Category Archives: Amazing Feats

The prodigy who made people sit up and take notice

Amazing Feats, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
Jaiden John and Navaneeth at Cocon on Friday

After leaving conventional schooling, Jaiden is now doing his research in MIT

Fourteen-year-old Jaiden John exudes a certain maturity and wisdom belying his age.

While children of his age were toiling hard with classroom lessons, the tech-savvy lad was busy explaining a technology-driven platform at the exhibition centre set up as part of Cocon, an international cybersecurity conference here, far away from the comfort of his home at Meppadi in Wayanad district.

Teamed up with a much older Navaneeth K.T, who is doing his third-year computer science at Calicut University, Jaiden was not at all overwhelmed, in fact, far from it. He was patient even with those visitors who came up with doubts, which were an insult to his intelligence, but kept explaining the finer points of their product.

Having left conventional schooling in eighth standard, he has now enrolled with the National Institute of Open Schooling. When asked what prompted him to leave school, Jaden, who joined a course in web and application development at the age of eight, would only smile in response.

But there was much bigger surprise in the offing when it emerged that the youngster has been doing his research in machine learning-driven cancer detection with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the past six months after his instructor in a technology course recommended him to the acclaimed university.

“Machine learning-driven cancer detection will be of great help in the rural areas of India where medical service is not easily accessible. Detecting the ailment with the help of a simple device can be revolutionary,” he said.

Jaiden and Navaneeth came together after they won an ideation contest conducted by the Kerala Cyberdome. They are now working on an artificial intelligence and machine learning-driven platform aimed at detecting helmetless two-wheeler drivers with the help of visuals.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by M.P. Parveen / Kochi – October 06th, 2018

‘Chekutty’ to help weave together flood-ravaged Chendamangalam

Amazing Feats, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives & Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All
Chekutty, the doll made from soiled fabric of Chendamangalam handlooms.

Designers create dolls from soiled handloom cloth

Born out of the love for Chendamangalam handloom are dolls made of the soiled textile from the flood-ravaged looms. ‘Chekutty’, as the designers have named it, is ‘Chendamangalam Kutty’ and stands for all that the floods have left behind.

“Chekutty has scars, Chekutty has stains. But Chekuty is each one of us who survived the floods,” goes the appeal from the designers who took up the task of helping rebuild the lives of the flood-hit Chendamangalam weavers, for whom 80% of revenue comes from Onam sales.

The only option left for the weavers was to burn the severely damaged and soiled stock, which could not be fixed through cleaning, says designer Lakshmi Menon of Pure Living, who has been promoting a green lifestyle along with ideas of making value-added products from waste materials.

Out of the debris of the soiled saris has emerged Chekutty – a mascot for rebuilding Kerala from despair.

Gopinath Parayil of Blue Beyond is partnering with Ms. Menon in the endeavour of ‘Weaving together Kerala’ – the slogan given for Chekutty dolls.

“We saw that there were many takers for the stock that was not damaged. It was the amount of damaged stock that got me thinking. And we needed to do something fast too,” says Ms. Menon.

“We have upcycled the fabric to help raise funds for the weavers that will help them till the next season,” says Mr. Parayil. The festival of Vishu next April is the next season for the weavers.

350 dolls per sari

The average cost of a sari is ₹1,300. Up to 350 dolls can be made from a sari, with the minimum price of a doll at ₹25. Hence, the cost retrieved from a sari will be nearly ₹9,000, says Ms. Menon.

Each piece of textile is chlorinated and boiled in water to disinfect it and is made safe to be used, she adds. The dolls may be hung on shoulder bags, suitcases or inside cars.

A demonstration of doll-making was organised at Panampilly Nagar on Sunday to help people take up the task.

Website

A website, www.chekutty.in, is in the process of being set up to invite people to participate in creating dolls or buying them.

Remaining stock

Ajith Kumar, secretary of the Handloom Weavers’ Co-operative Society, Karimpadam, Chendamangalam, says stock worth ₹21 lakh remains damaged. Fortunately, there was stock worth ₹10 lakh, set aside for Kozhikode and Ernakulam markets, which remains to be sold, he adds. (Mr. Kumar may be contacted at 9446927345.)

