Rural India lacks sufficient teachers and the right equipment to educate the hundreds of millions of students enrolled in its schools.
 

Now Amrita University’s Center for Research in Advanced Technologies in Education will help teach language, science, technology, engineering and math subjects through virtual lessons and experiments the students can access online.
 

At the Hewlett Packard (HP) Catalyst Summit in Beijing last month, the Center received a grant of $ 100,000 to support its next steps toward scale-up and to go deeper with innovations in this initiative.
 

More than seventy candidates had applied for the funding; only five were awarded. In addition to the Amrita Center, a recipient from Kenya and three from the United States were selected.
 

Jim Vanides, HP’s Education Program Manager for Sustainability and Social Interventions, extended his congratulations.
 

“The HP Catalyst Leadership Fund has been established to provide additional support to progressive Catalyst projects that have compelling, emergent evidence of learning and teaching outcomes, international collaboration and the potential to scale,” he said, elaborating on the choice of awardees.
 

The People’s Choice award, given based on the number of popular votes, was also won by Amrita. Five winners, including Amrita, and four others from USA, China and South America were showcased at the Summit.
 

Amrita is a member of the HP Catalyst’s Measuring Learning Consortium. Profs. Prema Nedungadi and Raghu Raman explained the goals of the Consortium.
 

“We are developing methods to assess STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) skills including innovation, creative and higher-order thinking, global collaboration and the ability to tackle big, open-ended challenges; these are often not evaluated in schools.”
 

“We want to foster dialogue and debate, challenging assumptions about what’s needed and what’s possible, to better prepare students to compete in this information economy.”
 

Commenting specifically on their participation, they said, “We are expanding the use of online labs (O-Labs) free of charge, enabling students who do not have access to expensive physical labs. O-Labs provide simulations, video demonstrations and assessment of student procedural, conceptual and interpretational skills.”
 

Amma’s Amala Bharatam Campaign continues to inspire many. In this case, four students of the Amrita School of Communication, were honoured for their 3-minute short film, Indifference, at the 9th Edition of the International Film Festival, We Care, where they won the Jury’s Special Award.
 

The film evocatively portrayed the efforts of a disabled young man, who wanted to clean his surroundings, even as someone else carelessly littered them. When he failed to retrieve some trash lying on the ground, from the confines of his wheelchair, he returned the next day, with a cane. His heroic efforts to clean inspired another young man to join in, and the beauty of the place was soon restored.
 

The film was earlier showcased at the film fest organized by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in collaboration with Brotherhood, a socio-cultural organization working for the differently-abled.
 

This film fest was supported by the United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan (UNIC), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the National Trust and the Asian Academy of Film and Television (AAFT).
 

Harsha V. H., Madhu Karan Pillai, Moulini Kottur and Rajlakshmi Kanjilal, all first-year students of MA (Mass Communication) came together to make the winning film.
 

“This project gave us a good platform to showcase our talent in directing, scripting and editing,” the students remarked.
 

The shooting for the film was completed in one day. It took one fortnight to finish the editing. The cameras and all editing equipment were made available by the department, all the shots were taken on campus. The short movie had less than 10 scenes!
 

Harsha V. H. was responsible for the scripting and direction and Moulini Kottur for the editing.
 

Madhu Karan Pillai played the part of the differently abled young man. “Our team’s hard work paid off. I am really proud of the team. Our thanks to our faculty members and our classmates for their constant encouragement and support,” he remarked.
 

Rajlakshmi Kanjilal, who also acted in the film said, “We focused on giving our best within a limited period of time. Our film had a simple concept but a profound message.”
 

The team used seven different background music scores to make the scenes appealing.
 

“We did our best within our limited time and resources to make the shots look convincing. We tried to use camera angles in a such way that a differently abled person feels very proud after watching the scenes,” team members remarked.
 

Earlier, a short film made by other ASCOM students, also with a powerful social message and titled The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, was selected for the Jury’s Special Mention at Face Video Awards in Calicut.
 

We congratulate our media students for choosing to focus on socially relevant messages when making their films!
 

Dr. Balagopal Varma R., Head of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Vice Principal of the Amrita School of Dentistry was recently awarded membership to the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons.
 

 He was inducted as a member of the college at its 21st biennial convocation at Queenstown, New Zealand on April 1, 2012.
 

This is the first time that a person working in India received this prestigious award, MRACDS.
 

The Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons in mutual arrangement with the Royal College of Edinburgh provides access to educational courses and program to its fellows and members. Members have voting rights and are eligible for nomination and election to the college council, and also for being on various college committees.
 

Dr. Varma completed his BDS in 1990 and MDS (Pedodontics) in 1994, both from the College of Dental Surgery in Manipal. Subsequently he worked as an Assistant Professor in Pedodontics at the College of Dental Surgery, Manipal and Mangalore.
 

Later, Dr. Varma had the opportunity to serve as Senior Registrar in Pediatric Dentistry at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, a teaching hospital of Melbourne University. This hospital is a major referral center for children with systemic conditions and syndromes.
 

Here Dr. Varma received training in dental management for children of special needs and dentoalveolar trauma. He worked with leaders in the field of Pediatric Dentistry, including Roger Hall and Nicky Kilpatrick.
 

After returning from Melbourne, Dr. Varma worked at Ragas Dental College and Hospital and Apollo Hospital, both in Chennai, before joining Amrita.
 

Dr. Varma joined the Amrita School of Dentistry in 2004. He nurtured the Department of Pediatric Dentistry during those early formative years. Today, thanks to his efforts, the Department offers postgraduate courses and in Kerala, is the only such college department to offer comprehensive dental treatment under general anesthesia to patients.
 

Over the years, Dr. Varma has contributed to three textbooks. He has also authored many scientific journal publications. He has presented several papers in national and international conferences.
 

An examiner for both BDS and MDS, Dr. Varma is a member of the Board of Studies at several Indian universities.
 

As a member of the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons, Dr. Varma will now have the opportunity to learn about novel clinical techniques and practices and introduce them into Indian settings. We congratulate him on his achievement.
 

In India today, there are 634 universities and 33,023 colleges that have a total of 16,97,500 students enrolled.
 

Given the acute shortage of qualified faculty, the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) launched the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NME-ICT) in February 2009.
 

Amrita played a key role in enabling the NME-ICT. It developed the e-learning platform A-View, which was adopted as the system of choice for deployment across all Indian universities and colleges.
 

In addition, Amrita became part of a multi-university consortium to develop virtual labs, enabling online access for thousands of students who may not have access to the instruments and technology in their own colleges.
 

Several IITs are participating in this effort; Amrita is leading the development of biotechnology-related labs.
 

Amrita development efforts to enable e-learning together with the strides that the nation has made in this arena were showcased in the first-ever International Conference on Technology Enhanced Education that was hosted at the Amritapuri campus in January 2012.
 

India is not alone in setting up an extensive e-learning network. Recently Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US announced a joint initiative wherein they will offer online classes to any interested student located anywhere in the world.
 

In 2005, Marconi University of Italy founded GUIDE (Global Universities in Distance Education) to develop and support international cooperation in open and distance learning.
 

GUIDE conducts research studies in collaboration with its members and publishes books and original papers in order to disseminate information to a wide audience.
 

Amrita University was recently invited to become an honorary member of GUIDE.
 

“As a GUIDE honorary member, our university will receive support for implementation of projects and networking activities that can help showcase research outcomes. Members can discuss key issues, educational policies and sustainable development on a common platform,” shared Dr. Shyam Diwakar, Assistant Professor, School of Biotechnology.
 

“We may be collaborating with Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi, the main patron of GUIDE for an international research project,” he added.
 

“This possible partnership will help strengthen the role of institutions of higher education as drivers of innovation and development and unearth insights and best practices to meet the needs of stakeholders,” he summed up.
 

Management is a practice where arts, science and crafts meet.
 

This adage came to life when a team of three students, Hardik Bhate, Michael Darling and Philip Garcia, won the second prize of $10,000 in a Technology Business Plan competition, organized by UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.
 

Hardik Bhate is final-year student of the Amrita School of Arts and Sciences, enrolled in the Bachelor for Business Management (BBM) program. Currently an exchange student at the University of New Mexico, he teamed up with Michael and Philip, undergraduate students of engineering at the American campus.
 

The trio brought together arts and science to craft a unique solution, SpeakEasy, for the differently-abled. The app (application) is made for the Android platform and meant to be used on Amazon’s Kindle device.
 

“The app currently provides supports for people with a speech disability, but we are expanding and researching so that the solution can also cater to people who are visually or hearing impaired,” shared Hardik.
 

Without divulging too many competitor details, he shared the group’s motivation for creating the app.
 

“The idea came because although some devices and applications exist for differently-abled people, they are very expensive. Our goal was to create an innovative solution that was also affordable and easy-to-use. A similar kind of app is available for $ 200 in the market. Ours is better technically and we plan to charge only $ 35 in this niche market.”
 

The team wants to commercialize their venture and make their app available on amazon.com. In fact, the two American students have already registered a company. Hardik is not yet part of the company, since he is planning to return to Amritapuri in May.
 

Hardik worked on the detailed business plan as part of the winning team, focusing on the major financials for the competition.
 

“We projected a startup capital of $ 40,000 only. Judges included many venture capitalists such as those from New Mexico Angels, Sun Mountain Capital and Bioprocess Diagnostics. When we presented, we were asked tough questions regarding our business model. But our answers satisfied the judges. Our low product pricing will be accompanied by an additional $5 for every add-on.”
 

Hardik, Michael and Philip formed the only team of undergraduate students who competed. Other teams included either MBA or PhD students. Most of the students on the other teams had prior work experience, as well.
 

“All three of us were very busy with class presentations and final exams, yet we somehow made the time for this. I am glad to see that our efforts were so well recognized,” Hardik said.
 

Hardik had a message for his classmates and junior students. “Folks, be cool and not hyper. Communication is the key. If you can speak and justify what you do, no one can stop you and you will achieve all the best. But, here, never get confused with having an over-confident attitude. Rather have the mind to accept a critique and learn and improve constantly.”
 

Vineeth Mohan, Paul Leons, Rizwin Shooja and Ajay Mohanan, final-year students of BTech (Electronics and Communication Engineering) at Amrita teamed up to make a Smart Traffic Controller.
 

“With our controller, vehicles can dynamically interact among one another, helping curbing traffic congestion and reporting other traffic-related problems in a cost-effective manner,” team members shared.
 

The team won the Yahoo Accenture Innovation Jockeys Contest together with another team from Amrita.
 

The second team, also of final-year BTech students, Ramesh Nair, Sai Manoj and Mithun Mohan won the award for their gesture-based wheelchair.
 

“The wheelchair is useful for those who have lost the ability to use their limbs due to old age, paralysis or congenital birth abnormalities. The system includes a preloaded map of the home that could help the elderly, who might otherwise inadvertently forget their way around, when moving inside the house,” shared team members.
 

Both student teams were guided by Br. Rajesh Kannan.
 

The two winning Amrita student teams together with four teams from other universities in India were the only ones to make it to the final round of this contest.
 

The contest was launched by Yahoo! India and Accenture to seek out, honor and reward India’s innovative minds in her campuses. Everyday Innovations for Home, College and City; so ran the theme line of the contest.
 

The winning team that created the smart traffic controller shared their motivation for taking up the project.
 

“Indian cities are synonymous with ultra busy traffic zones and very poor traffic management. Road accidents are touching all time highs; automation of traffic management can help a great deal, wireless sensor networks also hold the key.”
 

Explaining the workings of the system, they said, “Traffic congestion is determined by estimating how many vehicles are there in a particular time interval in the traffic zone. The system is meant to communicate live traffic status feeds among the vehicles through wireless nodes having radio receivers and sensors.”
 

“Our Smart Traffic Controller is efficient in the use of power and high on performance. It is non-intrusive, which means that no digging of roads, or erecting of traffic monitors is required. There is a very low infrastructural cost.”
 

Students of both winning teams received a gift hamper from Apple, which included an Apple iPad and an Apple iPod.
 

Amrita congratulates both winning teams on this achievement.
 

The highest grossing Bollywood film of all times, 3 Idiots, inspired Rohith Narayanan, to make his own home grown version that explored the theme of friendship among college-going students.
 

His film titled 4 Idiots is loosely based on a popular short story wherein the friends persuade their professor into giving them a re-exam. They claim to have missed writing the original exam due to a flat tyre preventing them from reaching the exam venue on time.
 

The professor obliges, but includes a surprise question in the re-exam. “Which tyre?” The students have to answer. Was it the front or rear tyre, was it the left or right tyre? The students decide to come clean and add a fifth choice that they mark – None of the above.
 

Their professor is amused.
 

“Although this didn’t really happen during our college days, the characters in the film are all based on my wonderful friends at Amrita. Rajan, Manu, Vinu and Vincent are four boys who study together and help each other out. But they don’t always make the best decisions and sometimes get into trouble,” shared film maker Rohit.
 

As final-year student of B.Tech. (Electronics and Communication Engineering) at Amritapuri campus, Rohit has spent nearly four years now with his friends from his engineering class.
 

He was thrilled when he recently received admission into the Whistling Woods International Institute in Mumbai, where he will pursue a Diploma in Film Making (Direction), upon graduation from Amrita.
 

The Institute ranks among the top 10 film making schools around the world.
 

Why the switch in career?
 

“I chose to enter the film industry solely because of the interest I have in this field. I want every one of my films to impart a relevant message,” he said.
 

Expressing his gratitude to his friends in Amrita who fully supported his journey in exploring a creative new world, he said, “It was the interaction with classmates while making my short film at Amrita that encouraged me to pursue my dream. I feel all my experiences in Amrita will really help me in the future.”
 

Rohit does not believe that creative artists should lead undisciplined lives.
 

“A disciplined life can offer simplicity and a clear mind with which one can work. Most important is divinity. Talent along with divinity is at the root of creativity. One must be as close to God as one is to the camera,” he said.
 

In their finance classes, MBA students learn about the basics of the derivatives market and the use of derivative products in speculating, hedging and arbitraging.
 

Moreover they learn about the trading, clearing, settlement, risk management, regulatory, accounting and taxation issues related to equity derivatives.
 

Second-year students at the Amrita School of Business at Amritapuri campus not only learned all these concepts in their Financial Derivatives class offered in the final trimester, they also received a certification recognized by industry.
 

Nine students of the class underwent the National Stock Exchange (NSE)’s exam and successfully obtained the National Certification in Financial Markets (NCFM).
 

The certificate is valid for three years. Should they choose to, they can renew the certificate by re-taking the exam after three years.
 

“This certification will enhance the employability of our students, as many financial services firms have made it mandatory for their employees,” informed Prof. Sougata Ray, who taught these students.
 

The students obtained certification in the Derivatives Market (Dealer) Module.
 

Certifications are currently available in 32 modules, which cover different sectors of financial and capital markets, both at the beginner and advanced levels.
 

