Inspiring win

Prof. Sudip Misra of the Computer Science and Engineering Department sets an inspiring example by winning the Careers360 Outstanding Faculty Award in Computer Science for 2018

“A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron,” said Horace Mann. And the best way to inspire anyone is by setting an example. Dr Sudip Misra, Professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, has done just that by winning the Careers360 ‘Outstanding Faculty Award’ in Computer Science for the Year 2018.

Prof. Misra recently received the award from the Union minister for Human Resource Development, Mr Prakash Javadekar, at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Teen Murti Bhavan, New Delhi. The citation says that after having examined 301 articles in the domain of Computer Science, Dr Misra was chosen as the winner. With 95 publications in 2015-17, a cumulative of 2237 citations and with a 24 h-index, Prof. Misra was adjudged the “most research proficient faculty of India” for 2018. As informed by Careers360 – a group specializing in the domain of education – the weights for output, citation and h-index set for evaluation were 33.5 per cent, 31.6 per cent and 34.9 per cent respectively.

The SWAN laboratory of IIT Kharagpur, where Prof. Misra works with his team, has seen the birth of several inventions and innovations. Prof. Misra and his research team recently developed an autonomous unmanned aerial drone. The completely indigenous BHIM drone, which has advanced features of aerial surveillance, is in keeping with the government of India’s ‘Make in India’ campaign, and could be used for para-dropping emergency supplies and post-disaster rescue operations.

The SWAN lab has also come up with a one-of-a-kind lifesaver technology that can be fitted in an ambulance to ensure remote monitoring of patient’s condition by doctors even before the patient reaches the hospital. This technology, named “AmbuSens”, is capable of wireless monitoring of various physiological parameters like ECG, heart-rate, temperature and blood-pressure.

Prof. Misra’s students at IIT Kharagpur’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering also recently won the Gandhian Young Technological Innovation award this year for devising an IoT sensing device that can be used in agricultural fields and construction business.

At the award ceremony at New Delhi, the AICTE Chairman, Prof. Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe, was the guest of honour. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 50,000 and a citation. Prof. Misra says, “I would like to thank IIT Kharagpur, my department, my students, colleagues, and friends who form the building blocks in different ways for getting these awards.”

 

All’s well that ends well

SPIC MACAY’s 6th International Convention at IIT Kharagpur ends on a high note

SPIC MACAY’s 6th International Convention held at IIT Kharagpur ended on a high note on June 9 with an all-night concert that saw the performances of some of the biggest names in Hindustani classical music. The evening of June 8 began with Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar’s inspiring rendering of several khayals in his unique style and Vidushi Shruti Sadolikar giving the audience a taste of some rare ragas like Raag Mukhi. And it ended with Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty’s soulful thumris, Pandit Kumar Mardur’s and Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar’s gayaki transporting the audience to a different plane in the wee hours of the morning.

Ustad Dagar, patiently hearing out a student

For the participants, many from beyond the borders, even as far away as Belarus, it has been an experience of a lifetime. They have not only seen the greats perform on stage, but have also spent a considerable amount of time learning directly from them in intensive classes spread over a week. The Times of India was a media partner of the event.

In IIT Kharagpur’s Nalanda complex, one of the biggest such classroom complexes in India, the youngsters trained extensively in 40 intensives/workshops going on simultaneously in the classrooms. They could either learn Fado (a form of Goan music), weaving, Sanjhi paper cutting, Kangra miniature painting, myriad other forms of art or violin, puppetry, yoga and dance. Or music from no less than Ustad Dagar, Guru Mohan Singh Khangura and Pandit Mardur.

“You can go on for 10 years and not learn anything, and you can spend just 6 days and learn a lot. It all depends on your attitude and from whom you are learning,” said Sharmila Biswas, the famous Odissi exponent, while taking a break from her class with 30 or more students.

Many of them were from the National College of Arts, Lahore. “We have never seen any of these dance forms,” said one of the girls. On being asked what she felt being at IntCON ’18, the Pakistani participant said, “We are the same people, are we not? You have the same creative impulses as we do, and we dress the same way.”

