IGNITED MINDS

IGNITED MINDS- Unleashing the power within INDIA

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen ABDUL KALAM (DOB-15 OCT.1931) recipient of PADMA BHUSHAN (‘81), PADMA VIBHUSHAN (‘90) AND BHARAT RATNA (‘97). A well known scientist, worked with DRDO,ISRO and the Government of INDIA.

                                                          Ignited Minds (Apr.2002)is an attempt to awaken the potential hidden among the young in INDIA so that DEVELOPED INDIA can be achieved. In short -Thinking is the capital, Enterprise is the way and Hard Work is the solution. Ignited Minds is about developing that conviction in ourselves and discarding the things that hold us back. 

          Dream, Dream, Dream ;

          Dreams transform into thoughts

          And thoughts result in Action.

After a helicopter crash (Sept.2001) A.K delivers his speech and rests in his room and dreams about the five major personalities: Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Emperor Asoka, Abraham Lincoln and Caliph Omar. Dreams have the power of creativity and this leads to think about the dream and thus thoughts result in action. Spirituality must be integrated with education, together they have the ability to establish the highest power of knowledge.

ROLE MODELS: learn from the role models, Respect them but do not imitate them. For children up to the age of fifteen-Parents and teachers should be their role models and this has an impact on the future of the country.

A.K’s Favourite Books:

1.     MAN THE UNKNOWN (Body and Mind)-Dr.ALEXIS CARREL

2.    THIRUVALLUVAR’S THIRUKKURAL

3.    LIGHT FROM MANY LAMPS (HOW WE LIVE)-LILLIAN EICHER

4.    HOLY QURAN

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now”-Goethe.

Visionary teachers and scientists – this chapter states that Vision is the most important for the development. A.K’s favourite teacher Prof. Totadri Iyengar.

Aryabhatta- Aryabhattiam (2 parts).Discovered the value of “pi” as the ratio of circle’s circumference to its diameter.

Bramhagupta- Bramha Stupa  Siddhanta. Given solution of intermediate equations to different degrees.

Bhaskaracharya-Siddhantasirohmani and evolved the value of zero.

Kalam says that for the betterment of a nation Vision should be established and for this to occur, Spirituality with education (ancient sciences should be given paramount role) should be taught.

PURA-Provide Urban Facilities In Rural Areas.

Tamil poem by Awaiyar:

It is rare to be born as human being

It is still more rare to be born without any deformity

Even if you are born without any deformity

It is rare to acquire knowledge and education

Even if one could acquire knowledge and education

It is still rare to do offerings and tapas

But for one who does offerings and tapas

The doors of heaven open to greet him.

‘When u speak, speak the truth; perform when you promise; discharge your trust…withhold your hands from striking.and from taking which is unlawful and bad.’

“I do not care for liberation, I would rather go to a hundred thousand hells,’doing good to others (silently) like the spring’, this is my religion”- SWAMI VIVEKANANDA.

                   Nature has always been a best friend to man. The point is he should realize it before it is too late.

For a people of a nation to rise to the highest, they must have a common memory of great Heros and exploits, of great adventures and triumphs in the past. All nations which have risen to greatness have been characterized by a sense of mission. The most important and urgent task before our leadership is to get all the forces for constructive change together and deploy them in a mission mode.

“Wisdom is a weapon to ward off destruction. It is an inner fortress which enemies cannot destroy”-Thirrukural.

Knowledge is acquired through education, information, intelligence and experience. KNOWLEDGE HAS BEEN THE PRIME MOVER OF PROSPERITY AND POWER. The acquisition of knowledge has therefore been the thrust area throughout the world. The knowledge society has two important components driven by societal transformation and wealth generation.

Core areas : IT, BT, ST, Weather forecasting, Disaster management, telemedicine and teleeducation.

“Determine that things can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way”- Abraham Lincoln.

Five areas of Core competence-

1.     Agriculture and food processing

2.    Power (Electricity)

3.    Education and health care

4.    Information Technology

5.    Strategic sector-Nuclear, Space and Defense Technology.

REACH-RELEVANCE AND EXCELLENCE IN ACHIEVING NEW HEIGHTS IN EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

CORE- CENTRES OF RELEVANCE AND EXCELLENCE.

We need to dapt the implementation of our programmes and policies into a mission mode to succeed. The abundant natural resources, human and material, remain to be fully utilized. Value addition should be an important step for the development of a nation.

“The horse that flew-chidanand Rajghatta.”

Start by risking your own position for a mission. Either I deliver or I go. prepare for the Endeavour. With effort and perseverance you will always succeed.

