The chief controller of the leading defence contractor and aerospace manufacturer, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Saturday announced that the inexpensive, cost effective, rapid typhoid test kit will be available on the market shortly. According to the distinguished Scientist & Chief Controller of the New Delhi based DRDO, A. Sivathanu Pillai, the cheap typhoid test kit will be released on the market, after it obtains requisite certification and clearances.   

Mr. Sivathanu Pillai, the CEO and Managing Director, Brahmos Aerospace Limited, stated from Tiruchi that the DRDO has conducted a number of successful tests on the typhoid kit, which is now just waiting the certification mandatorily required for health-related products. Mr. Pillai was in Tiruchi to release a stamp commemorating Brahmos supersonic missile.   

According to Mr. Pillai, the typhoid kit helps in faster diagnosis of the disease, just in a few minutes (approximately in three minutes), which helps in early care, control, and treatment of the disease. the cost of the typhoid kit will be equal to one-fifth of the existing typhoid detection systems.

Mr. Pillai revealed that the DRDO is already working to develop cheaper indigenous cochlear implant at the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) Visakhapatnam, and the project would be complete by December. Mr. Pillai told that the DRDO is aiming to bring down the cost of Cochlear implant, which currently costs about Rs 7 lakh in other countries, to Rs 1 lakh.    

Mr. Pillai said, "We have developed the concept for a cochlear implant. Right now we are working on reducing the weight of the product. By December 2009, the product would be ready and would be given for certification from health agencies.”

According to Mr. Pillai, the DRDO’s Aspheric magnifier, which helps in improving the vision of the people suffering from partial blindness, is ready to be released on the market in six months, and the DRDO has made the lightweight calipers even more lighter by replacing a metal joint with composite material. The DRDO will distribute the lightweight calipers among one lakh physically disabled people with the support of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India.

Speaking of BrahMos supersonic missile, Mr. Pillai told that the Brahmos Aerospace Limited will launch the Air Force version of the BrahMos in 2011, and it will be inducted into the air force in 2012. He also disclosed that Brahmos Aerospace Limited is also aiming to develop Brahmos II, the hypersonic missile that would be able to travel at a speed of 5 to 7 Mac.