Smart Suvercha

A Blacktown student takes on the NSW Brain Bee Challenge and nails it

BY SHeRYL DIXIT

Want to know anything at all about the brain? Ask Suvercha

Khattar from Blacktown Girls High School, who recently came second in the NSW Australian & New Zealand Brain Bee Challenge 2012. This bright young Year 10 student with a promising future has just taken her first steps towards studying medicine and specializing in reproductive endocrinology. I had to ask her to repeat that, and still had to look up the spelling on the web!

For Suvercha, the Brain Bee Challenge was special, because she had sourced the competition on her own, having found out about it through a work experience project. “I approached my school and teachers with the details of the competition, and the entire class decided to participate in round 1,” she told Indian Link. Of students across NSW who sat for the competition, only 1000 were chosen to go into round 2. And it is at this level that Suvercha’s scores put her in an enviable second place.

Suvercha’s parents Braham and Bindu were very supportive of their daughter’s desire to participate in the Brain Bee. Despite a personal loss back home in India as Suvercha’s maternal grandmother passed away, they gave her all the encouragement possible.

“We knew that she had the will to succeed,” said proud dad Braham. “We are very proud of her and of her extraordinary achievement. She worked hard and deserves this award.”

Indeed, Suvercha had to keep her nose in a book, specifically one – Brain Facts, from which all the questions for round 2 of the competition were derived.

“On moving to round 2, I put in a good 2-3 hours of intense studying daily, but in the final two weeks I increased the hours of studying until I was satisfied with my preparation. It was tough, but I wanted to do well,” Suvercha revealed shyly.

Suvercha attended the competition with her science teacher, and was initially quite nervous, but her knowledge of the subject kept her ahead of the game. “When the results were announced, I was thrilled and excited to be among the top three. I felt that my hard work had paid off and I was glad to have made the effort,” she said.

Apart from a certificate, Suvercha was also presented with an iPod Touch but the most exciting offer for this talented young girl was that of a scholarship from the University of Western Sydney when she decides to pursue higher education, post high school. It is a thrilling opportunity for Suvercha, who has clear plans for her future.

She has always been an exemplary student since the family moved to Australia in 2005, when Suvercha joined school in Year 3. She has received the ‘Best Student’ award consistently every year since Year 6, and continues to flourish.

Suvercha also enjoys extracurricular activities like swimming and writing – her repertoire mainly being poems. Here’s wishing Suvercha all the very best for a bright and brainy future.

Alka Yagnik, Javed Akhtar unveil literacy anthem Bollywood celebrities like Alka Yagnik, Javed Akhtar and Lalit Pandit, along with Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, recently launched a new literacy anthem as part of the campaign of promoting adult literacy in India.

The national literacy anthem Humko padhna hai aage badna hai has been written by Akhtar, composed by Pandit and sung by Sonu Nigam and Yagnik.

The song marked the launch of the National Literacy Mission’s new mass adult literacy awareness campaign Saakshar Bharat Abhiyan, which aims to educate non-literate people at the grassroot level.

A video of the literacy anthem featuring actors Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Shabana Azmi, Farhan Akhtar, Kareena Kapoor and Anil Kapoor was also showcased at the occasion.

“The song is so heart-warming that all those people who would hear it, will automatically get inspired to come together and support the cause,” Sibal said in New Delhi at the launch programme on the Red Fort grounds.

“It is of utmost importance to fight against illiteracy. If we don’t educate the women of our country, India will never rise. I would like to congratulate the people behind Saakshar Abiyaan, who have been able to successfully move ahead with their adult education programme.

“As many as two crore adults, especially women, have given their literacy exams and according to assessment of National Institute of Open Schooling, 1.5 crore people have cleared it, of which 70 percent are women. This is in itself a big achievement,” he added.

Sibal called for the support of common man as well as Bollywood celebrities to help eradicate illiteracy from the country.

“Actually this initiative won’t be successful, if all of us don’t come together to work towards the cause. We need the support of volunteer teachers, gram panchayats, parents and society too. We need the support of those Bollywood celebrities also, who can inspire common man,” he added.

Also present at the occasion were Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Puransdeswari, Anshu Vaish, secretary, department of school education and literacy in the ministry and National Literacy Mission Authority chief Jagmohan Singh Raju.

India will ensure clarity in tax regulations: Chidambaram

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram recently assured investors that the government would bring clarity in tax regulations and take necessary measures to ensure a stable tax regime.

“We will ensure that there is a stable tax regime and clarity in tax laws,” Chidambaram said at a media briefing in New Delhi after addressing chief commissioners and director generals of income tax.

The finance minister said he had asked tax officials to adopt a “non-adversarial” approach to tax collection.

“I have asked chief commissioners to adopt non-adversarial approach to tax collection. I have told the CCITs (chief commissioners of income tax) to repeat this message to all commissioners, all assistant commissioners and deputy commissioners and ITOs (income tax officers),” he said. Chidambaram hoped that the government would be able to meet Rs.5.7 lakh crore direct tax collection target in the current financial year.