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Shyama Rajagopal / Kochi – September 10th, 2018

Helping hands restore classrooms, school park

Amazing Feats, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features
(Left) The discoloured slide and broken benches at the Government S.N.V. Lower Primary School, Thuruthipuram, near North Paravur

Professionals from various fields, students of Cusat and teachers join the effort

Rincy and Ananthakrishna, both aged 8, had left their flood-battered homes in Thuruthipuram near North Paravur wondering how long it would take for them to swing and slide in their favourite school park again.

But, a surprise was in store for the children as they walked into the Government S.N.V. Lower Primary School, Thuruthipuram, on Monday morning. The slide, swings and the benches in the park, which had got discoloured in the rushing flood waters, were gleaming with a fresh coat of paint. New charts, scribblings and graffiti had replaced all that the waters had taken away.

Only later did they realise that their dream had been made real by some angels in the form of youngsters, teachers, professionals from IT and other fields, who had worked tirelessly to make it all happen. These unknown faces and hands represent the increasing tribe of Good Samaritans engaged in the re-building of flood-ravaged schools in Ernakulam.

“We had kept some money for conducting the Onam programmes in our university. We used that along with the funds given by our friends to re-build the school,” said Muhammed Shibin, a final-year student of B.Tech Information Technology at the Cochin University of Science and Technology. The youth was part of the 45-odd volunteers who had joined hands to restore the flood-hit government school to its original condition.

Sreepriya, an IT professional with a company in SmartCity Kochi, said that they were able to complete works so as to enable the teachers to resume the classes by Monday. “For the kitchen (where mid-day meals are prepared for the 65 children), we bought a new stove, utensils and other necessary items as everything here was either washed away or destroyed in the floods,” she said.

Mr. Shibin said that they had also spruced up the school park and given a fresh coat of paint for the damp walls and wet classrooms. “We wanted to bring back the school to its prior state as much as possible. However, much work seems left in other flood-hit schools and we hope our endeavour will inspire others to pursue it,” he said.

Praising the efforts made by the volunteers, Shelia A. Salam, headmistress of the school, said that the houses of all the 65 children in the school were affected in the floods. “Our school met with extensive damage. We had lost three desktops, two laptops, sound system, motor, compound wall, toilets, office registers, and documents,” she said.

P. S. Chandrika, geadmistress of P.S.M. Government Lower Primary School, Puthenvelikara, expressed hope that the school could come back with the growing support from a cross section of individuals, associations and organisations.

“We got help for clean-up work from policemen, education department officials, and residents’ associations. An IT major has assured us school kits having notebooks, tiffin-box and school bags. A social media group involving education department officials in Thiruvananthapuram has assured us t-shirts, shoes, umbrellas, notebooks for our 250-odd students. Teachers and students from Cusat helped us in cleaning up the wells on the campus,” she said.

However, Ms. Chandrika said that they had no idea how to replace the damaged laptops and desktops. “Most of the children belong to parents who are daily wage labourers. We cannot ask them to pay for these replacements. I have no idea how to bring them daily to the school, as the only bus used to transport them was also damaged in the floods,” she said.

C.S. Santosh, Deputy Director of Education, Ernakulam, said that a leading company had promised 2 lakh notebooks for the students in the flood-affected schools in Ernakulam. “School bags have been offered by a Kerala-based company while a public sector oil major has informed that they are considering a proposal to repair the flood-damaged buildings. We now need support for replacement of IT equipment. As per our preliminary estimates, over 200 laptops and 125 projectors were destroyed in the floods in government and aided schools in the district,” he said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by G. KrishnaKumar / Kochi – September 04th, 2018

A new war memorial in Thiruvananthapuram soon

Amazing Feats, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion

More than two decades after formal orders were issued, the state capital is set to get a new war memorial commemorating soldiers who fought in the wars and military operations that took place

The existing World War I Memorial at Palayam  B P Deepu

Thiruvananthapuram :

More than two decades after formal orders were issued, the state capital is set to get a new war memorial commemorating soldiers who fought in the wars and military operations that took place after the country gained Independence. The existing war memorial, which stands opposite the College of Fine Arts at Palayam, commemorates soldiers who fought in World War I. According to top officials of the Directorate of Sainik Welfare, the land has been identified for the memorial near Shangumugham beach. Other details, such as the design, are yet to be worked out. The state government has formed a War Memorial committee with the Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) as chairman and the Director, Sainik Welfare, as secretary. The army station commander, Pangode; state police chief and the district collector are among the members.

