Volume V, Issue 5

Going International IndoIndo-Russian Workshop Inside

Editorial 2
The Indo Russian Workshop on Topical Problems in Solid Mechanics was organized at BITS, Pilani Goa Campus from November 11 - 14, 2008. The workshop featured key research going on in elite institutions in India (BITS, IITs, IISc, BARC, DMRL) and Russia in the field of Applied, Theoretical and Experimental Mechanics. There were 40 participants in all. The workshop was a platform for exchange of innovative ideas and a clear contrast could be drawn between the research communities of both the countries. While the Russian researchers relied mostly on mathematical and numerical models to study their problems, their Indian counterparts took an approach that was more experimental and less analytical. One notable feature about the participation was that it included both senior researchers using conventional methods and young researchers using more of numerical techniques, both of them equally rich in the results they draw. One of the most notable quotes conveying this difference was given by Prof. T. Kant (IIT B), a senior researcher in Mechanics, during his paper on the effectiveness of using Shell Theory over newer numerical techniques. As a conclusion he said : Not many people use this theory (Shell Theory) these days now a days they use the Finite Elements and the crowd, all eminent researchers in the field of Mechanics, burst into laughter! The workshop concluded with the Indian and Russian scientists exchanging ideas for collaborative projects in the field of Mechanics. The workshop was coordinated by Prof. N. K Gupta (IIT Delhi) and Prof. A. V Manzhirov (Russian Academy of Science). The participants were overwhelmed by the hospitality offered by the host institute.

Reality Check 3 Tandoori Nights Interview: Slain Workshops A Tribute Interview: Akash Points Tally Club Activity Mixed Bag The Fun Page 4 5 6 7 8

Creating History: OASIS 2008

Oasis. That elusive place where travellers quench their thirst. For where can one find the gift of water among the sea of sand? Well, we also felt a similar kind of relief when we visited and participated in Oasis 2008, the cultural fest of BITS-Pilani. Why, you may ask? Well, after a gruelling, sweaty two-day journey and a very dusty bus journey to Pilani, we heaved a sigh of relief when we saw a tell-tale glow-in-the-dark BITS sign on the gates to BITS-Pilani. And after a minimal two-hour wait, we were graciously escorted to the rooms we were allotted. Oasis was organized decently. There were more than 60 events, yet they pulled it off well, just as they have been doing it for 37 years. Events ranged from serious (Oasis Quiz, Razzmatazz, Tarang) to the fun (BLAB (Jam), Suicide at Midnight, Bulls eye). The events normally began on time, except for the Audi events which had very shoddy scheduling. Some events were postponed by six hours! However, the fun factor was high at Pilani, with a 24-hour dance floor and food courts (which boasted of CCD and Dominos). The special performances with KK and Lounge Piranha being the icing on the cake. The most exhilarating moment came during the valedictory ceremony, when we lifted the Oasis Cup. It was at that moment we realized that we had done it! We had swept Oasis (figuratively anyway). Lunches at Connaught, breakfast in the IC, lounging in the Sky Lawns, everything was so memorable. But eventually we had to bid farewell to Oasis. - a BPGC participant at Oasis