The National Stock Exchange conducts online examinations to awards these certifications.
 

“The exam tests the practical knowledge and skills required to operate in financial markets,” shared Sougata. “The tests are conducted at NSE offices and NSEiT centers across the country. Our students took the exam at NSEiT Kochi.”
 

More information was shared by Aravind N, second-year MBA student at Amrita, who obtained the NCFM Certificate.
 

“The two-hour online test consisted of 60 questions for 100 marks, where 60% was the cutoff for obtaining the certificate,” he said.
 

“Our class helped us become active participants in the stock market, and we learned about the processes and the complexional outlook of the market. This was one of the best courses in our curriculum,” he added.
 

“Our students are now getting certificates that more experienced people in finance usually get. We plan to encourage more students to get similar certifications in other finance courses also. In the coming months, we can make it an integral part of the curriculum,” stated Prof. Jay Misra, Chairperson, Amrita School of Business, Amritapuri.
 

Women from Kerala made global headlines recently (see Aljazeera news), when they broke through many barriers to successfully take on the challenging profession of plumbing.
 

Now some of the poorest women from the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu will have the chance to undergo the same computerized training, as part of a new project funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF).
 

The project titled Empowerment of Women in India through Innovative Vocational Education and Training will be implemented by Amrita University’s AMMACHI (Amrita Multi Modal Applications using Computer Human Interactions) Labs.
 

This multi-disciplinary research center of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham promoting the use of innovative educational technologies will partner with Amrita Self Reliance Education and Employment (SREE), Amrita Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), the Amrita Vidyalayam schools and Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) for the project.
 

The collaborative partners will provide support as per their areas of expertise and offer the required infrastructure.
 

“The objective of our project is to economically and socially empower 3000 impoverished women by providing them computerized vocational and educational training certified by Amrita University,” explained Ms. Bhavani B., Director, AMMACHI Labs.
 

“This training will be coupled with life enrichment education in order to really empower the women socially and democratically. Women who have unstable and underpaid jobs remain trapped in the cycle of poverty, which is so detrimental to true democratic functioning,” she added.
 

“Our training will be made available to women with a total household income at or below Rs. 100 per day as well as those who are unemployed, widowed or otherwise lacking financial independence,” she underlined.
 

In addition to plumbing, the women will have the opportunity to also choose from tiling and installation of solar panels for their vocational training.
 

Non-technical trades such as fabric painting, mushroom cultivation, soap making, bee keeping and geriatric nursing assistant will be taught as well.
 

The project will especially target to empower women in those communities that were relocated due to construction of dams and not provided with adequate compensation.
 

In Kerala, the targeted districts will be Kozhikode, Wayanad, Idukki, Kollam, Trissur, Palakkad, Kottayam, Alappuzha and Mallapuram. In Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore, Virudhanagar, Ramanthapuram will be included.
 

The Government of India has announced that over the next ten years 500 million skilled workers should be trained, 33 percent or 165 million of whom should be women. Information and Communication Technologies is one of India’s strengths and has proved to be the most effective way to educate large numbers of people.
 

This Amrita project will help meet the ambitious targets set by our Government.
 

Sampoojya Swami Poornamritananda Puri spoke to the Amrita fraternity during Campus Day celebrations at Amritapuri on April 27, 2012.
 

The thousands of students enrolled in various programs offered by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham at this campus sat in pin-drop silence as they listened to Swamiji’s powerful words.
 

Given below are some excerpts from Swamiji’s talk.
 

Salutations to all my divine sisters and brothers here. All of you are very fortunate to be part of Amrita University, as members of the large Amrita family. Amma tries to break the walls of caste, religion, country, trying to unite us as one family.
 

Your Chancellor Amma is a Self-realized Master. It is not very common to study in such a special university. Do you know the educational qualification of your Chancellor? Amma has studied upto the fourth standard. But the State University of New York gave Amma an honorary doctorate degree. All the professors in that university listened to Amma’s speech, when she spoke for about an hour there.
 

Amma’s knowledge is not coming out of her intelligence; it is coming from intuition or the Cosmic Intelligence.
 

When some French movie makers came to the ashram for making a movie about Amma, they went to the teachers who taught Amma during her school days. They wanted to know what was special about Amma, when she was studying. Was she was a special child? Many teachers recalled that Amma had the habit of accepting the punishment on behalf of other students, who might have done some mischief.
 

Before the mischief-makers could own up, Amma would usually say that she committed the mistake and happily accept the punishment.
 

When the teachers finally understood what was actually happening, they questioned Amma. To their surprise, the small girl replied, “I love to suffer for the sake of others. My life is for others.” Remember Amma was very young then. Even now Amma is suffering for the whole world.
 

It is not very easy to suffer for others. But Amma demonstrates through her life and actions. She also shows us how to overcome all the suffering of life.
 

Amma says, “Our life can become a celebration.”
 

All of us want happiness. But throughout our lives, we are engaged, we never really get a chance to enjoy life. We may think that after all these exams are over, we can relax. When we get a job, we can finally relax.
 

But actually after you get a job, you can never relax.
 

Some might say that they are going to relax after marriage. But is that going to happen? Ask the people who have married.
 

After I have children, I will relax, some others might think. But again, it won’t happen.
 

You will never get a chance to relax and enjoy life unless you learn certain secrets of life. These secrets can be learned through spirituality. Spirituality teaches us how to live in this world, how to face the problems of life and how to lead a blissful life.
 

Life is so precious. Each and every moment can become a celebration.
 

Amma says that to enjoy life, we should be able to invoke our divine nature. In the olden days, in the gurukula system of education, when the student was sent to the gurukula, the teacher gave the first teaching. Matru Devo Bhava. Imagine your mother as God. Try to see goodness in your mom. Pitro Devo Bhava. Try to see goodness in your father. Acharya Devo Bhava. Try to see goodness in your teacher. Atithi Devo Bhava. Try to see goodness in a person who comes to your house, even without an invitation.
 

Gradually try to see goodness everywhere. When you have the purity of mind to see goodness everywhere, you will reach the divine state.
 

Before giving intellectual education in those days, this kind of knowledge was given to invoke the divine nature. Unless knowledge is given to a pure heart, it can be misused. Purity of our heart is much more important than our intelligence.
 

Intelligence alone is not enough in our lives, we need intuition.
 

This whole world is the result of the flow of divine energy. This is what the scientists as well as our rishis say. This divine power is flowing through each and every object of this world. The stones cannot express it. Trees express it a little bit. Animals can express a little more. Human beings can express much more. But the body of a mahatma like Amma can express it completely.
 

So when we become a good conductor for that divine energy, we can reach the state of perfection. This world is designed for that to happen.
 

Amma says when you live in this world, try to become a giver of love. Don’t run after love. Try to give more and take little. When we live in this world, we have to take. But there should be some contribution from our part also.
 

In nature, we consume so many things without paying a bill. Sunlight. Do we pay a bill like we pay the electricity bill for it? No. We use oxygen without paying any bill. We use the natural resources without paying anything. But they are not free. We are supposed to give something back, otherwise nature knows how to charge it with compound interest. That is suffering.
 

We are supposed to do good and selfless actions. That is why Amma says, “take minimum and give maximum.”
Whatever is natural is beautiful. When we become closer to nature, we become more and more innocent. In the olden days, education was imparted in such a way that one could become closer to nature.
 

In today’s world, we have lost our connection with the sand, the earth, Mother Nature. We have become like machines, like robots. Robots can do some work even better than human beings can. But they cannot give love. Amma says that the world today is filled with intelligent robots, not loving human beings.
 

Human beings have become like robots.
 

If you try to give, more will come to you. If you try to love everyone, more and more love will come to you. Blessings will come to you.
 

Life will become a celebration, you will enjoy every moment of your life. Through purity, through innocence. May Amma bless all of you to attain the Supreme state. Om Namah Shivaya!
 

“This is a good day to feel proud and inspired, and happy about the achievements of one of the younger campuses of one of the fastest growing universities in India today – our Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham,” noted Dr. Bipin Nair, Dean, School of Biotechnology, Amritapuri.
 

Dr. Bipin was welcoming participants at the annual Campus Day celebrations that brought together students and faculty from the Schools of Arts and Sciences, Ayurveda, Biotechnology, Business and Engineering on campus.
 

“One of the first US patents for our university was granted this year to an invention that came out of this very campus – the insulin pump,” stated Dr. Venkat Rangan, Vice-Chancellor, speaking next, outlining some of the major accomplishments during the year gone by.
 

“A Nobel Laureate agreed to join our university as an adjunct professor; this was a first for any Indian university. US universities of repute signed MoUs with us, recognizing our degrees on par with theirs,” he added.
 

Addressing the graduating students, he said, “Each one of you should feel very lucky to have studied in a university that has one of the greatest masters of all times, as its Chancellor and guiding light.”
 

Exhorting students to become forces of transformation and happiness for the entire world, he noted that even major landmarks in technology were usually brought about by one or two individuals who worked hard to make a change, and not by central, large-scale efforts.
 

The benedictory address by Sampoojya Swami Poornamritananda Puri encouraged these students to try and develop a mind that seeks to take a minimum from nature and society, but give the very maximum possible.
 

“If you try to give more, more will come to you,” Swamiji said, outlining the irrefutable laws of our existence. Read More »
 

“You are very fortunate to be part of Amrita University,” Chief Guest Sri. P. H. Kurien, IAS, Principal Secretary, IT and PWD, Government of Kerala, told the assembled gathering.
 

“Continue to have a strong belief in yourself, face competition by being compassionate to others,” he said.
 

The presentation of the campus annual report was followed by the release of the campus magazine.
 

The next part of the program honoured those students and faculty who had published and presented research papers or won national / international recognition for their projects with Awards of Excellence and Certificates of Appreciation.
 

Proficiency prizes for first-year students were distributed on the previous evening during Samavarnam celebrations by Sampoojya Swami Poornamritananda Puri.
 

Having become a powerful icon for the value education imparted at Amrita, this annual cultural festival of the Amritapuri campus, featured many song and dance presentations based on the Indian scriptures. The first issue of Samvit, the student journal of the Amritapuri campus, was released.
 

The special Samavarnam highlight was Swamiji’s satsang followed by a beautiful flute recital. As the soulful melodious notes transformed the program hall into a meditative setting, yet one more unforgettable memory was etched in the minds of the Amrita fraternity, even as one more chapter was written in the annals of its history.
 

Dr. B. Ranganathan, Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Amrita School of Pharmacy won the best oral presentation award in the National Convention of the Association of Pharmacy Professionals.
 

The event was convened on April 7, 2012 in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
 

The Association of Pharmacy Professionals was formed in early 2011. An organization of academics, researchers, scientists, industry experts as well as students, it is now gaining attention from the pharmacy community in India.
 

The convention was attended by about 100 delegates from different parts of the country.
 

Dr. Ranganathan won the award for his presentation titled Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of some novel chalcone derivatives as anti – inflammatory agents.
 

The presentation centered on the subject of rational drug design.
 

“I put forth the idea that small changes in a simple molecular scaffold could lead to reasonable gains with regard to activity in the context of chalcones and inflammation,” Dr. Ranganathan explained.
 

Chalcones form the central core for a variety of important biological compounds. Dr. Ranganathan presented an in-silico strategy to design focused libraries of such molecules.
 

“A rationally designed 51-member library of chalcones consisting of members with varied electronic and steric properties together with markedly different polarities was trimmed down to a subset of ten compounds through a primary filter utilizing the docking program called Argus Lab,” he explained.
 

“This set of pre-screened ligands was subjected to a rigorous, computationally intensive suite of molecular modeling testing through the software AutoDock, which acted as a suitable secondary screen when compared with the corresponding data for clinically used anti-inflammatory drug Ibuprofen.”
 

“A final assessment of drug-likeness was also carried out to ascertain the suitability of the hits generated above for oral administration.”
 

Cautioning that computational technique will only provide probabilistic values, Dr. Ranganathan said that the results always have to be assimilated with an open-minded approach.
 

“If used judiciously at an early stage of drug discovery, such a strategy can be very beneficial with regard to economy of time, money and energy to be invested in subsequent medicinal chemistry efforts,” stated the scholar.
 

The annual Mobile World Congress is organized by a trade group representing network operators, manufacturers and suppliers of GSM technology.
 

This year, nearly 67,000 delegates from around the world participated during February 27-March 1 in Barcelona. For the second year in succession, Amrita students attended.
 

They were participating in the University Mobile Challenge Contest, which was organized as part of the Congress by Berkley Mobile International Collaborative, a non-profit organization.
 

While the contest attracted world-wide participation, only the top 14 teams were invited to make a presentation in Barcelona. These student teams had the opportunity to pitch their mobile apps and business plans to venture capitalists, who could decide to actually provide funding.
 

Teams from only two universities in India received invitations viz. Amrita University and IIT Kharagpur.
 

“Their apps were game changing and their business plans had the potential to generate revenue and become the basis for successful companies,” the organizers stated.
 

Amrita was represented by four final-year students of engineering. Aaditya Sriram, Rohan Prabhu, Nikhil Nandagopal and Kedar Karthik. While the first three will graduate in May 2012 B.Tech. degrees in Computer Science and Engineering, Kedar will complete his degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering.
 

The former three in the team focused on the technical aspects of the project, and Kedar was their business executive and market research specialist.
 

Together the students built a retail business app for Android and named it Acolyte. The effort took a few months from November 2011 to February 2012.
 

The students explained their creation.
 

“Our application Acolyte can help customers and vendors make the most out of products they respectively buy and sell. It leverages the power of bulk to fetch customers the best price for a product they wish to buy and at the same time makes sure that the vendor does not lose out on his margin, by helping him drive sales.”
 

“Ours is a crowd sourced application that believes in making buying a social phenomenon. It provides the best of the deals to a user with almost no effort on his end; the only thing a user has to do is make a wish list!”
 

Did the venture capitalists in Barcelona like the idea?
 

“Our team received a very good response from the judges and our peers, who really appreciated our enthusiasm and passion for the product we had built. In the future, we will be trying to build up own company to market this application.”
 

“For us, computer science is the license to innovate beyond imagination, and we are happy to have used this opportunity! We were excited about Android apps ever since we ourselves got Android Smartphones.”
 

“Participating in the contest gave us an idea of how many amazing things are happening in universities around the world. We interacted with students from Egypt, Lebanon, USA, UK, Canada, France, Spain and Italy. We exchanged ideas and thoughts. We realized that failure to innovate is not an option at all.”
 

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Amrita Student Wins International Contest

“In reality, nature is nothing but God’s visible form which we can experience through our senses. Indeed by loving and serving nature we are worshipping God Himself.”
 

“Just as nature creates favorable circumstances for a seed to transform itself into a huge tree, nature creates the necessary circumstances through which an individual soul can merge in eternal union with the Supreme.”
 

First-year students of Bachelors of Business Management (BBM) contemplated on these quotes by their Chancellor Amma, even as they beautifully inscribed them on greeting cards made from recycled paper.
 

