Helping ambulances get through

Year 9 student Viney Kumar 1s app makes it to the finals at the International Google Science Fair, reports FARZANA SHAKIR

Google announced chis year's 15 finalises for its third annual Science Fair in June, ,\~th ]4-year-old Viney Kumar making the 'A: list as the only Australian, for his innovative PART project.

The Google Science Fair provides a p latform for budding inventors all around the world to showcase their innovative so lutions, gain recogn.irion on an in ternarional scale and realise their dreams of making a difference The comperirion is divided inro three age groups 1 3- 14, 15- 16 and 1 7- I 8 This year Viney will be arnonge di e 15 whiz kids who wi.U head to Google's headguarters in California on Septem ber 20, to presenr their projects and compete for the prize of a 10-day trip to die Galapagos .Islands with Narional Geographic E,1Jeditions, and $50,000 in scholarsh ip funding.

Vin ey's PART program (Police and Ambulance Regularing Traffic) is a n a ndro id app designed to give an early warning ro vehicl es, of an approaching em ergency rescue vehicle (ERV) The aim i s ro give traffic enough time to get out of di e way of die ERV, which in turn, \Wl enable che rescue persoru1el to arrive more guickly at the scene of an emergencr "My app has die potenrial to save lives as ic is up ro eight rimes more efficienr than the current method of sirens which allows vehicles a reaction rime of only 7 seconds ro clear the way," explains V iney Inspiration ro develop the PART programme came to Viney during his recenr trip to India wh ere he was sntck in traffic and could hear an anibulance crying ro get through. The helplessness of die ERV drove Viney co explore ideas of improving the system and making it more efficient. rle started working on his app in January, delving into extensive research and eventually devising the early warning system employing a web server. "l conducted numerous trials using two cell phones, one sending the warning and the other receiving ic," says Viney. Afte r recording the response rim es and comparing the existing staristics, I was confident of the s uccess of my program"

Viney saw the ad for the Google Science Fair online and decided to enter. He says the concept of sucb a fait was very artracrive. "It appealed to me as ic presented a crearive approach to scie nce, plus die range of participants was from all over the world. G lobally 8,000 teens from 120 countries cook pare and die process was all online," he explai ns.

The PART program was entered inro cbe Google Science Fai r on

April 30 as a prorotype, after the process of oudiuiug the concept and writing the report to ei..1Jlain die hypothesis. After rigorous screening, 90 regional finalists were announced on June 12. This was followed by a face-ro - face interview on die Google bangom. A second round o f judging later, Viney was declared as one of die 15 finalists, and die only o n e from Australia co make i t ro mis level.

Viney hopes his PART program will be availab le in Australia in die next couple of years on car dashboards. ''Using a web serve r, cbe cars will be able to receive early audirory warning of approaching ERVs within 800m via GPS cedmology," he adds. "Also, die confusion associated widi deter mining the direction of die ERV will be eliminated as the image and direcrion of the rescue vehicle will be displayed on Google maps".

Viney bas oo plans of putting his app on the apps market as he realises people won't be able ro use their phones \Vhile driving He believes the on car das hboards will be the id eal home for his in ve ntion.

But widi so many amazing e n tries from die finalists, like green technology for degrading detergents, a flashlight powered by cbe buman hand, and the rnediod of using banana peel m produce bio plastic, does V iney consider any of chem close competition? lc(j s response to chi~ guesrion disp layed manLrity beyond his years as Vinay replies, "J find ic hard to name any entry that I perceive to be cough competition because each o n e of the final 1 5 projects is on a unigue topic in different fields of science. The)' vary g reatly from each od,er, but each and every one of d1em bas the potential ro change die world"

Viney is a Year 9 student at Knox Grammar School in Sydney \Vhere he has received a great deal of support in developing his program. He wishes to d1ank his mentor for die help wid1 GPS coding, h is sc ienc e teacher Ms De Ridder, Dean of Sn1dies Ms Karen Yager, hi s parenrs and grandparents for their tireless support in helping hin1 reach his goals.

Currently V iney is working on a wilderness survival app and hopes to compete in the Google Science Fair next year as well. In the meantime he has sec his sights on taking out d,e grand prize in September. He is also hoping to win die Inspired Idea Award which ,vill be judged by pub lic vori ng.

