Indian swimmer Bhakti Sharma sets world record in Antarctic Ocean 

India's open water swimmer Bhakti Sharma has set a world record by swimming 1.4 miles in 52 minutes in one degree temperature at Antarctic Ocean.

She has bettered the earlier record of British open water swimmer Lewis Pugh and American swimmer Lynne Cox, a release said.

Bhakti is now the youngest in the world and the first Asian girl to have achieved this feat. 

Akhilesh Joshi, the Chief Executive Officer of Hindustan Zinc, said, "We are very proud of Bhakti Sharma for this rare achievement. Whole country is proud of her and particularly girls who would be seeing her as inspiration to join swimming. Her achievement only proves that given the right support and opportunities India can produce many such talents."

Bhakti, a recipient of Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award in 2010, expressed her gratefulness towards Udaipur-based Hindustan Zinc for supporting her when she had lost hope for her mission and needed the support. 

She has been pursuing open water swimming for the last 10 years. She has now conquered all the five oceans of the world. 

IIM Prof bags Bharat Asmita Award

Trilochan Sastry, Professor in Quantitative Methods and Information Systems, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), has been awarded the ‘Bharat Asmita’, an honor instituted by the Pune-based MIT group of institutions.

Professor Sastry teaches a wide variety of courses in the post graduate programme, doctoral programme and executive education programmes, including operations management, quantitative methods, data structures, algorithms and discrete mathematics, at IIMB.

To his credit Professor Sastry has, a number of management cases on operations management, ethics, change management and electoral reforms.

Announcing the awards for 2014, ‘Bharat Asmita’ Executive Director Rahul Karad said: “This is the eleventh year of the awards, which aim at recognizing the contribution of prominent figures from the field of teaching, people’s representation, public awareness and science and technology.”

Professor Sastry will receive the award, which carries a cash prize of Rs. 1.25 lakh, a memento and an inscribed copperplate citation, on February 3, 2015.

- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/12/iim-prof-bags-bharat-asmita-award/#sthash.CvNlwsZg.dpuf

Prime Minister Narendra Modi named 'Asian of the Year' by Singapore daily

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been named 'Asian of the Year' by a leading Singaporean press group.
Modi was bestowed the title for being focused on India's development and getting the world 'excited' about the prospects of the country again.
"Despite being relatively new to the job, he has already made a mark on Asia, reaching out to neighbours and receiving national leaders including Xi Jinping of China and Tony Abbott of Australia," PTI quoted Singapore Press Holdings Limited, the publisher of The Straits Times, as stating.
"Mr Modi has got India and the world excited about his country's prospects again," Warren Fernandez, editor of the daily said in a statement.
"He has given his people a renewed sense of direction and purpose, and there are hopeful signs that he is minded to using his strong mandate to good effect in one of Asia's major powers. We wish him and India every success."
It said Modi has had a highly successful visit to Japan for a summit with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Modi's call for a 'Make in India' campaign, if pursued to its logical conclusion with a friendlier investment climate and less rigid labour norms, could help fire up the growth engines of the USD2 trillion economy and provide welcome ballast to the region when the top Asian economy China is slowing, and Japan is in recession, the statement said.
The 64-year-old leader has promised to reform the economy by cutting on the red tape and attracting foreign investments.
Modi has energised India with his stirring calls for a development focus, it said.
"Economists project that as early as next year, India could pick up the growth baton from China. Given its huge market, its travellers who fill up hotel rooms and cruise ship cabins from Singapore to Sydney, its hunger for capital goods and commodities, a resurgent India will be a boon for the region and the world," editors said in their citation.
The citation said in January US President Barack Obama would be the chief guest at India's annual Republic Day celebrations -- the first time a US leader will attend the function.
"We look forward to presenting the award to Mr Modi in person at his convenience," said Ravi Velloor, Straits Times foreign editor.
The editors' choice was based on several factors: Modi was picked for being development-focused Prime Minister who fashioned an impressive victory for BJP in the polls.
Every December, editors of the Singapore daily pick an Asian whose actions have significantly impacted his own society or the wider Asian continent in the past 12 months.
Last year, the award was shared by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The inaugural award, in 2012, went to President Thein Sein of Myanmar.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/prime-minister-narendra-modi-asian-of-the-year-singapore-press-holdings-limited/1/405483.html

President of India presents Niryat Shree and NiryatBandhu Awards

New Delhi: President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the Niryat Shree and NiryatBandhu Awards instituted by the Federation of Indian Export Organizations for outstanding performance in exports for the year 2010-11 and 2011-12 in New Delhi today (December 1, 2014). 

