THE GL BAL TIMESDecember 16-31, 2009 www.theglobaltimes.inAN AMITY NEWSPAPER

Pro@project

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Fighter Pilots

Food for ThoughtThe Shepherd

How sweet is the Shepherd'ssweet lot!From the morn to theevening he strays;He shall follow his sheep allthe day,And his tongue shall befilled with praise.

For he hears the lamb's in-nocent call,And he hears the ewe's ten-der reply;He is watchful while theyare in peace,For they know when theirShepherd is nighFrom William Blake’s dedi-cation to Christ in Songs ofInnocence

Distributed across: AIS Noida/Saket/Pushp Vihar/Vasundhra/East Delhi/ Gurgaon 43/ Gurgaon 46 • Amiown • AIMC Manesar •Amity University Noida/Jaipur/Bhubaneswar • Amitasha Noida/Saket

Says Omar Abdullah, CM J&K at a pressconference, addressing the Global TimesSenior Reporters Anusha Gupta,

Meenakshi Singh, Radhika Goel, AnantdeepSingh and Chitrangda Singh of AIS Noida.

Power is important to make a difference. As ayouth icon, how do you think the youth can joinnational politics to bring the change?If the reason to join politics is to come to power,then the motive is wrong. But if your reason isto make a difference, you can do so in manyways, as a student leader, with local bodies, inthe Panchayat, in the legislative assembly, orsimply by talking. Power is just one of themeans to make a difference. Age should not bea factor. Just by voting, you are making a dif-ference.

Politics, at large is perceived to be a ‘dirty’ ca-reer that refrains many youth from joining it.As a young dynamic leader, what is your takeon it?It’s only as dirty as you make it. There are un-scrupulous as well honest businessmen. Thereare unscrupulous sportsmen who would takedrugs to perform, or will take money to lose a

match, and yet there are honest ones who will notdepart from the rules come what may. The sameis true for politics, there are all kinds of politi-cians around. It depends on what you want to be-come and how.

Corruption is a serious problem in the society.Squandering of public money by politicians andbureaucrats can be heard often. Comment.Well, it’s true that the 100 paisa in a rupee doesnot reach the people it’s targeted towards. Butthings are improving. The more transparent thegovernment is, the more money would flow tothe intended beneficiaries. The moment the in-tended beneficiary can turn around and ask whathas happened to my money, you are puttingpower back into the hands of people and theydon’t have to wait for five years to get an answer.With RTI- a very significant tool in the hands ofthe people, the process has begun.

How difficult is it for you to run a state that’squite controversial and difficult as J &K?Without doubt, it is one of the toughest in thecountry today. My father has been the CM herefour times and now he is a minister in the gov-ernment of India. He can tell you how easy it is

to be a minister in the Government of India thanbeing a CM in J&K. Every 10-15 minutes, I re-ceive a report from my security personnels orsomeone from the government. Every time myphone rings, I feel alarmed. I fear some badnews. I constantly live on the edge, trying tomake things fine and normal. The months ofMay-June, this summer have been the most dif-ficult months in my career.

There is an absence of an effective PanchayatiRaj institution in J&K. How do you intend todevelop it?Unfortunately, it is something that I have inher-ited.We have already started planning about con-ducting Panchayati Raj elections for two reasons�We are losing the money earmarked by theUnion Govt for states where Panchayat Electionsare held.�More important than this, are the actual partic-ipatory activities of the village level panchayats,which right now are denied. They can implementcentrally sponsored schemes without bureaucratichassles or poliltical manipulations. We are hop-ing that late this year or early next year, we’ll con-clude panchayat elections and re-establish it asan important part of democracy.

“It is easier to be a minister in theGovernment of India than being a CM in J&K”“It is easier to be a minister in theGovernment of India than being a CM in J&K”

Mocktest - 2009

Saada Shaktiman: Forget Spider-man and Superman, 2009 saw therise of our very own Shaktiman-

Kapil Sibal. The HRD Minister did notdisappoint us with his idea of the develop-ment of human resources! With the ClassX boards gone with the wind, we canproudly say, “Better late than never!”Believe it or not: While we shed tears ofrelief at Sibal’s decision, we saw millionsshedding tears of grief as Michel Jacksonsaid goodbye forever to his fans. “I hateMichael Jackson. I hate him for dying andmaking me realise that he is just a humanbeing. I hate that he too has to breathe tolive. I hate that he too has a heart whichcan stop like anybody else’s,” is what film-maker Ram Gopal Varma had to say aboutthe death of the moonwalker.The K factor rebound: ‘The King Khan’or the ‘King of Bollywood’ crowned him-self as the king of controversies too. Even

without a single release this year, SRKmade sure to steal the limelight... thanks tohis IPL team. Not to forget, the NewarkAirport episode (This time, mistaking him-self for the king of the world!) Does hisobsession with the letter K seem familiar?Did you know? No we didn’t! No oneknew the scale of fraud going on inSatyam IT Services. The founder ofSatyam Group of Companies, RamalingaRaju, confessed to manipulating the com-pany funds for personal profit. The Satyamscandal was revisited in the form of

Madhu Koda scam. The CM of Jharkhandgathered wealth all these years withoutbeing questioned ever, till now.Water, water everywhere: The Chan-drayaan MoonMission, launched by India,successfully discovered water on themoon. But like they say, “Too much ofanything is bad,” the floods in AndhraPradesh, Tamil Nadu and Bihar causingwidespread devastation reasserted this.Dhokhebaaz: We are referring to themetro here. The cracks on the metro pil-lars cracked our hearts and somewhat our

faith in the metro too. As the pillars camedown, the lifeline of Delhi endangered thelives of many. Thankfully, E Sreedharan,with all his efforts, is retrieving our faithin the metro rapidly.‘Hua Pardesi’: This song from Dev D isapt for India being declared an unsafevenue for the glamorous IPL and SouthAfrica got chosen as the perfect location.Anyway, the prestigious CommonwealthGames 2010 are going to be held in India.How Noble: VR Ramakrishnan did thecountry proud by winning the Nobel Prizein Chemistry for the detailed mapping ofthe ribosome.Yehi hai right choice baby! The jantamade a good choice by re-electing theUPA-Congress back to power; at least tillthe time BJP continues to be divided!Friends, this was a quick flashback of theyear 2009. Here’s wishing you a veryhappy 2010!�

2009 has been a rollercoaster with its ups and downs, laughs and tears.Shivangi Mittal, IXA, AIS Gur 43 takes you down the memory lane...

Imaging: Dinesh Kumar

Omar AbdullahCM J&K

News with Views2 World Mirror

The Global Times, December 16-31, 2009

SakshamAgarwal (VIII A), YouthPower finalist from AIS GurGurgaon 43, who volunteered at

Green Jobs Fair at the India HabitatCentre, Delhi, reports…A unique event of the year, which at-tracted the youth as well as older people,was the ‘Green Jobs Fair’. The fair ex-hibited stalls of various NGOs, volun-tary organisations, etc that offeredvarious career options for people whowant to contribute to ‘green earth’.Creating awareness: The main objec-tive of this first of its kind initiative wasto make job seekers, aware of jobs avail-able in this sector. Educators, organiza-tions or individuals already working forenvironment could participate in thisfair, either by putting up stalls or just by

visiting it for information.Participation: The fair featured a num-ber of speakers who have contributed to-wards our green planet. Infusing theserious job fair with some fun was theGreen Bollywood Theatre Show. Organ-ized by Pukar Theatre, short stories were

shown in a typical Bollywood potboilerstyle, but with a ‘green message’.Jobs galore: There were various organ-isations, which were hiring people. TheClimate Project-India was one of them.Others included the Youth Parliament,an NGO, Centre for Environment Edu-cation (CEE) and Integrated Researchand Action for Development (IRADE).SWECCHA-we for change, an NGOalso offered job opportunities. It hasbeen inspiring the youth by ‘YamunaYatra’ - a yearly programme taking peo-ple to an excursion showing them thecourse of river Yamuna from the hills ofUttarakhand to where it flows.The fairaspired to motivate the youth of thecountry to take part in contributing forthe noble cause. �

Barefoot College, a voluntary organ-isation fromRajasthan has attracted

a huge crowd. The group makes mas-sive solar panels for cooking, toys fromdiscarded slippers and uses day-to-daywaste material to create education toys.

Kriti, another NGO started the conceptof mobile ‘Eco Café’. You can bookthe café for family parties, and itserves organic food only. ‘Indigreen’,a designer’s initiative is about clothesmade of bamboo fibre! Nidhi Singh,

creative head of the brand said that it’slooking for people who can hand paintand embellish T-shirts, tunics, bagsetc. The WWF stall showed documen-taries on ‘Earth Hour’. ‘Godrej’ wasmatchless; it made ‘zero’ carbon-emit-ting buildings, a successful project inHyderabad. The Centre for Environ-ment Education (CEE) made bags byknitting the discarded polythene bags.

An eco-friendlyposter at the fair

Green (Af)fairs

Shivangi MittalAIS Gurgaon Sector 43

The elan of the noble ‘austeritydrive’ by the UPAgovernment inSeptember, saw the politicians all

over the country shift from their oh-so-luxurious business class seats to the notso comfortable ones- cattle…oops!economy class. But what if this goes onforever? Here’s a list of things that arebound to change due to these acts ofcondescension...Unemployment - Well, this could be aterm that is soon forgotten.Anybody andeverybody could become a rickshawwala or pull a horse cart. And you neverknow, most of them might just endup rearing cows and buffaloes.Solitary Reapers - The airport of-ficials could just end up being allalone on the airport. After all ifRahulji can travel by train ,why not us..? You neverknow, Vijay Mallya might justend up buying another sports team!!Roads to heaven- When the netas haveto travel by the roads, which are in a

very pitiable condition, they will realisethe plight of the people who go throughthe torture everyday, and the roads willbe mended- hopefully!The Dhakkans- The wide gaping pot-holes will finally be covered, but don’texpect that to happen until one or two ofour netas fall into it.

Tata Bailgadis- After thevery affordable Nano, nextjust might be a very cheapBailgadi..!! But, no, you won’tget a buffalo free...!!!

B.R.T- Taking a cue from Shashi Tha-roor’s statement, B.R.T will be renamedas -Bhains Rapid Transit !!!! So enjoythe attention while you get it....!!!�

Rupee value hikes!

Tata DoCoMo, Tata TeleservicesLimited’s telecom services, asper its logo, have risked to “do

the new”.Abreakthrough in the telecom

industry, DoCoMo is a per-secondbilling plan wherein you pay only fortime you talk, even if your conversationlasts a few seconds! What’s more, ‘diet-SMS’ charges you 1 paisa per character!Imagine paying just 6 paise for a “Hihws u” message rather than a whole 1rupee! Besides, you won’t be chargedfor spaces! This doesn’t end here…roaming services were never so afford-able with one paisa per second for out-going as well as incoming calls(including all networks and landlines).And…the scheme is applicable to bothprepaid and postpaid!

Global Warm-up:UN Climate Summit

By the time this GT edition reachesyou, the much-talked about UN Cli-

mate Change Conference, Copenhagenwould be in its final stages. Hopefully,global leaders (Manmohan Sing, KevinRudd, Barrack Obama to name a veryfew) would have successfully arrived ata unanimous conclusion on globalwarming and climate change. Perhaps,post a few debates and disagreements to

say the least, the developed and devel-oping countries would have almost fi-nalized their share of role each in theprocess of reducing carbon emissions.We joinAustralia PM Kevin Rudd in hisaspirations for the UN Conference: “Anappropriate set of financing arrange-ments to support adaptation and mitiga-tion for the poorest developing countries;a political agreement on deforestation.”

