Life in lifeline 24*7:

In this blog, i am not discussing about the subject. But the important parameters for life.

Life seems to be easy,but it is not.I saw in 15 days some cases.Some people r stupid. Some r intelligent,some r innocent.
Stupid coz 1)drink n drive.
Many accident cases ll come to hospital in night.Two wheeler skid,4 wheeler front tyre bust.Lorry pulty.All these r due to alcohol.

The lack of quality research in India by Satish V. Kailash

The lack of quality research in India :

This article is of Satish V Kailash, nice survey he has done, I am forwarding it to all. Which is published in Current Science magazine.

India is a country with several renowned institutions like the IITs and IISc, Bangalore, that train world-class students. The unfortunate part of this training has been the fact that many of these graduates preferred to settle down and work overseas. This was basically due to the fact that the knowledge gained by them was appreciated and used better overseas, with more avenues for intellectual stimulation and growth. Unfortunately, these avenues were lacking in India, as the industries or academic/research organizations did not need them, except possibly in the nuclear, space and defence fields. Despite success in some fields, we cannot boast of a completely indigenous product which we can be proud of, that is also world-class. Right from the materials to the sensors and sometimes even minor parts are imported. Most of the characterization equipment are imported. The state of affairs in most laboratories is such that the few graduates who had stayed back feel that they have made a mistake. Today, a larger percentage of these

‘world-class graduates’ do not take up teaching/research but opt for higher paying jobs in India, which actually kill their knowledge gained. The fact that the knowledge gained will not be used kills the motivation to learn, which in turn kills the motivation to teach. This unfortunate trend is happening when the Indian industry is in dire need of these graduates and is creating ‘knowledge jobs’. We need to stop this trend. Higher pay for these knowledge jobs and for teachers could possibly reverse this trend. Creation of these knowledge jobs, with higher salary, might help us climb the knowledge ladder as the Indian industries have a lot of catching up to do for this ever-increasing gap. This is also the fate of our research/academic organizations, where we are in the ‘catching up’ or ‘follow others’ mode. The Government and, to some extent, the Indian industries have realized this and are pumping in a lot of money for R&D and equipment. The Government had funded some institutions about 20 years ago in a similar effort. This did increase the quality of research as well as students; but this could not be sustained as these ‘quality students’ migrated overseas and also due to the fact that the Government could not provide funds in the 1990s. Thus, the country as a whole did not benefit. The situation today is similar, but the outcome may not be bad since the industries and R&D laboratories of MNCs can absorb this manpower. When money was pumped in 20 years ago, the culture of publishing papers was ushered in. The money pumped in also created the haves and have-nots. People who had access to equipment did good research. The others continued what they were doing or just stopped doing things. As ‘publish or perish’ was the motto, even globally, those who published papers continued to publish even though funding in the 90s reduced to a trickle. This trend continues even today, but with other terms thrown in; the ‘impact factor’, the ‘citation index’, and now the ‘H index’. The ‘H index’ is basically the number of papers cited that many number of times (1).

About 84% of the Nobel .laureates in physics have an ‘H index’ of more than 30, clearly indicating that only consistent cutting-edge research can take you far(1). A multiple factor criterion, which .included quality of education, quality of faculty, research output and size of institution, was used to rank universities around the world(2), and only the ‘Engineering/ Technology and Computer Science’ of IISc came in the top 100. A sad state of affairs indeed, even in terms of the quality of publications. The ‘publish or perish’ motto is also creating a dangerous trend, where the faculty tell the students what to do, get the results, write papers and get them published. The faculty get their promotions and become ‘successful’. The research scholar, with say five papers, gets a Ph D degree, but is actually a ‘research coolie’ who does not know how to design an experiment, analyse the results, write a paper or proposal, or present his work. In the real world, this research scholar is a misfit and at best becomes a ‘research worker’. Such a trend exists in many laboratories where the junior carries out the instructions of the senior. In the process a vacuum is created and when the senior retires there is no one to lead the laboratories or organizations. Patenting is a new mantra to gauge the worth of a person or his organization. In India, which spends less that 1% of its GDP on R&D, the total money spent from 1995 to 2005 on R&D was around Rs 140,000 crores 3 About 80% of this is .from Government sources. The MNCs have spent around Rs 6000 crores (US$ 1.5 billion)(4) from 1998 to 2003. Assuming that they spent another Rs 6000 crores from 2003 to 2005, the total money put in by MNCs into R&D during the same period would be around Rs 12,000 crores. But out of the top 50 patents in the period from 1995 to 2005, 44 were from MNCs, four from Government laboratories and two from private Indian industries (2). A conservative calculation .comparing the cost of a top 50 patent from a Government laboratory, Indian private industry and the MNC would make a Government Laboratory patent 100 times more expensive and a private Indian industry patent 40 times more expensive than that of a top 50 MNC patent. Interestingly, the number of patents filed by Indians and ‘foreigners’ is not very different (3). It is also a fact that .the same Indian people, with similar background, while working in an MNC become more productive. In the present Government system we neither publish quality papers nor do we have quality patents. Something is seriously wrong. Doing cutting-edge research on a sustained basis with better characterization equipment is essential. And we have to catch up with countries like China and Korea. Further, nowadays equipment are

