Applications are invited from interested students and teachers for these Fellowships. The applications should be submitted online through one of our websites; however a copy of the application together with enclosures must be sent by post to the address given below. The last date for receipt of applications online is 31st December, 2011.

Information of selection along with concurrence of the guide will be dispatched by early March 2012. The selected students/teachers will be provided appropriate round trip train fare and a monthly fellowship to meet their living expenses at the place of work.

All correspondence should be addressed to:

The Coordinator
Science Education Programme
Indian Academy of Sciences
C.V. Raman Avenue
Near Mekhri Circle
Sadashivanagar
Bangalore 560 080

Tel: (080) 2266 1201, (080) 2266 1202
Fax: (080) 2361 6094
e-mail: sumfel@ias.ernet.in
website: www.ias.ac.in

What does it mean to be able to provide a playing field to the most glamorous sport in the world in one’s own backyard? To begin with, consider the show itself. The stars of the show were two dozen power-packed monsters which went zooming around a roughly 5 kilometre stretch of land at an average speed of more than 200 kmph. Gracing the steering wheels of those shining pieces of metal were two dozen speed kings, quite a few out of whom need no introduction such as the youngest world champion in the world Sebastian Vettel, the man whose record he broke – Lewis Hamilton, the evergreen Michael Schumacher and the local boy, Narain Karthikeyan. As for the track itself, the Buddh International Circuit is, in fact, the second fastest circuit in the world. An interesting aspect of the track is that it features a net elevation change of 14 metres. In other words, it is not a horizontally level track, but features a region where cars go down a slope at high speeds and then power up an incline. Add to that the fact that drivers were flying at speeds of 320 kmph through such a region, and it is hard to keep yourself from lauding Jaypee Group for having accomplished a task of epic proportions by building such a track. Gracing the grandstand of the track during the race were demigods such as Sachin Tendulkar and Shah Rukh Khan, while Lady Gaga featured in a somewhat steamy gig at the after party.

Apart from the racing infrastructure such as the track and the huge spectator stands, Jaypee Group are in the process of building a complete Sports City in the region which has been planned so as to feature various stadiums, hotels, schools and residential areas when done. There is a marked grandeur and sense of sophisticated development in the whole plan, which dramatically contrasts with the conditions of extreme poverty still starkly visible in major parts of India. It is a strange journey that an outsider will make from New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport to Jaypee Green’s Sports City. While on the one hand one marvels at the steel and concrete wonder of the airport and the gleaming tarmac of the Buddh International Circuit inside the Sports City, on the other hand one can’t turn a blind eye to the beggars knocking on the windows whenever your car halts at a traffic jam. The innumerable traffic signals and the open defiance to some of them by many a rebellious driver only serves to remind one of Indian road safety standards. This bizarre ride through the crisscrossing mesh of modern, polished Indian roads does serve to underline the disparate sophistication levels in our country as one sees the occasional labourer urinating at the roadside or a mindless family crossing through a lane of oncoming traffic.

Coming back to the race, even the severest of critics will have to draw a blank if asked to point out major hiccups in the way the entire weekend progressed. It was a satisfactory display of smooth organisation and efficient management, areas where the country has burnt its fingers recently. The horrible fiasco over the government directed preparations for the Commonwealth Games lives on only too well in the minds of each and every Indian, who watched their country’s humiliation being forecast globally and the world shaking its head in disbelief and tut-tutting about the fact that this country would become the future of world economy. People still shudder on hearing names such as Suresh Kalmadi and the extent to which some people could be corrupt so as to rob the entire nation of crores of rupees to burden their own little selfish pockets. After an event where many high-profile international athletes pulled out and the infrastructure was likely to fall apart any moment like a sandcastle, it is ironical that the Indian Grand Prix took place very near to where the Commonwealth Games had been staged. This time around however, the thoroughness with which the elaborate preparations for the race had progressed had pleasantly surprised everyone. There had been no need for the ordinary passerby to feel his country’s reputation crumbling to bits whenever he glanced at the infrastructure getting ready to stage the gala event. From an economic point of view, that infrastructure is expected to strike gold. It is reckoned that the new Formula One circuit will generate approximately 8 billion rupees in income, mostly for local hotel and tourism industries, and provide up to 10,000 jobs. Jaypee plans to harness the potential of its project by staging Moto GP races as well in the circuit and developing a racing academy at the site next year.

