ITBHUGlobal.org: The Chronicle

We have added following volunteers in our chronicle team:

Ankit Khanna (2nd year Applied Physics), Varun Murali (3rd year Mechanical) and Sai Santosh (3rd year Chemical). We hope with more help available from current students, we shall be able to serve our readers better.

As shown in last year, we are publishing the news about programs and some details about our incoming students. This year JEE topper for the institute is Ms. Richa Gupta, perhaps the only girl topper among incoming students in our college’s history.

We welcome feedback from our valuable readers. Please respond at chronicle[AT]itbhuglobal.org or news[AT]itbhuglobal.org. Please also indicate your branch/year.

Thanking you,

The Chronicle Team

Prasad Khastgir was born on December 24, 1937 in Rangoon (Burma). He came to Varanasi with his family in 1941. He passed High School and Intermediate Science examinations of U.P. Board in 1952 and 1954 respectively from C. M. Anglo-Bengali College, Varanasi. He obtained B.Sc. and M.Sc. (Physics) degrees from Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi in 1956 and 1958 respectively. He joined BHU as a lecturer in 1961. He also obtained a master's degree in Mathematics from BHU later. Most of his teaching career was spent in the Applied Physics Department of Institute of Technology, BHU. He became Reader in 1983 and Professor in 1993. He retired on December 31, 1997. After retirement he moved to Chandannagar in West Bengal where he stayed until his death. He died on July 13, 2006. He loved books and trees.

Forwarded by Sugata Pratik Khastgir, his son. Dr. Pratik is professor in Physics and Meteorology dept. of IIT-Kharagpur.
Email:pratik[AT]phy.iitkgp.ernet.in
Home Page: http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/departments/showprofile.php?empcode=bbmcR

1. Indian Optoelectronic research has lost a dominant fellow: Prof P.Khastgir. Khastgir sir was a great optimistic thinker and philosopher. During my Ph.D. duration once I met him when he was unable to walk and was in bed rest in 2000 at Varanasi at his sister's home at Sigra. I was anxious regarding my work, he said to me," Beta progress is always proportional to time. If you are a good worker and your achievement is zero. Then it (output) will suddenly increase because progress time graph has a linear relationship. This line I will remember in my whole life. Prof SP Ojha Sir always remembers his efficiency of doing work. When I was in Ph.D. he has already left the Applied Physics Dept. due to his illness. Once he checked my research paper and put very less correction, and I concluded that I have really writing efficiency and reinforced my confidence. He is unforgettable. May his soul always encourages me and all of us. Not only BHU, but Indian Optoelectronic research has lost a dominant fellow. His place cannot be replaced.

   Dr. Narendra Kumar
   Lecturer in Physics
   Mody college of Arts, Science & Commerce
   A division of Mody Institute of Education & Research
   Lakshmangarh, Distt. Sikar-332311 (Raj),
   (B. Sc. Physics 1996-BHU; M. Sc. 1998-BHU; PhD Physics 2002-ITBHU)
   Email: narendra_itbhu[AT]yahoo.co.in

2. Prof. Patnaik was an immense academician as well as very encouraging instructor and magnanimous personality. In actual fact his sudden demise is an unrecoverable loss for the Dept. of Pharmaceutics, IT-BHU.

   Pooja Sharma
   (B.Pharm-2005)
   Email:pooja_rs[AT]iicb.res.in

3. It is really sad that IT-BHU lost 2 of its most admired faculties my tributes to them. Prof. S.K.Patnaik was one of the most prominent and globally acclaimed professors in Microbiology & Biochemistry.

   I got the chance to study 2 courses under his supervision during my B.Pharm and I was impressed by the kind of vigor and dynamism Prof. Patnaik possessed. Such a dynamic personality with a supreme mastery on the subject, he was always there to look after our silly doubts, always considerate to students problems, be that be of any level personal or professional Prof Patnaik will be there to help us out. We used to call him late 80s hero because of his Ray Ban sun glasses and dressing style. It’s rare to meet people having such a charismatic personality and such a helping heart, Prof. Patnaik was my ideal during Graduation and will always remain a way to live life. Hats of to you Professor, nobody can ever fulfill your place in the Department and our hearts.
   
   Deenbandhu D Agarwal
   (B.Pharm 2006)
   System Engineer
   IBM India Pvt. Ltd.
   +91-9960296665
   Email:ddagarwal001[AT]yahoo.co.uk

Dear all:

We are pleased to inform you that the much awaited Wi-Fi internet project is nearing its completion. One of the hostels (Limbdi) has already been tested using a pilot setup. Eventually all the 10 hostels (9 boys’ + 1 girls’ hostel) will be connected by Wi-Fi internet by the end of September. With the commissioning of this project, all the current students as well as freshers will benefit, as they can access internet for their computers from the comfort of their hostel rooms.

We are also pleased to announce that we have collected Rs. 26 lacs for this project. This was made possible by donation by hundreds of individuals, class/groups and several mega donors. A brief introduction to Nikesh Arora, one of the mega donors, is given in the next article. A list of all donors will be made public and posted to itbhuglobal.org website by October end.

We appeal to all those could not donate so far, to come forward and contribute whatever amount possible. Any amount in excess of planned amount for the project will be used for related project or towards a general fund, which will benefit students by targeting other desperately needed infrastructure improvements for the hostel environment.

Thanking you all for your help, contribution and best wishes,

Ujj Nath (Meta 1979)

For Wi-Fi Project Team

Nikesh Arora (Electrical 1989) (Donated $ 10,000)

Nikesh Arora, VP of European Operations As Vice President of European Operations, Nikesh Arora manages and develops Google's operations in the European market. Responsible for continuing to create and expand strategic partnerships in Europe for the benefit of Google’s growing number of users and advertisers, Nikesh is a pivotal member of the senior management team at Google. Coming from an analyst background Nikesh’s main areas of focus have traditionally been consulting, IT, marketing and finance. Prior to joining Google, he was Chief Marketing Officer and a Member of the Management Board at T-Mobile. At T-Mobile, Nikesh spearheaded all product development, terminals, brand and marketing activities of T-Mobile Europe. He started working with Deutsche Telekom in 1999, during which time he founded T-Motion PLC, a mobile multimedia subsidiary of T-Mobile International. Prior to his career at Deutsche Telecom, Nikesh held management positions at Putnam Investments and Fidelity Investments in Boston. Nikesh holds an MS and CFA certification from Boston College, and an MBA from Northeastern University, all of which were awarded with distinction. He has served on the Adjunct Faculty at both Boston College and Northeastern University, developing and teaching courses in business turnarounds, corporate workouts and financial management.

Nikesh also graduated from the prestigious Institute of technology in Varanasi with a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1989. http://www.google.com/corporate/execs.html#nikesh

Book Fair organized by IT Main Library:

A book fair was organized by IT main library on 2nd and 3rd September 2006 at ID Lab (Main Workshop-ITBHU). Books from different publishers/suppliers were at display for the public. The fair was inaugurated by the Dean, Prof. J. N. Sinha. Library in-charge Prof. G. V. S. Sastry and Librarian Navin Upadhyay were also present. The objective of this Exhibition was to enable teachers and students of the institute to peruse and recommend latest editions of books and CDs (Books Published after 2003).
The Main Library will purchase the selected and recommended books depending on the budget.