Speaking on the occasion, The President congratulated all the award winners and said that he was sure their achievements would inspire other exporters also to contribute more vigorously to the economic development of our country by augmenting their export efforts. 

The President said that exports have a very important role to play in our economic growth. Exporters may, however, do well to remember that in today’s fiercely competitive world, their ability to tap new markets, and consolidate their presence in existing markets, is directly dependent on the value proposition they offer to overseas buyers. They must, therefore, ensure that their products are not only reasonably priced but that they also score highly in terms of quality, robustness and durability. For this, it is essential that all of them internalize the mantras of quality consciousness, professionalism in service delivery and complete transparency and fairness in dealings with their trading and business partners. 

The President said that India has done reasonably well in all parameters of socio-economic activity over the last decade. All across, we see a genuine recognition of present day, “emerging India” embarking onto a new era and making its mark on the world stage. We are today the third largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity with our economy growing at an average rate of 7.6 per cent per year from 2004-05 to 2013-14. The international trade to GDP ratio, which was less than 15 per cent in 1991-92, is now close to 42 per cent. Our export sector has done well. From US Dollar 17.9 billion in 1991-92, the value of exports has increased to US Dollar 312.6 billion in 2013-14. The compound average growth rate of our exports during 1991-92 to 2001-02 was 9.4 per cent. This has increased to 17.8 per cent during the period 2001-02 to 2013-14. 

Nov 20 2014 : Mirror (Pune)

ISRO chosen for Indira Gandhi prize for peace, disarmament

NEW DELHI PTI





Indian space agency ISRO will be conferred the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2014 in recognition of its contribution in strengthening international cooperation in peaceful use of outer space. The award jury, chaired by Vice President Hamid Ansari, made the announcement on Wednesday.“The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development is awarded to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in recognition of its path-breaking achievement, culminating in the Mars orbiter mission, its significant contribution in strengthening international cooperation in peaceful use of outer space,“ an official statement revealed.
The jury also noted the pioneering role played by it in the application of advanced technologies in promoting broadbased and sustainable social and economic development and addressing basic needs of the people particularly in remote and rural areas of the country.
ISRO has shown how Indian scientists and talents can be harnessed to international level, catching up with more advanced nations in a highly technical and sophisticated field, it said. ISRO has demonstrated that in space technology, India stands shoulder to shoulder with the best in the world, it said.

MAHESH MODI ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY AWARD 2015

Prizes: First prize of Rs. 1,25,000, Second Prize of Rs 75,000 and Third prize of Rs. 50,000.  
Last Date: 30/11/2014.
Mahesh Modi Environmental Technology Award Application Format

With the objective to foster technological innovation based on innovative science, ARAI has launched the Mahesh Modi Environmental Technology Award in association with Modi Measurements Pvt Ltd. It is launched to recognize the efforts of individuals or groups in meeting the challenges posed by environmental conservation requirements. Continuous encouragement needs to be provided to innovators in the environmental field to unleash and realize their creative potential. Besides, those who succeeded in successfully implementing their ideas for the benefit of society need to be honoured.
Modi Measurement Systems Pvt Limited (MMSPL) was founded in 1966 by Shri. Mahesh Modi who was the first entrepreneur to introduce Integrated Circuits in India. As a futuristic visionary, in 1975, Shri. Modi took a big leap into the field of environmental science measuring technology. MMSPL continued to strengthen its position under Shri. Mahesh Modi’s dynamic leadership and is today regarded in India, as a pioneer and trusted business partner serving the Indian Automotive Industry, by providing exhaust emission reduction related environmental technologies for meeting regulations to help preserve the environment.
The award is to encourage scientists, mobility engineers and technologists for development of innovative technologies and products that are amongst the best in the world and enhance India's Environment. Automobile related technologies leading to products, processes and services, which improve India’s environment, are considered for the award. Besides, the technological innovation must simultaneously help broaden interactions among academia, R&D, test agencies and industry. The award will constitute First prize of Rs. 1,25,000, Second Prize of Rs 75,000 and Third prize of Rs. 50,000. The awards will be given during Valedictory session of SIAT 2015 (Symposium on International Automotive Technology) at ARAI-Pune tentatively on 23rd Jan 2015.

