KIDS I’m a big kid now

AARAV SEDHA

Jasper Road Public School, Baulkham Hills NSW

Enough of this kindy now. I will come back some other day

AMORA TRIPATHI

Parramatta NSW I had THREE lunch breaks, yay!

REEHA PANDHARIPANDE

Summer Hill Public School, Summer Hill NSW

I feel a bit like crying when I go to school, but when I see Mrs Thompson, I feel happy. I think I love her

KRISHAY SHAH

Blacktown South Public School, Blacktown NSW

Daddy, I didn’t cry at all but mum cried when you dropped me to school in the morning.

SRADDHA SHAILESH

St Antony’s Primary School, Girraween NSW Finally I get to go with my BIG brother to BIG school

AISHANI SINHA

Glen Huntly Primary School, Glen Huntly VIC

(When her Mum said she would miss her): Maa don’t worry, I will be back soon. That’s my school, not my home

Christ the King, Warradale, South Australia I love playing in the playground

SHANAYA ANAND

Kellyville Public School, Kellyville NSW

(Singing her favourite rhyme) Look at me, I am going to school!

Sourish Bhattacharya

Seven Hills North Public School, Seven Hills NSW

I am excited to go to big school but I will be super happy if Mamma and Daddy can stay with me!

Beresford Road Public School, Greystanes NSW

I am a big boy so have to go to big school

SIDDHI PURANIK

Campbelltown SA

I like my new uniform. I also like playing in the playground

AYAAN PURI

Riverbank Public School, The Ponds NSW Maybe 1 week and I’ll become a pilot

MEERA SHITOOT

Ash eld NSW

Mum, you can go catch the train if you want. I know everything about school!

Stella Maris Parish School, Seacombe Gardens, SA

I like to play with friends and with my star board

HAMISH SUNERAM

St Ives Park Primary School, St Ives NSW

Do I have to go back to school again today? But I went yesterday

India hits out at secretive operations of UNSC, demands reforms

India has hit out at the secretive functioning of Security Council sanctions committees, which operate in a “subterranean universe” with no accountability, and called for reforms to make their decision-making transparent.

The “decisions of the Sanctions Committees are taken beyond the gaze of public knowledge, with no explanation of the inputs that go into their decision making,” India’s Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin told the Council in early February. “For want of a better depiction, it would appear these committees form the ‘subterranean’ universe of the Council,” he said.

The criticism was directed primarily at the UN’s failure to declare Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a global terrorist because of China’s veto in the so-called 1267 Sanctions Committee that deals with the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, and associated individuals groups. However, Akbaruddin did not directly mention the committee or China. Akbaruddin focused on the 14 Sanctions Committees during the session on the working methods of the Security Council convened by its current president, Kuwait.

“The principles of anonymity and unanimity reign in this subterranean universe” unlike in the Council where vetoes are cast openly and explanations are publicly give, he said.

“None, except the members of this subterranean universe, are aware of the use of a veto while deciding on a reference made to any of the Sanctions Committees,” he said. And “no rationale is provided for such anonymous vetoing of a submission.”

“Such is the effective impact of this anonymous veto that a proposal that has been blocked is not even made public.”

Even though the decisions are binding on all the members of the Security Council, countries outside the Council are not aware of the total number of decisions made by these Sanctions Committees, he said.

He estimated that last year 53 individuals and 19 entities were added to the sanctions list but said that it is not known how many were blocked from being listed.

The committees do not have uniform rules about how they operate and about the appeals or oversight, he said.

Seven of them have provisions - some of them vague - for referring cases when there is no consensus to the Council and only one of them has an ombudsperson, he said. The 1267 committee has an ombudsperson to whom appeals can be made.

“Clearly, there exists a case for the Council to address the anomalies in the working methods of its subterranean universe of Sanctions Committees,” Akbaruddin said. “These anomalies not only affect the efficiency and credibility of the work of the Council, but also impacts on the larger membership who are to implement Council’s decisions.”