Infrastructure improvements: IT Library

1. A computer lab with 50 terminals is to come up in the Main Library. Along with referring online journals the 50 terminal set up, with full multi media capabilities, will be used as the 'Language Lab'. The lab would help in improving the communication skills of the students and its programs would be managed by the Humanities department of IT BHU.
2. Two Xerox machine (copier + printer) have been purchased for photocopying and computer print facility.
3. CCTV has been installed for security purpose.
4. There is a plan to change the look and feel of library to attract more teachers and students.
5. Plans to purchase a 30 KVA GEN SET for continuous power back up.

Work is going on in full speed and till date 30,000 books have been entered in the system.

Glimpses of the book fair:

BOOK Fair 2006-Main Library,IT-BHU

Dean, IT-BHU Lighting Lamp

Librarian with library staff

Periodical Stack

Prof-in Charge Garlanding Malviyajee

Reading Hall, IT Main Library

Teachers, Recommending books

View of Book Stalls

(This article was forwarded by Navin Upadhyay [Librarian] & Rahul Hari CSE 06)

The Freshers’ Night in IT-BHU has always served as the first stage for first year students to display their talents and this year was no exception.

The official Freshers’ Night 06 was held in Swatantrata Bhawan on Sunday, 27 August 06. It proved to be an entertaining and memorable event for all who witnessed it. The talent on display from the first yearites was admirable.

The chief guest for the event was Prof. Veer Bhadra Mishra, a former student and member of IT-BHU’s faculty and a globally renowned civil engineer. Also gracing the event were Prof. J.N. Sinha, Dean BHU; Prof. S.N. Upadhyay , Director IT-BHU; Prof V.P. Singh, President IT-Gymkhana and Dr P.K. Singh, President Cultural Wing IT-Gymkhana.

The event had 19 performances in total, all by first yearites.9 of which were musical,3 theatrical, 1 literary and 6 dances. All were well performed and enjoyable. Highlights of these acts were “Pension Ki Tension”, a short satirical skit, highlighting the bureaucracy and slack functioning in Indian government workplaces; the recital of a self-composed poem by Abhishek Modi on life in IT-BHU from a first yearite’s perspective; M.S. Ramakrishna’s solo performance of the hit song Kal Ho Na Ho and a group classical dance by first year girls. The first year students were assisted, as always, in their preparations by a dedicated group of seniors.

The Mr and Ms Fresher competition this year was a lot closer than in recent years, with several first yearites in the race for the top honors. In the end, Abhishek Modi form Material Science and Technology, who played the lead in the skit and recited a poem and Shreya Gupta from Mining, who danced exceptionally well were crowned the best.

This article was sent by Ankit Khanna, APP PHY 2010

Keeping in accord with previous years, the Department of Electrical Engineering, IT-BHU is organizing the Annual All India Paper Presentation Contest Prastuti under the auspices of Electrical Engineering Society (EES), IEE(UK) and IEEE(USA). The contest is scheduled to be held from 16th February to 18th February 2007.

This time the Prastuti Team plans to organize this event on a much larger scale and we might see a host of new sponsors. Just as in previous years, we plan for interactive sessions with representatives from various leading industries during the period to enlighten the students. Apart from paper presentation we have other activities like quizzes and software contests with attractive remunerations so as to make the stay of participants a memorable one. And of course we have the usual paper presentation with greater participation expected this time around with participants allowed to present their papers either in the form of slides or posters. This year to make the interaction with alumni better, from the point of view of Prastuti, we have created a forum on itbhuglobal.org by the name of Prastuti. We at the Prastuti Team hope that the event turns out to be a fruitful one and becomes a milestone for future generations to follow.

The above information was provided by Vikas Deoarshi (3rd year Electrical).

A meeting of 1979 batch alumni was held at Country Club in Saket, New Delhi on 11 Aug 2006. It was an informal get-together to welcome Pradeep Saraswat (Electrical) who flew in from USA. Traditionally the batch holds such meetings frequently to meet the fellow alumnus. The meeting was attended by 13 alumni along with their spouses.

For the list of attendees and photos, click here.

The above report was forwarded by Ram Chandra (Met 1979)
(Email: seemachandra[AT]eth.net)

Fall SoCal Alumni Meet: Oct 14, '06

Hi all,

We are meeting again... and this time, it will be in a picnic atmosphere.
Please use this link to RSVP. Please write your branch and year in the RSVP message.

Location: Colonel Bill Barber Memorial Park
4 Civic Center Plaza, Irivine, CA View Map

When: Saturday, October 14, 11:00am to 3:00pm

Come with your family and meet other ITBHU alumni in the area for a day of fun and food and to revive old memories and contacts.

There will be cricket and fun activities for kids.

Please note that the exact location will be posted on the park main entrance.

SoCal IT BHU Alumni

Please follow the link on www.itbhuglobal.org

http://www.itbhuglobal.org/chapters/geo/southerncal/archives/000940.html

The above information was provided by Animesh Pathak (CSE 2003).

1. Online registration has started for the 3rd IBAM (details are available on BHU website www.bhu.ac.in by clicking on Alumni Meet).
2. Special tour packages are being worked out for our visiting Alumni. They include tours to South Campus Barkacha, Bodhgaya and Ayodhya, Boating Trips on Ganges, Rudrabhishek at BHU Vishwanath temple, round trip of BHU campus (including Malaviya Heritage complex and Bharat Kala Bhavan) and trips to city temples are being arranged. Details of the packages with their cost will be posted on the BHU website shortly.
3. Our Hon'ble Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Panjab Singh is holding meetings with our Alumni all over the country. Two such highly successful meetings were held at Bangalore & Mumbai recently.
4. Work is in progress on the publications to mark the event. A compilation of the ideas of Mahmanaji, a short history of BHU and a Souvenir will be published.
5. The Alumni are requested to register themselves as soon as possible. We would like to remind them to book their accommodation in the city hotels immediately to avoid inconvenience during tourist season.

Prof. D.P.Singh, Emeritus Professor &
Chairman of 3rd IBAM Banaras Hindu University

(A news item about faculty members from Chemical Engineering Dept. to study the phenomena)

Link

Experts to study impact of enamel paint on Kashi Vishwanath temple
Varanasi | August 31, 2006 10:40:03 PM IST

The Uttar Pradesh Information Commission has constituted a committee of experts to study the adverse effect of enamel paint on the world famous Kashi Vishwanath temple.

Interacting with media persons here, State Information Commissioner Gyanendra Sharma said that the committee will be headed by Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IT-BHU) Director S N Upadhyay. It will also have as other members, two specialists from Chemical Engineering Department of the same institute, -- P K Mishra and Pradip Srivastava.

The committee has been asked to study in detail whether the use of enamel paint in the temple will have any adverse impact on human life, Vastu Shilpa of the famed temple or will it result in degradation of the stones forming the temple, Mr Sharma added.

''If the committee concludes that enamel paint will be hazardous to human health or the ambience of the temple, it will also have to suggest the procedure for making the globally famous temple free of the paint,'' he said, adding, that the panel has been asked to submit its report to the Commission on the entire matter within a month's time.

Presently probing the alleged irregularities in the temple administration, Mr Sharma said he will submit his report to the Commission on the entire matter by next week. A supplementary report will follow after the committee submits its findings.