A star-studded salute

Many celebrities from diverse walksof life, united in Delhi (India

Gate) and Mumbai (Gateway of India)on 29th November to commemorate26/11. The event titled “Nation in Soli-darity Against Terror” witnessed thelikes of Rahul Gandhi, Shah RukhKhan, Abhinav Bindra and so on. Patri-otic messages were sent out to the nationas Shreya Ghoshal sang Ekla Chalo andSania Mirza recited ‘Where The Mind IsWithout Fear.’ The evening concludedwith the song ‘Raghupati Raghav’ sungby renowned musicians Shankar Ma-hadevan and Kavita Krishnamurthy. �

Namrata Gulati

Austerity keside effects

All bottom strips contributed by: Daksh Chhokra, VI-A, AIS Gur-43- Where do horses live? In neigh-bourhoods.

News BriefNamrata Gulati

Scene: A day before the grand dinner

Mrs. Salahi: This poor red lehenga hasbeen lying in the trunk box since forever.Where do I wear it here in the US?Who’d notice?As it is people do not no-tice us! (complaining with a groan)Mr. Salahi: (eyes lighting up): Listen,Obama’s organising this dinner tomor-row. Here’s the chance toadorn yourself. Get readyto get notice!Mrs. Salahi: Wow! Finally! Peoplewould know us too now!And I’d get thegolden opportunity of dressing up andlooking exotic in an Indian attire (look-ing a little desperate) So what’s it gonnabe like there?Mr. Salahi:Well, we’d get to meet im-portant people. The first guide to gettingfamous is to hang around with the mostsignificant people in town; Besides,chicken kebabs, champagne and ofcourse the music part would be great

too! Pop, rock, techno!Mrs. Salahi:Would they play “ChiggyWiggy?!” I’m dying to dance to it!Mr. Salahi: & I wanna dance to “PaisaPaisa” from De Dana DanMrs. Salahi: But tell me, how’re wegonna get there?Mr. Salahi: Don’t worry! Act naturallike the most important person on earthwhen you enter. Wave to the media andattract as much attention as possible!

Flash your best smile. Getyourself photographed con-fidently with all the signif-

icant people, hands on their shoulders,laughing as if you’ve known them sincechildhood. And when you see the Oba-mas, just give them a page 3 cheek tocheek greeting and say “Michelle, youlook wonderful, as always!” and I’ll givetips to Obama on how to run the coun-try!Mrs. Salahi: Hmm.. this would give ussome clues on our reality shows “Fromnon-celebrity to celebrity in less than 30minutes” �

Con Conversation

A guide to bea celebrity inless than 30minutes

A tribute to the uninvited guests (Michaele & Tareq Salahi)entering the White House on the occasion of the grand dinnerorganised by Barack Obama, US President…

Tata Nano launch:The stylish car,priced at an afford-able one lakh makesit extremely pocketand therefore, peo-ple friendly!

Nationa

lNew

smak

esOz racial attack: Violent attackson Indian settlers in Australia- amatter of shame

Mangalore pub at-tack: The attack byRam Sene on womenpresent in the pubon the Valentine’sDay is a clear ex-ample of gender dis-crimination

Enviro-envisionaries

Israeli ire: Themassive groundwar led by Israel onGaza took toll ofmany a lives and in-jured countlessPalestinians as wellas Israelis

Shikha Vij, Counsellor, AIS Saket

My child is in Class I.Though he studies perfectlywell at school, he refuses tostudy at home. Is he havingproblem of attention-con-centration? Parent

Looks like, his problem is exclu-sive to the home front. Diffi-culties in attention do not

manifest in one situation, instead theyare visible in all settings. Re-evaluateyour discipline strategies for his stud-ies. Children are intelligent individu-als and they know how to play on theirparents to achieve the results theywant. You need to discipline the childin the right way to get him to study.Decide on a study time for each day,

beginning with 20 minutes, graduallybuilding on the same. Makehim understand that his car-toon time will be contingenton him studying for theamount of time agreed upon.Ensure that you followwhatever you have said. For

e.g., if you’ve said that there will beno ice cream if he doesn’t finish hisassignment, then stick to your word orelse you send a wrong message to thechild that he can get away with any-thing and no action will be taken. Useinnovative methods of teaching as andwhen you can: you may use colours,clay, white board, etc. Praise him forany initiative to learn, even if it islearning from the environment. Also,you as a parent need to be patient andpersistent. Good luck!

What kind of dance do you do on a trampoline? Hip- hop

Namrata Gulati

A Challenging Career

Acareer in the Indian Army has alot to offer- adventure, honourand of course, the opportunity

to serve your nation. However, there ismuch more to the IndianArmy than slip-ping into a smart uniform, as part of thechallenges include safeguarding the ter-ritorial integrity of the nation, maintain-ing law and order and organizing reliefoperations during natural calamities. Notto mention the rigorous training that canbe extremely exhausting- both mentallyand physically.Qualities required: Courage, physicaland mental strength, willingness to sac-rifice for the countryScope: Technical field (maintaining im-portant equipment), civil engineering(construction of roads for army move-ment) or a dental/medical/nursing offi-cer and of course, military warfare.

Training and beyondPermanent Service Commission (for acareer in army until retirement)

After Class XII: One has to clear theCDS (Combined Defence Services)which includes a written examination/in-terview and then face the SSB (ServiceSelection Board). SSB tests the candidate

on psychology, group tasks and inter-view. Once recommended, the candidateundergoes medical tests and if he quali-fies, gets to join the NDA (National De-fence Academy) which provides a three

year practical and physical trainingcourse with a graduation degree. There-after, a one year course at IMA (IndianMilitary Academy), Dehradun followsand one becomes a Lieutenant.After Graduation: The candidate un-dertakes the CDS (Combined DefenseServices) Exam conducted by the UPSC,comprising English, Mathematics andGeneralAwareness, faces grilling by theSSB to get direct entry to IMA.Lateral Entry: Graduates with NCC ‘C’Certificate are allowed lateral entry tothe army, for which they undergo therequisite interviews, medical tests andphysical training.Short Service Commission (Servicefor five years, can be extended)For Graduates: After clearing SSB, thegraduate candidate is sent to Officer’sTraining Academy, Chennai where hismedical tests are done and undergoes aten month training course.Women’s Special Entry SchemeUnmarried women in the age group of19-27 are usually recruited in the sup-port, technical and non-technical serv-ices. The following makes them eligibleto this scheme:a) Any one of the following degrees:BA., BSc., BCom or BCA.b) A minimum aggregate of 60% in

graduationc) NCC Cadets are given a relaxation of10% in the b categoryAmity Indian Military College,Manesar (AIMC): The Amity IndianMilitary Education Society has estab-lishedAIMC at Manesar, Gurgaon withthe aim of imparting school educationup to senior secondary level on the pat-tern of CBSE and military orientationon the lines of RIMC, Dehradun, with aview to equip students to seek entryinto the National Defence Academy.The school conducts classes for boysfrom VIII to XII standard. It is a bril-liant platform for those interested injoining the army. �

Learning Curve 3Education & EnhancementThe Global Times, December 16-31, 2009

Working for Defence: Armed Forces

Counsel’s Korner

MOCKTEST-2009General Instructions :1. All questions are compulsory.

2. The question paper consists of thirty questions divided into 4 sections: A, B, C and D.(a) Section-A comprises of six questions of 1 mark each.(b) Section-B comprises of four questions of 2 marks each.(c) Section-C comprises of four questions of 3 marks each.(d) Section-D comprises of one questions of 6 marks each.

3. All questions in Section-A are to be answered in one word, one sentence or per the exact requirement of thequestion.

5. Use of calculator is not permitted. However, you may ask for logarithmic and statistical tables, if required.

Section-A1. In ∆ ABC, AB = 6√3 cm, AC = 12 cm and BC = 6 cm.Find angle B.

2. Find distance between the points of contact of twoparallel tangents of a given circle of radius 8 cm.

3. A card is drawn at random from a pack of 52 playingcards. Find the probability of getting a face card.

4. Find a quadratic polynomial whose zeroes are 7 +√5& 7–√5.

5. Find the 10th term of the A. P. – 40, – 15, 10, 35, ...

6. If tan 2A = cot (A – 18°), where 2A and A – 18° areacute angles, find the value of A.

Section-B7. In the given figure, ABC is a tri-angle in which AB = AC, D and Eare points on the sidesAB andACrespectively, such that AD = AE.Show that the points B, C, E andD are concyclic.

8. A bag contains 3 red, 4 white and 5 black balls. Oneball is drawn from the bag. Find the probability that (i)It is not red (ii) It is black (iii) It is not white.

9. Find the value of 9sec2 A – 9tan2A.

10. If (–1, 3) (1, –1) and (5, 1) are the vertices of a tri-angle, find the length of the median through the firstvertex.

Section-C11. Prove that 5 + √2 is irrational.

12. In the given figure, TBP andTCQ are tangents to the circlewhose centre is O. Also ∠PBA =60, ∠ACQ = 70°. Determine∠BAC and ∠BTC.

13. The points A(0, 3), B(–2, a) and C(–1, 4) are thevertices of a ∠ABC right-angled at A. Find the value ofa.

14. Obtain all the zeroes of x4 – x3 – 7x2 + x + 6, if twoof its zeroes are 3 and 1.

Section-D15. A bucket has top and bottom diameter of 40 cm and20 cm respectively. Find the volume of the bucket if itsdepth is 12 cm. Also find the cost of tin sheet used formaking the bucket at the rate of Rs. 1.20 per dm2.

Mathematics, CLASS - X Time: 3 hrsMax. Marks: 33

Tulika Banerji

MajorGeneral DDGhoshal(Retd), who has served theIndian Army for 37 long

years, opines: “Today, the most satis-fying career, without losing yourworthiness, is the army. There’ssomething unique about the army,there’s a great satisfaction in workingfor your country. Except for a few in-stances when you are posted away

from the family, you can enjoy every-thing here. You have full freedom topursue your hobbies and indulge inany sport you want to as the army hasthe best of sports facilities.Army pro-vides you a quality life that is incom-parable to any other career. For onewho’s honest and upright, a career inthe army can be extremely fulfilling.”Celeb speak: Olympic winner ColRajyavardhan Rathore admits,

“When I startedmy army career inKashmir and hadto live in differentcities devoid ofmaterial comforts,I realized thesportsman within

me. I was lucky to be in a career thatallowed me the freedom to pursuemy favourite sport.”

Glorious Innings

Intensified In-formationTechnology(IIT)!: The insti-tute has goneworldwide witha new subdivi-sion: IIT-Qatar

Welcome on-board!: Kapil Sibal,Human ResourceMinister hasbanned Class Xboards. The changeis more thanwelcome!

Educ

tion

alEu

reka

s!CAT crash: Theidea of having CATonline failed. Itlead to resched-uling of the exam,which, for somewas a major dis-appointment.

Much in a name!: The systemof evaluating students basedon values apart from academ-ics is not less than an educa-tional breakthrough orContinuous ComprehensiveEvaluation (CCE): Now we know“what’s in a name!”

Wider reach: Theidea of increasingIIM (Ahmedabad,Kolkata) seats bya significant num-ber is delicious initself. Whoa!

Why did the pig take hours to cross the road? Because he was a slow-pork.

