Latest news with #Roorkee
Time of India
6 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
Futuristic departments
Amit Kumar was trained as a Mechanical Engineer with specialization in thermal engineering from the University of Roorkee (now Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee) where he was awarded the University Gold Medal. Post his graduation, he decided to pursue a career in renewable energy, a novelty in the early eighties. He had retired from TERI in July 2021 whereas Senior Director, Social Transformation, was responsible for initiatives focusing on energy access, holistic rural development, and community engagement. There he had also led research activities in the fields of renewable energy and resource-efficient process technology applications. As Dean (Distance & Short-Term Education), TERI University between 2014 and 2016, he was responsible for the development and outreach of the University's online courses, management & faculty development programmes, and skill enhancement initiatives. LESS ... MORE The atmosphere is quite festive in the capital of this State, having a city of the millennium, no less. And why not? How many governments across the globe can boast of a department dedicated to the future? There was a consensus among the elite of its officialdom that they were not entering uncharted waters. On the contrary, the state ventured into to future, drawing ample lessons from how to run (or not, depending on whether you belong to the ruler or the ruled community) its showpiece cyber city. The mega event started off with an impressive multi-media presentation titled 'Future is Past', quoting a Swiss-American psychiatrist and author Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, 'We need to teach the next generation of children from day one that they are responsible for their lives'. Elaborating further with the aid of actual site photographs (as opposed to artistic representations favoured by its famed realty segment) the voiceover intoned that its steadfast focus, right from the beginning, has been on revenue generation, leaving mundane tasks of city management to the residents themselves. The motto being 'Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime', with a caveat that fish may not be available during certain days of the year. It was emphasised how it has always been a science-backed process of thinking, well before the term `design thinking' got fashionable. The simple but effective, this phased process was summarised in a few steps as 'big ticket announcements – drawing board – DPRs – tendering – re-tendering – rethinking – back to drawing board'. In a nutshell, present challenges get converted into future ones. After all, wouldn't the future look bleak without challenges of its own? This also helps boost everyone's morale by constantly looking forward to the future. Our age-old philosophy also tells us that while the Present is Transient, the Future holds Potential. It helps greatly to have multiple agencies working at cross purposes; and of course, that annual ritual of GRAP helping convert better parts of present plans to futuristic ones. The presentation highlighted another noteworthy enabler that ensured that, instead of the devolution of power envisaged in the 1992 constitutional amendment, the city-centric decisions were centralised. This singular innovation must have pushed most of the present-day issues to some indeterminate future dates, it was said. All through this, however, the guiding principle of equity was never forgotten, e.g., mansions worth hundreds of crores faced the same infrastructural eventualities as common homes or for that matter high-level district offices. The gathering applauded enthusiastically when the presentation ended with reiterating the commitment to growth built on inclusive and equitable promises, all in the future, naturally. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Indian Express
03-07-2025
- General
- Indian Express
Son of a panipuri vendor from Kalyan secures seat in IIT Roorkee
Harsh Gupta, a young boy from Kalyan whose father is a panipuri vendor, made it to the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) Roorkee. While for many, this achievement marks the beginning of a positive change for the six-member Gupta family living in two rented rooms in a chawl, his journey towards this exemplary success stands as a great example of resilience, determination, and diligence. Coming from a modest family background, the road was significantly tougher for Harsh than for many others preparing for the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) – Main, the nationwide engineering entrance test that serves as a stepping stone to the JEE-Advanced, the gateway to IITs. Unlike most JEE aspirants who begin preparations during school, Harsh learned about the exam only after Class 10, where he scored above 90 per cent. Realising his passion for mathematics, Harsh decided to pursue engineering and joined Motion Education, a JEE coaching institute in Kota, Rajasthan. His first major setback came when he failed Class 11. 