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Alibaba’s cloud services to help Kenya protect wildlife
Hanghzhou (China), Sep 19 (IANS) China’s e-tail giant Alibaba’s computing arm would help Kenya to protect its wildlife in Africa using its cloud services, said an official at a technology conference here on Wednesday.
“Our cloud-computing arm Alibaba Cloud and Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife have agreed to deploy cloud services to support the African country’s wildlife protection project,” said the company here at its Cloud Computing Conference 2018 being held in this ancient city, about 180km southwest of Shanghai.
Using Alibaba Cloud’s computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) tools, the project will work to protect endangered elephants, rhinos and lions inside the Tsavo East and West National Parks, Kenya’s oldest and largest protected area of over 13,500 sq km.A
“The collaboration shows the positive impact that technology, including cloud computing, AI and IoT, can have on the planet and wildlife protection,” said the President of Alibaba Cloud Simon Hu.
Around the national parks technologies like animal tracking sensors, infra-red trap cameras, smart weather stations, ranger devices and wide-area drones will be installed and connected to Alibaba Cloud’s IoT platform for monitoring the animal movements and their health.
“The platform would then analyse the data and predict their behaviour and travel routes, alerting the command centre about potential risks or dangers, such as illegal poaching and human-animal conflicts,” the company said.
Alibaba and Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife will also explore ways Ato combine the local operators’ telecommunications network with government-licensed satellites to build the infrastructure to make data transmission less costly and more intelligent, it added.
Advanced hardware such as light-weight solar-powered trackers that are easier for animals to wear would also be used in the project.
“Currently Kenya has about 35,000 elephants, and 42% of this population (12,843) are in the Tsavo ecosystem, which also provides critical habitat for rhinos, giraffe and lions, making it important for Kenya government to use technology to protect wildlife and their habitats,” added the principal secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife Margaret Mwakima.A
The ninth edition of the tech conference is being held from September 19-22 here in Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang, where Alibaba is headquartered.
–IANS
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Dr. Abhishek Verma Dedicates a Shelter in Memory of His Mother, Veena Verma, at KGMU; Inaugurated by Daughter Nicolle Verma
World-renowned business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has supported Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission. In memory of his mother, Late Veena Verma, who was a 3 term Rajya Sabha MP.
Dr. Verma dedicated a state-of-the-art free permanent shelter for the attendants of patients at KGMU Medical University, Lucknow, under the aegis of Vijay Shree Foundation. His daughter, Nicolle Verma, inaugurated the shelter.
During the event, Foodman Vishal Singh honored Nicolle Verma by presenting her with a memento. Mrs. Nidhi Sharma and Avantika Yadav, associated with the organization, welcomed her with garlands. Following this, Nicolle Verma distributed essential items to the attendants and also handed out fruits. She became emotional remembering her grandmother on her birth anniversary.
On this occasion, she also inaugurated the “Veena Verma Sevalaya” in memory of her grandmother, Veena Verma, to serve the attendants. She expressed, “I feel proud that my family is engaged in nation-building as well as social service. Today, in collaboration with Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh Ji, I feel immensely proud to dedicate this shelter for the poor, helpless, and needy attendants of patients battling serious illnesses like cancer. I am honored to be associated with the Hunger-Free World Mission for humanity.”
Inspired by the continuous humanitarian service provided by Vijay Shree Foundation over the past 17 years, Nicolle Verma donated 10 lakh rupees to support the cause. The purpose of this donation is to ensure that services continue for the needy attendants of patients suffering from severe illnesses in hospitals, as facilitated by Foodman Vishal Singh.
It is noteworthy that Dr. Abhishek Verma’s family has a legacy of public and philanthropic service. They are helping millions to carry forward the values and service work of their parents. On the occasion of his mother’s birth anniversary, Dr. Abhishek Verma dedicated this state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College to serve the attendants of patients through the Vijay Shree Foundation.
Supporting Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission, Dr. Abhishek Verma assured that he would continually support keeping this flame of humanity alive. He also promised to assist in providing medicines to the helpless patients.
Continuing her grandmother’s legacy of service, Nicolle Verma personally served food to the needy patients and attendants. She said, “It is our good fortune to have received the joy of doing this noble work today through Foodman Vishal Singh. I have taken another step forward in carrying my family’s values and cooperation by joining hands with the Vijay Shree Foundation. My father taught me to serve and help the needy, and I feel happy when I bring a smile to someone’s face.”
On the birth anniversary of the late Veena Verma, the event organizer, Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh, said, “We feel proud and happy that Dr. Abhishek Verma, a globally renowned business tycoon, has extended his support to uplift our country from the hunger index. Today, on his mother’s birth anniversary, he inaugurated a state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College, which will always be helpful for the needy attendants of patients. It is a pleasure for me and the organization to receive the affection of Mr. Verma.”
The event was attended by General Manager Verma Family Office Hemant Garg, Sonu Rajput, and the organization’s volunteers, including Sandeep Singh, Parmeshwar Ji, Prashant Rao Gautam, Balram Singh, Ramesh Chaudhary, Suman, Jeetu, Anil, Suraj, Vinay, Manish Bhadauria, Manas Mehrotra, Vivek, Apurv, Happy, and others.