Piyush Kashyap (XI A)AIS Noida

Climate Convention debates onreduction of carbon emissionsand who pays how much to con-

trol the damage. Heres the big picture ofan end to economic growth if notchecked soon enough.Television in 1960’s and telecommuni-cations later marked a scientific revolu-tion, transforming the face of the nation.It connected the people with one an-other, shrinking the world into oneglobal village.Change is inevitable and essential forany progress (Theory of dialectics byHegel.) . The development may be eitherpositive or negative. The development

we witnessed in 20th century was muchneeded. But what we are witnessingtoday needs to be reviewed as it is lead-ing to a severe environmental crisis.Electricity has become scarce. Depend-ence on fossil fuels, mechanization ofagriculture, construction of canals damsand use of fertilizers is depleting the

natural resources. Random growth of in-dustries is accelerating global warming.The alarming population growth, urbaninflux, traffic jams is a common prob-lem today. Going by the current trend,the situation is only going to get worsewith more economical cars hitting the

roads and cheaper electrical appliancesflooding the market.We are taught that development leads toindustrialization and consumerism.Con-sequently, purchasing power of the peo-ple grows with the economy. It is truethat the economic model of developmentleads to industrialization and con-sumerism and overcomes the inefficien-cies of socialism in the former SovietUnion. But the fact remained that neitherof the models took into considerationthe environmental impact of develop-ment which has led to the present stateof affairs.It’s time to pause and think. Review thisunprecedented growth rate and the lim-its to growth.Its time to raise our voice against thisskewed development; redefine the mean-ing of development which takes intoconsideration the environment. Promot-ing environment friendly technologies,can save further damage. Sustainable de-velopment, with social and ecologicalconsiderations is the only path to devel-opment. And it’s now or never.*The conflict between Thesis and An-tithesis (2 opposing systems each ofwhich exist due to the existence of theother) results in a new system i.e. theSynthesis which is then challenged byanother system explains that change ordevelopment is nothing but inevitable.�

Climate Clarion

Science & Technology4 Gyan Vigyan

Project Cause

To drink or not to drink is thedilemma we often face whether at

home or on the move. With two parts ofhydrogen and a part of oxygen, this mir-acle of life becomes a bane as it is ex-pensive to purify and unhealthy toconsume.Calcium and magnesium are largely re-sponsible for making water hard. Andhard water intervenes in many cleaningtasks like dishwashing and bathing. Itmay cause a film on glass shower doorsand walls, bathtubs, etc. It forms a scaleof calcium and magnesiumminerals thatcan make water-using appliances ineffi-cient. Pipes may clog too.

Scientific Principles

Based on the principles of evapora-tion, condensation and vaporization

(concentrated thermal energy), the(miniature) model purifies water of the

salts content. Successfully tested 3times, the project has been fairly suc-cessful in producing crystal-clear waterusing solar energy.

Advantage Point

No water wastage: Unlike an RO plantthere is no water wastage.No electricity: Based on solar energy.Self sustaining: The rain and fog waterharvesting units installed in the plantmakes it self-sustaining in areas withfoggy conditions like Rajasthan.Cost Effective: It can be implementedon a large scale, wherein, parabolic mir-rors will be used to concentrate the solarenergy and focus it on the model to in-crease water purification efficiency.Also, a glass container of dimensions,around 20X20 feet will be used along-side glass wool for thermal insulation.Solar cells can be applied on one side ofthe mirrors to harness solar energy. Theplant will also tap the UV rays of the sunrays to treat water. This model can be

tailor-made for ships wherein carryinghuge quantities of drinking water is aperpetual problem. This plant, upon in-stallation, can use enormous quantitiesof salt water present and prepare distilledwater as per requirement.

Environment friendly: The model pu-rifies water all day long, and in certainconditions also collects water (e.g. fog,rain etc.) thereby making its availabilitywidespread and reducing water paucityconsiderably.(The Project prepared by Group leader

Mohammed Saif Qureshi along withteam members Sujay Arora, SanchitTaneja, Gauri Gupta and Ishaan Berryof AIS Noida , Class XII, under the guid-ance teacher Manju Tripathi aspires toprovide a solution to the water problemsfaced in daily life.) �

Hail to H20

The project Solar Powered Water Desalination Plant patentedin October 2009, shall compete for the National Level NCSCto be held from December 26-31 at Ahmedabad, Gujrat.

Left to right: Ishaan Berry, GauriGupta, Sujay Arora, MohammedSaif Qureshi, Mrs. Manju Tripathi

Pro@Project

According to one of the statistics,South Asians are using almost460 kilos of oil per capita peryear, thereby consuming only360 kilowatt hour’s electricityeach. These figures are muchhigher for the west. And if wecontinue to ape the west, fromwhere will we get the resources tosustain this growth? Accordingto estimates, the oil fields will alldry up by 2040.

Wild Card

Namrata Gulati

The reindeer, popular for draw-ing Santa’s sleigh and distribut-ing gifts to children on the day

of Christmas have been included in thelist of endangered animals.The reindeer, a species of deer, inhab-its the frozen arctic tundra surroundedby forests and mountains. Since it livesunder barren and harsh circumstances,it has adapted itself remarkably to theenvironment. For instance, its thickcoat, buoyant in the water, helps trapair so that the animal can swim easilyacross wide rivers. It’s the only animalin which both the sexes have antlers.They are not aggressive by nature andrarely use it as a last resort for defend-ing themselves or the young onesagainst predators. The tough hooves ofthe reindeer prevent it from slipping inice. The reindeer is an importantsource of survival for the nomadictribes of the arctic region, the Lapps inparticular who often domesticate theanimal for various purposes. These in-clude butter, cheese, meat, transporta-tion and clothing. Besides, its antlersand bones are sold in markets as uten-

sils, tools and medicines, the sinews inits legs provide thread.In its study, The United Nations Envi-ronment Program (UNEP) in Arendal,Norway has found a steep decline inthe number of reindeer found in theworld, which is a few thousands.At thesame time, US Fish & Wildlife Serv-ice has included the woodland caribou,a species of reindeer, in the list of en-dangered species. Scientists worldwidelargely blame human activities respon-sible for endangering reindeer.Changes brought about in the naturallandscape by man like building ofdams and other hydro electric projectsin Canada and Siberia have obstructedtheir migration, consequently drown-ing them. Excessive poaching of rein-deer for the extraction of its benefits isanother reason. Global warming is an-other major factor that has endangeredthem. So far, among the few stepstaken to protect reindeer, include theestablishment of the Wolf Conserva-tion Center, an organization that aimsto educate people about the endanger-ment of reindeer. Also, the UniversityofAlberta is making all efforts possibleto protect the endangered animal.

Hear theReindeer!Hear theReindeer!

Limits to Growth:Toomuch too soonLimits to Growth:Toomuch too soon

Enemy Destroyer: If successful, the Indiansubmarine- Arihant will transform the face ofIndian navy forever

Child of nature:13-year-old Yu-gratna Srivas-tava to addressUN climatechange summit

Moon masters:The successfullaunch of Chan-drayaan MoonMission has cer-tainly proved ourmoon-maniafruitful!

The Swine (flu) whine: The H1N1 virus causedmany deaths worldwide and not to forget, awhole lot of panic

Scien

tific

Achievem

tnts

The Global Times, December 16-31, 2009

Why should bowling alleys be quiet? So that we can hear a pin drop.

True FriendMy friends tell methat I’m good at pen-ning down mythoughts. That’swhat I intend to do

today.It started on the annual day functionof Class 7. I was selected in the nar-ration crew. I decided to make afriend and got along well too. Theannual day ended, and our friend-ship grew stronger. We met regu-larly in class, exchanged notes,shared thoughts, and helped one an-other in need. Soon, we were thebest pals … or at least I thought so.On the Report Card day, our seatswere changed. I got to share mydesk with my friend. The year wentby. I moved into a new class. I real-ized, I was missing my previousdesk partner. This friend had be-come very close to me. I continuedseeing this special friend. Until oneday, a petty fight on an online chatchanged everything.My friend parted ways with me for-ever. All my attempts to save thisspecial relationship failed.Since then, we have never talked.The reason why I write today is toapologize to this special friend. Ihope, you hear my heart grieve andforgive me.

Kaveri ModayilAIS Pushp Vihar

This art form traces its originto the time of Ramayana,when king Janak commis-

sioned artists to paint at the time ofthe marriage of his daughter Sita.Initially it was only painted on mudwalls, today it is done on paper,cloth, and bags.

The motifs mostly depict gods andgoddesses, nature and social eventsrelated to Hindu marriages. Whatmakes this art unique is the skill thatcontinues to be passed on from onegeneration to another, thereforemaintaining the traditional patterns.Painted with a bamboo stick brush

covered with cotton, dipped innatural colors (Black colour mix-ing soot with cow dung; yellowfrom turmeric or pollen and themilk of banyan leaves; blue fromindigo; red from the kusamflower juice or red sandalwood;green from the wood apple treeleaves; white from rice powder;orange from palasha flower) areapplied by the artists.

FromAIS Mayur ViharC/OAnshu BhatnagarAISchool Mayur Vihar ED

Dear JodieI hope you are happy and in best of yourhealth. I was glad to read your letter andeager to reply soon.My name is Ishani Goomer, I am 13 Yearsold and I study in Amity InternationalSchool. I have a keen interest in studies anddo well in it. My favourite subjects areMaths and Science. I like to make inventionsand do experiments in the school hours.Recently, I have been selected for an international Science

Project IRIS. In evenings I go for tennis andplay basketball. After workout, I like to munchon my favourite snacks chips and sweetcrunch’s. On Saturdays and Sundays I like togo out for dinner with my family. My hobbiesare Photography and writing articles. Photog-raphy is the most favourite hobby which I have.Whenever I go out for excursions, I take snapsof beautiful views. Do you know about the fes-tival of lights? This is the biggest festival cele-brated in India lavishly. Sweets are eaten,prayers are offered and crackers are lit. I hopeyou enjoyed reading the letter. Please tell me

about your hobbies and culture. Ishani

Jodie ArmourC/o Mr HealySt. Margret Mary’s Secondary.Geography Department a Birgadale Road,Castlemilk, Glosgow G 45 9NJ , Scotland UK

Hey, My name is JodieArmour. I am 14 yearsold, I live in Castlemik with my Mom, Dadand younger brother. I attend St. MargaretMary’s Secondary School 5 days a week. It isquite good. Most days I have my favouritesunjects like P.E or Drama. In P.E, we do lotsof different sports like fitness, netball gymnas-tics, aerobics etc.It is quite fun most days but I do not like hockey. My least

favourite subject is Spanish, I did like it a fewyears ago but it gets quite boring after a while.At lunchtime, I usually go down Castlemilkshops and go to Mc Donald’s or Christiane’swhich is a shop that sells rolls and sand-wiches. At the weekend, I usually go outwith friends to the cinema, Ice-Skating,swimming or shopping. During the week, Igo to the youth complex and attend the dramaand dance classes or play singstar withfriends on the karaoke. I live with my Mom,Dad and little brother in croftfoot. It’s quite

good. I have my own room,and my friends stay near me. I’mlooking forward to hearing back from you. It would be greatif you replied. Jodie Armour

There is something very special about the postaldepartment that keeps it going strong and steady.Though considered ‘obsolete’ in the current techyage, exchanging friendship notes through letters isstill the cheapest method that holds a special‘aura’. Students of AIS Mayur Vihar were in for a

pleasant surprise when they received over 100 let-ters from friends at St Margaret Mary’s SecondaryGlasgow Scotland. Notes were immediately ex-changed with the newly found pen friends. Read onthe excerpts shared… From St Margaret Mary’s ,Secondary Glasgow Scotland

U, Me & Hum 5The Global Times, December 16-31, 2009

Friends from Scotland

Madhubani: Rich arty bliss

Christmas bonanza:Eggless chocolate cake

Saloni Swaika, IV CAIS Gur 43

“Have you ever experienced nature talk toyou? I did. This was during my summervacations when I visited my aunt in the

Madhubani district in Bihar. True to its name ‘Mad-hubani’ the people, language and rich culture thatmeans ‘Forest of honey’ or “madhu”+”vaani” i.e“sweet” “voice/language,” the place has a rich culturalheritage.After traveling for one whole night, we arrived in themorning having left the busy city life far behind. Freeof pollution and hustle bustle of the city, the pictur-esque beauty of the place, was breathtaking. I could seethe green paddy fields dangle by air. There was endlessblue sky upon our head. White clouds like cotton boatwere floating in the blue sky. In front of us, there wasa waterfall flowing from the high hills. A flock of par-rots flew past our head. The intoxicating fragranceMahua flower filled the air.A small town with a population of approx 70,000 peo-ple, Madhubani has a rich cultural heritage. The birth-

place of Kalidasa, and noted poet Vidyapati Thakur, itis very famous for its ‘madhubani painting’ or Mithilapainting’. While agriculture remains the main occupa-tion, pissiculture and sugar factories constitute a primesource of revenue generation. Located at the cross sec-tion of rivers Kamala and Bhutani Balaan it is flour-ishing city, growing every year with its farmingendeavors and artistic richness.The Jain and the Buddhist literature contain innumer-able references to the district of Madhubani and itsneighboring territories.