'I failed because I could not appear for a few papers due to my health condition,' said Harsh, who suffers from rectal prolapse—a painful and recurring medical condition that severely disrupted his studies, requiring frequent hospital visits and extended rest periods. Without getting demotivated, he continued his efforts and eventually passed Classes 11 and 12. 'Last year, I appeared for JEE-Main immediately after Class 12, but I did not qualify for JEE-Advanced. I was getting admission to a prestigious NIT, but my dream was different. I decided to take a gap year and prepare again,' said the 19-year-old who considered it only a small setback. This year, Harsh qualified for JEE-Advanced. His rank was 16,155 in the general category and 4,089 in the OBC category. He has now secured a seat in the Geotechnical Engineering branch at IIT Roorkee. However, in the upcoming admission round, he is hoping to secure a seat in Geophysical Engineering at the same institute, as he is more inclined towards that field. The decision to prepare for the exam, which included staying in Kota for nearly two and a half years, was solely taken by Harsh. 'It was impossible for anyone from my family to accompany me there. I stayed in the residential facility provided by the coaching institute,' said Harsh, adding that his dream to secure a seat in an IIT kept him going even during stressful times. 'Many students come to Kota with the same dream, but for a lot of them, it's not their own. They come with expectations from family and then feel pressured. I had no such pressure, which made it possible for me to pursue my dream, despite the challenges,' said Harsh, the eldest among three brothers. Both his younger brothers are focused on their studies. One, who is now in Class 12, hopes to follow in Harsh's footsteps, while the youngest, who just passed Class 10, is taking time to decide his path. Their parents run a panipuri stall in Kalyan, while their grandmother stays at home.
Hindustan Times
01-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Bengaluru CEO offering ₹50 LPA laments talent crisis as 1000 applicants fail basic coding task: ‘Big f***ing problem'
A Bengaluru-based CEO and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee alumnus recently sparked an online conversation about the quality of tech talent in India. Umesh Kumar, the CEO in question, took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his frustration after reviewing a flood of job applications for a backend engineering position. A Bengaluru CEO shared frustration after receiving mostly unusable, AI-generated code for a backend role.(X/@itsumeshk) (Also read: 'Porn dekh rahi ho?' Bengaluru CEO's shocking remark to intern sparks outrage) 'India seriously has a big talent problem,' Kumar wrote in his post. 'We got around 1,000 applications for a backend engineering role in just the last 2-3 days, and guess how many were actually decent? We asked for a basic, simple coding task. The submissions? Mostly absolute trash. AI-generated crap everywhere. But that's ok. Code that doesn't even run. Running code, libraries needed for the code to work are even missing. Honestly, forget high standards; is it too much to ask for code that actually compiles?' Fast-track hiring process and ₹ 50 lakh salary Kumar explained that his company's hiring process is simple and efficient, contrasting it with the often prolonged procedures of larger tech firms. 'Here's our process straightforward: Simple coding task CEO call (15 mins) CTO call (45 mins) Paid one-day trial with the team Offer. Done.' He added, 'We aren't Big Tech, dragging you through months of interview hell just to reject you. Our hiring is quick, simple, and respects your time. And let's get real, we pay a damn good ₹ 50 Lakh base salary plus relocation, food, and the chance to work with some of the best talent out there. So yes, at this pay scale, expecting code that actually runs is justified.' Check out the post here: Mixed reactions from tech community The post, which has garnered over 280k views, drew a wide range of responses from users. One user remarked, 'It's gonna get a lot harder to find great talent with students using AI in college.' Another echoed the sentiment, saying, 'Same god damn AI-gen sloppy codes. Can't even make an Insta basic feed frontend without AI.' Another user commented, 'I noticed this trend while working as an interviewer at Google,' while someone else added, 'This has been happening since as far back as 2002. I remember interviewing candidates who had memorised every axiom and design pattern by heart, yet couldn't write a single working line of code.' (Also read: 'Complete breakdown during video call': Bengaluru man hospitalised after CEO's brutal outburst) Some criticised the pre-interview screening itself. 'By requiring a coding task before speaking to the person, you filter out ALL good talent, and end up with whoever is desperate,' one said. Others suggested, 'You should mention the range of CTC or LPA for the job position—it can lead to some serious submissions.' One quirky take advised, 'Hire people with anime PFP or indie hackers from X. You're not gonna get disappointed.'