US patent office honours Indian-born Stanford don AJ Paulraj

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has inducted Indian-born Stanford University Emeritus Professor Arogyaswami Joseph Paulraj into its National Inventors Hall of Fame for developing wireless technology to transmit and receive data at high speeds, the agency of the US Department of Commerce said in early February.

The agency awarded Paulraj a patent in 1992 for inventing Multiple In-Multiple Out (MIMO), which enables transfer of data, including videos through broadband and mobile technologies like 4G and the upcoming 5G.

“We honour people responsible for the greatest technological advances that make human, social and economic progress possible,” noted the agency.

The Patent Office will formally induct Paulraj at a special ceremony on May 3 in Washington.

Though the agency has honoured five other Indian-origin scientists in the past,

Paulraj joins eight other world famed inventors in the wireless technology field, who were inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“I feel humbled to be counted among the inventors who have made the modern world possible. When I joined Stanford in 1992, I had not worked in wireless technology, as my prior years in India were spent on sonar systems,” Paulraj said.

The other Indian wireless pioneer holding a patent for breakthrough work in radio and microwave optics was Jagdish Chandra Bose (1858-1937) in the 1890s.

“It was perhaps being an outsider that helped me come up with this transformative idea. Like other breakthroughs, though MIMO faced scepticism, it took off and is the foundation of all wireless systems,” recalled Paulraj.

The other eight wireless inventors inducted into the Hall of Fame are Guglielmo Marconi and Oliver Lodge (wireless telegraph), Reginald Fessenden (AM radio), Edwin Armstrong (FM radio), Amos Joel (Cellular technology), Andrew Viterbi and Irwin Jacobs (CDMA-3G) and Jan Haartsen (Bluetooth).

The other five Indian scientists honoured in the past in other fields CKN Patel (CO2 laser), Jayant Baliga (insulated gate bipolar transistor), Haren Gandhi (automotive exhaust catalyst), Ashok Gadgil (ultraviolet water sanitation) and Rangaswami Srinivasan (Lasik eye surgery).

“MIMO technology uses multiple antennas as a transmitter and receiver in a wireless link to boost wireless data rates. The 4G broadband wireless internet access and the next-generation 5G will not be possible without MIMO Technology,” Paulraj said.

Set up in 1791, the USPTO has issued 8.8 million patents since the mid-20th century but inducted so far only 561 inventors, including Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, Alexander Graham Bell and Apple founder Steve Jobs.

Born at Pollachi in Tamil Nadu, Paulraj joined the Indian Navy when he was just 15 years old. Impressed with his academic record, the Navy sent him to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in New Delhi, where he earned a doctorate (PhD) for advances to signal filtering theory.

After a 25-year service in the Navy, Paulraj went to the US in 1992 to work at Stanford and built a MIMO-based cellular wireless technology that became the basis for WiMax and LTE (Long-Term Evolution) mobile networks.

Paulraj holds 79 patents and won many distinctions, including the 2011 IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal and 2014 Marconi Prize and Fellowship.

The Indian government also honoured Paulraj with Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, in 2010.

The NDA Government appointed the septuagenarian in December 2017 as Chairman of the Telecommunication Department’s Steering Committee to prepare a vision, mission, goal and roadmap for 5G India 2020.

“The Department has asked me to support its efforts to advance the applications and internal value addition in 5G wireless. I always felt that India needs to join the club of countries like the US, China, Europe, South Korea and Japan that dominate communications and computing technology,” added Paulraj.

Google India, NCERT bring ‘Digital Citizenship’ lessons to schools

Reiterating its commitment to make the web a safer place for everyone, Google India has announced its collaboration with NCERT to integrate a course on “Digital Citizenship and Safety” in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) curriculum in schools.

Students from Class I to Class XII across 1.4 million schools in India would now learn how to become good and responsible digital citizens, through structured classroom modules on the social, ethical and legal aspects of Internet safety.