9 10 11 12

Editorial
OH BAMA! THE TEAM
Pratik Mandrekar Shillpa Garg Rithika Ardeshir Anurag Sharma Rithvic Rajah Shalini Lahiri Dhashrath Raghuraman Ralino Prazares Megha Ghildyal Abhishek Agrawal Ojas Mehta Apurv Gujjar Anmol Sharma Abhishek Ravi Tanay Deshpande Rohan Menon Emaad Manzoor Abhishek Jain Aastha Srivastava Madhupurna Biswas Kartik Guduru Dushyant Kinwar Suramya Munshi Gaurav Singh Arjun V.J. Special Thanks to: Abhijeet Sathe Rasagy Sharma Shipra Nayyar S. Ramanan and The Department of Photography
History was created when Obama was elected to be the first black president of the oldest democracy of the world. His victory symbolized the vanquishing of racism and dismissal of the Bush legacy. Though Obama has won, dont cheer too loudly. It will be great to have a black president but it would be better if he follows McCains economic policies. Looking at the voting record and campaign content of the two candidates suggests that McCain might in many ways have been better for India than Obama, especially where economic issues are concerned. A nasty global recession has begun so pressures will mount for protectionist measures and beggar-thy-neighbour policies in the US, hurting countries like India. Apart from erecting import barriers and subsidizing dumped exports, US politicians will seek to curb the outsourcing of services to India. Visa curbs will slow the movement of skilled workers and their dollar remittances back to India. McCain is one of the few American politicians in either party with the courage and conviction to stand up to protectionist populism. By contrast, Obama embodies protectionism. In 2007, he voted to reduce visas issued to foreign workers (such as Indian software engineers). Obama is cynically twisting facts to woo the most protectionist US trade unions. This cannot but worry India, which may also be subjected to bogus slander and trade disadvantages. By contrast, McCain has consistently voted for open trade. He opposed the disgraceful Byrd amendment on anti-dumping duties. Driving home the point that he is for creating jobs in the US, Barack Obama has favoured streamlining the process for the high-skilled H2B visas for Indians and other foreigners to make sure that employers were not "gaming" the system. For those who don't know, the H2B visa program is the program whereby foreign nationals with specialized skills, are supposed to be able to come in and be sponsored by their employer. It is unclear whether the Senator had inadvertently strayed into the realm of H1B visas in the course of making his thoughts on the issue known, but he made it clear he will ensure that the high skilled visas will not be manipulated. He said it is also important to remember the fact that US really had a "shortage" of PhDs, scientists and engineers. "We really do have a shortage of certain key occupations that, if we want to continue to grow, we've got to develop our kids here", Obama continued, still perhaps having in mind the H1B visa that covers architects, engineers, computer experts, accountants doctors and college professors. Though reserved Obama lauded the major contributions the Indian American community has been making to the country's economy as well as to the fabric of American society.

The General Body Meeting of the CSA was held for the first time in our campus on 16th November. Amid speeches by the Director and the Vice Chairman of the CSA it was made clear that one of the three festivals of our campus would be shifted to the first semester and WAVES is the most likely candidate for this starting next year. The CSA announced a few initiatives like the room laundry collection system, setting up of cooperative store, a Photocopying facility in the Institute building and opening of the Student room for Students' purposes. We can also expect another ATM to be set up in our campus soon. A new food counter has already commenced operation near AH8 on the road to the SAC. We can only hope that the Internet problem will be resolved in the next semester as has been promised. Even though no on spot questions were accepted (frustrating some, relieving others) the meeting surely added a new feather to the democratic system in our campus. We hope this endeavour becomes a regular feature with greater interaction and participation from all sides.

A REALITY CHECK
When life has nothing extraordinary to offer and everyday routine overshadows your thinking, you begin to reflect upon the minor aspects of life. And in that frame of mind, the smallest events start to intrigue us. And the things that matter most to you, start to become worrisome. If you think all of this is pure philosophy and has no concern whatsoever in your life, its time to think again. Let me explain this the BITSian way. When we are not studying, playing, watching movies or indulging in other extra curricular activity, we often think about our future and the challenges it poses. Thoughts regarding placements, packages, higher studies, etc. start to boggle the mind and we realize that we have strayed from our path. We may find that the goals we have set for ourselves and the expectations that we earned from our parents have been sidelined, but the key lies in picking up the pieces and refocusing on our goals. Granted that in college life people wish to live life to the fullest but living in the present doesnt guarantee a successful future. There will not be a red carpet rolled out for you at the end of your stay here. This may sound clichd or overkill, but its the simple and honest truth. Your future employers look for skill, hard work and the right attitude and these are things that have to inculcate during your stay here. I myself do not believe in all work and no play but know this that when it comes to competition all play and no work will leave you high and dry. All this sounds pretty heavy doesnt it? But these things bother us now and then all the time, and its just as well! Because it can so often happen that your involvement in extra curriculars can throw your acads out of whack. So this is just some mind fodder to give you a reality check on life here at BITS. On a lighter note, we BITSians have had a lot to celebrate about in the past few weeks. October started on a high, with hostel spirits raging in a swashbuckling Zephyr. There was no time for a breather, as ACE 08 announced itself with a mighty successful debut. The academic activities werent too far behind, with workshops NetTech , Robokriti and Aeromodeling receiving an overwhelming response. And then there was the spread of the panic wave Is DC banned?? Will it shut down? How will I download stuff? etc... As the dust settled, the gloomy and foreboding outline of T-2 and now compre appears on the horizon. The last-minute preparations, the frantic rush for class notes, and the horror of the papers themselves (Anyone remember ES-1? ) it was all a bit overwhelming, and in a breath, it seems like a decade has passed. And we have plenty to look forward to, in every sense. There are more workshops, more special nights, more fests, and even more tests :-) in store for us. So fasten your seatbelts, for it is going to be a hell of a ride.

THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL

The academic council comprises of a set of students, called academic representatives that have been selected by the executive committee of the various academic associations. That makes a total of eleven representatives, with two convenors. They attend to all the academic issues concerning the campus including the quality of laboratories and courses, taking feedback from the students regarding various aspects, introducing electives and so forth. The functions of the council include introducing more electives and there are proposals for taking feedback from the third and fourth year students regarding their CDCs . The members of the council also interact with the faculty members, suggest academic changes and let them know what the students feel about their courses. The academic council is answerable to the CSA, the faculty, the executive committee of the academic associations and the student body. Since its inception in this semester, the academic council has been instrumental in centralising the leave application procedures for fourth year students appearing for CAT 08. It has also taken an initiative to catalogue the library books subject-wise for the benefit of the students. The plan of action for the next semester is to gain a comprehensive feedback of all the courses undertaken by the students, and convey it to the faculty and make necessary modifications. It is proposed that to make the process of taking feedback easier, suggestion boxes will be put in the library and around the campus for the collection of feedback forms which will be given to each student. The general body of students can approach the academic council with any queries, complaints or suggestions by mailing them to acadreps@bits-goa.ac.in.

TANDOORI NIGHTS @ BPGC

MUSIC NIGHT
September 30th brought with it the first of the tandoori nights (as were fondly calling them now) - The Music Night. With a variety of songs, leaving out no genres, the sounds of the guitar, drums & synthesizer blending harmonically and assumed the form of some very fine pieces of music, leaving music lovers lusting for more. The event commenced with an instrumental Carnatic music performance, reminding us of the rich variety in Indian classical music. A number of songs by world renowned music composer A.R . Rahman followed, ranging from Kismat se to the very groovy Pappu cant dance. Kiss from a rose, Tears dont fall & Im your angel were some of the specimens of fine western music. Jazz lovers werent left out when Mr. Tapan Desai, a BITS alumnus, took to the stage with his saxophone. As everything comes to an end, so did Music Night but not without reaching the crescendo the adrenaline pumping Socha Hai from Rock On as the curtain closer.

DANCE NIGHT
Dance Night 08 (12 November,2008) showcased classical and modern styles of dancing. It started with the smoke machine smoking away at the dancers! And was well received by the students and the Russian guests (from the INDORUSSIAN workshop). It started on a classical note with a Bharatanatyam performance. Then the audiences were treated to a streetdance- HipHoP performance. After a good show of freestyles and robot moves there was some Desi jalwa with dancers performing on many popular south Indian numbers. After many riveting performance the finale was Chattiss-garh where all the 36 dancers met on stage for a final showdown.

MOVIE NIGHT
An open air screening of the famous movie The Dark Knight was held in front of the library lawns on 13 November. A temporary screen was set up and the movie was shown on it using a projector. The crowd thoroughly enjoyed this open air rendezvous with the savior of Gotham city.

ROCK NIGHT
10,000 W of rock interspersed with some metal kept the crowd, which included even Bollywood purists, on their feet. The evening began with a soulful rendition of the Eagles and Tequila Sunrise. This was followed by the club doing covers of American Idiot, Dread & the Fugitive Mind, Yellow and some brilliant growling on Carcasss Black Star & Lamb of Gods Laid to Rest. On Judas Priests Living After Midnight, a certain guitarist started dancing onstage. After two hours of in-house music, the Rock Club made way for the band from Bangalore, Slain, the winners of Strawberry Fields. They started their set with covers of Bon Jovi (You Give Love A Bad Name) & the Scorpions (Rock You Like A Hurricane). Towards the end of their set they played their own compositions, the best of which was More than conquerors. Their performance was characterized by some brilliant guitar and drum playing. A truly Herculean effort by the Rock Club ensured that Rock Night was a resounding success with everyone alike.

