The following presentation explains the idea behind the fellowship program and what is expected from an applicant.
Does the Sanjivani Plant really exist?
Dr. K. N. Ganeshaiah says it just might be true. Here’s one of his very famous publications which is titled: “In search of the Sanjivani” :
He makes mythical references to Sanjivani in the Ramayana and relates it to an existing plant called S. bryopteris, which has properties of healing dead rat cells.
http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/aug252009/484.pdf
admin, February 21st 2010
K.C. Sivaramakrishnan
Mr. K. C. Sivaramakrishnan, born November 9, 1935, is one of the leading authorities in India in the field of urban planning and development. He entered the Indian Administrative Service in 1958 and was posted to West Bengal Cadre and later as Chief Executive of the Asansol Planning Organisation and Durgapur Development Authority. He was the Urban Management Adviser to the World Bank during 1979-1982 and later Senior Adviser from 1992-1995. Currently, Mr. Sivaramakrishnan is a Visiting Professor, Centre for Policy Research, Delhi, but continues consultancy assignments for the World Bank, UNDP and other multilateral organisations. He has contributed several articles to professional publications. He was a Member of the Advisory Committee, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi.
admin, February 13th 2010
Harish Sivaramakrishnan
Harish Sivaramakrishnan is a computer scientist and platform evangelist at Adobe Bangalore. He is an alumnus of BITS Pilani. He calls him self ‘flexgeek’ for the flex enthusiast he is. He believes in the human aspect of technology and how technology can be made simple so that everyone can use it.
He visited BITS recently to conduct the Adobe Flex Bootcamp where he demonstarted his vision and the awesome tool that Adobe Flex is.
The team is delighted to announce that Harish (or vodka!) will be back at BITS to speak at TEDx Pilani.
Visit flexgeek’s blog here.
admin, January 30th 2010
TEDxPilani …unveiling India
We are pleased to announce that our theme for TEDxPilani 2010 will be “…unveiling India!”. The theme is very much connected to the vision and emotion shared by the team, to unravel diverse aspects of India, not just as a culture, not just as an economy but as phenomenon, on the face of the globe.
Coming to think of it, most literature, written, visual or other, that relates to India as a nation, talks either about its grand history, its culture, and its traditions or about its growth as a developing nation, how it is about to take-over as super-power etc. But what we probably fail to discuss it what makes is special to the world of today.
It is definitely neither our heritage nor our huge population that seemingly threatens to eat up the rest of the world. It is this unspoken identity that we have made for ourselves in today’s context, which can be expressed in terms of how people see us. IT Multinationals see us as great programmers, Engineers the world over see us as great ‘Jugaadus’, Corporate giants see us as great managers, great data-analysts, tourists see us a country of rich cultural heritage, some travelers see us as a really poor country with too many people , and yet others see us as a country of too many smart people. And of recently, we are being seen as a wager for reducing global emissions.
To give specific examples, our paradigm of innovation, which has been characterized by its focus on affordability & simplicity more than luxury, has now been deliberated and termed as Reverse Innovation by multinationals the world over, led by the innovation giant G. E. Our quality of being smart, intelligent and opportunist has led to NASA having 36% of the senior scientific community as Indians. Our art forms both performing and others, having developed from a great cultural exchange has gained international acclaim. Our amazing working habits, as compared to rest of the world, have been instrumental in allowing for such accelerated growth since independence.
Now this is a mix of great many feelings, both positive and negative. But the underlying point is that we have an identity of our own on the globe which goes beyond talks of our cultural heritage or our competitive stand in the world economy. And only when we start appreciating this fact that we begin to realize our importance in the subtleness of world dynamics. And when we start believing in our true identity, we realize our strengths and weaknesses, which in turn helps us understand better what we can contribute to the world as a nation.
Indeed, contributing to the nation’s growth is just like growing up ourselves. We can contribute as individuals and walk our life-path only when we are able to understand ourselves better. So let us walk this journey to 13th March 2010 and on the way, understand our country better, to know the small things we are good at that would matter.
Aniket
On behalf of the TEDxPilani Team
admin, January 29th 2010
