Prof. Vikram Vishal from IIT Bombay wins INSA Young Scientist Award – 2017

Mumbai: Assistant professor in the department of Earth Sciences in IIT Bombay Prof. Vikram Vishal has won the prestigious Indian National Science Academy (INSA) medal for Young Scientist (2017). The award is considered to be the highest recognition of promise, creativity and excellence in young scientists, and awarded annually by INSA for research conducted by scientists in India. It carries a bronze medal and a cash prize of Rs 25,000. Till 2015, 737 young scientists have been recognised by INSA.

While conveying the selection of the award to Prof. Vishal, INSA President Prof. Ajay K Sood stated, “He has shown great potential to be a leader in research. I sincerely hope he will continue to strive hard to reach his potential and to prove leadership in the coming years”.

Prof. Vishal, while thanking INSA for this recognition and honour, also remembered his PhD advisers Prof. T. N. Singh (IIT Bombay) and Prof. Ranjith P. G. (Monash University) and his post-doctoral mentor Prof. Jennifer Wilcox (Stanford University). Prof. Vishal is currently working on a research which attempts to reduce carbondioxide emissions and their environmental impact by capturing the natural gases. His research looks at “geologic sequestration” or capturing the carbon dioxide that is released when coal is burnt (or created as a by-product in other industries) and injecting it back into the rock deep underground so that it is not released into the atmosphere.
Prof. Vishal explained his research work by stating, “Natural gases have remained trapped in deep underground rock structures for several million years. This provides an analogy to inject and store the greenhouse gases in rocks and prevent their release into the atmosphere. Realising India’s vast geological diversity, she offers ample opportunities for the storage of carbon dioxide. Injection of carbon dioxide will not only help develop a long sustainable earth, but also lead to enhanced recovery of methane to partly meet our growing energy demands”.
The true beneficiary of this process will be the life-system on Earth. Through the enhanced recovery of an otherwise non-recoverable resource, India will also benefit from energy security. Prof. Vikram Vishal is the first graduate from the IIT Bombay Monash Research Academy, which is a joint venture between IIT Bombay and Monash University, Australia. Research scholars study for a dual-badged PhD from both institutions, and enrich their research and build collaborative relationships by spending time in Australia and India over the course of their degree.

Source: Indiaeducationdiary, 8-05-2017

A law against torture should enable ratification of the Convention barring custodial excesses

Two decades after signing the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, India is yet to ratify it. There can be little justification for such a prolonged delay in passing legislation to give effect to the convention. In recent times there is a fresh note of urgency attached to the need for early ratification, as the country has pending requests for the extradition of its nationals from other countries. For, as pointed out by the Supreme Court, the absence of a stand-alone law prohibiting torture may prevent many countries from agreeing to India’s extradition requests. Such a law may be in the national interest, the Chief Justice of India observed during the course of a hearing on a public interest petition seeking the enactment of an anti-torture law in accordance with the country’s commitment. The court also noted that India was subjected to close questioning during the Universal Periodic Review of its human rights obligations at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. It cannot be forgotten that an extradition request relating to Purulia arms drop case suspect Kim Davy failed owing to the apprehension that he may be ill-treated in India. In an era of increasing international cooperation on criminal matters, India will be better served if it is seen as adhering to international treaties, especially its obligations under the Convention Against Torture, which it signed in 1997.

 

There may be some doubt whether India needs a fresh law to prevent and punish torture. Provisions relating to causing hurt or grievous hurt, especially with a view to extracting a confession, criminal intimidation and wrongful confinement already exist in the Indian Penal Code. However, the idea of a stand-alone law ought to be ultimately seen as a more tangible way of expressing commitment to eliminating torture. A concrete step towards enacting a law was made when the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010, was passed by the Lok Sabha in 2010, but it was referred to a Select Committee in the Rajya Sabha. In its report submitted in the same year, the committee recommended exhaustive amendments to the Bill to make it consistent with the language and intent of the Convention. Thereafter the Bill lapsed. The government now says it has referred the matter to the Law Commission for an authoritative view. Given the pervasive nature of custodial violence and its complex policing requirements, the present legislative and administrative framework is obviously inadequate to prevent torture in a country of India’s size. It is imperative that a strong law that criminalises torture, imposes stringent punishment for it and contains liberal provisions for those suffering torture to complain against their perpetrators, prosecute them and be compensated and rehabilitated, is passed at the earliest.

