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MAY 2003 |
IN THIS ISSUE
MAIN FEATURE The Vedic Advantage : After School Program A Siliconeer Report NETWORKING Survival Skills : TiECon2003 By Zitin Bazaz Dhawan READING The Other Bestseller List : Bookfinder.com Report By Anirvan Chatterjee Publisher’s Note • Infotech India Community News in Brief: Kid Tycoons... Spotlite on India... InMedya Award... SARS Response... Principal Hall of Fame Auto: 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander XLS Bollywood • Tamil Cinema Recipe: Dum Aloo Palak • Horoscope |
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Publisher's Note:
Every Indian knows about the glory of ancient Indian mathematics. But the world has moved on, we are wont to think, and notwithstanding India’s great contemporary visibility in information technology and IT-related services, there isn’t perhaps an Indian role in high school pedagogy. Well, that’s not at all true, say a group of young techies in the Bay Area, and they are determined to make their case. In a garage in Santa Clara, Calif., they have started an after-school program called Mathevedics, which applies the ancient mathematical wisdom of the Vedas to improve the high school mathematical skills of today’s students. The hope of the Mathevedics team is that in time their program will catch on and they will then franchise this after school program. This month, Siliconeer takes a look at their work. Away from the marketing hype of predatory publishing houses and the profusion of loudmouth celebrity bestsellers, the Internet company Bookfinder.com has come up with a list that seems more substantive. Anirvan Chatterjee, the youthful bibliophile and the company’s CEO, writes about the new list that tracks the most popular out-of-print books that readers are searching. No marketing hype here, thank goodness. Main Feature So we know India has a distinguished history in mathematics. But that’s all ancient history. Or is it? A bunch of Bay Area Indian Americans think otherwise, and they have solid proof to back their claim. Founders of Mathevedics (www.mathevedics.com), an after-school program to improve high school mathematics skills, say there are many ancient techniques that can dramatically improve both the skill and speed of doing math. Already avid parents are sending kids to the Santa Clara, Calif. garage where classes have begun, and the initial feedback is quite impressive. Here’s an example of a Vedic technique. Suppose you are asked to multiply 45 by 45. Using common mathematical knowledge you would take a couple of minutes, right? Applying a Vedic sutra, relevant for 2-digit problems, however, the computation can be performed in a fraction of the time. Step1: Multiply the last digits of the multiplicand (5) and multiplier (5). The product 5x5=25 forms the right-most digits of the answer. Step 2: Next multiply left hand digit of the multiplicand (4) with the left hand digit of the multiplicand incremented by 1 i.e. (4+1=5). Hence 4x5=20 forms the left hand most portion of the answer. Placing the solutions obtained from step 1 and step 2 yields a final answer of 2025. Now how long did that take? “This is one example, and only a glimpse of how Mathevedics can change how math is taught,” says the Evergreen Times, a local U.S. newspaper. “The U.S. has borrowed a number of ideas from India over the last half century,” the newspaper adds admiringly. “If someday we look back at the beginning of this millennium as the era of educational changes, a small Santa Clara County company called Mathevedics could be credited with leading the movement.” The Mathevedics Web site explains: “Our method is a combination of the succinctness ancient Vedic mathematical methods taught through Vedic sutras and the structure of modern mathematics curricula. “A big part of our method is learning the recognition of patterns — numbers , letters or pictures. Once the student has learnt efficiently how to find symmetry and pattern of numbers or objects, learning mathematics becomes fun and simple! “Our curriculum includes all mathematical manipulation taught in the school including arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, geometry and elements of calculus. “Most importantly our method of teaching and curriculum helps the students not only inside the class room or traditional academics, but it also enhances the IQ by enhancing the analytical skills and thought processes.” The first class started March 15. Interested parents are inquiring, and registration for the first session was closed within few days, the Mathevedics team says. “First-generation Indian immigrants are generally aware of Vedic mathematics and are familiar its advantages,” says the Web site. “Mathevedics, however, is not only and exactly Vedic mathematics. Our uniqueness is in the application of Vedic mathematics to the school curriculum. Add to it the individual attention and you have a recipe for improved grade in the school.” Mathevedics founders add that students with exposure to other systems like Kumon find the Vedic system much more fun. “It is very satisfying to see young children’s eyes brighten when they see and learn our techniques,” says the Web site. Miguel, a 3rd grader at a Catholic school, was able to apply the Mathevedic technique on the very first day of his school. Alberto Rocha, a 10th grader learnt the Mathevedics technique of multiplying two-digit numbers and was able to solve 80 problems in less than 20 minutes on the very first day, the Mathematics team says. “The Mathevedics team was awed at Alberto’s performance,” says the Web site. “Alberto was awed too.” Considerable amount of work went into preparing the lessons, according to Mathevedics founders. Vedic mathematics isn’t exactly