“Users who are coming online for the first time need to be aware of the possible negative experiences that they may incur on the web,” Sunita Mohanty, Director of Trust and Safety at Google India, said in a statement on Safer Internet Day.

“This makes it important for us to start a dialogue on the dangers and threats they can be exposed to when surfing the net. Through our course integration with NCERT, we aim to catch children young and teach them the essentials of staying safe, while exploring the online world,” Mohanty added.

In addition, Google has also created a curriculum for teachers so that they can help students learn all about digital citizenship in their classrooms.

“In an increasingly connected world, the Internet is fast emerging as a learning space for our students and it’s our responsibility as educators to provide them with a safe learning environment,” Amarendra Behera, Joint Director, CIET - NCERT, added.

The programme includes specific resources for kids and educators, enabling them with the tools they need to learn and educate themselves on Internet safety. The the curriculum will be systematically graded and has been divided into four overarching themes - Being Smart; Being Safe; Being a Digital Citizen and Being Future Ready. The curriculum is structured to match the intellectual and curiosity needs of different age group of the children.

As they advance through their classes, they will be taught more advanced topics such as privacy, device management, intellectual property and reputation management.

On the occasion, Google also announced the winners of the third edition of its “Web Rangers” competition - an initiative that is designed to spread awareness about Internet safety and promote digital citizenship.

Slain techie Kuchibhotla’s widow attends Trump’s State of Union address

Sunayana Dumala, the widow of Indian techie Srinivas Kuchibhotla who was killed in a hate crime last year in Kansas, was a Congressional guest at the State of the Union address delivered by President Donald Trump.

“In the very beginning he (Trump) said that we all have our differences but we have to work in unity and harmony,” she told the Kansas City TV station, KHSB. “That is welcome.”

Republican Representative Kevin Yoder tweeted that he invited her to the President’s ceremonial speech “in recognition for her tireless efforts to promote peace and as a message to the Indian community that the US is a nation of immigrants and they are welcome here.”

Dumala is at risk of being sent out of the US because she came in as a dependent on her husband’s H1-B temporary professional visa but the deportation has been stayed. Before attending Trump’s address, Dumala met House Speaker Paul Ryan and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chair of the House Republican Conference, and other lawmakers, according to KHSB’s Twitter feed from Washington.

Kuchibhotla was killed and his friend Alok Madasani was injured when a former Navyman Adam Purinton allegedly fired on them last February outside a restaurant in Kansas while shouting, “Get out of my country”.

Purinton is awaiting trial on charges of murder and committing a hate crime.

Yoder is the sponsor of a bill aimed at cutting the delays for professional Indian applicants for green cards which gives them permanent immigration status. The wait time now is over 11 years and is likely to grow longer.

The bill, “Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017”, seeks to do away with national quotas for issuing green cards which leads to long waits for Indians because of the large numbers of professionals from the country - many already in the US on H1-B visas - who qualify for immigration.

The Indian Association of Kansas City thanked Yoder for inviting Dumala to the presidential address and said, “This further strengthens our belief and confidence in the American system and its constitution that everyone is respected, loved and is welcome.”

And now, a public bike sharing system for India

The Hyderabad Bicycling Club and Smartbike Mobility Pvt Ltd has announced the launch of public bike sharing system, for first and last mile connectivity at Metro Stations in Hyderabad.

Smartbike Mobility Pvt Ltd (Smartbike), through a joint venture with Nextbike GmbH, Germany, will operate Public Bike Sharing (PBS) system on both sides of the new Hyderabad Metro Rail Stations.

It has set up bike stations at Miyapur, JNTU, KPHB and Kukatpally metro stations and feeder bike stations at Miyapur Junction, JNTU Main Gate and Cyber Towers.A

The company said in a statement that it currently has 75 smartbikes in the city and plans to add another 225 bikes in a few weeks. It commenced operations with seven bike stations in the city and plans to add 23 more stations in the next few weeks and eventually plan to have around 300 bike stations in the next three years.