Viney is looking forward ro all die support he can get from Australians in general, and the Indian community in parricular, as his PART program is the first-ever from Australia co reach this stage at the Google Science Fair.

Voti n g for [he Vo[ers Choice Award starts on 1 August. You can help Viney succeed by casting your vote in his Favour .1t: www. googlesciencefuir.com/ ra

Muslims offer prayers on Juma-tul-wida, or the last Friday of Ramadan, at Jama Masjid in New Delhi, Aug. 2 , 2013

Attempts to jeopardise IndiaPakistan relations worrisome, say experts

As anger over the killings of Indian so ldiers by Pakista1-u troo ps reverberated in parliament in t ew Delhi recently, experts said the attempts to create tens ion wid1 the Jalalabad suicide attack and the Poo nch killings were a worrisome trend and d1at despite talk of friendship, India should harbour no illusions abouc Pakistan.

Five sol dier s were killed when men in Pakista1-u n-ulitary uniform ambushed an army patrol at Chakan-da-Bagh sector of the Line of Contro l (LoC), which divides Kashmir betv.;een India and Pakistan early o o Aug 6.

While former foreign secretary Kan\\7al Sibal said the Jalalabad attack and the P oooch killings showed that the combination of Pakistani military, the ISI and jehadi groups had become active again, former deputy national security advisor Leela K. Ponappa s aid India s hould calibrate ics engagement with Is lamabad in order co g ive the message that the attacks were unacceptable.

Former Indian consul general in Karachi Rajiv Dogra suggested drnc India put a pause to the dialogue process drnc is set to be resumed.

Veteran jomnalist Kuldip Nayar said bilateral relations were becoming better, but t h e ki Uings would "definitely jeopardise talks which were to start".

"This process will stop again," said the former 1vlP. "The opposition parties will gee a handle. Everybody is looking towards elections. le might be exploited to d1e extent ic should nor be .The ruling party is going to be afraid of what happens n ow," said Nayar, an ardent proponent of good IndiaPakistan good tie5.

Sibal said d1e positive atmosphere sought to be created becau se of me feeling that Prime Mjnister Nawaz Sharif could open up a new chapter in bilateral ties have received a jolc.

Tbe former foreign secretary said mat India should be "genuinely concerned about what see ms to be emerging a s attempts co create. tensions between d1e two countries"

He said the recent Jalalabad s uicide. attack near d1e L1dian mission in which nine Afghans were killed and me killing in Poonch "suggests that d1e Pakistani military, 151 (Inter- Services fnce Uigence) and ji hadi groups combine has become active. Thi s is consistent with Nawaz Shari f's design to project Jammu and Kashmir on the international stage and the longstanding concexc of his party's link wim je handi g roups and the lack of mutual trust between hi m and the militar y

These are worrisome trends, he said, and added that Sharif has been "too slow" i.n taking any concrete ges tures such as granting Most Favomed Nation status to India or i.n e,'[pediting che trial o f the accused in me 2008 Mumbai attack in o rder tO improve relations.

"What we have been seeing is negative trends," Sibal added.

Ponappa said that pe o ple " tend to forget realities" and " chi s is the kind of behaviour you have to expect from Pakistan".

The former deputy nati o nal security advisor s aid India should keep Pakis tan's behaviour in mind and calibrate its engagement " in a way that it doe s not send mixed signals - drnt we can't accept mis kind of thing".

She said she had " always maintained that Pakistan ,viii try co make you move on pos itive things - because iliey are seeking legitimisation with their own people and the international community, while carr ying on this kind of activity. Given d1e realities of Pakistan, yo u cannot expect anything better"

Ponappa said Sharif's saying he wanted normalisation of ties with India was n o thin g new. "(Zulfikar Ali) Bhutto s aid it, Benaz.ir (Bhutto) said it, nothin g has changed Everybody says they wane good relations bm you have co see the reali ty on the ground".

