He had completed his high school at the age of nine, earned his BSc degree at 10 and M.Sc at the age of 12. At the age of 21, Tulsi completed his doctorate in Quantum Computing from Indian Institute of Science.

The young professor, who has never studied in a classroom, plans to ask his students how they would want to be taught. “I have never taught in a class. But I believe I can come down to the level of a student and help them understand the subject,” he said. When asked about his future plans, he said “I want to pursue my research and at IIT-B, I will have the leisure to continue my research and one day set up a lab focused on quantum computation in our country.”

Dr. Tulsi had to turn down offers from Waterloo University in Canada and the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER), Bhopal to come and teach at IIT-B.

In 2003, the prestigious Time magazine named him among the world’s seven most gifted youngsters, though he went into a shell after an international delegation called him a fake prodigy in 2001. Tulsi said he is going to write to the Limca Book of Records to include him as the youngest faculty member in the country.

Source: Silicon India

“Crossing the one million mark for Indian tourists visiting Singapore is likely this year, having received some 891,000 of them last year,” said Singapore Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer Aw Kah Peng. Responding to a PTI query, she said India [ Images ] was the city state’s fourth largest tourism generating market last year.

Going forward, the challenge would be to cater to more and more Indian tourist needs, Aw said during the STB’s annual media conference, forecasting some 11.5 million to 12.5 million international tourist visitors for the year.

Singapore is already popular among Indian businessmen, students seeking higher education and for family-holidays, she pointed out.

“Yet there is strong potential of attracting more Indian tourists,” she said, adding that the board would be seeking out ways to reach out to more Indian travelers to make Singapore their holiday destination.

Banking on the economic recovery globally, the STB has projected between 19 per cent and 29 per cent increase in this years international tourists to 11.5 million to 12.5 million, up from 9.7 million international tourist arrivals recorded by the city state last year.

Source: Rediff

Shetty is a former resident of Bangalore. A close associate of his family said he went to St Joseph’s College in Bangalore and studied cost accounting at Bangalore University.

“I feel privileged to be given this amazing opportunity at a time when the world needs human rights for all more than ever before,” said Shetty, who becomes the first Indian to head the human rights body.

Amnesty said Shetty, with a strong track record in the non-government and inter-government sectors, will lead its 50th anniversary expansion plans.

“We are thrilled that Salil will be joining us and leading Amnesty International as we renew our fight to end injustice — campaigning with those imprisoned because of their ideas, those on death row, those being tortured, and those who have their rights denied because they live in poverty,” said Peter Pack, the chair of Amnesty’s International Executive Committee.

“Salil has a solid track record in mobilizing people, civil society, governments and international organizations in the fight for people’s rights and dignity,” added Pack.
Shetty joined the United Nations in 2003 as director of the Millennium Campaign from ActionAid — an international development organisation. He had joined ActionAid in 1985 and was part of more than 30 programmes in Africa, Asia and across other developing regions.

Source: Times of India

The first set of such postage stamps in denomination of 44 cents was launched in January by USA-postage.com, the Atlanta-based firm, depicting Sai Baba, Lord Venkateshwara, Lakshmi, Murugan, Vinayaka, Shiva–Parvathi and Sri Krishna.

Such postage stamps depicting Hindu gods and goddesses have been launched for the first time in the US taking the benefit of a six-year-old law of the US postal service that permit issuing of customised postages.

“These postages have not been issued by the US Postal Service, but these are as good as stamps and is legally valid. We do not call them stamps. We call them as postages. But these can be used as any other normal stamp,” Roy Betts, spokesman of USPS said.

“Commemorative sheets from usa-postage.com are valid US postage produced by a technology call PC postage. Usa-postage.com is proud to be the first company to offer customized postage with divine images that have specific appeal to the Indian community living in the US,” said Ennar Chilakapati, vice president, USA-postage.com.

Since its quiet launch, USA-postage.com has received tremendous response from the large Hindu community in the United States. More than 1.5 million Hindus live in the US.

Chilakapati said he has been receiving requests for postages from countries like Britain too where people want to keep it as a souvenir.

Chilakapati said profits from the sale of such postages are being donated to Indian temples.

“Customised postage sheets are idle for giving as gift items. Indian community living in United States can order online as a gift item,” he said.

