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Team SIF Kuwait wish our readers a very Happy, Prosperous and
Memorable New Year
January, 2017
.
2 Third Edition of Sastra Prathibha Contest conducted successfully
On the auspicious occasion of the birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekanada, 12th January 2017, celebrated as
the National Youth Day, SIF-Kuwait successfully conducted the third edition of Sastra Prathibha Science
Exam .The biggest and the most prestigious science exam in Kuwait, involving 1000’s of students was
carried out at 18 major Indian schools in Kuwait with the help of teachers and 40 plus SIF-Kuwait volunteers
who carried out the mission successfully with precision. The one hour objective type exam followed the pat-
tern as 40% from the given syllabus, 40% from the existing academic curriculum, 10% analytical and logical
and 10% general knowledge questions.
SIF Kuwait team takes this opportunity to thank each one who made it happen Thank You!!!
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3
Winning KCSC team participated at 24th National Children’s Science Congress 2016
The winning KCSC team successfully participated at the 24th National Children’s Science Congress 2016 held
at VIIT Maharashtra adds to the enthusiasm among the students for yet another scientific venture. The six
member NCSC delegation from Kuwait was led by
Mrs. Sindhu Ashok, (Faculty, Bhavans Kuwait) and
Mrs. Mary Gomez (Faculty, Bhavans Kuwait). The
participating teams were given guidance by the senior
Indian scientists from Kuwait Institute for Scientific
Research (KISR).
The program was organized by the Department of
Science and technology, Government of India. Nearly
700 child scientists participated in the five day long NCSC
held at Vidyapratisthan’s Institute of Information
Technology (VIIT), Baramati, Maharashtra in December.
Children from all over the country and student delegations
from Middle East took part in the congress.
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4
IIT Gandhinagar scientists develop irrigation maps of India
For the first time, high-resolution maps of irrigated areas of India from 2000-2015 have been prepared using
remote sensing data. The maps were validated with ground-based survey data. High-resolution irrigated water
maps are essential for estimation of irrigation water demand and consumption on a spatial scale, crop
productivity assessments and hydrologic modelling. The maps were developed by a team led by Dr. Vimal
Mishra from the Civil Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The
results were published in Scientific Data, a journal from the Nature group.
While the irrigation maps developed by the Food
and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) are of low
resolution, the high-resolution maps of International
Water Management Institute (IWMI) are available for
just one year and do not cover the entire country. “So we
developed annual irrigated area maps at a resolution of
250 metres for the period 2000-2015 covering all the
agroecological zones of India,” says Dr. Mishra. “We
used the remote sensed vegetation index data from
MODIS [Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer] and high resolution (56 metre) land use/land cover
data from the National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC) to prepare the maps.”
In the case of some States the maps tend to overestimate the irrigated areas while in others it
underestimates. “Generally, humid areas lead to overestimation of the irrigated areas because of less variation
in peak vegetation index, which is used as a threshold to identify irrigated and non-irrigated areas. Also, the
resolution of remotely sensed vegetation index data may not be able to fully capture irrigated areas of small
land holdings in India. And, a 250 metre pixel is considered fully irrigated even if there is partial irrigation in a
small field within a pixel,” he says. However, the maps have better accuracy in the case of arid and semi-arid
regions as vegetation is restricted to areas that are irrigated and therefore the vegetation index truly reflects the
vegetation health. “For most States we found our estimates of irrigated area are better in accuracy than the
maps developed by IWMI,” he says.
“Since a majority of agroecological zones of India fall in water-limited conditions, we assume that our
method is effective for India,” they write. The developed dataset showed better accuracy against the
ground-based survey than previously available datasets. The estimation of irrigated area can be further
improved if vegetation index data is available at higher spatial (to resolve small land holdings) and temporal
resolution (to accurately capture crop growth cycle, which is essential to differentiate crops that are irrigated
and not irrigated).
“We have plans to update the repository every year. By February 2017 we will upload the irrigated
area data [in the form of maps] for 2016,” Dr. Mishra assures. The irrigation maps from 2000 to 2015 for the
entire country are available in a Geotiff format in a repository and can be be freely accessed by researchers and
others. To highlight the trend and response of irrigation to rainfall variations, the authors chose the
Indo-Gangetic Plain, which had witnessed severe drought in 2002 and 2015. To understand how unusual
.
5
CSIR lab develops advanced reading machine for visually chal-
lenged
Good news for visually challenged persons this New Year - tens of
thousands of them can get the most advanced reading machine, at an
affordable cost. The machine would bring to an end dependence on
others to read and learn. Chandigarh-based Central Scientific
Instruments Organisation (CSIO), under the Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR) has developed a reading machine for
visually challenged, the most advanced so far. The sleek scanner
named "Divya Nayan" scans any script and read it aloud for visually
challenged to understand.