much more sophisticated and expensive, and the era of the haves and have-nots has come back. The cycle of events that happened 20 years ago is now repeating again, maybe with a lesser intensity. To break out of this cycle we need to do two things: (1) Have a much larger number of basic equipment to do basic work and a few centralized, high-end equipment to do high-end work; (2) The industry will have to play a much bigger role. But, most likely, we will still be in the catching-up process and will always be at the mercy of the equipment suppliers. And we have an impotent system to contend with. The problem can be solved to a certain extent if we start designing the basic parts and materials that go into making a product and characterization equipment. Only such a strong technological foundation will help us break from the past and come to the forefront. We have built these institutions on a weak foundation, which is getting weaker by the day. Apart from massive funding, a change in mindset is also necessary. We should not look for cheap indigenous alternatives. We should look to build world-class equipment to sell in the world market. We also should follow the philosophy where ‘budget overruns’ are tolerated, but ‘time overruns’ are not. Today, the philosophy is, in most cases, the opposite. In the past several half-hearted attempts to make equipment and sensors have failed, because the effort was halfhearted in the first place. We should have a system where R&D, design and manufacturing happen simultaneously, maybe except during the initial stages. Such a system will not only help save time, but also help in continuous innovation which is essential when product life cycles are as low as six months. And the system has to be far more dynamic than what it is now. Possibly it is time to build a whole new organization that takes up designing and building equipment and allied products. An organization that trains quality manpower and is accountable with respect to both time and money. An organization that has both a scientific outlook and an engineering temperament, and helps other institutions strengthen their foundation. Such an organization will also help strengthen our higher education programme, which is in doldrums today.

1. Hirsch, J. E., PNAS, 2005, 102, 16569–

16572.

2. http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/ARWU-FIELD.htm

3. http://dst.gov.in/majorhighlights.pdf

4. Editorial, Indian Express, 9 October 2007.

Satish V. Kailas is in the Department of

Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute

of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India.

e-mail: satvk@mecheng.iisc.ernet.in

Thanking you

mpshridhar

reference:

Internet

The Concept of Mouse:

Technology Vs India:

Indian designs futuristic concept mouse:

Bangalore: With advanced technology, PCs are giving way to laptops and laptops are making space for tablets. The humble mouse is also constantly evolving in its form and design. And the latest idea to stuck innovators is that of touch controls in the mouse.

As the touch controls are gaining popularity, a concept design is presented, titled Mouse for Men, which if realised into reality will change the way we use the mouse.

Conceptualized by Indian designer Nitin Mane, the concept mouse has touch controls, flexible touchscreen and pressure sensitive controls to boot. The touchscreen has an OLED display and the design is inspired by an original mouse. The concept device has a separable tail that eases the usability.

The interface of the mouse has displays the status, and the buttons and menus can be customized as per the need or preference of the users. The mouse also has emergency charging feature at the end of normal battery life.

The Mouse for Men was designed by Nitin Mane as part of the LG Cube Competition 2010. Mane is a student of animation and graphics.

mpshridhar

reference:

Silicon india letter.

Again India reached the mark.,

1)Indian Villager became source of MIT tech idea:

Bangalore: Mahatma Gandhi once said "The soul of India lives in its villages' and today a villager from Guwahati has made his vision true and acceptable to the world. Kanak Das, resident of a remote village near Guwahati has created a simple device which converts the shocks received by his bicycle into acceleration energy, so he doesn't have to peddle for a few metres after negotiating a pothole, reports Prashant Thakor of DNA.

Finally the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, U.S., has taken up by his idea and is conducting further research on how to channelize the energy created in shock observers of vehicle into the acceleration.