Source: Rediff

Brahmachari, the director general of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India’s [ Images ] premier research organisation, says his colleagues at CSIR have achieved a great feat, just like the Lagaan team, without any international exposure or support. “We have now the competence and capacity as anybody else in the world,” Brahmachari adds.

The 57-year-old scientist, who did his doctorate in molecular biophysics and spent most of his career researching the anatomy of human genes, has every reason to be on cloud nine. Last week, his scientists working with the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in New Delhi [ Images ] decoded the genome of a 52-year-old man from Jharkhand after nine weeks of study — a first in the country. The feat has helped India join a select club of countries — the US, UK, Canada [ Images ], Korea and China.

“Genetic sequencing will help in early diagnosis and management of diseases, including cancer. Persons with genetic profiling will get an indication of diseases to come. It is significant because the ability to assemble the genome shows our capability to study the variations in genes and, thus, will revolutionise future disease predictions and treatment methodologies,” the CISR chief says.

Partha P Majumdar, professor and head of Human Genetics at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata [ Images ] says, “Virtually all health conditions have a genetic component. You are 5-10 times more prone to diabetes, if you have a diabetic patient at home. Knowledge of your genetic endowment empowers you to better predict your risk to a common disease.”

Agrees Swati Piramal, the global face of India’s drug research and director of Piramal Healthcare. “It is a great development as genomics has the potential to bring down the cost of healthcare by offering specific drugs by identifying the gene mutation, and can also predict the onset of a disease. Companies can make more accurate drugs for specific populations.”

Simply put, scientists can find precisely what leads to the next damage in one’s cells, predict mutations in the gene and can pinpoint the disease that the person may get or the son/daughter will be prone to. Genomic tools and analysis will help to develop personalised medicine or designer drugs for accurate treatment.

K V Subramaniam, chief executive of Reliance [ Get Quote ] Life Sciences, says personalised medicine using genomics is an emerging field in India and, with the diversity of the population, there are advantages in numbers for all biological studies related to this.

Reliance Life Sciences has set up advanced infrastructure and highly experienced research team to conduct high-end molecular diagnostics and genomic studies.

The firm offers high-end molecular diagnostic tests for a patient, to detect and predict cervical and breast cancers and genetic disorders that increase the risk of developing tumours in glands such as parathyroid, pituitary and pancreas.

Currently, scientists at Reliance Life Sciences are working on decoding the oral cancer genome by analysing the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

“SNPs are variations at a single site in a DNA and 10 million such variations are there in a human genome. The research is to understand the genetic constitution favoring the development of oral cancer in tobacco chewers, lung cancer in tobacco smokers, heart attack in people with high blood pressure and vitiligo — a chronic skin disorder that causes discoloration in patches of skin,” Subramaniam says.

Arun Chandavarkar, chief operating officer of Biocon [ Get Quote ], says such diagnostic tools may be expensive in the current context, but going forward genomics-based disease detection and therapy based on personalised medicine will bring down the overall healthcare cost. Biocon conducts cutting-edge research on the structure of complex proteins to develop innovative drugs.

Genomic research in the public-private sector is also shaping up in the country. The Centre for Genomic Applications (TCGA) in Delhi is the first such partnership that maintains a multipurpose national facility that provides gene-based research services. Today, it has over 200 clients, mostly universities and research institutes across the country. A collaboration between IGBT and Institute of Molecular Medicine promoted by Kolkata-based Chatterjee Group, TCGA excels in the area of gene sequencing, genotyping, gene expression and proteomics or the large-scale study of the structures and functions of proteins.

The institute is gearing up to offer genomic services to the industry and readying for (Good Laboratory Practices) accreditation for its facilities, says K Narayanaswami, vice president, TCGA.

The opportunities before the institute could be few today, but are going to grow in the coming days. “There are clinical studies in genomics and proteomics. For instance, biomarkers can be used in clinical studies to analyse the safety and efficacy of a medicine in a patient,” he says. In medicine, a biomarker is a term used to refer to a protein measured in blood whose concentration reflects the severity or presence of some disease.

Similarly, genomics and proteomics data are being sought along with clinical trial data for many of the latest drug approvals by US drug regulatory agency FDA. TCGA hopes to service the multinational drug firms that are undergoing clinical trials in the country by providing such data.

