Photo credits: bhavishya chandra kamineni
Happy Anniversary Communicando!
B Y T HANMAY K RISHNA
BIG TITLE – FIVE YEARS AND COUNTING
Communicando turns five this year and this will definitely be a special year for
the whole college. This newsletter is a celebratory edition to mark the fifth anniversary of the club. For five years now, the club has organized various literary events, quizzes, seminars, and workshops. The club has organized LITERATI, the biggest literary fest in our state and CBIT MUN, one of the biggest international conferences in the country. The club has delivered many scintillating events for the college. Now the club has decided to expand its reach and grow bigger. Here are some of the things that the club will undertake this year.
NEWSLETTER – This newsletter that you are reading right now is a completely student made newspaper under
the guidance of Dr. A. Sandhya Reddy and A. Vijayalakshmi. This is a celebratory edition to honor the fifth year of the club. All the articles have been written, edited and designed by our fellow college mates. Our college has a lot of young authors hidden in waiting. As you go through the various sections of this paper, I am sure you would agree with us.
LITERATI 3.O – The third edition of LITERATI – The annual literary fest will be conducted next semester. Literati 2.O was widely acknowledged to be a very well organized event with the right mix of fun and knowledge. Well, we promise that the third edition will bring a new level of awesomeness altogether.
With a whole new range of formal and informal events, Literati 3.O will be the premier fest of C.B.I.T.
GD,PI,PD sessions – In C.B.I.T, all of us are very talented. It’s only how we express ourselves that is different. So in order to reach a common platform, the club will be conducting Group Discussion, Personal Interview and Personality Development Sessions for all the third year students in their second semester. These sessions shall be conducted by the fourth year students who recently sat for their placements. A complete coursework is being prepared by the club in conjunction with premier institutes outside the college. This initiative will go a long way in securing student’s future as
this will help them in securing jobs, their future studies etc. Collaborations – From this year, you can expect many seminars, workshops with various eminent personalities. Also to increase the reading habit in the college, we plan to expand the English library and organize book reading sessions with authors.
These are some of the things that the club proposes to do apart from the usual events. So you guys are in for a whole new range of activities this year. Participate actively in the club activities to gain experience and exposure. See you at the
next communicando event.
W_l]om_ Fr_sh_rs!
The start of yet, another cycle
On September 24th, the newest batch of Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology had their Orientation Day. As students, all of us have experienced this and remember it as the starting of a 4 year journey. The very next day, classes commenced for all of 2012’s freshers and by now, they have slowly been adjusting to the routine college life of every CBITian. Thus the cycle has yet again been set into motion. Scary how time flies! Most of us remember the first few days of college down to the finest details. It is indeed a truly nervous and exciting experience. Four years in CBIT are enough to bring out the best (and sometimes worst) of every student. They go through a huge transformation from their
schooling days and enter a bigger, more grown-up world. These four years are all we have to explore ourselves and our interests, make friends that stick with us for life, learn from the experienced faculty members about our respective course of study, and experience everything CBIT and college life has to offer, before stepping out into the real world of jobs, higher studies, marriages, bigger responsibilities, and the next chapter of our lives. As seniors, we may feel a sense of time running out and the thought of “so much to do, not enough time.” However, to the new juniors, it’s the start of one memorable journey. Directed to the freshers batch of 2012, here are a few words from a fellow senior:
Dear Freshers, A very warm welcome to CBIT. Simply put, you are undergoing a major transformation at this point. From hectic schedules, endless tests, never ending discussions with almost every random person about what to do and what to choose, you are finally here. Take a deep breath and congratulate yourself—you are in one of the best places, literally and physically, that you could probably be at. It doesn’t matter whether you are a convener, a B-Cat or an NRI. As you will see in the coming future all these differences will disappear. Those first days, it’s a whole new world of new people and new things. If you have been in a corporate college for the past two years then for you CBIT will be like a breath of fresh air. If you are thinking the bus journey is very long and time consuming, think again its one of the best places to make new friends, and my sources say (trust me they are very reliable) all the major gossips and also all the GYAN you get which varies from assignments to placement talk happens in those buses. Sometimes you may find yourselves lost in endless assignments, record submissions, internals (this one’s going to be crazy, you get the true feel of college life when internals come banging on your doors). But with friends on your side and ever ready teachers there to guide you, all of this will become easy. CBIT has a place for every individual and at the same time it brings within you a spirit of team work. All of you might have some expectations, some dreams to be fulfilled, and some goals to be achieved. Keep all those aspirations alive; never give up no matter what, because this is where you will have the opportunities to realize your dreams. Don’t regret anything that happens. Cherish the good memories, and learn/grow from the bad experiences to come out a stronger person in the end. And as the name of one of our very famous fests goes, Carpe Diem-Seize the day. With Regards, A Senior
PAGE 2
Letter from the Editor Kirtana bavanaKa Editor-in-ChiEf by