We invite you or your associates to apply for this award and thus participate in the innovation initiative. The application format and eligibility criteria is attached herewith. The completed applications need to be sent to Mr. Sushil.  S. Ramdasi, General Manager, Powertrain Engineering Department ,Tel: +91-20-3023-1434, Email: ramdasi.edl@araiindia.com by hard & soft copy latest by 30th November 2014. 

CONTACT:
Dr. K. C. Vora
Convener SIAT-2015
Vice President, SAEINDIA
Sr. Dy. Director & Head, ARAI Academy
The Automotive Research Association of India
(Research Institution of the Automotive Industry 
with the Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Govt. of India)
Phone: +91-20-3023 1190.
Fax: +91-20-30231104
Email: siat2015@araiindia.com Website:  www.araiindia.com, https://siat.araiindia.com/publication.aspx

Why should you know about 2014 Nobel Prize in Medicine winners ‘Brain's Own GPS’

If you get up in the middle of the night, you can move around your house with considerable ease. It is not difficult for you to find your way from the kitchen to the bedroom even with your eyes closed. Is it because you are used to your house and are well versed with all the rooms and distances? Or do you leave a scent that navigates you to your destination? How do you navigate from one place to other?

Well, this decade old question just got a valid answer from the newest Nobel Prize winners John O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser, and Edvard I. Moser. 

These three neuroscientists, discovered cells that form a positioning system in the brain and make sure that we are not permanently lost.   

The research dates back to 1971, when Dr. O’Keefe was studying the hippocampus, an area of the brain responsible for memory. He found out that damaging the hippocampus leads to amnesia in test patients. He was surprised when he confirmed that this area of the brain is in fact also a spatial system.

He connected electrodes to rat brains and let them move freely in a room. He observed that a certain nerve cells got activated when the rat was in a particular spot. To confirm this, he monitored the rat movement in a different part of the room where another set of cells got activated. When the rat circled back to the original position, the original set of cells was reactivated. These cells were not just registering the location but they were also mapping the entire place. Thus came into existence, the “place cells” where the memory of a place was stored as a specific nerve combination. 

In 2005, this discovery inspired the Moser’s research greatly. The team of husband and wife was conducting similar experiments on rats. Along with nerve cells, the entorhinal cortex, a part of the rat brain was found to be activated when the animal passed by a known place. These cells together formed a grid that enabled the rat to navigate spatially and remember and register locations; thus forming a positioning system in its brain. 

ct 17 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Guj teen world’s mental math champ

Yagnesh Mehta

Surat





Two years ago, Granth Thakkar had floored all when he won the world's fastest num ber game, Flash Anzan, by adding 15 numbers flashing past very quickly on a giant screen in Turkey.Now, this mathematics wizard from Vapi has been crowned the world's fastest mental calculator. Granth, achieved this feat at Junior Mental Calculators World Championship 2014 (JMCWC-2014) held in Dresden in Germany.
Around 40 people from 18 countries participated. Granth, son of a clerk in Vapi municipality, also won the mental calculation world cup.
“Granth scored 1,547 points out of 1,600, which is the 13, highest in the of the competi the tion. His hard work and dedica tion helped him win,” said his father Rakesh.
A class XI student Asha Dham School, Granth aspires to be an astronaut. “I wish to become an astronaut and work in Nasa. I am yet to finalize the courses to pursue after class XII and I am focusing on school studies right now,” he told TOI.
Granth gathered the points in 23 different types of mental arithmetic tests.
A participant takes tests like addition, multiplication, square root and others.

