Wednesday, August 31, 2016

E-commerce vs E-business : Stepping into the digitized world

Dr Ruchi Nayyar
Assistant Professor & Head Of Department
The NorthCap University, Gurgaon

Broadband connectivity and increased usage of credit cards have provided a favourable infrastructure for the growth of online shopping in India.Continued liberalization in the telecom sector has shown positive effects in the past few years. The Indian Telecom Policy recognized the convergence of different media and permitted direct inter-connectivity amongst various service providers. Presently full – duplex communication for transmission of voice, data and information services is permissible under the telecom policy. Today, internet services can be conveniently obtained from telecommunication providers at affordable rates. Internet has reached common individuals, thanks to sprawling cyber cafes, inexpensive broadband connections and government initiatives of e-kiosks.

E-commerce offers customers maximum convenience. They can visit the websites of multiple vendors in the comfort of their homes and offices and are able to compare prices and make purchases. It is also easier to negotiate price and terms of delivery as the internet can help companies efficiently obtain competitive bid information. From the sellers’ perspective too, e-commerce increases sales opportunities of the sellers. They do not need to build, staff, or maintain a physical store or print and distribute mail order catalogs. Besides, use of automated order tracking and billing systems can cut additional labor costs Sellers can also enjoy the benefit of selling on international platforms and are therefore not limited by the physical location of a store. Internet technologies also help sellers to capture the consumer buying behaviors on the internet which could be used to build an ongoing relationship with the customer by customizing products and services to meet the customer's needs.

Despite providing innumerable benefits to the customers, e-commerce has its limitations too. There are a number of businesses (such as involving perishable foods and custom- designed jewelry) that cannot be successfully implemented on the internet. These products, regardless of the technology are difficult to get inspected from a remote location. There is also a universal standard of e-commerce. Taxation and data transmission over the internet cause a lack of trust in e-commerce. Technically speaking also, companies face problems while integrating their existing databases and transaction-processing software designed for traditional commerce into the software that enables electronic commerce. This resists a number of firms to invest into e-commerce.

E-business refers to the transformation and streamlining organizations value chain activities through the use of internet technologies. Sometimes e-business is equated with e-commerce but many contend that e-commerce is only a part of a much bigger picture. Although the terms e-commerce and e-business are used interchangeably, they are distinct concepts. In comparison to e-commerce, e-business is a more generic term as it refers not only to information exchanges related to buying and selling but also to B2C perspective. E-business enables companies to link their internal and external processes more efficiently and flexibly, work more closely with suppliers and better satisfy the needs and expectations of their customers. Besides, while e-commerce utilizes information and communication technology (ICT) in inter-business transactions, e-business deploys ICT to enhance the business in terms of production, customer relationship management and internal management. Therefore E-business is a key component of Higher Management Education to enable students to best utilize the power of the internet to improve customer delivery.

Higher education in India: Issues and concerns

Dr A Charan Kumari
Associate Professor
Department of CSE & IT
The NorthCap University, Gurgaon

The phrase ‘Knowledge is Power’ is not new and will definitely not fade away from our minds. In this context, education is no more seen as a right only for the privileged few. Today societies and economies are moving towards ‘right to education for all’. Indian higher education system is one of the largest in the world. The Indian mind-set, with rising family incomes, is undergoing a sea-change. When it comes to education, parents/families are not thinking twice to give the best to their children. We always had the government educational institutions but the private ones have pitched-in extensively in recent times. Without the private players, India, with its rising population, would not have been able to cater to the growing needs of education. When we talk about the private players in the higher education sector, especially the committed ones are leaving no stone unturned to give their best.


Higher education plays a crucial role in preparing the students for their professional careers. The challenge is to groom the students with the right knowledge and skills required by the industry. The faculty members along with a learning environment contribute a lot towards this. Since the market and job demands are ever-changing, the challenges faced by the providers of higher education are also constantly changing. Understanding the challenges and gearing up accordingly is the need of the hour.

Keeping all these parameters in view, The NorthCap University, Gurgaon located in the National Capital Region stands as one of the best private universities in Delhi/NCR and Haryana. It has been declared as the Top Engineering College in Harayana and Delhi/NCR amongst the top 100 universities all India as a part of the ranking list announced under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) by Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India in 2016. With the university’s commitment and hard work to build the competency in Engineering, Management, Law and Sciences it has been ranked 17th among all the private universities in India, 4th in all private universities in North India and best & only private university in Haryana as well as Delhi/NCR in the NIRF ranking.