“It is our intention to achieve the Rs.5,70,257 crore direct tax collection target for the current fiscal. We will be able to achieve the target,” he said.

The finance minister admitted that the collection from the direct taxes so far had been below target and said it is likely to pick up in the second half of the current fiscal.

“Collection is growing at 10.5 percent against the asking rate of 15 percent,” he said.

Chidambaram said lower-than-expected economic growth does not necessarily lead to low tax revenue, as there was no direct co-relation between the GDP growth and tax collection.

The government targets increasing the tax-to-GDP ratio to 12 percent from around 10 percent recorded in 2011-12.

The tax-to-GDP ratio declined to 10.1 percent in 2011-12 from 11.9 percent in 2007-08. “Our aim is to go back to 12 percent. Even at 12 percent India will be one of the lowest tax countries as proportion to tax to GDP,” he said.

Judges cannot fix poverty line: Supreme Court

In a pronouncement of considerable significance that could check the judiciary’s overstepping into legislative and governmental functioning, the Supreme Court has said the question of fixing the poverty line was in the domain of expert bodies like the Planning Commission and the judiciary could not engage itself in setting the nation’s economic policies.

“This should be left to expert bodies. Reviewing the poverty line is very difficult. We can’t be setting economic policy,” the court said recently in the course of a hearing in New Delhi.

The apex court bench of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla said this when senior counsel Colin Gonsalves appearing for People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) invited the court’s attention to the low fixation of the poverty line norm at Rs 32 per day, an issue that has led to considerable debate in the country.

As Gonsalves pleaded the government could not shy away from its responsibilities, particularly towards the vulnerable section of society, the court said the petitioner should come with suggestions that could be entertained without stepping into the domain of governmental functioning.

Shrugging off Gonsalves’ plea, Justice Thakur said: “Where is it written in the constitution that food subsidy should be given?”

“The poverty line is hypothetical. Its only relevance is for subsidy,” he said.

In contrast, the earlier bench of Justice

Bhandari and Justice Dipak Verma had put the government in the dock and compelled it to revise its below poverty line (BPL) norms of Rs.32 for urban areas and Rs.26 for rural areas. It even asked the Planning Commission to spell out the basis on which it had fixed Rs.32 and Rs.26 as the poverty norms in urban and rural areas.

It is not just that the court appears to be less than enthusiastic; it appears to be seeking to shrink its monitoring of welfare schemes.

The court made it clear that it was not going to overstep the statutory regimes governing the food subsidy scheme for people living below the poverty line.

The court said monitoring of the public distribution system (PDS) by it had to come to an end.

“It is going on for six years and it could go on for another 26 years,” Justice Thakur said.

He said the court would pass the orders and if they were not complied with, then the court could be moved for necessary remedies.

“Once we direct and if they don’t follow then you can move the court. It can be before the Supreme Court or the high courts as well.”

Apparently, a change in the approach could be read into the restraint that Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia has asked the judges to exercise before stepping into the territory of the government and the legislature.

Chief Justice Kapadia spoke of judicial restraint during his address at a function on Independence Day and also later on.

Obama names Bombay IIT graduate to key post

President Barack Obama has appointed Romesh Wadhwani, an Indian American founder of several software and IT companies, on board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts.

Announcing his intent to appoint Wadhwani and nine other general trustees of the centre, Obama said, “These dedicated men and women bring a wealth of experience and talent to their new roles and I am proud to have them serve in this Administration.”

“I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come,” added Obama, whose administration has over a score Indian-Americans serving in senior positions, more than any other previous administration.

Set up in 1971 as a living memorial to former President John F. Kennedy, the centre is the busiest performing arts facility in the United States and annually hosts approximately 2,000 performances for audiences totalling nearly two million.

According to a White House announcement, Wadhwani, who received a BA from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay and an MS and Ph.D. from Carnegie-Mellon University, is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Symphony Technology Group.

He is actively involved in Kennedy Centre initiatives, having served as Co-Chair of the Maximum India Festival in 2011 and as a supporter of the 2010 Honours Gala.

He is the founder and Chairperson of the Wadhwani Foundation, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

Previously, Wadhwani was the founder, Chairman, and CEO of several software and IT companies, including Aspect Development, Inc.

Lok Sabha passes bill against sexual harassment at workplace

Taking a step towards making a safe workplace a reality for women, the Lok Sabha recently passed a bill which would protect women, including millions employed as domestic help, against sexual harassment at work.

The bill, which still has to get the Rajya Sabha’s nod, covers under its list of offences sexual remarks, demand for sexual favour, or any act of physical advance or an unwelcome touch.

Inclusion of domestic help in the bill will benefit about 47.5 lakh women registered as domestic workers in the country. The original version of the bill, which was introduced in Lok Sabha in 2010, did not include domestic help.

The government had then said that it would be practically difficult to cover domestic help, as they worked in homes which were private places.

Domestic workers, according to government data, account for 30 percent of India’s female workforce.

The bill defines domestic worker as a woman employed to do household work in any household for remuneration whether in cash or kind, either directly or through any agency on temporary, permanent, part-time or full-time basis, but does not include any member of the family of the employer.