SLAIN
SLAIN, the power metal band from Bangalore was certainly one of the star attractions of 'Unwind - the prelude to waves, courtesy-The Rock Club. The band comprises of Judah Sandhy on vocals, Jared Sandhy on drums, Bryden Lewis and Manek D'Silva on guitars and Naresh Nathan on bass guitar. DoJMA caught up with SLAIN just before the show. Excerpts from the interview : Q : What brings you to BITS Pilani Goa Campus? A : We've never been to Goa before. BITS' reputation brings us here and it is a privilege to play for you guys. Your support carries us through and gives us the status we have. Its all about spreading the music, message and the fan base. Q : Most of us have been spellbound by the quality of your music. What are your influences, in terms of styles and bands? A : Each member has his own set of influences - western classical, orchestration, jazz, power metal, classic rock/metal etc. We all have our own strengths, which collectively makes our sound unique, which would be aptly described as 80's glam meets power metal. We love the vintage sound of classic rock bands of the 80s. We try to recollect that epic era of the 80's in a modern vision. In terms of bands, we are heavily influenced by bands like Journey, Europe, Mr.Big, Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, Queensryche, Petra, Stryper, Dream Theater, Def Leppard, Symphony X, etc. Q : Bangalore is known for quality rock and metal bands which stick to the good old fashioned style - be it Kryptos, Myndsnare, Bhoomi or you guys for that matter. What is it about Bangalore that keeps churning out great metal acts? A : Actually, there is a lot of funk in Bangalore now, which started out in Chennai. You can call Bangalore metal capital of course. The metal bands do enjoy a lot of support. I guess its just a city with a lot of die hard music lovers. Q : What do you think of the current Indian Rock scene? A : It is good that bands of all genres are coming up all over the country, be it funk, pop, electronica, rock or metal. As musicians, we hear what others are producing, we know what we want to produce, and this leads to a learning process which helps the music scene grow. We would like to set international standards for ourselves. Q : Your favorite performance and crowd (other than Bangalore)? A : Every performance is amazing. We derive our energy from the crowd. As a competition - Strawberry Fields was amazing; IIT Madras was great. Jamming is amazing too. The Chennai crowd is great. Q : In this age of commercialized music, with MTV and other promotional support ignoring quality music, what difficulties do non-mainstream musicians like you face? A : Exposure is a problem. We have to work our way up. There are some great things happening in Bangalore though, Radio Indigo covers upcoming bands and there are shows for upcoming bands, for eg. - 'Rock Ethos', a show organized by bands themselves. MTV doesnt really matter too much. Q : Anything you guys would like to say to BITSians reading this publication, to promote yourselves or other wise? A : Check us out on www.myspace.com/slainindia, download our songs, check us out live in Bangalore, check our videos out on YouTube, join our Orkut community. "We dont believe in history. We believe in making it" - SLAIN

Workshop Mania
Intel
On Sunday,12 October, 2008, the Career Development Cell (CDC) of BITS Pilani - Goa organized a workshop by Intel. As part of Intels Blue Buddy initiative, Mr. Suraj Jolly, an engineer working with the technical marketing team of Intel India visited our campus and conducted a workshop-cum-seminar covering various issues relating to Silicon technology. His talk touched on several issues ranging from, complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs) and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), to microprocessors, the evolution of different platforms, chipsets and multi-core technology. He highlighted the approaches behind efficient chip designing as well as the whole process of chip fabrication.

Nettech
A workshop on networking and ethical hacking was conducted by nettech at our campus from 25th September to 17th October. Students were taught both theory and given hands on practice on various topics relating to networking. In the last few days participants were also taught basic hacking. Over 130 students participated in this certificate course. The top three students were offered fully paid summer internship at the Nettech centers across the country.

Robokriti
The "Robokriti" workshop conducted by the Mumbai based Technophilia Solutions" on the 8th and 9th of November, received a huge response from the BITSian crowd. About 230 students enrolled for this workshop. The students were taught the basics of robotics - wired, automated, computer controlled and speech controlled robots. The teams had built their own robots by the end of the workshop.