Time of India
01-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Tricks of the trade
Amit Kumar was trained as a Mechanical Engineer with specialization in thermal engineering from the University of Roorkee (now Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee) where he was awarded the University Gold Medal. Post his graduation, he decided to pursue a career in renewable energy, a novelty in the early eighties. He had retired from TERI in July 2021 whereas Senior Director, Social Transformation, was responsible for initiatives focusing on energy access, holistic rural development, and community engagement. There he had also led research activities in the fields of renewable energy and resource-efficient process technology applications. As Dean (Distance & Short-Term Education), TERI University between 2014 and 2016, he was responsible for the development and outreach of the University's online courses, management & faculty development programmes, and skill enhancement initiatives. LESS ... MORE Let me clarify at the outset. This piece is not about trade and tariffs being played out by the only superpower in the world, simply because that is out of comprehension of lesser mortals like yours truly. Rather, this is about those tricks that we all witness day in and day out, in ads and in apps. The most ubiquitous ones must be terms 'up to' and 'T&C apply' so much so that it appears that businesses would have come to a halt had these addendums were not there. Actually, because of these seemingly innocuous terms in fine prints, anybody can get away with any lofty claim. In use since 1930s, the new incarnation of 'up to' can be seen in many apps, especially when promising cashbacks. Recently, while paying my restaurant bill through a popular dining app, it prominently showed a credit card discount of 20%: catch was, you guessed it right, 'up to Rs.150'. Effectively, 20% of Rs.9500 – my restaurant bill – worked out to be Rs.150! A mathematical equation worth JEE-Advance. Even a founder of one of India's most popular online restaurants aggregators admitted on record this sleight of hand (an IITian himself, naturally he is deft in maths) but defended it nonetheless in the face of competition. Then there are new age suffixes and prefixes like 'Real' etc. that let you believe about the genuineness of the inherent product quality. But again, there are fine prints with disclaimers that these are just brand names/trade marks and do not represent their true nature. Every day we come across glossy advertisements of magnificent real estate projects promising the moon. But yet again, it's fine print that may need magnifying glass that divulge wealth of `real' estate. 'All the information including but not limited to all designs, layouts, specifications, plans, services, facilities and infrastructure are illustrative and subject to change, without notice. This advertisement is purely conceptual'. An upcoming seven-star property tom toms the brand associated with one illustrious businessman and president – in that order – and what it has to say: 'The name and mark is used under the license, which may be terminated or revoked'. In these times of everything quick, food or groceries, finding detailed bills for the items ordered is nothing short of treasure hunting; so well camouflaged they are kept amidst a lot of random merchandise information. And they certainly are treasure trove of multitude of hidden charges. Sample these: handling charges, small cart charges, processing fees, and surge charges etc., to name a few (it appears that there is something known as `cash handling charges' if the delivery happens to be cash-on-delivery). These charges including hefty packaging charges may well be hidden under `GST and other/restaurant charges' that you can access only by clicking on it. Reportedly, q-commerce players have justified these charges towards ensuring `proper' handling and `quality' delivery. Going by the recent reports of FSSAI's observations around the storage practices, one can surmise that the much-acclaimed properness is limited to handling only, not in the storage. But here one cannot blame them, right from the beginning, these hyper-local warehouses were called `dark stores.' I wonder in what condition the items would arrive if the consumer had an option not to pay `proper' handling charges? Maybe we will get to know the real import of the term 'conditions apply'! One thing is clear; it is time to brush up one's mental maths to be able to total up the actual bill amount – in minutes. Afterall, not everyone is an IIT alumni. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Telegraph
28-06-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Rishabh Pant's car blew up and he stared death in the face, says surgeon who saved him