Transcendent means “breaking all barriers” or going beyond the limits. Every story has two parts: one that is seen and the unknown, the mystery part. Transcendent is a newspaper which believes in going beyond the known into the unknown, so that every story and every fact is complete in itself. Several attempts over the years have been made to launch a newspaper in CBIT. The enthusiasm and the zeal are at peaks in the beginning and then it fades away slowly. This time it was differ-
ent. A consistent and like minded group ensured that the dream of a college newspaper turned into reality. There have probably been a few special instances in your life where something would have stirred you, and for those of you who have a way with words you would have penned down your thoughts. Some of you might like to state your opinion on the things going around, or just share an experience about a movie you have seen, a book you have read, or a restaurant you have visited. All those of you who have been bitten by the writing bug here’s your chance. Share your views and thoughts, with
a wider audience. Transcendent is a way for CBITians to create an environment in addition to academics that will allow the creative juices of students to flow. The idealogy behind this newspaper is not just to speak up and make your voice be heard but also to create unity among the student body of CBIT. In this world today, doing your own thing and getting out doesn’t cut it anymore. There must be interaction with others. That desire to be involved and be aware of not just matters concering you but things going on all around you is becoming more and more important to do well
and succeed. And that is the ultimate goal of this newspaper: to give a chance for students to develop writing skills, share their passions, learn new things, and become more aware. To conclude, I would like to quote that TRANSCENDANT is going to be one of CBIT’s strongest voices. A news paper where truth, creativity, freedom of speech, education, knowledge, and entertainment will be the supporting pillars. So come join us as we take a journey through not only the conventional pathways, but more importantly the roads not taken.
The Editorial Focus
by
srEEKar rEddy
Welcome to The Editorial Focus. TEF will focus on one particular topic and give you a brief summary on it so that you– the reader—will have a fair idea about it by the time you finish reading this article. This TEF focuses on a dilemma that has students everywhere scratching their head: “What after engineering?” This universal question has boggled the minds of students all over India, especially the confusion of whether to pursue higher studies or not (and if so, how to approach). That is where we come in. Our aim is to help you answer that question, or at least point you in the right direction. So let’s start with the basics. The three most general options after engineering are: getting a campus placement and settling into a job, doing an MBA (usually after a few years of job experience), or doing an MS. When it comes to pursuing higher studies, it’s necessary for students to make yet another decision, whether to do their higher studies abroad or in India itself. Although both are feasible options, when it comes to completing Post Graduate School, many students often lean towards doing courses abroad. Notably, the USA has been a popular destination for over a decade, if not more. Once this decision to study abroad has been made, many students are unacquainted with the “how” part, some until the last minute. Therefore, we have gathered some important information for you to guide you along this process of obtaining a PG from USA. Please go through the following, and we guarantee you’ll definitely benefit.
Essential steps to take in this process: -Narrow down what exactly you want to do. This includes picking the course you want to pursue and making a list of which colleges to apply (making sure that is has the
specific course you want). The best way to do all this is start researching, and start soon! Talk to people and begin to utilize all the tools we have that students before us didn’t have, such as the Internet. -Application process. After narrowing down to the list of colleges you want to apply for, look into the application process specific to every college’s requirements and see what all you need to get done. The earlier you start this, the better! You can find this info easily on the college website. Nevertheless, here are some things which you’ll find are generic to any college these days: an entrance test, letter of recommendations, statements of purpose (essays). -Tests: All masters programs require you to take the GRE, or another standardized test built to see how prepared you are for graduate studies. Start preparing and maybe decide to take coaching for it. You may give your GRE exam in designated centers in the city and your score in the exam will play a huge part in getting into a top university. Therefore, it is imperative for aspiring students to have a fixed target for their GRE score and work towards it. Based on the schools you will apply to, focus on the range of score of needed for admission into them. For the best schools in the nation, a good GRE score to aim for is >333. Naturally, the score range will decrease if you aim for a little less. -Essays: Each college will require you to write an essay of some form or the other, defining your academic and personal goals. Start thinking and draft up your essays. Writing your personal essay is the one of the most difficult part of the process, so starting early will definitely put you at an advantage. In writing these application essays, you will be required to think through your reasons for pursuing a graduate education and what qualifies you to do so, in advance. -Letter of Recommendations: Start building good relationships with the faculty for this part. You are much more likely to get a positive recommendation if your professors know you and your interest in higher studies. Despite the common belief, you will discover how receptive they can be. Remember that they might’ve been in your shoes at some point and will be more than happy to advise or assist you in any way they can.