Source: Rediff

Mumbai based vfx house Prime Focus has contributed a number of shots to stereoscopic 3D film. The movie, which stars Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington and Sigourney Weaver, features numerous stereographic and ‘Holotable’ displays, animated graphics, immersive environments and other visual effects created by Prime Focus.

A team of 90 artists which worked on making Avatar a visual spectacle was spread across Prime Focus’ Los Angeles, Vancouver and Winnipeg facilities, with President & Senior Visual Effects Supervisor Chris Bond and Visual Effects Producer Chris Del Conte driving the project out of the LA office. The bulk of Prime Focus’ work was done for the film’s Bio lab and Ops Center, the bustling hub for military operations and one of the key environments in the film.

“Our experience working with stereoscopic 3D material, both on the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D and through our proprietary View-D technology, more than prepared us for Avatar,” said Bond.

Prime Focus designed displays for the Op Center’s Holotable over which the film’s main characters discuss their missions and plans to mine a valuable mineral found on the planet Pandora. In one key scene, the film’s protagonist Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Col. Quaritch (Stephen Lang) bring up a three-dimensional hologram of the ‘Home Tree,’ where the Navi, Pandora’s indigenous population, live.

The Prime Focus VFX team also created displays called Immersives that provided a 180-degree stereo perspective, allowing military personnel to control air traffic flow in 3D. Additionally, Prime Focus contributed CG helicopters, buildings and atmospheric elements seen from the Ops Center and Commissary windows in several sequences.

Said Del Conte, “Much has been said about James Cameron’s incredible vision as a director, his hands-on style and the very high bar he set for all his visual effects vendors, so playing a part in bringing Avatar to life has been a fantastic experience for our team.”

Source: Bollywood Hungama

Gogoi said, “Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offered to build a fully furnished lab for me in Guwahati. The Chief Minister had granted me about 1.6 acres of land in 2007, but the file is still lying untouched at the local administrative office.”

Talking about slow moving files, another of Gogoi’s invention is the speed breaker that can generate electricity simply when vehicles pass over it. Gogoi explains that a ramp under the speed breaker would absorb the static energy produced by the sheer mass of the vehicle and convert it into kinetic energy. This is, in turn, transferred into electricity and stored in a battery cell. A vehicles weighing one tonne can create electricity equivalent to one kilowatt.

When Kanak started the journey, he had two options; pay up his children’s school fees or spend the money for his scientific innovations. He opted for the latter. In the past 13 years, he has spent Rs.1.5 crore (Rs.15 million) of his own money to satisfy his scientific and engineering curiosities, but steadfastly refuses to commercialize any of them and blames the government for not promoting scientific innovations, although only a few years ago he was making a hand-to-mouth existence.

Felicitated by the President of India last week for his achievements, 47-year old Gogoi is a celebrity in Guwahati’s scientific and engineering circles. He has developed his penchant for creating extraordinary things from ordinary materials used for day-to-day activities during his younger days.

“However, I have never received a single rupee in profit for any of my work and I will never venture to commercialize them on my own. But if anybody is willing, he is free to make use of my innovations for the greater good of the society,” said Gogoi.

Among his innovations are a solar hybrid car, whose 320 watt battery is charged by solar panels and is powered by a 100cc engine. Another car that Gogoi made from integration of motorcycle and Maruti 800 engines, runs on air energy powered by a hand glider and can reach a maximum speed of 120 km per hour.

Gogoi, however, has not bothered to apply for intellectual property rights (IPR) for any of his innovations, although they have cost in Rs.1.5 crore of his own money. “When anybody talks about things like IPR or patents, it is generally assumed that the person must be a Ph.D or DLitt. Who will think of an undergraduate as a genuine and worthy innovator? Besides, paperwork of the kind that is required for patent filing has always been an anathema for me,” said Gogoi.

In fact it is the National Innovation Foundation, headed by noted scientist Raghunath A Mashelkar that applied for a patent on Gogoi’s behalf for his gravity operated cycle, which converts gravitational force released by pedaling of the cycle into kinetic energy.

“I have a successful real estate business, which affords me the luxury of having enough spare money and spare time to concentrate on my engineering activities. I don’t expect and nor do I wish for any monetary returns,” said Gogoi, who had refused an invitation from a North Carolina-based organization to shift to their campus with a daily stipend of $1,000.

