Posts Tagged ‘india’
Incredible India!… Enjoy!!!
July 24th, 2011
Indian startup to help copy your brain on computers
February 1st, 2010Now, Swiss scientists and PIT Solution, a little-heard of IT startup in Technopark in Kerala will be working on the Blue Brain Project, the world’s first comprehensive attempt to reverse-engineer the mammalian brain, reports Financial Express.
The $3 billion project is expected to be completed by 2018, said Brain Mind Institute of Swiss Federal Institute Director Henry Markram to Financial Express. The project is billed as an attempt to build a computerized copy of a brain – starting with a rat’s brain, and then progressing to a human brain-inside one of the world’s most powerful computers. It is an international project, propelled by Swiss Federal Institute, and involves several countries and ethics monitoring by UN bodies. India is yet to be part of the project.
The immediate purpose is to understand brain function and dysfunction through detailed simulations. “The study of rhodent brain has given us a template to build on. This would help in unraveling human brain,” says Markram. “The whole idea is that mental illness, memory and perception triggered by neurons and electric signals could be soon treated with a supercomputer that models all the 1,000,000 million synapses of brain.”
The key finding is that irrespective of gender and race, human brains are basically identical. “We will be able to map the differentiations by nuancing the patterns later. The exciting part is not how different we are but how similar we all are,” says Markram.
Source: Silicon India
Next Bill Gates from India or China?
January 10th, 2010
“When asked where the ‘next Bill Gates will come from,’ 40 per cent of Americans predicted either India or China,” said a national survey released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) on the sidelines of the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow at Las Vegas.
The vast majority of them, about 96 per cent, believe that innovation was critical to the future success of the US as a world economic leader but they were concerned that the rising federal deficit would jeopardize prosperity of future generations, the survey said.
The economic survey, conducted by Zogby International, found that 68 per cent of Americans think innovation was key to the future success of their place of employment, with 50 per cent maintaining that innovation was important for their job remaining in the US.
After the World Economic Forum reported that the US has lost its global competitiveness ranking while India, China and Brazil have gained, 74 per cent of Americans said it was unlikely the US would regain its status next year.
But 44 per cent pointed to innovation was the most important factor in seeking US competitiveness, it said.
According to the survey, nearly 60 per cent Americans agreed that the rising national deficit would have a “major impact” on the prosperity of future generations.
But when it comes to reducing the deficit, they were largely split on three issues: discontinuing corporate bailouts (23 per cent), reducing military spending (20 per cent), and relying on the free market to correct the imbalance (31 per cent).
Nearly 60 per cent of the respondents said that they were concerned that current path being taken by Congress would be detrimental to medical innovation.
Tensions seemed to run high: nearly half of them said they were “very concerned,” the survey said.
The Zogby survey was conducted between November 20 and 23, with a sample size of 3,779 US adults over the age of 18
A tale of Two Kashmir
December 28th, 2009That China too has its Kashmir and problems with Islamist separatists identical to India’s Kashmir is not widely known. ‘Xinjiang’, actually pronounced as ‘Sinkiang’ for postal purposes, is China’s Kashmir. Xinjiang actually shares borders with Ladakh in India’s Kashmir. But unlike Kashmir it is not a small area. Its size is 1.8 million sq km; almost one-sixth of China; half as much as India. India’s Kashmir measures some 2,65,000 sq km. Of which some 86,000 sq km is under Pakistan; some 37,500 sq km under China; the balance, 1,41,000 sq km, is with India. The disputed part of India’s Kashmir, some 1,45,000 sq km, is less than one hundredth of Xinjiang. So China’s Kashmir is physically 100 times bigger than India’s and therefore its problem too is bigger. Yet many do not know about it.
The reason is that China prevented Xinjiang, its Kashmir, from becoming an international issue like India’s Kashmir. Xinjiang, which had a majority of Turkish Muslims (Uighurs) in 1949, had a short-lived state of East Turkestan. China invaded it, crushed it, and won back its territory. The name Xinjiang literally means ‘old frontier returns to China’. See the contrast. A year earlier, in 1948, India almost won back most of Kashmir from Pakistan which had invaded it, but voluntarily offered and turned it into an international issue. It was India, not Pakistan, which went to the United Nations; made it an international issue. It is struggling to say it is a bilateral one. Now, on to how China handled Xinjiang, its Kashmir, and integrated it with mainland China.