The first meeting of the committee is slated to be held on July 16.‘‘In 1996, the Union Home Ministry has asked the states to  establish war memorials. Many states complied. Though the Kerala Government had issued orders allotting the land at the time, the project did not take off,’’ A Kishan, director-in-charge, Sainik Welfare, said.

Also, armed forces veterans in the state have been clamouring for a war memorial memorialising the soldiers who fought and laid down their lives in the major post-Independence conflicts. In fact, the state capital also boasts numerous veterans who saw combat in the 1962 India-China war, the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971 and the Kargil war of 1999.

War memorial

The WW I memorial at Palayam is unique in the sense that it mentions the years as 1914-1921. This is rare as most WW I memorials give them as 1914-1918. 1921 was the year the Berlin Treaty was signed. Another important war memorial that has historical links to Travancore is at Colachel in modern-day Tamil Nadu.

The memorial – a soaring pillar – was erected by Marthanda Varma after his forces defeated the Dutch forces in the Battle of Colachel in 1741. Neglected for years, the pillar and its immediate environs were finally taken over by the Military Station based at Pangode in Thiruvananthapuram.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Tiki Rajwi, Express News Service / July 10th, 2018

Kicking off a football anthem: Malayali band Orfeo is here with a Football anthem for this World Cup

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Who would not offer their right hand for a chance to visit Russia this season — to not just participate but to contribute to the World Cup frenzy as well? Musicians of Malayali music band Orfeo have done exactly that by going to Russia and bringing out an interesting music album that captures the mood and the memories. Called Davai Davai, it was released a few days ago and has become a topic of discussion among music lovers and football fans.

“Davai Davai means ‘Come on let’s go’,” says the violinist Carol George as he excitedly speaks about the album and its making, calling it the first music anthem created by Malayalis on the World Cup matching international standards and having visuals right from where the action is.

 

“It all started when we were discussing what next, after our covers such as Padakali and Veerapandi Kottayile became popular. We are all hardcore football fans and used to play the game during school and college days. And our cellist Maria Grigoreva is from Moscow. We had plans to visit her country and shoot a travelogue, so we thought why not a music video along with it,” Carol recollects.

While some were sceptical if they could compose a good number before they leave, Robin Thomas, the pianist, promised to come up with an interesting tune in two days. “The moment Robin played it for us, we were all motivated. The music is the pulse of Davai Davai. No matter how beautiful the visuals are, if the tune isn’t syncing, there is no point in making a video,’’ he says.

There was no stopping the Orfeo team afterwards. “We really worked hard. Obstacles were there, but we didn’t bother. We got our visas two days before our trip,” he says.

Once they reached Russia, they got sucked into the football craze. According to Carol, they reached at the right time. “There were football fans everywhere. We never thought we would be allowed to enter the premises of Luzhniki Stadium which hosted the opening match of the World Cup this year. We got a lot of visuals of people playing football there. Interestingly, the day we went was a special day for Russians and people were all out at The Red Square, including the military. There were tight security checks, but we were able to capture the feel of the World Cup. The initial visuals in the video too were shot near the Square,” he says. They were very careful about not getting entangled in legal issues, so they consciously avoided capturing official buildings.

The lyrics of Davai is by Shyam Muraleedharan and Don Thomas and it has been sung by Sayanora, Don Thomas, Abhimanyu and Isabella Chepeleva (a Russian). To bring in the celebratory mode, they have also added visuals of people dancing which they managed to shoot with the support of their friends at Russia.

“We have a few friends there via online and professionally. Russians do not speak much English but we were able to communicate musically,” he says.

Robin who composed Davai says all he had in his mind was the excitement of football and the crowds. “I wanted the thrill of the World Cup to reflect in the song. The challenge was to make it simple and interesting, which can be appreciated by everyone. That’s how the Davai portion came in,” he says.