Their goal? Making 500 such cards to be displayed during Earth Day on campus.
 

The entire class came together as students formed themselves into ten groups to finish the stipulated number of cards.
 

“The team work helped us gain enough confidence to want to initiate such events in future too,” shared Veena Vimal and Nishanth C. P.
 

Other students remarked that rather than a single day of reminder, they wished to have sustainable and eco-friendly activities ongoing in campus throughout the year.
 

“In our class, we learn about planning, leading, organizing and managing. We saw these principles come alive as they never could in theory text books, as we executed this project,” excitedly stated student Joel Sebastian.
 

Joel and his colleagues not only used recycled paper; they also sourced original and beautiful designs from discarded magazines, old wedding cards, used brochures, posters and pamphlets. As they saw waste being transformed into wealth, they felt thrilled beyond words.
 

The students extended their gratitude to their department as well as the university for providing them an opportunity to creatively explore their talents and ideas, while at the same time doing something for Mother Nature.
 

“This year Earth Day was made memorable on our campus by the students’ efforts,” appreciatively noted a faculty member.
 

Earth Day is globally celebrated on April 22 every year by over 500 million people in 175 countries around the world.
 

Dr. P. K. Krishnan Namboori was recently conferred the Bharat Jyoti Award by the India International Friendship Society.
 

The Society honors Indians who have made significant contributions in their chosen fields. Former recipients include Mother Teresa, Justice M. Fathima Beevi, Justice P. N. Bhagwati and sarod matesro Amjad Ali Khan.
 

Among the awardees from the academic world have been Vice-Chancellors and professors from top universities such as the IITs. Scientists from top research labs have been honored as well.
 

Amrita’s Dr. Krishnan was chosen for his notable research contributions; he has performed computational studies to identify potential treatments and drugs for combating Alzheimer’s disease.
 

The award will be presented to Dr. Krishnan on May 4, 2012 at the International Conference on Economic Growth and National Integration in New Delhi.
 

Currently serving as Assistant Professor in the Computational Chemistry Group of the Center for Computational Engineering and Networking at Amrita’s Coimbatore campus, Dr. Krishnan has also co-authored a book titled Computational Chemistry and Molecular Modeling Principles and Applications. The book was published by Springer International.
 

His research team at Amrita focuses on computational approaches for designing molecules that interact in specific ways with other molecules of drugs. Having completed over 80 projects, the team is now also working on projects that will be useful for patients suffering from cancer.
 

Dr. Krishnan’s research interests include computational chemistry, molecular modeling, understanding molecular simulation, drug design and delivery systems, bio nanotechnology and bio software engineering.
 

Amrita students and faculty came together to congratulate the professor for the honor received.
 

“I had the chance to work with Dr. Krishnan on many research projects,” Rohit V., final-year student of MTech. “He has been most helpful. Currently I am working on a new method to solve the Schrodinger equation under his guidance – the project is titled Multi Resolution Quantum Chemistry Using Wavelet Bases.”
 

“We are very proud of Dr. Krishnan,” remarked Dr. Soman, Professor and Head, Center of Computational Engineering and Networking. “Dr. Krishnan has been with us since 2004; this award encourages all to explore and contribute more towards the research for the benefit of society.”
 

Five third-year students of B.Tech. (Electrical and Electronics Engineering) won laurels for their university when they placed third in the nation-wide Texas Instruments India Analog Design Contest.
 

The team of Amrita students consisting of Akshayakrishna U., Dhananjayan P. S., Lohit L., Sabarinath S. and Shiva D. built a Wireless 3D Robotic Arm with Force Quantification using EMG, as their entry in this all-India contest.
 

In all, five teams from Amrita participated. Each submitted an abstract, basic block diagram of the circuitry, equipment required and estimated cost of the proposed project. Every project was required to make use of two analog ICs manufactured by Texas Instruments along with micro-controllers.
 

All but one of the five Amrita teams qualified to participate in the next round of the contest, along with some 150 teams from other colleges in the nation.
 

In the next round, unique problems were posed to each of the teams, which they were required to solve with the help of kits provided. 15 teams were selected from this round to proceed to the final round; one of these was the Amrita team. 
 

In the final round, these selected teams had the opportunity to complete their initially proposed projects. Each team presented their respective working models at the company premises in Bangalore on April 6, 2012. It was here that the Amrita robotic arm was named a winner.
 

“Our 3-d robotic arm operates in synchronization with the human arm, making use of the EMG (electromyography) signals and force quantification techniques,” explained the winning students.
 

“Such an arm would lead to further enhancement in the area of Human Machine Interaction, allowing for remote control of robots, performing robotic surgery and tele-education,” they added.
 

The team explained the technical features of their creation.
 

“EMG is a bio-electric signal which is produced by the muscles and neural system. The signal generation mechanism comprises of the summation of many muscle unit action potentials (MUAPS) which are located in the muscle fibers. These impulse-like signals from the muscles are captured by a surface sensor through the skin interface. The motion of the hand during the formation of a character is associated with the firing of thousands of MUAPs which occur at different times and with different amplitudes.”
 

“The surface sensor can only see the summation of these individual signals. The EMG signals along with the signals from the 3-axis accelerometers (which are used to recognize the motion, e.g. wrist motion) are processed and transmitted wirelessly through trans-receivers and are received at the robotic arm. The robotic arm decodes the received signal and imitates the motion of the human arm by controlling the different motors.”
 

These Amrita students were guided by Mr. Sivraj P., Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the Coimbatore campus.
 

“Adulteration has become a major issue in developing countries. In addition, population explosion coupled with urbanisation and changing life styles is leading to many metabolic and degenerative disorders,” outlined Dr. H. Honne Gowda, Director, Department of Science and Technology, Government of Karnataka.
 

As an invited guest at the National Conference on Applications of Data Mining in Management of Metabolic and Degenerative Disorders, he was addressing nearly 200 delegates who participated from across the country.
 

The conference was organized by the Amrita School of Arts and Sciences at Mysore.
 

“Computer technologies provide the best solution for maintaining and handling large amounts of data in health care management,” the invited guest emphasized.
 

Data mining is a field of study in computer science that makes it possible to extract useful information from a database of medical records. Examining relationships and patterns in datasets helps in gaining new insights and unearthing new medical knowledge.
 

How science is moving increasingly from hypothesis-driven to data-driven discoveries was expounded on by keynote speaker, Dr. K. P. Soman, Head, Computational Engineering and Networking, Amrita University.
 

Dr. Soman touched upon the emergence of high performance computing in universities today in his address.
 

Dr. Prem Nair, Medical Director, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, noted that data management had revolutionized many fields but had not yet made the same impact in the field of medicine.
 

He also reverentially recalled hos Chancellor Amma had the far sightedness to suggest the introduction of information technology in the Amrita hospital more than a decade ago.
 

Various plenary sessions enlightened delegates on Alzheimer’s disease, time series analysis, biometrics, biometric sensors, web usage mining and web personalization. The talks focused on opportunities for research scholars in the field of data mining.
 

In the valedictory session, Sri. G. Madhusudhan, MLC, South Graduate Constituency and Dr. S. Ananth Raj , Executive Secretary, Vision Group of Science and Technology spoke.
 

The fact that our metabolic disorders are because of our changed eating habits was highlighted again. The Sanskrit dictum, Akala Bhojanam Anarogya Karanam was quoted.
 

Thirty-five delegates presented research papers. Two best paper awards were announced. Sagar B. from L&T Mysore (guided by Dr. Somashekar Umadi) shared the award with a team of Amrita engineering students Pavan Kumar, Srinath S Kamath, C P Shankar Menon and Pramod S. (guided by Dr. Ganesh Udupa).
 

“The presentations provided new insights into the concept of data mining,” stated Shruthi, a delegate from Hubli, who attended.
 

“The deliberations were excellent,” added Dr. Hanumanthachar Joshi, Principal, Sharada Vilas College of Pharmacy, Mysore.
 

“The event was well organized,” summed up Prof. T. N. Nagabhushan, HoD, Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore.
 

Vineeth Mohan, Paul Leons, Ajay Mohanan and Rizwin Shooja won yet another accolade when their B.Tech. student project was chosen for the IEEE Standards Education Committee (SEC) grant of US $500 on February 24, 2012.
 

This team of final year students of Electronics and Communication Engineering at the Amritapuri campus had earlier won the second prize in the Mentor Graphics University Design Contest 2011.      Learn More »
 

In this contest, 187 entries from 68 universities including IITs and NITs were received; the Amrita team was the only one comprised of undergraduate students.
 

At that time, the team was felicitated at the User2User International Conference at the Taj Vivanta, Bangalore. A certificate of recognition accompanied the prize money of Rs.1 lakh.
 

Their project titled Comparative Study and Implementation of JPEG & JPEG2000 Standards for Satellite Meteorological Imaging Controller in HDL began in 2011 and is already attracting rave reviews.
 

“The students are doing the project with knowledge about the standards, semantics and syntax of encoders and decoders and the basic JPEG standard. This defines many options and alternatives for the coding of still images of photographic quality,” explained Br. Rajesh Kannan, who is guiding these students.
 

“The team plans to successfully complete the task and come up with the final model, making use of JPEG standards,” he added.
 

Br. Rajesh is also guiding another student team that is working on a Wireless Gadget for Home-Bound Patients (using IEEE Standard1073) for Medical Device Communications.
 

The team comprised of Vineeth Radhkrishnan, Deepak Krishan M U, Denny C. Jacob and Akhil K. S. was also recently awarded the IEEE Standards Education Committee (SEC) grant of US $500.
 

“This project is aimed at building a working prototype of an assistive wireless gadget for bedridden patients. The gadget will continuously monitor the heart rate and temperature of the patient. The device will also detect the tilt and fall of the patient,” shared Br. Rajesh.
 

“The SEC has agreed to publish the final student application paper in IEEE based on lessons learned in implementing the prototype,” he added.
 

“In a short period of three months, two Amrita teams have received the IEEE SEC grants; this is a tremendous achievement for our students.”
 

“It is their hard work and Amma’s blessings that brought them funding for their final-year B.Tech. projects. On behalf of IEEE Student Branch at Amrita, I congratulate these students on their achievement.”
 

Who creates and controls the public mind? Who are the haves and have-nots in media?
 

Questions such as these were explored by Ms. Somali Chowdhury, Assistant Professor, Amrita School of Communication, Coimbatore when she was invited to speak at the International Conference on Diversity and Plurality of Media at M.C. National University of Journalism in Bhopal.
 

“The Indian media industry is very powerful as compared to the industry in various other democracies. A significant percentage of skilled Indian labor is employed by the media sector,” stated Ms. Somali.
 

Examining contemporary Indian society with reference to media industry, Ms. Somali named four separate categories. These included people with or without access to media, people with or without access to the internet, people with or without control over messages transmitted through media and finally people with or without influence over media.
 

These four categories would correspond to the haves and have nots. The rich were not necessarily the haves, if they didn’t use the internet; they belonged to the have-nots.
 

Further elaborating, Ms. Somali added, “Aldous Huxley, the famous English novelist and critic, illustrated a rather grim portrait of media’s role in his book, Brave New World. He believed that society was controlled by an impersonal force or a ruling elite, which manipulated the population using various methods.”
 

“On the one hand, Huxley criticized the role of media in influencing our minds because ultimately the business and political classes controlled what the media barons said. On the other hand, according to another view, the common masses are so bewildered and confused that they need to be controlled by a few taking decisions.”
 

Asserting that the most common source of information, misinformation, distortion, and stereotypes is the media, Ms. Somali said, “Media should truly work as a watchdog, disseminating relevant information but not become dogs of the classes who have stakes in ownership and control.”
 

She noted that because of media control and ownership, some privileged channel representatives easily gain interviews, while other sincere journalists struggle for a single glimpse of a prestigious political leader or CEO.
 

Commenting on a modern phenomenon, she underlined that netizens were eager to participate in information sharing through various virtual social networks daily and around the clock, even though citizen journalists and bloggers did not have direct control over the media.
 

“Yet their influence is reflected by the fact that favored leading channels duplicate the same news content, indicating an indirect control of media,” she said.
 

After graduating with a B.Tech. degree, students fueled by a love for engineering subjects, may opt to enroll for an M.Tech. degree in a premier university.
 

They have to qualify in the GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) exam first before seeking admission into any M.Tech. program.
 

This year nearly 6.8 lakh students wrote the exam; of these 1.08 lakh students qualified.
 

Amrita students fared especially well. For example, M. Sathish Kumar, final-year student of B.Tech. (Aerospace Engineering) at our Coimbatore campus ranked second in the nation in his discipline.
 

“It was with Amma’s blessings and my teachers’ guidance that I was able to achieve this. Before I joined Amrita University, I studied in Amrita Vidyalayam at Ettimadai and I would like to thank all my school teachers there as well for having mentored me. Besides, right from my childhood I received encouragement from the large Amrita family to work hard,” shared Sathish.
 

Sathish’s stellar performance in the exam did not eclipse the equally bright performance by several of his classmates – Sreekanth S.H. who ranked fourth; R. Hariharan who ranked seventh, and Jibu Tom Jose who ranked fifteenth.
 

“Remarkable performance by the students,” stated Dr. J. Chandrasekhar, Chairman, Department of Aerospace Engineering at Coimbatore.
 

The winning students shared their sentiments.
 

“We truly experience a beautiful feeling when our hard work bears fruit. No special coaching is required if one systematically learns well what one is supposed to learn. Four years of undergraduate studies at Amrita laid the right foundation for this meritorious achievement,” stated Sreekanth who obtained the fourth rank.
 

“The unstinting support and guidance of our learned professors not only gave us technical knowledge but also moulded our values and character,” chimed in Hariharan, who placed seventh.
 

“Our faculties have always emphasized the importance of fundamental concepts and this indeed paved the way for acquiring a deep understanding of the subject. Our faculties are very well qualified,” added fifteenth rank holder, Jibu Tom Jose.
 

In all, 21 students from the same class obtained top ranks in the GATE exam.
 

Students graduating from other departments and campuses fared just as well.
 

For example, 13 students of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Amritapuri scored above 90 percentile. Anil C.S. topped the list with a score of 99.99 percentile and rank of twentieth in the nation.
 

The Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering on the same campus saw not only 17 of its final-year students but also 5 recent graduates obtain top ranks. Akash ranked 128, Sreenivas ranked 158 and both Gayathri R. Prabhu and Arunkumar G.K. placed at 194. In all, 8 students scored more than 99 percentile and 14 students scored over 98 percentile.
 

“Our students have done a great job and have made all of us proud. They got what they rightly deserved. Their success also speaks volumes about our curriculum and the kind of exposure they get at the Amrita campus,” stated Br. Karthi, Assistant Professor, who mentored many of these students.
 

Through the holding of hands and sharing of experiences, new horizons of knowledge will open in the highest realms of science and technology to those thirsting for knowledge in India and others parts of the world—especially to students, teachers and researchers.