On the other complaints of irregularities in the management of the temple affairs, made to the Commission by former UP minister Shatrudhra Prakash, Mr Sharma said that the Commission will hear on September five next, the case related to non-availability of documents pertaining to the transfer of Rani Bhawani and Tarkeswar temple property to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust.

The Information Commissioner said during the last hearing of the case on August 10, Additional Municipal Commissioner of Varanasi P C Tiwari was present, where he was asked why the documents could not be found.

''Mr Tiwari today met me again and informed that an explanation has been sought from the employee concerned about the missing documents,'' Mr Sharma added.

On the third issue raised by the complainant as to why the work of temple renovation was given by the Temple Trust to Rajkiya Nirman Nigam's Jaunpur unit, despite the presence of other competent government agencies, Mr Sharma said that officials concerned were heard today.

''They told me that as per the proceedings of the Temple Trust meeting on March 30 last, the work of temple renovation was given to Rajkiya Nirman Nigam and not its Jaunpur unit,'' Mr Sharma said.

The officials concerned have been asked to make a reply before me tomorrow in the matter, he said.

The Information Commissioner, during his visit to the temple today, met several residents of the areas adjoining the temple, besides interacting with the son of former Mahant of the temple.

''All those whom I met today have spoken critically about transparency in the management of temple affairs and support services,'' he added.

(A news item in Yahoo! Finance Link)

New River Pharmaceuticals Names Dr. Samir Roy Vice President, Formulation and Manufacturing

Thursday August 17, 5:03 pm ET

RADFORD, Va., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: NRPH - News) announced today that Samir Roy, Ph.D., has joined the company as Vice President, Formulation and Manufacturing. Dr. Roy will operate from the company's laboratories at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg, Virginia, and will report to Krish S. Krishnan, New River's Chief Operating Officer.

Krishnan remarked, "Dr. Roy is a strong addition to New River, bringing the requisite skills and experience to enhance our formulation and manufacturing capabilities. Our team looks forward to working with him to advance our research and development program."

Immediately prior to joining New River, Dr. Roy served as the Executive Director of Product Research at Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. In his nearly twenty years in the pharmaceutical industry, he has held positions with Insite Vision Inc., Pfizer-Agouron Pharmaceutical Inc., Roche Pharmaceuticals, and Cygnus Therapeutics Inc. He has authored or co-authored more than 25 journal articles, is listed on ten U.S. patents, and has been involved in the development of a number of FDA product approvals.

Dr. Roy holds a Ph.D. degree from the College of Pharmacy, University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, with a research focus on the oral absorption of amphetamines and its analogs. He conducted a post-doctoral fellowship at the University Of Michigan College Of Pharmacy in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with a research focus involving narcotic analgesics. He also holds a B.S. degree in Pharmacy from the BHU Institute of Technology, India.
Dr. Roy commented, "I am excited to join the New River team to apply my knowledge and experience to help realize the potential of the company's Carrierwave(TM) technology."

About New River

New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing novel pharmaceuticals that are generational improvements of widely prescribed drugs in large and growing markets.

For further information on New River, please visit the Company's Web site at http://www.nrpharma.com.

Chronicle adds:

We contacted the company and got the following information about Dr. Roy from Carol Colby (NRPH):

1. BS in Pharmacy, IT BHU, 1980
2. PhD in Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism, University of Saskatchewan, Canada, 1985
3. Post-Doctoral fellowship, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1985-87

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1893305.cms
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1047274

The news in DNA:

Rajiv Shukla is VP, Advinus
DNA
Monday, August 14, 2006 22:12 IST

Rajiv Shukla has been appointed vice-president, head of business development and marketing of Advinus Therapeutics with effect from August 2006.

He will be responsible for leading worldwide business development, project management and marketing across Advinus Therapeutics, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Dr Rashmi Barbhaiya, the former head of research at Ranbaxy.

Prior to this, Shukla was senior director, business development, at Pfizer Inc.

Contact us at people[AT]dnaindia.net

(The above news was forwarded by Manish Mishra, Chemical 2002)

His comment in Outlook India:

Link

His years of dedication brought him the 2002 Ramon Magasasay award -- the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Pandey quit a lucrative career overseas to found an NGO -- Asha -- for educating under-privileged children. He did M.Tech from IIT-K.

Pandey, who won the award in the emergent leadership category, did his mechanical engineering from the Banaras Hindu University and completed a doctorate from the University of California-Berkley.

'Truth Is So Much Simpler'
A hi-tech generation rediscovers Gandhi—not as Mahatma or a picture on sarkari walls—but as a role model for our times

Sandeep Pande, Engineer, Hardoi After reading Gandhi, I wanted to quit my career and work for the underprivileged. I didn’t have the courage till I quit IIT, where I was a professor. My wife and I started an ashram in Hardoi, UP, and we use Gandhi’s non-violent methods in our struggle for PDS, RTI and the Rozgar scheme.

A news item appeared in IEEE spectrum magazine:
Link

Excerpts from the article:

Geek Rhythms
By Tekla S Perry

Can rapping make engineering hip? Semiconductor engineer Rajeev Bajaj thinks it can

Geeks. Nerds. Gearheads. These are the words that typically label engineers today, at least those in the United States. Hip? Cool? Unlikely. Back in 1989, when he left his native India for graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin, Rajeev Bajaj discovered that his choice of chemical engineering as a career was decidedly unhip. Law, business, medicine—these fields were revered, but engineering got no respect. That never seemed fair to him. So in late 2003, after nine years as a successful developer of advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes, he decided to do something about it. “I figured that in a typical high school, you had the geeks at one end and at the other end you had the rappers, the rock bands—those kids were in the cool crowd,” Bajaj says. “So if you could get the geeks rapping, you’d close the distance between the two.” Bajaj had never listened to a lot of rap. He isn’t proficient on a musical instrument, and he doesn’t know much about music production. But he figured his writing skills weren’t bad, and his years in high tech had taught him that you can outsource just about anything.

