ITIHAS - Sastra University - 4.pdfProf. R. Sethuraman Vice-Chancellor (IT Is Happening At SASTRA)...

Prof. R. SethuramanVice-Chancellor

(IT Is Happening At SASTRA)

IITTIIHHAASS

The SASTRA-Ramanujan Award instituted by SASTRA University in the year 2005, to recognize the path-breaking work on Ramanujan M a t h e m a t i c s b y a y o u n g mathematician, is keeping its rich tradition. In the eleventh year of

inception, this year, the award was presented to Dr. Jacob Tsimerman of University of Toronto, Canada on December 21, 2015, for his unique contribution to Number Theory.

SASTRA volunteered to provide basic support to the people affected by the recent floods in Chennai and Cuddalore areas of Tamil Nadu. A relief package to the tune of Rs 50 lakh was provided to 2000 families of Cuddalore and Chennai region on December 20, 2015. The entire SASTRA family prays for early normalcy to the affected families.

The Founder S. Ramachandra Iyer Centenary Celebration to be launched on February 17, 2016 begins with a noble effort to undertake free surgery to 100 children from Thanjavur district.

SASTRA, in association with TCS, has built 56 e-toilets at 20 Govt. Schools in Thanjavur District, under the Swachh Bharath Mission of Govt. of India.

An ex gratia payment, to the tune of Rs 12.70 lakh, was given to 411 Non-Teaching Staff, Daily Labourers and Security Staff of SASTRA University on November 5, 2015.

Dr. A. Sivathanu Pillai launched the Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam-City Union Bank Chair for Rural Development and Swami Dayananda Saraswati Chair for Indian Values, established by SASTRA, on October 15, 2015.

At the annual panel discussion, 'Lawgical Connect' organized by SASTRA in association with The Times of India, on October 24, 2015 in Chennai, six eminent personalities deliberated on the topic, 'Black Money-Singular Agenda, Multiple Dimensions.'

SASTRA joins prestigious US Universities like Harvard, Columbia and University of California Irvine for collaborative research in the Hartfort Engineering A Limb Project (HEAL) run by the University of Connecticut's Health Institute of Regenerative Engineering. The project aims at regenerating a human knee within seven years, and an entire limb within 15 years.

The present issue of ITIHAS comes to you carrying news of programmes organized by different Schools, achievements by Students and Faculty members and many more.

Wish you all a Happy New Year 2016!

Message from the

VICE-CHANCELLORSASTRA-RAMANUJAN AWARD 2015

The SASTRA-Ramanujan Award 2015 was presented to Dr. Jacob Tsimerman of University of Toronto, Canada, on December 21, 2015 at the International Conference on “Number Theory and Algebraic Geometry,” held at Srinivasa Ramanujan Centre, SASTRA University, Kumbakonam. The SASTRA-Ramanujan Prize was established in 2005 and is awarded annually for outstanding contributions by young mathematicians to areas influenced by Srinivasa Ramanujan. The age limit for the prize has been set at 32 because Ramanujan had achieved so much in his brief life of 32 years.

The prestigious SASTRA-Ramanujan Award carries a cash prize of USD 10,000 and a citation. The award of the 2015 Ramanujan Prize to Jacob Tsimerman is a fitting recognition in the eleventh year of its inception and in keeping with the tradition of recognizing path-breaking work by young mathematicians.

Dr. G. Rangarajan, Chairman, Division of Interdisciplinary Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore presented the award to Dr. Tsimerman. Presenting the award, Dr. Rangarajan said, “The last two decades has witnessed an unprecedented growth in the number of institutions as well as students, offering Mathematics and Science Courses and opting for the same when compared to 60s, 70s and 80s.” He further added that the unprecedented growth is mainly due to admission of bright students based on competitive examination and that the students from rural areas do better in science subjects and are likely to contribute towards research in the next two decades.

The scholarships provided by the Government of India under INSPIRE Scheme, which offer a monthly stipend of

SASTRA UNIVERSITY

Newsletter from SASTRA University Newsletter from SASTRA University Vol. 15 Vol. 15 IV QuarterIV Quarter 20152015v

Dr.G. Rangarajan presenting the SASTRA-Ramanujan Award to Dr. Jacob TsimermanProf. Krishnaswamy Alladi and Prof. R. Sethuraman also in the picture

Dr.G. Rangarajan presenting the SASTRA-Ramanujan Award to Dr. Jacob TsimermanProf. Krishnaswamy Alladi and Prof. R. Sethuraman also in the picture

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ITIHAS VOL.15, IV QUARTER - 2015

R s . 5 , 0 0 0 / - a n d a contingency grant of Rs.20,000/- per annum, totaling Rs.80,000/- per annum, to the 1% of each Board +2 Examinations, also attract the bright s tuden ts to pursue M a t h e m a t i c s a n d Science subjects. There is a lot of teaching vacancy in the education

sector for Mathematics and it is likely to rise further with good job potential for the graduates and postgraduates with Mathematics and Science degrees. The scholarship provided by the Government is also continued upto the Post-doctoral level based on performance, Prof. G. Rangarajan added.

Prof. Krishnaswami Alladi, Chairman, SASTRA-Ramanujan Award Committee, University of Florida, USA, read out the citation and elaborated the unique contributions of Dr. Jacob Tsimerman to the Number Theory within the age of 27. Dr. Tsimerman has several first rate contributions in algebraic geometry, number theory, mathematical logic and analysis.

He was born in Kazan, Russia, in 1988 and his family moved

to Israel and then to Canada in 1996, where he participated in

various mathematical competitions from the age of nine. In

2003 and 2004, he represented Canada in the International

Mathematical Olympiad and won gold medals both years,

with a perfect score in 2004.

Accepting the award, Dr. Tsimerman said there is no easy way

to succeed in mathematics and students must work with

patience and perseverance to solve problems.

