Category: Education

Professor from Chennai to head continental mathematics panel

Sanoli Gun from city’s The Institute of Mathematical Sciences will be the first president of Asia-Oceania Women in Mathematics

The Committee for Women in Mathematics, which is a part of The International Mathematical Union, announced on its website that the Asia-Oceania Women in Mathematics (AOWM), the continental organisation for women mathematicians, has been established by an online meeting on August 1, this year.

With over 200 founding members from the continents, the organisation will have as its first president Sanoli Gun, a professor of mathematics at The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, who specialises in Number Theory. There are two vice-presidents – Melissa Tacy from University of Auckland, New Zealand, and Polly Sy from University of Philippines Diliman, Philippines – and executive committee members including women mathematicians from Korea, Indonesia, Japan, China, Kazhakstan and Iran.

Among its myriad activities, the International Mathematical Union is the body that awards the Fields Medals, the highest honour in mathematics. It is the largest organised body of mathematicians across the world.

“We have to set the tone, and generate funds to actually make all the programmes happen. We have to create a logo and a website to start with. We also have to integrate… Asia is a very diverse continent, and there is Oceania. So there’s a lot of work ahead,” Said Prof. Gun.

The goal of this committee is threefold – facilitate exchange of knowledge between all the member countries, and improve the number of women mathematicians working on their Ph.Ds in mathematics and the mathematical sciences. The second goal is to help women who have Ph.Ds, but somehow get lost in the system. “Maybe we can create some fellowships,” says Prof Gun. The third goal is to make conditions more favourable for those women in faculty positions in various institutes. This will help check the so-called ‘leaky pipeline’. “About steps specific to Asia and Oceania, we will have a better idea after our first EC meeting in September,” she said.

She also pointed out that when a young person takes up research in mathematics, the names she or he encounters are usually Ramanujan and Harishchandra, and very few are inspired. The importance of having the work of great women mathematicians thrown into prominence is therefore obvious. Prof. Gun also mentioned that her colleagues from Europe had spoken of having an exhibition that describes the phenomenal work done by women in mathematics.

Unlike in literature, there are no prizes specifically for women in mathematics. “This is one of the things we will try to get for young people,” she said.

Women in research and even in faculty positions face a lot of discrimination. “One way to tackle this is by creating more women mathematicians,” Prof. Gun said.

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Japanese venture capital firm joins hands with IIT-Hyderabad

Aimed at boosting entrepreneurship

The Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) and Beyond Next Ventures India (BNVI), Bengaluru, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, have joined hands to extend academia and industry cooperation.

This IITH-BNVI collaboration is expected to usher in a new wave of innovations at IIT-H by investing and mentoring entrepreneurial ideas emerging from the IIT-H startup community to go from ideas to markets.

“The collaborations between the two countries are broader and more diverse, where startups and their ecosystems are the emerging key factors. I strongly support BNVI’s philosophy about open innovation to foster social innovation from early-stage technologies in laboratories. Such a philosophy is very important to utilise the academic-research outcomes better and more for solving the real-world problems in both countries and even beyond,” said IIT-H director B.S. Murty.

“IIT-Hyderabad has a strong and broad start-up ecosystem, including multiple incubation centres, entrepreneurship curriculums, and student organisations. The collaboration with BNVI will further increase the thrust of the startup ecosystem,” said IIT-H associate faculty Kotaro Kataoka.

“ We have been investing in India for the last two years, and it gives us immense pleasure to begin this new journey with IITH, which has invention and innovation as its core ethos,” said Tsuyoshi Ito, CEO, BNVI,.

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Chandigarh: New Guinness World Record for largest human formation of waving national flag 

The Chandigarh University on Saturday set a new Guinness World Record for the world’s largest human formation of a waving national flag here.

As many as 5,885 students from the Chandigarh University and other schools and colleges along with volunteers of the NID Foundation and other dignitaries gathered for the flag formation at the Chandigarh Cricket Stadium here, according to a release issued by the university.

The feat was achieved by breaking the previous record made by an institution in the United Arab Emirates.

Swapnil Dangarikar, Guinness World Records official adjudicator, said, “The previous world record for the ‘largest human image of a waving national flag’ achieved by GEMS Education in Abu Dhabi, UAE has been broken and a new world record has been created by NID Foundation and Chandigarh University in today’s event.”

The UAE had achieved the record for the largest human image of a waving national flag with 4,130 people in 2017, it said.

Chandigarh Administrator and Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakashi Lekhi, NID chief patron and Chandigarh University Chancellor Satnam Singh Sandhu and other senior officials of the Union Territory administration were present in the event.

Dangarikar handed over a copy of the GWR certificate to the governor and the university chancellor.

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Indian Virtual Herbarium, biggest database of country’s flora, is a global hit

The portal, with nearly one lakh images of specimens, recorded two lakh hits from 55 countries since its July 1 launch; site to host all of India’s herbaria by 2024

With details of about one lakh plant specimens, Indian Virtual Herbarium, the biggest virtual database of flora in the country, is generating a lot of interest and turning out to be an eye-catching endeavour. While herbarium specimens are considered important tools for plant taxonomy, conservation, habitat loss and even climate change, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently described Indian Virtual Herbarium as an example of how digital tools can help us connect to our roots.

