GoodNewsIndia :: The Sieve
Good news filtered from media streams
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Apr 12, 2007 : S S R Varadhan wins the Abel Prize
Srinivasa S R Varadhan, born in Chennai and living in America since 1963 has won the Abel Prize for 2007. It is considered the Nobel Prize for mathematics. Varadhan is credited with playing a big part in mainstreaming probability theory.Here is an interesting excerpt from the biographical note put out by the Abel institution: “It is reported that during his thesis defence Varadhan noticed a visitor whom he did not know and who asked many penetrating questions. After the exam he discovered that it was the great Russian mathematician and probabalist A N Kolmogorov. Apparently Professor C R Rao [Varadhan’s thesis advisor] arranged the date of the exam knowing Kolmogorov would be visiting India then, in order to show off his star student, and Kolmogorov was not disappointed.”
Apr 04, 2007 : The Smritivan idea catches on
Commemorative tree planting was an idea pioneered by Smritivan of Pune. The idea was to motivate people to plant trees by appealing to their sentiments. It has certainly caught on.After Sikkim [over 50,000 saplings so far!] and Madurai [164 acres], the idea has now arrived in Chennai
For a one time payment of Rs.500 you can have a tree associated with your birth star, planted and maintained for three years by the C P Ramaswamy Environment Education Centre [CPREEC], Chennai. The State department that manages temples and temple lands in Tamil Nadu has directed 250 temples around Chennai to have Star Gardens.
For over 3,000 years Indians have associated each of the 27 birth stars with a specific tree. Despite the race to become ‘modern’, the pull of ancient memories appear strong in Indians
Mar 31, 2007 : Drugs from arecanut
Our forefathers were not unwise after all, to have included arecanut -betel- chewing as part of everyday life. Now two drugs have been prepared from the nut that can be used against diabetes and respiratory disorders. Licenses have been granted to Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheswara Ayurveda Pharmacy to manufacture these formulations. If the initial market acceptance scales up, 5% of all nut grown in Kerala and Karnataka will find new markets. The development may also suck out the quantity available for chewing, a habit that has nullified any medicinal virtue our ancestors may have discovered in the nut!Page 3 of 38 pages « FirstP < 1 2 3 4 5 > Last » [Full listing]