Prof. R.Sethuraman, Vice-Chancellor said that the annual

international conference on Number Theory and the award

ceremony is conducted at Kumbakonam, the holy town which

produced good academicians in all fields including

Mathematics, English, Engineering, etc. He also recalled the

advice of our Former President of India Dr. A. P. J. Abdul

Kalam, who was instrumental in establishing this Centre in

the name of Srinivasa Ramanujan and conducting the

International Conference on Number Theory.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NUMBER THEORY AND ALGEBRAIC GEOMETRY

The 13th International Conference on “Number Theory and Algebraic Geometry" was held at Srinivasa Ramanujan C e n t r e , S A S T R A U n i v e r s i t y , K u m b a k o n a m o n December 21 & 22, 2015. Dr. G. Rangara jan , Chairman, Division of

Interdisciplinary Research, IISc, Bangalore inaugurated the conference.

The following mathematicians from USA, Canada, Turkey and India deliberated on the legacy of Srinivasa Ramanujan and his work on number theory during the conference:

1. Prof. Hamza Yesilyurt, Bilkent University, Turkey

2. Ms. Sarah Trebat-Leder, Emory University, Atlanta, USA

3. Ms. Olivia Beckwith, Emory University, USA

4. Mr. Robert Schneider, Emory University, USA

5. Prof. Ken Ono, Emory University, USA

6. Prof. S. Viswanath, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai

7. Prof. Rekha Biswal, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai

8. Dr. Sachin Sharma, Chennai Mathematical Institute, Chennai

9. Prof. R. Srikanth, SASTRA University, Thanjavur

10. Mr. P.N. Seetharaman, Chennai

Dr.G. Rangarajan addressing the audience

Dr.G. Rangarajan addressing the audience

Dr.G. Rangarajan inaugurating the conference

Dr.G. Rangarajan inaugurating the conference

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SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN COMMEMORATIVE LECTURE

Dr. Jacob Tsimerman, University of Toronto, after receiving the award, delivered the Srinivasa Ramanujan Birthday Commemorative Lecture on “Unlikely algebraic relations and transcendental functions,” on December 22, 2015. He explained the old theorem of Lang (now a theorem of Raynaud) which states that a non-constant two-variable irreducible polynomial has finitely many solutions in roots of unity. Since then, this result has been greatly generalized to many dimensions. It turns out that there are strong relations between finiteness results of this type and transcendence results for the exponential function. He explained these relations and described a beautiful generalization to other 'modular' transcendental functions, such as the j-function.

Previous winners of SASTRA-Ramanujan Prize

1. M a n j u l B h a r g a v a ( P r i n c e t o n ) &

Kannan Soundararajan (Michigan) in 2005

(two full prizes)

2. Terence Tao (UCLA) 2006

3. Ben Green (Cambridge) 2007

4. Akshay Venkatesh (Stanford) 2008

5. Kathrin Bringmann (Cologne) 2009

6. Wei Zhang (Harvard) 2010

7. Roman Holowinsky (Ohio) 2011

8. Zhiwei Yun (Stanford) 2012.

9. Peter Scholze (University of Bonn) 2013

10. James Maynard (Oxford University) 2014

The SASTRA-Ramanajan Prize continues its great

tradition of recognising the most exceptional work by

young mathematicians.

Dr. Jacob TsimermanDr. Jacob Tsimerman

Dr. Jacob Tsimerman, Our Vice Chancellor, Dr. G. Rangarajan, Prof. Krishnaswamy Alladi and the foreign delegates of the Conference at the bust of Srinivasa Ramanujan

Dr. Jacob Tsimerman, Our Vice Chancellor, Dr. G. Rangarajan, Prof. Krishnaswamy Alladi and the foreign delegates of the Conference at the bust of Srinivasa Ramanujan


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CHENNAI FLOOD RELIEF BY SASTRA

EX GRATIA TO NON-TEACHING STAFF AND WORKERS

SASTRA SPONSORS RS 19 LAKHS FOR HIGHWAYS SURVEILLANCE CAMERA PROJECT

The Management of SASTRA University distributed flood relief materials worth Rs 50 lakh to 2000 families in Cuddalore District and Chennai on December 20, 2015.

A relief packet consisted of a woolen blanket, 5kg of rice, dal, pasteurized milk, milk powder, biscuits, mosquito coil, sanitary napkin and cash assistance of Rs 1,000 for a family. The relief was distributed in flood-affected villages of Koonangurichi and Manakollai in Cuddalore and Mahanyam and Malaipattu in Chennai.

Prof. R. Sethuraman, Vice Chancellor, distributed the materials in Cuddalore villages

and Dr. S. Vaidhyasubramaniam, Dean-Planning and Development in villages near Chennai.

An Ex gratia payment to the tune of Rs 12.70 lakh was given to all Non-Teaching Staff, Daily Labourers and Securi ty Staff of SASTRA University. Cash awards ranging from Rs 3000 to 5000 were distributed to them on November 5,

2 0 1 5 b y D r . S . Vaidhyasubramaniam, Dean-Planning and Development and Dr. S. Swaminathan, Dean-SR. A total of 411 employees received the benefit.

SASTRA University sponsored Rs 19 lakhs for the Highways Surveillance Camera Project of the Tamil Nadu Police Dept. 34 surveillance cameras of the project were strategically placed in 12 locations between SASTRA University in Thirumalaisamudrum and Mariamman Koil Road in Thanjavur. Probably for the first time in the state, a 35-km stretch of National Highways has been covered by surveillance cameras using wireless technology for crime prevention and traffic regulation.

Dr. S. Swaminathan, Dean-SR, participated in the inaugural function of the control room at Vallam, held on November 2, 2015. Shri M. Ramasubramani, Inspector General of Police, Central Zone, Trichy inaugurated the control room.