Source: The Hindu, 9-05-2017

Mind-Matter Divide

RANJIT NAIR





The root formulation of Indian philosophy goes back to Dirghatamas, the Rig Vedic philosopher, who said, `ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti', or the Real is one, though the wise speak of it variously . Philosophy in India emerged as a rational, discursive exercise when orthodoxy , which regarded the Vedas as revelation, was challenged by major schools like that of Buddhism, Jainism, the Ajivika and the Lokayata.The origins of western philosophy are usually attributed to Plato challenging the gods of Homer for their all-too-human behaviour, substituting in their place truths established through dialectical argument. Indian philosophy arose against the demand that claims on the veracity of a text or principle should be subjected to the canons of argumentation. The schools of logic emerged out of the attempt to formalise rational debate, to distinguish between valid arguments and fallacies.
Indian philosophy and modern science share common features, at the level of parallels, isomorphic themes and problems. The search for unity resonates with the holy grail of the theory of everything in theoretical physics, which began with Albert Einstein. The search for a fundamental theory , Steven Weinberg says, lifts human life above the level of farce and gives it some of the grace of tragedy .
However, the application of quantum theory runs against the Cartesian grain of disenchanting the material world. It unifies East and West, mind and matter.

Transcendence Of Thought Is Absolute Freedom

Dhruva Bhargava





What ultimately constitutes freedom? Though we dearly cherish freedom, most view freedom with an incomplete perspective. Therefore, seeking freedom is tantamount to chasing a mirage whereby one seeks freedom from one state only to land in bondage of another.Absolute freedom, thus, remains an unending quest with incomplete knowledge. This incompleteness is founded in our inability to take a holistic view.We live in a mysterious world of duality and opposites. Having a holistic perspective requires both thesis and antithesis. Without experiencing darkness, one cannot know what light is; without experiencing heat, one cannot know what cold is; without depth, height has no meaning and without hate, love.Thesis and antithesis coexist like two sides of the same coin. Both are essential aspects of the same reality . Hence, to understand freedom wholly requires understanding bondage.
Bondage is a state of mind and how our concepts, idea, beliefs create bondage reminds one of the story of an elephant tied to heavy chains. He struggles hard to set himself free but is unable to do so. One day , he was led to his usual restoring place but left untied.Yet the elephant did not break free since he was still under the illusion that he was tied.
The belief of powerlessness is so deeply ingrained that even when freedom is at hand, one is unable to know that. Bondage is not in the chain, it's in the mind.Belief is the bondage. Same holds true for our perception of the physical world. Our perception of the world, not the world per se, creates bondage.
The foremost thought that comes to our mind on perceiving an object of liking is of ownership ­ how I can possess or own the object. But can we really own anything in this world? We came empty handed and are destined to leave empty handed. No way a physical object can become a part of us. Therefore, whatsoever exists, exists as an idea or a thought. The sense of “my“ or ownership is merely a mental construct that exists as long as our ego exists. Thus, not the external world rather it is our belief or thought of the same that creates bondage. Human mind functions through concept, ideas and beliefs. These can be aptly substituted by the word “thought“. Thoughts have genesis and influence. When accompanied with feelings of superiority and inferiority , eld tremendous influence and they wield tremendous influence and become source of judgment.
Thoughts having lasting influence originate in minds of charismatic individuals and their impact persists over generations: for revealed religions the thought of its messenger, for spiritual lineage that of its guru, for tribe that of its head, for nation that of its political leader. However, nations, tribes, religions, traditions are not physical entities but merely thoughts or concepts.These are the mental boundaries within which our mind functions. They unite few but divide many . If we seek independence from one thought and seek solace in another, independence is then an illusion. It's seeking freedom from one and being bound by another.
Absolute freedom, therefore, lies in transcending thoughts. It's going beyond thought and seeking the Self within, the very source of thoughts.Freedom, then, becomes a personal endeavour of seeking liberation by transcending the division created by mind and attaining to our innate essence, absolute freedom, a state of sheer joy , where no bondage exists.

Economic and Political Weekly: Table of Contents

Vol. 52, Issue No. 10, 11 Mar, 2017

Editorials

Growth Guesstimates

Force-feeding Aadhaar

‘Midwives’ of the Revolution?

From 50 Years Ago

From 50 Years Ago: ​The Angry Young Voter

Commentary

Quarterly GDP Estimation - Can It Pick Up Demonetisation Impact?