We need to realize that missions are always bigger than organizations, just as organizations are always bigger than the individuals who run them.

Cosortium amon the companies and the unity among the nation-like before the independence makes our nation a super power.

“Song of youth”

How exercise benefits the brain (wrf the hindu 17-12-11))

To learn more about how exercise affects the brain, scientists in Ireland recently asked a group of sedentary male college students to take part in a memory test followed by strenuous exercise.


First, the young men watched a rapid-fire line-up of photos with the faces and names of strangers. After a break, they tried to recall the names they had just seen as the photos again zipped across a computer screen.


Afterward, half of the students rode a stationary bicycle, at an increasingly strenuous pace, until they were exhausted. The others sat quietly for 30 minutes. Then both groups took the brain-teaser test again.


Notably, the exercised volunteers performed significantly better on the memory test than they had on their first try, while the volunteers who had rested did not improve.


Meanwhile, blood samples taken throughout the experiment offered a biological explanation for the boost in memory among the exercisers. Immediately after the strenuous activity, the cyclists had significantly higher levels of a protein known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, which is known to promote the health of nerve cells. The men who had sat quietly showed no comparable change in BDNF levels.


For some time, scientists have believed that BDNF helps explain why mental functioning appears to improve with exercise. However, they haven’t fully understood which parts of the brain are affected or how those effects influence thinking. The Irish study suggests that the increases in BDNF prompted by exercise may play a particular role in improving memory and recall.


Other new studies have reached similar conclusions, among both people and animals, young and old. In one interesting experiment published last month, Brazilian scientists found that after sedentary elderly rats ran for a mere five minutes or so several days a week for five weeks, a cascade of biochemical processes ignited in the memory center of their brains, culminating in increased production of BDNF molecules there. The old, exercised animals then performed almost as well as much younger rats on rodent memory tests.


Another animal study, this one performed by researchers in the Brain Injury Research Centre at the University of California, Los Angeles, and published in September in the journal Neuroscience, showed that if adult rats were allowed to run at will for a week, the memory centre of their brains afterward contained more BDNF molecules than in sedentary rats, and teemed with a new population of precursor molecules that presumably would soon develop into fully functioning BDNF molecules.


Perhaps the most inspiring of the recent experiments is one involving aging human pilots. For the experiment, published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine asked 144 experienced pilots ages 40 to 65 to operate a cockpit simulator three separate times over the course of two years.


For all of the pilots, performance declined somewhat as the years passed. A similar decline with age is common in all of us.


Many people find it more difficult to perform skilled tasks – driving an automobile, for instance – as they grow older, says Dr. Ahmad Salehi, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Stanford and lead author of the study.


But in this case, the decline was especially striking among one particular group of men. These aging pilots carried a common genetic variation that is believed to reduce BDNF activity in their brains. The men with a genetic tendency toward lower BDNF levels seemed to lose their ability to perform complicated tasks at almost double the rate of the men without the variation.


While the pilot experiment wasn’t an exercise study, it does raise the question of whether strenuous exercise could slow such declines by raising BDNF levels, thereby salvaging our ability to perform skilled manual tasks well past middle age.


“So many studies have shown that exercise increases levels of BDNF,” says Salehi. While he notes that other growth factors and body chemicals are “upregulated” by exercise, he believes BDNF holds the most promise.


“The one factor that shows the fastest, most consistent and greatest response is BDNF,” he says. “It seems to be key to maintaining not just memory but skilled task performance.”


Salehi plans next to examine the exercise histories of the pilots, to see whether those with the gene variant, which is common among people of European or Asian backgrounds, respond differently to workouts.


In people who have the variant and less BDNF activity, “exercise is probably even more important,” he says. “But for everyone, the evidence is very, very strong that physical activity will increase BDNF levels and improve cognitive health.”

Muscles that remember (wrf the hindu dt:17-12-11)

If you start by being active when young, the memory is stored by your body to be pulled out for later use.


If you can cover 10 km in 1.20 hours at a brisk walk, you definitely fall under the 'fit' category. And based on facts, three days a week and three months of cardio respiratory fitness would fetch such results.


But what surprised and intrigued me was that my sister - who is about 20 kg above her ideal BMI (Body Mass Index) and has not been within sniffing distance of any fitness programme for more than 10 years - did this 10 km in 1.20 hrs rather effortlessly.


This was because her body didn't perceive brisk walking as exertion; and that's because of muscle memory. She was a sportsperson during her younger days.