When it comes to quality measure, The NorthCap University has been recognised by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bar Council of India and accredited by Accreditation Service for International Colleges (ASIC, UK) and recognised as the Best e-Gov campus thereby proving itself to be as one of the top engineering colleges in Delhi/NCR. So abiding by all the parameters of quality the university strives hard to produce the quality engineers as professionals holding the competency to work efficiently in industries with a view to leave a footprint on the society. The NorthCap University, the leading private university in NCR, with a state-of-art infrastructure combined with excellent faculty has created a great learning environment. The curriculum and pedagogy undergoes a review as and when required. Students are groomed in a way that they walk out confidently bagging good job offers.



Monday, August 29, 2016

In conversation with the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Brig. SK Sharma (Retd)

Brig. SK Sharma (Retd)
Pro Vice-Chancellor
The NorthCap University, 
Gurugram

The NorthCap University’s Pro Vice-Chancellor, Officiating Vice-Chancellor & Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Brig. SK Sharma, shares his views regarding the present and the future of the University with Ms Rekha Mathur, Sr Editor, NCU.

Sir, what are the key issues before NCU?
Quality is the single mantra to excellenceand is therefore the key issue on which The NorthCap University focuses all its endeavours. NCU strives towards having quality students with the best faculty. The key therefore is to have a quality intake of both students and faculty and nurture our students to achieve quality in all their endeavours.
Secondly, employers are the ultimate stakeholders of our services and their feedback is of utmost importance to us. Their inputs help us evaluate and gauge our course content, our strengths and weaknesses and take necessary action to empower our students for a lifetime of personal and professional fulfillment.
The key therefore is to continuously strive towards improving ourselves in every sphere and all our decisions aretherefore merit based.In pursuit of academic excellence the University upgradesits physical, academic, information infrastructure and support facilities.In short, the focal point of the mission of the University is to provide quality of learning and innovation in all our programmes, consider new areas of learning and do this with all rigour and relevance.

How do you cope with so many important positions you are holding at present?
Most of the issues one faces are the same or are correlated.Therefore in my official capacity, I have the added advantage of getting a 360º view of the interrelated issues and seeing it from different perspectives. This guides me towards a holistic approach to them.
How do you plan to encourage multidisciplinary teamwork at the University?
Some of the first steps to multidisciplinary teamwork have been initiated. As problems are multifaceted their solutions need to be holistichaving engineering, management and legal aspects to their solutions.To begin with we have proposed that some of the major projects of BTech 4th Year students shouldhave multidisciplinary teams working on them.
Similarly for multidisciplinary sponsored projects we have invited proposals from the faculties of different departments. Prof. A Sen Gupta, Mentor RDIL,iscurrently finalizingprojects involving various groups of faculties from the Departments of CSE & IT, EECE, Mechanical and APS.
Lastly,there is higher flexibility in thecourse structure in a ratio of60:40 for Core and Elective. 20% credit for Open Electives give a boost to interdisciplinary courses. A student can choose courses according to his/her interest which leads tomultipleinterdisciplinary courses insay, the four year BTech programme.
How do you propose to enhance benefits of collaboration with foreign universities?
We have collaborations for BTech student exchange programme with ITB Ireland. Many students have benefited through the scholarships offered by them. For the first time for MTech students NCU has collaborated with the University of Regina, Canada.Under this agreement MTech students fromthe Departments of ECE and CSE can study at the University of Regina in the second year, after successfully completing their first two semesters at NCU. The students get the advantage of earning a Canadian MEngg degree in the same period, i.e. a total of two years, thus reducing the expenses for a foreign degree.
NCU has collaborated withthe Michigan Technological University, USA regarding 3+1+1 programme in Computer Science. Under this agreement, undergraduate students of Computer Science at NCU can go to study at Michigan Technological University in the 4th Year, after successfully completing three years at NCU. Successful completion of this programme by NCU students will lead to a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering, conferred by NCU, and a Master’s of Science degree conferred by Michigan Technological University, if the master’s degree requirements are satisfied.