In January 2004, Bajaj wrote lyrics for four songs. In October, the first CDs came off the pressing line. Today Geek Rhythms has sold 2000 copies at a list price of US $12 each. An additional 300 people have downloaded the audio tracks from iTunes. And an accompanying music video that features three-dimensional computer graphics is now also available for purchase online [for a sample, see http://spectrum.ieee.org/sep06/geekrap]. (The above news was forwarded by Nitin Mohan, ECE 1999) Mr. Sudarshan Maini (Mechanical, in 1950’s) for the degree of DOCTOR OF TECHNOLOGY, honoris causa. Arun @ Sep 12, 2006 (Mr. Sudarshan Mani receives honorary degree of Doctor of Technology from Loughborough University, UK. He is the founder-owner of Mani Group, which produces famous REVA electric cars. ) Link Honorary Degree Orations Sudarshan Maini Public Orator, Professor Rob Thring presented the Honorary Graduand at the Degree Ceremony held on Thursday 13 July at 10.30am Sudarshan Maini was born into a business family from Punjab. At the time of his birth the family were in Burmah, where his father established the Timber Mills and Rice Trading business, and the family returned to Punjab in 1941.He went to Banaras Hindu University where he achieved a first class degree in Mechanical Engineering. In 1954 he won the Loughborough Burmah Shell scholarship and came to Loughborough College, later to become Loughborough University, graduating with a first class DLC (Diploma of Loughborough College, a respected four year degree) also in mechanical engineering. His education at Loughborough included practical training at Loughborough College workshops. On leaving Loughborough he studied industrial administration in the UK while taking graduate training with GKN in Birmingham and later spent five months with Bosch studying their technology, training schemes and management practices before joining Bosch in India. From 1967 to 1973 he was General Production Manager for MICO-BOSCH in Bangalore India, an Indo-German venture manufacturing fuel injection equipment for diesel engines with over 7000 employees. Under his leadership production doubled in four years. 1973 saw the founding of Maini Industrial Consultants and Maini Precision Products, a company to manufacture high precision automotive components in India. From the humble beginning of 10 people making one component for MICO-BOSCH, this evolved under Sudarshan Maini’s leadership into a multi product, multi unit engineering conglomerate, which is a preferred partner of Fortune 500 companies like General Motors. The Maini group today includes companies like Maini Materials Movement established in 1986,which manufactures a range of products such as electric golf carts, airport vehicles with up to eight seats and fork lift trucks, with Maini Granites another sizable activity.. Maini Precision Products makes components for the automotive industry and will shortly also be supplying the aeronautical industry. Thus Sudarshan Maini is a leading figure in the industrial development of India. In 2001 the Maini Group launched the REVA electric car, named after Sudarshan Mainis’ wife whom he had married in 1965. The electric car supports a personal philosophy of trying to create “zero pollution city mobility”, a major issue for cities all over the world today. The REVA car was launched in London in 2003; you may have seen it on television at that time and more recently. In the UK it sells under the name of “G-Wiz”. As a zero emission vehicle it is exempt from the London congestion charges as well getting free parking and exemption from UK road tax and costs just a penny a mile to run! Looking to the future, a fuel cell car is under development. Loughborough has recently announced its intention to become a “green” University, with better recycling, lower energy consumption and the Loughborough Hydrogen Project. We have many research strengths in alternative energy and sustainability issues, so we are especially pleased that one of our alumni has shown such leadership in this field. Chancellor, for his outstanding service to industry and to India, I have the honour to present to you, and to the whole University, Mr. Sudarshan Maini for the degree of DOCTOR OF TECHNOLOGY, honoris causa. Mr. Pradeep Rohatgi (Metallurgical graduate) carries out pioneer work in the field of foundry process. Arun @ Sep 12, 2006 Link Issued by: Laura L. Hunt Phone: 414-229-6447 llhunt[AT]uwm.edu March 13, 2006 UWM Engineering Professor’s Pioneering Work the Subject of National Symposium March 13-16 MILWAUKEE — In 1965, materials engineer Pradeep Rohatgi developed a foundry process to synthesize metal matrix composites (MMCs) — high performance“combination” materials that are stiffer, self-lubricating or stronger — but also lighter — than conventional aluminum alloys. It led to a one-step, cost-effective way to mass-produce these aluminum-based materials, which could replace heavier, iron-based components in many applications. His discovery fostered more research in the field and resulted in the synthesis of many new MMCs, which have applications in the automobile, aerospace, electromechanical machinery, aviation, electronic packaging and sports equipment industries. Considered a world authority on MMCs, Rohatgi, a Wisconsin Distinguished Professor and director of the UWM Center for Composites, has synthesized composites and syntactic (metal-based) foams to produce additional characteristics like wear-resistance and high thermal conductivity. They have been used in producing engine parts for cars and trains, thermal management devices in computers and even parts for the Hubble Space Telescope. To showcase the research his work has spawned and to honor his contributions, the national Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) is hosting the “Rohatgi Honorary Symposium on Solidification Processing of Metal Matrix Composites” today through March 16 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. More than 30 technical papers from U.S., European, Asian, and Latin American countries will be presented at the three-day symposium by scientists and engineers who have worked in this field. Several current and former UWM students will also present their work. Rohatgi, who earned his bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering from Banaras Hindu University and his doctorate from MIT, has authored or co-authored 11 books, more than 400 scientific papers, and holds 20 U.S. patents. His 1965 research on synthesis of cast metal matrix composites was cited as a landmark in the history of metal casting by the American Foundry Society. He has received several million dollars of funding in research contracts and gifts since his arrival at UWM in 1986 from organizations such as the U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Defense, National Science Foundation, and leading corporations including Ford, General Motors, Electric Power Research Institute, International Copper Association, Sunstrand, and Aluminum Company of Canada. Today, Rohatgi is still working on revolutionary new processes and materials, including technologies that could transform the foundry industry by giving old-line manufacturing the means to produce high-tech products such as nanostructured, biomedical and high-efficiency components. He was awarded a grant last year from the U.S. Army to develop rapid and mobile manufacture of lightweight materials for transportation systems. The processes will enable industries to manufacture components with increased speed, and the new technology will venture out of the factory, making on-site manufacture of such components possible. Rohatgi’s laboratory is exploring the use of MMCs and metal-based foams for other uses — such as human bone replacement and out-of-body medical support systems which will be much lighter than those currently in use. The work is especially vital for U.S. foundries that are grappling with competition from countries where labor is cheaper. The trend is harming Wisconsin’s economy, which is second only to Ohio in the number of foundries still operating. “The only way to keep foundries and other manufacturing industries viable is to help them develop fast-track technologies to manufacture components from advanced lightweight materials,” Rohatgi says. Chronicle has received the following message from Dr. Pradeep Rohatgi: I had graduated with Bachelors degree in 1961 from the then College on Mining and Metallurgy in Metallurgical Engineering. I am attaching a copy of my resume. The education at Banaras, especially the opportunity for doing research in solidification of aluminum alloys with Dr R Kumar as an undergraduate was very valuable. I have continued that research throughout these years and that body of work was the basis for the Rohatgi Honorary symposium by TMMS in March 13 -16, 2006. I am requesting Dr Nikhil Gupta to send you the program and a write up about that symposium which he has