The portable device is based on the principle of contact
scanning of a printed document and converting it into speech. "The
device is standalone, portable, completely wireless and uses open
source hardware and software. The device can analyse a multi
column document and provide seamless reading," Principal
Scientist at CSIO Dr. Ashish Gaurav was quoted by the Indian
Science Journal.
"It is capable of page, text and word level navigation while
reading," he added. Currently it supports Hindi and English
languages. Progressively it will be programmed for other Indian and
foreign languages. "It is one of the fast track projects to be translated
into a product. We could achieve this within a year. The device has
been enabled for other vernacular languages besides Hindi. We can
also program the speed of reading the text as desired by the readers,"
said Dr RK Sinha, Director of CSIO. 'Divya Nayan' has an internal
storage of 32 GB with run time of upto 3 hours and weighs 410
grams. The device is equipped with WiFi and Bluetooth interface that
helps to connect with Internet. It also can be connected to a monitor
and use as a mini computer with screen reader utility.
The device's trial was run at the Institute for the Blind, a
voluntary body in Chandigarh. "We have taken the feedback from the
visually challenged and factored it according to their needs," said Dr.
Ashish Gaurav. India has a population of 15 million visually
challenged, of the 39 million across the world, who have long been
unable to access printed documents like books, newspaper,
magazines, etc. Braille is the primary source of reading for such
people. But converting text into Braille is time consuming, and thus
limits their access. Divya Nayan would bridge the gap of available
technology for visually challenged.
courtesy: www.deccanchronicle.com
Cont’d
2015 drought was, the authors
looked at the magnitude of deficit in
2015 monsoon rainfall and also
looked at the long-time data from
IMD.
“When we analysed the data, two
regions—Indo-Gangetic Plain and
Marathwada regions - were very
distinct. These two regions faced
very severe monsoon rainfall deficit
in 2015,” he says. “We hypothesised
that single monsoon deficit alone
cannot result in a severe water
shortage in these regions that was
witnessed in the post-monsoon
season of 2015 and summer of
2016.”
The GRACE satellite data
showed an alarming depletion of
groundwater in the post monsoon
season of 2015. Combined depletion
of surface and groundwater
resources was caused by the two
consecutive droughts over the
Indo-Gangetic Plain region.
“The deficit for 2 consecutive
years 2014 and 2015 was 51 per
cent. The drought in the
Indo-Gangetic plain based on two
consecutive monsoon rainfall
deficits was ranked one during the
period of 1906-2015. Statistical
analysis showed that the two-year
drought was unprecedented and had
a return period of more than 500
years. It means low probability of
two consecutive years being drought
years,” Dr. Mishra explains.
Courtesy: www.thehindu.com
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6
India has emerged as the most preferred destination for innovation
India has emerged as the most preferred destination for innovation in third largest internationally and
Asia, with 'Silicon Valley' of East Bengaluru leading the charge, says research by global consulting important
Capgemini. "India continues to be ranked as the No. 1 invention destination in Asia and No. 2 in the world for
innovation centres," the report said. Nine innovation centres were started in the nation throughout the time,
taking a total variety of innovation centres to 25. The list 1ith 146 centres, followed by Britain with 29 is led
by the US, and India is at third palce with 24 centres. The report said there is noticeable activity in tier-II
cities when it comes to innovation, and added that apart from Pune, which already existed to the global map,
Jaipur has also entered the list with two new centres.
The research, done by the Digital Transformation Institute of Capgemini Consulting in collaboration
with Fahrenheit 212 and partnership with Brian Solis of Altimeter, said attempts taken by the authorities are
the prime transferring factor for the emergence of the nation in the list. Pune, Jaipur and Hyderabad each
welcomed two new centres involving partnerships with the government during the March- October period, it
said. The number of active incubators in the country is grown 40 per cent to 140, using a volume 66 per cent
of them in tier-II and tier-III centres.
International names, including General Electric 3M, Qualcomm Technologies, Cisco and London -
based Internet of things consortium Hypercat have existence in the country today, the report said. The
footprint in smaller cities was credited to the IoT policy for 2016 -2020 along with the startup India initiative
of the government established early in 2013.
courtesy: www.typicalindian.com
Two girls from Kerala won awards at Science Congress
It was a proud moment for the state of Kerala as two girl students won outstanding project awards at
the National Children's Science Congress (NCSC) that concluded at Baramati in Maharashtra. Nayana Reji, a
plus one student at the SMV Higher Secondary School (HSS) at Poonjar in Kottayam won the award for the
project titled `Influence of moon phases on cultivation and harvesting' and Malavika C S, plus one student
from DVM NNM HSS at Maranalloor in Thiruvananthapuram won the award for her project on `Energy
conservation in tea shops for sustainable development: A study in Maranalloor panchayat'. Kerala state coun-
cil for science, technology and environment (KSCSTE) is the state nodal agency for NCSC, a five-day event
that began on December 27. Altogether 16 students, representing various schools in Kerala, participated in
the Congress, said KSCSTE member secretary and director S Pradeep Kumar. The project on moon effect on
plants by Nayana Reji was chosen as one among the 15 best projects and the one on energy conservation in
tea shops by Malavika C S was adjudged best among 30 selected projects.