Anil Gupta, Professor at IIM-A, who presented his idea to the MIT said, "Kanak Das came up with this innovation to seek a solution to the bad roads of his village, and when I showcased his idea to the students of MIT, they immediately adopted it, as it can bring huge change in automobile technology across the world."

It is horrifying to see that a good project is recognized by MIT and not by any IIT or a leading technolgy institute like IISc and other so called deemed universities who can boast only tie ups with foreign universities but fail to recognize the sparks in our own local brains. What a pity! It is sad that even the professors who have done their doctorates in foreign universities also behave like ordinary people once they take up jobs in India.

2) When would India start encouraging Innovations:

Bangalore: For centuries the Indian mindset has been about following the West. The 'I' in India always meant Imitation. But now Innovation has become the new mantra for all young Indians. But has the efforts of new innovations really paid off? In fact you could say "No" as only 12 to 14 percent (35) of innovations out of 250 were approved and were given patent.

Out of 35, 5 patents were given by the U.S. Government. The U.S. patent office did not charge innovators any patent fee when they heard that the innovations were from people who had no formal training.

There are several innovations that happen in the country and go unnoticed. NGOs take initiative of providing the platform for young innovators by nominating the the individual. The individual wins a prize for his prized innovation and he and his revolutionizing innovation is forgotten in the same village where it had originated. Since many of these worthy innovations lie cocooned in their respective villages, hardly any of these breakthrough technologies see the light.

Why is that, in India, there is a congenital failure to identify innovation and creativity? Despite the lack of education, power and money, young guns have fought their way with limited resources and found a better and cheaper solution to address our problems, but still government shuts its doors away and discourages budding talents.

Around six lakh students graduate from technical institutes every year in our country and why that none of their 'innovative' project works is not considered worthy of a patent?

In a government polytechnic college in Latur (in Maharashtra), three young girls have built a black box for automobiles that is used by Insurance companies in U.S. to know if the car was met with a genuine accident or not. How many people in India know about this? Should not such products be developed and sold in a mass scale?

One such instance that has been ignored by our government is that of Chandrasekhar Panda and Saswat Swain, the two young minds of the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) who have designed the first ever 3G technology-based data card that will provide high speed internet at a very low cost for rural people.

The 3G data card, named "iWEBLEAF", has been designed in such a manner that it can work on the spectrum of any telecom operator to provide high speed internet service all the time. They have developed the card in such a way that it is both Wi-Fi and 3G enabled. The data card currently has the capacity of providing 7.2Mbps speed on the 2G GSM SIM card besides providing internet access at 21.1Mbps.It also acts as a Wi-Fi hotspot hub, which will enable the end user to connect around 300 laptops and 30 mobile phones to the internet without using any cable connection.

This invention can be a breakthrough in providing mobile broadband connectivity to the people of the state.In India the biggest challenge for the telecom authority of India is to provide broadband in rural villages and remote areas of the country. The goal of the project is to drive a 'highway' of high-speed internet, which would unite 410 rural regions, where private telecom companies do not develop broadband internet infrastructure due to low demand.

"By using only 3 to 4 data cards, an entire village with around 150 families can be provided internet connectivity with a net spending of just Rs 900 per month. Similarly, an urban user will get high speed internet at just Rs 99 per month," said Panda.

"Using this data card, a person can get to view more than 150 television channels, free of cost without using any television tuner or additional gadgets. The user can also switch to different networks within 2 days." said Panda.

Currently the data card is priced at 1300. It can be used by both pre-paid and post-paid customers and the tariff plan that they offer is 274 per month for unlimited download and99 for 2GB of download.

mpshridhar

reference:

Silicon india website

Third Bangalore Nano award to A K Sood

Bangalore Nano 2010 National Award Presented to Prof. Ajay K Sood

Bangalore, 08th December 2010: The 3rd edition of Bangalore Nano organised by The Department of IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka under the guidance of Vision Group on Nanotechnology led by Prof. C.N.R. Rao, FRS, Honorary President, JNCASR was inaugurated at the Lalit Ashok. The focal theme of Bangalore Nano 2010 is “Frontiers of Nanotechnology: Impact on India. This TWO day event is featuring top global intellects, entrepreneurs and organisations in the field of Nanotechnology.

The event started by a traditional inauguration of lighting the lamp by Prof. C.N.R. Rao,FRS National Research Professor; Linus Pauling Research Professor; Honorary President, JNCASR; Chairman, Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India; Chairman, Vision Group on Science & Technology and Nanotechnology, Government of Karnataka, followed by Shri. Ashok Kumar C Manoli, IAS - Principal Secretary to Government, Dept. of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, Prof. Yoshio Bando, Fellow, National Institute for Material Science (NIMS) & COO - International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), Japan, Prof. Ajay K Sood, President, Indian Academy of science and Institute of Science (IISc) and Mr. Arvind Jannu, IAS - Managing Director, KEONICS and Director IT & BT Government of Karnataka.