R Nagaraj

Bad Bank Proposal for India - A Partial Jubilee Financed by Zero Coupon Perpetual Bonds

T Sabri Öncü

Bihar’s Burden of Child Stunting - A District-wise Analysis

Vani Sethi, Arti Bhanot, Shivani Dar, Rabi N Parhi, Saba Mebrahtu

Bank of Credit and Commerce International Scandal - Lessons after 25 Years

Shahid Ahmed

Reorganisation of Districts in Telangana

G Bhaskara Rao

Book Reviews

A History of Social and Political Struggles in Mao’s China

Dhruv Jain

Capitalism, Empire and Climate

Devdatt Dubhashi

Insight

The Zero Case - Deadly Implications of the Birla–Sahara Judgment

Vijay Simha

Special Articles

The Thucydides of the Russian Revolution - Leon Trotsky’s History in Retrospect

Kunal Chattopadhyay, Soma Marik

Poverty and Health Status of Beedi Workers in Andhra Pradesh

Sarit K Rout, K V Narayana, Kirti S Sahu, Sakhtivel Selvaraj, Manjusha Chatterjee, Monika Arora

Theatrical Counter Publics - A Reading of You Made Me a Communist and Its Rewritings

Eldhose A Y

Notes

Does ‘He’ Include ‘She’? - Some Thoughts on Section 64 of CrPC

Chhaya Tyagi

Discussion

Strengthening India’s Position in Climate Change Negotiations

Kirit S Parikh, Jyoti K Parikh

Postscript

Lively Sins

M S Prabhakara

Squares and Courtyards in Nani Khakhar

Anil Noronha

Vidrohi: A Rebel Reciter

Dharmaraj Kumar

here we are but where are we

Srishti Dutta Chowdhury

Last Lines

Letters

‘Serving’ Bureaucrat

N Prabha

Remembering B B Bhattacharya

Seema Bathla

Current Statistics

Current Statistics

Appointments/programmes/announcements 

Appointments/Programmes/Announcements

Web Exclusives

On GDP Estimates — A set of EPW articles

- See more at: http://www.epw.in/journal/2017/10#sthash.s0A8Mx9l.dpuf

For a bold foreign policy

National interest is not served by avoiding problems left over by a previous order

The strategic choices before us today are similar to the ones U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are facing: in a fast-changing world, national interest is not served by avoiding problems left over by a previous order. Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to challenge long-established convictions on whether the elements of power in the next world order will revolve around diplomacy, force, or trade as the primary tool.

Moving to a multipolar world

In the last 20 years, incomes of 80% of the population in the West stagnated while per capita income in China quadrupled, and India’s more than doubled. Society is ageing; technology is disrupting labour markets and business models. The digital economy is expected to provide one-quarter of global productivity by 2025 and will have the U.S., China and India reinforcing the multipolar order.

The functioning of the global economy has affected the economic and political relationship between the large and small economies, reducing and increasing the leverage exercised by the U.S. and China, respectively. The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which former U.S. President Barack Obama failed to weaken, and the New Development Bank of the BRICS could provide the required $8-15 trillion, marginalising the World Bank. China is projecting the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative as a replacement for the U.S.-led post-1950 multilateral institutions.

Mr. Trump is understandably questioning the relevance of the United Nations for the U.S., favouring bilateral deals and forcing others to rethink the nature and role of international cooperation. He is resetting priorities away from peacekeeping, environment and human rights to trade.

His ‘America First’ strategy has broad support within the U.S. Other rich countries like Japan and the U.K. are likely to adopt this new template doing away with concessions to others. There will be consequences for the World Trade Organisation, in particular if the WTO dispute resolution panels rule against the U.S., leading to a questioning of the rule-based system itself.

Mr. Trump recognises that he cannot stop global trends and the diminishing returns from a reliance on diplomacy and force, exemplified by the failure of the U.S. ‘pivot’ in containing China. Mr. Obama’s response to the entry of three billion Asians into the global economy was to attempt setting new trade rules outside the WTO. Mr. Trump has rejected this approach, favouring an employment-oriented deal around specific sectors much like the Obama-Xi understanding on climate change. The difference is that Mr. Trump is prepared to limit imports and boost exports even at the cost of upsetting long-standing agreements and allies.

Mr. Trump is “willing to find new friends and to forge new partnerships where shared interests align”, rejecting the Cold War logic of containment, reliance on foreign bases and alliances. He sees China as the greatest threat, as the combination of military and economic strength creates a strategic situation where, like in the Cold War, the U.S. will need to seek a “constructive relationship” in Asia rather than dominance and may join the OBOR.