Courtesy: www.timesofindia.com
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7
India Can Top In Science by 2030, Key Is Collaboration: PM Modi In Tirupati
India can be among the top three countries in the world when it comes to science and technology by
2030, but it can only happen if there's collaboration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told 11,000 scientists at
the 104th session of the Indian Science Congress at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. For this to happen, scientists
need to get out of their "deep-rooted silos", the Prime Minister said. And it was necessary that ministries,
scientists, research institutions, industries, start-ups, universities and IITs, all "work together seamlessly". "In
particular, our infrastructure and socio-economic ministries must make appropriate use of science and tech-
nology," he added.
Taking a dig at the entrenched bureaucracy that runs in the Indian scientific scene, the Prime Minister
added, "If we want science to deliver, we must not constrain it".
The SCOPUS database -- the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature --
indicates that India ranks sixth in the world in sci-
entific publications, growing at a rate of about 14%
against the world average of about 4%, the Prime
Minister pointed out. It is possible, he said, that by
2030 India will also be among the most attractive
destinations for the best talent in the world. "The
wheels we set in motion today will achieve this
goal," he said.
In his 25-minute speech, PM Modi said
there was huge opportunity by research, training and skilling in robotics, artificial intelligence, digital
manufacturing, big data analysis, deep learning, quantum communication and internet-of-things.
He said it was necessary to have the National Laboratories to connect with schools and colleges to
develop appropriate training programmes. "Laboratories, research institutions and universities in each major
city region, should be interlinked to function on a hub and spoke model. The hubs will share major
infrastructure,drive our national science missions and be the engines that link discovery to application," he
said. Possibly with an eye on the cashless society that he champions, PM Modi said, "We need to develop an
Inter-Ministerial National Mission in the Cyber-Physical Systems to secure our future by creation of basic
R&D infrastructure, manpower and skills."
Scientists, the Prime Minister added, need to keep an eye on the rise of disruptive technologies and be
prepared to leverage them for growth.
Courtesy: www.ndtv.com
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8
Celebrated Scientist CNR Rao's Autobiography released
Eminent Scientist and Bharata Ratna awardeeProf C N R Rao's Autobiography 'A Life in Science' that
givesvaluable insights into the Scientific research in India and abouthis journey into the scientific world was
released. Former Supreme Court judge Shivaraj Patil and former ISROChairman K Kasturirangan released the
51st book written by Prof Rao. Speaking at the function, Prof Rao said he was dedicating the work to young
scientists. As a human being and as a teacher he had put down in black and white what is like 'Life as a
Science'. ''What makes me happy is young people come in large numbers by publishing papers in science and
help country improve its stature in research,'' he
said.
In the book, the 83-year-old Prof Rao
provides a rare glimpse into the life of one of the
most eminent, dedicated and widely respected
scientists of post-independence India. The former
scientific advisor to Prime Minister also talks
about prominent scientists of the past and present,
whom he was inspired by. He also presents a
detailed account of the kind of commitment that is required to achieve success in the field. He offers valuable
advice to young people who desire a life in science and suggests ways to deal with the inevitable roadblocks
that crop up in the pursuit of excellence. Prof Rao regretted that not enough investment was being made in
science research in the country and China during the last three years was stealing a march over India with
heavy investments in science research. We need to do much more both in quality and quantity of science
research''.
He expressed apprehensions over 'junk' journals being published in science sphere in India and
wondered who was doing it. People publish stale work and claim it as original. This type of thing is more
dangerous. Plagiarism, Chinese also do but it should not be tolerated, he said. The book is published by
Penguin-Random House. We believe the book will be a motivator for both young and mature readers who
respect and value science. Such books can play a major role in disseminating scientific temper in the society
and to let citizens know how the mind of a scientist works as they
follow my life-time journey in Science, he added.
Dr Kasturirangan said research had to be relevant and problem
stacked should be contemporary. The ambitions Prof Rao displayed
to promote science when he was the scientific advisor were
commendable. The book was an unusual work by an extraordinary
mind, he said.
courtesy: www.indanexpress.com
Hello Kiddies, Here is your Answers!!!
1. The skin
2. Bone marrow
3. False (there are 206)
4. 2
5. Larynx
.
9
"An equation for me has no mean-
ing, unless it represents a thought
of God."
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Discover
VOLUME 03
ISSUE 09 JAN, 2017
Compiled & Edited By
Prasanth Nair
Reshmy Krishnakumar
Science International Forum, Kuwait
facebook.com/sifkuwait
For subscription mail to
Do You Know!!!
1. Leonardo da Vinci was born in what country ?
2. In terms of land area, is the largest country in the world ?
3. Which country was known as Ceylon until 1972 ?
4. Where can you find the cities Ankara and Istanbul ?
5. Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in what country ?
You have time till next edition