Childhood, peace and development

The Nobel Peace prize for 2014 has been awarded to two South Asian activists in the field of child rights, Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi. The first is a thoughtful and fearless teenager who, despite deadly opposition, lit a path to learning and liberation for girls in Pakistan. The second is a 60-year old campaigner from India who has worked to liberate children from the shackles of compulsory labour and bondage. In choosing them, the Nobel Committee may appear to have chosen unusually. Malala is, at 17, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner ever, and Mr. Satyarthi a relatively unknown name outside the region and his field of work. However, the Committee’s choice has been hailed as both bold and necessary. It has sought to underscore a crucial but widely disregarded prerequisite for development and peace in our times, namely, the responsibility of nations to provide the means of formal education, leisure, safety, and care for all children. As this year’s citation says, “It is a prerequisite for peaceful global development that the rights of children and young people be respected. In conflict-ridden areas in particular, the violation of children leads to the continuation of violence from generation to generation.” Growing up in the Swat Valley of Pakistan under the brute rule of religious bigots opposed to education for girls, Malala grasped the link between school education — and particularly education for girls — and larger social change early in life. How an outspoken child fought a public campaign for the right to education, surviving even an attempt on her life, is well known. She continues to lead the battle for girls’ education from her current location in Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Satyarthi, a founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save Childhood Campaign), has led the rescue of over 78,500 children from bondage. He gave shape to the Global March Against Child Labour, a coalition of national campaign groups. He too sees education as the key instrument for the liberation of children from poverty, exploitation and neglect. In his pioneering work on child labour and school education in India, the late political scientist Myron Weiner wrote: “Modern states regard education as a legal duty, not merely a right: parents are required to send their children to school, children are required to attend school, and the state is obliged to enforce compulsory education ... This is not the view held in India. Primary education is not compulsory, nor is child labour illegal.” The Nobel Peace Prize this year recognises the crucial links among child rights, labour, and school education and, in doing so, recognises one of the most fundamental prerequisites of a better tomorrow for millions of children everywhere.

Keywords: Nobel Peace prize, South Asian activists, child rights activists, Malala Yousafzai, Kailash Satyarthi, girl education, child rights, child labour, Nobel Committee, Bachpan Bachao Andolan

Oct 14 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Work on taming firms gets Nobel in economics

Kounteya Sinha

London





French economist Jean Tirole, 61, won the Nobel Prize for Economics on Monday, “for his analysis of market power and regulation“. He is the third French man to be awarded with the prize for economics.Tirole said he was “incredibly surprised'' when he got the news about the award. “I first old my wife and mother. She's 90-yearold. I first asked her to sit before I told her the news,'' he said. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Tirole is one of the most influential economists of our time. “He has made important theoretical research contributions in a number of areas, but most of all he has clarified how to understand and regulate industries with a few powerful firms.'' Many industries are dominated by a small number of large firms or a single monopoly . Left unregulated, such markets often produce socially undesirable results ­­ prices higher than those motivated by costs, or unproductive firms that survive by blocking the entry of new and more productive ones. From the mid-1980s, Tirole breathed new life into research on such market failures. His analysis of firms with market power provides a unified theory with a strong bearing on central policy questions: How should the government deal with mergers or cartels, and how should it regulate monopolies?
Before Tirole, researchers and policymakers sought general principles for all industries. They advocated simple policy rules like capping prices for monopolists and prohibiting cooperation between competitors, while permitting cooperation between firms with different positions.
Tirole showed theoretically that such rules may work well in certain conditions, but do more harm than good in others. Price caps can provide dominant firms with strong motives to reduce costs but may also permit excessive profits.
Cooperation on price setting within a market is usually harmful, but cooperation regarding patent pools can benefit everyone.The merger of a firm and its supplier may encourage innovation, but may also distort competition.
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com

India rolls Liar’s Dice for the Oscars

Hindi road drama Liar’s Dice will be India’s nomination for the Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, which will be given away in Los Angeles in 2015.