Where do you wish to see NCU after five years?
The field of higher education is dynamic, ever evolving so we have to keep reinventing ourselves to remain relevant and contemporary. We have to gauge future requirements today and be prepared to face the challenges. Some of the issues for the next five years in this regard are:

  • We have to keep introducing more inter-disciplinary courses, courses at the courses at the boundaries of intersecting disciplines.
  • Our Post Graduate courses require to be substantially restructured and improved.
  • To have an edge over others we have to impart to our students Smart Skills such as Machine Learning, Robotics, Business Analytics, Big Data Analytics, Gaming Skills, Critical Analysis skills and more.
  • We must offer more opportunities for the learning of the Liberal Arts as a separate area of study or as Minor area for other programmes.
  • We have to supplement the teaching learning process for encouraging Entrepreneurship in a big way.
  • Learning rather than teaching is the guiding principle for tomorrow in a 24x7 e-learning environment.
  • We have to offeran immersive learningenvironment that simulates realistic scenarios.
One Army work culture you would like to introduce in the civilian way of functioning?
The value system of the Army which is synonymous with sincerity, discipline, integrity, teamwork, being self-driven, ethical and formational moral values are crucial in the functioning of any organization. So are they in the field of education.
Please tell us about your hobbies.
I am fond of reading and I like to read on a multitude of subjects. On weekends I choose to play golf. I am passionate about travelling particularly exploring less frequented places, with my family. 

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Youth Empowerment through Extracurricular Activities

Dr Pranati Purohit
Department of Applied Sciences
The NorthCap University, Gurgaon

The MHRD aims for higher education for promotion of basic sciences encompassing creation of research centers of the highest caliber in which teaching and education in basic sciences will be totally integrated with state-of-the-art research. These institutions are devoted forpost-graduate teaching in sciences in an intellectually vibrant atmosphere of research.These institutions make education and career in basic sciences more attractive by providing opportunities in integrative teaching and learning of sciences. In order to support the aim and goal of MHRD, there are M.Sc. colleges/ universities in Gurgaon offering various master programmes in basic sciences through regular classroom teaching & distance learning programsfor a duration of 2yrs.   These institutes are driven by vision & philosophy of destination to success. Industry centric course curriculum are coupled with research & innovation, quality education, knowledge to action, leadership innovation with ethics etc.Among these institutions, The NorthCap University (NCU) at Gurgaon has become a name attracting students from across the India for offering quality education driven by the vision & philosophy of being independent, innovative & inspiring.


Educators suggest that an individual’s participation in extracurricular activities can build young persons’ interests in study, strengthening their sense of identity and exposing them to greater exposure and self-satisfaction from service. Reading, writing, and other indispensable academic skills are intertwined with learning about self, communicating and working well with others, and gaining broader understanding of cultural influences. Extracurricular activities can provide opportunities: (a) to acquire and practice specific social, physical and intellectual skills that may be useful in wide variety of settings; (b) to contribute to the well being of one’s community; (c) to belong to socially recognized and valued group; (d) to establish supportive social networks of peers and adults which can help in present as well as in future; and (e) to experience and deal with challenges. In other words, with the help of extracurricular activities youth can exercise their skills, especially the social and emotional skills to face the real problems in the society. Unfortunately, many colleges do not empower their extracurricular activity optimally. Some of the colleges have the provision of extracurricular activities only for fulfilling the government regulation or to raise their image.

College/institution based extracurricular activities are unique in several ways and characterized by some conditions. First, extracurricular activities are one of the few aspects of leisure actively promoted by colleges/institutions and are thus amenable to programmatic and social policy initiatives. For example, requirements for art, music, and physical education may expose youth to experiences that they may not have at home.This encourages them to enroll in institution-based extracurricular activities such as band, theatre, or sports, and enrich their leisure outside of college/institution. Many courses outside the traditional academic curriculum are designed specifically to provide youths with skills that will last for a lifetime. Second condition is voluntary participation in college/institution-sponsored extracurricular activities which provides similar advantages.

