India enters supercomputing race

A year old news , but nevertheless something that makes us proud.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7092339.stm
Ayush
A computer system designed in India has made it into a top ten of the world's fastest supercomputers.
Computer giant IBM continues to dominate the list - which is compiled twice a year - with a total of 232 out of the top 500 supercomputers.
Its Blue Gene/L supercomputer - used to ensure the US nuclear weapons stockpile remains safe and reliable - comes out at number one.
The Indian system - known as EKA - made it into fourth place.
The world's fastest supercomputer - BlueGene/L - has been significantly upgraded in the last six months.
It can now deliver a sustained performance of 478 trillion calculations per second (478 teraflops), nearly three times faster than any other machine on the list.
Petaflop barrier
TOP FIVE SUPERCOMPUTERS
IBM's BlueGene/L - 478 teraflops
IBM's BlueGene/P - 167.3 teraflops
SGI Altix ICE 8200 - 126.9 teraflops
HP Cluster Platform 3000 BL460c (EKA) - 117.9 teraflops
HP Cluster Platform 3000 BL460c - 102.8 teraflops
Second place went to another IBM system - a newer version of BlueGene/L known as BlueGene/P. The system, introduced this June is the first in a batch of IBM machines designed to operate at a petaflop and beyond.
Breaking the petaflop barrier - the ability to process 1,000 trillion calculations every second - has long been a key milestone in supercomputing and would allow highly detailed simulations.
For example in earthquake simulations it could show building-by-building movements of regions in earthquake zones, improving future structural designs.
India has also entered the exclusive list for the first time with a Hewlett-Packard designed system that has a performance of 117.9 teraflops.
Codenamed EKA - Sanskrit for number one - it is installed at the Computational Research Laboratories in Pune.
The system will be initially targeted at developing applications such as neural, molecular and crash simulations, and digital media animation and rendering.
"The supercomputer system will have a direct effect on the lives of Indians, espcially in areas such as earthquake and Tsunami modelling, modellings of the economy and potential for drug design," said Mr S. Ramadorai, chairman of the Computational Research Laboratories, which is a subsidiary of Indian firm Tata.
The next step for the system is to put more applications on it.
"While the ranking is important the more important thing is to keep on improving performance and applications," said Mr Ramadorai.
Third place on the top 500 list went to a new supercomputing centre based in New Mexico.
Fifth place went to another Hewlett-Packard system installed at a Swedish government agency

Indian-origin mathematician honoured

Posted May 29th, 2008 by rkm

SYDNEY:Nalini Joshi, an Australian of Indian origin, has become only the third woman inmathematics to be elected to the prestigious Australian Academy of Sciences(AAS), founded in 1954 by Australian Fellows of the Royal Society ofLondon.Joshi, head of the School ofMathematics and Statistics at the University of Sydney, was made a fellow of AASin recognition of her life-long achievements in the field ofmathematics.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indians_Abroad/Indian-origin_mathematician_honoured/articleshow/3080938.cms

As Jaipur bleeds, volunteers apply much-needed balm

Source: TIMES OF INDIA

As Jaipur bleeds, volunteers apply much-needed balm

16 May 2008, 0312 hrs IST,Avijit Ghosh,TNN

JAIPUR: Calamity often brings out the best in humans. And the Tuesday serial blasts in Jaipur was no exception. From sewadaars of Dera Sacha Sauda to RSS swayamsevaks, from Muslim youths of Pathan Chowk to Nirankaris, not to forget corporate houses and co-operative groups, everyone has set up their tents and stalls outside the city's Sawai Man Singh hospital where a majority of the blast victims are undergoing treatment. Donating blood, working as hospital's unofficial fourth-grade employees, ensuring relief money reaches the right people, offering free food, medicine and telephone services — they are doing it all.

Dera Sacha's sevadars arrived with 30-odd members within an hour of the blast, says Kulbhushan, among the the organisation' s senior volunteers. By morning, the number of volunteers dressed in their cream and green uniform had swelled to 350. "So far we have donated 132 units of blood. We are ready to donate more units but the doctors say there is no more requirement, " he says. They plan to hang around for a couple of days more in case of an emergency.

The blast also prompted a group of Muslim youths who call themselves Pathan Chowk Vikas Samiti into action. Shahid Khan, an advocate and the group's leader, says that the decision to help the blast victims was carried out with rapidfire immediacy. "We not only helped lift the dead but also carried the injured to the hospital. Thirty of our members have donated blood," he says. Now, says Murad Baig from another youth group in the Amagarh area, their efforts are to ensure that the injured and the relatives of the dead get prompt relief. He says there is no competition, only co-operation, among the different groups.