everybody’s bedtime reading. It can be quite abstract, even abstruse. The shlokas are not always detailed, and sometimes the examples are inscrutable. The Mathevedics team brought books on Vedic mathematics from India, and then went very thoroughly through the high school curriculum of the U.S. Then they looked at the relevant Vedic mathematic techniques, and when applying them to the U.S. math curriculum, asked themselves a simple question: How would a high school teacher teach this stuff? The answer was simple enough: He or she would have to teach the students step by step. So the team developed in-between steps which are missing in the relevant Vedic sutras, and developed over a thousand exercises. When a student comes to a Mathevedics class he or she takes an entrance test. It covers three levels: level 0, level 1 and 2. Based on the aptitude, the student is placed in one of these levels. Suppose the student has been placed on level 1. On the first day he/ she will get a level 1 lesson. The team spends about 15 minutes with the student who is given one concept. Once the student has grabbed the concept, he/ she gets exercises between 50-80 exercises and 45 minutes. Yes, you read that right, and Mathevedics developers say the technique is so sound that students take it in stride. Students fly through the concepts of mathematics, they say. Mathevedics organizers say if Kumon can teach school kids math, there is no reason why they cannot do it, because they have more interesting things in India instead of repeating things like Kumon does. Vedic Mathematics is something that once people come to know about it, they will really love it, they say. “Mathevedics applies ancient methods to all disciplines of modern mathematics curriculum — arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus,” the Evergreen Times reported. “The curriculum is designed to help the students learn to apply these tools to their current school curriculum. Another important aspect of this method is learning to recognize patterns of numbers or letters. “Different methods can be applied to solve problems involving numbers or letters with different patterns. This helps the students develop something that goes far beyond mathematics or sciences, enhancing the IQ by enhancing the analytical skills and thought processes.” “We realize that students need to be good in their respective school curricula,” Santosh Kumar told the Evergreen Times. “Therefore we have designed our curriculum that enables our students to stay motivated. Mathevedics students become more successful in their respective grades, because essentially they learn how to apply specific tool to their school curricula. Infotech India SAI specializes in Intelligent Transportation Systems – a field that utilizes advanced technologies in computer and communication systems to decrease congestion, delay and to improve mobility, air quality and safety on our nation’s three million miles of freeway and arterial streets. The project is a joint effort between SAI, Caltrans and the University of California at Berkeley. Venu Sarakki, president of SAI, is originally from Bangalore who was educated at BMS College of Engineering and Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. The project involves completely automating 37.5-mile segment of freeway with one exclusive truck lane in each direction. A platoon of three trucks will use adaptive cruise control and lane tracking algorithms to travel up to speeds of 75 miles per hour with only five feet distance (spatial headway) between each truck. Drivers can take their hands off the steering wheel and legs off the gas/brake pedals and read a newspaper or sip coffee along the entire segment of the freeway. The project initial feasibility and concept design is expected to be completed by December of 2003. Emagia delivers Enterprise Cash Flow Management Solutions that help manage cash inflow and outflow performance efficiently, to optimize working capital. The company has created an entirely new kind of financial platform Collaborative Finance to help companies achieve better fiscal performance in the new world of Internet business. Emagia has an office in Hyderabad with a current workforce of thirty-five people. The corporation has clients in Coca-Cola, Network Associates and others. Sigma Partners, with more than $1 billion under management, has previously invested in companies such as Cascade, Vignette and Storage Networks. The company also signed an MoU with Microsoft Malaysia to create IT outsourcing capability to meet the “growing demands in the region.” The partnership is likely to train over 200 IT professionals in two years. Managing director of the Indian IT giant Satyam, B. Rama Raju, said Malaysia was an attractive location because of its world-class infrastructure, strategic location in the region and proximity to India. Indian High Commissioner Veena Sikri said the increasing presence of Indian IT companies in Malaysia would further strengthen ties between the two countries. She also complimented the Malaysian government in dealing with the incident last month, when police detained Indian IT professionals despite having valid documents, in Kuala Lumpur. Inaugurating the center, Malaysian Minister of Energy, Communication and Multimedia, Amar Leo Moggie sought to bury the incident and said Malaysia continues to welcome “knowledge workers.” The formation of such a key directorate is under discussion in the ongoing weeklong Army Commanders Conference which is going to lead to the formation of the Army’s first such directorate at its headquarters here. The directorate, official sources said, would seek information flow as a force multiplier, as witnessed during the Kargil crisis. Besides formation of such a directorate, the