In the ‘Mann Ki Baat ‘ episode on July 31, 2022, the Prime Minister spoke about the novel initiative and said that Indian Virtual Herbarium is an interesting collection of plants and preserved parts of plants. “The virtual herbarium also presents a rich botanical diversity of the country. I am convinced that Indian Virtual Herbarium will turn out to be an important resource for research on plants in the country,” Mr. Modi said.

Developed by scientists of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Indian Virtual Herbarium was inaugurated by Union Minister of Environment Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav on July 1 in Kolkata. Only five weeks since its launch, the portal https://ivh.bsi.gov.in has nearly 2 lakh hits from 55 countries.

Each record in the digital herbarium includes an image of the preserved plant specimen, scientific name, collection locality, and collection date, collector name, and barcode number. The digital herbarium also includes features to extract the data State-wise and users can search plants of their own States which will help them to identify regional plants and in building regional checklists.

The portal includes about one lakh images of herbarium specimens; Director of Botanical Survey of India (BSI) Dr. A.A. Mao said by the end of this year the number of digitized species will increase to two lakh. “By the 2024, we plan to provide a platform to all the herbaria in the country so that they can display their herbarium collection on the platform,” Dr. Mao said.

Scientists say that there are approximately three million plant specimens in the country which are with different herbaria that are located at zonal centers of BSI and at the Central National Herbarium located at Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden at Howrah in West Bengal.

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Campus Names New Dean for the School of Engineering

After a nationwide search, Rakesh Goel was selected as UC Merced’s next dean of the School of Engineering.

Goel is a seasoned academic leader who currently serves as executive associate dean in the College of Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly).

Before he arrived at Cal Poly, Goel was an assistant professor of Civil Engineering at Syracuse University and worked at the Earthquake Engineering Research Center at UC Berkeley as an assistant research engineer. He has industry experience both in India and the U.S. in civil and structural engineering. He is a registered civil engineer in the State of California and is a certified safety assessment program worker for the California Office of Emergency Services.

Goel is a national and international leader in the discipline of earthquake analysis and design structures. His work has been adapted by seismic codes and guidelines, such as the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) ASCE 7, FEMA-356, California Building Code and ASCE 61. He has authored/co-authored more than 150 publications. He has been awarded the Amman Fellowship, the Huber Research Prize and the Norman Medal by the American Society of Civil Engineers, among many other recognitions.

He is a fellow of the ASCE and the Structural Engineering Institute, where he has chaired three prominent committees and served on the editorial board for the Journal of Structural Engineering and Earthquake Spectra.

Goel earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, India. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in structural engineering from UC Berkeley.

He succeeds Mark Matsumoto, who has served as the school’s dean since 2015. Goel is expected to join the campus in the fall.

news.ucmereced.edu

Prof. receives patent for creating supercapacitors from used tyres

Professor Nand Gopal Sahu of the Rajendra Singh Nano Science and Nanotechnology Centre of Kumaun University’s Chemistry department has obtained a patent for making supercapacitors and energy storage devices from tyre waste.

Talking to Sahu, he said that Tyre waste can be used to synthesize graphene, which is a vital industrial material.

This graphene is used to make supercapacitors that can be used for the manufacture of a variety of devices, including electric vehicles.

Sahu acknowledges Professor AB Melkani, research scholars Gaurav Tatari, Dr Chetna Tiwari, Dr Sandeep Pandey, Dr Manoj Kadakoti, and Dr Himani Tiwari for their contributions to the study.

Nainital, Uttarakhand

thetimesbureau.com

Jaipur pottery, Kashmir papier mache set to adorn walls of US’ Ivy Lodge 

Meet Shaunali Nanda, who is all set to take off to the US as the only Indian among 20 international interior designers picked to decorate a historic home for the Hampton Designer Showhouse next month.

The project is part of this year’s Hampton Designer Showhouse that’s been raising funds to support Stony Brook Hospital in the area for the last 20 years. As part of this endeavour, designers from across the world are invited to reimagine and transform the spaces within an iconic property. Nanda will be recreating one of the bedrooms on the second floor of the cottage.

“I’ve decided that the room is going to be all about everything made in India. We are doing customised wallpaper and matching blinds. We will be using blue and white pottery elements for the wall plates and a lot of papier mache as accessories and, of course, a very nice handwoven rug and lots of pillows,” says Delhi-based Nanda, adding, “The room will come together as a true representation of what we do best.”

Taking inspiration from books and references from the forts and palaces of India, the designer has chosen a dainty dandelion motif in blue, block printed by hand on white linen, for the blinds that she believes will grab attention as soon as one enters the room. The same design will continue on the canvas wallpaper to coordinate. Versions of the print have also been done for cushions, quilts and a throw.

The passage to the bedroom will also be linked with the dandelion wallpaper, which will be further embellished by motifs of the unique blue pottery plates from Jaipur in the form of wall sconces.
Explaining her choice of colour, the 48-year-old designer says, “Blue and white is so eternal
for Americans and since the cottage is by the seashore, for me it seemed a natural choice.”  
It’s not all blue, though. Nanda has picked a refreshing mint green for the bathroom in the same dandelion motif. The flowers in the bathroom will be red. Again, sticking to another classic combo—red and green.