It is worth mentioning that the week leading up to the Indian Grand Prix had been a horrendous one for motorsport. Tragic events occurred at the Indy 500 race at Las Vegas where Dan Wheldon died after his car burst into flames in a crash involving as many as fifteen cars, and at the Moto GP Malaysian Grand Prix where Italian Marco Simoncelli suffered a fatal accident. As fans from everywhere entered a period of deep mourning, India proved to be a beacon of light to follow as it announced its entry into the world of motorsport with a bang. In a country where cricket is a religion and Bollywood is the staple spice needed for survival, one cannot ignore the fact that this is not the bat and ball game, neither is this the silver screen. True, cricket will remain the cream sporting interest of Indians in the foreseeable future; however a race generates a new kind of hype and craze to which the teeming millions in our country were being exposed to for the first time. One cannot ignore the veritable truth behind owner of Force India F1 team, Vijay Mallya’s words, “India’s economic growth, its young and aspirational demographic and the growing popularity of F1 make it one of the most attractive future destinations for a high-technology-driven and fantastically-competitive sport. It is a matter of pride that India is on the F1 calendar.”

As an ending note it is worth mentioning that just as Sebastian Vettel left an indelible mark on India by putting up a flawless performance in a race where he led every lap, the country also left an indelible mark on the young German champion. The 24-year-old is already looking forward to next year’s race after being thoroughly impressed with his subcontinent experience. Referring to the local people, he said “They’re happy with what they have, even if you compare and they have so little, but they are happy, friendly, helpful and respectful.” Words to treasure indeed. As Mayawati brought the curtains down on the showpiece event by presenting the magnificent winner’s trophy to Vettel, the world looked upon a new India, an India ready to step out and embrace the fast lane. The Indian Grand Prix is finally here and definitely looks all set to propel India to new heights of speed.

The workshop is organised every year as an effort to promote both fests and also to impart knowledge of basic robotics among college students from Kolkata and nearby suburbs. The workshop started off with an introductory video of Kshitij, followed by a brief description of the events. The video, a compendium of achievements and highlights of Kshitij and Robotix over the years, created quite an impression .

The Robotix workshop started around noon and for the next one hour the audience was guided through the basics of autonomous robotics. Starting with basic differential drives, the presenters went on to explain how an autonomous robot perceives the surrounding environment and acts independently with the help of sensors and processors. The icing on cake, however, was the demonstration of a working line follower robot which left the audience asking for more.

In addition to the workshop the society also held an exhibition of about 15 working robots at Birla Industrial and Technological Museum accompanied by a one-hour session on “Robotics for Beginners” specifically meant for school children which involved the explanation of the making of the simplest manual robot capable of traversal in 4 directions. Hogged by media spotlights, the event turned out to be a grand success, arousing the curiosity of an audience ranging across ages 5-50. With robots capable of playing soccer, mimicking a goalkeeper and navigating across a grid, the exhibition had something to stir everyone’s interest.

However, the show doesn’t end here as the society has a series of workshops planned before the main event in January with a workshop at Techno India, Salt Lake (6th November) and the annual winter workshop for freshers being next in line. The team expects nothing less from these after positive response received from workshops held at Bangalore, Nagpur and Ludhiana during the Durga Puja holidays.

The morning session began with the lighting of the lamp by the professors, namely Prof. S. K. Barai, Prof. H. N. Mishra, Prof. N. K. Kishore and Prof. R. Sen, followed by a video on the Institute and its future as a research hub. Prof. S. K. Barai (Prof-in-charge, IPR & IR) then briefed the officials about the norms of IPR & IR. Consequently, there were presentations given by the members of TTG about the research areas and lab facilities of the Department of Agricultural and Food Processing. There were also presentations on some of the technologies developed, including Process technology for enzymatic polishing of rice and manufacture of curd powder. Subsequently, the SRIC Newsletter was released which comprised of articles on some of the technologies developed till date (by various departments). During the break, the delegates were given a tour around the gallery which housed posters of several technologies developed at the Institute. This gave rise to quality interaction between the companies, professors and students. Arrangements were made for the delegates to speak to the professors who weren’t present via teleconference. The session concluded with a panel discussion on ‘Food Control and Quality Management’. The panel comprised of our professors, along with Mr. Abhishek Sahay, Assistant Director of FICCI. The discussion stressed on safety and health, adulteration, GM foods, etc. and initiated the platform for companies to provide solutions to existing problems.

The evening half saw delegates from various companies based on solar energy, biofuels, power transmission, etc. The second session was similar to the first but the concentration was on renewable energy and power. Concise presentations on the research areas and lab facilities of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Biotechnology were delivered which were followed by technologies developed. Notable ones among them included novel biofuel additive for diesel engines and vector controlled induction motor drive. Following the gallery session was another panel discussion with ‘Renewable and Greener energy as the future of India’ as the agenda and Mr. S. K. Dasgupta, Vice Chairman of DCPL as an additional panelist. It was yet another interactive session and the discussion revolved around several topics connected to solar, biofuel, wind energy and many more.