Our VC Prof. R. Sethuraman distributing the relief packets in Cuddalore

Our VC Prof. R. Sethuraman distributing the relief packets in Cuddalore

Dr. S. Vaidhyasubramaniam distributing the relief packets in Chennai Dr. S. Vaidhyasubramaniam distributing the relief packets in Chennai

In an attempt to create public awareness on the subject of black money, the School of Law, SASTRA University in association with The Times of India, took up the issue for the annual panel discussion, Lawgical Connect, on the topic 'Black Money, - Singular Agenda, Multiple Dimensions.' Organised at the Music Academy on October 24, 2015, the panel had Justice Shri B. N. Srikrishna, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India, Shri Porus Kaka, Senior Advocate, President, International Fiscal Association, Shri N. Venkatraman, Senior Advocate, Shri Gopal Subramanium, Senior Advocate and Former Solicitor General of India, and Shri S. Gurumurthy, Thought Leader and Research Professor of Legal Anthropology at SASTRA University as speakers. The discussion was moderated by Prof. Arun Kumar, Former Professor, Centre of Economic Studies and Planning, JNU and an expert on black money.

Dr. S. Vaidhyasubramaniam, Dean, Planning and Development, SASTRA University, set the ball rolling with a welcome note. He said, “There is an endless wait for black money to be brought back to the country and those inside the country to mainstream white economy.” He said that the NIPFP estimates higher education to be one of the biggest generators of black money and he clarified that SASTRA, because of its transparent admission policy, is an exception.

Introducing the topic, Prof. Arun Kumar made a presentation to explain the concept of black money and its implications on the Indian economy. He said, “It is estimated


that a total of Rs 75 lakh crore is stashed away as black money in overseas tax havens. We have been missing out on 5 percent of growth since the 1970s due to the large amount of money going out of our country.” He said the triad of businessmen, politicians and executives is the largest contributor to unaccountable income to which speedy and uniform justice is a key.

Stating that corruption is deeply rooted in the Indian economic system, Justice B.N. Srikrishna said, “We as a country are long on laws but fall short when it comes to implementing them. It is high time that we enforced the laws fearlessly.” He cited examples of some South Asian countries that have attained good governance through stringent law enforcement.

Taking the discussion forward, Shri Porus Kaka, discussed the lack of ethical leadership. He said, “Even after over 60 years of independence, we have failed to have a government which is serious about the black money issue. Instead of going after small players, the focus should be on getting the big fish."

Shri N. Venkatraman debunked the notion that black money, if returned to India, will help the country's economic woes. He explained the two buckets which help in the generation of black money in the country. “Non-productive buckets like stock market, real estate, liquor, gold and even sports allows you to generate black income. On the other hand, constructive

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Topic: 'Black Money - Singular Agenda, Multiple Dimensions'

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buckets like business, export benefits, foundations, trust and charities also contribute towards black money.” He also said that the unholy nexus between Law Makers, Law Keepers and Law Breakers make India appear to be a soft state on Black Money.

Shri Gopal Subramanium said, “We should look at the subject of black money from a constitutional point of view. You violate every possible tenet of the constitution through black money and questioned the quantum of money spent by political party and that it is never accounted for and no question arises on the asset declaration of candidates. Why are suggestions made by the Election Commission of India never taken into consideration? The truth is the Election Commission of India is not empowered enough to tackle these issues and black money is actually life and blood for political survival.”

Taking the point of political corruption forward, Shri Gurumurthy said, “We should discuss corruption in every field and not just limit ourselves to political corruption. He stressed on the need for a global architecture and that the Government of India is forming alliances with countries like Germany, Singapore and even Switzerland to collectively work against the black economy. He added that we need to crack one important case like Hassan Ali's case which in turn will create ripples in the system. He also said that developed

c o u n t r i e s , especially US and U K , a r e benefitting from d e v e l o p i n g economies black money and this shocking truth angered nations l ike France & G e r m a n y w h o forced USA to agree for a global financial regime to curb black money. He also added that the time is ripe for an enlightened public opinion on this issue and this event organized by SASTRA University is one such attempt.

In the closing notes, Prof. Arun Kumar said, “Black money is something that affects each and every sector of the economy for which we need to find objective solutions for the menace and pressure has to come from the public.”

The event was attended by some of the best minds in the city-sitting and former judges, senior lawyers, celebrated civil servants, professionals and businessmen besides academics, students and general public. 75 students from School of Law, SASTRA also attended the programme.

LAW SCHOOL LAURELS IN MOOT COURT COMPETITIONS

S.C. Javali National Moot Court Competition

The School of Law, SASTRA University, won the 18th S.C. Javali National Moot Court Compet i t ion, 2015 held between 9th – 11th October, 2015. The Competition was o rg a n i z e d b y K a r n a t a k University's Sir Siddappa

K a m b a l i L a w C o l l e g e University. The Former Chief Justice of India Justice R.M. Lodha, presented prizes to the winners.

The team consisting of Shri Kiran. M, Shri Bharath R. Srinivas and Kum. Sona Venkatesan (all from the 4th year B.B.A., LL. B. (Hons.) represented SASTRA University. Law Schools from all over India including National Law Schools participated in the competition.

NALSAR–Justice Bodh Raj Sawhny Memorial Moot Court Competition

School of Law, SASTRA University emerged as Runners Up in 9th NALSAR –Justice Bodh Raj Sawhny Memorial Moot Court Competition 2015 and won a cash prize of Rs.10,000. The Competition was held at NALSAR University from 1st October to 4th October, 2015. The team

consisted of Shri A d i t h N a r a y a n , K u m . M a n a s a Ananthan and Kum. V a r s h a Chandrasekhar. 71 R e p u t e d L a w Schools across the Country, including various National Schools, participated in the Competition.

