Friday, May 31, 2019
Thursday, May 30, 2019
UPSC Prelim imtehaan: General Studies Second (CSAT) ka nisaab aur is ki tayyari
Source: INQUILAB-30th May,2019 
Main Para Medical Technology mein ek saala post graduate diploma karna chahti hun?
Source: INQUILAB-30th May,2019
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Monday, May 20, 2019
Friday, May 17, 2019
Thursday, May 16, 2019
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
"Civil Services ke zariye mulk wa qaum ki khidmat ka mauqa aur 'power' milta hai"
Source: INQUILAB-14th May,2019
Barhveen Science kamyaab naujawanon ko hindustani fauj mein lieutenant banne ka mauqa-8th June is the last date to register
Source: INQUILAB-14th May,2019
Saturday, May 11, 2019
Thursday, May 09, 2019
City Set in time
Source: THE HINDU-9th May,2019
Defying the skyscrapers that have
sprung up everywhere, there are still places in Hong Kong where you can enjoy
its history
Hong
Kong has grown in leaps and bounds from the 1970s. In the process, many vintage
and colonial-era buildings were razed to make way for glass skyscrapers. Still,
if one cares to investigate, there are remnants of the past that still thrive.
Tai
Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts
In
contrast to its original purpose, this police station and prison complex is
today the Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts. A cultural hub, it also houses
some of the city’s popular restaurants and bars. It has 16 heritage buildings
and two new blocks that were built to host exhibitions and events. As I walk
around the complex, I see a huge stage being set up. My guide, Fred Cheung,
explains that one of the reasons Tai Kwun is popular is because it provides the
much-needed public space that is scarce in the city.
The
Central Magistracy and D Hall, is in the surviving wing of the prison. The
authorities have tried to recreate what life in prison might have been like.
The cells still have numbers over them and grated steel doors. The Prison Yard
and the Parade Ground that were once seen as a symbol of oppression have now
transformed into a performance space for theatre, music, dance and film.
Man
Mo Temple
I
am standing at the dimly-lit sanctum of the Man Mo Temple, enveloped in the
aroma of incense and charmed by the red-and-gold ambience. Located at Hollywood
Road, the temple is home to two deities, the god of literature (Man Tai) who
holds a pen, and the god of war (Mo Tai) who wields a sword.
Dwarfed
by surrounding skyscrapers, the approximately 170-year-old temple is a
testament to Hong Kong’s cultural past and its people’s faith. The two deities
at the temple were worshipped in imperial China by those either wishing to do
well in the Civil Services exam or at martial arts. The temple still continues
to draw students seeking blessings for better education and career prospects.
The faithful write their wishes down on pieces of paper and offer them up along
with a lamp at the altar. The architecture is extravagant with Chinese
craftsmanship featuring ceramic figurines, intricate woodcarvings and murals.
Cheung
Chau Island
I
sail for an hour or so, away from the glassy façades of the city to the island
of Cheung Chau, where ‘Hong Kongers go to breathe,’ I am informed. The
bottle-green hills, the turquoise waters and buildings no taller than four
storeys, make a refreshing change from the hectic metropolis.
Traditionally,
the islanders practised fishing. However, in recent times, it has become a
tourist attraction, not just for its natural beauty, but also for its sea food,
cooked in traditional Cantonese style, and served in its many cafés.
The
aroma of fish balls and steam buns is irresistible and I succumb to a spell of
uncontrolled eating. My next destination is Cheung Po Tsai’s cave. Named after
a notorious pirate of the 18th Century who ruled the South China Sea, the cave
is all about narrow passages and steep treks. If you are claustrophobic, keep
away and head to Pak Tai Temple instead.
Erected
200 years ago, the temple is dedicated to Pak Tai, the Taoist god of the sea.
There is gold-plated woodcraft dating back to the Qing dynasty. If you crane
your neck far enough, you will get an eyeful of the roof with its colourful
ridges and ceramic figurines of dragons. It is also a good place to enjoy the
silence, that is again a rare commodity back in Hong Kong.
Before
leaving, I stroll on the sandy beaches of the island one last time, breathing
in the quiet and then head to the ferry that bears me back to the hustle and
roar of Hong Kong.