Aero-modeling
The Aeromodelling workshop was conducted by Robosoft technologies ltd based in Mumbai. The workshop was conducted by a group of professionals who are pioneers in the art of aero modelling. The 60 odd participants were divided into 13 teams and each team was provided a kit to build its own powered glider. The workshop commenced at 2 p.m. on Saturday and teams raced against the clock to build the wing section by 6p.m. the same evening. After a short exhibition flight and break at dusk, work was done on the fuselage and tail sections. The teams assembled at SAC the next morning for the test flight. The models were successfully flown in the air, each for a span of 5-7 min by one of the instructors and at the end of the day the workshop had a success rate of 100%. Finally, teams were told basic essentials about the crafts maintenance and safety precautions.

Securing your computer:

Most of the computers with factory loaded Operating Systems don't have a default admin password. Here is the

method for securing Windows Xp

Start your computer, press F8 during boot-up, choose safe mode option and log on as admin. You now have the authority to change any other user's login password. Your system may be hacked in through this loop hole so make sure you have an admin password in your system by

logging in through safe mode and setting password for admin in Start>Control panel>users>admin (the admin account is not visible in normal logins, use safe mode login).
For

Linux operating systems the bootstrap loader password is the equivalent password. In linux a user may log in the recovery mode and change the root password if bootstrap loader password has not been set.

George Kurien A Tribute 2006P3PS177

(1989-2008)
For some this write-up may be some words to ponder over, for some it may be something that they will never want to look at, but for us this is the tribute to a person who was a part of our life, one last chance for us to tell this world about him and what he meant to us. It is something what everyone who loves him would like to say about him, George Kurien. There will be many among the students here who have not seen him, but know him as "Maximus". Yes, thats how he was known; the name of a true legend. Few will be there who have not turned his acquaintance to friendship. He was a team man. He was ready to go to any extent for his friends. His outlook towards life made fear stay out of his path. If you tell him the world is going to end now.Then he would say, Let it end, then we'll see... why do you take so much tension?", such was his courage. Throughout his life in BITS, nobody has ever seen him disappointed. He had high spirits and was always pleasant. He had that smile on his lips, which we will all miss. He was consistent in his efforts to get the things, which he held close to his heart. He was satisfied with what he had. He made sure that whatever he did he enjoyed to the maximum extent, and also carried others along with him. He was influential and a source of inspiration for all his friends. His sense of music was great and his passion for it cannot be explained in words. He had an imperial music collection, which he held close to his heart from the seventh grade of his school. We would always say that without him most of us would not have known what Western Music is all about. His favorite song was "November Rain" by "Guns 'N Roses". We will miss our dear Maximus, the fun we had with him. But we know that he is out there somewhere watching all of us. For him we have only these words to say... "Maximus ... we all love you ... we will miss you very much but we know that you are right here with us, always. You live in our hearts and through us". It will be befitting for a man like him to bid him farewell in a way he would like... "Farewell Maximus... You rock!!! "

-a tribute from his friends

Akash Raman, (2004P8PS598)

Harvard University has been focusing on engineering for the past few years. According to the Times Higher Education (THES) ranking of institutions based on impact in engineering (the number of papers cited for each university) Harvard is ranked number one - the number of citations being substantially ahead of comparable institutions like MIT and Stanford. Harvard focuses on specific areas of research in engineering only. We talked to Akash Raman presently at Harvard. What area is your research based on? My work would be in Electrical Engineering - Medical Imaging, under Prof. Naveen Khaneja at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). What was your GRE score and your CGPA ? My GRE score wasnt very good! It was 1380 (out of 1600). My TOEFL score was however 118/120. My CGPA was 9.42 when I applied. What other universities did you apply to? I applied to 11 universities out of which I got offers from Harvard, Cornell and Ohio State (My lowest ranked university). How did you prepare for GRE? I only appeared for GRE as I was sure I wanted to continue in my technical field of interest. I had 14 days of rigorous preparation but I would recommend at least 2 months preparation. Which extra curricular activities were you involved with on the campus? Do they matter in admissions? I founded CEL at the Goa Campus and served as its President for a year. Apart from that I helped start the Astronomy Club and had brief stints at NSS (Nirmaan) and CSD. Extra curricular activities do help to get into universities. What projects did you undertake? How important are projects? Projects are very important. Internships at some research institutes - Indian Institute of Astrophysics (PS-1) where the project was in collaboration with ISRO, and at Raman Research Institute helped my case. I also did two projects under Dr. Ashish Asgekar which I believe strengthened my application. Is it mandatory to have national/international publications? If you are aiming for the top few institutes then they matter a lot. For instance, one can rarely hear anyone getting into UC-Berkeley, CalTech or MIT without publications. However, good recommendations and a good CGPA suffice most of the time. What advise would you give to your juniors? I've seen a lot of juniors at Goa Campus disheartened and confused. We need to understand that the BITS brand name is recognized all over the world. If you dont get good placements on campus you can always get them off campus (Provided that you work hard). The general discontentment is not at all warranted. Also, I would request them to give back to their alma mater after graduation. The relationship with BITS just begins there! Now that you are an alumnus, what are you planning to contribute to the campus? As of now, monetary contribution seems difficult. When we were in college we needed funding for our projects and Unfortunately I didn't get it. One of the plans I have is to help students with their projects. I was recently appointed as a Team Leader for BITSAA and moderate BITS2MSPhD and the databases on the recently released BITSAA.org website. Apart from that, I am available for providing any kind of guidance to BITS students!