                                                               - Chancellor Amma
 

Research teams from India and Italy will come together to work on a project funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
 

Italian universities including University of Milan, University of Pavia and Italian Institute of Technology will join hands with Amrita to investigate a cerebellum-inspired approach for pattern classification in robots.
 

“Recent successes in machine learning and robotics have expanded the robotic applications. Nevertheless, both robotics and machine learning still have a long way to go, as far as adopting bio-inspired approaches,” explained Dr. Shyam Diwakar, Assistant Professor, who will lead the project on the Amrita side.
 

Dr. Shyam leads all research efforts at the Amrita Lab for Computational Neurosciences.
 

Explaining the project goal, he said, “Decades of research into the structure and function of the cerebellum have led to some understanding of how learning takes place. There are many theories on what signals the cerebellum operates on, and how it works in concert with other parts of the central nervous system. Computational cerebellar models built with this knowledge are being applied for controlling robotic dynamics. This research worldwide is in its infancy stage.”
 

Elaborating further, he added, “In this joint venture, we will develop a cerebellum inspired pattern recognition algorithm for robotic data classification. We will investigate the temporal and spatial dynamics in the cerebellar network models capable of predicting cerebellar input-output transformations by analyzing the mathematical and computational properties of the network.”
 

“The cerebellum has long been known for its role in movement and articulation. Cerebellar motor articulation control algorithms have existed for more than 35 years although such methods do not faithfully reproduce cerebellar architecture,” he further added.
 

“We will exploit biophysical neural network models to solve the problems of pattern recognition and navigation in mobile robots to achieve practical algorithms for surgery or disaster mitigation. This project will rely on biological basis for design and function of a pattern classifier that can be used in motor articulation,” he underlined.
 

The project will not only allow technology transfer between the two countries but will also support researcher mobility; a maximum of two visits from either side per year will be permitted.
 

Prof. Egidio D’Angelo, a world-renowned expert on cerebellar physiology from University of Pavio will also be part of the team.
 

The project is expected to be completed by 2015.
 

Scott Rice has been visiting the Mata Amritanandamayi Math for several years now.
 

It was during one of these visits that he learned about cotton scraps discarded by the textile industry in India. Where others saw waste, he saw potential wealth. He was quick to grab the idea of using these cotton scraps to make artistic packaging material for photographers.
 

As Founder-President of a US-based business, he embarked on this green initiative to help reduce the burden of waste and pollution on Mother Earth.
 

Today, after nearly two decades of existence, Scott’s company, Rice Studio Supply is the top distributor of packaging material to the photo industry in the US. Many leading photographers have been inspired to source their albums and frames from this pioneer. Its eco-friendly approach has generated much customer goodwill.
 

Scott was recently in the Amritapuri campus where he spoke to first-year students enrolled in the Bachelor of Business Management program.
 

Describing his entrepreneurial journey as that of a shy and timid young man who began his business in his garage, he detailed his transformation to the confident and successful business man he is today.
 

“Amma speaks so much about protecting the environment. I am glad that my company is able to help in some humble way. The fact that we source such products from India contributes also to supporting sustainable livelihoods in this land,” he said.
 

When a businessman embraces the greener perspective and shares his experiences, that is potentially of much benefit to students.
 

“The session was very useful for us. We got the chance to listen to some interesting experiences,” shared BBM students Reshma Suresh and Vivek V. Nair.
 

Next time Scott is here, he may be teaching these students a 4-credit course.
 

“The students have a class on e-commerce in their curriculum. In my class, they will have the opportunity to also develop websites for entrepreneurial commerce ventures. This will definitely help them as they step out into the corporate world, whether they work for a company or start one.”
 

The green entrepreneur will be sure to emphasize eco-friendly approaches in his teaching.
 

“Such approaches can help one become more efficient and cut costs, not to mention that they help the planet and us,” he underlined.
 

“For constructing buildings, one chooses an appropriate plot (of land) and builds storeys. In film making also, one needs to develop the plot through stories.”
 

Seeking to draw a parallel between their studies (BTech in Civil Engineering) and their hobby (making short films), final-year students at Coimbatore campus Dheeraj V. and Karthik C. S. added, “The bottom line for us is that whatever the task, creativity and passion plays a vital role.”
 

The duo recently won the People’s Choice Award for their short film, beating 250 other entries.
 

The contest was jointly organized by D. G. Vaishnava College of Communication and PVR Cinemas. It attracted participation not just from hobbyists such as Dheeraj and Karthik but also students of communication and seasoned professionals.
 

“We never thought we would win this award when we submitted our entry. There was intense competition from professional film makers in the contest. Majority of the films that showcased were professionally made,” the students remarked.
 

“We were so surprised but delighted when the results were announced,” they added.
 

Their film Pariyadhum Veruoom (Tamil) depicts the journey of the hero who tries hard to meet the expectations of the people around him. He fails, but does not give up; he tries again and again. Finally, he understands that he needs to be true to his passion. His ultimate triumph results when he follows his heart and joins the army.
 

“The hero of our movie represents all youngsters who don’t follow their dreams, their passion, but live like ordinary human beings, trying to satisfy other people,” explained the winning students.
 

“We made this movie to encourage youngsters to choose the path they feel is right in life.”
 

Where did they learn the basics and nuances of film making?
 

“We have not really learned. Whatever we know is from watching movies and trying to apply the principles we saw working. We have not done any courses in film-making.”
 

“The fact that we still got the award was totally God’s grace.”
 

“It was a moment of jubilation for us. When the audience in a packed theatre accepts you and votes for you. Even though our movie was a zero budget movie, we got this tremendous response.”
 

“The best thing is that through films, we can touch many hearts.”
 

This film had brought accolades to the students in earlier forums as well. They received the Special Jury Award and the Best Director Award in an International Film Festival AVTAR.
 

“I am typically found under highways and railway tracks; I allow water to be channeled underneath; what am I?”
 

“Culvert,” answered Amrita students Hema Sharanya and Rini John Alappat.
 

These final-year students of B.Tech. (Civil Engineering) recently won the first prize in a technical quiz competition organized by Ultra Tech Cement.
 

The contest drew participation from 148 teams representing different colleges in South India.
 

The multi-level contest consisted of preliminary rounds in the respective college that enabled the two top students from each college to participate.
 

Hema and Rini were chosen from Amrita. “These two students consistently get top ranks; both are very enthusiastic and dynamic,” their faculty members remarked.
 

At the subsequent regional-level round the Amrita students placed first. Next they competed in the state-level round, where they were second.
 

In both these rounds, they solved crossword puzzles in addition to answering questions based on visual and other clues.
 

Teams that placed at first and second positions in each of the four South Indian states viz. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu were invited to Bengaluru to compete in the South India finals.
 

Participants mostly included final-year students of Civil Engineering; questions tested both theoretical knowledge and practical aspects of the discipline.
 

“How does one determine the workability of a concrete mix with a low water-cement ratio?” the Amrita students were asked during the finals.
 

“Compaction factor test,” they answered, with confidence.
 

“Born in Illinois, USA in 1880, I was a scientist. I was Director of Portland Cement Association in Chicago. I developed a test method for determining the workability of concrete mix by using a piece of equipment that came to be known by my name. Who was I?”
 

The Amrita students knew. “Duff A. Abrams,” they replied.
 

“It was our teachers who equipped us with the theoretical knowledge. They also took pains so that we gain real exposure to the world of construction, by arranging frequent field trips. Over our four years of study, we had the opportunity to interact with resource personnel from both industry and academia, who enthusiastically shared their insights with us,” the duo stated, with gratitude.
 

The quiz is being conducted since 2006. It is hosted by Mr. Giri Balasubramanian.
 

A one-day national conference on Gen-X Hospital Management Mantras was organized by the Department of Hospital Administration at the Amrita School of Medicine on April 2, 2012.
 

Titled NOVUS 2012, the conference included didactic sessions delivered by experts in the field of healthcare administration.
 

The session commenced with a talk by Mr. Sunil Kumar, Chief Operating Officer of the Narayana Hrudayalaya Health City, Bangalore.
 

Speaking about operational excellence in healthcare, he asserted that the focus should be on the need of the customers, empowering the employees and optimising existing activities.
 

“Most organizations can plan, very few can implement. Implementation is key for achieving excellence. Prioritize and implement that first which has the highest priority,” he said.
 

Dr. D. K. Sharma, Medical Superintendent of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, spoke next. Elaborating on laws applicable to management of patients, hospitals, drugs, safety issues in hospital premises, employment of staff and environment safety, he underlined, “Laws related to health and hospitals help healthcare teams function with maximum efficiency.”
 

Others who spoke included Mr. Samuel N. J. David, Senior Personnel Manager and Coordinator of Healthcare Management Programmes from Christian Medical College, Vellore and Dr. Vimalkumar Govindan, Medical Director at the PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Coimbatore.
 

While the former shed light on competencies in human resources management, the latter explained the need for accrediation, emphasizing that the focus should be on continuous improvement of health services.
 

Dr. Uma Nambiar, CEO of the Global Health City, Chennai also spoke. “We have to deliver business excellence if we are to be the leaders. We need to create our own brand. Branding helps in building the image of the organization.”
 

Mr. Joy Chakraborty, Director-Administration, P. D. Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai and Dr. S. K. Jawahar, Senior Administrator, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram also shared their insights with the participants.
 

Paper presentations by students as well as cultural events followed the expert sessions.
 

“The conference provided us with the recent updates in the field of healthcare administration. Many thanks to Amrita for organizing NOVUS – 2012,” remarked Ms. Shilpa who attended from Sree Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences, Ernakulam.
 

How much impact can one committed person make? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Varun Venkataraman, final-year student of B.Tech. (Mechanical Engineering) at Amrita’s Coimbatore campus initiated various programs for Earth Hour 2012, receiving tremendous response.
 

Read on, as he shares his experiences with us.
 

It all started with an idea to convey a strong message to address the critical issue of climate change. On March 31, 2007, WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) and the Sydney Herald conducted the first Earth Hour program in Sydney where around 2.2 million people voluntarily turned off their lights for an hour from 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm as a symbol of their stand against climate change.
 

What started out as a one-city event soon became a global movement. Last year, 135 countries and 5251 cities and towns participated. In India, the movement began in Mumbai in 2009 with Aamir Khan being the ambassador.
 

I have been following Earth Hour from 2010 on but have been a part of the event only as an individual with the message spreading from me to my family and a couple of friends. This year, in mid-March it occurred to me that Earth Hour was just two weeks away and I wondered why we could not observe it in a big way at Amrita.
 

The objective of Earth Hour is not to remain bereft of electrical power for an hour every year; rather it is an act that can initiate changes in the lifestyles of people. A strong belief of the movement is that every individual has the power to foster change. However insignificant it may seem, our collective action is bound to make a difference for the better.
 

Keeping this in mind and having a strong belief that such an event would enhance Amrita’s commitment to environmental conservation and social welfare, I proposed that Earth Hour 2012 be observed at our University.
 

I am proud to inform that it was a great success. About 1000 students participated and many others did the best they could to power down non-essential lighting during the symbolic time period.
 

Here is what we did to make it happen.
 

We wanted to involve students, teaching and non-teaching staff from all disciplines of study in the university. We also wanted to include workers as this was a community based event. Around 30 of us, student volunteers from various batches and departments came together to do this.
 

Wide publicity was given through posters, 80% of which were printed on single-side-used paper. Door-to-door campaigning in the hostels and staff quarters brought awareness of what Earth Hour was and what it stood for. We advocated the saving of both electricity and water whenever and wherever possible. The goal was to make everyone understand that their day-to-day savings would add up to make a meaningful difference.
 

People were requested to turn off all non-essential electrical appliances from 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm and especially lights on March 31 to support the cause with this symbolic gesture. Short videos were screened in the hostel mess halls so students understood the gravity of the issue.
 

On March 29, a paper bag making workshop was conducted wherein 35 participants including students, faculty and staff members and wardens learnt to make paper bags from three sheets of newspaper.
 

Finally the day arrived. March 31, 2012. When it turned evening, the campus was very dimly lit. We had a program in Amriteshwari Hall, which was filled to capacity. In keeping with the spirit of the day, the air conditioners in the hall were not in use and the lighting and sound system usage was kept to an optimum minimal.
 

The program began with a skit performed by students of the Department of Social Work highlighting that water is a precious resource and must be used with great care. The program continued when honored guests including members from WWF-India, Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Center for Environmental Education (CEE) and Society for Animals and Forest Environmental Trust (SAFE, Pollachi) addressed the audience.
 

Dr. Maya Mahajan, Senior Coordinator, Western Ghats Program, WWF-India, spoke about the significance of Earth Hour, underlining how global warming now is an undeniable reality. Mr. Joshua Jacob from the Center for Environmental Education sang two Tamil songs; the lyrics called out to protect nature, recycle waste and preserve precious natural resources.
 

Dr. Goldin Quadros, Senior Scientist, SACON joined Dr. Mahajan in conducting an interactive quiz session, giving away WWF posters and badges as gifts to students who answered correctly. The audience was very lively and participative.
 

“The future is in your hands; your individual actions will add up to save the environment and keep our future secure,” Dr. Goldin told the students, in conclusion.
 

It was with great pleasure that I presented the vote of thanks. Professor Aravindakshan of Center for Environmental Sciences gave away mementos to our guests as a token of appreciation.
 

I am proud to say that our campus was one among the first in this region to participate in this global movement. Amrita is a leader in this aspect, as it is in many others. I must confess that it is the greenery in this campus that inspired me and made me develop a love for Mother Nature. I have decided to pursue my career in this area and do all that is necessary to spread the message of environmental protection.
 

I want to do all I can to establish a strong and environmentally-conscious student base at our university before I pass out and uphold Amma’s teachings of love for all beings long after I do. I thank Amma for providing us with such a wonderful green campus as a place for learning.
 

It is said to be one of the most controversial mining projects in the world. Although India’s Supreme Court cleared Vedanta’s proposal for bauxite mining in Odisha in 2007, the project has not proceeded due to fierce protests from the Dongria Kondh tribals who live there.
 

The tribals don’t want any mining activities in their sacred hills, and with good reason. They have lived here for eons and depend on the forested land for their survival.
 

This example was presented in the track for Indigenous Community Rights in Resource Management at the recently organized workshop at the Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore.
 

The workshop was part of an International Conference on Legal Pluralism in Natural Resource Management which was organized in partnership with the Asian Initiative on Legal Pluralism and the Commission on Legal Pluralism, Netherlands.      Download Conference Report »
 

It focused on cases and perspective from not only across India but also South and South-East Asian nations.
 

For example, speaking in the same track was a professor from Malaysia who highlighted the fact that state laws were often used to exploit natural resources without any concern for indigenous tribes. Phillipines and Indonesia were cited as examples of countries with better track record as far as legal pluralism of natural resources was concerned.
 