Army commanders are also framing an operational mandate for the Rashtriya Rifles, the Army’s counter insurgency arm in Jammu and Kashmir, which would then be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Security for approval. The absence of such a mandate, sources said, was often leading to friction between various security force units engaged in operations against militants in the border state. It has also become essential as Rashtriya Rifles, from a fledgling force of a few battalions in the early nineties, has now become almost 64-battalion strong. The award is presented annually to Sun Microsystems’ top marketing alliance partners in each time zone, an Infosys release said. Infosys Technologies won the award for South Asia in recognition of its innovation in jointly creating a global retail banking reference architecture, excellence in sales and commitment to Sun’s technologies, it said. The award was presented to Infosys by Stuart Wells, senior vice-president, market development organization, the release added. Wipro said it expects the transaction, subject to adjustments, to be completed in the quarter ending June 2003. NerveWire Inc, which is serving financial services clients, has a team of over 90 domain experts and IT consultants primarily in the U.S. It addresses clients in the security services, private client, trading/investment management, banking, insurance and hi-tech industries. According to a Wipro statement, NerveWire brings to Wipro more than 40 client relationships with over 20 active engagements. Commenting on the acquisition, Wipro Technologies president Girish Paranjpe said the team of 90-plus consultants from NerveWire brings in deep domain knowledge and strong customer relationships. “We believe this acquisition will be a strong catalyst for growth by creating better customer value.” Communications Minister Arun Shourie said during question hour that BSNL’s feat was remarkable in view of the fact that Bharti, which is the biggest cellular company in the private sector, has a total of 3 million subscribers. He admitted there had been shortcomings at times in the cellular service offered by the BSNL as the demand was large, especially for the post-paid services which was against market trend. Even as Prakash Paranjapey alleged that contractors of Reliance mobile were obstructing the services of BSNL by cutting wires and wanted stern action in this regard, the minister could not respond as Speaker Manohar Joshi had proceeded to the next question. In reply to the main question by Subodh Mohite on the problems faced by Garuda mobile service of MTNL, the minister said Rs. 340 million of the total Rs. 900 million to be given to Fujitsu, which had supplied the handsets for the service, had been withheld as also Rs. 90 million of performance guarantee. In a written reply, however, Mookherjee said the National Task Force Team set up to study a proposal for an unmanned orbiting spacecraft mission to the moon has submitted its report. The proposal is to send an unmanned spacecraft to orbit the moon at the height of 100 km, he said, adding that the spacecraft would be launched using India’s own launch vehicle. The mission is planned for the scientific objective of high-resolution remote sensing of the lunar surface in visible, near-infrared, low-energy X-ray and high-energy X-ray spectra, Mookherjee said. To another question about the achievements of the Indian Space Research Organization, he said they include launch and operationalization of INSAT-3C satellite in January 2002, augmenting the communication, broadcasting and information infrastructure of the country and testing of the indigenously-developed cryogenic engine for the full-flight duration. Replying to questions, he said MLAs, who are now undergoing a computer training program, could continue it from their native places as SSI, which is providing the course, has branches all over Tamil Nadu. During the debate, CPI member V. Sivapunniyam said lessons in computer training program for legislators began with instructors teaching them to enter the word amma, a respectful word used by AIADMK members to refer to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. He was immediately countered by Jayakumar as to what was wrong with that. He quoted a song from an MGR movie that said without mother nobody could shine on earth. Generally, initiation to Tamil alphabet also starts with the word amma (mother) for the first letter “a.” However, cutting across party lines, MLAs welcomed the training program, saying it was useful to them. Sivapunniyam said MLAs were now well versed to paint their party symbols on computer. “We must develop these capabilities ourselves and we must also develop shields and firewalls in this regard,” Communications and Information Technology Minister Arun Shourie said, winding up a debate on the working of his ministries in the Rajya Sabha. The government, he said, has set up a Working Group on Cyber Law and Cyber Forensics, another on Encryption Policy, besides those on Critical Infrastructure Protection, Cyber Security Assurance and Cyber Security Education and Awareness. In his 50-minute reply, Shourie referred to the other side of IT as pointed out by former Army Chief Gen. Shanker Roy Chowdhury, who observed that during the Gulf and Iraq wars not just individual weapons but the entire system depended on communication technology and IT. Asserting that key technologies could not be sourced from outside, he cited an example of an Internet provider giving services at a mere Rs. 5 per hour. Intelligence agencies found that the company was linked to a Mauritian firm which was a subsidiary of a Hong Kong company with connections to the People’s Liberation Army of China and the Chinese intelligence, he said.