The movie, directed by Kerala State award-winner Geetu Mohandas, stars national award winners Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Set along the Himachal-Tibet border, the movie deals with distress migration.

“I am overwhelmed by the news but not overexcited about it. You feel very good and enjoy a positive energy when people call up to share their joy about the movie getting selected as the nation’s entry for the best foreign language film of the 87th Academy Awards,” she told The Hindu here on Tuesday attributing her nomination to her “lucky stars.” Liar’s Dice has been on a roll on the international festival circuit, besides winning two national awards, for best actress for Geethanjali Thapa (who played the protagonist, Kamala), and best cinematographer for Rajeev Ravi (Geetu’s husband).

Liar’s Dice was the unanimous choice

Liar’s Dice, directed by Geetu Mohandas, was the unanimous choice of the 12-member selection committee, headed by Malayalam filmmaker T. Hariharan, as India’s entry for the Oscar, Film Federation of India Deputy Secretary Anindya Sengupta said here on Tuesday.

The film had to compete with 29 other films, including the Tamil movie Kochadaiyaan and the Hindi films Mardaani, Shahid, Filmistaan, Queen and Mary Kom. At the Oscars, it will compete with Poland’s Ida, Sweden’s Force Majeure and Canada’s Mommy.

Mommy won the Jury Prize at Cannes this year and Ida has bagged prizes at the London and Toronto film festivals last year.

Asked how she plans to market her movie ahead of the race for the Oscars, Geetu replied in her characteristic style that she would not do any lobbying or marketing to get noticed in Hollywood. “I am confident that the movie would speak for itself,” she said.

Liar’s Dice is her first Hindi film and only her second directorial venture. She is currently working on a Malayalam film.

Speaking to The Hindu, Ms. Mohandas said, “Whatever happens at the Oscars will not take away our hard work and efforts.”

No Indian film has won the Academy Award so far and only three films — Lagaan, Salaam Bombay and Mother India — have made it to the top five finalists in past years.

Keywords: Geetu Mohandas, 'Liar's Dice, Oscars, Academy awards, Oscars 2015

Sep 12 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Social Impact Awards about sharing, inspiring





TOI Launches Third Edition Of Social Impact Awards

How did Puniya Baba, an 80-year old Bhil tribal from Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh, manage to get a title deed to cultivate a plot of land in the forest? How did villagers of Ahata village in Bahraich, UP, get drinking water even when surrounded by flood waters for two months? Why is Rafiqu Begum so happy about her daughters' school in Old Delhi? How did infant mortality fall dramatically in Jamkhed block in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra? These and many other heart-warming stories were the result of the untiring efforts of groups of remarkable men and women found in all corners of our country. An organization of tribals fought to get Puniya Baba’s title deed recognized under the Forest Act. A visionary district collector installed raised hand pumps in Bahraich.A government school with only minority students transformed itself at the initiative of the principal. A pair of doctors trained village women in deliveries and care of the newborn and the mother.
A large part of the system does not work, a fact obvious to everybody. Over half the students that join school in Class 1 drop out by Class 8. A person dies of TB every three minutes, although there is a cure available for free. A quarter of all infant deaths in the world take place in India.
Employment has been growing at just 2% per year for more than a decade. Rapes have been increasing at a phenomenal rate. Natural calamities claim thousands of lives, and survivors struggle to cope.These are the headline indicators, just the tip of the iceberg.
In this dismal state of affairs, the lives of many -though not most -have been changed by the intervention of voluntary organizations and government departments at the grassroots level, fired up by a band of committed individuals. Corporate bodies too have pioneered ways of delivering some recompense to disadvantaged sections, sharing their profits for the larger good.
The Times of India, which has always stood for a more humane and just society , decided in 2011 to recognize these individuals and organizations by initiating the Social Impact Awards. After two very successful editions, it is now time for the third edition of the Awards. This time, we have as our partner the Aditya Birla Group, which has long been associated with education and other social endeavours.
Today , a dedicated website has gone online for receiving applica tions from non-governmental organizations, corporate entities and even state or lower level government departments. After a nationwide search and evaluation by experts, the awards will be given for work in five key sectors: education, health, environment, livelihoods and advocacyempowerment.
There will be three awards in each sector -one each for an NGO, a corporate-backed organization, and a government body at the district or state level. There will also be an award each for Lifetime Achievement and Global Impact.
In the previous two rounds, we were flooded with applications from across the country . While only three Awards were given in each of the five sectors, 15 in all, the stories that emerged from the thousands of entries showed that the pain, distress and deprivation that exists in our society is matched in equal measure by compassion, humanity and the striving for change.
These Awards are not about winning or losing. They are about sharing, encouraging and inspiring. If you know about meaningful work being done in your area by an NGO, a corporate body , or a government organization, you can nominate them through our Awards website. We urge you to do so. Because the least they deserve is a recognition of their effort.