“In many parts of the world, in the case of usage of natural resources such as forest, water, fisheries and minerals, the rights are dynamic, flexible and subject to frequent negotiations. There is uncertainty due to depletion as well as due to social, economic and political changes,” explained the organizers.
 

“Our goal was to explore the role of multiple institutions in managing conflicts and shaping negotiations, policies and adapting to changes,” they underlined.
 

At the inauguration, these same points were emphasized by Dr. Sudarsana Natchiappan, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India.
 

Commenting on how history had taken its course, he said, “In the 18th and 19th centuries, expansion of colonial rule by various countries in search of natural resources for value addition and markets, through the industrial revolution created the explosion of laws, regulation and multiplication of legal pluralism.”
 

The inaugural session was followed by sessions on Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Issues, which were respectively chaired by Dr. Sulistyowatri Irianto, Law University of Indonesia, Indonesia and Dr. D. Parthasarthy, IIT Bombay, India.
 

Later sessions on Applications were chaired by Dr. Maarten Bavinck, University of Amsterdem, Netherlands and Dr. Svein Jentoft, University of Tromso, Norway.
 

Research scholars had the opportunity to next present papers in six different tracks. The first three tracks focused on forests, water and fisheries. The final three elaborated on rights of indigenous communities, historical understandings and governance issues.
 

“This conference was a wonderful experience for me, and will be a memory forever,” stated Dr. Svein Jentoft, University of Tromso, Norway.
 

“I want to congratulate you for organizing the legal pluralism workshop and conference in Amrita,” Dr. Maarten Bavinck, University of Amsterdem, Netherlands told the organizers.
 

“It was a very successful event, meticulously organized, gracefully facilitated, and academically rewarding. Your staff was enthusiastic and helpful and the campus a pleasure to explore,” he added.
 

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) bestowed two national awards to Amrita recently.
 

Dr. R. G. Priyadarshini, Associate Professor, Amrita School of Business, received the Best Yi Net Teacher Award.
 

Second-year MBA student Prasath Srinivasan was given the Best Yi Net Lead Award. He also won the first prize in the CII-Yi Net Coimbatore Chapter debate competition.
 

The winners were honored during the Young Indians (Yi) Annual Meet in New Delhi on March 10, 2012.
 

Yi of the CII provides a platform for young Indians to work for building the nation. With a tagline of We Can, We Will, its 10,000 members most of whom are top achievers, professionals and entrepreneurs, unite for a greater cause.
 

The Amrita Chapter of Yi Net at the School of Business in Coimbatore was especially busy during this past year.
 

In early September 2011, the Amrita campus hosted a regional-level CII Yi Net Meet that saw participation from colleges all across the region. An inter-college debate competition and a photography workshop proved interesting draws.
 

Social Networking – Is It A Boon or A Bane? Students put forth pros and cons of this modern phenomenon during the two-hour debate competition.
 

The photography workshop was accompanied by a photography contest.
 

In addition to organizing this major event, ASB Yi-Net student members organized several seminars on entrepreneurship.
 

They also came together to observe the campus-wide week of culture and heritage wherein they organized painting and quiz competitions that saw participation from school students, as well.
 

Finally, the Chapter was actively involved in the organization of the National Summit of CII Yi Net by providing assistance to the national team.
 

“It was the biggest national summit ever in CII’s history,” shared Prasath.
 

“My role as Net Lead was to direct all the activities of ASB Yi Net during the past year. Along with the student members, it was also the enthusiasm, effort, 24*7 support and guidance of our faculty coordinator, Mrs. Priyadarshini, that played a major role in the success of all our activities,” he added.
 

“If the yardstick of measuring success is the number of people impacted in every activity we conducted, then I must say that our year was pretty successful,” he underlined.
 

Indeed. The national coordinators of CII Yi must surely agree for having chosen both the Amrita faculty member and the Amrita student for their top awards.
 

We congratulate them for the honors received.
 

Dr. Hardik Vachhrajani, Assistant Professor of the Amrita School of Business, Amritapuri recently delivered a key note address at the National Seminar on Globalization: Emerging Trends in Indian Entrepreneurship.
 

The seminar was organized by Department of Commerce, Silver Jubilee Government College in Kurnool, in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
 

Located on the banks of the beautiful Tungabhadra River, the college is accredited with an A grade by NAAC.
 

Dr. Hardik’s keynote speech was titled Small is Innovative.
 

Noting that innovation is mostly considered synonymous with larger companies, Dr. Hardik emphasized that small companies can also innovate. The common perception that small companies can only imitate is simply not true.
 

“A culture of innovation can be any company’s primary source of competitive advantage, and can pay off steadily over the years,” he noted.
 

Adding a dash of humor to his presentation, and making his points as well, he shared several crisp and colorful cartoons with his audience.
 

For example, the cartoon below traced the life cycle of innovation after surviving onslaughts from various sides due to capital constraints, technical feasibility and management indecision.
 

“The Government of India has declared this 2010-2020 as the Decade of Innovation,” he highlighted.
 

Elaborating on the process of innovation, he said that it could be either incremental or radical. “It is through empowering and by involving everyone, that key breakthroughs are usually achieved,” he said.
 

The presentation was followed by a question and answer session where delegates raised several queries regarding not only innovation but also entrepreneurship and challenges faced by small start ups in India.
 

“We really liked the presentation. It was interactive and informative,” shared Prof. S. Shashikala, who coordinated the seminar.
 

“The seminar was a great success and everyone including myself liked the key note address. We look forward to welcoming Dr. Hardik again to our college,” added Principal Prof. T.G.R. Prasad.
 

When Gandhiji visited London in 1931, he sadly observed that India at that time was more illiterate than it was a hundred years ago.
 

Indeed, extensive surveys conducted by the British during 1800-1830 and still available in library archives in London today, indicate that lakhs of pathshalas and gurukulas in India imparted indigenous education to children from all classes of society, even until 1830.
 

Sanskrit books were used to teach grammar, lexicology, mathematics, medical sciences, logic, law and Vedanta. Education in these traditional disciplines was supported by revenue contributions from the community.
 

Moreover, each Indian district had approximately a hundred institutions of higher learning.
 

Amrita research scholar, Mr. Probal Ray Choudhury, is conducting an in-depth study on these very facts, while also teaching classes for Cultural Education at the Coimbatore campus.
 

His doctoral thesis is titled Changing Profile of Community Participation in School Education in Madras Presidency: 1820-1920.
 

“By 1910, higher education in India was restricted to just a handful of communities. A study of the history of any of the indigenous higher/technical knowledge systems like Jyotisha, Ayurveda or architecture reveals that there was a great decay in the 19th century,” shared Probal.
 

“Probably only 12% of India was literate in 1931 and 17%-18% in 1951. The country which was the most literate in the world had become the most illiterate within a century of British colonialism.”
 

“Possibly our earlier system of indigenous education had a more significant level of community participation than what was possible during the British rule.”
 

Probal’s study will build on such findings first reported in a much-acclaimed and seminal work, The Beautiful Tree by Dharampal.
 

The study could potentially throw fresh light on the fundamental philosophy and organizational principles of the traditional educational system that thrived in India till the 1800s.
 

“Understanding some of these factors could be of help in devising suitable intellectual frameworks and organizational models for achieving comprehensiveness and excellence in education in India,” stated Probal.
 

Recently a bursary grant of Rs 40, 000 was received from the Prof. V.S. Sethuraman Center for Studies in Chennai for the scholar’s work.
 

“Mr. Probal’s research project relates to a very crucial period and area in the growth of education in India. This bursary is given to him as a support for his research and to complete his PhD project. We wish him all the best.”
 

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Cultural Education Classes at Amrita

“Empowerment can be thought of as the totality of having access to information and resources for taking proper decisions, possessing the ability to exercise assertiveness in situations of collective decision making, having the ability to learn the skills for improving one’s personal or group power, enhancing one’s self-image and overcoming social stigma, if any.”
 

This definition of empowerment was put forth by Profs. Sunanda Muralidharan and Sandhya G. of the Amrita School of Business at Kochi at a presentation made at the National Conference on Globalization and Women Empowerment at the Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad, during March 15- 16, 2012.
 

The paper was titled Women Empowerment Through Self Transformation: A Case Study Approach.
 

Noting that approximately 70% of the 1.3 billion people who live in abject poverty world-wide today are women, the authors stated, “Education of women is actually the first step towards their empowerment.”
 

The authors highlighted the fact that in Vedic times, women had the right to receive education. They gave the example of Sadyodwahas, women who studied till they got married and became Grihasthas as well as Brahmavadinis, who did not marry but pursued their studies all their lives.
 

“Child marriage is not indicated by the Rig Veda. Widows were allowed to remarry. Vedic literature extols the virtues of women who distinguished themselves not only as scholars, but also as great philosophers and teachers, whose stories can still inspire the contemporary woman today.”
 

“Lopamudra, Apala, Vishwavara, Ghosha are some such memorable names we can trace down the lanes of history. Some such as Gargi, Vachaknavi, Vadava Prartitheyi, Sulabha Maitreyi were wives of great rishis, and were regarded with no less esteem than their renowned husbands.”
 

Tracing the changes that occurred after the Vedic times, the authors noted that long periods of domination by outsiders brought in new customs and practices for the safety of women. Slowly women began to lose their freedom and their right to education.
 

Expressing much hope for current times, they said, “Globalization has presented women with a whole host of new opportunities towards empowerment, as well as challenges in their realization. It gives opportunities for women to be employed in responsible and reputed positions, enhancing their self esteem.”
 

The authors also presented case studies of two women from Kochi who overcame the odds stacked against them to not only empower themselves but also serve others in society.
 

The first case study tracked the journalistic career of Leela Menon, who was earlier working as a clerk in an office. When she began writing, she mostly covered issues related to women. Today she is respected as the journalist who brought women’s issues to the forefront. Her path-breaking journalistic career has been the subject of numerous articles and even films.
 

The second study detailed the dramatic journey of a small saree retail shop into one of Kerala’s most popular fashion outlets, led by its visionary CEO Beena Kannan. Widowed at a young age, and with three children to support, Beena nevertheless worked hard to overcome all odds. Many attribute her success to her absolute commitment to her staff and weavers, many of whom are women.
 

An Amrita paper titled Women Participation is Must for Rural Development, was published in the March 2012 Issue of IFRSA Business Review.
 

A publication of the International Forum of Researchers, Students and Academicians, the IFRSA Business Review covers the fields of engineering and design in addition to management.
 

The Amrita paper was authored by Dr. Mridula Sahay, Associate Professor, Amrita School of Business.
 

The paper highlighted Dr. Mridula’s analysis of studies concerning women’s participation in rural development, conducted by the World Bank and other institutions. It also presented her personal field observations.
 

In the paper, Dr. Mridula observed that the global status of women is stated succinctly in a United Nations report — “Women comprise one-half of the human race, do two-thirds of the work, receive one-tenth of the world’s income and own less than one-hundredth of all property.”
 

Her other observations, especially regarding Indian conditions, are summarized below.
 

“The status of women in India indicates they are a vital part of the economy, one-third of the national labor force, yet remain at a disadvantage concerning issues of survival, health, nutrition, literacy and productivity.”
 

“Most rural Indian women are unskilled, have no control over land or other productive assets and are unable to obtain institutional credit, forcing them to seek expensive informal sources of credit for consumption and productive purposes.”
 

Dr. Mridula detailed how the India Rural Development Project initiated in March 1997 has helped empower the poorest rural women in the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
 

“The project emphasized a holistic scheme of four pillars – self-help groups, bank loans to groups, more opportunities to play a role in decision making within local government settings and experience in programs such as the UP Social Lands Reclamation Project and Tamil Nadu Women’s Development Project,” she noted.
 

She highlighted rural development strategies of the World Bank also. “The programs integrate women in rural development projects through gender-sensitive policies that bring equitable benefits to both men and women.”
 

“It is important to recognize and support women’s productivity and strength. They are neither a fringe group, nor should they be degraded to being recipients of charity,” she underlined.
 

In her concluding remarks, Dr. Mridula saw women’s empowerment leading to a realization of the ideal contained in the ancient Sanskrit sloka – Yatra Nari Pujyante, Ramante Tatra Devta – where women are worshiped, there is the abode of God.
 

Bri. Meera S. R., Lecturer in Sanskrit, Amrita School of Arts and Sciences, Amritapuri had the opportunity to present a paper at a national-level conference in New Delhi recently.
 

The conference on Women Empowerment and Sanskrit Literature was organized by the Department of Sanskrit at Hindu College, affiliated to the University of Delhi, during February 23-24.
 

“I presented our Chancellor Amma as the embodiment of women’s empowerment. This was appreciated by everyone present at the conference. Most speakers quoted examples from history. The organizers noted that I was the only speaker to share an example of someone who represents the very ideal of women’s empowerment today,” shared Bri. Meera.
 

Given below are some excerpts from Meera’s presentation.
 

Today I would like to introduce to you a woman who is re-establishing the lost glory of women not only in India, but on a global scale. Her name is Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, but she is affectionately called Amma all over the world.
 

There were many seemingly insurmountable problems that Amma faced in her childhood but she overcame these hurdles to eventually become internationally acclaimed as a spiritual and humanitarian leader. Today Amma is a role model of women’s empowerment and a remarkably effective leader of the universal resurgence of womanhood.
 

Born in a fisherman family in a remote village in southwest India, Amma had no formal education past the 4th standard. Dark in complexion, with no financial resources or support from family or people around her, Amma had to overcome innumerable difficulties virtually on her own, to become the person she is today. She went through a period of intense spiritual austerities and finally established herself in a holistic manifestation of universal motherhood, which expresses itself in an ashram and its service wing, Embracing the World — a charitable organization in her very birthplace.
 

Today Amma has millions of well-wishers, who are inspired by her life and teachings. The Mata Amritanandamayi Math has been awarded special consultative status by the United Nations for the vast network of humanitarian projects initiated and managed by it. Amma has received many prestigious awards such as the Gandhi-King Award for Non-violence by the United Nations in the year 2002, an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the State University of New York in 2010. Amma has addressed the United Nations twice, and has also been the keynote speaker at the World Parliament of Religions.
 

Today, Amma plays a multitude of roles, including mother, spiritual master, social worker and quintessential multi-tasker, spending up to 22 hours every day meeting and talking with people, giving them solace and guidance, and taking very little rest.
 

Amma is a true model of the empowered woman. She says, “Women have to find their courage. Courage is an attribute of the mind; it is not a quality of the body. Women have the power to fight against the social rules that prevent their progress.”
 

In the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, Amma encourages all women, be they renunciates or devotees, to become educated and to take up responsible positions in various institutions. She has established a vast network of educational and charitable institutions where women outnumber men in many cases. All her schools are fully run by brahmacharinis, girls who came to her seeking a spiritual life.
 

In spiritual activities also, Amma gives equal consideration for women. She has established over 21 temples all over India and abroad, and in these temples brahmacharinis conduct pujas and homas with all proper vedic and tantric mantras and mudras.
 