On the whole, the event was a success and gave an insight to eminent companies on the technologies and research facilities at IIT Kharagpur. It has opened the window of opportunity to the companies for collaboration with the Institute in order to develop promising solutions to existing complications.

Hats off to the white, gleaming Lal Battis for loyally and flawlessly performing their duties in what can be called as one of the most hectic and, to put it mildly, bizarre periods for South Block. The ludicrousness started with a seventy-four year old ex-army personnel deciding one day to give up eating. And interestingly, neither he nor the South Block had envisaged the ensuing chaos to turn out the way it did – opening up a Pandora’s Box out of which -pop- jumped out the Great Indian Joint Family. Along with its accompanying masala and pandemonium.

Dhoti-clad netas, the Delhi Babudom, “common” people, the leader of common people (read: the old man on a diet), elite “intellectuals”, the “concerned” media – all seemed to be a part of the family. Oh, also include the squabble amongst them – an out-and-out integral part.

The common people were like rebellious daughters (the leader of them being the eldest one) trying to oppose the suppression they had been subjected to by the dhoti clad netas – their parents. The Delhi Babus were the pampered elder brothers who never had to undergo any suppression to be worried about their sisters. The concerned media was like a gossipy aunt, for whom the revolt had provided a cargo of fodder to gossip on. And the elite intellectuals – well, let’s assume that they were the unwelcome guests who had an opinion about all and sundry.

The tiff managed to unravel some captivating drama. Anna Hazare was arrested and released in a span of 12 hours. The ruling coalition showcased some hilarious stunts (mostly U-turns). Anna decided to go on a fast unto death. Kiran Bedi did a ghoonghat dance. Team Anna decided to call itself “Team Anna”. Arundhati Roy begged to differ by calling it a Naxal movement. And then actor Yogita Dandekar went topless.

The cacophony and the spice arising out of this tamasha would have been so entertaining, had it not been so appalling.

That the Prime Minister stated in Parliament that Anna Hazare’s protest was an attempt to undermine the Indian Democracy is not amusing – it is shocking. Team Anna’s deadline of less than ten days to the government to make the Jan Lokpal bill into a law is not amusing – it is worrying. That anyone hesitant to endorse the Anna phenomenon was labelled a traitor is not amusing – it is alarming.

But when Renuka Chowdary, an eminent member of the ruling party, decided to claim on national television that Anna Hazare’s arrest and his subsequent transfer to the infamous Tihar Jail was done in order to protect “national security”, it was actually kind of amusing. That the government decided to give a damn about its concerns on national security in just a space of 12 hours was the icing on the cake. And oh boy! It does not stop here. Manish Tewari, another eminent member of the ruling party (and the one who has been forced to go into hiding now) accused Mr. Hazare of being corrupt from head to toe. Full on. Subsequently, it was discovered that the United States of America was behind it all – not me, again the ruling party’s declaration. Oh, by the way, Sonia Gandhi was totally out of action in these and the following theatrics. She was undergoing medical treatment. In USA. Well, maybe this is not so amusing.

The crisis the government finds itself in is majorly a self-made one. Okay, granted that Goddess Fortuna also probably had a not so teeny-weeny role in the grand scheme of the things. Adding zing to the fun, the Nawabzadi power corridors of Delhi have always loved to take the “cattle class” they rule over for a ride. As clearly articulated by one of their own, the “immature” junta needed to rule a country for 65 years before even trying to have a discussion with the know-it-all brigade. So when an old man decided to do an “Enough is enough… I am going to fight against the massive corruption”, the power supply in the stupefied power-corridors choked. And it was quite evident in the amount of buffoonery they did in the following weeks.

What was, however, more interesting was the reaction of other members of the joint family. It ranged from a “Hey, why does only he get to propose a bill?!” to an “Anna is India”. The latter sentiment was all-pervasive with the old man being eulogized into a hero. The protest became an ideological war against the state indifference towards 2G, CWG and a host of other Gs, rather than a method to pass the Jan Lokpal. Hardly anyone among the aam junta knew anything about the bill. Not that many actually wanted to know. The experts also spoke. While some did manage to sound reasonable, a lot of them were sheer entertainment to watch. One of them, a respected one at that, even went on to suggest – “Wait! They did not do bother to fight against government atrocities on poor farmers. How dare they assume the moral authority to fight against corruption?” Meanwhile, the gleeful media were over the moon trying to figure out how to handle the endless stream of “breaking news” they were getting.