Education is one of the four pillars to build a strong economy driven by knowledge & ethics, which will help us make a healthy society for living. In order to produce a good post graduate, along with the soft skills they have, colleges/institutions must also empower their extracurricular activities. Each activity can develop different root of character.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Role of Higher Education in the Transformation of India

Ms Prerna Chauhan
Counsellor
Centre for Languages Learning
The NorthCap University, Gurgaon

As per the Higher Education in India-Vision 2030(FICCI & Ernst and Young), India will be amongst the youngest nations in the world in the coming decade. With nearly 140 million people in the college-going age group, one in every four graduates in the world will be a product of the Indian higher education system. India will have the largest population in the world in the higher education age bracket by 2030.Increasing urbanization and income levels will drive demand for higher education. India’s economy is expected to grow at a fast pace; industry and servicessectors will further dominate the economy Industry and services sectors in India would require a gross incremental workforce of Rs. 250 million by 2030. India could potentially emerge as a global supplier of skilled manpower.A transformative and innovative approach would be required across all levels of higher education: from curricula and pedagogy to the use of technology to partnerships, governance and funding. Making rapid progress over the next two decades would require a committed and concerted effort from all stakeholders involved i.e. academia, industry, and Government.

The NorthCap University located in Gurgaon, is one of the leading Management Universities in Haryana that is aligned with this vision and serves to incorporate a multipronged approach towards this transition.Its learner centered paradigm of education allows students to be lifelong learners stoking their passion for learning. The University fosters independent and critical thinking among its graduates alongside helping them keep pace with the changing nature of work environment. NCU offers industry-aligned courses that produce industry-ready graduates for a wide range of white collar jobs. Apart from its focus on functional skills that are core to the profession/industry of the students’ course, there is adequate focus on developing entrepreneurship and related soft skills for growth in communication and Interpersonal Skills.

One of the top Management Universities in Haryana, NCU attracts the best in class faculty to conduct research and as world class facilitators mentor students to reach their potential. It takes proactive measures to strengthen industry-academia linkages across all aspects of the education value chain, from curricula and faculty to infrastructure, research, and placements.

By 2030, the already existing challenges for Indian higher education – access, equity and quality – will only be greatly exacerbated unless we significantly transform our higher education model. India needs to pioneer a higher education model that is not just the best in the world, but the best for the world, delivering social, economic and intellectual value par excellence.

(With excerpts from: Higher Education in India-Vision 2030)

Special Lecture on Internet of Things

Ms Gayatri Magie from IBM Team North America addressed students and faculty members of The NorthCap University on 3 August 2016 to build their awareness on Internet of Things. Ms Magie is the Business Development Executive leading the IBM Watson Internet of Things Academic Initiative. She collaborates with educational institutions worldwide to help faculty and students build IoT skills leveraging IBM resources and platforms available for academia. With 18 years of experience in the domain of Information Technology and working on worldwide teams and projects across various aspects of the business, including product development, customer support, project management, product management, and sales, she could connect the dots on various related issues during the talk.

Ms Gayatri introduced the concept of ‘Internet of things” to the students and faculty using many examples and case studies with the help of slides and videos. She also introduced the concept of IBM Watson to the students. The students were required to register on the IBM Watson website from which they could download various open source software and even design IoT applications.

The lecture was followed by a Q&A session, where students inquisitively asked questions which Ms Gayatri answered them informatively.



Monday, August 22, 2016

Importance of Research in Enhancing Teaching Effectiveness

Prof. AK Yadav
The NorthCap University, Gurgaon

Institutions of higher learning the world over are mandated to contribute to the creation of new knowledge, apart from teaching and extension activities. The creation of new knowledge requires continual efforts to push the frontiers based on the existing knowledge. Those teachers who are engaged in research activities in a related field of inter disciplinary nature can easily provide a better perspective of theoretical concepts to the students. This significantly helps students to gain a clearer understanding of the topic being taught. Not only they get inspired to take up further work as a project but are likely to pursue higher studies for further investigations.


It is well-known that research output is one of the major factors considered by agencies which bring out ranking for top/best colleges and universities every year. Any credible ranking would show that higher ranked colleges/universities have a strong research program to supplement teaching. Therefore, teaching alone in the absence of research would severely limit the academic excellence particularly in the global context. Whenever one decides to identify a list of potential institutions for pursuing higher studies, the research credentials of the teachers and research output of the institution become a key deciding factor.