She said she ha te d ro sound pessimistic but "u nfortunatel y, dealing wiili Pakistan has to be based on not what you wane but what you are dealing wi d1"

"Yo u have to recognis e the reality o f what you are. dealing with, then yo u will never have illusions about it," Pooappa added

Dogra said that India must stop the dialogue process. " Th e first step should be to put a pause button on d1e (secretary level) talks and depending o n Pakis tan's delivery in terms of apology and correction, we can consider the fate. of th e ta lks at the PM level," added .Dogra.

Three-layered syndicate in IPL6 spot-fixing: Delhi Police

A dlree- layered betting syndicate was involved in spot-fixing during the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL6) with d1e prime mo vers being Karad-ubased underworld don Dawoo d Ibrahim and his lieutenant Chhora Shakeel, three month s of painstaking investigations b y Delhi Police have revealed.

Apart from Dawood , Shakeel and Javed Churaoi, al so ba sed overseas, d1e first layer included Indian bookies like. Ashwani Aggarwal alias Ti.oku Mandi, Ramesh Vyas, Feroze, Jitendra Jain and Chaodresh Jai11 alias Jupiter, according to a recently obtained Delhi Police charge -sheet.

The next la ye r comprised Indian bookies like Su.nil Bhatia, Cbandresh Patel and Manan Bhatt.

"W/ e found fixers and their associates, like ex-players 1\{anish Guddewar, Amir Kumar Singh and Babu.tao Yadav, were facilitating d1e contacts of fixers with the players, who executed the conspiracy on the playi n g field," d1e charge- sheet said of d1e third layer possible, bm in chis case, due co traffic congestion, De lhi Police rnanaged to trace a call between a Dubai number used by Churani and a Pakistani number used by Dawood with the help of the International Telecommw-ucation U nion

Three IPL players - S. Sr ee.sand,, Ankeet Chavan and Ajeec Chandila - were arrested o n spot-fixing charges May 16. Subsequently, 27 b ooki es were nabbed from me various parts of India in May,June and July, and one Aug 4.

Delhi Police goc d1e initial lead in d1e first week of May when a phone call between a Dubai number and a Pakistani number was traced in India.

This revealed t hat Chut:u-u had been in touch wid1 Tinku Mandi in India. Chutani himself is not wanted in India and therefore any communicati o n made by him wim an Indian entity would normally have remained beyond suspicion and would be treated as a normal ct1nversation. Which means mat Chutani was freel y speaking to Tinku Mandi.

While oo one hand, Cbutani conspired with Tinku Mandi, who was looki n g after the betting sy ndicate in nord1ern lndia, on the other, he co n sp ired with Rames h Vyas, who looked after the betting syndicate in so ud1ern lndia.

Delhi Police had Jul y 30 filed its chargesheet in a MCOCi\ (l'vfal1arashtra Control of Organized Crime Act) conn in the national capital.

Raghuram Rajan appointed

RBI Governor

Rag hmam Govind Rajan, chie f economic ad v isor in the finance ministr y, will be the next governor of the Reserve Bank o f India (RBI), d1e government announced recently in New Delhi.

At 50, Rajan will also be among the youngest to occupy the h igh of/ice at M:inc Street in Mumbai, w here he takes over from incw11bent Dnvvuri Subbarao on Sep 5

" Prim e Mini s ter (l'vfanmohan Singh) has approved the appointment of Rag huram Rajan as the G ove rnor of Reserve Bank of India (R.Bl) for a term of three years," finance ministry said in a statement.

Before jo ining d1e Indian government, Rajan bad se rved as chie f econon-ust at the International 1\fonetary Fund (IMF) and pro fessor at the U ni ver sity of Chicago. He. joined a s advisor in the finance n-u1-ustry last year in August.

His appointment comes at a time when the Indian economy is passing through rough wead1er and d1e government and the central bank are no t particularl y seen to be i n sync on ways to handl e the sinrntion.

The RBI is struggling t o control the slide in t h e value o f the rupee t hat hie a record low of 6 1 86 against a doUar on Aug 6

"These a.re challenging times for the Indian economy, though no one can have any doubt about die co trntry's promise," he said after being nam ed govern o r, adding tha t d1e govern ment and the cen tral bank were working together o n this.

" The Reserve Bank is a great institution wid1 a tradi tion of imegriry, independence and professio nalism," he said, honoured by the new responsibilities reseed o n I-um.