Networking tip:
You all must have heard of ip addresses and used them too while playing DOTA, AOE ,CS, chatting, or accessing dc hubs. Ever wondered what are the ip addresses of the websites like orkut.com, google.com, yahoo.com, etc. There is a simple way to find out. Go to start> Run > cmd.exe ...a command prompt will open up type 'nslookup' then type ' set q=a' and then simply type the name of the website you want to find the ip address of.

Points Tally
Zephyr 2008
EVENTS Relay R(S) Shot Putt(B) Creative Writing(B) Spot Sketching(G) Duo Dnce(S) Photogr(S) Contrptn(S) BnT(S) BtB(B) Junk A(B) Ser Killer(S) Grp Song(G) Quiz(S) Codathlon(B) Ignoble Awards(S) Moorkh Sammelan(B) Non conventional(S) Fun Race(B) Virtual Stock Market (B) Puzzles(B) Street Play(g) Solo Song(S) Face Painting(s) Scientific Presentation (S) Mr and Miss(G) GROUP Dance (g) Mock Talk Show(s) T-shirt Designing(s) Tug of War(s) Anti Chess(b) Fash p(g) Jam(s) News Paper(s) Short race (b) 1 2 3 CH3 AH2 AH1 & AH2 AH2 AH7 AH7 AH7 & CH4 AH1 AH7 & CH4 CH1 AH5 AH8 AH4 AH7 AH2 CH1 CH1 AH4 AH5 CH1 & CH5 AH5 AH8 & CH5 CH1 CH5 AH5 CH1 AH6 CH5 CH4 CH3 CH1 & AH8 AH1 AH5 AH5 CH3 AH8 AH5 AH2 CH1 AH5 CH3 CH5 AH7 AH7 AH6 CH1 AH8 AH6 AH1 AH8 AH8 AH8 CH3 AH8 AH3 AH7 CH2 CH2 AH5 AH4 AH4 AH5 AH1

Ace 2008

DISCIPLINE MESA ENIGMA ZENER KERNEL ASCII FOREX INFINITI ALCHEMISTA SYMBIONTS QUIMICA PHY SOCIETY 2 ASCII ENIGMA INFINITI MESA ZENER FOREX KERNEL

POINTS 1150 750 525 425 275 150 150 75 75 0 0 3 SYMBIONTS ZENER ASCII ZENER ALCHEMISTA KERNEL ZENER

EVENT 1 TABLE TENNIS KERNEL BADMINTON MESA BASKETBALL MESA FOOTBALL ENIGMA CHESS ENIGMA VOLLEYBALL MESA CARROMS MESA

Oasis 2008
Carnatic Instrumental Carnatic Vocal Fusion Oasis Unplugged Tarang (Group Singing) Hindustani InstrumentalPercussion Razzmatazz (Group Dance) Desert Duel (Solo Dance) Poem a Picture Snoop Dogs Spin Stokes Audio Visual Quiz Poetry Quiz Women-of-the-World Quiz Wordstock Kshanika (Hindi JAM) Voice a Verse Gabbar Mix Black or White Bulls Eye Suicide at Midnight Entertainment Quiz The Day After 1st 1st 3rd 3rd 2nd 1st 1st 1st, 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 2nd