The state of research in Indian higher education institutions is abysmally poor when compared with institutions at the global level. There are numerous reasons for such a situation; starting from resource constraints, poor ecosystem, improper grooming of young researchers, lack of motivation due to near absence of incentives. In the State run universities one can find some notional research activities, where as in the private sector research hardly finds any place in their scheme of things. On the contrary, most of the engineering colleges in their promotional material rarely miss out on mentioning that they have a research focus or research-oriented faculty. One can easily see that the quality of research output coming from the private engineering colleges in India is highly substandard and it finds place in fake or low-quality journals which guarantee acceptance and online publication in less than a week. This is mainly due to absence of ecosystem for research activities, viz. inadequate research infrastructure, access to relevant research quality journals from reputed publishers, lack of encouragement by way of recognizing and incentivizing research contribution. When teachers resort to such means of producing research papers and articles, it definitely impacts their teaching adversely with unsatisfactory value system and ethics.

Though the right aptitude for research may not be possessed by every teacher, it certainly adds to the teaching quality and effectiveness. Any faculty associated with higher education must be engaged in some research work to remain agile and updated on latest developments in the field. It will also help in providing a refreshing perspective to the students while teaching. Hence, it is imperative that all universities and colleges must put in resources to provide a right environment for research activities to augment teaching. This will also stimulate interest in students to pursue higher studies with zeal to contribute to knowledge creation.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Journey of an Engineer

Abhinav Kharbanda
Alumni (2012-2016 batch), 
The NorthCap University, Gurgaon

In the world, where the proliferation of data and information drives technologies, securing such data becomes pertinent and of utmost importance. With the fact that a single data leak can lead to compromise of millions of accounts, it would not be an over statement to say that protection of confidential information is a billion dollar industry. India is on a path to realize the potential of secure applications and I believe numerous opportunities will be created in this domain in near future. I’ll be pursuing my Master’s in the domain of cyber security to harness these opportunities when the time comes and wish to sway the general opinion of security not being an overload but a cardinal pillar of software development life cycles. 

I got the opportunity to be selected into New York University and Northeastern University for the Master's program in Computer Science. With an aim to specialize in the domain of Information Assurance and Cyber Security, I chose Northeastern because it is in pursuit of an excellent research that allows automatic Bot detection and Reverse Engineering of Commodity software. It also has professors revered amongst the top 5 security researchers in the United States and has been certified by NSA as the National Center of Excellence in Information Assurance Research. 

I believe that it is your zeal and will to pursue your goals, which takes you forward when everything else is working against you. It is your perseverance that remains when all the glory subsides. That is what I believe is passion and this is what I would advise my juniors to strive for. A by-product of the wish to challenge my own intellect led me to develop a home automation system that allows me to send voice commands via Google Now, to a RaspberryPi module that controls the electronic appliances in my room. I am extending this project further to automate and secure door locks, to provide better home security solutions. In my second year, I got the opportunity to develop Digital Signage Board for the CSE Department. It was a long haul of learning Python, on-the-go, that ultimately led to the successful completion of the project which is now installed in the University campus, and is also being forwarded for a patent by the CSE Department. 

Throughout my courses of under-graduation, I have had the support of my teachers, and my HOD, Dr. Latika Singh, and even though it was sometimes disguised as strong demurral, it ultimately led me towards being better. I wish to thank Dr. Meena Kumari with all my heart, for her constant support. She believed in me and my final year project when everyone else had lost hope including me. She encouraged me to keep trying and that tenacity lead to the design of a successful malware for peripheral devices communicating via DMA. 

I'll be heading for my Master's this fall to USA and would wish to congratulate everyone who has the privilege of being a part of The NorthCap University, one of the best universities in Delhi-NCR. It is an honour to be under the guidance of such learned faculty that continuously strives to push your limits and in a true sense gives your dreams a flight. 

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Planning is the first step for a project

Dr Amit Srivastava
Associate Professor  & Head,
The NorthCap University, Gurgaon

Hello students!