The RBI ha s also been tmder pressure from die industry and a section of d1e government to cut policy rates to rev ive growth. Rajan bas al so been advocating a rate cue.

In the first quarter review of the monetary policy announced July 30, the central bank has left key policy races unchanged and lowered the growth forecast for d1e current financial year to 5.5% from it s earlier projection of 5.7 %

Sikh Americans remember gurdwara tragedy with community service

Sikhs in America marked the first anniversary of the Oak Creek tragedy when a gunman attacked a gurdwara in Wisconsin killing six worshippers, with a day of community service and remembrance.

Prayer meetings were held across the US on August 5 to honour those who lost their lives on the same date last year - Paran1j ic Kaur Saini, Sica Singh, Ranjic Singh, Prakash Singh, Suvegh Singh Kharcra, and Sacwant Singh Kaleka - and pray for the full recovery of those critically injured

"\'(/e are proud that Sikh Americans nationwide have responded to this tragedy with open hearts and heads held high, consistent with the Sikh belief in Chardi Kala (eternal o ptimism) ," Sikh Coalition, an umbrella organisation of the community said in a statement.

Sikh communities nationwide and California's SEVA organisation partnered w ith the Sikh Coalition on a l ational Day of Seva (Selfless Serv ice) co pay tribute to the Oak Creek community, it said.

Detroit SiJ{hs partnered w ith Kleis Against Hunger co package 20,000 meals for needy famil ies and Houston Sikhs volunteered at a local library and partnered with Urban Harvest to clean a garden at a local e lementary smool.

In New York City, Sikhs cleaned Morningside Park while Sikhs in California's Central VaUey and Bay Area packaged and .served food to the home less.

Washingto n area S ikhs marked the anniversary of Oak Creek tragedy with prayers and reAection at Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, RockviJJe Sikh Centre coo.

"Since the Sep 1 1 attacks, too man y Sikh Americans have been wrongfully subjected co hate crimes and discrimination," said Ami Bera, the lone Indian American member of the US House of Representatives vowing co keep working closel y with the community for protecting domestic civil righ cs.

Other members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) also pledged to "work to ensure that discrimination and hateful acts based on intolerance do not have a p lace in our "naoon

South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), leading a network of 41 Sonch Asia organisations, started a blog seri es "to place the Oak Creek traged y in a broader hiscory and context of racial and religious injustice in our country"

The Cou n cil on American- Islamic Relations (CAJR) issued a statem ent saying American Mus Li ms "stand with their Sikh brothers and sister s" after the Oak Creek tragedy.

Reversing brain drain? Better research faci l ities see Indian scientists return Finall)', the brain drain appears to be reversing. Better researcl1 opportunities in lndia, passion co do som ething for their native couotr y and family obligations have started co lure back Indian scientists working abroad. Around 500 scientists have come back in the la st seven years - and only six have gone back

Go ing by the figures maintained by the union science and technology ministry, the majority of the reverse brain drain has happened from the US, Germany and

Britain. Recendy, scientists have also started coming from Somh Korea and Japan.

"About 500 scientists have come back from abroad and are working in various institutions across the country. Of these only six have gone back for various reason s," T. Ranrnsami, Sec retary, Department of Science and Technology, said recendy in New Delhi.

Credit must al so be given to the several schem es run by the Indian government to encourage scientists and engineers of Indian origin from al] ove r the world to take up sc ientific research positions in India, especiaUy those scie n tists who want to return to lnd ia from abroad.

The Ramanujan Fellowship, Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) Programme a nd the Ramalingaswamy Fellowship are amo n g those that provid e a p latform to scientists willing to return an d work in India.

An internal analysis by the ministry of the reasons for the reverse brain drain revealed that cough competition abroad, better research opportunities in lnd ia , love of work fo r the mod1erland and aiming to contribute to science were some of the major factors that drew L1dian scien tisrs co their homeland.

Family obligations was another reason that attracted chem back home.

Sheeba Vasu, who was doing her postdoctoral research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, said she came back as she always wanted to work in lndia

"I wanted to come back and scart my work in India after getting trained in the US Moreover, it is not easy to get a job as a facul ty in any of t he universities in the US as there is a tough competition," Vasu, who is a Ramanujan Fellow since 2008, said. She was in the US for six years.