Sep 10 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Neel Mukherjee's novel makes it to Booker shortlist

London: PTI





Kolkata-born British author Neel Mukherjee's latest novel `The Lives of Others', set in troubled Bengal of the 1960s and centres around a dysfunctional family, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize 2014, in its debut as a global literary award.Mukherjee, who had studied at Oxford and Cambridge, was also the only Indian-origin author to be longlisted earlier this year, the first time that the prestigious literary award opened up for anyone writing in English regardless of their nationality.
“We are delighted to announce our international shortlist. These six books take the reader on journeys around the world, between the UK, New York, Thailand, Italy , Calcutta and times past, present and future,“ said A C Grayling, chair of the 2014 judging panel.
“We had a lengthy and in tensive debate to whittle the list down to these six. It is a strong, thought-provoking shortlist which we believe will demonstrate the wonderful depth and range of contemporary fiction in English,” he added.
Mukherjee, who is now a British citizen, was selected for his second novel which was published in May this year. He reviews fiction for the Times and the Sunday Telegraph and his first novel, ‘ A Life Apart’ was a joint winner of the Vodafone-Crossword Award in India.
The other authors shortlisted include, US authors Joshua Ferris for ‘To Rise Again at a Decent Hour’ and Karen Joy Fowler for ‘We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves’; Australian Richard Flanagan for ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’; and British authors Howard Jacobson for ‘J’ and Ali Smith for ‘How to be Both.’

Aug 14 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Maths wizard honed skills with orange pyramid