The first set of bikes were imported. However, to cut down on the customs duty, an assembling unit for smartbikes is being set up in Hyderabad.

The company also plans to set up an assembling plant in Delhi to cater to the needs of Delhi, Chandigarh and Jaipur. He said they will be investing around Rs 100 crore for these plans in the next financial year.

People can register online to become members by paying Rs 500 deposit. For members, the ride for up to 30 minutes is free while for non-members this will cost Rs 10. The charges for 30 minutes to one hour will be Rs 10 for members and Rs 25 for non-members. Members can also opt for weekly or monthly passes.

U-19 WC: My team executed plans perfectly, says Shaw India’s U-19 Cricket World Cup winning captain Prithvi Shaw has lauded his team’s efforts during the tournament in executing their plans perfectly.

“We have brought the World Cup back and everybody, including the support staff, has worked hard for the last year. The way we planned it, it was well executed on the ground and hence we lifted the World Cup,” Shaw told reporters upon his return to India.

“I am very happy and proud. I played a lot of school cricket and scored heavily there and then the Ranji Trophy but when we represent India, it’s a different feeling,” he added. Hailing from Virar, a small down in Palghar district near Mumbai, Shaw said the road for him was not easy and he is finally happy to win it.

“Becoming India’s captain for the World Cup, I can’t express in words the feeling… and thanks to everyone. It was a difficult journey for me starting from Virar. All credit to my dad; he was the one who took me (around for cricket) even though the venues were far from my home in Virar.”

Shaw scored 261 runs including two fifties during the tournament in which India won all their matches and were dominant throughout the meet.

In the final, the Rahul Dravid-coached side beat Australia by eight wickets.

U-19 WC: Real satisfaction was the process, says Dravid India’s U-19 cricket team head coach and batting legend Rahul Dravid has said the most satisfying part of the World Cup triumph was the process the team followed to reach the top.

“The real satisfaction, in my opinion, is the process that was followed over the last 14-16 months, the whole planning and preparation that has gone into, not necessarily for this World Cup, but for developing the U-19 players,” Dravid said after the team’s return to India from New Zealand.

“It was great team work, guys behind the scenes, the selectors, NCA, the BCCI setting up games and series. Winning a tournament like this is a good reflection of the team work,” he added.

Dravid though felt the team was not at its best in the summit clash.

“We did not play our number one game in the final, that we played in the quarter-final (versus Bangladesh) and semi-final (against Pakistan). Just the fact that they played the final was an experience,” Dravid said.

“I’m really happy that the 15 boys got to wear the World Cup medal. They deserve it. It’s been a lot of sacrifices, the way they played in the World Cup. The way they jelled, the quality of cricket they played - all these give you a lot of satisfaction. We were under pressure in a few games, but there were people who stood up and delivered,” the former India captain added.

Dravid said that the real challenge begins now. “The challenge and the hard work really start from here, we had couple of conversations on it. When we were there they showed a rerun of the 2012 final and I started checking upon a few things. It is interesting... the result of the final is India beat Australia but six years down the line, only one of the Indian boys has gone on to play for India while 5-6 of the Aussie boys went on to play for Australia,” he said.

He felt a lot will depend on how the young players are managed. “The talent is there, the ability is there, it’s about managing themselves, how to deal with pressure and the expectations that will come as U-19 champions,” he said.

“It’s not easy to get into the Indian side. At least if they become good first class cricketers, from then on it becomes a stepping stone to play for India.”

Dravid signed off by advising the boys to quit age-level cricket and take the next step.

“My view is quite well known. I feel that once the boys are good enough they should go on to play men’s cricket, especially those who had played first class cricket,” he said.

“Five boys from last year’s World Cup qualified to play this time. But we made a conscious decision not to pick them as I felt it will be better for them to play U-23 cricket and senior men’s cricket.” IANS