"We have also been co-operating with the RSS volunteers and they with us," says Baig. Relatives of injured are happy with the work done by RSS volunteers who are prominently visible in their khaki shorts. "They have been almost working as ward boys," says Manoj Chhipa, whose father was injured in the blast. Even the Nirankaris of Jaipur have joined relief work in a big way. They have opened a 24-hour langar and donated 150 units of blood. Like the RSS volunteers, they also have sewa dal members who are acting as parallel fourth-grade staff. "We have the phone numbers of 647 volunteers with us. We have their blood group with us. We are ready to provide help at a moment's notice," says Satish Khurana of Sant Nirankari Mandal. That apart even a couple of mobile phone companies have set up their help vans where free calls can be made. Small organisations such as Seva Bharti, Jaipur and Shri Agarwal Vaishya Samaj Samiti have provided free services. Even Rajasthan Co-operative Consumer Federation has, as its assistant manager O P Verma puts it, come up with "a human response." The organisation is providing free medicine to every injured victim. So far, 16 have availed the facility.

PSLV-C9 blasts off from Sriharikota

PSLV-C9 blasts off from Sriharikota

28 Apr 2008, 0935 hrs IST,INDIATIMES NEWS NETWORK & AGENCIES

SRIHARIKOTA: India's PSLV-C9 blasted off into space, carrying ten satellites including the country's latest remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT-2A, from ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre here on Monday. Scientists cheered as the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its thirteenth flight, soared into the clear sky in a perfect lift off at 9.23 am from the second launch pad. Besides the 690 kg CARTOSAT-2A, the PSLV is also carrying ISRO's Indian Mini Satellite-1 (IMS-1), weighing 83kg, and eight nano satellites built by universities and research institutes in Canada and Germany. While the CARTOSAT-2A, carrying state-of-the-art panchromatic camera (PAN), will be used for mapping purposes and management of natural resources, the IMS-1 will be used as a platform for trying out advanced technology in future launches.

Initiative by priest for Rama Navami celebrations

Namaste

A sankalpa karyakram was held at Sri Sainagar Weaker Section Society on Ugadi by the assistant priest of Raamalayam, Sri Srinadh who is also a swayamsevak. Twenty Two (22) families of the basti vowed to recite the japa "Sri Rama Jaya Rama Jaya Jaya Rama" 21 times everyday and lay off from liquor and meat during the 9 days ( Navaratri). They also put some rice grains aside every day which was then collected and used as "talambraalu" during the Seeta Rama Kalyanam during Sri Rama Navami

On Rama Navami day, the women of the basti came to the temple singing bhajans and then participated in the kalyana utsav.The initiative was taken by the families of Guru Gobind Prabhat Shaka, Saidabad, Bhagyanagar.



dhanyavaad
Ayush

Bringing light to needy students

Bringing light to needy students
Wednesday April 2 2008 09:08 IST

P S Dileep

TUNIVALASA: Reddipalle Jagadish is just one among thousands of government teachers working in rural schools across the State.

There is nothing out of the ordinary about his duties at the Mandal Parishad Elementary School in Tunivalasa of Padmanabham mandal, about 15 km from Vizianagaram. But what makes him truly stand out is that since his appointment as a secondary grade teacher (SGT) in 2003, he has been doing whatever he can to make a difference to the lives of his students and has helped 45 indigent ones continue their education beyond Class X.

“I had seen many friends drop out of school and college due to financial problems. They ended up working in small jobs for paltry amounts only because they hadn’t the means to study further,” says the 27-year-old youth.

Jagadish spends about Rs 30,000 (nearly 50 per cent of his annual income) to sponsor students every year. Currently, he is helping 10 boys through Inter, four to complete graduation and a visually-impaired student B Ed.

“I am single. My family does not require my income. I keep some for my expenses and the rest is for helping the poor,” he says.

Many junior colleges in Vizianagaram who are familiar with Jagadish’s efforts get into the spirit of things by waiving the fee - in part or in two - while Jagadish takes care of the books and other expenses.

“Some friends too chip in. I hope to see these students go on to help others in need,” he says.

“Helping others is not a matter of capability, but rather that of commitment and determination,” observes Jagadish. And determination is a quality he has in ample measure.

It is proved by the fact that his own visual impairment has not come in the way of his lighting the path for others - and lightening their difficulties.

http://newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEA20080401224642&Title=Southern+News+%2D+

Andhra+Pradesh&rLink=0

We do not want Sarabjit in exchange for terrorists: wife

http://www.hindu. com/2008/ 03/20/stories/ 2008032060470100 .htm

Amritsar: In a bold statement on Wednesday, the wife of Sarabjit Singh said the family did not want him repatriated from Pakistan if it meant India releasing some terrorists in exchange.

"Myself and my daughters would never like Sarabjit freed in exchange for any hardcore Pakistani terrorist lodged in Indian jails," Sarabjit's wife, Sukhpreet Kaur, told PTI.

Ms. Kaur said that for the family, "nothing is above the nation and we can't go against the interests of our motherland."

Sister's visit

She said the family was informed by journalists that Sarabjit's sister Dalbir Kaur would be going to Pakistan and the government had assured her a passport and visa.

"I would urge the government to give me and my daughters travel documents for visiting Sarabjit in the Kot Lakhpat Jail," she added. - PTI