While Nanda is best known for her brand, Sloane Luxury Interiors, which boasts classic designs for contemporary tastes, her latest undertaking is ‘Sloane by Hand’, a project she started during the pandemic-induced lockdown in 2020. The entire mood board for her showcase for the Ivy Lodge has been sourced and created by Sloane by Hand, which she is looking to now put on the global map.

If anyone can do that, it’s her. Having studied, trained and worked at institutions like Sotheby’s and Christie’s, she went on to work with luxury houses such as Hermès, Tiffany, Chanel and Bulgari, gathering the best knowledge in terms of high design. Nanda’s diverse experience over the years across different parts of the world and her research led her to the conclusion that the “biggest commodity abroad is hand-done”.

“I know I’m not the first one to do this––lots of people are already doing it––but I keep it by hand,” the designer says, adding, “Also, I went right down to the root level. I went to the blue potter in Rajasthan and saw how he lives and works. I saw his humility, patience and understanding of the clay he works with.

I went to Kashmir and saw papier mache artisans at work. I’ve seen how they don’t even have enough light for such detailed work and have to sit by a window when they paint.”Nanda says she is also hoping to touch the hearts of many Indians who live in America and are the richest minority there. “They have a life there now that they’re American, but they have a heritage that they sometimes want to call out to. I’m hoping to touch many of those lives, and at the same time, but all this on an international design map,” she says. Nanda’s team begins installation on August 1, and the showhouse, which will see the who’s who of South Hampton and New York, will open on August 13 with a gala evening.

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India gifts 75 ambulances, 17 school buses to Nepal

India on Sunday gifted 75 ambulances and 17 school buses to Nepal as part of its ongoing efforts to build on the “robust and longstanding” partnership between the two countries and help the Himalayan nation bolster its infrastructure in healthcare and education sectors.

India’s newly-appointed Ambassador Naveen Srivastava handed over the keys of the vehicles in the presence of Devendra Paudel, Nepal’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

The gifting of 75 ambulances also marks 75 years of India’s Independence, the Indian Embassy here said.

“The gifting of ambulances and school buses is part of the very robust and strong development partnership between the two countries,” Srivastava said.

This initiative has been one of the long-standing traditions of the Indian government under the Nepal-India Development Partnership Programme to bolster efforts of the Nepal government to strengthen its infrastructure in health and education, he added.

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Forensic scientist from Delhi grabs spot in world’s top ‘50 Next’

Risha joined the group of innovators selected from more than 400 candidates across 30 territories as the next-gen leaders of gastronomy.

A Delhi-based forensic scientist, Dr Risha Jasmine Nathan has been named among the world’s top 50 leading gastronomy game-changers in a prestigious list celebrating the next generation of leaders creating sustainable solutions for the global food and drink industry. 

Risha joined the group of innovators selected from more than 400 candidates across 30 territories as the next-gen leaders of gastronomy. “My research, which I completed in New Zealand in 2020, was about using food and vegetable peels and converting them into beads that could suck up heavy metals from drinking water,” said Dr Nathan.

The research was a part of the “Science Innovators” category which gave a sustainable solution to tackle the problem of water contamination in the developing world. “My goal is to make use of the science of toxicology to work towards the creation of a safer and healthier world,” she said. Nathan, who will soon be a lecturer at the Anglia Ruskin University in the UK later this year, is researching more on the topic, hoping to change the lives of millions who still don’t have access to clean water.

Her technique of removing contaminants such as heavy metals from water has been recognised as a game-changer method in recent times. According to her, while working as an assistant professor of forensic science at Galgotias University in Uttar Pradesh, she came across a technique called ‘biosorption’, where agricultural waste products are used to remove metals from wastewater. From there she got the idea that fruit and vegetable peels could be turned into ‘green filters’ to clean drinking water. “The idea provides viable drinking water decontamination method, is cost efficient and solves problem of landfill dumping, as it helps recycle tonnes of peel waste that end up in landfills every year, causing land pollution and generating methane gas,” she added.

Along with Risha, three other Indian innovators were also mentioned in the list, unveiled at a first-ever live awards ceremony in the Spanish city of Bilbao on Thursday.

They were Bengaluru-based Vinesh Johny and Anusha Murthy, Mumbai-based Nidhi Pant and Singapore-born Indian-origin food entrepreneur Travinder Singh. The ‘50 Next’ is a list released every year which celebrates people from across the food and drink department to complement the annual rankings of ‘The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’.

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Relic of saint installed at SB college

Archbishop Mar Joseph Perumthottam here on Wednesday led the installation service of the relic of St.John Berchmans at the Christuraja chapel on the premises of SB College, Changanassery.

The relic, brought in from Rome, was handed over to the Archbishop by Fr. Jiji Puthuveettikalam, a member of the Pontifical Ecumenical Commission.

It was later taken to the college in a procession and was installed on a specially made seat in the chapel.

The relic is being installed here as part of the 100th year celebrations of the college.

th/kerala