Like motor learning


Now, is muscle memory stored in your muscles? Of course not; memories are stored in your brain. Muscle memory is similar to motor learning, which is a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor activity into memory through repetition. When that movement is repeated over time, a long-term muscle memory is created for that activity eventually allowing it to be performed without conscious effort.


When it comes to gross motor skills like movement of large muscles or major body movements like walking or running, the extent to which one exhibits gross motor skills depends largely on muscle tone and strength. The foundation is laid when a child starts learning these movements and then consolidates them. As a matter of fact, we walk today because of that motor memory.


It's a little like learning to balance on and ride a bicycle. If you learnt to do that at the age of 6-7, and then never touch a cycle till age 35, you still don't have to relearn anything. Your body will balance and ride it effortlessly compared to another 35-year-old adult who didn't learn to cycle as a child. And guess what? That person's chances of learning to ride are pretty bleak.


So the important pint here is to put in train children the right way at the right time so that the chances of their being unfit later - the years when it is crucial to stay fit – declines. Given the concern about increasing childhood obesity and consequent health issues, all it takes is to just play right.


Stages of physical development


Birth to 6months: Reflexive and spontaneous movement


6 months – 2 years: Rudimentary movements


2–6 years: Fundamental movements


6–12 years: Sports skills (gymnastics, tennis, martial arts)


12–18 years: Growth and refinement


18–30years: Peak performance


If you are a parent


Encourage your child to take part in sports


If the child shows interest in a specific sport help him/her pursue it


Look at other options if the sport is not available in school


It is difficult to balance academics and sports. But, what if your child is a prodigy? Remember Sachin Tendulkar

NIT

Director,NIT Trichy
I am pasting an interesting report from Nishant. Please go though and start discussions.

