Minister of State for Science and Technology Y S Chowdary today launched – Sohum – a newborn hearing screening device in New Delhi. <br/><br/>The Device was developed by School of International Biodesign under Department of Biotechnology. Sohum device uses brainstem auditory evoked response to check for hearing response in a newborn. More than eight lakh hearing impaired babies are born annually, of which nearly one lakh are born in India. <br/><br/>Mr Chowdary said, 75 per cent of the medical equipment is imported in the country. He said, there are plans to conduct, mandatory auditory test in every Primary Health centres.