authored. Thanks, Dr. Pradeep K. Rohatgi Wisconsin Distinguished Professor University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee CEAS, EMS 574 P.O. Box 784 Milwaukee, WI 53201 Phone: (414) 229-4987 prohatgi[AT]uwm.edu Nikhil Gupta, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering Department, Room #RH 508A Polytechnic University 6 MetroTech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201 Ph: 718-260 3080, Fax: 718-260 3532 ngupta[AT]duke.poly.edu http://composites.poly.edu Dr. Agrawal aagrawal[AT]uwm.edu (Alumnus of IT-BHU) ________________________________________________________________________ Links to his documents: Press-release, Prof. Rohatgi, BHU, March 2, 2006 Resume of Prof. Rohatgi Rohatgi Symposium review-by Nikhil Gupta Rohatgi Symposium-Metal Matrix Composites An article” Higher education-Planning for shortages?” in Business Standard Arun @ Sep 12, 2006 Link The article is written by our alumnus Yogesh K. Upadhyaya (chemical 1977) Among the professional disciplines, engineering is the first choice of students, where a 4-year degree is enough to land a comfortable job. The demand for engineering seats has increased post-independence, from about 3,000 in 1947 to 20,000 in 1970 to 80,000 in 1985. Currently, it is estimated that between 300,000 to 350,000 engineering graduates pass out from over 1300 colleges. However, as a member of AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) states, the quality of education provided by these colleges drops sharply after first 50 to 100 colleges. Still, the competition is fierce. This year, 300,000 students (a jump of over 50% over last year) appeared for IIT-JEE exam for 5,444 available seats at seven IITs, IT-BHU and ISM, Dhanbad. For AIEEE (All India Engineering Entrance Exam), 525,000 students appeared for about 10,000 seats at 20 NITs and also for equal number of other colleges. For admission to BITS (Pilani and Goa campus), 53,842 candidates appeared for 1,400 available seats. During first 10 years (1952-1962), five IITs were established; while in the next 40 years, only two IITs were set-up. Surely, there is a need for more IITs. Sanjeev Agrawal, President– Marketing, Pantaloon Retail India Ltd Arun @ Sep 12, 2006 Link An interview published in exchange4media: (Forwarded by Manas Nanda, Civil 2006) We are constantly on the lookout for finding new ways and means to improve the current state of affairs. Thus, innovation is a very important aspect of our working strategy. The other very important philosophy is that of Indianness. All our concepts and formats as well as the way we go about things are very Indian. The way Big Bazaar is designed and the way the whole concept has developed reflects a sense of Indianness. Sanjeev Agrawal, President– Marketing, Pantaloon Retail India Ltd . Sanjeev Agrawal, Marketing Head, Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, is responsible for the retailer’s marketing and brand building exercise at the corporate and store retailing level. He is also closely involved in all new business development activities and speciality stores like Food Bazaar, Gold Bazaar, etc. An engineer from IIT (BHU) and a management graduate from IIM, Lucknow, Agrawal began his corporate journey with HLL as management trainee straight out of the campus. Over the years, he has worked with some of the most reputed companies in India – Godrej Soaps, P&G, Modi Revlon, and Balsara Home Products. In conversation with Saurabh Niranjan Turakhia, Agrawal discusses the evolution and success of Big Bazaar and gives his point of view on how modern retail stores can become future proof. Q. What are the major factors that have led to the success of the ‘Big Bazaar’ brand? A. I think what has worked for us is that we have been able to connect with the customers in the right manner. We filled a need gap which was there in the market. Apart from that, our competence in providing products at lowest prices and great quality in an ambience much better than what the customers were used to, has also contributed to our success. Q. Please share the success story of Big Bazaar. A. It all started in 2001, when we opened the first Big Bazaar store in Kolkata, followed by the second store in Hyderabad. At that time, these were the first stores based on this format, and we only had apparel and general merchandise in our stores. Business picked up pace, and in July 2002, at the time of adding the fourth Big Bazaar outlet at Lower Parel in Mumbai, we introduced the first Food Bazaar, too, which managed to get tremendous response from day one itself. We’ve been getting a very high footfall for every new store that we’ve opened. Today, we have reached a stage where we have 25 Big Bazaar and 38. Food Bazaar outlets all over the country. Having surpassed the number of Big Bazaar outlets, Food Bazaar also has standalone formats. There are four such formats in Mumbai, and one each in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), Kolkata and Bangalore. Q. What are the key thrust areas for Big Bazaar? A. The focus is on continuing to provide very high ‘value for money’ to our customers by providing exciting offers throughout the year such as our ‘Exchange offer’. Q. How do you plan to do this? A. It will be facilitated by constantly working on our buying and supply chain efficiencies. Having already achieved economies of scale and size, we intend to better our gains by opening new stores regularly. Q. What are some of Kishore Biyani’s (MD, Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd)philosophies that are strongly believed in and followed across the organisation? A. One of the key philosophies of Mr Biyani that is highly followed is ‘Rewrite rules, retain values.’ In essence, it means we don’t take anything as fixed. We are constantly on the lookout for finding new ways and means to improve the current state of affairs. Thus, innovation is a very important aspect of our working strategy. The other very important philosophy is that of Indianness. All our concepts and formats as well as the way we go about things are very Indian. The way Big Bazaar is designed and the way the whole concept has developed reflects a sense of Indianness. Q. How has the organisation’s structure contributed to your success? A. Since we work in teams, and do so very strongly, it has helped us in our success. Q. What are some of the best practices observed at Pantaloon? A. Undoubtedly, teamwork is one of them. Apart from that, we are proud of our high speed of reaction. Another good practice is that we ensure that we are able to interact with and listen to our customers on a continuous basis. Q.How have in-house brands like ‘Golden Harvest’ performed? A. The performance has been very good. The fact is that consumers have very high confidence in Food Bazaar. Therefore, whatever is offered by Food Bazaar is taken very positively by consumers. This is justified as the quality is comparable to other products in a similar range, while the prices are lower too. We are able to control prices because various middlemen involved in supply chains have been eliminated for our model. We buy directly from manufacturers and then sell. Q. Do you see opportunities in the packaged food sector helping Big Bazaar? A. In fact, it’s the other way round. The packaged food sector can grow well with Big Bazaar. This is because the kind of consumers that frequent Big Bazaar are upper end consumers belonging to the affluent class, who are comfortable with innovating, experimenting and risk taking. They tend to buy more packaged foods. Therefore, Big Bazaar becomes the ideal platform for innovations and implementation of new ideas in the packaged food sector. Moreover, India offers a good market for the packaged food sector as the consumer is changing, and if the expectations are met well, growth is bound to happen. Q. Don’t you think offering good quality products at a low price might result in your losing out on the premium you can charge for a quality product? A. I don’t see any reason why we should charge a premium. Everyone wants to save money, including those belonging to the upper class. Moreover, because of this, we attract various strata of the society – upper end as well as the middle class. We are a modern format retail chain, and typically, in such a format, there is a trickle-down effect. Initially, people from the upper end will try and value our offerings, and eventually, the awareness and brand association will take place with the middle class, too. Let’s put it this way, we are a mass store able to excite consumers of different economic strata. Q. Could you divulge details on contribution from various areas? A. Forty-five per cent of our sales come from apparel. The next big contribution is from food products. Q. Is it true that having strategies around the price frontal has helped Big Bazaar in India? A. Undoubtedly. In fact, that’s the whole platform on which our offerings are based. That’s