CH1 CH4 AH1 & CH4 CH1 AH2 AH7 AH5 AH7 CH1 AH5 CH4 CH3 CH3 AH3 CH1 AH2 AH5

CH1 & CH4 AH2 CH4 CH1 AH6 AH5,AH8 & CH4 AH1 CH4 CH4 AH8 AH7 & CH3 AH2 CH3 AH7

CH1 AH8 CH3 AH5 AH4

Our hearty congratulations to you all!

10

Boycott Coros?
Coros! Yes, it does bring memories of a restaurant which serves tasty Italian food for most of us. But for a group of 1st year students foraying into the wild for the first time, theyll remember more than just the food.

Clubictivity
CEL: Epsilon 08-09

Providing a platform for budding investors, CEL has organized Epsilon to be bigger and better this year. ISB-Hyderabad is their knowledge partner. Students have to submit their business plans which are evaluated and then workshops are conducted to teach them how to develop it into a hardcore business plan. Finally the top three teams get to attend workshops on entrepreneurship which are held at ISB , and the winner gets an opportunity to participate in CONQUEST, the international business plan competition organized by Apparently, one student, BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus. who was a strict This years edition has received 120 entries (including one from the BITS-Dubai vegetarian, ordered & Campus). However, despite brain storming sessions, the number of entries from the Goa reiterated that he wanted Campus has decreased. The organizers feel that the students are not showing the same only vegetarian food, so level of enthusiasm to Epsilon as they exhibit towards other cultural activities. naturally the waiter served him chicken pasta without his knowledge. MATRIX - Goa Chapter When he did find out about this, the student MATRIX continued its radical concept sharing activities with a an enthralling (whose name has been discussion on 'A Brief History of Time' a book by renowned scientific author Stephen withheld on request) Hawking. The panelists were Prof. A.V.Kulkarni , Prof. Ramaswamy, Onkar Parrikar (3rd justifiably blew his top year physics) and Ajachi Chakraborty (1st year). and demanded to see the The panelists hailed the book as a masterpiece. Queries about wormholes, space-time manager. Incidentally, curvature and the Schwarzschild radius were answered with cool composure and Coros has stamped every omniscient confidence. However doubts regarding philosophical implications of physics square inch of their inspired disgust from Prof. A.V. Kulkarni , which was especially directed at those who restaurant with the attempted (in vain) to reconcile science and religion. The idea of a Creator did not appeal words Renowned for much to Prof. Ramaswamy either, who merely stated that we cannot prove such an our hospitality. These existence of a higher being unless we know why the laws that govern the universe need a first yearites witnessed universe to exist. On such a profound note, the intellectually stimulating discussion ended their hospitality at first in tumultuous applause. hand. When the manger found out that students were not going to pay Wallstreet Club for the mistake laded order, he politely threatWall Street Club in collaboration with Career Launcher conducted the Business ened to call the cops. Very politely. And then, Simulation Event on 16th Oct, 2008. The eliminations for the same were done on 14th Oct on the basis of a Case study and a Quiz. 6 out of 34 teams Optimus, Beneath BITSto prove his point, he MUN, Fried Waters, Galaxy, SATTA and CEL Team advanced to the finals. The teams had one of his thugs rough up the unfortunate represented different companies in varied sectors like Tobacco, Pharmaceuticals and auto student who complained. ancillary and had to take wise financial decisions to maintain their positions in the market. The finals comprised of 5 rounds which included Resource selection, Marketing, Again very politely. Negotiations, Tender filling etc. After 4-5 hours of extensive brainstorming Team Galaxy managed to make maximum profit with CEL Team and Optimus at second and third So is this a call for a positions respectively. The event thoroughly tested the business skills of students and was Coros boycott? Well, its by far the most challenging Business Simulation Game BPGC students ever got to a polite heads-up. participate in, on campus. Apart from this, the club also organizes intra club discussions every week on various finance topics that help in building a strong conceptual foundation for the members of the club.

