The carnival was titled 'Sports 4 All' and saw participation from over 200 players who come from Delhi, Nagpur, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and across Tamil Nadu, and most of them were trying out sports for the very first time in their life.

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 17 (ANI): Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who is on his visit to the southern state of the country- Tamil Nadu, on Sunday addressed the students of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras.

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], April 29 (ANI): With a continuous surge in COVID-19 cases at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, 11 more infections were reported today taking the total number of infected people up to 182, informed Tamil Nadu Health Secretary, Dr J Radhakrishnan on Friday.

Chennai Feb 18 PTI Researchers belonging to the Indian Institute of Technology IIT Madras have submitted a proposal to the government for implementing groundwater recharge technology for flood and drought mitigation near Ayankulam village in Thisayanvilai taluk of Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu the institute said on Friday Led by Dr Venkatraman Srinivasan assistant professor Department of Civil Engineering in the IIT a team visited the site in December last to investigate into an open agricultural well near the village that the locals claimed got recharged with an estimated 1500-2500 litres of water every second for several weeks without overflowing The recharged water was from the excess overflow of an adjacent minor irrigation tank due to the record monsoon rains in November-December 2021 The team explored also the potential of this well and other wells in the region for use as rapid aquifer recharge during floods for storage and withdrawal during the dry summer months It suggested implementing a rapid recharge technology which when developed can bring several benefits including mitigate floods and droughts and create a subsurface dam for water storage without evaporation loss distribute water automatically and equitably throughout the region filter and clean water when managed appropriately and prevent and reverse saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers The proposal for the project was submitted to the Tirunelveli district administration which had requested the IIT to study this phenomenon a press release said The well became a local attraction and was called a miracle well since typical wells would fill and overflow at such recharge rates Locals have been practising this method of well recharge during intense monsoon for several decades the release said The team said the villagers claimed this practice to have increased the local water table in a 10-15 km radius from the well The region surrounding this village is considered a dry belt with hot summers Many small land-holding farmers have abandoned farming and work as labourers in larger farms or other labour-based occupations the release said Being close to the coastal zone several agricultural and domestic wells in the region suffer from salt water intrusion due to excessive pumping and lowering of groundwater levels Even extending the agricultural water availability by a few months each year can positively impact the livelihood of the farmers the release said This is a win-win situation for stakeholders The excess water which causes devastating floods and will otherwise empty into the ocean is being channelled to recharge the groundwater for storage and retrieval in the dry summer months Venkatraman Srinivasan said The unique hydro-geology of the region allows the implementation of this rapid aquifer recharge In most other places wells do not sustain such high injection rates and would easily overflow he said The rapid groundwater recharge technology proposed for this study area is different from conventional rainwater harvesting or well recharge For example in Chennai groundwater recharge is practised in every household by collecting rooftop rainwater This comprises 1000s of recharge structures and each can recharge about 150000-200000 litres of rainwater over a good monsoon season In contrast the proposed recharge technology at Ayankulam village would consist of a few dozen wells with each capable of recharging 150000 to 200000 litres of water every minute during floods As floodwater from rivers carries sediments that can clog the well in the long-term the team suggested installing sediment traps to remove suspended sediments before recharging the wells Additionally water quality parameters need to be monitored to ensure safety of recharge the team said It said it performed an on-field site survey of the injection well and 20 additional wells in a one-km radius The wells were geo-tagged using GPS equipment Water-level measurements taken from these wells were combined with digital elevation map data to obtain groundwater hydraulic gradients These are used to predict the direction and flow of groundwater in the region Water samples were also collected from 13 wells for fingerprinting analysis of water quality parameters A preliminary assessment by the IIT indicated that sub-surface geology of the region was likely a fracturedkarst aquifer which has hydraulic conductivities that are orders of magnitude larger than conventional aquifers This unique hydro-geology of Thisayavilai taluk and surrounding areas enables rapid recharge during floods The recharged water would be stored below ground and retrieved during dryer months PTI JSP NVG NVG

New Delhi Aug 23 PTI Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology IIT Madras claimed to have developed Indias first indigenous motorised wheelchair vehicle that can be used not only on roads but also on uneven terrainsCalled NeoBolt it has a maximum speed of 25 kmph and travels up to 25 km per charge It empowers wheelchair users with a convenient safe and low-cost mode of outdoor mobility when compared to cars auto-rickshaws or modified scooters they saidNeoBolt is powered by a lithium-ion battery the researchers addedAccording to the team India currently imports 25 lakh of the total three lakh wheelchairs sold in the country annually Products with comparable features are available only in the global market and are three to five times more expensive than those developed by the IIT Madras researchersThe researchers collaborated extensively with organisations and hospitals working for people with locomotor disability and built the products after factoring in their experiences and making constant design adjustments the team saidWhile the wheelchair has been developed by the institutes Centre for Rehabilitation Research and Device Development it has been commercialised through a startup called Neo MotionSujatha Srinivasan from the Department of Mechanical Engineering IIT Madras said the wheelchair will be available to users at an approximate price of Rs 55000The motor-powered attachment NeoBolt converts the wheelchair into a safe road-worthy vehicle that can navigate any kind of terrain that we may normally encounter drive through unpaved streets or climb a steep gradient And do this comfortably as it has suspensions to absorb the shocks Srinivasan saidProducts with features comparable to NeoBolt are available only in the global market and are at least three to five times more expensive she added PTI GJS IJT