why the tagline reads ‘Isse sasta aur achcha kahi nahi’. The recent phenomenon seen by the ‘Maha Savings Day’ offer nationally on January 26, 2006, was unprecedented in the history of Indian retail industry. Q. What are your views on the future of malls and lifestyle products? A. All those who will be able to connect well with consumer needs and expectations will do well. Q. What are the factors that players should be careful about in order to succeed? A. There are different need gaps in the market. Each player has to sort out which need will be addressed by his offering. Everyone need not have the same strategy. So, depending on the business strategy and model, there would be relevant factors to be taken care of. Q. What is the ideal target audience for Big Bazaar? A. It would be SEC A and B1 primarily. Q. Does this kind of format for stores work well in the interiors? A. The store we opened in Sangli, which is a city with a population of six lakh got a very good response from consumers. On an average, there are 40,000 people visiting the outlet every week. Our success is not limited to metros or larger towns. Our store in Vizag and the recently opened stores in Indore and Lucknow have received tremendous response. We have different teams working on different categories, and we are able to drive the business strongly on account of good analysis and strong negotiations. Q. What role does market research play? A. Market research plays a very crucial role as we have to be in touch with customers and understand their needs and expectations on an ongoing basis. Q. What is the conversion rate like? A. The conversion rate is in the range of 40-45 per cent on one individual to one bill basis. What needs to be understood is that people don’t come in singles. Therefore, the conversion rate is actually to the tune of 90-95 per cent. Q. Are there any criteria observed before introducing any new category or product? A. We don’t have a fixed criteria list. The condition is that the product should cater to the entire buying basket. Whatever fills the requirement of the customers finds a place. Apart from that, what needs to be taken care of is that there should be a possibility to deliver it at value for money. Q. What are the targets set for 2006? A. We work at a pretty aggressive rate and as a company we are growing by around 65-70 per cent. We will continue to have such kind of growth in the future too. Ajit Singh, Ph. D. President, Siemens Oncology Care Systems Group Arun @ Sep 12, 2006 Link Biography Ajit Singh, Ph.D., is president of the Oncology Care Systems Group of Siemens Medical Solutions. Assuming the position in August 2001, he launched a turn-around initiative to refocus the division into a solutions-oriented and more profitable business. The resulting process-driven structure is the worldwide headquarters for strategy and systems development encompassing the necessary functions of manufacturing, sales, marketing and service. Previous to this position, Dr. Singh was group vice-president of the Siemens e.health Business division. In this role he was responsible for establishing Siemens Internet infrastructure, and for pursuing new e-business opportunities worldwide. From 1998 to 2000, Dr. Singh served as vice president of the Siemens Health Services division, where he led the company’s consulting and picture archiving and communications systems (PACS) businesses. . Prior to these executive posts, he held several positions with increasing responsibility in the Health Information Systems unit within the Siemens Health Services division. Before joining Siemens Medical Solutions in 1996, Dr. Singh was a project manager with Siemens Corporate Research, where he managed strategic healthcare technology planning and various research and development activities. Dr. Singh also served on the Faculty at Columbia University and Princeton University. Dr. Singh is a popular speaker in the oncology community, and is recognized as a subject matter expert in both the future of radiation oncology and the role of IT in today’s managed health care environment. Most recently, he has been the keynote speaker for Healthcare Across Borders, a consortium of the international healthcare industry, which facilitates the international provision of premium medical services and information. In addition he has spoken frequently at numerous industry events including the Imaging Economics Education Symposia and at the conferences held by the Radiology Society of North America (RSNA), National Managed Healthcare Congress (NMHCC), SPIE and Diagnostic Imaging. Dr. Singh holds several patents in the field of image analysis and medical imaging, has published numerous refereed papers, and authored two IEEE Computer Society Press books – Image Flow Estimation: A Unified Perspective and Deformable Models in Medical Imaging. In 2003 he was awarded a “40 under 40” Award from the East Bay Business Times. This award recognizes 40 of the most distinguished and innovative business leaders under the age of 40 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dr. Singh holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Columbia University, a master’s degree in Computer Engineering from Syracuse University, and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Banaras Hindu University, India. (The above news provided by Manas Nanda, Civil 2006) A news item about inauguration of South Campus of BHU at Mirzapur Arun @ Sep 12, 2006 Arjun Singh to open South Campus session HT Correspondent Varanasi, August 17 UNION HUMAN Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh will inaugurate the academic session of South Campus of Banaras Hindu University at Barkacha in Mirzapur on August 19. Education and training programmes in B.Ed., B.P.Ed, MBA in Agro-Forestry, Diploma in Tourism Management and Diploma in Office Management and Company Secretaryship were started at the South Campus on August 14 for the current academic calendar 2006-07. Apart from this, several other programmes such as National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS) and Mountaineering have also started at South Campus. A Mushroom Spawn Laboratory had been constructed in Barkacha. The Union Human Resource Development Minister, Arjun Singh will inaugurate South Campus in Mirzapur and lay the foundation stone of various new projects on the occasion. The Union Human Resource Development Minister is also likely to participate in the Sadbhavna Divas (birth anniversary of late Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi) scheduled to be organised by BHU Unit of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) on August 20. President of BHU Unit of NSUI, Harishchandra Pandey said Arjun Singh would participate in the Sadbhavna Divas celebration as the chief guest. Arjun disappoints students Arun @ Sep 12, 2006 Link HT Correspondent Varanasi, August 20 UNION HUMAN Resource Development Minister, Arjun Singh, disappointed students and local Congress MP Dr Rajesh Mishra over students union restoration in the Banaras Hindu University on Sunday, saying, “No decision can be taken as the matter is under sub-jurisdiction of the Supreme Court”. He was addressing a seminar on ‘Role of Youth in Nation Building’ at Swatantra Bhawan in BHU today. The BHU unit of the National Students Union of India had organised the seminar to mark the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as Sadbhavna Divas. Arjun Singh said the recommendations of CM Lingadoh (former chief election commissioner) committee for student union election were pending with the Supreme Court and therefore no decision could be taken in this regard. The minister said he had no intention to interfere in the internal activities of a university but added that he would always be there to safeguard the interests of democracy. He said criminal elements were trying to paralyse the democratic set up of the country and made an appeal to the students to free the country from such anti-democratic elements. In their address, local Congress MP Dr Rajesh Mishra and national secretary of the All India Congress Committee, Dr Bhola Pandey, strongly advocated restoration of the defunct students union in the Banaras Hindu University with the students present in the gathering raising slogans ‘Students Union Bahal Karo’ –(restore students union) several times. But the HRD minister disappointed the students and the Congress leaders by saying that the matter was under sub-jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and no decision could be taken in this regard. Arjun Singh, however, expressed hope that the Supreme Court would give such a decision so that criminal and opportunist elements may be put aside in students union elections. President of the Banaras Hindu University unit of NSUI, Harishchandra Pandey, welcomed the guests whereas vice-president Pushpendra Kumar Tripathi conducted the programme. Vice-Chancellor of BHU, Prof. Panjab