parai drums. Dharani’s mother, P Rajeshwari, takes a break from her conversation with the neighbours to watch them, amused by the children’s antics. It looks as though the family’s worries have melted away as they surrender to their gaana beats.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Music / by Parshathy J. Nath / June 20th, 2018
I Support Farming strives to make agriculture a profitable business option
The floods that rampaged Chennai and several regions on the Coromandel coast in 2015 transformed Vasanth Kumar Mani’s life. A marketing professional with an IT firm, he had gone to Cuddalore for relief work. “I saw how peoplefrom other parts of the State donated food and clothes,” recalls Vasanth. “But they were just dropped off at the centre of the city. A lot of them didn’t reach those in need.” Vasanth saw how there was a huge gap between those willing to do something for society, and those who actually need it. “This is the case with farming,” he says.
“A farmer requires ₹1,000 to plough half an acre of land,” he says. This amount may not be a big amount to a salaried city-dweller. “But for a marginal farmer, this is a big deal.” What if they and those with a heart and the capacity to give, are connected? This is the idea behind I Support Farming, a company that Vasanth and his brother Vijayakumar Mani founded in 2016. Vijay quit his HR job to take the plunge.
“We enable the partnership of the two,” says Vasanth, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture. According to him, this business partnership is a win-win for all those who are involved. The “investment” made by a city-dweller, goes into buying seeds, fertilizers, and renting tractors (the company has its own). “We facilitate all of this,” he adds.
The company has a team of 14 on-field technical officers who oversee work on the land. “The profit is split among the three of us — a major portion goes to the farmer, and the rest for the investor and our company,” he explains.
Vasanth says that investing in farming can give better returns than say, opening a Fixed Deposit account. “It’s not as risky as the share market too.” I Support Farming, for their part, does most of the ground work — it evaluates the land before opening it out to investors and also provides technical support to farmers. “We connect with local agricultural research stations to give scientific inputs,” says Vasanth.
Vijay adds that they hope to scale up their company like a mutual fund investment. With an office at the TIDEL Park, Vasanth and Vijay are now working towards opening a line of retail outlets in the city from where people can directly pick-up farmers’ produce.
All this required plenty of work though. “The most difficult part was convincing farmers to come on board,” says Vijay. But they managed to do so. The trick, they realised, was to talk to the most influential farmer in the village.
The first farmer to open up to their initiative was Dhanasekar from Anumandai village in Viluppuram, who convinced several others to join him. Vijay and Vasanth want to do away with the impression that farming is a loss-making venture. Says Vasanth, “With the right approach, we can bring about change.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society / by Akila Kannadasan / June 20th, 2018
Students can visit the museum at Manjoor that has an array of equipment and photographs
The hydro-electric museum which was inaugurated recently at Manjoor, boasting more than 600 pieces of equipment and historical photographs, aims to highlight the history of hydro-electric power, and the Nilgiris’ key role in electrifying Tamil Nadu till the second half of the 20th Century.
The museum, believed to be the only one of its kind in India, has been set up to not only detail the history of the various hydro-electric projects across the State and country, but to also serve as a centre for documentation for students and researchers to delve into, and to learn about the early techniques used for dam construction, operation and maintenance.
S. Ragu, Superintending Engineer, Kundah Hydro-Electric Circle, told The Hindu the museum highlights the roles of the people responsible for introducing hydro-electric power to Tamil Nadu and India, like the first chairman of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, V.P. Appadurai Mudaliar, who travelled to Canada and brought back expertise.
“In fact, the Sri Appadurai Collection in the museum comprises photographs and documentation brought back by the man himself after his trip to Canada,” said Mr. Ragu.
The museum also emphasises the crucial role the power stations played in fuelling the economies of the surrounding districts, including Coimbatore. Mr. Ragu pointed out that the Singara power station helped power the textile mills and other industries in Coimbatore. “We also have pictures and documentation of the now demolished, temporary power station at Glenmorgan, which used to produce around 1 megawatt of electricity for the Nilgiris,” he added.
One of the most striking exhibits at the museum is a series of 52 photographs documenting, step-by-step, the construction of the Emerald Dam. Each row contains images of the left and right banks, as well as the centre of the dam, showcasing in great detail not only the scale of the project, but also the thousands of workers engaged in the construction.
“The Kundah dam was constructed over a three-and-a-half-year period with over 10,000 workers reportedly working each day,” said Mr. Ragu.