CanadianAmerican mathematician of Indian-origin who has mastered Sanskrit and plays tabla at concert level has been awarded the Fields Medal, the Nobel Prize equivalent for math.Manjul Bhargava, who became a tenured full professor at Princeton University — the second youngest in its history — within two years of finishing graduate school, was among four winners of the prestigious prize announced at the International Mathematical Union (IMU) Congress in Seoul on Tuesday.
A surprise and welcome co-winner was Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian mathematician who teaches at Stanford University. It is the first time a woman has won the Fields medal; all 52 previous winners have been men in a field traditionally dominated by men. Expectedly, it created a ripple in the rarefied world of maths.
The two other Fields Medal winners for 2014 are Artur Ávila from Brazil and Martin Hairer from Austria.
Avila is also the first Brazilian and Latin American to win the medal.
The IMU also presented Princeton alumnus Subhash Khot, a New York University professor of computer and an IIT-Bombay alumnus, with the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize, which honours “outstanding contributions in mathematical aspects of information sciences“.
Though a CanadianAmerican who was born in Ontario, 40-year-old Bhargava is no stranger to India or to Indian mathematicians; indeed, he has deep connections to India. His mother, Mira, is herself a rare woman mathematician, teaching at Hofstra University , New York. Manjul has also collaborated with many Indian mathematicians. Manjul's work with fellow Princeton scholar Arul Shankar, his PhD student, won them the Fermat Prize in 2011. Manjul's own PhD advisor was Andrew Wiles, famous for proving Fermat's last theorem.
Bhargava is also an accomplished tabla player -he was tutored by Zakir Hussain -and has the number on Sanskrit, which he learned from his grandfather Purushottam Lal Bhargava, who was the head of the Sanskrit department of the University of Rajasthan, during family visits to Jaipur. He sees close links between his three loves -maths, music, and Sanskrit -noting how beats of tabla and rhythms of Sanskrit poetry are highly mathematical.
In several past interviews, he has often recounted how in Grade 3, he became curious about how many oranges it takes to make a pyramid.
Just as well his mathematician mother and chemist father were well-to-do, they indulged him with oranges till he figured out the answer, which was not long coming.
Now he's at the pinnacle of his calling.
Meanwhile, Mirzakhani's success was “hugely symbolic and I hope it will encourage more women to get into mathematics because we need more women. I am very happy that now we can put to rest that particular `it has never happened before',“ Ingrid Daubechies, who is herself the first woman president of the IMU, said while announcing the award.
One to four Fields Medals are awarded once every four years to mathematicians under the age of 40 years at the International Congress of the IMU, which meets every four years. The award presentation will take place in Seoul on Wednesday at the quadrennial IMU Congress.
Though the prize money of $15,000 is chump change -approximately1/100th -compared to the Nobel Prize, the award, long dominated by Americans, Russians, French, and Britons (38 medals between them), is the highest recognition in the world of mathematics.
Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields instituted it at a time mathematicians felt short-changed that they had no Nobel recognition. The Nobel Prize is awarded for literature, peace, economics etc. but not for mathematics.
Legend goes that the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, who instituted the Nobel Prize, disdained mathematics after someone he loved cheated on him with a mathematician.
But there is no historical basis to the story .
For the full report, log on to www.timesofindia.com

Aug 14 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Indian-origin professor wins Maths 'Nobel'

Chidanand.Rajghatta@timesgroup.com

Washington





Also Master Of Sanskrit & The Tabla

CanadianAmerican mathematician of Indian-origin who has mastered Sanskrit and plays tabla at concert level has been awarded the Fields Medal, the Nobel Prize equivalent for math.Manjul Bhargava, who became a tenured full professor at Princeton University — the second youngest in its history — within two years of finishing graduate school, was among four winners of the prestigious prize announced at the International Mathematical Union (IMU) Congress in Seoul on Tuesday.
A surprise and welcome co-winner was Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian mathematician who teaches at Stanford University. It is the first time a woman has won the Fields medal; all 52 previous winners have been men in a field traditionally dominated by men. Expectedly, it created a ripple in the rarefied world of maths.
The two other Fields Medal winners for 2014 are Artur Ávila from Brazil and Martin Hairer from Austria.
Avila is also the first Brazilian and Latin American to win the medal.
The IMU also presented Princeton alumnus Subhash Khot, a New York University professor of computer and an IIT-Bombay alumnus, with the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize, which honours “outstanding contributions in mathematical aspects of information sciences“.
Though a CanadianAmerican who was born in Ontario, 40-year-old Bhargava is no stranger to India or to Indian mathematicians; indeed, he has deep connections to India. His mother, Mira, is herself a rare woman mathematician, teaching at Hofstra University , New York. Manjul has also collaborated with many Indian mathematicians. Manjul's work with fellow Princeton scholar Arul Shankar, his PhD student, won them the Fermat Prize in 2011. Manjul's own PhD advisor was Andrew Wiles, famous for proving Fermat's last theorem.
Bhargava is also an accomplished tabla player -he was tutored by Zakir Hussain -and has the number on Sanskrit, which he learned from his grandfather Purushottam Lal Bhargava, who was the head of the Sanskrit department of the University of Rajasthan, during family visits to Jaipur. He sees close links between his three loves -maths, music, and Sanskrit -noting how beats of tabla and rhythms of Sanskrit poetry are highly mathematical.
In several past interviews, he has often recounted how in Grade 3, he became curious about how many oranges it takes to make a pyramid.
Just as well his mathematician mother and chemist father were well-to-do, they indulged him with oranges till he figured out the answer, which was not long coming.
Now he's at the pinnacle of his calling.
Meanwhile, Mirzakhani's success was “hugely symbolic and I hope it will encourage more women to get into mathematics because we need more women. I am very happy that now we can put to rest that particular `it has never happened before',“ Ingrid Daubechies, who is herself the first woman president of the IMU, said while announcing the award.
One to four Fields Medals are awarded once every four years to mathematicians under the age of 40 years at the International Congress of the IMU, which meets every four years. The award presentation will take place in Seoul on Wednesday at the quadrennial IMU Congress.
Though the prize money of $15,000 is chump change -approximately1/100th -compared to the Nobel Prize, the award, long dominated by Americans, Russians, French, and Britons (38 medals between them), is the highest recognition in the world of mathematics.
Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields instituted it at a time mathematicians felt short-changed that they had no Nobel recognition. The Nobel Prize is awarded for literature, peace, economics etc. but not for mathematics.
Legend goes that the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, who instituted the Nobel Prize, disdained mathematics after someone he loved cheated on him with a mathematician.
But there is no historical basis to the story .
For the full report, log on to www.timesofindia.com