Xinjiang has a population of 20 million plus. The Uighur Muslims constitute 45 per cent, other Muslims 12 per cent and the Han Chinese 41 per cent. What was the Han population in Xinjiang in 1949? Just six per cent. In six decades it has risen by seven times. This change did not occur by itself. China did not just trust army or administrative control of its territory in Xinjiang. It trusted only its people. It ensured that the Han Chinese slowly began populating Xinjiang. The result is self-evident. But the 41 per cent Han Chinese population does not include defence personnel and families, and unregistered migrant Chinese workers.
Xinjiang was once known for a variety of agricultural products, but now, for more. Its GDP rose from $28 billion in 2004 to $60 billion in 2008. Its per capita GDP (2008) is $2,864, almost the same as the national average. It has large deposits of minerals and oil. The oil and gas extraction industry in Xinjiang is booming; it has a pipeline to Shanghai. This sector accounts for 60 per cent of Xinjiang’s economy. With a vast area, huge resources, and sparse population, Xinjiang benefits China more than the other way round. In contrast the economic cost of India’s Kashmir is very high. It receives a per capita Central grant of Rs 8,092, while for other Indian states it is Rs 1,137. If the grant were given directly by money order each Kashmir family of five would receive Rs 40,460 every year.
Still, the Uighur Muslims are unhappy with communist China. The World Uyghur Congress led by Rebiya Kadeer, a businesswoman based in Germany, is fighting for the freedom of Uighurs. There is violence and terror in Xinjiang like in Kashmir but not on that scale thanks to Pakistan’s ISI being friendly to China as common cause against India. The Uighurs are therefore not getting any support from Pakistan. Yet militancy is growing. There were terror strikes in Xinjiang on August 5 last year, just three days ahead of the Beijing Olympics, killing 16 policemen. On August 11, when the Olympics was in progress, attacks took place near Beijing in which 11 people were killed. And just last week, on July 6, there were huge riots between Uighur Muslims and Han Chinese in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, resulting in 184 deaths and over 1,000 people injured. Most of the dead and injured were Han Chinese even though Urumqi is overwhelmingly Han Chinese, nearly three-fourths. See how the Chinese reacted to the July 6 riots.
President Hu Jintao, who was to attend the G8 meeting, flew back in a tacit admission of the depth of the crisis. His government declared war on ‘three forces’, namely — ‘separatism, extremism and terrorism’. It banned Friday prayers in Urumqi mosques and told the Muslims to pray from their homes, something no other country would or could do. China has also pointed to al-Qaeda as inspiration for the trouble.
Yes, China does have problems with Islamist separatists, extremists and terrorists. But it has, by diplomacy and action, ensured that it remains an internal problem, unlike India, which has on its own made Kashmir an international issue. China has also changed the religious and political demography of Xinjiang by ensuring that 41 per cent of the province’s population is non-Muslim.
Instead of working to change the demography in favour of India as China has done, the Indian government could not even prevent the expulsion of Hindus from the Valley. While Xinjiang is half filled by Han Chinese, Kashmir has been cleansed of Hindus. The result is that India has to defend Kashmir with the army instead of the people.
Had India followed the policy the Chinese adopted in Xinjiang, conquering Kashmir back instead of contracting under Article 370, which prevents Indians in other places from migrating to the Valley, today Kashmir would have demographically integrated with India. We would be dealing with internal riots occasionally like China does; but we would not face or fight wars with Pakistan and with terrorists every day.
The lesson for India is: demography — religious demographic balance that is in tune with the national mainstream — is the guarantee for the nation, more so at the borders. China gradually brought Xinjiang, its Kashmir, into the national mainstream through the Han Chinese. But India constitutionally contracted to keep its Kashmir out of the mainstream; it even cleansed it of the mainstream by making the Hindus refugees in their own nation. What a contrast!
QED: Augustus Comte, the 19th century French philosopher, said, “demography is destiny”. Citing him, The Economist (August 24-31, 2002) emphasised the importance of demographic influences on nations and economies. China understood the critical nature of religious demography; India did not. This is the differing tale of two Kashmirs.
-By Gurumurthy
U.S. students prefer India as key study destination
December 3rd, 2009Just like U.S. is the top study destination for Indian students, India too is a preferred destination for U.S. students. A new survey has found out that India is one of the five nations preferred by the U.S. students as a key educational destination. China, Japan, South Africa and Argentina are among the other preferable educational destinations for U.S. students.