The explosive growth in the last decade in Silicon Valley brings to mind Fed chief Alan Greenspan’s famous remark of “irrational exuberance.” It all came crashing town with an ultimate correction of the market in technology — be it the ubiquitous Internet, the telecom sector or bio-tech. While other cities around the world scramble to replicate the Valley’s technology proliferation, the Silicon Valley itself is shrinking. What do the creators of the Silicon Valley phenomenon think of this retrenchment? Where do the plan to take our Valley from here? Veterans of several economic cycles in the Valley will gather May 16-17 at TiECon 2003 to give their views, engage in debate and exchange war stories, and here is a summary of what they will talk about. The event will be headlined by Irwin Mark Jacobs (above, inset) , co-founder, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm. Thought leaders share insights and enter into lively debates on the state of this upcoming industry. High-level executives that make purchase decisions for wireless products share their focus and their spending priorities in the field of mobile wireless with some of the industry leaders among wireless vendors today. A dynamic panel comprising wireless vendors, carriers and client companies chalk out the lay of the land across the value chain by addressing issues like: What are the most critical challenges facing mobile wireless carriers? Is anyone really buying wireless products and services? If so, where do their dollars go? Which customer needs are paramount for the next 2-3 years? Moore’s law – the raison d’etre of Silicon Valley -predicts a billion transistors on a single chip in the next generation, enabling a host of breakthrough applications. Experts at the session debate the very real concerns of whether we are reaching the limits of materials used and whether this will seriously hamper industry growth in the near term. IDC predicts that the market for security hardware, software and services will hit $ 45 billion by 2006. Today, however, companies struggle to handle the existing volume of alerts, measure the efficacy and hence ROI of security investments and make customer guarantees based on vendor software performance. This session explores what problems clients are seeking to solve and why VC’s consider this a hot area of investment. STORAGE There will also be sessions on enterprise software, software infrastructure and tools, digital media, life sciences and nanotechnology. Zitin Bazaz Dhawan is director of business |TOP| READING The other book trade continues quietly in thousands of used bookstores across the country. Readers are searching for out-of-print books years, sometimes decades, after the desired titles were last mentioned in a print review or featured at an author signing. In this obscurity, almost entirely ignored by the media and absent from the public consciousness, the out-of-print book business has developed, thrived, stratified. This activity goes on under the radar, out of the spotlight. We’re changing that. The BookFinder.com Report is a different kind of bestseller list: it’s a measure of the most sought after out-of-print titles in America. We’ve been online since 1997, enabling individuals, libraries, and book dealers to track down and purchase books, new or used, in- or out-of-print, rare or readily available. Volume 1 of the BookFinder.com Report is based on our analysis of aggregate trends for out-of-print book searches between July and December of 2002.
Biography
Children's
Crafts and Hobbies
Fiction and Literature
History
Mysteries and Thrillers
Poetry
Popular Science & Technology
Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror
Anirvan Chatterjee is CEO of BookFinder.com, |TOP|
Community News in Brief:
Kid Tycoons... Spotlite on India... InMedya Award... SARS Response... Principal Hall of Fame Kid Tycoons A new concept in Refrigerating, Another India Community Center, Talking Navigational Disposable Map, Cloning Company, Car Boosters — all sound like new released titles of books or projects at a Science Symposium? Well, think again. These are the names of the businesses that the young entrepreneurs of the Silicon Valley envision themselves starting. The event, spread over three days (April 19, 20, 27) and jointly sponsored by ICC and TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), brought the Silicon Valley kids together at the India Community Center (ICC), Milpitas. Said Raj Desai, TiE executive director, “The reason we chose ICC as the venue is because this organization represents our community and specially with the kids of the Bay Area. We wanted to ensure that all kids participate in this unique event.” The event let the kids and the youth in the age group of 6-18 express their thoughts on the meaning of entrepreneurship through art. The kids were asked to create a picture and write a few lines on “If someone gave you a million dollars to start a company, what would you do?” The innovative ideas of the young entrepreneurs ranged from creating a new line of Space Age Furniture to starting a Save the Tiger project or creating a new world with The Subconscious Touch by Anshul or creating research papers in an Animal Research Center by Tara. The event attracted over 100 kids and youths. Glimpses:
Readers can find more information about TiE at www.tie.org. The ICC Web site is www.indiaCC.org. |Back to Community News| |TOP| Spotlite on India The event opened with A.R. Rahman’s rendition of “Vande Mataram.” Groups like “Desi Divas,” “Mast,” “Paanch Pariyan,” |