Aug 11 2014 : The Economic Times (Delhi)

Govt Okays Bharat Ratna for Vajpayee

NEW DELHI OUR POLITICAL BUREAU





Announcement may come before Independence Day; Dhyan Chand & Subhash Chandra Bose other probables

The government is understood to have approved Bharat Ratna for former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and an announcement could be made soon, perhaps as early as this Independence Day.A senior government official, familiar with the matter, said there were a couple of other names in contention as well, including hockey legend Dhyan Chand and freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose, but only Vajpayee’s name had been cleared so far.

The Centre can award a maximum of three Bharat Ratnas in one year. Last year, the UPA government had given the award to cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and scientist CNR Rao.

The BJP, then in the Opposition, had criticized the UPA for ignoring Vajpayee’s contri
bution and said it will bestow the honour upon him as soon as it comes to power.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to have approved the move and could soon send a recommendation to President Pranab Mukherjee for the same. Vajpayee, now 90, was awarded the Padma Vibhushan way back in 1992. His name was recommended to the PMO by citizens 11 times in 2011 and half-a-dozen times in 2012, records show.

The family of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, meanwhile, said it did not approve the idea of a Bharat Ratna being conferred upon him. “Netaji has been missing since 1945.

When you award him with the Bharat Ratna posthumously, you have to say when he died, but where's the evidence? The best way to honour him is to declassify files which can reveal the truth behind his disappearance,” Netaji’s grand-nephew Chandra Kumar Bose said.

Nine Indian students win in Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2014 

In the world’s largest high school science research competition, i.e. the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, nine Indian students made their way out in the competition by winning awards. Abhishek Verma and Daksh Dua from Maharaja Agarsain Public School won the first award of $3.000 in the Animal Sciences category. The first position was awarded to Nathan Han of Boston with US$75,000 for developing a machine learning software tool to study mutations of a gene linked to breast cancer at this year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a program of Society for Science and the Public.

The other Indian students who won awards are Kopal Gupta and Shreya Nandy of Amity International School, Debapratim Jana of South Point High School, Deeksha Hebbar from Vivekananda English Medium School, Jaya Sagar from Government Senior Secondary School, Manali, Animesh Tripathi from Sanskriti School and Amit Sahu from DAV Public School

This year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair featured more than 1,700 young scientists selected from 435 affiliate fairs in more than 70 countries, regions and territories. In addition to the top winners, more than 500 finalists received awards and prizes for their innovative research, including 17 “Best of Category” winners, who each received a US$5,000 prize. The Intel Foundation also awarded a US$1,000 grant to each winner’s school and to the affiliated fair they represent. Additionally, the Intel Foundation presented a select number of students with experiential awards, including the new 11-day trip to China to attend the country’s largest national science competition, speak with researchers at Intel’s lab in Shanghai, and visit the Panda Research Base in Chengdu.

- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/05/nine-indian-students-win-in-intel-international-science-and-engineering-fair-2014/#sthash.XIsaGeJS.dpuf