According to the Open Doors 2009 survey conducted by the Institute of International Education, the number of Americans studying abroad increased by 8.5 percent to 262,416 in the 2007-08 academic year. The survey shows that the number of students to nearly all of the top 25 destinations increased, notably to destinations less traditional for study abroad: China, Ireland, Austria and India (up about 20 percent each), as well as Costa Rica, Japan, Argentina and South Africa (up nearly 15 percent each).
At the same time, the number of international students at colleges and universities in the U.S. increased by eight percent to an all-time high of 671,616 in the 2008-09 academic year while the number of ‘new’ international students – those enrolled for the first time at a U.S. college or university in fall 2008 – increased by 16 percent.
This represents the largest percentage increase in international student enrollments since 1980 – 81. According to separate joint surveys conducted by eight leading higher education associations, overall enrollments of international students increased this autumn at half (50 percent or 348) of responding member campuses.
For the first time, the number of institutions reporting increases in students from India does not outweigh those who are reporting decline (29 percent reporting increase and 29 percent reporting decline).
When looking specifically at the largest host institutions (those 121 responding institutions enrolling more than 1,000 students), 50 percent of responding institutions are reporting a decline for students from India and only 31 percent are reporting an increase.
“Despite the economic downturn, many campuses are still seeing increase in international student enrollment for fall 2009, while others are seeing declines or flattening of enrollments,” said Allan E. Goodman, President and CEO of the Institute of International Education (IIE). “The impact also varies by country, with reported declining enrollments from India and a few other countries offset on many campuses by surging number of students coming from China and strong increase from certain other major sending countries.”
Bangalore names explained
November 1st, 2009I am sure it’s a good read…Cheers
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Marathahalli
Halli in Kannada means village. A fighter aircraft named Marut had an accident
in this area; So the area is called Marathahalli.
BTM Layout
BTM Layout (an abbreviation of Byrasandra,
Tavarekere and Madivala Layout)
Malleswaram
Malleswaram, located in the north-west of Bangalore , derives its name from the
famous Kaadu Malleshwara temple.
HSR Layout
Hosur Sarjapur Road Layout (popularly known as HSR Layout) is a relatively new
suburb located to the south-east of Bangalore , India . The layout, which is
built on land reclaimed from the Agara lake, is located between Hosur Road and
Sarjapur Road .
Arekere
Are in Kannada means half. Kere in Kannada means a water reservoir or pond. The
origin of the name “Arekere” comes comes from a water reservoir which
is in the area.
Banashankari
Banashankari is a neighborhood in South Bengaluru . It gets its name from the
Banashankari Amma Temple on Kanakapura Road , one of Bengaluru’s oldest and
most famous temples, which was constructed by Subramanya Shetty in 1915.
Basavanagudi
The name “Basavanagudi” refers to the Bull Temple that is located
here. It is a monolith statue of the Nandi Bull. Basava in Kannada, the local
language, means Bull and Gudi means temple. Hence, the name Basavanagudi
Basaveshwaranagar
It is named after poet-king Basaveshwara. Basaveshwaranagar is also known to
have a 100 year old tree “The Big Banyan Tree – Dodda Aalada Mara”
which was a home for hundreds of monkeys now a known public park in the
vicinity.
Domlur
Domlur is a small township located in the eastern part of Bangalore city in
India . Earlier it was known as Bhagat Singh Nagar, but for some unknown
reasons, it is better known as Domlur. There is a debate over the exact meaning
of Domlur. From what can be deciphered from old people living in the area,
Domlur is a word derived from Tombalur, a kind of flower which is used to
worship Lord Shiva. This is
further supported by the inscriptions found in
Chokkanathaswamy temple in Domlur, which is believed to be constructed by Cholas
Electronics City
Electronics City is an electronics industrial park spread over 332 acres (1.3
km²) in Konappana Agrahara and Doddathogur villages, just outside Bangalore ,
India . It houses more than a hundred industries, including IT industry leaders
such as Wipro,Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Infosys, CGI, Siemens, ITI,Satyam etc.
The area is maintained by Keonics, which provides all the necessary
infrastructure.