Giving the inaugural address Prof. C.N.R. Rao, FRS said, “The Bangalore Nano is a celebration in Nanotechnology. Karnataka has always been a pioneer state and has always led the country in science. He hoped the progress wouldn't slow down. He expressed pleasure and gratitude towards the Chief Minister for encouraging the inception and activities of Vision Group. He also appreciated Mr Manoli's efforts and encouragement in the field. JNCAR and IISc have greatly influenced the development of science in Bangalore. Moreover, Bangalore has the maximum number of Science institutions and scientists in the country. The future of Nano is very important and it is one of the most outstanding scientific fields. Tissue engineering and MRI are some of the important applications to alleviate human suffering, giving hope to scores of people. Nanotech will also create new waves in delivering cancer drugs. Nanotechnology will also find applications in the cosmetics. Electronic prototypes using nano circuits will create a new revolution in the future. There is lots of scope, but proper research is needed. Speaking on his personal experiences, Prof. CNR Rao said that after observing Quantum computing, one of a major developments in Physics, there is more hope today than there was three or five years ago. The success in the lab need to be translated into success in the real world. Government is also investing heavily in science.” He concluded saying “Hemmaya Kannadiga” a proud Kannadiga.

Prof. Ajay K Sood, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science (IISc)., observed that Nanotechnology has more scope than other streams of science, but there should be a synergy between the academia and the business to reach the common goals. RICH will provide great opportunities to start ups, which is one of the key features of Bangalore Nano. A new feature has been added from this year on called 'National Lecture Series' to present research papers. Nano for the young is another important feature. Nano is a relatively young field and needs new minds for success, so it is imperative to encourage youngsters. The event has attracted a huge number of registered participants. The response for the poster presentation was overwhelming but could accommodate only 70 posters due to quality control. The program committee and the vision group on Nano are the guiding torch for science and nanotechnology, he concluded.

Accepting the 3rd Bangalore Nano National Award from Prof. CNR Rao, Prof. Ajay K Sood, remarked that it was a very pleasant surprise and privilege to be chosen for the award. He said it was an honour to be given this award. It was a privilege to have been associated with Prof. CNR Rao and the Vision Group. He also thanked all his students profusely on the occasion.

AJAY K. SOOD

===============================================================

Name : Professor A K Sood

Addess : Department of Physics

Indian Institute of Science

Bangalore-560 012, INDIA

Tele: 91-80-23602238, 22932964

Fax: 91-80-23602602

E.mail : asood@physics.iisc.ernet.in

Born : June 26, 1951

Citizenship : Indian

Education :

B.Sc. Physics, Punjab University, Chandigarh, India, 1971.

M.S. Physics, Punjab University, Chandigarh, India, 1972.

Ph.D. Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India 1982.

Post-doctoral: Max Planck Institute fur FKF, Stuttgart, Germany, 1983-1985.

Professional Experience :

7/94- Present Professor

Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

12/98 – 3/08 Chairman

Division of Physical and Mathematical Sciences,

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India

7/88- 7/94 Associate Professor

Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science,

Bangalore. India

1993- Present Honorary Professor

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India

8/73 – 7/88 Scientist

Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, India

Honours and Recognitions:

(a) Fellowships of Academies

1) Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc) (1991)

2) President, Indian Academy of Sciences (2010-2012)

3) Fellow of Indian National Science Academy (FNA) (1996)

4) Vice President, Indian National Science Academy (2008-2010)

5) Fellow of Third World Academy of Sciences (FTWAS) (2002)

6) Fellow of The National Academy of Sciences, India (FNASc) (1995)

7) Member, The Asia-Pacific Academy of Materials (2008)

Ajay K. Sood Page 2

===============================================================

(b) Awards:

1) Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Physical Sciences (1990)(Highest prize of the Government of India for Scientists below age of 45 yrs)

2) Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Award in Physics (2000)

3) G.D. Birla Science Award (2000) )(Given annually by a major national foundation to a scientist below the age of 50 yrs, choosen amongst all areas of science and engineering)

4) FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) Award in Physical Sciences (1999-2000)

5) The Homi Jehangir Bhabha Medal of Indian National Science Academy(2002)