The place also played an important role in the freedomstruggle by championing the cause of non-cooperationmovement. It set up a Khadi Centre and soon emergedas a renowned centre of Khadi production.Places of tourist interest:Saurath: Famous for its Somnath Temple, the place ispopular for the annual sabha held where marriage ne-gotiations tales place on a mass scale. Panjikars, who

keep the geonological records of different families re-side around this place..Kapileswarsthan: Situated nine kilometers fromMadubani, this place is noted for Shiva Temple.,Uchaitha: It is noted for the Bhagwati temple. It is saidthat poet Kalidas was blessed with Bhagwati.Bhawanipur: Noted for temple Ugaranath (avatara ofshiva) . Legend says, that Lord Shiva served his devo-tee poet Vidyapati as a servant named Ugana.�

Travel Desk

Harshita, VIII- DAIS Gurgaon-43

As winter holds us in its ironstrong hold, we tend to feel low.But not anymore! Chase away

the winter blues with this delicious egg-

less chocolate cake this Christmas whichwill keep you warm and easy to make.

Ingredients

Cocoa powder- 1 cupMaida- 2 cupsButter- 50 g (to make whipping easier,melt it in the oven)Sugar- 1 cupCurd- 2 cups (substitute for eggs)Milk- as requiredBaking powder- 1 or 2 tsp

Recipe

�Sieve the maida and cocoa powderwell.�Now, take a fresh bowl, and addthe above ingredients together.�Add the melted butter and curd.�Now mix all the above ingredientswell, preferably use a whip. Make sureall the lumps disappear.�Add the sugar and mix well again.

�Now, add milk and keep stirringuntil you get a ribbon-like con-

sistency.�Finally, add the bakingpowder, and pour the batterin a greased cake tin, andset it in the oven for 6 min-utes in HIGH mode. It’sready!Now serve the deliciouscake to your family andfriends and watch as theirglum faces turn intoglee!�

Glit‘n’G

lametc Fashion fraternity:

Sheena Matheiken(The Uniform Project)announced to wearthe same black dressfor a year to raisemoney for underprivi-leged children

Miles to go: USPresident BarrackObama wasawarded theNobel Peace Prize2009 in apprecia-tion for his peace-making efforts

Class contro-versy: ShashiTharoor madeheadlines withhis comments oneconomy class

World PeaceYoga Confer-ence(Cincinnati,Ohio): choseYoga as a mediumto promote peaceworldwide

Making the Kat:Finally, it was Ka-trina Kaif whomade the cut inthe Barbie dollrace, leaving be-hind a frowningAishwariya Rai

Madhubani Painting

Whose life is it anyway?

Editorial6

Get in touch. Write to us at-The Global Times, AKC House, E-27, Defence Colony, ND-110024 | E-mail: tbanerji@amity.edu | Visit www.theglobaltimes.in | Call up at 41888380/41888381

The world has taken onestep forward at Copen-hagen Summit towards re-ducing the globaltemperature. The argu-ments and discourses onwho is responsible for thepresent damage are futile.What’s promising is the

willingness to meet and discuss the issue on acommon platform.While the international envi-ronment spokesperson, try to arrive at a consen-sus mutually agreeable, the young environmentwarriors of Amity are already at work.Through a series of environment popularizationactivities, clubbed under the banner of ‘Va-sudha’, the Amitian Green ambassadors con-stantly work on creating awareness onbiodiversity conservation and local environ-mental issues among school children while cre-ating a ‘clean and green consciousness’.Its heartening to share that several eco-friendlyenvironment projects prepared byAmitians havebeen invited to participate at the National Sci-ence Exhibition and have even been patented.Amity’s Green school programme envisagesself-evaluation of the environment practices ofthe school by its students. The students goaround the school and collect information aboutthe use and management of natural resources.Thereafter, they rate the school and give markson the basis of the survey/audit. Amity is alsothe recipient of the prestigious Green SchoolAward for its green practices. We at Amity arealready at task… the task of environment con-servation. The task of devising means to im-prove the lives of our future generation.�

Dr. Amita ChauhanChairperson

Muse

Amitysummit

Hard workGenius is one percent inspiration,ninety-nine percent perspiration.

Thomas Alva EdisonEdison, who is credited with severalinventions, was called a genius.However, he himself admitted thatthese could not have been possiblewithout sheer hard work.Failure is not the worst thing in theworld. The very worst is not to try.

AnonymousMany people do not make efforts toachieve something due to the fear offailure. However, unless one makesan effort, one can’t even know whatsuccess is.Every job is a self portrait of theperson who does it. Autographyour world with excellence.

Author unknownAny work that someone does is a re-flection of his/her personality.Therefore, if one has to project one-self in a good manner one shouldmake sure that hard work goes intowonders.Do not wait; the time will never be‘just right’. Start where youstand, and work with whatevertools you may have at your com-mand, and better tools will befound as you go along.

Napolean HillMany people find excuses like im-proper time, improper tools for notto work. Such people are usually leftbehind because they shirk work.Successful people are those who areable to use whatever is available, toaccomplish their tasks.Rohit Agarwal, VIII F, AIS Noida

Published and Printed by Mr R.R. Aiyar on behalf of Dr (Mrs) Amita Chauhanfrom E-27, Defence Colony, New Delhi 110024 and printed from HTMedia Ltd,B-2, Sec 63, Noida (UP). Editor Ms Vira Sharma.Edition Vol I, Issue 7 / Price both for free distribution and annual subscription ofRs. 240.Opinions expressed in GT articles are of the writers and do not necesarily reflectthose of the editors or publishers. While the editors do their utmost to verifyinformation published, they do not accept responsibility for its absolute accuracy.

“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning,but a going on, with all the wisdom that experi-ence can instill in us.”

Hal Borland

The winter chills, Christmasjingles and the mega prepara-tions for the mid-night monthend party, have already begunto announce the closing ofyear 2009. As we get ready tobe part of this lingering festivemood, it also calls for an occa-

sion to reflect on the year gone by.As we kept the fingers crossed, the year rolledby smoothly. The scars of the previous year stag-gered along, refraining most of us from in-dulging in any joyous occasion with aplomb.Careful and cautious 2009, had something foreveryone to raise a toast for. The worst seemedto be over. In this issue of The Global Times wethus take you through a roller coaster ride, bring-ing glimpses of the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’, achieve-ments and failures, etc.It was certainly a year for the youth. As Indiawatched young leaders take a lead, Barack OBama walks in White House with the NoblePeace Prize. 13-year-oldYugratna Srivastava ad-dresses UN climate change summit. Amidstspeculations and accusations, Dhoni emerges theundisputed sports champ. Students cheer asSibal chucks BOARDS (but struggles to bell theCAT.) Legendry Jackson dies young, leavingbehind million mourners, money and mysterymatters. V.R. Ramakrishnan does the countryproud by winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.The sporting arena remained abuzz with the IPL,commonwealth preparations, Indo-Asian gamesranking, Sania’s marriage, Sreesnath comeback,India’s tumble down in World T-20 to its phe-nomenal rise to ‘No I position’ after winning thetest series with Sri Lanka.The victory of the Indian Cricket team has amessage for all. All’s well that ends well.�

The year gone by

Let there be light

Through the esteemedcolumn of the GlobalTimes, I want to draw theattention of parents and

academicians on the dearthof role models for theyoung ones. It is a trend tocurse the modern educa-tion system and the young-sters for beingdisrespectful. But howmany times have we asparents and teachers triedto find the root cause forall of this? As we don’twant to take the blame our-selves, teachers are madescapegoats who them-

selves have their limita-tions- burdened with thenumber of students in classand over stressed by thedeadline to complete syl-labus in time; the media,cinema in particular glam-orizes crime. Values aredumped in the bins. So iftoday a child does not co-morehend the generosity ofNanak, the truthfulness ofHarish Chandra, the friend-ship of Krishna then we’re

all equally accountable. Wewant sons like ‘Rama’ buthave we followed the foot-steps of ‘Dasratha’?The need of the hour is‘Emotional Investment’ inour children. We must livethe values we want our chil-dren to inculcate. Parentsmust play their parts hon-estly, and media must un-derstand its responsibility.Gur Kirpal Singh Saini

AIMC Manesar

Ishita Bedi, Youth PowerAIS Mayur Vihar

It was a cold, calm night when, as usual, I waslying in my bed, engrossed in the novel, “Lifeon Another Planet”, glued to the pages, oblivi-

ous of my surroundings, when somebody called tome:“Hey!” it said.I looked around. To my disbelief, it looked like analien that perfectly matched the description of thealien in the book I was reading.“C’mon don’t look at me like this! I’m the one youhave been reading about for the past two days!” itsaid.Okay. So my guess was right. But what was it doinghere? Wasn’t it supposed to be in the book? Whatwas happening? Before I could ask him anything, itsaid, “I see that you have been pre-occupied by thisbook which is based on life on another planet, buthave you ever been so concerned about your ownplanet that is suffering from so many problems?”“Yes, I do” I confidently replied.“Do you know what the causes are? Do you knowwhy climate change is occurring, which is one of thehot topics presently?” he asked as though myteacher’s spirit was in it!“Yes, I do. There are many natural and human causestoo.” I replied like an obedient student.“I agree, but what about the other causes for whicheven you are a responsible factor?” it asked.“Who? Me? How am I responsible for all this?” Iasked, confused.But my perplexity did not last long…

“You are. The lights you have switched on right noware one of the factors. Electricity is obtained or pro-duced in thermal plants for which coal is used, whichis a fossil fuel. The more you waste electricity, themore coal will be burnt, and will cause pollution.The ashes are dumped, harming the soil.Now, paper crumps are strewn all around in yourroom. Do you even have an idea how many innocenttrees were cut down to obtain this?You people dump huge amounts of waste in the mu-nicipal bins, depending on officials to collect it,which doesn’t happen, and ultimately, waste is burnt,causing even more pollutants to rise up.