Amma says, “Until recently, women were not allowed to worship in the inner sanctum of a temple; nor could women consecrate a temple or perform Vedic rituals. Women didn’t even have the freedom to chant Vedic mantras. But Amma is encouraging and appointing women to do these things. And it is Amma who performs the consecration ceremony in all the temples built by our ashram. There were many who protested against women doing these things, because for generations all those ceremonies and rituals had been done only by men. To those who questioned what we were doing, Amma explained that we are worshipping a God who is beyond all differences, who does not differentiate between male and female.”
 

Amma has made numerous public addresses to underscore the value and strength of women. One that was particularly focused on women’s empowerment was in Geneva, at the headquarters of the United Nations, in 2004. In that speech, she said, “The more a woman identifies with her inner motherhood, the more she awakens to that shakti, or pure power. When women develop this power within themselves, the world will begin to listen to their voices more and more.”
 

Amma sees that education is the foundation for freedom and power, and so she provides top-quality education for all the children in her orphanages, and when young people come to live in her ashram, she encourages them to go on with their education. There are over 500 women ashram residents most have been directed to further their studies, earn degrees, and take up responsible work for the upliftment of society.
 

Amma’s aim for the empowerment of women is for all women—both young and old. Amma is distributing to over a million old and destitute women the Amrita Nidhi pension that takes care of their minimum needs. Another scheme recently inaugurated seeks to train a hundred thousand home nurses to help provide care for old people. Besides providing them the training, a stipend also is being provided to each trainee.
 

Amma also distributes Vidyamritam scholarships to poor children, especially girls, and those who are afflicted by the suicide of their farmer parents. She conducts free marriages of many poor women every year, gifting them with gold and utensils and has built houses for many destitute women.
 

In today’s world, women empowerment must begin with a woman being financially independent. Therefore, over and above educating and employing girls and women, Amma has also established a vast network of self-help groups, called Amritasree, which are providing vocational education, start-up capital, marketing assistance and access to microcredit loans and micro-savings accounts from government-regulated banks, to equip women with the skills and means to set up small-scale, cottage-industry businesses. Currently about six thousand self-help groups are actively functioning all over the country which cater to nearly one hundred thousand women.
 

Another revolutionary project that has been initiated by Amma and that is enabling women to come forward is the fostering of technological innovation in providing vocational training to women. Ammachi Labs, set up for this purpose, has developed educational applications using multimedia, virtual reality and haptic technologies to enrich the individual’s learning experiences. From this program, the first batch of women plumbers graduated in 2011
 

A few years earlier, addressing the Global Peace Initiative of Women, Amma said, “There is invincible strength in woman. If she can escape the utterly dark prison cell of her mind and emotions, she can soar into the endless skies of freedom.”
 

I would like to share my own experience at this juncture.
 

I lived in such an utterly dark prison cell as a child. It was Amma who helped me escape, and because of her impact on me I stand before you now.
 

I was the child of an absent mother—absent because of ongoing chemotherapy in hospital. I lived with relatives, but I was nobody’s own child, and I yearned to hear someone call me darling daughter. I finally saw my mother for the first time when I was five years old: her corpse was brought home, and I watched the fires consume her. That sight became deeply registered in my mind and I was in a state of shock.  

Completely alone, feeling no deep motherly love from anyone, I was in despair, and looking for ways to escape my pain—even suicide was in my mind.
 

At age eleven, I had my first darshan of Amma, who held me close and whispered in my ear, “My darling daughter.” It was what my thirsty heart was longing for, and I was transformed. Immediately I joined Amma’s orphanage, and after graduating from there, wanted to offer my services to this woman whose love and strength had changed my life. I thought of serving her in the kitchen; this was what I felt competent to do.
 

But Amma, who always urges women to rise to their full potential, had other plans. “You should shine like a star. Go and study Sanskrit.” I was shocked, but obeyed, and now you see me here today, a woman who has struggled but not been defeated. I can write the letters “MA”, and “B Ed”, and “M Phil” after my name, and call myself a research scholar in Sanskrit. This is not because of my aspirations, but because of Amma’s guidance. Amma was the perfect role model – she lifted herself up from poverty and never refused to try to do what she knew was her dharma: to help the poor, the hopeless, the suffering.
 

I hope that I, who have learned from her example and benefited from her encouragement, will follow her example, and someday, will inspire some other little girl in need of empowerment and motivate her to rise to her full potential.
 

Since India attained independence, the per capita availability of water in the country has plummeted 70% to 1,582 cubic meters per year. This makes India a water-stressed nation. If the per capita availability were to plunge further to 1000 cubic meters per year, India would be a water-scarce nation.
 

Although India may not yet have officially earned the tag of water scarcity, its many villages, towns and cities reel under the onslaught of perpetual water shortages. There are 35 Indian cities with a population of more than one million people; none of these enjoy 24-hour water supply. Water is distributed at most, for only a few hours every day.
 

What happens when there is no running water in the taps?
 

Faculty and students of the Amritapuri campus experienced this water shortage in their mess halls during lunch time on World Water Day, March 22, 2012. They had to wash their plates and hands using water filled in buckets.
 

“We estimate that the use of water from buckets with mugs rather than directly from a running tap helps in conserving it by nearly 50%,” stated student coordinators of Amrita Sanjeevani, who spearheaded this conservation campaign on campus, to drive home some key points.
 

“It was a little uncomfortable when the water supply to the taps was shut off during our lunch hours,” conceded Kavya Purushothaman, faculty in the Department of English. “But it was a brilliant way to sensitize the entire campus community to the need to conserve water in every possible way.”
 

The taps were running again by dinner time.
 

“I am being careful now to only open the tap a little and not let too much water run; the experience this morning definitely has motivated me to be more alert about water usage,” shared Amritha V., staff in the Centre for Corporate and Industry Relations.
 

The Sanjeevani students also staged a play in Malayalam to draw attention to the grim water facts of contemporary times.
 

“Are you not the ones who snatched the rivers from us and polluted them? Aren’t you the ones who cut down all our green cover?”
 

“Now you are bottling water and selling it. You have levied a tax even on drinking water! Do you really own this water?”
 

Along with such hard-hitting dialogs, the play included scenes that depicted people using water in careless ways and wasting it.
 

The play presented not only the problem, but also the solution. “It is not difficult to conserve water. As children, we have all learned how to, in our schools. We just need to act upon the knowledge we already possess. We are hopeful that our message reached the student community,” shared Sreedeep C.D., third-year student of Integrated MSc (Maths and Physics) who acted in the play.
 

It is expected that by 2025, two-thirds of the global population will be living in water-scarce or water-stressed conditions.
 

It is also known that the majority of the world’s people living in water-related despair will be in Asia.
 

Asia today has about 70% of the world’s irrigated land and leads the world in total volume of fresh water withdrawn for agriculture.
 

Attempting to understand usage patterns better, Dr. Sushanta Kumar Mahapatra commissioned a study in Odisha where data was collected from 200 cultivators possessing farms of different sizes in 8 sample villages.
 

Some of the villages selected were in the head-reach or closest point to and some others were at the tail-end or furthest away from the origin of a main branch canal in Hirakud Irrigation Command Area in the Mahanadi river basin.
 
Dr. Mahapatra presented his findings as a paper titled Dynamics of Irrigation Management and Interlinked Agrarian Relations: Empirical Findings from a Canal Irrigation Command in Odisha, India.
 

The presentation was made at a national-level seminar on Governance and Management of Drinking Water: Issues and Challenges organized by the Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad.
 

“Canal irrigation in India has been impacted by a number of inequities between the head-reach and tail-end areas. While the amount of water used in the head-reach areas is very high, the tail-end regions suffer from a multiplicity of problems such as poor water availability, salinity and lack of drainage,” he pointed out.
 

“In India, the performance of large-scale, publicly-operated, low-technology canal systems has overall been disappointing, and such is the case with these systems elsewhere in the tropics also,” he noted.
 

How can one ensure good water governance in irrigation commands?
 

“The solution to low productivity of water in the head-reach would also be the solution to the low productivity in the tail-ends. In the head reach, the productivity of water is low because of the over-use of water. In the tail-ends, we see scarcity of water, unpredictable supply, lower yields and lower cropping intensity.”
 

In other words, using water carefully, conserving it, and treating it as the precious natural resource that it is, would solve problems on both ends.
 

On World Water Day, let us reaffirm again our commitment to conserving water, not using it in wasteful ways and not taking its availability for granted. Indeed, with rising demand and dwindling supplies of fresh water, the situation in India is already pretty precarious.
 

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Amrita’s Bengaluru campus organized a national-level seminar on Computer Vision for Robotics during February 24-25, 2012.
 

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Coimbatore campus hosted an IETE-sponsored workshop on Computer Vision and Image Processing Techniques during February 21-24, 2012.
 

Both events saw good participation from research scholars, faculty members and students of interdisciplinary domains of engineering from across India.
 

Dr. Jharna Majumdar, Former Scientist at DRDO, delivered the keynote address in the research seminar at Bengaluru. Highlighting various sponsored projects of DRDO, she elaborated on computer vision for autonomous robots. The address included live demos of computer vision modules.
 

Other speakers at the seminar included Dr. R. Venkatesh Babu from Super Computer Education Research Centre at IISc, Bengaluru and Dr. J. Amuda, Associate Professor, Amrita School of Engineering, Bengaluru.
 

While the former speaker detailed object tracking algorithms with live demos, the latter provided insights into a computational visual attention system for robotic cognition that could handle an enormous amount of data collected through multiple sensors.
 

Hands-on sessions focused on vision software from National Instruments. Participants also learned the implementation of algorithms for object tracking and pattern matching in LabVIEW.
 

“We want to establish a robotic research lab in our university; hence we attended this seminar to learn. We found the seminar very useful,” shared Profs. Saravanakumar and Rashmi Ranjan Das from VIT (Vellore Institute of Technology).
 

“Our workshop provided a platform for research scholars to meet and discuss existing applications and issues and collaborate to work towards solutions in the field of computer vision and image processing,” stated Dr. Karthi R. who played a key role in coordinating the workshop at Coimbatore campus.
 

Participants included post graduate students from many universities. Lectures were delivered by Amrita faculty as well as invited guests from industry including Dr. Manish Shiralkar, R & D Manager, Machine Vision Division, Soliton Technologies, Benguluru and Mr. Mahesh Anand, Co-founder & Technical Head, PHLOX Techno Labs, Bengaluru.
 

Dr. K. Somasundaram, Professor and Head, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Gandhigram Rural University also shared his expertise with participants.
 

All participants also had the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in MATLAB and OpenCV platforms.
 

Final-year MSc (Chemistry) students of the Amritapuri Campus, Aparna G. Nair and Neethu Sebastian recently won the IIT-Bombay Research Internship Awards 2011-2012.
 

The duo is currently in IIT Bombay conducting research that will constitute their final-year project at Amrita. They began work on the project in January 2012 and will return to Amrita when the internship concludes in June 2012.
 

While Aparna is working on computational nano magnets, Neethu is conducting a computational study on the role of water in aldol reactions catalyzed by proline.
 

The two students are carrying out the research work under the guidance of Dr. Gopalan Rajaraman and Dr. Raghavan B Sunoj of Department of Chemistry at IIT Bombay respectively.
 

“I am assigned the task of conducting theoretical studies on magnetic properties of transition metal complexes mediated through pi-stacking interactions. Pi-stacking refers to the attractive, non covalent interactions between aromatic rings,” explained Aparna.
 

“Magnetic exchange through pi-stacking interactions is a recent topic of interest, as it finds plenty of applications in the spintronics (spin transport electronics) world and can become a wonderful mechanism of magnetic exchange among the single-chain molecular magnets which is a molecule that shows stable magnetization of purely molecular origin,” she added.
 

Neethu elaborated on her research work as well.
 

“Most of the organic reactions are carried out the presence of some catalyst known as organo-catalyst. The rate of chemical reactions is increased by the organo-catalyst. Organo-catalysis offers several advantages, there is no need to use metals thus making a contribution to green chemistry,” she said.
 

“In my work the catalyst is proline. The efficiency of proline in asymmetric catalysis is largely attributed to its bi-functional characteristics and the presence of a chiral centre. Here I’m trying to find the presence of water in aldol reactions.”
 

The two students applied for the awards during their third semester. After preliminary screening of applications and personal interviews, the award decisions were made.
 

Perhaps the fact that during June – July 2011, they completed summer projects in Computational Chemistry and Molecular Modeling at CEN on Amrita’s Coimbatore campus helped the selection committee view their applications favorably.
 

At CEN, Aparna performed research on chitosan nanoparticles for a high performance drug delivery system for the central nervous system. The work included computational modeling of chitosan nanoparticles. “The results obtained where good enough to prove that these could become a promising part of a drug delivery system to the brain in near future,” said Aparna.
 

Neethu’s research project at CEN titled Quantum Mechanical Modeling and Molecular Dynamic Simulation of Phytochemicals, aimed to study phytochemicals and understand their feasibility as photosensitizers.
 

At CEN, the two students learned more about computational tools of international standards.
 

“Both Aparna and Neethu fully deserve the award they have received. It is their dedication and hard work and of course, Amma’s blessing that has helped them,” proudly stated Dr. Zeena S. Pillai, Chairperson, Department of Chemistry, Amrita School of Arts and Sciences at Amritapuri.
 

The Max-Planck Institute in Germany is regarded as one of the world’s top research organizations. Over the years, luminaries such as Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg and Max-Planck have been associated with the Institute. Scientists from this Institute have claimed 32 Nobel Prizes.
 

Now an Amrita graduate will begin his doctoral studies at this premier research institute.
 

Kaustubh Beedkar, who graduated from Amrita’s Coimbatore campus in 2007, with a BTech degree in Information Technology, has already completed nine months at the Max-Planck Institute.
 

He came here in July 2011, when he was offered a year-long research fellowship in Informatics. When the year is over, he will begin his doctorate here, conducting research in the fields of Distributed Machine Learning and Open Information Extraction.
 

“My research, in web-scale information extraction, tries to extract and exploit knowledge that exists in written form somewhere on the web. Their target applications include question answering, for example, who won the Nobel Prize from Ulm?” he shared.
 

“I am investigating techniques based on factor analysis and certain probabilistic models, which can scale to the web,” he added.
 

After graduating from Amrita in 2007, Kaustubh enrolled at the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA for a master’s degree in Computer Science. In 2009, after completing the master’s program, Kaustubh joined a four member tech start-up, Band Metrics, based out of Atlanta. Here he helped develop statistical algorithms and built statistical data analytics systems for music industry professionals who wanted to analyze data from various social networks.
 

In 2010, Kaustubh moved back to India to work with Harman International R&D in Bangalore. The company designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of products to provide audio/visual entertainment, as well as navigation systems for the automotive and consumer. Here he worked on next-generation infotainment systems for high-end cars.
 