The team is getting a lot of positive feedback. “We have no words to explain how happy we are when some tell us that Davai is better than even the official FIFA song. For us, going till the World Cup Football venue itself is a dream come true and we are overwhelmed!” he says.

Apart from Robin Thomas, Maria Grigoreva and Carol George, the team includes Chandlu Nerimbodath and Francis Xavier on violin and Herald Antony on Viola. The visuals were directed by Steev Benjamin and shot by Ajith Kumar PS

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Kochi News / by Anjana George / June 14th, 2018

Kerala’s Naveen Manoharan, the lad with the scorpion kick

Amazing Feats, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Alappuzha  :

Naveen Manoharan (24), who hails from Varanad in Cherthala is now known as René Higuita among his friends after his ‘scorpion kick’ video went viral on social media.

Higuita is a retired Colombian football goalkeeper who was nicknamed ‘El Loco’ for his high-risk ‘sweeper-keeper’ playing style and his flair for the dramatic. Naveen, who is a die-hard fan of the Colombian goalkeeper, has been practicing Higuita’s audacious save since his Plus Two days. He started to do scorpion kicks when he became the captain of their village football team Vasco Varanad in Cherthala three years ago.

“My home is near the playground of Vasco Club, which has been organizing all-Kerala football tournament for the past 33 years. I started to play at the ground when I was a first standard student. While I was pursuing Plus Two, we had a chapter in Malayalam on Higuita, who wowed the world with his scorpion kick  while playing for Colombia against England in 1995. Since then, I became curious, collected his details and watched YouTube video of his saves,” he said.

But, that special kick remained elusive for a while, he admitted. “I tried to do the scorpion kick and failed many times. But I was not ready to go back and I never gave up. Three years ago, I could do it perfectly. The video of my save, which went viral on social media, was shot on Sunday by one of my friends. He and my cousin Abhijith posted it on social media and now my friends call me Higuita,” he said.

Naveen, an ITI instrumentation holder, is from an ordinary family and his friends are confident that Argentina will win the World Cup this time.

In Video: This scorpion kick will leave you tizzy

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Kochi News / by Sajimon P S / TNN / June 14th, 2018

Energy Management Centre, Kerala, a green, energetic building

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives & Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
Energy Management Centre, Kerala | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

The main campus of Energy Management Centre, Kerala is a global star in the campaign for energy efficiency

After riding for half an hour in the blazing sun, entering the new building of Energy Management Centre, Kerala(EMC), near Chavadimukku, is, literally, a cool experience. The 43,000 square foot office building inside Sree Krishna Nagar was one of the six in the world and the only project listed from India in UN’s ‘Global Status Report 2017: Towards a zero-emission, efficient, and resilient buildings and construction sector’ released in May 2017.

For a long time EMC, an autonomous institution under the Government of Kerala, was operating out of a rented building near Thycaud. “It was in 2006, when I got to visit the Confederation of Indian Industry – Sohrabji Godrej Green Businesss Centre, that I set my mind on building something similar for EMC in Thiruvananthapuram. Although a plan was on paper by 2011, it took another five years for getting the required funds, administrative sanction and construction,” says K.M. Dhareshan Unnithan, director of EMC-Kerala. The building was inaugurated in 22 February, 2016.

Built on a hillside, the building is designed to be in tune with the terrain to avoid landscaping and tampering with the natural slope of the land. Offices, auditoriums and laboratories are all set around a central green courtyard, which slants from one end to the other. “This helps in draining of rain water from the top to the other end where they are diverted to two ponds that we have in this compound,” says Dinesh Kumar A.N., an energy technologist working at EMC, while showing me around the office.

Also, the building is oriented in such a way as to get maximum sunlight on the roof, where the solar panels are located, while the spaces inside it are designed for maximum availability of natural light. On a bright day, most of the spaces inside the building is lit completely by natural light, while artificial lights inside the building are all LED lamps and that is another way of saving energy. “At the same time most of the windows face north and south directions, which means they never face direct sunlight and that brings down the heat entering the buildings in a huge manner. It has contributed a lot to the energy efficiency of the building as we didn’t have to spend a lot on cooling,” Dhareshan adds. The cross ventilation and turbo vents too help in avoiding things from getting heated up inside the EMC office while solar reflectance index coating and high-albedo painting aids in insulation.