Ranka National Moot Court CompetitionthThe School of Law, SASTRA emerged Runners Up in the 5

FYLC, Ranka National Moot Court competition, 2015 held at Jaipur from 26th to 28th September 2015. The competition was organized by University of Rajasthan. The team, consisting of Shri Chandrashekara Bharathi, Kum. Manasa Srinivasan and Kum. Anusha Ravishankar, represented

S A S T R A U n i v e r s i t y . 5 0 reputed law schools a l l o v e r I n d i a including National L a w S c h o o l s participated in the competition.

Former Chief Justice of India Justice R.M. Lodha presenting

the award to SASTRA Law School

Former Chief Justice of India Justice R.M. Lodha presenting

the award to SASTRA Law School

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RESEARCH CHAIRS ON Dr. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM & SWAMI DAYANANDA SARASWATI LAUNCHED

SASTRA UNIVERSITY JOINS RESEARCH ON LIMB REGENERATION WITH RENOWNED US UNIVERSITIES

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam - City Union Bank Chair for Rural Development and the Swami Dayananda Saraswati Chair for Indian Values were launched at SASTRA University on October 15, 2015.

Launching the Chairs, Dr. A. Sivathanu Pillai, Honorary Distinguished Professor, Indian Space Research Organisation, underlined the strength of India given its ancient technological discoveries and recalled the efforts of scientific leaders of India who chartered the course of Indian science and technology in the global order.

Creative leadership is the key for a nation's transformation to become self-reliant in science and technology, said Dr. Sivathanu Pillai.

Highlighting the efforts of great scientists like Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan, M. S. Swaminathan and Abdul Kalam, Dr. Pillai observed that Dr. Abdul Kalam was creative in his leadership roles to energise human capital not only in India's space and defence programmes but also in ensuring that technology spin-off benefit reached the society at large.

Dr. Pillai commended SASTRA for establishing the chair in rural development, an area that was close to Kalam's Vision 2020 and also for establishing the Swami Dayananda Chair on Indian Values.

Dr. N.Kamakodi, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of City Union Bank Ltd., handed over a cheque for Rs.50 lakhs to Dr. S. Vaidhyasubramaniam, Dean-Planning and Development, SASTRA as initial corpus for the APJ Abdul Kalam – City Union Bank Chair.

Dr. R. Srinivasan, Faculty, School of Management, SASTRA University, and Head of the newly created Chair explained the rural development initiatives planned to transform villages as powerful socio-economic engines of growth.

SASTRA University will be a part of an ambitious and realistic research team from leading US Universities under the Hartford Engineering A Limb Project (HEAL) run by the University of Connecticut's Health Institute of Regenerative Engineering.

The goal of HEAL is to regenerate a new joint in seven years and regenerate a limb in 15 years. The collaborative research under the leadership of the institute's founder-director Dr.Cato Laurencin, a medical doctor with a Ph.D. in b i o c h e m i c a l engineering/biotechnology will involve researchers from Harvard, Columbia, University of California Irvine and SASTRA University. The HEAL Project, launched on Veterans Day, is supported by Laurencin's recent $4 million Pioneer Award from the National Institutes of Health for his research in regenerative engineering, as well as his grant award from the National Science Foundation for Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation. Important support also comes from The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical, Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences at UConn Health. The Indo-US Science & Technology Forum has also approved an independent network proposal on Orthopaedic Regeneration, jointly submitted by SASTRA University and Thanjavur Medical College in India and University of Connecticut & Stevens Institute of Technology, USA. This shall involve movement of research faculty & students between the network institutions for a period of 2 years.

Dr.S.Swaminathan, the lead investigator at SASTRA for HEAL and also the Director of Centre for Nanotechnology & Advanced Biomaterials said “Its an exciting convergence of research ideas in an a r e a o f n e x t g e n e r a t i o n transformational healthcare and also reinforces the acceptance of CeNTAB's previous work on skin regeneration for which a patent has

been filed. It is our team's dream coming true to work under the direct supervision of Dr.Laurencin who is a globally renowned surgeon-scientist in orthopaedic surgery, engineering and the new field of regenerative engineering.”

Dr. N. Kamakodi, CEO, City Union Bank handing over the cheque for Rs 50 lakh to Dr. S. Vaidhyasubramaniam

Dr. N. Kamakodi, CEO, City Union Bank handing over the cheque for Rs 50 lakh to Dr. S. Vaidhyasubramaniam


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SASTRA STUDENTS WIN CHIEF MINISTER'S AWARD FOR BEST PROJECT IN E-GOVERNANCE

Students of SASTRA University have won the Chief Minister

Award for Excellence in e-governance District level contest

held in Thanjavur.

The project titled “Power system monitoring & control using

Mobile phone” submitted by the students won the first prize

out of 10 teams participated in this contest.

Power system is a very complex network. Monitoring such a

complex network is a tedious job for the operating person.

Chances of accidents are also more in the network. In order to

monitor the power system and to ensure safety of the

operating person, a mobile application is developed and

installed in operator's mobile. This app avoids physical

contact between operator and electrical devices. This app

reduces accidents, revenue loss and power loss. The members

of the team involved in the project are – M. Ajith, L. Prahladh

Preethy, G. Bharath, P. Rahul, S. Nivedha, S.R. Hariharan of

III B.Tech – Electrical& Electronics Engineering.

District Collector Dr.N. SUBBAIYAN, presented Rs.10,000

cash award and certificates to the students on November 24,

2015. Prof. Balamurugan, Dept. Of Electrical & Electronics

Engineering and Dr. V.Badrinath, Director – Training &

Placement coordinated the activities.

SASTRA, IN ASSOCIATION WITH TCS, PROVIDES E-TOILETS TO 20 GOVT. SCHOOLS

SASTRA University in association with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has constructed 56 E-Toilets at 20 Government Schools in rural areas in and around Thanjavur, under the Swachh Bharat mission of the Central Government. Four such toilets constructed at the Government Middle School at Tirumalaisamudrum were inaugurated on October 9, 2015.