The bill mandates an internal complaint committee for any organisation with 10 or more employees.

For an employer not following this, the penalty will be Rs.50,000. Repeated violations may lead to higher penalties and cancellation of licence or registration to conduct business.

The bill covers not only employees, but also clients, customers, apprentice, or daily wage workers who enter the workplace.

Dhoni happy with team’s showing against New Zealand

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni recently ticked all the positive boxes while asserting that he was quite happy with the overall performances of the team that is unlikely to see any kind of “reshuffling” for the forthcoming home Test series against England and Australia.

Speaking to media in Bangalore after leading India to a 2-0 series sweep against New Zealand, Dhoni said he was not unduly worried about the poor form of some of his batsmen, notably opener Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar, while making a case for a longer run to the younger players rather than judging them on the basis of a couple of innings.

“No reshuffling. I think, it is just a matter of time before he gets going. I thought he batted quite well in the second innings,” said Dhoni with reference to Gambhir who had scores of 22, 2 and 34 in three innings in the two Tests against the Kiwis.

With regard to Tendulkar, the captain said: “Everytime we talk about Tendulkar’s form, he comes up with a big innings and I am waiting.”

Dhoni was dismissive of criticism of Suresh Raina’s injudicious shot that cost him his wicket in the second innings here and emphasized that younger players needed to be given a long run.

“Like I said, there are two ways of dealing with pressure. Either you go for your shots, like Raina did, or soak in the pressure, like Virat (Kohli) who batted brilliantly. It depends on the individuals, but I feel we need to back the youngsters, for that’s the way to groom them,” said Dhoni.

The Indian captain again made a strong case for playing home Tests on pitches that assist spin, but in the same breath, Dhoni praised spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha for their effort on tracks that did not assist them, but favoured the batsmen.

“I would like to see us batting on turning tracks, but our spinners were brilliant (in the just-concluded series) on pitches that didn’t help them, but I feel that the fast bowlers need to chip in.

“Ashwin and Ojha complemented each other and hunted well on pitches that were good to bat on.

Ashwin has been bowling brilliantly and is learning variation while Ojha bowled well in the first innings here,” said Dhoni.

Ironical that Bose did not get Nobel Prize: CERN chief

India is like the “historic father” of the Higgs boson project, the search for what could be the basic building block of the cosmos, says CERN chief Rolf-Dieter Heuer, ruing that Indian scientist Satyendra Nath Bose, from whose surname the word ‘boson’ is derived, did not get the Nobel Prize.

“India is like a historic father of the project. I am really very impressed seeing the immense talent pool that the country has,” said the director general of CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research), the world’s premier particle physics laboratory.

The Geneva-based organisation had discovered the new sub-atomic particle, possibly the Higgs boson, in July. The Indian scientific community had expressed its displeasure at boson being spelt in lower case while Higgs (after British physicist Peter Higgs) was spelt in the upper case.

“It is really ironical that he (Bose) was not given the award. His contribution to science is immense and the absence of a Nobel doesn’t in any way undermine his genius or his contribution. However, we have done our bit by naming the particle after him,” said Heuer.

He was in Kolkata to address a two-day international science conference organised by the Centre for Natural Sciences and Philosophy and the Critical Issues Forum.

On the issue of boson in ‘Higgs boson’ being in the lower case, he said the bosons were a family of particles so the name was in the lower case.

“The new particle is a member of the boson family. So the name Higgs signifies it as a definitive particle and boson signifies that it belongs to the boson family. We do not have any intention to belittle Bose’s contributions,” said Heuer.

The city-based Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) had said it would take up the matter with Heuer.

About the discovery of Higgs boson, Heuer said there was still some time and more work to be done before it could be successfully concluded that the particle had been discovered.

“We have reached the first step of the ladder and there are more steps to follow. We have set a certain limit which the data significance has to exceed in order to call it a discovery and the signs are very encouraging. It takes a lot of time to say what we have discovered,” he said.

However, he would not be disappointed if the project did not yield the expected result.

“Rather we will have something new to work on. If for that matter the particle does not comes out to what we are expecting we will still be having something new which will take us closer to decoding the cosmic riddle.”

Asked about India’s status in becoming an associate member of CERN, Heuer said he was yet to get any written application from the country.

“We have information about India applying for the membership but we have not received anything in writing. I need it in writing before I can say, that yes, India has applied.”

Once India becomes an associate member, it will open up new avenues and a host of opportunities not only for the Indian scientific community but also the industry.

“Membership will be a boon for the industry as well as for the scientific community. The industry would be eligible to bid tenders and get orders from CERN. We constantly require various tools to continue our research which are provided by the industry. For a country like India, I think it is very useful and important,” Heuer said.

To get associate member status, India will have to make an annual contribution of 10 million Swiss francs to CERN.

According to Bikash Sinha, Homi Bhabha professor of the department of atomic energy, formalities for the membership were almost over with only the sanction from the finance ministry awaited.

“The only thing required is the sanction from the finance ministry which is only a matter of time. I think India will become an associate member before Dussehra (Oct 28),” said Sinha.

IAnS