Do you ever bother to switch off your cars and ve-hicles at red lights? Fuels like petrol are limited innature.So many trees are cut for timber. Forests altogetherare burnt for industrial purposes.The growing population is another cause. More peo-ple mean more mouths to feed. Farmers practiceagriculture and keep using innumerable fertilizerswhich cause the pollutants like N2 to rise, causingpollution.And…”“Oh god…I did not just realize how callous I was, “I guiltily replied.“There you go” it said, with its smiling countenance.“Now? What to do?” I asked worriedly.“First of all, calm down. You cannot be successfulunless you are calm. There are steps that you, yourfamily, and the youth of this nation and the worldcan take to slow down the ageing of the earth.”Only I knew how guilty I felt at that moment…hecontinued…“You can try to reduce the wastage of paper, workfor a shorter span of time on the computer, and avoidoveruse ofACs and heaters; use recyclable products.Plant a tree on your birthday and share your birth-day with it! Reduce much traveling, and wheneveryou travel, switch the vehicle off at red lights. Allmembers of the house should eat at one time so thatthe gas is not wasted again and again…you see, thereis so much you can do, but only if you want to” hecoherently said and vanished into thin air……That day, I learnt, I realized, and I took a pledge, todo everything possible and within my capacity tosave my earth, my nation and make a difference.�

The Global Times, December 16-31, 2009

Climate change-Wecanmake a difference

Vira Sharma

Pearls ofwisdom

GTM@il

ForTvisha Goswami, VIII A, AIS PV

Education is a fast and continu-ous process where evaluationand development have to go

hand in hand. All of us giveexams…sometimes weekly, monthlyor yearly. Evaluation is an integralpart of the formal education systembut nowadays it is necessary that achild doesn’t only excel in the fieldof academics but in other spheresof life as well. It is necessary thata child develops all his skills likewriting, creativity, attitude, person-ality, habits and values so that he isable to handle all situations of life.In other words it covers a holisticexperience of a learner in scholasticas well as non scholastic areas.It helps in identifying those traits ofa person which couldn’t or cannotbe recognized in normal exams.Also, it helps in reducing tension ofstudents and in improving theirhabits and values. Therefore, I wantto say that comprehensive systemis definitely a boon and futuristic toits very core. It would help the fu-ture citizens to lead a meaningfuland productive life in this global-ized society.

AgainstAnushka Singh, VIII-B, AIS PV

CCE – Aaah! Another new ex-periment by our educationiston the precious lives of stu-

dents. Only, this time it will keep youcontinuously under the prying eyesand glare of your teacher. It calls forassessment of students by the teacher

but provides no mechanism for con-trolling the bias.You know, we students by virtue ofour age tend to be talkative and noisy,but discipline is one aspect of assess-ment which will take this freedom ofexpression out.The news system demands multipleevaluation techniques to grade a stu-dent. I ask, are our time pressed teach-ers in a position to handle thispressure? I wonder how will theteacher keep and record observa-tions of so many students every dayor week when the average teacherto student ratio is very low?And what about the poor villagestudents, with the teachers andprincipals missing and no facilitiesavailable ?This system will create another bigproblem of under and over assess-ment in schools. Each school willcompete with the other to provethat it is better than the other bygiving grades liberally.Unless there are enough teachersCCE will remain yet another me-chanical job. It will be renderedmeaningless unless counterchecked by external examiners asmost schools will tend to inflate thecapabilities of their students whilegiving grades.�

Comprehensive Evaluation

Debate

7Women PowerBig story

The Global Times, December 16-31, 2009

Her flight of success….???Sarla Thakral: First woman pilot (1936)

Sarla Thakral was mar-ried off at a tender age of16 in the year 1929.At anage of 23, when mostwomen were trained rig-orously to handle house-hold chores, Sarla daredto give her imaginationwings. She became thefirst woman pilot of thecountry in 1936, breakingout of taboos that pre-

vailed in the society. And then, there was no look-ing back.With an experience of over 1000 hours offlying, she went on to obtain an A license and as-pired to achieve the B license which would enableher graduate to the level of a commercial pilot. Theoutbreak of World War II and the death of her hus-band did not deter her from pursuing her dream.Yet, once remarried into a less radical family, Sarlahad to give up her ambition.Imagine what heights Sarla could have achievedhad she not been deprived of the right to chase herdream! or perhaps, imagine what she would havelost had she not been granted a chance to fly high!

Traversing forward..?Priya Jhingan: First batch Indian woman inthe army

It was in the year 1992that Priya Jhingan finallyaccomplished her goal ofserving the armed forces.Before that, it seemedlike a dream, far from re-ality. It took some timebefore Priya Jhingancould become CadetPriya Jhingan and thefirst ever Indian woman

in the army; she gives us an insight into the endlessattempts she began making at a young age so thatthe doors of the army would be opened to her, awoman, “I was in Class X when I shot off a letter tothen Chief of Army Staff, General S.F. Rodrigues,demanding that I be recruited.” All efforts failed,Priya preferred waiting than giving up and then, one

fine day she read an adver-tisement in the newspaperinviting women appli-cants in the armedforces. Soon, a batch of 25women was ready to take over theresponsibility of the nation on their shoul-ders.Priya Jhingan recalls her training days, whenstringent physical standards matching that ofthe male cadets were maintained and theterms of addressing were restricted to ‘offi-cer’ and not ‘sir’or ‘ma’am’. However, now,a retired officer, Priya Jhingan is disheart-ened as the training standards for armywomen have been lowered, “It is no longerchallenging.” Retired Captain DeepanjaliBakshi reaffirms the statement, “Exclusivephysical concessions given to women, cou-pled with the mostly patronizing, derisiveand sometimes supporting attitudes of men

result in a plethora of integration is-sues cropping up.”

Unearthing thetruth…

Anupama Joshi- first batchIndian woman in the AirForce

Wing Commander Anupama Joshi (currentlyCEO with a rural finance company) joined theAirForce in the year 1992- the first time ever thatwomen left their inhibitions behind to enter themale-dominated arena. She recalls, “Back then,there were apprehensions about women doing thesame job as men. In the air force too, this percep-tion was predominant. Generally, we were givensoft jobs as compared to men.” However, she con-tinues, men and women shared the physical normsthat were part of training, “A two hour parade fora man meant a two hour parade for a woman too.”Joshi reminisces the first time she realised thatwomen were not beneath men in any way, in-cluding physical strength, “I remember finishing

a race in the same time as one of my male counter-parts did! I never felt I lacked competency.”The first time Joshi felt that gender came in the wayof the duties allotted to her was when she was de-nied the role of a duty officer only because it was a24 hour job. Joshi was disappointed and resolvedto put up a subtle fight against the bias, “I insistedon being the duty officer that day and I did it.” An-other time, her posting in Siachen was held back,cultural reasons cited for the same, “I was alwaysready to be sent to Siachen. But my boss feared howthe neighbour would respond to it; how does it mat-ter?When in uniform, duty comes first. Besides, norule of law distinguishes between men and women;it is everyone’s constitutional right to die for thecountry, a right they’re depriving me of.”In 2007, Anupama Joshi approached the court ar-guing for a well-deserved permanent commission,which would entitle her to the rights of a full-fledged officer, Argues Joshi, “My male counter-parts have been offered permanent commissionswhereas I have been fighting the law for the samefrom the last two years.” She reasons why a ca-reer for women in the air force is extremely chal-lenging, “She simply won’t get her dues even if sheis a consistent performer. The bitter truth is- she isnot treated at par with men.”

Going places…?Suman Sharma: World’s first woman to fly themightiest Russian fighter jet.

Suman Sharma tran-scended all physical, psy-chological and culturalstereotypes when she be-came the world’s firstwoman to fly the mighti-est Russian fighter jet. She lets us in on how shemanaged it, “Though I was alert and fit, breathing atsuch altitudes and speed is a bit difficult. Yoga prac-tice came to my rescue!” The list of her achieve-ments also includes flying a Boeing commercial jetfor 15 hours non-stop and co-piloting transport air-crafts AN-32 and IL-76.The woman who has freshly entered the list of“world’s firsts” enlightens us on the Indian AirForce, “as a rule, IAF does not allow women war-riors to be taken as prisoners of war (POW) by theenemy though women pilots in the US and Israelfly combat aircraft.” Part of her dreams and ambi-tion include seeing women fighter pilots being in-ducted in IAF and women pursuing a career inflying, “it is not a rocket science or so difficult tograsp. With good academic and science back-ground, any girl or woman can take to flying evena combat aircraft.”�

What did one eye say to the other eye? Something between us smells.

Constraints for womenfighter pilots (as per Babora)

Operational ReasonsHe says: Fighter pilot training requires ahuge investment costing 11.6 crore.Post-training, if a woman goes on th-maternity leave, (10 months) she would“not be utilized operationally” which“would not be a prudent thing.”We ask: Isn’t it a woman’s natural andbiological right to have a child? Isn’t a

maternity leave her legal right?

Financial ReasonsHe says:Women are a “liability” to theAir Force; it “takes 13-14 years of ac-tive flying to recover the investment onthem.”We ask: Do women not go on maternityleave in other organisations? In that pe-riod, do those companies not incurlosses?

Cultural ReasonsHe says: The image of an Indian womanas a fighter pilot does not correspond to

the predominant image of a woman inIndia. Therefore, it might be difficult forpeople to accept a woman fighter pilotWe ask: Aren’t cultural constraints onlylimitations imposed by man? Aren’tthey all in the man’s mind?He says: Women could be captivated as“prisoners of war”We ask: Can men not be taken as prison-ers of war too and be equally abused-both physically and psychologically?Arethey less important than women are?

He says: The Indian woman has somecommitments to her family which couldprevent her from providing uninter-rupted service to the Air ForceWe ask: Is the Indian man free from fa-milial commitments?He says: “Even the Israelis do not allowtheir women fighter pilots in direct con-flict roles.”We ask: What about Pakistan, Germany,Switzerland and other internationalcountries that do?

Women: Fight foes or laws ?

WeAsk!

We, the Women!

Namrata Gulati

“I have always wanted to be a fighterpilot. Thud! I hear my am-

bition crashing onthe ground!” says

the disappointedNisha Sharma, 22, an aspiring fighterpilot referring to the following eyebrowraising statement of P K Babora (IAF

vice chief Air Marshal), “No womenfighter pilots for now.” The Air Marshalsuggests, “If we do take them as fighterpilots, there could be preconditions”(like disallowing them from having chil-dren for a specified time). Points outBhuvan Ravindran, class IX, AISNOIDA, “Women are equally capable,intelligent and strong enough to befighter pilots. Women are already flying

civilian aircrafts, which is a job of im-mense responsibility and commitment. Ithink they are in no way wanting as com-pared to men in becoming fighter pilots.Besides, if a woman goes on maternityleave, she can always get back after abrief refresher course.” OjaswiniDwivedi (AIS Mayur Vihar) makes avalid point, “Why exclude half the pop-ulation from defending the country?”

Anupama Joshi firstbatch Indian womanin the Air Force

“No women fighter pilots”

Sports8

What has two hands but can’t clap? Clock.