Based on the request by SASTRA University, TCS came forward to construct e-toilets for 20 Govt. Schools at a cost of Rs One Crore. Following this, the Centre for Developing Studies at SASTRA identified 20 Schools for providing the facility.

The electronic-toilets, which have been installed for the first time in Tamil Nadu, will automatically flush water, whenever a student opens the door. After use, it would flush again. There is a water tank in each unit with a capacity to store 200 litre. The toilets would be maintained for one year by a contractor nominated by TCS, said Dr. Badrinath, Dean-School of Management, SASTRA.

Earlier a Quiz competition on the topic 'Health and Environment' was organized for the students of the 20 schools. The School teams which won the first and second prizes in the quiz competition were provided with books worth Rs 10,000 and Rs 5000 for their libraries.

Registrar Dr. G. Bhalachandran, Dean-School of Management Dr. V. Badrinath and District Education Officers of Thanjavur and Kumbakonam participated in the inaugural function.

HONOUR TO SASTRA FOR BLOOD DONATION

SASTRA University has been honoured as the best performing University for conducting more number of Blood Donation Camps a n d d o n a t i n g m o r e number of blood units during the year 2014-15.

At the National Voluntary Blood Donation Day 2015, organized under the auspices of The Tamil Nadu State Aids Control Society (TANSACS) in Chennai on October 7, 2015, Dr. C.Vijaya Bhaskar, Minister for Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, Tamil Nadu presented the award to SASTRA University. Dr. S. Balachandran, NSS Programme Officer, SASTRA received the award. In the year 2014-15, a total of 2794 Units of Blood were donated by the students of SASTRA, both the Main Campus, Thanjavur and SRC Campus, Kumbakonam.

NCC NEWS One SD and One SW cadet from SRC along with the NCC Officer Lt.T. Senthilnathan attended the National Integration Camp at Barnes School, Devlali Camp, Nashik from December 14-25, 2015. NCC cadets from all the 17 NCC State Directorates participated in the camp. The cadets visited various places like Artillery Training Centre, Combat Army Aviation Training School (CAATS), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Artillery Museum, Artillery Firing Range and Trembakeswar Temple.

Four SD cadets attended an All India Trekking Expedition at Malayatoor, Aluva, Kerala from December 19-26, 2015. Cadets visited Naval Basin and Shipyard at Cochin during their educational tour.

Senior Under Officer M. Manjari, III B.Tech. (CSE) attended the Army Attachment Camp held at Officer Training Academy(OTA), St.Thomas Mount, Chennai held from August 17-30, 2015. She was trained in dhrona firing, paint ball firing, horse riding and

drill at the Parameshwaran drill square.

Under Officer - Palla Jhansi III B.Tech. (EEE) attended IGC second level RD Camp at Thane from November 5-27, 2015.

Cadet R.Vishnu Praja, II B.Tech. (IT) attended the National Integration Camp, at Hindustan University, Coimbatore from December 21-31, 2015. She has been selected to perform Bharathanatyam in the Prime Minister's Rally during the Republic Day on January 26, 2016 in New Delhi.

In the Combined Annual Training Camp (CATC) held in Periyar Maniammai University, Thanjavur from December 18-27, 2015 our NCC cadets participated and won prizes in various competitions.

Group Dance Competition: Gold Medal-Corporals- Bollineni Naga Sindhuri, III B.Tech. IT, Bala Pranusha, III B .Tech . EIE , Cade t s– Chilakala Sreya II B.Tech. Civil and Devanaboina Krishna Ramya II. B.Tech. ECE

Solo Dance: Gold Medal - Cadet – Karupati Lakshmi Sindhuja, III B.Tech. CSE

Blood Donation: Gold Medal: Cadets - G. Sanchitaa, II B.Tech. IT, Sree Roshita Swathi, S, II B.Tech. Civil and Maya, R II B.Tech. ICT

Throw Ball: Silver Medal-Corporal Bollineni Naga Sindhuri, III B.Tech. IT, Cadets– Sree Roshita Swathi, S, II B.Tech. Civil, Gandavarapu Mahita, III B.Tech. EEE and Anila, B II B.Tech. EEE

Group Song: Gold Medal – Cadets: Amritha, R, III B.Tech. Chemical, V a d d i r a j u C h a n d a n a , I I I B.Tech. Civil, P. Indumathi, III Biotech. Nivedha, S, III B.Tech. EEE, Mahitha, G, III B.Tech. EEE

NSS NEWS

A Voter Awareness Rally was organized by NSS Wings at SRC on October 1, 2015. Shri M.Govinda Rao, Sub Collector, Kumbakonam inaugurated the rally in which 112 NSS volunteers participated.

The NSS wings at SRC in association with Dr. Arvind Eye Hospital, Kumbakonam, organized an eye donation awareness rally on October 13, 2015. 252 NSS volunteers participated.

Shri. Ganeshamoorthy, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kumbakonam inaugurated the Disaster Management Rally organized by the NSS Wings at SRC on October 14, 2015 in which 87 NSS volunteers participated.

88 NSS volunteers were involved in the crowd control duty at Arulmigu Sarangabani Temple on December 21, 2015 in view of the Vaigundha Egadesi Festival.


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SASTRA – DST INSPIRE INTERNSHIP CAMP 2015

The INSPIRE Internship camps are part of the Department of

Science & Technology's (Govt. of India) initiative to attract

young talents for science at an early stage. These five-day

residential camps target the high school children. SASTRA

University conducted one such INSPIRE Internship camp for

the benefit of students in and around Thanjavur between 27 –

31, December, 2015 sponsored by DST. Around 70 students

from schools in and around Thanjavur district were selected

for this camp. The camp was addressed by 10 mentors from

various walks of science representing the Council for

Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Indian Institutes of

Technology[IIT] – Bombay and Madras, Indian Institute of

Science & Engineering Research [IISER] - Pune, University

of Madras, National Institute of Technology [NIT] and

Bharathidasan University – Trichy.