V.R. Thimmarayappan, who joined the Kundah hydro-electric circle as Junior Engineer in 1961 shortly after its completion, and who was on a visit to the museum, said that the museum was showcasing instruments and equipment that have been in use since the early 1930s. “As the golden era of dam constructions have come to an end, college students and people interested in learning about the history of the various dams across Tamil Nadu must pay a visit to the museum,” he said.
It has taken officials more than a year to collect the items that are currently on display, including survey equipment, prepaid electricity meters, phone booths and other technical equipment that were installed in the power plants. Most of the items were rescued from scrap heap and restored to their original condition before being put on display. Mr. Ragu said the museum was open to visit by college students or of any educational institution.
“As the interest in the museum will be from a purely technical perspective, we feel that engineering students and students pursuing higher education will stand to gain the most from the visit. They are free to do so after getting permission from us,” said Mr. Ragu.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Rohan Premkumar / Udhagamandalam – June 19th, 2018
The Daibutsu in Tōdai-ji , the world’s largest bronze statue of Buddha. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/ iStock
The oldest recorded Indian in Japan impacts the country’s culture even today
The Indian diaspora in Japanhas historically been small, but has encompassed a colourful cast, from revolutionaries to textile traders. The oldest documented Indian resident in Japan, and arguably the most influential, was Bodhisena, a monk from Madurai whose outsized impact on Japanese culture persists even some 1,300 years after he docked on the archipelago’s shores.
Bodhisena, or Bodaisenna as his name is pronounced in Japanese, was born around 704 AD. His life and journeys exemplify the multi-directional flows of Buddhist influence and the complex ways in which these tied swathes of Asia into a civilisational embrace. Like many South Asian Buddhist monks, Bodhisena came to believe that Manjushri (the bodhisattva of wisdom) lived on the Chinese mountain of Wutai, and therefore travelled there to pay obeisance. While in China, he met the Japanese ambassador to the Tang court, who persuaded him to carry on to Japan on the invitation of the then Emperor, Shomu (701-756 AD), a devout Buddhist.
Influence of Sanskrit
Bodhisena voyaged to Japan via Cambodia and Champa (central and southern Vietnam) with a gaggle of theological glitterati that collectively shaped much of the contours of Japanese Buddhism and courtly culture.
On board was Genbo, a bureaucrat of Emperor Shomu’s court at Nara, who had spent 17 years in China collecting over 5,000 Buddhist texts. Another shipmate, Kibi no Makibi, is linked to the development of the Japanese syllabary and script of katakana, still in use today. The influence of Sanskrit on katakana is sometimes attributed to the time Makibi spent travelling with, and learning from, Bodhisena. Makibi also introduced to Japan the art of Chinese embroidery, as well as the lyre, which as the koto, became a standard feature of Japanese court music.
The Indian themes
A disciple of Bodhisena from Champa, Buttetsu, rounded off the band of monastic travellers. Buttetsu went on to teach a style of dance that featured themes taken from Indian mythology, set to a musical rhythm, common in South Asia, but unknown at the time in Japan. These dances became known as rinyugaku and were absorbed into the local artistic oeuvre.
Bodhisena’s ship docked at Osaka in 736 AD and the group made their way to the capital: Nara. It was during the Nara era (710-784 AD) that Buddhism, buttressed by learnings from Tang dynasty China, became firmly established in Japan, overcoming initial resistance from the Shinto-devoted elite. Under Emperor Shomu Buddhism was granted official recognition as a religion that was a “protector of the state.” Temples in Nara began to accumulate vast landholdings and wielded huge political influence.
The Kegon school
Bodhisena’s arrival in the capital took place within this context. Until then, Japan’s knowledge of Buddhism had been entirely mediated through either Korea or Japan. As an Indian, Bodhisena was immediately held in reverence and housed at Daian-ji temple, the preeminent education and research institute for Buddhism at the time. The Indian monk taught Sanskrit and helped establish the Kegon school of Buddhism, a variant of the Chinese Huayan school. He died in 760 AD and is buried in Ryusenji-temple on the slopes of Mt. Omine.
The Tōdai-ji temple | Photo Credit: Wiki Commons
Unlike some historical Buddhist sects, the Kegon continues to flourish today, with its headquarters at Nara’s Tōdai-ji temple, a Unesco World Heritage site. Founded in 738 AD and officially opened in 752 AD, Tōdai-ji is best known for its 500-tonne, 15-metre-high Buddha — the largest bronze statue in the world.
The gargantuan sculpture, known as the Daibutsu, was commissioned by the Emperor in hope of gaining divine favour and thereby reversing the effects of a devastating drought, compounded by an outbreak of smallpox that had ravaged the area in 737AD.