Asian connectivity and India

Mr. Trump is moving for a political deal with Russia and a trade deal with China. Chinese exports to the U.S. are already declining, the shift to a consumption-driven economy will open markets for U.S. goods, and the RMB is now a global reserve currency. India is more vulnerable with two-thirds of the exports of the $150-billion IT industry to the U.S. and the ‘Make in India’ strategy colliding with Mr. Trump’s priorities, requiring India to make strategic choices.

As the multilateral order fragments into spheres of influence, we first need a bold vision on Kashmir and must not just seek to isolate Pakistan. We should join the OBOR, while maintaining our reservations on its branch passing through Kashmir, and become part of the growing Asian market.

The nature of conflict is changing from direct clashes to disruption of critical infrastructure through remote attacks. With world-class cyber-space-biotech capability, we should reconsider large-scale purchases from abroad for massive investment in cybersecurity and the related digital economy that will make the ‘Digital India’ initiative into ‘Digital Asia’. India expects nothing less from Mr. Modi.

Mukul Sanwal is a former UN diplomat and currently Visiting Professor at the Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Source: The Hindu, 14-03-2017

Science is well: Innovation is alive and kicking in India

Timing and this writer’s desire to be contrary have worked together to ensure this column isn’t about the results of the Uttar Pradesh election.

Timing because this column is being written before the actual results — the editors insist this piece be filed every Friday, at the latest — and I do not want to say anything based on the exit polls because they have been wrong, horribly wrong, in the past.

Anyway, since everyone and his pet cat will be weighing in on the elections (and I am sure that I too shall eventually succumb and do so on some platform), I do not want to write about them, at least not yet.

Time was when columnists would write about their areas of expertise; now, everyone wants to comment on the hot-button issue of the day. It would be all right if each had something new or different or insightful to say. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. I put this down to a case of columnist arrogance, deadline pressure, and the increasingly visible tendency, among writers and editors, to offer readers intellectual click bait. The first because most columnists believe readers want to know their opinions on a subject, even if they are no different from other people’s, or shed no new light on it. The last because if Gurmehar Kaur is trending, it makes sense (or so some believe) to write something on it because it will mean more website traffic. The second is self-explanatory and entirely forgivable.I am writing this article (actually rushing to complete it) in an extremely positive frame of mind, not because of what the exit polls show, but because, I soon have to head out for Day 2 of Mint and MIT Technology Review’s EmTech India Innovators Under 35 event. This is the second year Mint is hosting the event.

It is always good, especially for someone who usually moderates events on macroeconomics or Indian banks’ bad loans problem, to sit through an event where speakers reference 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Matrix, and generally prove why science fiction is different from fantasy. For the benefit of the uninitiated, fiction is always in the realm of the possible (although it may not always be probable). Fantasy is about the impossible.

The highlight of this event is the recognition of Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35. This is the Indian leg of MIT Technology Review’s global awards platform for young innovators. Along with a few other judges from India and around the world, I have gone though several entries, and that, and the profile of the winners this year is the reason for my sunny mood.

I think it was a Mint columnist — I can’t remember who, and Google has decided not to help me — who once wrote that while Indians love technology, they are not comfortable with science. Worse still, the technology icons most Indians admire — in recent years, this has usually been any young Indian Institute of Technology graduate with the surname Bansal (and I mean no offence to any Bansal) — are usually people who have built businesses (or are trying to build businesses) that aren’t particularly high on the innovation quotient. Many run companies that are local copies of global ones (and some even run these clones badly).Yet, innovation is alive and well in India.

There is a bunch of start-ups — two of them, that work in the area of Artificial Intelligence (Mad Street Den Systems and Mixup Communications, recently featured on a global listing of 50 hot start-ups no one had really heard of — that are working at the bleeding edge of technology.

And, as platforms such as the TR Under 35 show, there is a bunch of young innovators working on non e-commerce and non dot com innovations. For instance, this year’s innovators include a young man whose company has created a local language mobile phone operating system, a young woman who has combined data science and chemical engineering to make the oil producing process more efficient, and another young man who has come up with a way to make play more social.

A few months back, when I opened the judge’s portal and looked at the entries I had to evaluate, I actually gave out a mini-whoop of delight: the first entry had to do with pure chemistry.

Science is well in India; there’s hope for innovation in the country; and all is well with the world.

Source: Hindustan Times,12-03-2017