Halasuru
Halasuru formerly known as Ulsoor, is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the
Indian city of Bangalore . It has a predominant Tamil speaking population and is
renowned for its numerous temples and rather narrow streets.
Hebbal
Once indicative of the North endpoint of the city. Though originally famous
for
Hebbal Lake , it is now better known for the serpentine maze of flyovers The
flyover spanning a length of 6.25 kilometres over all the loops combined, is the
longest flyover in India.The lake is well known for the park, the boating
facility and for the bird watching opportunities.
Jayanagar
Jayanagar means – literally – ” Victory City “. Jayanagar was
traditionally regarded as the southern end of Bangalore . The ” South End
Circle “, wherein six roads from different areas meet, and the historic
Ashoka Pillar (which was to mark the southern end of the city) bear this fact.
While newer extensions have taken away this distinction from Jayanagar, it still
remains one of the more southern parts of the city.
J P Nagar
The Jayaprakash Narayan Nagar ( JP Nagar ) was basically a residential area. J
P Nagar is home to many prominent singers, actors and artists. Famous residents
of this
locality include Kannada actor and politician Ambareesh, playwright and
actor Girish Karnad, former Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and
actress Tara.
Jeevanbheemanagar
Originally, the area was reserved for employees of LIC (Jeevan Bheema)and KPWD.
Therefore the area predominantly consists of LIC quarters (types L,M,N,P) and
KPWD quarters (types A,D).
Kengeri
In it flows the river vrishbhavati which carries the entire sewage of bangalore
in it making kengeri somewhat smelly but there is a need to manage sewage
treatment properly in the Indian state of Karnataka.
Koramangala
Koramangala was not too long ago, a sought after residential locality with its
wide boulevards and posh bungalows. The crime rate has increased considerably
over the past few years. Though the civic authorities are trying hard to cope
with the unprecedented stress of improvising the infrastructure, a lot needs to
be
done.
Rajajinagar
Rajajinagar got its name from Rajaji the great freedom fighter from Southern
part of India . It has many schools and colleges that gives the best coaching.
It boasts of having the highest number of bar and restaurants in Bangalore .
Rajarajeshwari Nagar
Rajarajeshwari Nagar received its name from the famous Rajarajeshwari Nagar
temple that is located just over one kilometer from the arch.
Sadhashivnagar
Sadashivanagar is arguably the most elite and expensive neighborhood in
Bangalore , India , and is fashionable among politicians, movie stars, and most
of the city’s millionaires who can afford homes there. As the “Beverly
Hills of Bangalore,” having an address in Sadashivanagar connotes a high
level of prestige, success, and/or fame.
Thyagarajanagar
Thyagarajanagar is one of the oldest localities in Bangalore . It is part of
Basavanagudi in South Bangalore . This area is home to several religious temples
and is the only area where you can find religious songs hitting the charts
everyday.
Vijayanagar
It derives its name from the Vijayanagara empire that flourished in south India
during 15th and 16th centuries.Vijayanagar East is popularly known as RPC Layout
(Railway Parallel Colony Layout), since this layout is along the railway track.
It has been recently renamed as Hampi Nagar. Hampi was the capital of the
Vijayanagar Empire. Vijayanagar also houses a large Public Library, which is one
of the largest in Karnataka.
Whitefield
Until the late 1980s, Whitefield was a small village which was a retirement
colony for Anglo-Indians. It remains a legacy of the British rule in India . It
is renowned for Sathya Sai Baba’s ashram called Brindavan and as a haven for
a number of multinational information technology companies.
Masala Dosa Psyche
November 1st, 2009There are many ways to eat a masala dosa .What ever the way one eats; there is a very good reason for doing that. It shows some traits of the person…
Case 1: People who open the masala dosa and eat it: These are the people who are very open about their life. Everyone one the persons friends would know all about him/her. I have generally seen guys do this rather than girls. Some people think that it is a gross way of eating but in truth, these people are just portraying who they are and how their life is.
Case 2: People who start from both end and approach the masala later: These are the people who like to wait for the exiting things to come to their life. Sadly when the times comes, they are not too interested or just do not know how to enjoy it to the fullest. These are the folks who just want life as either dry or exiting. They just do not know how to phase their life and enjoy it no matter what. There are two types of people within this group
Case 2.1: People who do not finish all the masala: These folks just do not care as much for the fun times as they are already brought down by the harsh reality of life. The dry periods in their life has left them with so much scars that they do not want to be really happy when the time is right. They just take only as much as they needed and end their life. A very sorry state indeed.