In the subsequent anarchy, it was the government which found itself in a no-win situation. It’s not that it didn’t have a pack of antidotes to nullify the poison brewing against it. It had antidote packets of all possible colors – right from blue to pink – to defuse the situation. It could have resisted its urge to reject all the recommendations of the Jan Lokpal. It could have handled the “sticking” points of the bill by inviting others from the public domain with their version of the bill. There were many. That would have given an image of  a rational, accommodating government trying to interact for greater consensus, and keeping in mind the diversity in public opinion, would have automatically resulted in dilution of the Jan Lokpal. To top it all off, it always had its standing committee to implement the final will of the government. All it had to do was whip out these antidotes from its basket. But, in a moment of monumental stupidity, it chose to take out a quiver of arrows instead. And started showering them all over the place. The shower antagonized many. People, even those having a great deal of indifference towards the government turned against it. The ruling party, in its hubris, tried to ram its way through its self-created battlefield only later to realize that it was going to run short of arrows. Oops.

“Ceasefire!” cried the retreating government. Reconciliation began fast with “reasonable” people being sent to soothe Mr. Anna Hazare. Parliament passed a resolution accepting “in principle” the three major demands of Team Anna, i.e., inclusion of lower bureaucracy, citizens’ charter for every government department and Lokayuktas to be brought under the ambit of Lokpal. Masses claimed victory while the bruised but still defiant government tried to save face by repeatedly claiming that it was the Parliament that had reigned supreme in the end.

The action has not stopped yet with Manish Tewari leaving the membership of the standing committee which is slated to look into Lokpal. Interestingly, Mr. Laloo Yadav is a part of it. I am sure we all need his vast experience. While the government may still complain about the way it was bullied, when you look at anti-government protests around the globe, it was, by far, one of the most non-violent ones. However if, in the future, government action (or inaction) makes the people feel justified in holding the Parliament to ransom in the way it did, or if the government goes for replenishment of its stock of arrows instead of remedial antidotes, the situation- it would not be amusing anymore; it’d be downright depressing.

Out of a total of 160 abstract submissions in the field of structures, avionics, control systems and aerodynamics, the project work on “Low cost attitude control system for small fixed wing unmanned air vehicles” presented by Tanmay Kumar Mandal, GS Vimal and Himanshu Shukla was selected for the award.

The Scholars’ Avenue congratulates the trio for their splendid performance.

After Manoj Mandelia’s brilliant performance at the Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition last year, a team from IIT Kharagpur has once again placed second at the 2010 edition. The team comprised of Ankit D.P., Chandrashekhar Iyer and Somnath Meher from Kgp (also founders of Think Innoventions) and Toshe Prasad, a ’09 pass out of Kgp who’s currently at IIMA. We spoke to Somnath Meher, who detailed the technology presented by the group at the contest.

ThinkWater

Named ThinkWater, the device achieves membrane-based desalination of water through forward osmosis (reverse osmosis is currently widespread), a process that is rather unique in its application. The only other effort in this direction has come from a group at Yale. The science behind forward osmosis (FO) is well-known: water will flow from a dilute to a concentrated solution. The challenge lies in choosing an appropriate reagent to form the concentrated solution to be used against saline water. The group at Yale uses dissolved NH₃ and CO₂ in a proportion that forms a concentrated solution of ammonium salts. After osmosis, this is heated to liberate the gases, theoretically giving pure water. However, any NH₃ that remains would prove toxic. ThinkWater uses a different reagent for which a patent has been filed. FO is lucrative as it is self-sustainable and utilizes a quarter of the power requirements of RO. Work in developing the technology was also done by members of the technical team of Think, Asmit Bhowmick and Varun Aggarwal of Chemical Engineering. Professors Rajakumar and S. Ray assisted the group.

Giving shape to the Business Plan

The technology in place, the group got to work on the business model and their presentation, which evolved over time. Advised by Sanjay Inamdar of FlucAn and under Jishnu Bhattacharya, their official mentor for the Competition, the team spent sleepless nights working to perfect, refine and complete their model. The high value for their product (since the output was clean water) and good presentation were factors which helped them secure the second place. As Somnath Meher put it, it was all about learning, and they were enriched at each stage and by everyone they interacted with.

What’s next?

Along with the prize money of 70k, the win has established the innovation’s credibility and has brought in opportunities of funding from venture capitalists. A prototype of ThinkWater is to be developed in three months, and a pilot plant for a client may be set up within a year. Currently a laboratory-top model of the device is installed in the Chemistry Department.

All in all, Kgp’s performance was remarkable. While no more than two teams per institute must feature in the finals as per rules, four of our teams made it! The Scholars’ Avenue wishes each of the undertakings the best in their endeavours.