Three professors at the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad have received research grants by the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) to grow and foster a culture of research and innovation in the country. Prof. Chittaranjan Hens, Centre for Computational Natural Sciences and Bioinformatics, Prof. Karthik Vaidyanathan, Software Engineering Research Centre and Prof. Gowtham Kurri, Signal Processing and Communications Research Centre have been awarded the Prime Minister’s Early Career Research Grant initiated under the Anusandhan National Research Foundation which supports young researchers in initiating their research careers in a new institution with the help of a flexible budget and progressive initiatives for the ease of doing research. Each research grant which is meant for young researchers no older than 42 years of age provides up to 60 lakhs plus overheads for a period of 3 years.

A research team from IIITH led by Prof. P Krishna Reddy, in collaboration with scientists from Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), has launched Version 2 of the Crop Darpan app, an AI-powered mobile tool designed to help farmers instantly diagnose crop health issues. Development of Crop Darpan is part of a joint research initiative between India and Japan under the India-Japan Joint Research Laboratory project. The initiative, titled ‘Data Science-based Farming Support System for Sustainable Crop Production under Climatic Change’, involves multiple institutes, including IITH, IITB, PJTSAU, and the University of Tokyo. Crop Darpan helps farmers detect issues in rice and cotton crops, including pest infestations, bacterial and fungal diseases, and nutrient deficiencies. The app not only diagnoses problems but also offers scientific guidance on corrective measures.

The International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIITH), which houses the Kohli Centre on Intelligent Systems (KCIS), established the Centre for Digital Technologies in Healthcare (CDiTH). This is in collaboration with AIG Hospital, which is now marketed as an AI (artificial intelligence) medical facility. Prof PJ Narayanan, director of IIITH stated that CDiTH is a translation lab developed to use current digital technologies to improve the efficacy and economy of healthcare delivery for real-world impact in India and around the world by efficiently linking academic research and clinical practice. “AIG does 2,000 plus surgeries a month. Emergencies may develop in any of these patients. But, by using AI, in our hospital, we can avoid the ‘Code Blue’ situation and be able to save three lives a day. ‘Code Blue’ is a universal emergency signalling a medical alert to seek immediate attention,” said Dr. D Nageshwar Reddy, chairman, AIG Hospitals while inaugurating the CDiTH