'Rishabh Pant was extremely lucky to be alive – extremely lucky.' Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, the orthopaedic surgeon who treated the Indian cricket superstar after his car crash, is in no doubt about his fortune. 'To be in an accident like this, where the car actually overturns and blows up, the risk of death is extremely high.' On December 30, 2022, flamboyant wicketkeeper Pant – who made history by scoring two centuries in one Test against England at Headingley – drove from Delhi to his home town of Roorkee. At 5:30am, Pant lost control of his car on the Delhi-Dehradun highway. His vehicle skidded for 200 metres before hitting the road divider. While the Mercedes burned, Pant's right knee twisted at 90 degrees. 'My time in this world is over,' Pant thought to himself, he later said. He was just 25 years old – a year older than James Dean when he suffered his fatal car crash. But Pant and two passers-by broke open a window to allow him to escape before the car set on fire. Pant was hospitalised with major injuries to his head, back and feet. After a week in local hospitals, Pant was airlifted to Mumbai. 'When he first came in, he had a dislocated right knee,' Pardiwala recalls. 'He also had an injury to his right ankle, lots of other minor injuries all over. He had a lot of skin loss, so his entire skin from the nape of the neck down to his knees was completely scraped off in the process of that accident. Then getting out of the car – that broken glass scraped off a lot of the skin and the flesh from his back.' If Pant's first great fortune was to be alive, his second was that he still had his right leg at all. Injuries so grievous he could not brush his teeth for weeks 'When your knee dislocates, and all the ligaments break, there's a high possibility of the nerve or the main blood vessel also being injured,' Pardiwala explains. 'If the blood vessel gets injured, you typically have about four to six hours to restore the blood supply. Otherwise, there's a risk of losing your limb. The fact that his blood vessel wasn't injured despite having a severe high-velocity knee dislocation was extremely lucky.' When he met Pardiwala in Mumbai, Pant's first question was: 'Am I ever going to be able to play again?' His mother's first question to Pardiwala was simply: 'Is he ever going to be able to walk again?' ' We had a lengthy discussion about the fact that these are grievous injuries – we would need to reconstruct the entire knee,' Pardiwala recalls. 'Once we reconstruct the entire knee, we're going to have to then work through a whole process of letting it heal, letting it recover, then get back the basic functions – the range, the strength and the stability.' On January 6, 2023, two days after he arrived in Mumbai, Pant was put under general anaesthetic. Over the next four hours, Pardiwala performed surgery on his right knee, reconstructing three ligaments and repairing tendons and meniscus. For several weeks after the surgery, Pant's movement in his upper body – the area which had been far less affected than his legs – remained so debilitated that he could not brush his teeth without assistance. 'He lost a lot of skin, and so he couldn't really move his hands. They were completely swollen. He couldn't really move either of his hands initially.' It was weeks until Pant could even grip a glass safely to drink water without assistance. For four months after the accident, Pant could only walk with crutches. 'Typically, when we reconstruct these patients they are happy just to get back to normal life,' Pardiwala explains. 'If they can walk and do some minimal amount of recreational sports, they're happy.' But Pant's sights were altogether higher. Pardiwala 'really didn't know' whether Pant could play for India again. 'I said: 'We can certainly make sure that he walks again. I'm going to try my best to make sure that we can get him back to playing again.' 'We didn't really want to offer him too much initially, but we did want to give him hope. So I said: 'We'll break it down into steps.' Step one, of course, has to be the surgery. 'When we discussed it just after the surgery, the way I told him is the fact you're alive, the fact that your limbs survived – that's two miracles down. If we get you back to competitive cricket, that's going to be a third miracle. Let's just hope for everything, and then take it a step at a time. 