Campus Development Committee
The Campus Development Committee (CDC) is based on our discussions that we had with you in the Barn Hall while you had been discussing all the things needed to improve the campus with we final year students.
The CDC is a concept that 2 of our seniors tried at initiating in the campus last year but due to lack of support, the idea remained in the idea phase itself.
The CDC is a group of various groups inside the campus which aims at engaging students in constructive activities. There are many clubs in the campus but their activities are restricted and with an increase in the number of students and the various interests of them, we find that more than clubs , we need dedicated group of students who are engaged in activities which helps them to learn new things, better their communication skills, enhance their personality, provide them with various opportunities, engage them in inter disciplinary(departmental) activities and most important of all is to engage maximum number of students.
Students come here form various backgrounds and the Institute has to be a great learning place for them. Apart from Technical expertise, it must also provide for the overall personality development of all individuals.
Considering the student activities across many elite T-Schools across India and abroad, I find that there are many things that can be initiated and which can act as newer and exciting platforms for the fellows in the campus. This will provide them with newer learning experiences and larger than the existing domains for them to act.
The proposed student groups are:
1. Ideas Club
2. Astronomy Amateurs
3. Debating Society
4. Alumni Interaction Cell
5. Inter Departmental Societies
6. Theatre Group
7. Art Appreciators
8. Music of Mozart
9. Spiritual Science Seekers
10. Sociologist Association
11. Computer Literacy Society
12. Designing Enthusiasts
13. Film Making Group
14. Student Counsellors
15. The Research Newsletter
16. India Club
All these are explained in short as under:
1. Ideas Club
Ideas Club is a place where ideas flourish. Students have many ideas but they do not how to pursue it or about its feasibility. Everyone doesn’t know how to write a business plan and hence some of the very best ideas remain always dormant and never come up. There are few people working on these things inside in the campus but they are only FEW.
In order to provide an open interactive space to all the students in the campus to promote their ideas and encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship, this club is proposed.
It is based on the model of Ideas group in IITM and MIT , Massachusetts and the structure is very simple.
There is a group of students, one from each department, who sit regularly in Student Activity Centre for 2 hours on every alternate day or weekends i.e. 3 days a week based on suitability and need.
Any student fills a spread sheet on google regarding what they have to discuss in key words and meets these group of people and presents his/her idea. It is just an idea. The committee then discusses with the student and provides with all assistance and gives a form where the students fills the particulars.
It is then considered in detail and based on the possibility, it is presented to a concerned faculty and then to the Dean. Once approved, the group approaches college and other organisations for funds and the idea moves to implementation.
No money is involved, industry will be drawn in to set up various centers inside the campus where such activities can take place. The ideas group is responsible for bringing industry with the assistance of Institute.
2. Astronomy Amateurs
Astronomy Amateurs is a group which engages in the study of stars and space. This is a hobby group where a lab is set up with the telescopes and softwares to connect to the various astronomical socities and students study on these topics. It is based on the Astronomy Club IITKGP.
Further details are awaited.
3. Debating Society
Any premier school whether it is based on Arts, Sciences or Commerce has a platform where students can discuss on the contemporary topics and express their opinions. The proposed Debating Group is such a society. There are some activities inside the campus
but they are restricted to a few numbers and fests. We need an open platform and a large one to engage in fruitful discussions. Based on the Debating Society, IITKGP and Yale University.
4. Alumni Interaction Cell
REC has a proud group of alumnus. Many students qualify for conferences and seminars abroad and they are unable to attend due to financial constraints. They are also at very good positions, so there is a possibility of their companies setting up Industry sponsored centers of research and activities inside the campus.
We can also develop a mentoring mechanism for all the students based on the model of IITM or IIMB. Further details exist.
5. Inter Departmental Societices
This is the most important group as it will be responsible for generating interests among students for technical projects. For example, students can take up exciting projects which demand cross departmental efforts like developing a robot or making a control system for a mechanical computer which has chemical applications in manufacturing and production.
Many department students can identify a group project on semester and can come up with a fruitful product which can be presented at the semester end to all the faculties and students in an open CDC meet. This will provide encouragement to the students and boost confidence in them.
6. Theatre Group
This is a group of performing enthusiasts who want to engage in plays and express or spread a message for the students or nation. There exists a similar group in English but one in Hindi and Tamil can also be appreciated.
7. Art Appreciators
Painting and Sculpture making and other art forms for architecture especially. Training can be provided and certification can also be provided by professionals.
8. Music of Mozart
Students learn to play and sing classical music and instruments in this club. Certifications can be provided by the training academy.
9. Spiritual Science Seekers
Dhruva Club and like minded people who are interested can go for meditation and can organise guest lectures and enlightening sessions for the campus students. Professors and faculties have to play an important role here by talking to students and inspiring them.
10. Sociologist Association
Based on the sociology club in IITD for UPSC enthusiasts. Further details exist.
11. Computer Literacy Society
Seniors teach programming to first year fellows who have less idea of computers and come from state boards.
12. Designing Enthusiasts
Designing taught to juniors by the senior designers. Like MATLAB, AutoCAD, Pro Engineer, Uni Graphics, Solid Works free of cost.
13. Film Making Group
Students engage in film making, documentaries and training and certification is possible.
14. Student Counsellors
A group of students counsels the tensed group of students for morale boost up and puts them in a confidence level.
15. The Research Newsletter
One person per department is a member of this team and every 15 days updates the students regarding the newest developments in the field and research positions and work going on in the respective departments with the help by faculties.
16. India Club
Any member who comes to NIT Trichy automatically becomes a member of this group. The group comes out with a newsletter regarding the various aspects of India- its past, present and future and topics of development.
It also contains the inspiring stories and interviews of great leaders of business and society.
All the above mentioned groups do not involve costs. Any news letter that comes up can be circulated by email to everyone. Only in few cases, some infrastructural support is needed such as classrooms for discussion and debates, etc.
Please look into this matter and suggest your opinions. These will be like hobby groups , only a faculty advisor support and some encouragement is needed to initiate all these things.
To look into all these things, there will be a group leader and all group leaders will constitute one group council which can be chaired by the Director and Dean Students or anyone as the administration may consider. The council may meet at the end of every month for performance evaluation or discussion.
Based on your response, I look to take this ahead. Your feedback is awaited.
Thanking you
Nishant Mandal
Final Year Student Production Engineering 09894505985

HILARIOUS INTERVIEW

Think out of the Box.. 6 beautiful HR Questions !!!




Here are some of the typical HR questions asked to find out if the candidates have "out of box" thinking capability


Question 1:

"What will you do if I run away with your sister?"

The candidate who was selected answered " I will not get a better match for my sister than you, sir."

Question 2:

Interviewer (to a student girl candidate) - What if one morning you woke up & found that you were pregnant ?

I will be very excited and take a day off, to celebrate with my husband. (Normally an unmarried girl will be shocked to hear this, but she managed it well. Why should I think it in the wrong way, she said later when asked.)

Question 3:

Interviewer: He ordered a cup of coffee for the candidate. Coffee arrived and was kept before the candidate, then he asked "What is before you?"

Candidate: Instantly replied "Tea" and got selected.

(You know how and why did he say "TEA" when he knows very well that coffee was kept before him?.
Answer: The question was "What is before you U? (-alphabet). Reply was "TEA" T (- alphabet).

Question 4:

Where Lord Rama would have celebrated his "First Diwali"?

People will start thinking of Ayodya, Mithila [Janaki's place], Lanka etc...