Singh, former students union leader of Delhi University, Alka Lamba and Prof RK Mishra were among others who addressed the seminar. Ustad Bismillah Khan dies, aged 90 Arun @ Sep 12, 2006 Atiq Khan " He gave a new meaning to shehnai and did not go abroad in search of greener pastures '' LUCKNOW: "An upaasak of Naad-Brahma puja," an embodiment of "Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb", "a symbol of secularism"... shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan defied all descriptions. He breathed his last in Varanasi's Heritage Hospital on Monday. He was 90. Bismillah Khan leaves behind a rich legacy of shehnai recital, which remains unparalleled in the annals of Indian classical music. Ailing for some time, he turned down requests from the Central and State Governments for treatment elsewhere as he could not leave his favourite Banaras. He was a wonderful human being, who knew how not to differentiate between communities or persons, people close to him said. "He was the undisputed jewel in the crown of Indian music; one who will not be born in the next few centuries. He gave a new meaning to shehnai," Ranjana Srivastava, Dean, Faculty of Performing Arts, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), said. Talking to The Hindu from Varanasi, Dr. Srivastava said the Ustad had great love for his country. Unlike his peers, he did not go abroad for money and fame. "He did not even leave his favourite Banaras where the notes of his shehnai wafted across the Kashi Vishwanath and Sankat Mochan temples and intermingled with the placid waters of the Ganga," she said. Chittaranjan Jyotishi, former professor in the Department of Vocal Music, BHU said: "In his death, an era has come to an end. Perhaps, God wanted that instead of India Gate the notes of shehnai should reverberate at the doors of Heaven." Shehnai for the maestro was a way of life. Had it not been for his godly devotion to music, shehnai would have been confined to being played at marriages and religious gatherings. As Pandit Vidyadhar Vyas, Vice-Chancellor of Bhatkhande Music Institute, Deemed University, Lucknow, says: "With his enormous talent, the Ustad lifted the shehnai to the pinnacle of glory which will remain unsurpassed for many years." The Ustad personified secularism. "He was a practising Muslim who offered `namaz' five times a day. Yet he had immense faith in Baba Vishwanath, Sankat Mochan and Ganga maiyya. Asked to hunt for greener pastures, he used to remark, ``where will I find Baba Vishwanath and Ganga," says Pandit Vyas. Born in a poor family in Bihar on March 21, 1916, the Ustad was aware of his humble origins. This reflected in his demeanour and his conduct towards others. The Ustad once narrated to this correspondent how he refused requests from the district administration and a company selling air-conditioners to have an a/c installed in his room. "How could I have slept in the cool comfort of the a/c when my neighbour Ramzan Ali poured buckets of water on his `tattar' [made of tin] for keeping the heat away in the summer," he asked. Ustad Bismillah Khan was laid to rest in Dargah Fatimaan in the evening. Kholu 2010 Batch [ JEE topper 2006] - Richa Gupta Arun @ Sep 12, 2006 Kanpur’s Richa Gupta can boast of many achievements, one of which is being the best JEE ranker admitted in IT-BHU in 2006. With All India Rank of 1028, she has joined Computer Science dept. Being a pragmatic and ambitious person, she seems all set to go places in life. For Chronicle, she was interviewed by Ankit Khanna (2nd year Applied physics):. Chronicle: What are your hobbies? RG: I enjoy playing chess, composing poems, watching movies, reading novels, especially Mills & Boons, listening to light music, gazals and sometimes even rock. Chronicle: Why did you choose B-Tech in Computer Science & Engineering? RG: It has always been my dream to be an outstanding software engineer and so it had to be comp-science. Chronicle: Why did you choose IT-BHU? RG: Being from Kanpur, IT-BHU meant that I would be pretty close to home. Plus, with IT’s excellent Computer Science program and employment opportunities in companies like Google and Microsoft, choosing an institute was pretty easy. Chronicle: Tell us a little about your past achievement? RG: I have almost 50 prizes to my name in debates, writing competitions and declamations, some of which are in district level competitions. 2006 Programs and Students Enrollment Arun @ Sep 12, 2006 Total students through IIT-JEE were about 6,500, out of which 594 joined IT-BHU. Here are some quick stats for your information: 2006 Programs and Students Enrollment: S.No. Programs Course No. of students Topper of 2006 1 Computer Science and Engineering 4-yr 37 Ms. Richa Gupta 2 Ceramics Engineering 4-yr 35 Vivek Sharma 3 Chemical Engineering 4-yr 69 Ms. Upasana Dixit 4 Civil Engineering 4-yr 50 Shashank Kumar Singh 5 Electrical Engineering 4-yr 48 Ankit Agarwal 6 Electronics Engineering 4-yr 48 Surendra Kumar 7 Mechanical Engineering 4-yr 61 Vaidehi Sharan Paliya 8 Metallurgical Engineering 4-yr 41 Bothara Ameya Anil 9 Mining Engineering 4 yr 50 Puneet P Ahuja 10 Pharmaceutics 4-yr 11 Balivada Venkata Ram Kiran 11 Applied Physics 5-yr dual 10 Hardik Dhanjibhai Kabaria 12 Applied Chemistry 5-yr dual 10 S Sameer 13 Applied Mathematics 5-yr dual 11 Harshit Dwivedi 14 Computer Science and Engineering 5-yr dual 8 Pranav Kumar 15 Ceramics Engineering 5-yr dual 10 P Madhu Sudhan Gaud 16 Civil Engineering 5-yr dual 10 Abhishek Verma 17 Electrical Engineering 5-yr dual 12 Ram Prasad Sinha 18 Mechanical Engineering 5-yr dual 12 Bhuvnesh Sharma 19 Metallurgical Engineering 5-yr dual 10 Vikas Choudhary 20 Mining Engineering 5-yr dual 10 Shivesh Narayan Pandey 21 Biochemical Engineering 5-yr dual 10 Mayank Rana 22 Biomedical Engineering 5-yr dual 12 Dishank Gupta 23 Material Science 5-yr dual 10 Apoorv Joshi 24 Pharmaceutics 5-yr dual 9 Akhilesh Kaushik     Total = 594   JEE 2006 top three rank holders among IT-BHU students: Merit Department Course Name Rank 1 Computer Science and Engineering 4-yr Ms. Richa Gupta 1028 2 Computer Science and Engineering 4-yr Shishir Mittal 1401 3 Computer Science and Engineering 4-yr Pankaj Khanchandani 1471 IIT-JEE 2006 Statistics Arun @ Sep 12, 2006 For JEE this year, 2,87,564 candidates appeared out of which 5,488 were selected from General Category, 699 from Scheduled Castes, 156 from Scheduled Tribes and about 100-200 from Preparatory (students from reserved category with one of additional coaching). Total students through IIT-JEE were about 6,500, out of which 594 joined IT-BHU. Update on IIT front Arun @ Sep 12, 2006 A meeting at New Delhi was held on September 1 by HRD Ministry to discuss about IIT issue. Representatives from all seven colleges (including from IT-BHU) were present in the meeting. Our institute has been able to utilize Rs. 12 Crores given in the 1st phase of the MHRD grant and hence the HRD Ministry will release grants for further Rs. 13 Crores. The Ministry did not discuss about IIT issue with any of the colleges, although some were offered INI (Institute of National Importance) status pending meeting of certain requirements. From this year, we may get some grants for the Preparatory students (SC / ST category students undergoing one year of coaching). All the IITs were getting it already but we were not getting it. Due to increased intake of students (because of reservations etc) a recurring grant and one time grant (to build infrastructure) per new seat would be provided by the Govt. (This is same as what IITs have asked for) The Anand Krishnan Committee report and the other report were shared with the representative of all the institutes. IT-BHU Vision Document Arun @ Sep 12, 2006 Attached please find Vision Document prepared by our institute. As per the request by HRD ministry, our college submitted Vision Document to support its case. The Vision document describes the vision of our college for the next 10 years (Vision 2015), i.e. where it will be after 10 years if the govt. funding and support is provided. The attached document is the reformatted (Lite) version of the original document submitted to HRD ministry. Nonetheless, it is interesting. For Vision Document, click here. Job posting site on yahoo groups Chronicle Editor @ Sep 12, 2006 The website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/itbhu_jobs/ was created as an initiative to share job openings among ITBHU alumni. Frequently Asked Questions: Why & when the group was started? The group was started on December 8, 2003. Since then, it has come a long way with almost 1000 quality job postings to date. It was an attempt to reduce job related postings on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/itbhu/, the forum which had a larger audience with other important focus areas. At the same time, it helped ITBHU alumni in both the ways: getting the right talent for their organization and the right organization/role