“I had a zest to be creative in the field of engineering and pursue a target, which is challenging. My stint in these industries was rewarding in many ways. Many times though, my role was restricted to solving certain engineering problems, which became less challenging with time. A desire for more stimulating and challenging problems pulled me towards academic research,” he candidly shared.
 
Kaustubh had only words of praise for his alma mater.
 

“Amrita being India’s leading teaching and research institute greatly helped me nurture my potential and build a strong foundation during my formative years. I attribute a lot of my success to my teachers. With world class computing infrastructure and unique value-based teaching, it was the best place for me to learn and grow.”
 

What does he think the future holds?
 

“I don’t believe in long term planning. What I do wish is to enjoy research as much as I can and if life gives an opportunity, I will love to teach!”
 

“Follow your heart. If you wish to pursue a dream, give it your cent percent without bothering about the result even once!”
 

Coimbatore campus recently saw the unveiling of a new Amrita Automotive Technology Center (AATC) that will be led by Dr. Thirumalini, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering.
 

“The center will boost the research capabilities of our faculty and students working in the automotive domain,” stated Dr. Thirumalini.
 

The campus currently offers an MTech program in Automotive Engineering. Another MTech program on Automotive Systems with a focus on Automotive Embedded Systems is being planned.
 

“Our AATC with state-of-the-art technology and equipment will be comparable to the best automotive R&D facilities in the country,” proudly stated Dr. Thirumalini.
 

Existing research centers are all supported by industrial establishments; Amrita is the first university to establish a research center in this domain.
 

The center will also be supported by Prof. S. Raju who has four decades of automotive experience. Prof. Raju retired as Senior Deputy Director of the Automotive Research Association of India.
 

An MoU was recently signed with Automotive Test Systems, an Indian company based in New Delhi, with offices in Pune and Chennai.
 

The MoU was signed on behalf of Amrita by Dr. P. Venkat Rangan, Vice Chancellor and Prof. C. Parameswaran, Director, Corporate & International Relations.
 

Automotive Test Systems was represented by Managing Partners Ramanathan Srinivasan and Sandeep Dayanand Sharma.
 

Subsequent to the MoU, the new Center set up a stall at the Automotive Testing Expo in Chennai. The global trade show for automotive test and development technologies welcomed thousands of visitors from the Indian automotive industry.
 

“Many visitors to our stall enquired whether our Center could train their newly recruited engineers in testing and make them industry-ready,” shared Dr. Thirumalini.
 

“In addition to vehicle performance testing, we will also offer services related to vehicle handling, road load data acquisition and analysis, NVH including pass by noise measurement, modal analysis, vibration measurement, sound quality measurement and listening studio,” she added.
 

What about the growing concern about emissions from personal transport vehicles?
 

“We plan to develop prototypes for powertrains and also conduct research in hybrid vehicles,” stated Dr. Thirumalini.
 

Dr. Prasanth Mohapatra, Professor and Chairman, Department of Computer Sciences at the University of California (UC) in Davis, was recently in Amrita as the co-chair of the International Conference on Wireless Technologies for Humanitarian Relief.
 

Subsequent to his participation in the international the conference, Dr. Mohapatra submitted a join proposal with Amrita’s Dr. Maneesha on Water Quality Monitoring using wireless sensors. The proposal received seed funding from UC Davis.
 

Now the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two universities will pave the way for more research scientists from the two universities to collaborate with each other.
 

The agreement was signed on behalf of Amrita by Vice-Chancellor Dr. Venkat Rangan and on behalf of the American university by Chancellor Dr. Linda P.B. Katehi.
 

UC Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905. It is ranked as one of the top 10 public universities in the US. Its faculty is well known for research pursuits in the arts and sciences.
 

“The Amrita Center for International Programs (ACIP) is proud to announce that the MoU which was signed on February 24, 2012, will enable the further development of basic scientific and technological research, and graduate and undergraduate education at the two institutions,” stated Dr. Maneesha Ramesh, Director, ACIP.
 

The Center is currently processing applications from Amrita students desirous of participating in the UC Davis India Research Internship Program and the Global Study Program during summer 2012.
 

Students who excel in their studies will be eligible for scholarships.
 

“These programs provide wonderful opportunities our top performing students who aspire to conduct research and participate in internships at a global university. We are accepting applications from students enrolled in bachelors, masters and doctoral programs of computer science at all our campuses,” Dr. Maneesha stated.
 

“The programs will enable participating students to earn certificates and credits. In addition, they will gain research experience at state-of-the-art laboratories in Davis. They will understand how to plan and manage experiments, conduct experiments independently, analyze data and summarize research results,” she added.
 

In addition to these programs, the universities might soon unveil other collaborative initiatives. Prof. Jay Misra, Chairman, Amrita School of Business at the Amritapuri campus is actively working on a possible joint program with Dr. Andrea Toupadakis, School of Business at UC Davis.
 

“These programs will definitely add value to our students, giving them an enviable edge in the pursuit of higher education,” summed up Dr. Maneesha.
 

The Amrita School of Business at Kochi hosted their first-ever B-Fest during March 17-18, 2012.
 

Named Asthra (or weapon, in Sanskrit), the business festival exhorted over 200 student participants to arise, aim and conquer.
 

The asthra came alive in the fest logo that depicted an arrow and a sun.
 

At the inaugural function, Sampoojya Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri spoke to the participating students, many of them enrolled in MBA programs in different colleges.
 

Speaking also at the inauguration were Dr. M. Beena (IAS), Managing Director of Supply Co. & Cochin Vytilla Mobility Hub and Dr. K.N. Raghavan (IRS), Additional Commissioner of Customs & Central Excise.
 

The two-day fest saw many events, organized by different student forums viz. Manvantara (Marketing), Yukti (HR), Arthashastra (Finance), Prakramam (Systems) and Pracharya (Operations).
 

The most popular events included Devavrata (Best Manager), Chanakya (Business Quiz) and Naatya (Dance Competition).
 

The flagship event was an online business plan competition named Chakravyuh. With participants from the London Business School, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), the event garnered global attention.
 

Indian contestants represented premier institutions such as XLRI, NITs, Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies and Xavier Institute of Management. Overall 53 entries were received. Many participants availed the option of receiving mentoring from corporate partners as they prepared their final plans.
 

Short-listed participants presented business plans via web conference feature in Amrita’s e-platform, A-View. This event was streamed live via A-View.
 

The top prize was awarded to Vivek Nair, PhD student at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Vivek is also the CEO of a newly established firm Damascuz Fortune, working with innovative technologies to help companies reduce their carbon footprint.
 

“The feedback provided by the judges gave me a lot of motivation to go ahead with my business plans,” he said.
 

Fest winners walked away with Rs. 2 lakhs in prize money.
 

Fest partners included Amrita TV, Indian Express, Deccan Chronicle, Startup Village, Innovation Lab, Twenty 19.com. Sponsorship was received from twenty-five companies including Coconut Development Board, Paragon, Seemati and Big Idea.
 

The fest culminated with a valedictory function that was graced by the presence of Sampoojya Swami Poornamritananda Puri, social activist and veteran journalist, Smt. Leela Menon and cine actor Bala.
 

“We hosted the fest for the very first time. It was an educative and exhilarating experience for all. We are sure that all participants enjoyed the opportunity to explore, exhibit and experience their various avatars, as they travel the path to becoming complete managers,” shared the fest student coordinators.
 

Dr. V. Narayanan Unni, Professor and Head of the Department of Nephrology at the Amrita School of Medicine was nominated by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, UK, to receive the Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP).
 

This honor was bestowed in recognition of Dr. Unni’s clinical and academic achievements. The fellowship will be conferred at a special ceremony on June 6, 2012 in Glasgow.
 

Dr. Unni has had a brilliant academic career. After obtaining a first rank during his pre-degree course, he enrolled for his medical studies in the Calicut Medical College. Here he secured the first rank in the first, second and final MBBS years, and was recognized as the Best Outgoing Student of the college.
 

During this time, Dr. Unni also received the Senior Research Fellowship of the Indian Council of Medical Research under the Talent Search Scheme.
 

After completing his MD in Internal Medicine from Christian Medical College, Vellore and DM in Nephrology from Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, he also obtained the Diplomate of the National Board of Examinations, New Delhi.
 

Dr. Unni joined the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences when the hospital began functioning in 1998. He set up the Department of Nephrology. The Department today proudly boasts of a state-of-the-art dialysis unit.
 

Under his leadership, the Department of Nephrology offers a DM programme in Nephrology and masters degree courses in Dialysis Therapy and Allied Health Sciences at Amrita.
 

There is also a highly successful live-related donor kidney transplant program. Dr. Unni spearheaded the cadaver donor kidney transplantations at AIMS as well. The kidney transplantation program at Amrita is considered as one of the best such programs nation-wide in terms of volume and outcomes.
 

In 2010, Dr. Unni was selected as Key Opinion Leader for Kidney Transplantation in India by the International Transplantation Society. He is a member of the consensus panel of the Peritoneal Dialysis Society.
 

Dr. Unni’s teaching career has spanned three decades. He is the examiner for super-specialty (DM) training in Nephrology at various universities and for the Diplomate of the National Board of Examination in Nephrology under the Government of India.
 

Dr. Unni has authored many research publications and penned numerous chapters in textbooks. We congratulate him on his latest achievement.
 

It was a much-awaited moment for team Amrita. Last month they won the Ameer Shah Memorial Football Cup, playing against teams from all over the state of Kerala.
 

“We did it!” proudly proclaimed Team Coach, Vimalkumar P. T.
 

The annual tournament was organized by MES College of Engineering and Technology, Kollam. This 9’s foot ball tournament had several teams, each comprised of 9 players.
 

Team Amrita was led by Captain Vishnu. S. Menon, third-year student of BTech (Computer Science and Engineering). Vice-Captain Arunjith V. S, final-year student of BBM (Bachelor of Business Management) supported the captain and the team well.
 

The team played their first game against Azeezia College of Engineering to secure an easy win of 2-0. For Amrita, the goals were secured by Vice-Captain Arunjith and Charles Chacko, final-year student of BTech (Computer Science and Engineering).
 

This victory won the team a place in the semi-finals.
 

Here Team Amrita played against Shahul Hameed College of Engineering. Both teams tied, securing one goal each. It was in the penalty shoot-out that Amrita managed two extra goals to win decisively (3-1). Goal keeper Subin S. Chandran, final-year student of BBM was instrumental in ensuring this win with his many acrobatic saves.
 

The final was played against St. Keats College of Engineering, Kottayam. The game lasted some 50 minutes during which the gathering whistled, applauded and called out, to support the young players.
 

It looked like Team Amrita would lose. The team conceded one goal in the first half and two in the second half. But never ready to accept failure, the players bounced back with confidence. Three goals were rapidly scored and the game went into a tie.
 

Captain Vishnu, Charles and Akhil, second-year student of BTech (Mechanical Engineering) secured these goals.
 

In penalty shoot-out, Team Amrita secured four goals. In addition to the Captain and the Vice-Captain, Sanal, third-year student of BTech (Computer Science and Engineering) and Jayath Shankar, final-year student of BTech (Information Technology) secured goals for the team.
 

Team Amrita won with a 4-2 margin against St. Keats!
 

“As a team, it was an awesome experience for us,” shared Captain Vishnu. “We learned a lot and we really enjoyed the games. It was our coach who worked hard with us daily for this win and who inculcated in us a strong desire to win. We dedicate our victory to him.”
 

“The students prepared mentally and physically for this tournament for the past few months. The preparation gave them immense confidence to move ahead. The victory was finally like a dream come true. I appreciate our young champions. This win is absolutely for them, for their hard work,” summed up Coach Vimalkumar.
 

After the many laurels won by the IEEE Student Chapter at the Amritapuri campus, it was the turn of the Chapter at the Coimbatore campus to receive accolades.
 

The Chapter was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for organizing the maximum number of events during 2011.
 

The faculty mentor of the Chapter, Mr. C. Arunkumar, Assistant Professor, was felicitated with an Award of Appreciation for enrolling 10,000 student members during the same period.
 

Both awards were received during the Annual General Body Meeting of the IEEE in Chennai on February 11, 2012.
 

“During the year, we organized technical fests, seminars on global challenges in software, workshops on research issues in image processing and soft computing and a poster design contest using photoshop software,” student members shared.
 

“We also held programming contests of which one a 24-hour contest wherein students competed against each other to solve a set of programming problems,” they added.
 

The Chapter celebrated IEEE Day on October 7, 2011. Student members visited a local school in Ettimadai village as part of their social development program. A quiz competition was also organized on recent technological developments.
 

At the Annual General Body Meeting of the IEEE in Chennai, Mr. C. Arunkumar was also nominated as an Executive Committee Member for the year 2012-2013.
 

“My duties will include ensuring information transmission from IEEE Headquarters to student officers, attending executive and regional activity committee meetings, assisting branch committees, consulting with section chairs, regional chairs or directors for matters related to student activities, fostering good relations with the local section, establishing industrial liaisons to support student branch programs and activities, promoting student awareness of contests and benefits of membership,” he informed.
 

“We are grateful to have had the support of Prof. K. Gangadharan for conducting all the events during 2011,” stated Mr. Arunkumar.
 

“We are also grateful for the support of student members of ACM, CSI and IETE Chapters of Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore,” he added.
 

Women in engineering and technology came together all over the world during Engineers Week this March to engage in meaningful conversations about their careers and lives.
 

Titled Global Marathon, the event facilitated the exchange between global panels of executive women from North and South America, China, India, the Middle East, Africa and Europe through internet chat and webcast technologies.
 

Amrita University also organized its own unique event at the time, spanning all three engineering campuses viz. Amritapuri, Bengaluru and Coimbatore.
 

Over 450 women from the Schools of Engineering at these campuses participated. The Amrita event was sponsored by IBM.
 

Two women engineers from IBM, Lalitha J. S. and Sugandha Srikanteshwaran spoke from Amrita’s Bengaluru campus, while students and faculty members from other campuses listened in, over Amrita’s own e-learning platform, A-View.
 

“Ms. Lalitha delivered an eye opening lecture. She talked about developing a roadmap to pursue a successful career in an IT domain or a business vertical. It was very enlightening, especially for our students,” shared Dr. Shikha Tripathi, Professor and Chairperson of Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering, who convened the Amrita event.
 

A technical session on Mobile Computing by Sugandha Srikanteshwaran followed which elaborated on the evolution of mobile computing as a platform, end-to end enterprise mobile platforms, various types of mobile applications.
 

The session also included a demo of a mobile application used for traffic and insurance management by IBM.
 

Jayashree Viswanathan and Sowmya Vijayalakshmi from IBM were also present.
 

After an interactive quiz competition that saw active participation from students across all three campuses, the event came to a close.
 

“It felt good to engage with other women on this day; our strength lies in our numbers, and it was heartening to see that so many female students are enrolled in engineering programs across all our Amrita campuses,” stated one student, who participated.
 

“This event enabled the women engineers-to-be in Amrita to understand the various skills required by the IT industry, in the software domain and the services domain,” she added.
 