Of the 10 mentors, 4 were the recipients of India's most

coveted Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize. Apart from thought

provoking lectures, one-to-one interactions with mentors,

hands on training in physics, chemistry and biology were the

key elements of this camp which kindled their interest in

science and the pursuing of scientific career. In the evening,

students were taken for night sky observation with aid of

telescopes.

DEWANG MEHTA NATIONAL EDUCATION AWARD TO SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, SASTRA

The School of Management, SASTRA bagged the Dewang

Mehta National Education Award presented by Hindustan

Unilever Ltd. Dr.V.Badrinath, Dean, School of Management

received the award at the awards function held in Mumbai on

November 28, 2015. The award recognises the talent and

leadership of School of Management, SASTRA University

amongst the Educational Institutions across India. The

Chairman of the Jury was Dr. Prasad Medury, Partner, Amrop

India Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and the Patron was Mr. Harish

Mehta, Chairman & Managing Director, Onward

Technologies Ltd.

GRADUATION DAY @ NRITHYODAYA

The Graduation Day for awarding degrees to the students of

BFA & MFA (Bharatanatyam) Courses, offered jointly by

SASTRA University and Nrithyodaya, Chennai, through

distance mode was held on October 3, 2015, in the P.A.C

Ramasamy Raja Hall of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in

Mylapore, Chennai.

Dr. Seetharaman, CEO, Doha Bank and renowned dance

Professor C.V. Chandrasekhar offered felicitations and

distributed the degrees.

Dr. N. Seshadri , Director of Distance Education, SASTRA

University welcomed the gathering. Dr. Padma

Subramaniam, President, Nrithyodaya enlightened the

audience with the course structure, its development and

introduced the teaching faculty.

2 BFA and 18 MFA students received their degrees at the

convocation. A Dance performance was also staged on the

occasion. Dancers, dance critiques, scholars and media

personalities were part of the audience.

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NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCES IN PROCESS ENGINEERING

WORKSHOP ON VERILOG PROGRAMMING

FDP ON RELIABILITY & SYSTEM APPROACH IN CIVIL ENGG.

LECTURES ON BIOTECHNOLOGY

A National Conference on Advances in Process Engineering was organised by the Chemical Engineering Department, School of Biotechnology, SASTRA on October 9 & 10, 2015.

The guest of honour Dr. K. S. Gandhi, Former Professor, IISc, Banglore and Dr. A. Kannan, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras spoke in the plenary sessions.

Mr. G. Sunil Kumar, Vice President, Reliance Petrochemicals, Mumbai and Dr. R. C. Panda, Principal Scientist, Department of Chemical Engineering, CLRI, Chennai handled sessions on the second day.

Dr. S. Dharmalingam, Former General Manager, BHEL(Trichy) and Visiting Professor, NIT(Trichy) participated in the valedictory function.

A one day workshop on “Verilog Programming” was conducted at the School of Electrical & Electronics Engineering on December 15, 2015. Twenty eight faculty members from SASTRA, Thanjavur and SRC, Kumbakonam campuses attended the workshop. As a part of the workshop, three lecture sessions supported by two hands-on sessions on the Verilog Programming aspects were conducted. Both the lecture cum hands-on sessions were handled by the faculty members of the Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering. The workshop laid a platform to facilitate the hardware realization aspects for those pursuing research.

A o n e w e e k F a c u l t y Development Program (FDP) on “Reliability and System Approach in Civil Engineering (RSACE) was organized by the School of Civil Engineering from 14th - 18th December 2015. The FDP was coordinated by Dr.K.Saravana Raja Mohan, Associate Dean, SoCE. About nineteen lectures of one and half hour duration

each were delivered in the areas of Reliability Indices and Computer Applications, Reliability based design of transmission line tower design, Quality Control and Quality Assurance in Construction of buildings, pavements, Multi-objective optimization, Applications of Finite Element Methods in Civil Engineering, MATLAB applications in Civil Engineering. In addition to the senior faculty from the school, Dr.K.Kannan, Dean, Dr.R.Srikanth, Associate Dean, School of Humanities &Sciences and Dr.B.Santhi, Professor in School of Computing have acted as Resource Persons for this FDP.

Biotikos, the students association of the School of Biotechnology organized VIPRA 2015, a lecture series by eminent scientists.

Dr. Dwarakanath Prahlad, Principal Scientist, Astra Zeneca delivered the first talk on the 26th of September 26, 2015. He enlightened the students on various aspects of drug design and various disciplines of Biotechnology. Possible career options in the field of Bioinformatics and Industrial Biotechnology were brought to the knowledge of students. Dr. Milind Watve from IISER Pune delivered the second talk on the October 31, 2015 with an informal science discussion session at the end. He focused on the trending remedies for diabetes in the recent age.


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WORKSHOP ON RETAIL BANKING STRATEGIES FOR BUSINESS GROWTH

SASTRA-TVS SKILL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE

WORKSHOP ON THE USE OF SPSS AND AMOS

A one-day “Workshop on Retail Banking Strategies for Business Growth” was organized exclusively for the Branch Managers of City Union Bank Ltd. (CUB) on October 31, 2015. 26 Managers of CUB participated in the workshop. The programme was inaugurated by Shri. P.Ravi, Assistant General Manager (HR), Head Office, Kumbakonam and Dr.V.Badrinath, Dean, School of Management, SASTRA University, Thanjavur.

Dr.J. Sethuraman, Convener of the workshop welcomed the gathering and highlighted the objectives of the workshop to the Managers. Dr.V. Badrinath in his address said that the workshop is the first one in the banking training initiatives of School of Management, SASTRA. Shri.P. Ravi, in his inaugural address highlighted the need for the Branch Managers to be aware of the latest developments in retail banking and also look to developing the business in the face of stiff competition from the existing and emerging players.