to work for. How can I join the group? This group is open to all ITBHU Alumni, renowned/niche recruiting firms & HR departments of good companies. To subscribe, please email to: itbhu_jobs-subscribe[AT]yahoogroups.com. For students: Send a message mentioning your Name, ITBHU Roll No, Current Employment Information (Company, Location), etc. For Corporations: Send company profile and areas in which they hire talent, etc. How a company/ an alumnus can post a job? Jobs can be posted by sending the job posting to itbhu_jobs[AT]yahoogroups.com. They need to clearly specify the contact information for interested candidates' perusal. How can an interested student/alumnus contact the company? Interested people must contact per the contact details mentioned in the posting. The group maintains strict discipline on the type of postings on the group. In any case replies/counter replies/ resumes/postings not related to jobs etc would NOT be entertained. However special notices can be requested to be sent through moderator's side. Generally, violators are given warning and their postings are moderated. Another place for job posting is itbhuglobal.org forum. In order to avoid redundancy, itbhuglobal.org technical team is working on a way to integrate http://groups.yahoo.com/group/itbhu_jobs with itbhuglobal.org Jobs forum. (The above information was provided by the Group Moderator, Puneet Bindlish, Mining 2002. He can be contacted at puneet.bindlish[AT]min02.itbhuglobal.org) Poems of Amit Ranjan (1st year Mining student) published by PoemHunter.com Chronicle Editor @ Sep 12, 2006 Following poems written by Amit have been published by PoemHunter.com, a website exclusively devoted to quality poems by newcomers as well as seasoned writers. He has published two English poems so far: Oh Yuva (Oh Youth) and Society You Fear. It can be viewed at: http://www.poemhunter.com/amit-rranjan/poet-214091/ His poem, Society you fear, is printed here: Society You Fear Society has been forcing us to do what is legally right but our conscience does not permit. Later we feel guilty for what we did. In this poem I have taken some references from Hindu myths as well as mentioned some events from Indian history. The love of Salim for Anarkali was true but they're not allowed to get through. The love of Mira for Lord was eternal, divine and serene but it brought her craze, poison and pain. They're not allowed to marry but society gestured sorry. Even Lord Ram had to leave Sita for there was a factor of doubt of character Even Lord Christ was crucified till he died. Thee prince of heaven was charged of treason. We did sin but uttered sorry again. Galileo was to die, how dare he defy the statement of church, institution of thy. Socrates was arrested, Aristotle poisoned for new philosophies they tested, system they defied. Sorry we said but what we could do for they did right things but at wrong time too. At present also you don't dare defy society system you fear for at first we punish later our heart tears. What you have to do, you have to do for we don't have reasons to reason you. This is how the system works this is how you should too. Amit Ranjan Keep writing, Amit! (He can be contacted at sayamitranjan[AT]yahoo.com) Campus photos by Deepesh Agarwal (ECE 1998) Chronicle Editor @ Sep 12, 2006 During his recent trip (in August) to our campus, Deepesh managed to take breath-taking photos of our college, campus, Varanasi and Ganga River, 30 photos in all. They can be viewed at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45886378@N00/sets/72157594250775293/ Can you identify these buildings/people ??? The NCC Building Our very Own VT shop... Thanks Deepesh, for your work! Chronicle helpline Arun @ Sep 03, 2006 I am looking for keeping contacts with my classmates (Mechanical 1969). If you happen to know them, please pass on the information to me. Thanks, Ramesh Gulrajani (Mechanical 1969) r_gulrajani[AT]yahoo.com New Jersey, USA I am starting a paper mill in Uttranchal state and having a problem to get power line for my paper mill there. I appreciate any help from any ITians in influential position. Please let me know. Thanks, Praveen Kumar (M. Tech. Electrical 1994) hipraveen[AT]yahoo. com Canada Chronicle adds: Starting this issue, we are introducing a new section called 'Chronicle helpline'. Any students/alumni/faculty can post messages for hard-to-find information. It can be about locating other class/batchmates, getting help from alumni community, getting specific information from the college, etc. For routine help such as getting transcripts from college, etc. please write directly to college or yahoo groups. A copy will also be posted on itbhuglobal.org/helpline. Please email your query to: chronicle[AT]itbhuglobal.org and write your name, branch/year and email ID. Please reply directly to the person's email. Chronicle will also try to help by talking to appropriate persons/authority. Chronicle reserves the right to publish/edit any of such requests. Readers' Feedback Arun @ Sep 03, 2006 Congratulations for successfully running the chronicle for more than a year now!! Based on my interaction with other alumnus, chronicle seems to be a well appreciated effort and already has a substantial readership! One suggestion from my side: Instead of having one continuous list of article, you may want to organize the chronicle a little bit better. You may divide it up into generic sections -- like alumni interviews, achievements, faculty interaction, news from institute or something like that. Even if you can split it up in just 2-3 sections containing articles on more-or-less similar flavor, I think reading chronicle would be bit of more fun. Secondly, can we get a few copies of chronicle printed in hard copies? Although online versions are most practical and useful, hard printed copies continue to find new utility values. They are quite useful to have in alumni gatherings, to have a few copies in hostel reading areas, other public events etc. Once again, congrats for this great stuff! I wish chronicle would keep coming out for years in future. Regards, Mukul Agrawal (ECE 2000-ITBHU) PhD Electrical student-Stanford University Email:mukul.agrawal[AT]gmail.com Home Page: http://www.stanford.edu/~mukul/ Hi guys! WOW...I don’t have words...this edition is too good. I wasn’t really in touch and. Well loss of words. This is so standard! All the best and congratulations on this awesome work. I have checked the newsletter at my campus and this edition is at par with it. Neelakshi Hudda (Civil 2006) Graduate Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Southern California Los Angeles 90034 CA Email: hudda[AT]usc.edu Thanks to you and others for putting in a great effort to bring out the newsletter. I noticed the mention of Satinath Sarangi who was a good friend when I was at IT. Do you happen to have his email address? Thanks. Dr. Raj Yavatkar (ECE 1980- ITBHU; PhD 1989-Purdue University) Intel Fellow and Director, Systems Technology Lab, Corporate Technology Group, Intel Corporation Email: raj.yavatkar[AT]intel.com Thank you for taking the trouble to try and locate me. I am very happy that you have mentioned me in the chronicle but if you choose to do it ever I would much like you to mention the work [medical care and campaigning] that I am involved with and the issues [corporate liability, industrial pollution, environmental health etc]that drive me. Please do visit our sites: www.bhopal.net and www.bhopal.org. Thanks again and with warm regards, Satinath Sarangi (M.Tech. Meta 1978) Email: sathyu[AT]gmail.com Thank you for profiling me in the chronicle. It was very nice and generous on your part to do so. Even though my work is a reward in itself I do lookout for donations as it enables more children to come under the literacy banner. As a few years back I decided I would not take a single paisa from the government (it puts tremendous logistics overhead and does not allow you to do the development one is capable of doing) individual donations is the way I am able to proceed in the work. These are the correct links and not the ones that were not opening. Maybe in the next issue a small correction can be given. http://literacymewat.tripod.com/projectdesc.htm http://literacymewat.tripod.com/nonnegotiableseducate.htm Regards, Abhay Chawla (ECE 1987) Email: gurgaonharyana[AT]vsnl.net About ITBHU Chronicle The ITBHU Chronicle is a monthly publication of ITBHU Global Alumni Association (IBGAA) Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005, UP Director of the Institute: Dr. S.N. Upadhyay The Chronicle is published by The Chronicle Team Editorial Team- Yogesh Upadhaya (Chemical 1977); Anshuman Singh (Electrical 1998); Animesh Pathak (CSE 2003) Website: www.itbhuglobal.org/chronicle Contact us at: chronicle [AT] itbhuglobal.org Copyright © 2008-2013 by ITBHU Global Alumni Association Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University Varanasi 221005, UP