All you boys holdyour breath, find arefuge; for girl

power has arrived! For allthose tired of watchinghunks daring it out on sportsbikes, here comes a gush offresh air. GT reporter Chi-tra Jain, in a tête-à-têtewith ‘Modern Basanti’ Os-heen Srivastava, a ninthgrader from AISV-6 withan avid passion for bikes...Chitra: How did the prettygirl land up in the big badworld of bikes?Osheen: (laughs) My palspulled me into it! They werereally into biking so I decidedto try one day and it fasci-nated me so much that I setmy mind to work on it! Allthanks to my biking skills, myfriends now call me ‘ModernBasanti’!Chitra:Wasn’t it uncomfort-able for you to ride bulkybikes?Osheen: Initially yes, butyou get used to it. Once youget the hang of it, it is actu-

ally fun!Chitra: Ever felt any socialdiscomfort?Osheen: Sometimes I do butmost of my girl pals knowhow to ride bikes too, so it’snot a real problem . Girls arenot only flawless homemak-ers but equally good else-where. And it makes me

proud to be able to break so-cial norms.Chitra: You are our hero, orrather, our heroine! Any fu-ture plans?Osheen: (laughs) No futureplans as yet but I want to con-tinue my passion for biking. Itgives an adrenaline rush justto be able to feel the wind in

your face and have a blast.Chitra:Any message for ourreaders?Osheen: All girls out theredon’t hesitate in trying thingsdifferently. Biking is not justboy’s cup of tea; we’re at parwith boys in almost everyfield now. And boys, watchout, competition is here!�

Why should boyshave all the fun?

Howzatt!?!

Namrata Gulati

Shramik secures world rating1551 at age 10

Shramik Rawal (AIS Noida)adopted chess as his ambition at anage (5) when most boys have an

obsession for Cricket. He recalls, “Mymother told me that Chess was the gamefor me since it did not require much ofphysical strength but a sharp mind.” Fiveyears hence, being the winner of 18 Chessawards and international acclaim,Shramik truly has come a long way. Heacknowledges the school for giving himimmense opportunities and his coach’sefforts, who also happens to be his tough-

est competitor. Shramik avers, “I’ve beentaking chess coaching since three years. Iowe my success to the encouragementgiven by my school Chairperson andSandeep Chitkara, my coach, who hastaught me to never give up. Once I beathim, “I will know that I have become abetter chess player.”Shramik reminisces his favourite matchthat won him recognition at internationallevel: “It was an opportunity to become aworld rated player from an unrated one.To accomplish this goal, I had to beatthree rated players from around the worldto achieve a rating to be able to playworld matches. Obviously, I was ex-tremely nervous. I scored my first pointagainst an Indian player, Harmeet

Thukran rated at 1535; The next day, Ibeat an international player who had a rat-ing of 1800. Unfortunately, I lost the nextmatch against my coach! But, in the tour-nament that followed, I beat five ratedplayers from around the world, finally, re-ceiving the honour of being consideredgood enough to be rated!” Shramik’s cur-rent world rating is 1551, which he as-pires to continuously climb up in thecoming years.The little chess champion let us in on thesecret to his success story “before a matchbegins, I determine not to lose the match;winning or drawing are the only optionsonmymind. Besides, I always read chessbooks that reveal the good and classychess moves of VishwanathanAnand, thechess grandmaster.” His mother,Meenakshi Rawal adds, “His time man-agement is remarkable. Also, he is ex-tremely focused.” Hope you go a longway, our dear chess champ!�

Siddhant Chandel, IXAIS 46, Gurgaon

When Devansh Khare of classKG-10, AIS 46, Gurgaonparticipated in the INTACH

(The Indian National Trust for Art andCultural Heritage) heritage awarenessprogramme on October 31, 2009, he wasthe centre of attention. Being6 years old, he was one of theyoungest participants whotook part in this run, initiatedby INTACH to spread her-itage awareness among pub-lic. Launched in 1984 toconserve India’s natural and culturalheritage, INTACH team includes art his-torians, heritage educators and re-searchers.Accompanied by his mother, NirupamaKhare, Devansh reached the ‘Heritagewalk’ site at Leisure Valley, Sector-29,Gurgaon at 6.30 am, raring to go! Theprogramme required the participants to

run a distance of 5-10 km. Despite hisbest efforts, he had to drop out aftercompleting 3 km, but his enthusiasmand spirit inspired others. Commendingthe efforts of Devansh, Sushant Raghavof AIS, Sec 46 avers, “It is great to seethat even small children are interestedin these awareness programmes. Afterall, children are the future of the coun-

try. Impresssed by De-vansh’s efforts, Hina, anIIT graduate comments,“Devansh is setting a fineexample for the children.And running 5-10 km topromote the cause of IN-TACH at such a young age

is mind blowing!”Says the proud mother, “Devansh wasawed by the TajMahal during our visit toAgra and was pained by the damagecaused to it . As soon as we heard of thisevent, he insisted that he wanted to run to‘save the TajMahal’!!” He’s now prepar-ing to participate in the next run. �

WannaprotectIndia’s

heritage?Let’s run!

Alaknanda Houselifts the trophy

Amity International School,Vasundhara, Sector – 6, or-ganized the fifth annual Ath-

letic Meet on November 20, 2009 forclasses III-XI, under the guidance ofthe Founder President Dr. Ashok K.Chauhan and Chairperson Dr. AmitaChauhan.The event teed off with the lighting ofthe lamp by school Principal Mrs.Shashi Ranjan. TheAmity Cadet Core(ACC) comprising four houses (Alak-nanda , Bhagirathi , Mandakini andPawani ) presented a royal march past.

Various inter-house relay races, 200mand 400m races grabbed the attentionof the youngAmitians as students tookpart with team spirit and confidence toattain their set target. The Taekwondopresentation on the occasion won ahuge applause. Alaknanda Housebagged the winning trophy for theiroutstanding sporting skills.

Chessmate!Pic: Pankaj Mallik

SPOR

TS�Golden glory: India ranked 7that Indo-Asian Games; a total of fourmedals won- including two gold�Master-Blaster returns:India’s Win against Sri-Lanka forCompaq Cup 2009: RememberTendulkar doing us proud yet

again?�Tennis ace wins the race:Sania Mirza grabbed the LexingtonChallenger title after defeatingFrenchwoman Julie Coin�Stylish success: WrestlerSushil Kumar won a gold medal in

style for the 66 kg freestyle cat-egory�History of victory: India wonthe Hamilton Test in NZ after along 41 years�Sreesanth Shines!: Sreesanthmade a comeback by clinching the

Man of the Match title in a KanpurTest match against Sri Lanka�IPL goes global: The IndianPremier League changed itsvenue from India toSouth Africa, thereby making theseries more popular

�Knocked out: India wasknocked out of World T20 aftera defeat at the hands of theteam of England�The sour score: India lostseries to Australia by 4-2

�Football shocker: RobertEnke, the Hannover and Ger-many goalkeeper committedsuicide by plunging before atrain

The Global Times, December 16-31, 2009

Shramik Speak

First match/award: East Zone ChessChampionship, Jharkhand/ Youngest Player

AwardFavourite Award: ‘U-10 Best Delhi Boys’, Delhi

Chess Challenge, FIDEBest move in chess: The starting move

Idol: Vishwanathan AnandAmbition: Becoming a chess grandmasterHobbies: Cricket, solving puzzle, doing MathUpcoming Matches: Parsvanath Tournament

beginning 10th January

Annual Sports Meet 2009

TheSports Day ofAmity Interna-tional School, Noida was heldon the 13 November 2009. A

well synchronizedmarch past began theevent and the School Band playedalong. The Guest of Honour, Mr. Vaj-payee, ChiefAcademic Head of the Re-search and Development wing ofAmitytook the salute. The Sports CaptainAnkit Aggarwal lighted the torch andtook the oath of true sportsmanship.Races, Gymnastics, throws and jumpevents were held with more than 400

participants and 150 prize winners:Class X – XII: Geet Singh – XI F (A),2) Deeksha Singh – X C (P); ClassVIII – IX: Palash Rastogi IX E (M),Asmi Choudhary – IXA (M);Class VI– VIII: Yash Sagar – VII C (M), Van-dana Haldar – VII F (P)However, Mandakini House baggedthe Overall trophy.Mr. Vajpayee, congratulated the win-ners and Principal Mrs. Mohina Dar,acknowledged the contribution of thestaff members and the Sports Faculty.

AIS Noidacelebrates sports day

9PotpourriMosaic

How many feet are there in a yard? Depends on the number of people standing in it.

The Global Times, December 16-31, 2009

Himadri Seth, III B (W B)AIS Noida

One fine morning while walkingon the road, I met a rather funnyman. He was short and stout

and had a long sneaky nose. He hadshort curly hair and was wearing astrange hat. He looked like a goblin.He asked me to come along withhim for a moment. I was afraidbut I didn’t say no as it was rude. Whenwe were in the corner he whispered tome, “I am a good goblin and if you comewith me to my country I will surely showyou strange things. I have magic in myshoes. In my country I am called ‘Theman with the magic shoes.’ That’s theonly place where I have magic with me.”

I was an orphan so I did not worry muchthat someone would be worried aboutme. I went to his country with him.When we reached, strangely enough, Icould see no human being nor were thereany trees. Then, when we were in hishouse I drank tea. He said, “We are inGiant Country. Here giants are gallopingto every city and eating children every-

day.” I replied, “Then we mustsave the children.” So we went

on a world tour. We tricked and trappedall the giants until none were left, thussaving children with our magic.Suddenly I felt my mother shaking megently and saying, “Wake up my darling.It’s time for school.” It was a strangedream that lingered in my mind for along time.

Kriti Jain, XI F AIS NOIDA

An innocent look, a smiling faceBubbly on the outside, so calm beneath thesurfaceA gentle soul with a heart of goldNo fear in life, so brave and boldCompassionate, trustworthy and kindSuch a down to earth person one couldnever findSo full of life with a zest for funOn a journey to self discovery he had just begunA simple guy with a taste so refinedA focused person with a goal well-definedHe made no enemies, just a whole bunchof friendsHad a keen interest in keeping up with thelatest trendsAlways excelled in Karate, Computers and StudiesA totally outgoing personality, а favouriteof all his buddiesA total foodie, he really relished good foodYou could hardly ever catch him in a foul moodA gem of a person, so cute and lovableShaunak was truly outstanding and adorableNeedless to say we’ll all miss him like hellDear God bless him, in peace may he dwell.(The poem is dedicated to Shaunak, a studentof class XI B, AIS Noida, who died of Dengue)

The Man withMagic Shoes & I

Santa Mask for Christmas PartyWear your Santa Mask for this Christmas party. Paste the newspaper sheet on a chart-paper. Cut the sheet around the dotted lines.Lace a string along the dotted lines marked close to the ears. Your Santa mask is ready to wear.

Mask created by: AnupmaNursery B, AIS Vasundhra Sec 1

Sakshi Sapru, IX-JAIS, NOIDA

I become pensive,When I am reminded of my native place.

I become sad,When I think of the lanes and by lanesThrough which my childhood has been spent.

I become restless,When I imagine of those who compelled meto leave my native place.

I ponder for a while,What wrong had we done to them!

I get agitated and become violent in my thoughts,When I think of those moments,When I had to leave my place under threats.

Though passive and non-violent as most of us areYet they killed many our innocent soulsThis is a puzzle which haunts me all the time.

I imagine for a while,Is there any power which could stop themFrom doing these shameless acts?(The poet uses ‘I’ that refers to her grandfatherwho migrated from J & K.)

Nostalgia

Toadear friend- Shaunak

Short Story

Dhrti Juneja , KG- EAIS PV

My visit to the Golden temple at Am-ritsar was a beautiful experience. I

saw beautiful fishes swim in the water. Ialso drank the holy water. The whole am-bience seemed so pious and beautiful. Theusual aloo-puri and chole-kulche tastedyummy. I also visited the Wagah border.The ceremony of ‘exchange of guards’was very impressive. Scenes of India’sfreedom struggle watched in films be-came fresh in mind. The whole atmos-phere was charged with patriotism.

My visit to theGoldenTemple

Words verse

College CampusUniversity Buzz10

Why was the nose sad? Because it did not get picked.