The hall that houses the Daibutsu is one of the world’s largest wooden structures. It is Nara’s most popular tourist draw and is thronged with visitors from around the world. After gawping at the Daibutsu, they usually head to a hole in one of the pillars that holds up the edifice. According to legend, the hole is the exact size of one of the Buddha statue’s nostrils and anyone who crawls through it will gain enlightenment, albeit in their next life. No one seems to know the exact dimensions of the hole/ nostril, but it is large enough for a child to tunnel through with relative ease. A number of adult Chinese tourists attempt to pass, but all get stuck at the hip.
To one side of the main temple are the living quarters of the Morimoto family, the head priests of Tōdai-ji. The lodgings comprise a series of low-roofed rooms, interconnected by covered walkways, overlooking classical Japanese gardens, dotted with pine trees and rockeries. Seated in a reception area facing a late-blooming, weeping cherry tree, Kosei Moritomo sips from a cup of green tea. The Elder Moritomo (as he is respectfully known) has retired as the 218th head of Tōdai-ji and leader of the Kegon school of Buddhism. But he remains sprightly, his eyes lively and darting when he talks of Bodhisena, as though an old friend.
He dwells on the role of the Indian monk in the consecration ceremony of the Daibutsu. For it was Bodhisena, of all the eminent Buddhist scholars in Nara at the time, who was chosen to perform the statue’s “eye opening” ceremony. In front of a huge, cosmopolitan gathering that included ambassadors from Persia, Korea, Vietnam, China and Central Asia, Bodhisena painted the pupils on the eyes of the Buddha statue, inviting the spirit in to animate the sculpture.
“I think in India you understand about the spirit coming into the statue?” the Elder Moritomo asks. “It is a very difficult concept to explain to Westerners.” The former head priest turns reflective. He says that Japan has tried to dominate the world first by military means and then with its electronic industry. Both failed. “I believe it is in Buddhism that it can most exert an global influence,” he concludes.
Then he smiles and offers this writer another cup of tea.
The writer is a globetrotter who is currently parked in Japan.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture / by Pallavi Aiyar / June 09th, 2018
WWDC 2018: Calzy, an elegantly designed calculator app, by Chennai-based developer Raja Vijayaram won the Apple Design Award.
Apple WWDC 2018: Chennai-based developer Raja Vijayaram won the Apple Design Award for his app
It was a surprise Raja Vijayaram will never forget. When he packed his bags for Apple WWDC from Chennai, Raja has no idea he would be on stage receiving an Apple Design Award on Day 1 of the developer conference. His app Calzy, an elegantly designed calculator app, had been picked up by Apple for the awards and Raja had been flown in to San Jose without being told that he was a winner. So there Raja was on stage in his Rajnikanth T-shirt with the world watching his reimagining of the calculator.
“I had no idea. I thought I would be meeting people at WWDC,” says the unassuming man from Chennai. In fact, Raja’s story is a fascinating one. A mechanical engineer from Theni, he switched over to VFX a few years on and moved to Chennai where he worked on a few movies, even some starring Rajinikanth himself. “That’s when I bought my first iPhone and used apps. I taught myself about apps and even learnt to code,” says Raja, who is not sure if his time as a graphics artist is helping with his design thinking.
Either way, it is the out-of-the-box design concept behind Calzy that is blowing everyone away. In fact, Raja’s calculator is as simple as a calculator can be and there is nothing there that does not need to be there. So he removed the memory functions and created his own flow for the same with drag and drop. He’s also added an expression view, where you can see all the steps you are following. There is a scientific calculator too, but hidden away behind settings which is pulled up using 3D touch.
The Calzy 3 app is priced Rs 159 and is available only on iOS, but across works across all Apple devices from the Mac to Apple Watch. In fact, the app from Raja’s WapleStuff works as a Today Widget and even an iMessage extension.
Another interesting feature is the bookmark option for earlier calculations you might have done, along with the ability to put those behind a password. Also, everything about the app is customisable and you can even set a button to calculate a specific tax on the amount.
Raja’s Calzy app was launched in 2014.
Raja is a one-an army and does everything himself. Calzy was first launched in 2014 and the latest version is a full revamp of the earlier one. Though flooded by requests for more features, Raja is certain he wants to keep it as simple as possible. This calculation is clearly working for Calzy.
Disclaimer: The writer is in San Jose attending WWDC 2018 at the invite of Apple India
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Technology> Social / by Nandagopal Rajan / June 06th, 2018