The workshop covered Strategic Dimensions in Retail Banking, Self Motivation for Organisational Growth, Service Marketing and CRM, Relationship and Team Engagement for Business Growth and also an analysis of the important business parameters of CUB vis a vis other old generation private sector banks.

The second such workshop was held for the Branch Managers of City Union Bank Ltd. (CUB) on November 11, 2015. 28 Managers of CUB Ltd. (including 2 Chief Managers) participated in the workshop.

Realising the demand for skilled personnel, and as a part of placement initiative to enhance employability and impart skills, SASTRA University and TVS have entered into an MoU to offer collaborative skill development training programme. The programme enables training to our students by senior officials of TVS. On successful completion of the training, the students will be absorbed by TVS as regular employees. SASTRA-TVS Collaborative Skill Development Training Programme will be offered to Diploma and B.Tech Mechanical Engineering and MBA students. In the first batch, 110 diploma students, 19 B.Tech (Mechanical Engineering) and 24 MBA students attended the training program conducted from November 30 to December 17, 2015. These students are also permitted to pursue their project work in TVS.

The School of Management organized a two-day workshop on 'Uni-variate and Multi-variate Analysis Using SPSS and AMOS' on December 15-16, 2015. The workshop was attended by fifteen faculty members from various colleges, full time Ph.D scholars and faculty of School of Management, SASTRA.

Dr. D. Kumaresan, Principal, Minerva College of Arts and Science, Jalakantapuram, Salem and Dr.S.Rajaram, Associate Professor, School of Management, Kalasalingam University, Krishnankoil, handled the sessions.


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ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARENESS CAMP WORKSHOP ON TEACHING/LEARNING ENGLISH

ISTE-STTP ON TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION

The Entrepreneurship Development Cell of SASTRA

University organized “Startup Jagriti” - a two day

Entrepreneurship Awareness camp for college students of

Trichy and Thanjavur on October 10 & 11, 2015.

Shri Varadharajan, Chief Manager, SBI, Miss Vishnu Priya,

National Entrepreneurship Network, Bangalore, Mr. Michael,

Chief Manager Punjab National Bank, Circle Office, Trichy,

Ms. Aparna Raja, Market Analyst, Gofrugal Tech Pvt. Ltd.,

Chennai, Shri Porush Jain, Founder and CEO Sportskeeda;

Ms. Abinaya Selvam founder, Uptown Ideas, Shri Sivarajah

CEO of Native Angels Foundation and Shri Purusothaman,

Chief Manager, SBI, Thanjavur were the speakers in the two

day event. 150 students from 10 colleges participated in the

programme.

A five-day Workshop on Teaching/Learning English was organised by the Department of English, SASTRA from December 16-20, 2015. Dr. B. Ilango, Former Vice-Chancellor of Bharathiar University, Coimbatore was the Coordinator of the workshop. The main objective of the workshop was to give hands-on training in teaching English Grammar, Poetry, Prose and Translation, to the faculty members.

Faculty members from the Department of English - Main Campus and SRC-Kumbakonam and The School of Education, SRC attended the programme.

Dr. Thyagaraja Sharma, Prof. of English (Retd.) AVVM Sri Pushpam College, Poondi delivered the inaugural address. The Coordinator of the workshop Dr. B. Ilango, Registrar Dr. G. Balachandran and Dean-Planning and Development Dr. S. Vaidyasubramanian who spoke in the inaugural function insisted on the need for adopting innovative methods in teaching English.

There were sessions on the following topics:

1. Karnan as Shakespearean Tragic Hero - Dr. Thyagaraja Sharma

2. Modern Students and Teaching of English - Dr. V. R. Angappan, Retd. Prof. of English, AVVM Sri Pushpam College

3. Teaching of Poetry - Dr. B. Ilango

4. Reading Strategies & Approach to Technical Writing – Dr. V. Vinod Balakrishnan, NIT, Trichy.

5. Role of ICT in Teaching English - Dr. S. Senthilnathan, Dept. of Educational Technology, Bharathidasan University

6. O n T r a n s l a t i o n - S e k k i z h a r - a d i - p o d i Dr.T.N. Ramachandran, Thanjavur

7. The Art of Translation and hands-on training - Dr. B.Ilango

The ISTE Short Term Training Programme on 'Technical

Communication for Scientists and Engineers' was organized

by the NMEICT Remote Centre at SASTRA. The programme

focused mainly on scientific methodology and research paper

writing. During the face-to-face part of the prgramme, held

between November 30 and December 5, 2015, video lectures

were delivered by faculty of IIT Bombay. Earlier, the

participants had undergone the online activity of the

programme from October 8 to November 11, 2015.

Dr. G. Venkatraman of the Department of English coordinated

the programme in which nine faculty members participated.


AWARD FOR FACULTY

Dr. S. Devaraj, Assistant Professor, School of Chemical & Biotechnology, SASTRA received the "Early Career Chemist Award" from "the Pacific Basin Societies" in the International Chemical Congress (PACIFICHEM 2015) held at Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, from December 15 to 20, 2015. He received the award from Prof. Peter Stang, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Dr. S. Nadaraja Pillai, Associate Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering got the Best Engineer Award from The Institution of Engineers (India), Tamil Nadu State Center, Aerospace Division. The award was given to him at the 29th Convention of Aerospace Engineers held on November 27 & 28, 2015.

Dr. R.Renuka, Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce & Management Studies, SRC, has received Indira Gandhi Gold Medal Award given by the Global Economic Progress and Research Association (GEPRA), New Delhi. She received the award on November 19, 2015 at Bangaluru for her outstanding individual achievement and distinguished service in Education and Research. This award consists of a Trophy and a Gold Medal.

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WORKSHOP ON SMART CITY-CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

The Centre for Development Studies of School of

Management, SASTRA organised a one-day workshop on

'Smart City-Challenges & Opportunities' on October 30,

2015. Dr.V.Badrinath, Dean – School of Management said

that this workshop was organized to help people to understand

the concept of smart city and collect and submit smart ideas to

the Trichy and Thanjavur Corporations and to the smart city

consultants.