The Global Times, December 16-31, 2009

Amity University in Banga-lore organised a guest lec-ture on the theme

“Understanding Compensation andBenefits”. The lecture was deliveredby Mr. Priyadarshan, Manager - HR,TNT India Private Limited.As the lecturer entered the audito-rium, he received a warm and heartywelcome from the bunch of studentswho expressed their admiration forMr. Priyadarshan by applausingloudly.The informative session dealt in acomprehensive manner with the con-cept of compensation management.Besides, Mr. Priyadarshan providedan insight into Compensation func-tions, Componenets, salary rangersand Annual Increment process.The session made for an interestingdiscussion betweenMr. Priyadarshanand the students. The inquisitive lotof students raised questions and con-cerns at regular intervals to whichMr. Priyadarshan gave interestinganswers patiently.The students thanked the HR man-ager for giving them an in-depthanalysis of the core HR function ofcompensation and benefits.

Tulika Banerjee

Providing children with holistic ed-ucation is no joke, especially inmetros like Delhi/NCR. For most

parents, it is an uphill task getting theirward admitted to a good school. Also,how does one decide the parameters thatdefine a good school? To calm harriedparents and rest their anxieties,www.edubition.com organised Schoolex,a school admissions fair on 14-15 No-vember at Expocentre,Noida. Schoolex Expowas a unique meetingpoint for parents, educa-tionists and teachers to come together onone platform, share their concerns, andtake a decisive call for their wards’ fu-ture. Parents had never had it so good:more than 58 leading schools ofNoida/Ghaziabad in one arena.What Schoolex offered was a completepackage: from prospectus and registra-tions to educational methods andteacher: student ratios, there was every-thing a parent would possibly want toknow. It was when Co-founder AmitSachdev went through the rigours him-self that Schoolex was conceptualised,“When it was time for our son to go toschool, we realised just how difficult it is

to take that one most important decisionin life—that is, to zero in the best schoolfor our child. And that’s how Schoolexwas conceptualised, to ease the admis-sion process.”Amity was the academic partner for theevent that saw the participation of AISNoida, Amiown, Lotus Valley, Mother’sPride, Pathways, Billabong High, GDGoenka, etc. The Edubition Fair wasaptly timed on Children’s day and thekids had a blast hopping from one stall to

the other. WhileAmiown offered a bagfull of goodies, anotherstall was done up with

life size marine animals replete withaquatic games like shell treasure hunt,fish painting, etc. There were enough ac-tivities to keep the little ones occupiedand the parents happy: Spellathon, draw-ing competition, face painting, balloontakeaways, surprise gifts, et al.The one-of-a-kind Edubition Fairbrought in a new perspective to school-ing by bringing all the stake holders faceto face with each other. As Ms NeelamChaudhary fromAmiown, Noida opines,“It’s a wonderful initiative and a greatway to spread the word about what indi-vidual schools have to offer, and that’swhat makes the difference.”�

Education Mall

Schoolex Expo

Mr. Narendra Gupta, Jr. Li-brarian, Amity UniversityRajasthan attended the ‘IN-

FLIBNET Regional Training Pro-gramme on Library Automation’organized by Department of Library &Information Science, University of Ra-jasthan in Collaboration with INFLIB-NET Centre, Ahmedabad and UGC.The five day programme comprisedextensive sessions addressed by emi-nent resource persons.Mr. Narendra Gupta, was amongst theselect 25 participants from Rajasthan

chosen exclusively to attend the pro-gramme. The seminar commenced onNovember 3, 2009 after an elaborateinauguration session by Prof. FurqanQamar, Vice-Chancellor, University ofRajasthan, with his inspirational lecturetitled, “Role of Libraries and LibraryProfessionals.” Thereafter, Mr.Ashutosh Pant, Director, ComputerCentre, delivered a lecture on “Net-working and Web Design for Li-braries.” Dr. M RRawtani, Head of theDeptt. of Lib. & Inf. Sc., University ofRajasthan presented a vote of thanks.

Mr.Milind Vartak, an expert inmarketing of industrial prod-ucts and B2B marketing,

also the founder of an industrial mar-keting consultancy ValueAdd Servicesenlightened the students on “MarketingManagement as Applied in Business”.The marketing guru initiated the dis-cussion by explaining the meaning ofmarketing as quoted by Philip Kotler,Chartered Institute of Marketing andAdcock. He went on to throw light onthe aspects of marketing. Elaboratingon the the crucial aspects of marketinghe said, “One needs to focus on theconcept of meeting needs profitably,anticipating consumer needs and de-mands and about Right Product, in theRight Place, at the Right Time, and atthe Right Price”.Speaking on the concept of value cre-ation, Mr. Milind talked of value cre-ation and explained the differencesbetween a seller, supplier and manu-

facturer as well as a buyer, customerand user. He continued to analyse thedifferent departments of Marketing (in-cludingMarketing Research, Sales andDistribution, Advertising and Promo-tion, Customer Service, Product Devel-opment and Market Planning) andexamined their scope one by one.The students were also apprised of thecustomer psychology, for instance,how the customers take buying deci-sions- needs, wants, purchase desire,actual buying. The interesting sessionillumined students on the processes ofMarket Segmentation and Market Pen-etration. Marketing communication(via Advertising, Promotion, SalesForce and Sales Management, Distri-bution Channels, Media and Publicity)formed an extremely stimulating partof the talk.The talk concluded with the impact oftechnological advancements on mar-keting management.

Founders Day celebrationsFounders Day celebrationsTheFirst Grade Force, responsi-

ble for maintaining securityservices at the Amity Campus,

recently celebrated the Founder’s Dayin the form of a Sports Meet.Dr. Ashok K Chauhan (Founder Pres-ident), Dr. (Mrs) Amita Chauhan(Chairperson, Amity International

Schools) blessed the First Grade Forceand called them the pillars of strengthof the Amity University.The force, Mr. R.P. Singh, DirectorGeneral,Amity Institute of Training &Development for Police Personnel andFirst Grade Force, which was only asstrong as 25 personnel some 11 years

ago, is now stronger by 240 personnel.The athletics event commenced with amarching parade of some selected FGFofficers. Parade commandents, Madanand Netrapal saluted the Founder Pres-ident with respect and honour. Theevent consummated with Kabaddi andtug-of-war competitions.

AITTM participated in the Inter-national Telecom Exhibition &Conference - India Telecom

2009 organized by Department ofTelecommunications, Government ofIndia and FICCI at Pragati Maidan,from December 3-5, 2009. Based on thetheme, ‘Telecom for Inclusive Growth’,the conference saw participation fromtelecom giants like Ericsson, Airtel, Vo-daphone, Tata Teleservices, BSNL,MTNL, Blackberry, to name some.The Closing Ceremony at Vigyan Bha-van was chaired by Prime Minister ofIndia, Dr. Manmohan Singh and at-tended byMr.ARaja, Minister for Com-munications & IT - Government ofIndia, Mr Sachin Pilot, Minister forState for Communications & IT - Gov-ernment of India among other digni-taries. AITTM was invited to be a partof the prestigious event.With over 150 corporate participantsfrom across the globe, the event was agreat success. �

Making masters inmarket management

Towards libraryautomation

UnderstandingCompensation

Amity University Rajasthan

AITTMParticipates inIndia Telecom 2009

Speakers at the Conference� Mr. Urs Pennanen, Regional Head –Nokia Siemens Networks�Mr. Bharat Bhatia, Regional Director –Motorola India Pvt. Ltd.� Mr. Manoj Kohli, CEO- Bharti AirtelLtd.

�Mr. TVRamchandran, Resident Direc-tor, Regulatory Affairs and GovernmentRelations – Vodafone� Dr. KC Chakrabarty, Deputy Gover-nor –RBI,� Dr.AP JAbdul Kalam, Former Pres-ident of India.

Wassup 11School Lounge

How many knees do you have? 4.Right knee, left knee and two kid-nees.

The Global Times, December 16-31, 2009

Vasundhara Kaul, VII, AIS, Gur - 46

Themystery of space and the vast-ness of the universe fascinatesus!A feeling of being dwarfed by

its enormous size engulfed the privi-leged few (Classes 6-8), who attended anight sky observation camp on October23, 2009. It was organized by S.P.A.C.E,an organization dedicated to the promo-tion of astronomy among school chil-dren, at Nuh (nearly 60 km from

Gurgaon).We were warned to bring along thewoollens as it was expected to be chilly.After a quick dinner, we scrambled toour rooms for a short nap! At 10.30 pm,we followed our guide to the roof; a bigtelescope awaited us there and one byone, we were shown Jupiter, the Moon,Mars, Venus and Saturn, and then toldhow to identify stars and constellationsusing a planisphere (a simple device thathelps us trace the position of the stars.)As those tiny stars came to life, the darknight seemed so alluring that we neverwanted the night to end!Says amateur astronomers:Twisha, (VIII): Amind-blowing experi-ence! My interest in star gazing has in-creased as I am keen to know what goesbeyond the twinkling of the stars!Deeksha (VIII): It was a great opportu-nity to catch up with friends and learnabout our universe.Simar (VII): I love space club. The nightcamp was a success, and I learnt a lotabout space from it.�

Bindu Sahdev

AIS Noida participated in the 2ndEducators Conference organ-ized by Teri University on No-

vember 6. The students deliveredbrilliant performances on the theme of‘Global Climatic Change’.The musical ballet ‘Point of return –Save Planet earth’ with supreme syn-chronization between Earth, Fire andWater brought forth the effects of globalclimate change and the need to counterthem immediately. The students pre-sented measures to save the planet inthe form of a skit titled ‘Transforma-tion of the tree’which involved transfor-mation of a sad weeping tree to a happysmiling tree. They also recited self com-posed poems on ‘Earth day’ and pledgedto ‘Save Planet Earth’ joined in by for-

eign delegates from Japan & Germany.The performance by students fromclasses IV-V prepared under the guid-ance of teachers Ms Bindu Sahdev, MsKanika Mathur &Mr Nilomani, with thesupport of escort Ms Aishwarya and MrPanda and art department was appreci-ated by Mr Seth, Registrar Teri Univer-sity and other delegates.�

Peace MarchingBindu Sahdev

Tocelebrate the International Dayof Peace, Confederation of UN-

ESCO Clubs and Associations ofIndia , UNIC and IIC organized acampaign from International Day ofPeace (September 21) to InternationalDay of Violence (October 2) in Delhiand NCR region.Students and teachers of Amity In-ternational School, Noida joinedthe Peace March Rally around theLodhi Garden Complex carryingbanners and raising slogans like‘Let’s have peace, not pieces’. Themarch was flagged off by AjayJadeja & Shibani Kashyap.

Guru-shishya sharethe stage at AIS Noida

Pt. Sohan Lal Mishraji, a superbexemplar of the 3rd generation

and Tabla maestro visited Amity In-ternational School, Noida on No-vember 6. Ms Usha Mankotiaaccorded a warm welcome to Pt.Mishraji and his son, Sumit. Pt.Mishraji educated the children aboutthe evolution of the tabla. Hethen described the reason for reyaz,the principle compositions that makeup a standard tabla recital and howthey may be played in solo and san-gat contexts. He also played with hisdisciple, school tabla teacherAsheesh, accompanied by Sumit onthe harmonium.

Inter school Debate

AIS Vasundhara-6 organizedInter-School Debate onNovember 17, 2009. The

Founder President Sir, ChairpersonDr (Mrs)Amita Chauhan and Princi-pal Mrs. Shashi Ranjan stimulatedyoung minds through the debate. 10schools from Delhi/NCR partici-pated enthusiastically. Debatersvoiced their opinions on ‘All BestThings in Life Are Free.’ The topicsupporters gave examples of price-less things like parents’ love whilethe opponents gave examples of ed-ucation and the like that are priced.Judges Dr. Kaul (Ex- Professor,Jamia Milia Islamia ) and Mrs. ViraSharma (Managing Editor, TheGlobal Times) handed out the trophyto Ishita Mishra and Milind Goel ofDPS, Indirapuram.