Being a Civil Engineer, I give due importance to planning phase of any new project. It is just like your career which is also one mega project for which your parents have been planning for years. After your schooling, you start searching for various career options available but becoming an engineer from a good university is still a dream for many. I am sure many of you have already chosen your path /institution to achieve what you have already thought of and you have also started getting the flavor of exhaustive lectures, tutorials, laboratories and other academic activities with great earnestness. There are few who are still searching and looking for admissions among the top engineering institutions in India. Although, their planning phase is a little extended, but never mind! I may help you to decide where to go. Specially, those who are in Delhi – NCR there are several institutions who are still offering admissions in their various programs. Choice of program is definitely very personal and it depends on the current trend. I am sure you also give a thought to the future potential. Definitely, some job profiles which are at the top today may not be at the same position in a span of 4-6 years. The system is dynamic and it has shown its dynamism in recent past. But I am sure when it comes to Civil Engineering, it is evergreen and once you gain some experience the growth is exponential. Choosing Civil Engineering as a career is not a cake walk and the person choses have the will to say “SEE I WILL” (C + I + VIL). So, get prepared and pull up your socks to ensure admission in one of the prestigious private institutions in Gurgaon, i.e., The NorthCap University, in short, NCU. Securing a position in recent NIRF-2016 ranking and being in top 100 Universities (82nd position) in India, ensuring NAAC accreditation, NCU with its great infrastructure/ lab facilities and qualified faculty members make this place an excellent center for learning. Students get the opportunity to interact with industry experts, world class academia, visit sites, and do internships to explore all possibilities of becoming a good civil engineer. I am sure you will never find these opportunities in other engineering institutions. So give it a thought!!!


Saturday, August 13, 2016

Biofertilizers

Dr Rashmi Tyagi
Associate Professor and HoD
The NorthCap University, Gurgaon

Biofertilizers are microorganisms (bacteria, cyanobacteria andfungi) which enhance the availability of nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus,to the crop plants. In addition to nitrogen/phosphorus they also provide organic carbon, various growth promoting substances and improves the physical properties of the soil. With the introduction of high-yielding crop varieties, demand for chemical fertilizers has been increased severalfolds. Further, crop plants are able to use only about 35% of the applied chemical fertilizer as considerable amount is continuously lost from the soil due to leaching, denitrification and volatilization. There are also many ecological limitations to the heavy use of chemical fertilizers - the concentration of toxic nitrate has been found to be increased in water bodies near heavily fertilized fields.Denitrification of nitrate produces nitrogen gas and small amount nitrousoxide (about 10 %) and the latter being a green house gas results in global warming and health hazards.

Unlike chemical fertilizers which have various environmental impacts,biofertilizers are economical, ecofriendly and have long - term sustainability. For optimum crop yields biofertilizers are generally used incombination with the chemical fertilizers. Some micro-organisms with practical or potential application as biofertilizer are Rhizobium, Nostoc, Azotobacter, etc.

Rhizobium sp. are symbiotic N -fixing 2bacteria forming pink coloured rootnodules in leguminous plants, like gram,mung, pea, pigeonpea (arhar dal) (Fig. 1).These bacteria inside the nodules fix atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia with the help of the enzyme nitrogenase. The estimated N fixed by Rhizobium ranges 2from 50-150 kg/ha/year and increases the yield by 10-15%. The culture of Rhizobiumis grown in incubators orfermenters and mixed with a carrier material like peat.Seeds coated with this biofertilizer are used for sowing in the fields.


Azotobacter
is a freelivingN -fixing 2bacterium used for the crops wheat, rice,and vegetables and is capable of fixing 15-30 kg N/ha/year. Azospirillumsp. are found in association with roots of many plants ofgrass family like jowar, wheat, bajra, etc.and provides about 15-30 kg N/ha/year.

Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) arephotosynthetic, prokaryoticmicroorganisms and many of them fixatmospheric N , e.g. Nostoc, Anabaena, 2Aulosira, Tolypothrix, etc. (Fig.2).Cyanobacterial biofertilizer are preferably used in tropical rice fields where they contribute 20-30 kg N/ha/year. Moreover,after application for 3-4 successive years in the field, a sufficient population builds upand their further application in the field is not required. They are also useful inreclamation (curing) of alkaline and saline soils. Cyanobacterial biofertilizers are grown in small tanks or ponds in the sunlight and the sun-dried biomass is used to sprinkle the rice field.