6) Materials Research Society (India) Medal (2000)

7) Millennium Gold Medal of Indian Science Congress (2000)

8) IISc Alumni Award for Excellence in Research for Science (2003)

9) M.N. Saha Birth Centenary Award (Indian Science Congress) (2003-2004)

10) Sir C.V. Raman Award: Physical Sciences (Hari Om Ashram Trust/University Grants Commission) (2003)

11) Goyal Prize in Physics (2003)

12) DAE Raja Ramanna Award of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (2005)

13) National Award in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (Department of Science and Technology., Government of India), ( 2006)

14) Lifetime achievement award of Punjab University, Chandigarh (2006)

15) Bhatnagar Fellowship of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (2007)

16) Vigyan Ratan Award of Punjab University, Chandigarh (2010).

(c) Award Lectures:

1) Platinum Jubilee Lecture of Indian Science Congress (1998)

2) Prof. K. Rangadhama Rao Memorial Award Lecture of Indian National Science Academy (2000)

3) Brahm Prakash Memorial Lecture of Indian Institute of Metals, Kalpakkam Chapter (2003)

4) J.W. McBain Award Lecture of National Chemical Laboratory - Pune (2004)

5) A.V. Rama Rao Award Lecture of Indian Association of Cultivation of Science, Kolkatta (2004)

6) Platinum Jubilee Lecture of Indian Science Congress (2008)

7) Prof. Meghnad Saha Memorial Lecture Award of The National Academy of Sciences, India (2009).

(d) Others:

1) Executive Editor, Solid State Communications, Elsevier

2) Associate Member of International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy (1995-2001)

3) Member, International Steering Committee of Raman Spectroscopy (1994-1999)

Ajay K Sood

Patents :

1) Carbon Nanotubes flow sensor and energy conversion device (2001). (Patent with Mr. Shankar Ghosh) – US. Patent No. 6,718, 834 (granted on 13-4-2004).

2) Method for measurements of Gas Flow Velocity, method for energy conversion using gas flow over solid material, and device thereof. (Patent applied with S. Ghosh) US Patent no. 7,302.845B2, (dt. Dec.4, 2007). Patent filed in 7 countries.

3) Accelerometer based on Nanotubes. A. K. Sood, Anindya Das and Shankar Ghosh. Indian patent filed. (Application No. 663/CHE/2005)

4) Vibration Sensor based on Nanotubes. A.K. Sood, Anindya Das and Shankar Ghosh. Indian patent filed. (Application No. 664/CHE/2005)

5) An ultra-sensitive assay for detection and Quantification of a substance. A. K. Sood and Ajay Singh Negi. Indian Patent. (Application No. 1324/CHE/2005). International PCT Application no. PCT/IN 2006/000369.

6) Ge-Te-Si Glasses for phase change random access memory (PC RAM) applications, K.K. Singh, N.M. Krishna, O. Nalamasu, S. Asokan, M. Anbarasu, A.K. Sood and S. Prusty, International PCT filed.

Publications :

Research Papers in Journals (published + submitted)...................... 270

Scientific Reviews ...................... 6

Chapters contributed to books ...................... 8

Research Activities :

1. Hard Condensed Matter :

Raman Scattering : Nanotubes, Graphene, Fullerenes, strongly electron correlated oxides, Geometrically spin frustrated pyrochlores, Semiconductor superlattices, Raman scattering under ultra high pressures using diamond anvil cell.

Time resolved spectroscopy : Photon Control of ionic motion using femtosecond lasers : squeezed phonons and coherent phonons, Nonlinear optical properties.

Brillouin Scattering : Semiconductors, Manganites, CDW systems, Geometrically spin frustrated Pyrochlores, Nanotubes.

Transport : Fluid flow induced voltage generation in Nanotubes and semiconductors, Nanotube and graphene based field effect transistors.

II. Soft Condensed Matter :

Colloids and surfactant based systems, complexes of DNA with surfactants.

Experimental studies : Dynamic light scattering, Digital optical microscopy, Coherent x-ray and small angle x-ray scattering, x-ray fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, colloids under electric field, Linear and nonlinear rheology and rheo-optics.

Theoretical studies : Density functional theory and computer simulations.

Ajay K Sood

Teaching Experience

20 years; teaching courses for Graduate Physics students.

Total graduate students advised since 1988: 22

Ph.D. degree awarded so far : 12, working towards Ph.D. : 10, M.S. degree : 9

mpshridhar

Reference:

Google,

Wikipedia,

IISC website for providing his CV.,.