Case 2.2: People who finish all the masala with the little dosa they have: These are the folks who just are the extremes. They just go all out in life. No matter it is dark or bright. They may not enjoy life to the fullest but they sure make sure that they get every single good and bad thing out of life. Sometimes these folks are really hard to get along with. They are either your best friends or your worst enemies. They do not have a middle path at all.
Case 3: People who start from the middle and proceed to both ends: These are the people who like to get right to what they think is their best part of life. Usually these guys finish of the good portions in a hurry and get stuck with nothing but worst parts of their life. The thing to note among these people is that the tendency to burn out very early in their life. Like the above case, there are two kinds of people in this group too.
Case 3.1: People who do not finish the dosa: These folks are really the saddest of people. They are the ones who tend to end their life as soon as it hits the bad patch. For them, they only need and want the best things in life and nothing more. Typically, they are not prepared or tuned to life as a whole. They just want to enjoy from first till last. Sadly, no one in the world can live without even an ounce of sadness in life. Not even the richest of the richest. But to self destruct at the mere sign of distress is very bad. That is what these guys tend to do. Some learn to live life but most of them do not.
Case 3.1: People who do finish the dosa: These folks are the typical human beings. We all enjoy the greatest of times in life and push the sad parts thinking about the great times in life. Typically the plate is clean and nothing is left for fate or in life. Happiness and sadness are part of life and these guys know that and are kind of prepared for it. Life is not always happy but there are moments of happiness here and there.
Case 4: People who eat the dosa making sure that the masala lasts for the whole dosa: These people are very rare. These are the people who like to attain balance in their life. It is hard to displease these people and it is hard to make them really happy. They like their balance and are very protective of it. Sadly these are the people who tend to be lonely as anyone else may upset the balance of their system. Perfectionist to the core and are very careful. These guys do not make the best company but are needed in any group to make the group from going hay wire.
Case 5: People who do not share and eat the dosa as if it is precious: These folks are very protective about their life. They do not want anyone to come and interfere in their life. They like to hide their true nature and intensions for their benefit. Beware of such people as they are in every group for their own need and nothing else.
Case 6: People who offer their first bite to others: These guys are overly friendly. They do anything to be part of a group and make everyone feel like the group is important than the individuals. They are the glue that holds any group together. They are very friendly and bring the best of all the others in the group. They go out of their way to help other friends. Most groups should have a person like this and they are the ones who plan the group outings and other group activities. Once this person is out of the group, typically the group slowly falls apart.
Case 7: People who take one or two bites and then offer the dosa to others: These guys care about friends and friendship but they take their time to get into the group. They take their time in making friends and they typically are very committed once into the friendship. These guys like to always be in the side lines and typically do not jump into anything in life. They always take their time to analyze the situation and then make a decision. These guys take the better safe than sorry approach.
Case 8: People who wait for others to make the offer first: Typical people I must say. They are unsure about everything. Even if they wanted to offer, they will wait till the other person offers the food first. If the other person is silent, so are these people. They are the followers. They do terrific idea, they will pitch it to someone else and get their advice before proceeding. Sadly, most of the elderly world like these types of people.
Case 9: People who offer dosa only when they cannot finish it on their own: You all may be familiar with these kinds of people. People who are very generous only when all their needs are fulfilled. These folks are selfish but at the same time not misers or greedy. They just want to satisfy themselves before they give it to the world. They typically do not stuff themselves nor do they tend to starve. They are very good people who would give you the best of advices in life. They would make sure that you are not sad following their advice.
Case 10: People who offer the whole dosa and eat from others plates: These folks are other extreme. They know what they want, they get what they want but they cannot enjoy what they want. Instead they tend to settle for other things in life which satisfies the needs but does not satisfy the person completely. These guys are termed as born losers cause even when they have the thing they wanted, they can’t stop others from stealing it from them.
So next time you sit with a person eating a masala dosa, look closely and see if he/she falls into one of the above categories. You may be surprised as how much it reveals about the person.
Enjoy eating Masala Dosa !!!
But I dont know how they do a Dosa Psyche Research
on this 6 FEET FAMILY DOSA which served to the family
of four and above only…
Enjoy your dosa anyway