Azolla is a water fern harbouring symbiotic cyanobacterium Anabaena azollaein thecavity of its leaves. It is widely used as biofertilizer in rice fields of temperate countries, like Vietnam (Fig. 3).


Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB)are species of Pseudomonas, Bacillus,Thiobacillus, etc. which convert insolublenon-available inorganic phosphorus (rockphosphate) present in the soil intosoluble phosphorus utilized by the cropplants.

Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal(VAM) Fungi e.g. Glomus, are found inassociation with roots of plants; some atthe surface of roots (ectomycorrhizae)whereas others inside the roots(endomycorrhizae). They have multiple benefits converting non-available phosphorus into available forms,producing growth promoting substances and protecting crop plants against soil pathogens. These fungi are yet to be exploited on a commercial scaleand in USA they are applied in Citrus crop by inoculating the seedlings with VAM.


Thus, if a part of the chemical fertilizer demand of the crop plants could be met through biofertilizer, a major in put constraint can be overcome. Though,field inoculation experiments are limited,the biofertilizer is expected to make important contributions to agriculture. In the long term, the modern methods ofbiotechnology will greatly improve the biofertilizer technology. It would bepossible to impart herbicide and insecticide resistance to promote competition against weedy micro organisms in the fields. For wide rexploitation of the biofertilizer technology in agriculture, a coordinated research in the laboratory and field is necessary.





Amazing 2-D Material - Graphene

Ms Pranati Purohit
Asst Professor
The NorthCap University, Gurgaon

Discovery of two-dimensional single atomic layer thick material has baffled scientists who never imagined that such a material could exist. In 2004 physicists,KS Novoselov, AK Geim and their colleagues first accidently made the Nobel prize winning discovery of this new wonder material in the peelings of the scotch tape, which was being used to clean the graphite surface. This one-atom thick material showed miraculous and confounding properties viz. 200 times stronger than steel, more conducting than silver, 98% transparent to light (yet it is visible to naked eye), impermeable to even the lightest hydrogen gas, easily amenable to modification in its properties. Its unsurpassed transparency and conductance can potentially replace the electrodes in touchscreens and solar cells. Further, the extremely high strength to weight ratio can integrate it into composite materials for lightning proof aircraft fuselages. Being impermeable would make it perfect to use in hydrogen reservoirs.

Isolation
 
At present, the most popular approaches to graphene isolation are electrochemical exfoliation. In one experiment the researchers have been able to produce approximately 16.3 g of graphene (area of about 16 football fields) in 30 minutes using graphite and Pt electrodes in an ammonium salt electrochemical bath.Exfoliation is not suited to the electronics industry. Growth on metals and subsequent transfer to insulating substrates, and thermal decomposition of SiC to produce so called epitaxial graphene on top of SiC wafers have the potential for producing wafer-scale graphene.


Electronic properties

Graphene exhibits a variety of transport phenomena that are characteristic of 2D Dirac fermions, such as specific integer and fractional quantum Hall effects, a ‘minimum’ conductivity of ~4e2/h even when the carrier concentration tends to zero.Suspended samples of graphene show mobility (μ) of up to 106 cm2 V-1 s-1. It also shows near-ballistic transport at room temperature. Large-area graphene is a semimetal with zero bandgap. Its valence and conduction bands are cone-shaped and meet at the K points of the Brillouin zone. Due to zero bandgap, graphene cannot be configured in a switch and hence is not suitable for logic applications unless its band structure isopened. This has become possible in a number of ways: by constraining large-area 2-D graphene in one dimension to form graphene nanoribbons, by biasing bilayer grapheneand by applying strain to graphene. Graphene has been made luminescent by chemical and physical treatments to produce quantum dots. Graphene has plasmonic excitations in terahertz and mid-infrared and has emerged as a unique material for electronic applications in this frequency range such as THz lasers, amplifiers, detectors, etc.

Applications

Graphene has changed from being the exclusive domain of condensed matter physicists to being explored by electron-device community. In particular, graphene-based transistors have developed rapidly and are now considered an option for post-silicon electronics. Graphene is considered as an ideal material for energy storage and conversion. During the past several years, a variety of graphene based materials (GBMs) have been successfully prepared and applied in super-capacitors, lithium ion batteries, water-splitting, electrocatalysts for fuel shells and solar cells. As graphene is a conductive yet transparent material, with low cost and low environmental impact, it is an ideal material for manufacture of sensors and biosensor-based devices in various transduction modes, from electrical and electrochemical transduction to optical transduction.