The entire campus is powered by 30 kilowatt grid-connected solar capacity. “We are only using a portion of what we are producing and the rest is being diverted to the grid and that makes us an energy positive structure,” says Dhareshan. All this has made the EMC building four times more energy-efficient than the highly energy efficient five-star rated buildings.

Green buildings, EMC scientists say, are the way to future. Although it might cost the common man a bit more than constructing a regular house, going for the green option would mean saving money in a big manner in future. Dhareshan adds, “There are already powerful wall-mounted batteries in the market that can be charged using solar panels. They don’t come cheap, but anything extra you spend on setting such a system would be retrieved within a time period while saving you a lot of money which would otherwise be used for paying energy bills.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Environment / by Aswin V.N. / Thiruvananthapuram – June 01st, 2018

This IAS officer built her future with a clear vision

Amazing Feats, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All
Maharashtra native Pranjal Patil, who had lost her vision at the age of eight, took charge as Ernakulam Assistant Collector today

Kochi :

Pranjal Patil, who lost her vision at the age of eight, has braved all odds to become an IAS officer. On Monday, she took charge as the assistant collector of Ernakulam district.

Pranjal from Ulhasnagar in Maharashtra had cracked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination in 2016 and secured 733rd rank in her first attempt. Since, Pranjal always wanted to become an IAS officer, she decided to give it a second try and went on to secure 124th rank in 2017.

Pranjal said that she is excited about her posting as the assistant collector of Ernakulam.

“This is my first major assignment. I completed my nine-month training at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussorie, Uttarakhand, two weeks ago. Here I am undergoing further training to become a collector. So, this is like a practical exam for me. At present, I am considering areas that need my contribution, the areas I need to improve and what positive changes I can bring for the overall development of the district as a whole,” said Pranjal, who is looking forward to learn more about the city by interacting with people here.

For civil service aspirants, she said, “Have faith in yourself. Don’t listen to any negative comments but please be open to criticism. However, don’t get bogged down by criticism. Things may take time to get the desired outcome but we shouldn’t give up.”

According to her parents, L B Patil and Jyothi Patil, Pranjal lost her vision when a student in her class poked one of her eyes with a pencil which eventually led to retinal detachment and as a result she lost the vision of her left eye. Doctors warned her parents that she might soon lose vision in the other eye too and unfortunately, the warning proved to be right and she lost the vision in her other eye within a year.

However, Pranjal’s parents never let blindness come in the way of her education. Her parents said that Pranjal has been good at studies right from her childhood. They sent Pranjal to Kamla Mehta School for Blind in Dadar, Mumbai,. She did her graduation in Political Science from St Xavier’s College, Mumbai and later earned a master’s degree in international relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

“People who always look for excuses for their failures should learn from my daughter,” said L B Patil, Pranjal’s father.

Pranjal said that technology played an important role in her education. “I have learnt Braille. Now there is a screen reader software installed on my laptop which would read out chapters from various books for me. This software will scan the pages of the book or material I want to read and the software reads it out to me. The screen reader software also helps in carrying out various activities related with my work. Once you know how to use technology things will be easier,” she said.

Regarding whether cracking UPSC exams was a challenging one, Pranjal said that it was challenging for everyone not just her. “Challenge is in the sense of getting the right material and its accessibility. For me, finding a trustworthy scribe to write my exam was also a challenge. But things fell in the right place for me,” said Pranjal.

Pranjal said that her aim is to learn as many Malayalam words within a short span. “Malayalam is a language which is completely different from other languages that I know. So, it will need a lot of effort. But I strongly believe I can master it once I put in all the effort in right direction,” said Pranjal.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Kochi News / TNN / May 30th, 2018

Farmer awarded, gives Governor a gift that grows

Agriculture, Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives & Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology

Tuber Man’s ‘seed pen’ germinates into tree after pen is disposed of

Shaji N.M., a farmer who was conferred the Biodiversity Award under special mention category by the National Biodiversity Authority, attracted many eyeballs during the award ceremony on Tuesday.