But the logic is, Diwali was a celebrated as a mark of Lord Krishna Killing Narakasura. In Dusavataar, Krishnavathaar comes after Raamavathaar.

So, Lord Rama would not have celebrated the Diwali At all!

Question 5:

You are driving along in your car on a wild, stormy night, it's raining heavily, when suddenly you pass by a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for a bus:

An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
An old friend who once saved your life.
The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.

Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing very well that there could only be one passenger in your car?

This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once actually used as part of a job application.

* You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you should save her first; * or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this would be the perfect chance to ! pay him back. *
However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again...

The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming up with his answer. Guess what was his answer?

He simply answered:

"I would give the car keys to my Old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams."

Sometimes, we gain more if we are able to give up our stubborn thought limitations. Never forget to "Think Outside of the Box."

Question 6:

The interviewer asked the candidate "This is your last question of the interview. Please tell me the exact position of the center of this table where u have kept your files."

Candidate confidently put one of his finger at some point at the table and said that this was the central point at the table. Interviewer asked "how did you decide that this is the central point of this table?", then he answers quickly that "Sir you are not supposed to ask any more question, as it was the last question as you promised .....

And hence, he was selected as because of his quick-wittedness.

This is what Interviewer expects from the Interviewee. ....

"THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX"

LIFE is BEAUTIFUL

Attitude...tht matters..




When things in your life seem, almost too much to handle,

When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class
and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly,
He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
And proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students, if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured
them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open Areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively
filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things - family,
children, health, Friends, and Favorite passions –
Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, Your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else --The small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' He continued,
there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,
You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

'Take care of the golf balls first --
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled
'I'm glad you asked'.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
There’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

have patience and go through this !! :-)

have patience and go through this !! :-)
source: pickthebrain

Does your morning routine feel more like a “mourning” routine? The first 30 minutes of your day has a powerful grip over the rest of your day — your morning behaviors and attitudes can influence how you feel and what you do for the rest of the day. Instead of smashing the alarm clock, kicking the cat, and cursing your life every morning, you can do five simple things that will start your day off on a better note and help you live your best life.
Kill the kryptonite: You are no longer allowed to hit the snooze button. This is coming from a guy who had a bad habit of abusing the snooze button. I’d set my alarm an hour early (yes, an hour early!) just so I could hit the snooze button six times. I found that this little and seemingly innocuous button made me weaker and weaker every day. Every time I hit it, I was unconsciously reinforcing the belief that I was weak and that I couldn’t get out of bed when I was supposed to. Break this habit and replace it with a much better one. Set your alarm for when you want to get up, and when it goes off, make yourself stronger by doing the shocking thing — by getting up. Do this every day and you will grow in confidence.
First five seconds: When it’s dark and cold out, you need a burst of inspiration to get your juices flowing. The first thing you should do is feed your mind. Look at your DreamBoard, read an inspirational quote or Bible passage, go over your goals, etc. Do this first — before you reach for your Blackberry, remote, or toothbrush.
Get the blood flowing: While your mind has been active all night, your body has not. The best way to get the mind engaged and primed is to get the body moving. Immediately after you feed your mind, do a few minutes of light stretching or yoga to get the blood flowing to your muscles and to get your joints loosened. You don’t need to be Richard Simmons on crack — slow and steady is good.
PowerJournal: For 15 or 20 minutes every day, I want you to write, brainstorm, and just think. One of the best ways to increase your happiness and sense of well-being is to express gratitude. A powerful and easy way to do this is by writing about those things for which you are grateful. You could also spend a few minutes daydreaming about your future. Instead of immediately getting sucked into the day’s pressures, responsibilities, and problems, a few minutes of quiet time focused on your perfect future can provide you with a sense of calm and peace that can last the whole day.
Breakfast: I know. You’ve heard it before. But I’ll risk repeating it because studies show about 40% of us still skip breakfast. The benefits of eating a nutritious breakfast are well known. Avoid bacon, sausage, pastries, and processed cereals and go for something simple like a bowl of whole grain cereal with non-fat milk and add a banana and raisins.If you don’t have time for breakfast or want a little something extra, you can chug down a power shake. My shake takes about three minutes to make and about two minutes to drink. The cool thing is that you can load it up with just about everything and anything.
If you did all of these things, it would add maybe 20 or 30 minutes to your morning schedule. I know a half hour in the morning is huge, but look at this time as an investment in your day and in you. Doing these things will make you healthier, give you a more positive attitude, provide a much greater feeling of control, and grant you a sense of peace and calmness !!!