Industry giant IBM has produced several electronic component prototypes. Flat screens (70cm in the diagonal) with graphene electrodes, tennis rackets made with graphene have been championed by some industries.

Conclusion and outlook

The speed of development in graphene products in the last ten years is much faster than the typical 40years it takes for a new material to move from an academic lab into a consumer product. Governments and industries around the world have earmarked billions of dollars on research and development of graphene products. It would not be out of place to say graphene as the fastest developing material known so far.According to recent reports on thefuture of graphene, a market worth $1.5bn in 2015 and $7.5bn in 2025 is forecasted.

The APPLE OF OUR EYES: STEVE JOBS(1955-2011)

Ms Jyotika Pruthi
Assistant Professor
The NorthCap University, Gurgaon

Many years ago an apple dropped from a tree and landed on a man resting in the shade of the tree.That man was Sir Isaac Newton and THAT apple created history,it led to the ‘discovery’ of Gravity.Several years later, in 1976 to be precise, another Apple,this time a half–eaten one, set out to create history.The man behind this Apple was a simple guy from San Francisco,Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs,born on 24 February 1955,lost his battle to cancer on October 5, 2011, after putting up a brave fight for seven years.He was 56.

This charismatic leader, entrepreneur,innovator co-founded Apple with friends Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne.Together,the team came out with Apple II which crushed all competition and became the symbol of the personal computing revolution worldwide. Surprisingly, Jobs was fired from Apple in 1985for being an “erratic” and “temperamental” manager.


In a speech Jobs gave at Stanford University in 2005,he said that being fired from Apple was the best thing that could have happened to him, “The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It fired me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life”.And surely it was a boon in disguise for him.The same year he founded NeXT Inc., a computer company.NeXT Inc. proved to be very successful and in 1996 Apple bought the company for $429 million,making Steve Jobs the CEO of the company he co-founded.He added “I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple.It was awful-tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.”

Not much is known about Steve Job’s visit to India.This cult figure came to India in the early 70’s in search of ‘enlightenment’ and ‘nirvana’ and went back unsatisfied.The hot, uncomfortable summer made Jobs question many of the illusions he had nursed about India.He found India far poorer than he had imagined and was struck by the incongruity between the country’s condition and its airs of holiness.[1]

The iREVOLUTION

The announcement that Apple, a computer company, would be making a portable music player met with a lot of skepticism.But Job’s true genius lay in integrating great ideas in ways not envisioned before.He simply said, “We at Apple love music, andit’s always nice to do things we love”. As predicted by him,iPod was an amazingsuccess. Its beautiful design, brilliant user interface, smart click wheel and most importantly, its ability to sync with iTunes made it sell like hot cakes.

After this there was no stopping for Apple.It pushed itself to innovate more and more and came up with the iPod Mini in 2004 and the iPod Nano in 2005.It expanded its Music store internationally and became the undisputed leader of the new digital music trend.A noticeable milestone was passed in 2006 when Apple’s revenues from iPod equaled those made on computers.

The biggest and the most popular launch from their stable was undeniably iPad, Apple’s iOS –based tablet phone.This multi –touch display cell phone, that included the features of an iPod and, with its own mobile browser, revolutionized the mobilebrowsing scene.

What distinguishes Apple from other companies, and perhaps the best asset they have is the user friendly nature of their products leading to hassle-less computing experience.None of their products come with complicated long serial codes,and do not require repeated authentication.

iMISS

Yes,Steve Jobs has changed the way the world lives.He has touched millions of lives in his short lifetime. He was a technologist and an innovator who defined consumer culture.The vision of this college dropout gave birth to one of the most influential corporations in the world, made massive contribution to the computer,mobile and music industry and made him a multimillionaire. His passion towards life made him survive all turbulences in his life.

Today Steve Jobs is not amongst us, but his legacy lives on in the technology which we all love using. We hope he hears the love and wishes of millions of fans from somewhere above in his patented black turtleneck and jeans   


[1] The Little Kingdom – The Private Story of Apple, Author Michael Moritz