After receiving the award, he presented seed pens as return gift to the dignitaries, including Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan from whom he received the prize. “It is made of paper. You can use it as a normal disposable pen, and when the ink is exhausted, you can just throw it away. It contains a seed, which will give birth to a tree in future,” he explained.

Making seed pens is more like a hobby for Mr. Shaji, whose major occupation is conserving tuber species.

Started 20 years ago as a response to the drought conditions in Wayanad district where he lives, his passion has taken him places across the country, in search of newer tuber species. “I have a collection of 200 edible tuber species, including the rarest ones, besides herbs and medicinal plants on my four-acre land,” he says proudly.

He has shared the germplasm of the tubers with institutions such as Central Tuber Crop Research Institute and Kerala University.

Recipient of many awards, including National Plant Genome Saviour Award, Mr. Shaji’s conservation efforts are not limited to tubers; they extend to rice. He grows 17 traditional varieties of rice on the meagre plot, besides dabbling in fish farming, bee keeping and horticulture.

There were nine winners and 13 special mentions in total at the biodiversity award ceremony, among whom two were from Telangana.

Sangham Women Farmers Group from Medak won the award for ‘Sustainable use of Biological Resources’ for its efforts in traditional and organic methods of seed processing.

The Biodiversity Management Committee of Modi (Jheri) village of Kerameri mandal in Asifabad district won under special mention category, for conserving 26 native varieties of pulses and cereals. Among them, two varieties ‘Erra Machala Kandulu’ (a variety of pigeon pea) and ‘Vayunowka Jonna’ (a variety of sorghum) have been registered with the Plant Varieties and Farmer’s Rights Authority of India, while the recognition of another variety, ‘Balintha Pesalu’, is under way.

Singchung Bugun Village Community Reserve Management Committee from West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh won the award for protecting the community reserve, while Lemsachenlok Organization ( Y.NukuluPhom), Longleng, Nagaland, received it in the Institutions category.

Awards were also given under Special Mention category to corporates such as Godrej & Boyce, Mumbai, and Coromandel International, Kakinada. Coringa BMC of East Godavari too won under this category.

There were five categories of awards — conservation of wild species, conservation of domesticated species, sustainable use of biological resources, replicable mechanisms for access and benefit sharing, and best biodiversity management committees.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Swathi Vadlamudi / Hyderabad – May 24th, 2018

Eminent physicist Sudarshan passes away

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He was recommended for the Nobel Prize nine times, but never awarded

Ennackal Chandy George Sudarshan, popularly known as E.C.G. Sudarshan, who made path-breaking discoveries in the realm of quantum optics died aged 86 in Texas on Monday morning.

Professor Sudarshan was a faculty at the University of Texas for the past 40 years. A globally-recognised theoretical physicist, Professor Sudarshan had often pointed out that Physics meant everything to him. He was recommended for the Nobel Prize for Physics nine times, but never awarded.

Professor Sudarshan made significant contributions to the field of theoretical physics — optical coherence, tachyons, quantum zeno effect, open quantum system, spin-statistics theorem, non-invariance groups, positive maps of density matrices and quantum computation, to name a few.

Born to E. I. Chandy and Achamma in Kottayam on September 16, 1931, Professor Sudarshan graduated from the Madras Christian College in 1951 and did his postgraduation from the University of Madras. He later moved to Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, where he worked for a brief period with Homi Bhabha, father of Indian nuclear programme before moving to University of Rochester in New York to work under American physicist Robert Marshak. They founded the V-A theory of of the weak force, which eventually paved the way for electroweak theory.

Contributions ignored

Professor Sudarshan also developed a quantum representation of coherent light later known as Sudarshan-Glauber representation. Glauber was awarded 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics for the contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence. Renowned scientists in India and abroad had then observed that the Nobel Committee had ignored the contribution of Professor Sudarshan, who justly deserved to share the coveted award.

An eminent scientist who drew parallels between science and Indian philosophy, Professor Sudarshan was honoured with several awards, including Padma Vibhushan (2007), Dirac Medal (2010), Bose Medal (1977) and C. V. Raman award (1970).

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – May 14th, 2018