“The event received great appreciation from the women engineering community and we feel that participants received immense benefit. Most thrilling was the interaction across the three campuses during the entire telecast. We thank IBM for the initiative and look forward to more such collaborative events,” summed up Dr. Shikha Tripathi and her colleague, Dr. J. Amudha, Associate Professor from Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
 

Dr. Dhanya P. G., first-year postgraduate scholar of the Department of Pathology at the Amrita School of Medicine recently won the best poster award at the 68th Kerala Chapter Meeting of the Indian Association of Pathologists and Microbiologists.
 

Her poster titled Agnathia – Otocephaly Complex with URSMS presented a rare case of otocephaly-agnathia complex with urorectal septal malformation sequence in a 17-week old fetus.
 

Otocephaly is a rare and often lethal, nonfamilial syndrome characterized by partial or complete absence of the lower jaw (agnathia), venteromedial displacement of external ear structures (synotia), small mouth (microsomia) and severe hypoplasia of the tongue (aglossia). The condition is lethal due to ventilatory problems.
 

Association of otocephaly with urorectal septal malformation sequence (URSMS) is an unusual presentation. URSMS is a severe form of anorectal anomaly characterized by the absence of perineal (anal, urinary and for females, vagina) openings.
 

“Such a case has never been reported in literature earlier,” noted Dr. Dhanya.
 

She elaborated further on the case.
 

“The pregnancy of a 37-year-old expectant mother was medically terminated due to suspected early developmental stage malformation of the fetus along with the presence of an intra-abdominal cystic mass. The marked decrease in amniotic fluid, as a result of malformation, made prenatal diagnosis by ultrasonography difficult.
 

“Hence a meticulous fetal autopsy led to the final diagnosis of otocephaly-agnathia complex with urorectal septal malformation sequence. The fetus had facial defects along with urinary tract and cloacal malformations.”
 

The poster emphasized that while occurring together with otocephaly, URSMS is difficult to diagnose prenatally.
 

“There is no laboratory test to diagnose this condition. Even though some of the defects found in URSMS can be observed through ultrasound, it is difficult to make a definitive diagnosis of this condition prenatally. Here, the case was diagnosed postnatally by autopsy after the medical termination of pregnancy.”
 

“Fetal autopsy has the potential in diagnosing conditions and it can serve as an aid in prediction of future pregnancy risks. To arrive at the diagnosis during autopsy, the pathologist should have an open mind to explore the morphology and correlate the findings,” stated the scholar.
 

Currently pursuing post-graduation studies in Clinical Pathology, Dr. Dhanya joined Amrita in 2011. She acknowledged the guidance and support received from her mentors, Dr. Annie Jojo, Dr. Sheela Nampoothiri, Dr. Laxmi Padmanabhan and Dr. Sreekala Sreehari.
 

“The future of energy in India lies in smart backward linkage to the sun. It is the only perennial source of energy, which is renewable in the truest sense,” stated Dr. Nitant Mate, Head, Bioenergy Business, Kirloskar Integrated Technologies Ltd., Pune.
 

Dr. Nitant was an invited speaker at the International Conference on Renewable Technologies, highlighting the renewable energy roadmap for India.
 

“Bioenergy has the potential to provide a sustainable solution while alleviating the problem of food shortage. Biofuels derived from agricultural waste, food waste, cultivated plantations and algae are all promising. We need to develop a deep understanding of natural processes such as photosynthesis, digestion and fermentation. Then rural India will be empowered to take the lead as the energy and food producer for the rest of the country.”
 

These thoughts were echoed by Ms. Arpita Bisht, Research Scholar at TERI, who spoke about biofuels.
 

Ms. Bisht outlined the different types of biofuels. Primary biofuels were those that were produced from food based resources, such as corn, soya bean and sugarcane and secondary biofuels, which were accorded more importance in recent times, were those that used stems, husks, leaves, grass or organic industry waste.
 

“Inefficient biomass collection systems, dearth of policy initiatives and less investment in research and development programs are some reasons we are not able to fully exploit the benefits of this resource,” she noted.
 

More challenges and trends were highlighted earlier, during the pre-conference workshop by Mr. P. Sekhar, Director of a Renewable Energy company, who spoke on the topic, Biowaste to Bioenergy and Organic Fertilizer.
 

“It is predicted that soon we will have 47% of our global energy from renewable sources. Of this, biomass will contribute almost 50 %.”
 

“The world has 5 billion hectares of agricultural land, out of which India has 20 %. The agricultural wasteland can be used for sustainably growing biofuels.”
 

“It is recommended that we grow energy crops such as sugar beets and napier grass that can be used as input for feedstock for producing bio energy.”
 

“As fossil fuel prices rise, as oil insecurity deepens, as concerns about climate change cause a shadow of the future of coal, a new world economy is emerging. The old energy economy fuelled by coal, oil, natural gas is being replaced with an economy powered by wind, solar and biomass energy,” stated Prof. R. Subba Rao, Chairman, Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Sciences at Amrita.
 

SEE ALSO

Renewable Energy: Resources, Challenges & Opportunities
Experts Speak at Pre-Conference Workshop
Inaugural Speeches at Renewable Energy Conference
Wind Power Discussion at Conference
Solar Energy Discussions at Conference

“The solar market grew globally by 30% CAGR during the previous decade,” stated Sri. K. Subramanya, CEO, Tata BP Solar.
 

Sri. Subramanya was speaking at the International Conference on Renewable Energy recently organized at Amrita’s Coimbatore campus.
 

“The National Solar Mission has created a template for major growth in India,” he added.
 

Acknowledging recent problems seen in the industry in Europe and in the US, he drew attention to the fact that expansion was continually seen in the Chinese solar market.
 

“The Chinese government has played an important role in this regard. It is planning to focus on production technology for building integrated photovoltaic cells in the coming years. We expect our policy makers to also support industry in this way,” he stated.
 

Elaborating on large-scale deployment of solar photovoltaic cells and their manufacturing, the speaker asked delegates to focus on research and development in the field. “We need to look for ways for improving cell efficiencies, thinning silicon wafers and engineering new applications,” he said.
 

Detailing the recent advances in photovoltaics, Prof. Juzer Vasi from IIT Bombay said, “Multi junction or tandem cells are gaining importance as they provide higher efficiencies. In future, we will see nano-structured solar cells being used.”
 

Prof. Vasi highlighted the advantages of photovoltaic cell technology including the direct conversion of solar energy into electrical energy, and its ability to act as a distributed source of energy.
 

Other conference speakers added more perspectives in the use of solar energy; some spoke to the delegates over Skype.
 

Dr. Md. Nazeeruddin spoke from the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Switzerland about the importance of dye-sensitized solar cells. “They provide a promising alternative to traditional inorganic semiconductor-based solar cells. They are also believed to have favorable ecological and economical features,” he emphasized.
 

Dr. W. S. Sampath spoke from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins about advances in mass production of photovoltaic modules.
 

Providing a brief description of the fabrication process of photovoltaic cells, he noted that the market for photovoltaic modules is currently greater than 15000 MW/year and it has been growing with an annual growth rate of 30% until recently.
 

Another speaker at the conference, Dr. Madhu Atre who spoke about semiconductor manufacturing in India highlighted the need for India to develop its capabilities in manufacturing low-cost solar panels, storage devices and LEDs.
 

SEE ALSO

Renewable Energy: Resources, Challenges & Opportunities
Experts Speak at Pre-Conference Workshop
Inaugural Speeches at Renewable Energy Conference
Wind Power Discussion at Conference
Energy Derived from Biomass

India today has the fifth largest installed wind power capacity in the world.
 

Speakers at the Renewable Energy Conference, Dr. S. Gomathinayagam, Executive Director of Centre for Wind Energy Technologies (C-WET) and Sri D.V. Giri, Chairman of Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association, highlighted the role of wind power for India’s energy security.
 

“India installed wind power capacity is over 15 gigawatts today. China and USA, that are first and second in the world, in terms of installed wind power capacity, have over 52 gigawatts and 42 gigawatts respectively,” stated Dr. S. Gomathinayagam.
 

“Electricity from wind accounts for 3% – 4% of total electricity generated in the country today, in China the corresponding number is 1.5% – 2% and in USA, it is a little over 2%.”
 

“To harness wind energy, the kinetic energy of wind is converted to mechanical (rotational) energy and then interfacing with a generator, mechanical energy is converted to electrical energy.”
 

“To efficiently harness wind power, proper aerodynamic and structural design of blades, rotors, drive train is essential. Knowledge of generator and control systems and power electronics is also required.”
 

“For developing wind energy, 95% of investment is from the private sector today.”
 

Further sharing insights with the delegates, Sri. Giri drew from his experience as the CEO of a company involved in the manufacture, marketing and maintenance of wind turbines.
 

“As far as the wind industry is concerned, we have over 15 manufacturers with 30-40 models, starting from 250 kilowatt turbines to 2100 kilowatt machines.”
 

“Why did wind industry become popular? The government of India, through section 32 of Income Tax Act declared that anybody who invests in wind energy will be able to enjoy 100% accelerated depreciation.”
 

“If a profit making company hedges its profits against a wind mill investment, it is able to create a liquidity of 30% and the remaining 70% can be got from banks at commercial rates of interest. In about 7-10 years, the interest and principal amount can be payed off.”
 

“The private sector invested to make this a popular industry. The industry has created a lot of employment opportunities. The direct and indirect employment, whether skilled or unskilled, in wind power is 15 – 20 persons per megawatt.”
 

“Coal, oil and gas are depleting and will not last forever. Man has to turn to nature. Renewable energy sources and especially, wind may be the answer.”
 

In his keynote speech, Dr. R. K. Pachauri also spoke about wind energy. “Wind energy machines are being developed today that would essentially float; these allows us the opportunity to tap winds at sea. Energy could be supplied through undersea cables to the shore. In the future, India will become a leading player in the area of wind energy.”
 

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Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, flew from Jammu and Kashmir to Tamil Nadu to attend Amrita’s Renewable Energy International Conference at the Coimbatore Campus.
 

Padma Vibhushan Dr. R.K. Pachauri, Chancellor of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), also came from New Delhi to attend.
 

Given below are some remarks made by these distinguished guests at the inaugural session of the conference.
 

Dr. Farooq Abdullah: India has made a good start in wind energy, and is today ranked number five in the world, producing 17000 megawatts of power by wind.
 

Another 3000 megawatts by wind power is expected to be added every year.
 

India should seek collaboration with other countries for quick developments in other technologies, just as we did with Denmark for wind technologies.
 

When the Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission began two years ago, India generated only 2 megawatts of solar power. By 2013, the mission will have 13000 megawatts of solar power.
 

States such as Rajasthan and Gujarat are making investments in photovoltaic cells and solar panels to generate thousands of megawatts of solar power. We might soon see every roof top with solar panels that generate power and feed power to the grid.
 

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has prepared extensive proposals for implementation in the 12th five-year plan period for accelerating the development of renewable energy in the country. Our cumulative target is around 55 gigawatts of renewable power and also a large number of decentralized renewable energy systems.
 

A study reported that of the 330 gigawatts of new electricity generation capacity installed globally, between 2009 – 2010, 140 gigawatts came from renewable energy. If proper policy support is provided, renewable energy can meet up to 80% of global energy demands by 2050. The world is on the move and we must strive for a leadership role in this area.
 

Dr. R.K. Pachauri: There are enormous benefits from use of renewable energy. We make progress towards energy security, there are health benefits as there is less pollution, agriculture can thrive and we get the needed food security.
 

The fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change looked at the potential for reduction of emissions from every sector of economy, and found that the building sector provides the greatest potential.
 

In partnership with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, we came up with a system by which the sustainability of different buildings could be evaluated. As a result, the Ministry now provides incentives and disincentives to make a change from inefficient forms of energy consumption. Through efficiency-enhancing retrofits in existing buildings, energy use can be cut down by 15-20%. In the case of new buildings, 40-45% decrease in energy consumption can be attained.
 

We can use energy efficiently and save money. We need the right leadership to promote this and partnership involving government, the building industry and research institutions.
 

It is with the students that the future hopes of the country rests upon, the growth of our country relies on. As stated by Gandhiji, speed is irrelevant if one is going in the wrong direction.
 

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Wind Power Discussion at Conference
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Dr. K. Kalyana Sundaram, Senior Scientist at the Lab for Photonics and Interfaces at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland), was a plenary speaker at the pre-conference workshop during the Second International Conference on Renewable Energy: Resources, Challenges & Opportunities.
 

During his talk, Dr. Sundaram outlined renewable energy resources including the sun, wind, moving water, biomass, and the earth’s heat (geothermal).
 

“We have enormous potential in India. India gets solar radiation of 5-8 kWh per metre squared every day. Solar alone can produce 127500 terawatt (TW) of energy. Similarly wind can give 19 TW, biomass can provide 7-9 TW, geothermal about 2.5 TW, tidal 3.6 TW and hydroelectric can give us 2 TW of energy. We have to efficiently tap these resources,” the speaker said.
 

Highlighting various types of solar cells that are used to generate energy, Dr. Sundaram spoke about third generation cells including dye sensitized cells, polymer organic cells, multi junction or tandem cells.
 

Providing examples, he listed the solar-powered kitchens at Tirupati and Shirdi that feed tens of thousands of people daily as well as solar thermal water purification and desalination plants in India.
 

Providing yet other examples of other forms of renewable energy installations, he mentioned that the wind energy generation capacity of Muppandal in Tamil Nadu is estimated to be around 1,500 MW, or about 20% of the wind power potential in India.
 

“Due to increased turbine sizes, and advances in research and development and improvements in the manufacturing sector, the cost of wind power has decreased from 40 cents per kWh to 3-4 cents per kWh,” Dr. Sundaram informed.
 

Other energy sources discussed by the speaker included biomass, biogas and biodiesel. “Biomass already supplies 14 % of the world’s primary energy consumption. On an average, biomass accounts for 38 % of the primary energy used in developing countries,” he pointed out.
 

Tapping energy from geothermal sources deep inside the earth and from hydrogen was also discussed. The speaker noted the risks involved with nuclear power technology.
 

Also speaking at the pre-conference workshop was Amrita’s Dr. Sriram Devananthan, who asked the rhetorical question, “Is sustainable development an oxymoron?”
 

“Conventional development has mostly succeeded in bringing about a giant divide between the rich and poor. With finite resources and growing economies and populations, sustainable development may be a difficult goal. If one understands growth patterns, it will help us to better anticipate the social, economic and environmental impact of that growth,” he said.
 

“There are no readily available solutions that can curb such exponential growth patterns. But one can surely rely on renewable resources to ensure eco-friendly solutions for the energy problem,” he concluded.
 

SEE ALSO

Renewable Energy: Resources, Challenges & Opportunities
Inaugural Speeches at Renewable Energy Conference
Wind Power Discussion at Conference
Solar Energy Discussions at Conference
Energy Derived from Biomass