'His question then was: 'OK, assuming that we do manage to get there, how long is it going to be?' I said: 'Probably looking at 18 months to get back to competitive cricket.'' After surgery, Pant remained in hospital for another 24 days until he was discharged. He remained in Mumbai for a further three weeks, staying in a hotel near the hospital. Then, Pant moved into accommodation by the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, by the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. This would remain his home for most of 2023. Pant returned to the Academy gym virtually every day, doing two sessions with physiotherapists or strength and conditioning coaches. Initially, these sessions were two hours each; within weeks, at Pant's request, they extended to 3½ hours each. The regime was a combination of strenuous exercise in the gym and long sessions of aqua therapy in the swimming pool. The programme had three phases: restoring range of movement; strengthening muscles; and finally regaining balance and agility. 'His whole aim was 'Get me back to normalcy as fast as possible',' Pardiwala remembers. 'And we were trying to make sure that we were doing just the optimum, not too little, but not too much. 'His recovery was much faster than we had anticipated. He was like: 'Nothing is too much.' He pushed harder than normal people.' Pant defied prognosis by four months From the very first discussions that he had with Pardiwala in Mumbai, Pant made it clear that he intended not only to return to elite cricket, but also to regain his place behind the stumps. This aim made his recovery programme more onerous. 'As a wicketkeeper, you have to squat hundreds of times a day,' Pardiwala explains. 'So we needed to get that capability.' Pardiwala recalls a conversation between Ricky Ponting, who was then his head coach at Delhi Capitals, and Pant. Ponting suggested that Pant initially return as a specialist batsman alone. 'Rishabh turned around and said: 'No, there's no way that I'm getting back to elite-level cricket as just a batsman. I want to enjoy my keeping and so I'm not going to get back just as a batsman, I will get back when I can bat and when I can keep wicket too.'' Pardiwala had originally told Pant that the best scenario was to make a full return within 18 months. Yet he made his return in a warm-up within 14 months of the crash. In March 2024, 14 months and three weeks after the accident, Pant returned to professional cricket, in the Indian Premier League. Pant got an emotional standing ovation as he walked out to bat for the first time. Unassumingly, he regained his form from before the crash, averaging 40.5 in the 2024 IPL season and keeping wicket in every match, too. 'He was diving around like crazy,' Pardiwala recalls. When he made his Test return, against Bangladesh, Pant marked his comeback with a century. WELCOME BACK TO RED BALL CRICKET AFTER 21 LONG MONTHS, RISHABH PANT...!!! - A swashbuckling 34 ball fifty by Pant. — Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 7, 2024 While Pant, now 27, is as ebullient on the field as before his crash, he is a subtly different person off the field now. 'He recognises the fact that he was extremely lucky to be alive,' Pardiwala says. 'He's so motivated as a cricketer. 'If you knew the Rishabh before this happened, he's a much more mature human being. He's very philosophical now. He appreciates life and everything that goes around it. That typically happens to anyone who's faced death in the face. Someone who's had a near-death experience often gets life into perspective.' Pant's enforced break could ultimately mean that he plays more for India. Shane Warne's year-long absence from international cricket, for very different reasons – he was banned for a year for taking a banned diuretic – lengthened his own career. 'I'm sure he's going to be fitter now because he's realising the importance of it. A lot of athletes become much better after a big surgery than ever before. 'The difference is fitness levels. They were never exposed to those kinds of high levels of fitness and rehabilitation; even if they were exposed to it, they didn't understand the importance of it. 'He always worked at his fitness, I'm sure, but I think he worked more at his skills initially, and probably a little less at the fitness part of it. But now he realises the importance of fitness. So he's working out and making sure that all aspects of his body are strengthened enough. I think that gives him then the confidence to do what he does on the field.' So much confidence, indeed, that Pant celebrated the first of his twin centuries at Headingley with a hand spring: the same celebration that he used to mark a century in the IPL last month. The pyrotechnics reflect one of Pant's childhood loves. Rishabh Pant reaching 100 in the Rishabh Pant way 🔥6️⃣ "This fella is BOX OFFICE." 🍿 — Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 21, 2025 'Rishabh trained as a gymnast – and so although he looks large, he is quite agile, and he does have a lot of flexibility,' says Pardiwala. 'And that's why he's been doing those somersaults of late. 'It's a well-practised and perfected move – unnecessary though!' But not to a man with Pant's sense of theatre.
