Melbourne professor visits his college in Bidar

When Rajkumar Buyya came to the Karnataka College to deliver a speech in his alma mater in Bidar on Monday , it was a proud moment for all the teachers there.

He studied PUC in the Karnataka College in the late 1980s 


The professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering and Director of the Cloud Computing and Distributed Systems (CLOUDS) Laboratory at University of Melbourne, Australia, learned the basics of computer science during his pre-university course in this college in Bidar in the late 1980s.

The lad from Koutha village in Bidar taluk is now a researcher of global repute in the field of cloud computing.

Cloud computing
The Chinese have used his cloud computing platforms to design high speed trains, the Government of Inner Mongolia to strengthen its markets, ISRO to process satellite images, companies to reduce their computing costs and researchers are using them to collaborate. His work has won him two international awards.

His teachers feel he deserves all the recognition. “He is a genius who can think decades ahead of his peers,” says his mathematics teacher S.B. Sajjanshetty. “He has always been like this. Outstanding, yet humble,” says retired Professor S.S. Devarkal, who came to the college to meet him on Monday.

After his pre-university course, Prof. Buyya joined B.Sc. course in Karnataka College in 1988. He left for Mysore after he got an engineering seat there. He completed his Masters in Computer Science from University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering in Bangalore and joined the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in its super computer project, PARAM.

He later sought a teaching position in University of Melbourne in 1998. His theses on the economics of grid computing won him a doctor of philosophy from Monash University, Melbourne. He set up the cloud computing lab at the University of Melbourne and Manjrasoft, a commercial spin-off. The software programmes and platforms from Manjrasoft are now used in 40 countries.

‘Future of IT'

He says cloud computing is the future of IT. “It has immense potential for students, researchers and the industry. If we don't prepare our youth for it, we will be missing out on a great opportunity,” he said.

Prof. Buyya said he makes frequent trips to India as it was “hard to resist its pull”. It is not difficult to guess why he named his IT company after the river flowing through his village.


Source: The Hindu

URL:  http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article2776433.ece

‘Bidri’, ‘Chidri’ Art Stall Steals Show at Mangalore Youth Festival

It’s not easy to master an art. It needs constant hard work and perseverance. Such an art was unveiled at the 17th National Youth Festival in the city on Sunday January 15.

The ‘Bidri’ artistes from Bidar and ‘Chidri’ youth clubs that belong to Uttar Karnataka Crafts and Cultural Development have exhibited their distinct Bidri and Chidri arts in their stall at the youth festival on Sunday.









Bidri art is a sensitive art that dates back six centuries and was mastered by Europeans. It’s a Persian art and was promoted by the Baridi and Bahumani Kingdoms in India. It’s a handicraft that needs perseverance to create masterpieces. The artists make key bunches, boxes, footwear, earthen pot, ashtrays, and numerous other items depending on customer’s need.

The artistes use zinc and copper to make the objects. They use 10 percent of copper and 90 percent of zinc and give a final touch with silver. The artifacts made are expensive. Bidri artifacts are sold at prices from Rs 30 to Rs 8 lac. The size of the artifact determines the time it takes to make. Therefore, it’s a sensitive art and the success of the artist depends on his hard work and focus on set job.

“It’s our profession since generations. We had created a huge pot with Bidri art that was presented to American president Barack Obama by Ratan Tata, when the former visted India recently. It cost Rs 8 lac,” says Ubaidulla, a Bidri artist from Bidar.

Chidri art is also a distinct art like Bidri art. It’s not an expensive art and is stronger than Bidri. The artifacts art made out of aluminum and coated with copper. It does not have art work and creativity like that of Bidri which is priced between Rs 10 to Rs 1,500.

Bidri Youth Club of Bidar is not only engaged in creating artifacts, it also provides employment to hundreds of youth. Their artwork is displayed in exhibitions held in Germany, UK, Australia, South Africa, USA, Mexico, and other countries. A mega exhibition will be held in China in March. A tableau based on Bidri art, which represented Karnataka at the Republic Day celebrations held in New Delhi on January 26, 2011, had bagged a prize.




Source:Daijiworld

Url: http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=127497

Bidar may get HAL’s proposed chopper project

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a Navaratna defence PSU and a top-ranked global defence aerospace company, which is looking for a location to house a production facility for its Advanced Utility Helicopter (AUH) project, could get land in Bidar for the project.

Bidar Lok Sabha member and former chief minister N Dharam Singh told Express that Union Defence Minister A K Antony had shown keen interest in establishing the unit at Bidar, where the Indian Air Force also has its base.

“Let us secure land for the proposed AUH programme and the Defence Ministry will give a green signal to HAL to locate its production facility in Bidar,” Singh said.

He also said Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, with whom he had taken up the matter on Saturday, readily agreed to release land for the project.

“The CM’s response was encouraging and it will be the first major aerospace project in the entire Hyderabad-Karnataka region, considered the most backward in the state,” he said.

The new facility will set off huge economic activities in the region and also boost employment, he said.

According to HAL sources, the defence PSU had been on the lookout for a suitable location for the AUH project for the last two years.

Three to four locations in Karnataka had been considered but Bidar, situated at the northeastern tip of the state, seemed suitable, sources said.

Referring to the Union Defence Ministry’s proposal seeking land in Bidar, Karnataka State Infrastructure Department Secretary, Rajkumar Khatri said, “If the proposal materialses, it would help reinforce Karnataka’s leadership in aerospace.”

He said the state government would extend all cooperation to the Union Defence Ministry in providing all necessary logistic support including land, water, electricity and manpower and added that Karnataka has already made a mark in aerospace engineering activities. HAL has 16 production, three MRO divisions and 10 R&D centres across the country.

If sanctioned, Bidar would be developed as an exclusive hub for HAL’s helicopter manufacturing facilities, the sources said.

Source:ExpressBuzz

URL: http://expressbuzz.com/cities/bangalore/bidar-may-get-hal%E2%80%99s-proposed-chopper-project/351500.html