Vasu, who i s now doing her research in the Evolutionary and Organismal Biology

Unit of Bangalore's Jawal1a clal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific R esearch, says d1ere are more research opportunities in Indian unive r sities and elite instimtions

Like the Indian Institutes of Technolog y, Indian Institute t1f Science (llSc) , Bangalore, and Indian lnstimtes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), among others

Echo ing similar views, another Ramanujan feUow, V idya T.N.C. , said competition is much higher abroad as compared to lndia, where there is a shortage of experts and qualified faculties.

"There are i ssues with research fac ilities in lndia. He.re, we do not have many advanced research laboratories. We also face a funds crunch. But overall it's a good platform that gives you a kind of startup w hen you return to lndia," said Vidya, who worked at Columbia University.

So m e scientists feel co ndu cting research iu India is more relaxed while d1ere is a rat race in d1e advanced cow1tries.

"l think academic work outs id e India is stressful and it is a bit more relaxed in India and I am saying that in a positive way," Ashwin Srinivasan, a professor at Delhi's lndraprastha Institute of Information Technology, said.

Srinivasan, who had worked at Oxford Univers ity, said there is an economic crunch in the academic setup abroad and it i s coug h to get research grants.

"The research setup is better in lndia an d the opportunity to work in science in India is not as bad as it being said. Yes, there are d1ings like most of the big science ideas are explored in institutes abroad and lack of options to do inter-disciplinary research that hurts," said Srinivasan, who has been abroad for 15 years and took a four- fo ld cut in sa lai·y when he remrned co India.

The figures show that the majority of researchers prefer to work in Kamataka, :l',faharashtra, Andbra Pradesh and \'Vest Bengal. The reason i s chat these states have d1e largest munber of good research instirutions

"Through various schemes, we provide a p la tform under which scientists in th e age-group of 30-45 years can work in an y of the scientific instirutious and Ltniversities in India and would be eligible for receiving regular research grants and a monthl y rem u neration," he said.

Srinivasan, who is a US citizen, suggests some changes - for instance, schemes should be flexible co e n sure people of Indian origi11 who are nor fodia n citizens cai1 also take up jobs at central government universities and institutions.

"Some more initiatives are needed to make India a very attractive destination for scientists wanting to work for their m otherland," he said.

ASI unearths a slice of Harappa in north Rajasthan

Artefacts elating to the Harappan era have been excavated in Karai1pura of Hanumangarh district in Ra jasthan, the first time remains of d1e Indus Valley Civilisation have been found in dus part

"The excavation has brought to light h ouse comple..'<es built of mud bricks of both Early (3300-2600 Before Commo n Era) and Mature (2600 -1900 BCE) Harappan periods. Even though scattered remains ai1d fragments of baked bricks are available, it \Vas n ot found in any building," said Archaeological Survey of India superintending archaeologist V.S Prabhal<ar in a Jecrur e at the India International Centre in New Delhi recendy.

"The presence of bichrome wme consisting of red ware, decorated with black and white-colow:ed painted motifs, is also n oticed from d1e Early T-:larappan period, a few of wluch continues du.ring the Mature Harappan period," he added.

"Presen ce of rlunoceros bones poin t to d1e marshy environment the Harappans were accustomed to," said Prabhakar Harappai1 pottery along with terracotta bangles, grincling stone fragments, beads of agate an d an animal terracotta figurine were excavated. Numero us copper artefacts reveal trade ties people here had with od1er ci vilisations Apai t from motifs like circles, pipal leaves on various items, graffiti on pottery and artefacts like the sp indle whorls are distingui shed features.

The Indus Valley civilisation is o n e of the ea rliest urban civilisations and also known as the Harappan c ivilisation.

Karanpura is located on the right bank of D1ishaclvati river, now Chautang, in the upper reaches and is loca ted between Siswal, Ha.ryana (upstream) and Sodu, Rajasthan (dO\vnscream). The r iver is dried u p now.

The archaeological remains at Karanpura were firs t discovered in 2010 and the exca\7ation branch started work in December 2012. The work wil l end soon.