AIS Vasundhara-6

AISVasundhara-6 organized InterSchool Maths Competition2009 for classes IX - XII on the

27th November 2009. Through this,Founder President Dr.Ashok K Chauhanand Chairperson Dr. (Mrs) AmitaChauhan, provided a brilliant platformto the youth to explore the worldof Mathematics. They believe, “Eachchild should be progressive in everysphere of life, ranging from mental tasksto physical tasks. In this competitiveworld, our children need to be extremelyfast and accurate in all tasks for suste-

nance. Such competitions are a partof the learning process and the spirit ofcompetitiveness is an indication ofhealthy development.” The event con-ducted, aimed at sharpening the Mathe-matical skills of the youth throughlogical application of formulae and rulesfor calculations.12 teams across NCR participated withzest. TheAmitians cheerfully welcomedthe Honorary Chief Guest, esteemedjudges Dr. Hukum Singh, Mr. UmeshVerma, the participating teams and theirrespective teachers. The Competitioncomprised six events which took placesimultaneously.�

KAROAUR SEEKHO (VII-VIII)First: K.D.B Public SchoolSecond: AIS Vasundhara -6Third: DPS, Indirapuram.POSTER MAKING (IX-XII)First: DLF Public SchoolSecond:Ryan Intl. School, GhaziabadThird: DAV Centenary School.BRAIN STORMING (V-VI):Class V: First - AIS Vasundhara-6,Second - DLF Public School andThird - Dewan Public School, Meerut.Class VI: First -AIS Vasundhara 6,Second -KDB School and Third -DLF Public School, Sahibabad.

GANIT GYAN:Class XI: First - DLF Public School,Sahibabad, Second - Seth AnandJaipuria School, Vasundhara and Third- KDB School.Class XII: First - Gurukul The School,Second -AIS Vasundhara 6 and ThirdKhaitan Public School.CYBERATMATHS (IX- XII):First: -Dewan Public School, Meeerut,Second: Indirapuram Public SchoolThird - AIS Vasundhara 6.

QUIZ:First: - SethAnand Jaipuria School, In-dirapuram,Second:Dewan Public School, MeerutThird: AIS Vasundhara 6.

WINNERS�The winning team for its team effortswas Khaitan Public School.�AIS Vasundhara 6 secured first posi-tion for its outstanding performance�DLF Public School, Sahibabad bagsthe Rolling Trophy was won by DLFPublic School, Sahibabad as it securedsecond position.

Sargam Hans, (XI) & ShanyaHans (VIII) of AIS, Noida, dis-ciples of Guru Dr Saroja

Vaidyanathan (Padmashree Awardee)presented their Bharatnatyam Arange-tram performance on November 14, atChinmaya Mission Auditorium.Pujya Swami Nikhilananda Saraswati,Regional Head, Chinmaya Mission,NCR blessed the two sisters and appre-ciated their performance as they dancedshining with the magic of classical pu-rity, subtlety and exquisite grace.

Guest of honour Ms Mohina Dar, prin-cipal, AIS, Noida praised the two sistersas the perfect students displaying a rarecombination of academic, scientific andartistic excellence.Watching them dance in unison was toexperience a spontaneous play of twoflames, following each other, minglingwith each other, merging with each otherand emerging out of each other effort-lessly as having risen from sacred‘Havan-Agni’…lit up by themystical en-ergy of the eternal Shiv- Shakti dance! �

SpinningMagicwith Numbers

Results

SistersArangetramperformancelit energy

A Night Amidst The Stars! Are the best thingsin life, free? Point of return

Save Planet earth

GT Reporters of AISGur-46 presenting thefirst copy of the contestissue to their principalDr Rekha Ranade inthe assembly area

Servedhot

The Global Times, December 16-31, 2009Bag Pack12

Variety

GT Team: Managing Editor-Vira Sharma; Assistant Editor- Tulika Banerji, Senior Copy Editor: Namrata Gulati; Chief Designer- Dinesh Kumar; Designer- Pankaj Kumar Mallik

ANN

He is many persons rolled intoone - a quizzer, a musician, asportsperson, computer and sci-

ence wizard , an amateurs astrnomer, re-

cipient of several scholarships includingJSTSE,NTSE and a brilliant student.Besides, just Google Agrim Singh’sname to find a list of his many achieve-ments and to read his popular Blog.About blogging he says, “I love inter-

acting and that’s why I write a blog. Sofar I have got some 5000 hits on it. Fel-low students visit my blog also becauseI upload lot of question banks and otherpreparation stuff for exams.”When everyone was relaxing during the

summer vacations after boards, this classXI student of AIS, Saket, selectedamongst 35 students across India wasbusy with an internship programme byMathematical Sciences Foundation andSt. Stephens College. says Agrim,“Mathematical Sciences Foundation, ofthe college gave us several topics and Ichose Jantar Mantar. They used to teachas well as pay us a stipend. It is an obser-vatory to read celestial bodies, theirmovements and make readings. But mostof the markings on this heritage observa-tory’s various yantras got deletedwith time. Many visitors ruinedthemwith graffiti. So it’s difficultto draw any readings here. Ourwork was to re-write those markings byundertaking various measures.”Jack of all traits: As far as hobbies areconcerned, there are many that keep himbusy. “I read sci-fi by Douglas Adamsand also works of Khaled Hosseini andPaulo Coelho. I am learning Piano fromTrinity College London and about topass grade 8. After which I can profes-sionally teach it. I often play at the Se-lect City Mall, Saket. I am also amember of the school music band called‘Heroes of Failure’. I listen to deathmetal, progressive rock, punk rock. Igrew up with such music like that ofBangles, Doors, Jethro Tull, etc as myfamily has a good collection. And I loveplaying basketball though I don’t find

any time for it these days. I can’t followa time-table, so my schedule is allmessed up.”Academic Balance: There’s an interest-ing anecdote related to his board results.“Since I was involved with so manythings through out my 10th class, I did-n’t devote much time to study SST. It’s atime consuming subject. So I only got 50percent in pre-boards. But then in thelast 15 days before boards I studied veryhard. Though it was a surprise for me aswell, I scored 99% in boards!”

An Avid Muner: Winner ofbest Delegate Award atWORDZMUN held at Chandi-garh and INMUN 2009 at

Delhi, Agrim avers, “Model United Na-tions is a great thing. I recently attendedMUNOG in Germany where I received aspecial mention for representing China.I love public speaking. I like this concept– it prepares you very well in thoughtdevelopment, presentation, taking astand. We talk about foreign policies,crisis, nuclear arms, etc.”International Chapter: Awarded theSingapore Airlines Youth Scholarship,he is off to attend two years junior col-lege at Singapore. Following soon is atwo week trip to Japan in June 2010courtesy Japan Embassy for winning theJapan Quiz. A nostalgic Agrim quips, “Ican never thank Amity enough. It willbe with me wherever I go.” �

Agrim arrives

Nitish Gupta, IV EAIS Pushp Vihar

Santa Claus or St. Nicholas, the leg-endary mythical figure, becamepopular during the 19th century.

He is portrayed as a man who sleighsdown the snow to give gift to good chil-dren and punish the naughty ones. Chil-dren eagerly look forward to gifts.Shares Samaksh Gupta (III-B, AIS PV),“Santa gives gifts to good children. I re-member last year, I prayed to Santa togive me cross word game. I also kept apair of socks under my pillow on theChristmas eve night and was extreemlyhappy to find my wish fulfilled. I wishwe had Santa coming every day.”Santa’s Valuable Lessons:Santa today has become a universal

symbol rather than a religious. He mir-rors some of the highest ideals of child-hood: purity, innocence, selfless giving,unfaltering love, justice and mercy.Hence believing in Santa teaches chil-dren ethical and moral values.Edurance and Hardwork: Santa sleighswhole night, down the snow and chill tobring the gifts believed to be manufac-tured by elves. This shows his enduranceto overcome obstacles in one’s path toglory and success.Courage and Care: Santa slips down thechimney carefully and cleverly withoutdisturbing the family. This inspires chil-dren to face hardships with courage andcarve way to their destination.Love & Brotherhood: Rudolph, themythical red-nosed reindeer who drivesSanta’a sleigh had been socially ostra-

cized by fellow reindeers due to his rednose. Through Rudolph, he spread themessage of love and brotherhood.Though a legendry figure, Santa contin-ues to live in the hearts and minds of theyoung. Recalls Rosalia Steffi (III-D, AISPV), “As a little girl, every Christmas Iused to wait eagerly for the Santa to giveme gifts. From his big bag, he used togive me candies, chocolates, toffees andone night, I even got a beautiful partydress. I used to see him everywhere, in-cluding the streets, malls and I got pen-cils, pen with lights, Santa Claus figureetc. However, when I became eight, I re-alized that it was my uncle dressed asSanta, who used to give me all the gifts.But the memories of my child Santa stillseem so real. For me Santa shall alwaysremain to be real.”�

Santa Clausis on his way

Prerna Kashyap, IX JAIS Noida

DanBrown is the best-selling au-thor of Da Vinci Code, Angelsand Demons, Digital Fortress,

Deception Point and the new enthrallingnovel, The Lost Symbol. Knownfor his ingenious plots and mind-boggling mysteries, his booksopen a whole new world ofpulse-racing adventures. WhileThe Da Vinci Code, Angels andDemons and The Lost Symbolenlighten the readers about var-ious secretive brotherhoods,Digital Fortress and Deception Pointunlock the doors to an enchanting worldof cryptography, secret agencies, Amer-ican Senate campaign and NASA’sworkings.Bestseller Da Vinci Code tells the storyof Harvard symbologist Robert Lang-don and French cryptologist SophieNeveu, trying to unravel a series ofcodes to reveal a fascinating secret

which threatens to shake the founda-tions of Christianity. Angels andDemons also features Robert Langdon,along with CERN physicist VittoriaVetra, trying to unveil the secret of a dan-gerous murderer connected with a secretbrotherhood, while trying to save their

lives and a precious scientific in-vention which threatens the glo-rious Vatican City. The booksupports Genesis and Brown be-lieves in a blend of modern sci-ence, tradition and religion.The new Lost Symbol opens awhole new world of Masonicbrotherhood and the US Capitol’s

history, featuring Robert Langdon withnoetic scientist Katherine Solomon in awild goose chase through the city, tryingto protect a very precious secret. DanBrown tries to convey the importance offaith and religion and how there is reallysomeone who watches over all of us.The most enchanting quality of Brown’sbooks is that he brings out a hiddenworld of dark secrets and incrediblefacts that attracts fiction-fantasy fiendsto his books. Dan Brown’s books are agripping mix of murder and myth and heproves the he is one of the masters of in-trigue and suspense. His books provideample of background factual informa-tion to its readers, with enigma piled onand secret stacked on suspense.The readers gave a positive response toThe Lost Symbol. “An exceedinglyclever plot,” stated one of the readers.“Thriller writing doesn’t get any betterthan this and the book had a prolific end-ing,” said Medha Shrivastava, 9-J, AISNoida, who read the book recently.We’ll await another of Dan Brown’s in-genious thrillers to come our way andhope to see even better books in future.�

Unveiling secrets,solvingmysteriesThe fascinating world of Dan Brown

Pic : Pankaj Mallik