11

MIXED BAG
Rip Currents
How one responds can make the difference between life and death. Beaches mean fun and frolic. But be cautious so that the picture never gets ugly. If You Are Caught in a Rip Current, Don't Panic! Stay calm and think clearly. Conserve your energy. Never try to swim against the current. You can't! The world's strongest competitive swimmers cannot swim against a strong rip current. Swim sideways, parallel to the shoreline, until you are out of the rip current. If unable to swim out of the Rip Current, float or calmly tread water and wave for help. For your and your friends' safety, don't plan outings at little-known beaches with no lifeguards. Never try the sea if even slightly inebriated Take the weather into account. If in doubt, dont go out.

Change in ID Nos.
The ID numbers of students have been changed in accord with the system followed in Pilani to have uniformity in the ID numbers of various BITS campuses. The change is that the 'P', 'S' and 'T' in the ID number are replaced with an 'A', 'B' or 'C' respectively and a 'G' is added in the end which stands for Goa. So a student with ID number 200xSyPyxxx will have the new ID as 200xByAyxxxG.

SNAKE HANDLING WORKSHOP

A snake handling workshop was organized by the Environment Protection and Awareness Club (EPAC) on 8 November, 2008. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Amar Heblekar, range forest officer, Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary ,and resident of our campus. There was a practical session where students could handle snakes and learn more about rescuing snakes (and themselves!!). As snakes are often spotted in our campus, even few security guards of our college attended the workshop to know more about snakes. In total there were 12 snakes of different types, the major attraction being a black python. Mr. Amar Heblekar gave a 15 min introductory talk on the body structure of snakes and then the handling session was carried out in the LT lawns by him and his wildlife rescue squad. During the entire workshop people were busy capturing moments of their association with snakes through their cell phone camera.

DUSSEHRA
Come October, and we celebrate one of our largest festivals, Dussehra with great pomp and pageantry. Call it Durga Puja or Navratri, there is no corner of India that remains unaffected by the grace of the mighty Goddess Durga, including our campus. Dussehra was celebrated in a grand manner, spread out over five days of fasting and feasting. The Goddess was venerated every day. This year, there were lots of fun programmes held by the Durga Puja , Samiti, ranging from the Dandiya Workshops to the games organized for the faculty, students and the students enrolled in Abhigyan. Kudos to them! And as for every festival, there were celebrations in the Auditorium as well, on the day of Navami. BITSians put on their best display through dance and drama. Children of the faculty put up an endearing dandiya performance to a devotional song. The highlight of the evening was a performance by Vichitra, a cultural group which performs Rabindrasangeet. Though there was a minimal audience, they still managed to enthrall everyone present.

12

Comic Section
TV Review:
The Lost Room (Six episode mini-series) Genre - Sci-fi, thriller. Description A detective uncovers a key while working on a murder case. The key can open every door and takes him into a motel room, but if something is left inside this room, it will be gone as soon as the room "resets". He discovers that there are objects- things from the room, hidden all over the world. They don't look special, but they have special powers and are indestructible. The detectives daughter gets lost in the room. To rescue her, he must find a way to bring her back, while working with different groups of men searching for the objects. But who can be trusted when everyone goes crazy for possession of the objects? This six episode mini series will keep you gripped and gasping for more.

Can you spot the differences? <smirk> 1. Closer Must 2. Johnny Gaddar 3. The Bucket List Watch 4. Taken Movies 5. Aamir

Palindrome
(The answers to the riddles below are palindromes. So how many can you get without referring to the answers?)

1. f(x) is not equal to f(x) and f(x) is not equal to f(-x) _____ ___ __ ____ 2. The first man on moon was never on earth _ _ _ _, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3. Questioning the faith of a female gander. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _? 4. Christmas figure at space agency. _ _____ __ ____ 5. Asserting that Gods arch rival was never around. _____ _____ ____ _____ 6. No tears in the city that saw the famous tea party. ______ ___ ___ ___ 7. Annoying McCains unselfish running mate. ______ ________ _____ 8. Taking something from someone-without begging. ______ __ ___ 9. An excess of generators. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _!
Answers:
1.Never odd or even, 2. Neil, an alien, 3. Do geese see god? 4. A Santa at nasa, 5. Devil never even lived, 6. Boston did not sob, 7. Harass selfless Sarah, 8. Borrow or rob, 9. So many dynamos!