IIT-B researchers develop ‘Made in India’ microprocessor- AJIT has potential to reduce country’s dependence on imports
Source: THE HINDU-9th May,2019
Engineers
from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) have developed a
microprocessor called AJIT, the first to be conceptualised, designed, developed
and manufactured in India. The innovation, which has brought industry, academia
and the government together, could reduce the country’s dependence on imports.
The
project was funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
(MeitY) and IIT Bombay. Powai Labs, a Mumbai-based company, has invested in the
venture, and will own, market and support the product.
Prof.
Madhav Desai of the electrical engineering department and his team of nine
researchers from IIT Bombay designed and developed the processor entirely at
the institute. In a sense, the researchers have built the first proof of
concept, Prof. Desai told The Hindu. “It is out of the laboratory, but not on
the road yet. We are refining it. If successful, it will be mass produced.”
India’s
electronics market is expected to reach $400 billion by 2020. Most of the
electronic devices we use are imported; only a quarter of the devices are
produced in the country.
An
electronic equipment that is almost always imported is the microprocessor: the
‘brain’ of an electronic device. A microprocessor is an integrated circuit that
contains a few million transistors (semiconductor-based electronic devices)
fused on a semiconductor chip. It is just a few millimetres in dimension and is
used in almost every electronic device, from the microwave and washing machine
in homes to supercomputers of a space station. However, developing and
manufacturing it is not easy; it is expensive, risky, and needs skill. Hence,
only a handful of companies across the world have been able to manufacture and
sell microprocessors.
If
a microprocessor is home-grown, manufacturers of electronics devices could
benefit from the ready availability and competitive price of an Indian device
with an added advantage of having the design and support team nearby. “Geographical
proximity could easily make it possible to get something done in say two weeks,
instead of three months required otherwise,” Prof. Desai said.
Prof.
Desai and his team developed a tool set called AHIR-V2, which can convert an
algorithm to hardware to design the microprocessor circuit. AJIT (named after
Prof. Desai’s friend and mentor who died in an accident a few years ago), is a
medium-sized processor. It can be used inside a set top box, as a control panel
for automation systems, in a traffic light controller or even robotic systems.
What’s more, the researchers expect AJIT to cost as little as ₹100 when it is produced en masse.
Prof.
Desai said he saw the microprocessor in use in embedded systems. “It’s not for
mobile phones yet but not for trivial uses like washing machines either. We can
do serious things with it, like use it in WiFi routers, secure power metres or
even electronic voting machines.”
In
the first stage, AJIT has been manufactured in the government-owned
Semiconductor Laboratory, Chandigarh. It has a technology that offers the
smallest building block of the size 180 nanometres (nm). The researchers plan
to commercially manufacture the processor using more advanced techniques that
provide the smallest building block of size 65 nm or 45 nm, which is state of
the art. “Fabricating this using 180 nm technology is the first step. Although
this may not be state-of-the-art technology, it is enough for most of the
targeted applications. Using advanced technology for large manufacturing quantities
— tens of lakhs — would bring the cost per piece down,” Prof. Desai said.The
researchers have made the software tools associated with AJIT freely available.
The processor is also available as a ‘softcore’, where vendors can buy a
licence to use the design of the microprocessor and fabricate it to use it in
their system. The researchers also offer to customise the processor for
specific applications, and plan to introduce AJIT to academia. “A well-designed
single-board computer system could be made available at a low cost for students
and other enthusiasts to experiment with,” he said.
Building
the indigenous microprocessor came with its set of challenges. Prof. Desai had
only a small group graduate students who worked on a shoestring budget.
When
the team started work in 2015, they were clear it would be a five-year effort.
“The first year was about getting the first implementation, and building a
prototype. And then validate the prototype and get it manufactured.”
There
are tougher challenges ahead. “We need to get more people to use AJIT. If the
business community would own this processor, build systems around it so that
users, as well as supporters, see value in this and can make money from the
effort, then this effort can remain sustainable,” Prof. Desai said.
Verification
of the system, he said, was very complex. “It takes effort and ingenuity. It is
up to us as a research and development organisation to take it to its proper
culmination,” Prof. Desai said.
MeitY
has extended its funding to enhance the processor and deploy it in
government-initiated projects. SAMEER (Society for Applied Microwave
Electronics Engineering & Research), an independent laboratory under MeitY,
is planning to use AJIT in the receivers being developed for NAVIC or IRNNS
(The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System), an indigenous navigation
system for the Indian subcontinent.
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