An art class in progress at Nalanda

The youngsters gave presentations of what they had learnt in the afternoon of June 8. There was not one that failed to impress. The Kuchipudi presentation put up by the group under the tutelage of Vasanthalakshmi Narasimhachari was so good that it left Ustad Dagar, who was in the audience, ecstatic. “IntCON has been a unique experience for all of us, and we are thankful to Dr Kiran Seth for spearheading the mission.”

Intcon ’18 has seen the staging of Kaifi aur Main by Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar. Anjolie Ela Menon, one of India’s greatest contemporary artists, gave a lecture-demonstration on her art. There have been innumerable performances by artistes of both classical and folk arts.

Prof. Joy Sen, Head, Department of Architecture and Regional Planning at IIT Kharagpur and Co-Convenor of the event and Prof . Arnab Roy, Convener of the event, said, “With an assembly of close to 1,300 people, hundreds of volunteers, many great artistes, and the robust participation of IIT Kharagpur’s own community, the campus has been a melting pot of different cultures and peoples. IntoCON ’18 has brought together the micro, meso and macro traditions of India.”

Dr Seth, the founder of SPIC MACAY, pointed out that volunteers have been the backbone of the movement. “We want our volunteers and young participants to learn that there is a domain which is non-transactional… where what you get is much, much more than what you give. The celebration and promotion of art that our organization does is one such domain.”

 

Playing host to an international cultural meet

 

IIT Kharagpur provides the perfect setting for a grand cultural convention

IIT Kharagpur is preparing itself to host what is inarguably a spectacular youth festival. From June 3-June 9, 2018, it will be the site of the 6th International Convention of SPIC MACAY (Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth) that will see the assembly of around 1,100 youth delegates from all over India and its neighbouring countries, and around 300 artistes of national and international repute.

In about a week’s time, there will be 40 workshops, 30 concerts and 7 yoga and meditation sessions where the participants, mostly college students, will find themselves in direct communion with eminent artistes and Masters who are the repositories of India’s, in fact the subcontinent’s, thousands of years old cultural heritage. This will happen not only through their exposure to live performances of classical and folk music and dance, but also through their direct interaction with some of the artistes through workshops that will coach participants in various art forms such as Cherial, Gond, Phad, Patachitra and miniature Kangra paintings, Sholapith craft, Seraikela mask-making, Sanjhi paper cutting, Mughal wood carving and such like.

From June 3-9, a galaxy of artistes from the world of music, dance and the stage will perform, talk, discuss and introduce the youngsters to their craft. Shabani Azmi and Javed Akhtar will stage Kaifi aur Main. There will also be screening of the film, Gandhi.

Among the eminent classical artistes who will grace the convention are Dr N. Rajam, Vidwan T.V. Sankaranarayanan, Begum Parween Sultana, Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Vidwan Vikku Vinayakram, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar, Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty, Guru Ghanakanta Bora, Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar, Pt. Suresh Talwalkar, Vidushi Shruti Sadolikar Katkar, Vidushi Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, Vidwan Seshampatti Sivalingam and Vidhushi Priyadarshini Govind. There will also be Gurbani performance by Baljeet Singh Namdhari, Qawwali by Iqbal Chisti and Baul by Shyam Sundar Das.

IIT Kharagpur has travelled some distance in bringing together India’s rich cultural heritage and technology through its SandHI project that is a Science and Heritage Interface. It has also collaborated with renowned Hindustani Classical Vocalist, Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty, to promote classical music among younger generations and preserve the unique guru-sishya culture. Plans are afoot for a Center for Classical Arts.

“IntCON is part of this momentum and will bring us in closer touch with both classical and folk artistes,” says Prof. Pallab Dasgupta, Dean SRIC and Key Adviser to the IntCON 2018 Committee at IIT Kharagpur. Prof. Joy Sen, Head, Dept. of Architecture and Regional Planning at IIT Kharagpur and Co-Convenor of the event, says, “IIT Kharagpur, with its gurukul-like set up, is a site that befits such a grand cultural convention. With events like IntCON, IIT KGP will, hopefully be able to propagate and embellish India’s rich cultural heritage”