The deal has been awarded to HCL Insurance Business Services, the IT firm’s UK-based life and pensions administration business. As part of the deal, HCL will provide complete solutions, including policy administration, finance, actuarial services, IT operational support and call centre services.

Currently, about 340 people are servicing the account. “We expect about 100 people will be taken in by Equitable Life, rendering about 240 people surplus. They will be relieved under suitable schemes,” said Equitable Life Chief Executive Chris Wiscarson. “HCL will take care of the work of these 240 employees, with about 50-70 jobs being taken care of from HCL’s Chennai centre,” he added.

Source: SiliconIndia

This robot is available for consumers as well. This robot is available at Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000, and is a consumer version of SaUsR, the robot that is already in use in medicine industries. These robots are targeted at those who make medicines. They employ them to prevent sludge formation in tanks. “SaUsR carries out underwater operations with ease and lets you use this robot as a sophisticated underwater cleaning unit. It has on-board intelligent electronics that lets it navigate in fully-autonomous mode. With a high resolution on-board camera having pan-tilt capabilities, it can spot even minutest details of your water/chemical tank,” said Gaur.

Pulkit Gaur

Gaur is a production and industrial engineer from MBM Engineering College in Jodhpur. He graduated in 2004 and since then has been pursuing his childhood passion. “I have been working on these robots since school days. Earlier, it was all about taking part in competitions. I soon realized robotics was in its nascent stage, and a lot can be built on it,” he said. His resume goes up to 17 pages and was appreciated by former President A P J Abdul Kalam for his efforts.

Gridbots was a start-up that took shape through his passion for robotics. “I wanted to start a venture that would come up with innovative products that run on intelligence. I wanted to do something more than the assembly of robots. It had to be a multi-purpose product for my client,” he said. Gridbots started two years ago in Ahmedabad and presently employs 15 people. It plans to recruit 35 more by this year-end.

Gaur already has many plans chalked out for his company. “We are working on developing defence robots, and also a surveillance robot that can be controlled via mobile or the Internet,” he added. Few of his other creations include an image- understanding technology and a consumer robot that does household chores.

Source: Siliconindia

“Sachin is my idol and I consider him as my ‘Guru’. Please don’t compare me with him,” the Rizvi Springfield student said on Friday.

“Even if I achieve one per cent of what he has achieved, I would be blessed. Meeting him is my dream, please write this,” he insisted.

Clearly uncomfortable with his overnight celebrity status, Sarfaraz said he had, in fact, fainted after giving a series of interviews on Wednesday.

“It feels great to be chased by the media, but they tend to go a bit overboard,” he complained.

Sarfaraz Khan

“I fainted after completing my media assignments at 11 pm last night. More than the time I spent at the crease, it has been the media interactions that has tired me out,” said the Mumbai cricket talent, who scored a mammoth 439 off 421 balls during a 456-minute vigil against a hapless Indian Education Society Secondary School.

His knock, which contained a staggering 56 boundaries and 12 sixes — nearly a triple hundred in itself — is the highest in the tournament, beating the earlier record of 427, set by Sanjeev Jadhav in 1963-64.

In the process, Sarfaraz also went past his idol Tendulkar’s 346 not out, which the master batsman had scored for his school, Shardashram Vidyamandir, when he, along with friend Vinod Kambli, added a record 664 runs for the third wicket in February 1988, a world record for any level of the game.

Sarfaraz’s heroics has also allowed his father Naushad Khan, himself once a probable for Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy squad, to live a dream that he had once seen for himself.

“I could not make it to the Mumbai squad that was led by Sachin Tendulkar, and had Sameer Dighe as the vice-captain. Hence, I am making sure that he does not make the same mistakes that I did,” said Naushad, who also coaches Sarfaraz.

“I never let him practise with boys of his age group. He practises with senior players, like Kamraan Khan [a Rajasthan Royals player in the IPL] and Iqbal Abdulla and Rahil Sheikh [both Mumbai Ranji players]. Playing against them will make him tough as nails and prepare him for the higher level,” he adds.

However, the feeling that his son has become a star overnight is yet to sink in for Naushad, who is busy fixing media appointments for him.

“Instead of so much happiness at one time, I would have preferred it in installments. All I pray is that you guys [media] let him stay rooted so that he can achieve more glory,” he said.

Source: Rediff.com