In his inaugural address, Mr.Jose Ploackal, Industry Leader

for Government & Education Process, IBM Bangalore

pointed out that the success of smart city creation and

management largely depends on real time data collection and

analysis. He also stressed upon the need for integrating the

functions of various government agencies to successfully

implement the smart city projects.

Mr.Simon Selvaraj, Asst. Director, Jones Lang La sale

Property-the consultant for Trichy Smart City Project, said

that the smart city project has three stages. Selection of

probable location based on public opinion and field study is

done at the first stage. Face-to-face meetings and sharing of

opinion through social media and opinion poll through

my.gov.in portal is used for this purpose. At the second stage,

the consultants will help the Corporation to prepare and

submit the smart city proposal to the Government of India. At

the third stage, the project will be approved by the

Government and the corporation will execute the project by

inviting tenders.

The participants, in groups, discussed various themes of smart

city including waste management, infrastructure & housing,

water management, governance, transportation & logistics,

communication & network, recreation & entertainment and

energy management. Mr.Jose Polackal handed over a cash

award of Rs.2000 to the student who won the smart idea

contest conducted by SASTRA University. About 100

participants from various departments of the University and

various government and voluntary organisations from Trichy

and Thanjavur participated in this workshop.


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TAMILNADU INTER-DEEMED UNIVERSITYTENNIS TOURNAMENT

LAURELS IN SPORTS

S A S T R A U n i v e r s i t y o r g a n i z e d t h e Tamilnadu State I n t e r - D e e m e d University Tennis (Men &Women) tournament 2015-16 at our Campus

on September 26 & 27, 2015, under the auspices of Sports Development Authority of Tamilnadu.

Four Universities participated in the tournament. SRM University, Chennai bagged the First place. SASTRA and V.I.T. secured the second and third place respectively. The prize distribution function was held on 27th September, 2015 afternoon. Shri K. Babu, Thanjavur District Sports & Youth Welfare Officer distributed the prizes.

SASTRA students Chi.Vinay Vijay S h a n k a r I V / BBALLB (Hon.,) and Chi.P. Brean Richard – IV / MIC won the 3rd place in 55 kg and +85kg respectively in the Mr.Thanjavur-2015 district level Body-building championship organised by Dheena Gymnasium on 16th August 2015 at Thanjavur.

S A S T R A U n i v e r s i t y participated in the Sportiva'15 the State level Sports Fest, organized by P a r i s u t h a m I n s t i t u t e o f Technology and

Science, Thanjavur held from October 1-3, 2015.

Our Chess (M&W), Badminton (W), Basketball (W) teams were the winners while the Badminton (M), Hockey (M) and Table Tennis (W) teams won the Runners-up. The Volleyball (W), Tennis (M), Basketball (M), Snooker (M) and Best Physique (M) -55kg teams won the Third place.

Our Volleyball and Football teams participated in the PMU


Students Trophy State level tournament held at Periyar Maniammai University, Thanjavur on September 22&23, 2015. Our Volleyball (M) team was the winner. Chi.S. Nagarjun – III / IT got the Best Libero award and Chi.K.Velrajkumar – III / MIC got the Best Attacker award. The Football (M) team won the third place.

AD-QUEST

The Sahithya Association of B.Com. (CA) students organised "AD-QUEST" - A State level quiz competition on “Advertising” on October 5, 2015. Shri Siddarthan, Chief Regional Officer of Indian Overseas Bank, Tanjore was the Guest of Honour. 34 students from 17 colleges participated. The first prize was won by the Commerce students of SRC, SASTRA, Kumbakonam campus and the second prize by students of Bharath College, Thanjavur.

LECTURE ON WASTE MANAGEMENT

The Green Club at SRC organized a Guest Lecture on “Waste Management” on December 26, 2015 . Shri. V. Ganapathy, former journalist, The Hindu & Adviser-ExNoRa (Trichy Division) delivered a

talk on Challenges of sanitation in houses and Shri. M. Subburaman, Director - SCOPE (Society for Community Organization and People's Education), Trichy spoke on sanitations and water treatment. Around 150 students and staff attended the lecture.

A Quarterly Newsletter published by SASTRA University, Thanjavur - 613 401, Tamil NaduPh: +91 4362 264101 - 108, 304000 - 29, Fax:+ 91 4362 264120, URL: www.sastra.edu.

Printed at : Dhanam Printech, 51/19, Kasiraman Street, Kumbakonam - 612 001. Ph : 0435 2401567

EDITORIAL BOARDDr. S. Vaidhyasubramaniam

Dr. S. Swaminathan

Dr. M. Vijayalakshmi

Dr. G. Venkatraman

Dr. R. Ravi

Dean - Planning & Development

Dean - (SR) & Director (CeNTAB)

Associate Dean - SCBT

Department of English

Department of English

ITIHAS can also be viewed at www.sastra.edu

THANJAVUR - 613 401.TAMIL NADU

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(A UNIVERSITY U/S 3 OF THE UGC ACT, 1956)

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IPAA TOURNAMENTS

Shanmugha Polytechnic College organized I.P.A.A.,

Thanjavur Division Inter-Polytechnic Badminton, Table

Tennis, Chess and Carrom (Boys) Tournament at our campus

on December 11, 2015.

Our Polytechnic Table Tennis team was the Winner, Chess

team won the Runner-up and Carrom team won the Fourth

place.

The I.P.A.A., State level Inter-Division Polytechnic

Basketball (Boys) Tournament was organized at our campus

on December 14&15, 2015. The Salem Division (Pavai

Polytechnic College, Namakkal) was the winner and

Tirunelveli Division (PACR Polytechnic College,

Rajapalayam) won the Runner-up and Coimbatore Division

(PSG Polytechnic College, Coimbatore) won the third place.

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