The following table shows the top universities in the USA for post graduate studies, based on courses in engineering in general: 1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology- Cambridge, MA 2 Stanford University - Stanford, CA 3 University of California - Berkeley,CA 4 Carnegie Mellon University- Pittsburg, PA 5 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign- Urbana, IL 6 Georgia Institute of Technology- Atlanta, GA 7 California Institute of Technology- Pasadena, CA 8 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor- Ann Arbor, MI 9 Cornell University- Ithaca, New York 10 University of Texas- Cockrell- Austin, TX 11 Purdue University-West Lafayette 12 Texas A&M University, College Station 13 University of Southern California 14 University of California, San Diego 15 Columbia University 16 University of California, Los Angeles 17 University of Wisconsin, Madison 18 University of Maryland,College Park 19 Harvard Univerisity 20 Northwestern University 21 Princeton University 22 University of California, Santa Barbara 23 University of Pennsylvania 24 Virginia Tech 25 Pennsylvania State University,University Park 26 Johns Hopkins University 27 University of Washington 28 Duke University 29 University of Minnesota,Twin Cities 30 Ohio State University 31 North Carolina State University 32 Rice University 33 University of California, Davis 34 Yale University 35 University of Colorado
The universities mentioned above do not have a “ cut off “ GRE score for admission as such. The reason behind this is that admission into these universities is judged by a combination of factors including: test scores, personal essays, GPA/percentage, and extracurricular activities. If the applicant is deemed satisfactory on these counts(or a combination of these counts) then admission is granted. Therefore it would be foolhardy to give our readers a fixed minimum score for each of these universities to guarantee admission. However, there should be a general idea regarding scores so read further for a better picture. A score of above 330-335 and a strong resume would in all probability assure you of a seat in almost all the universities present in this list. A score of about 320-325 and a good resume may assure you a seat in universities ranked 26 and below on the list. Generally universities look for GPAs of around 3.5 – 4.0 + Again this is a number which cannot be put as a concrete cut-off.
To reiterate – this is just a general consensus. There have been instances where students with lower GRE scores have secured admission in the mentioned universities but to clear your confusion, yes the above mentioned parameters hold true. Now, many forget to dream once they get into the grind of the 4 year course, the possibilities for students of CBIT are limitless even after graduation. The combination of an Engineering degree from CBIT and a Masters degree from reputed foreign university is an unbeatable one; if this is achieved, then the sky is the limit. We hope that the editorial focus has helped you out. Because this is our first time we request you to give the editorial team your review about the article. Plsease direct all compliments to me and all criticism to anyone else you can find. The time has come for me to take your leave , I hope that you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it . So till we meet again dream big !
THE EDITORIAL BOARD,
COMMUNICANDO PrinCiPal of Cbit:
dr. b. ChEnnaKEsava
rao
ConvEnor:
dr. a. sandhya rEddy assoCiatE ProfEssor, dEPartmEnt of maths and humanitiEs
staff Coordinator:
a. vijaya laKshmi assistant ProfEssor, dEPartmEnt of maths and humanitiEs Editor- in-ChiEf:
Kirtana bavanaKa
Editorials Editor:
srEEKar rEddy
nEws Editor: urvi rao
sPorts Editor:
abrar ahmEd
EntErtainmEnt Editor: bhavana yalla layout hEad:
Pranav Kondala
dEsign tEam:
vEnnEla KulKarni
CommuniCando writErs: thanmay Krishna ravi teja gamini riyaz sundrani sagar jaiswal
shashank bhargav vennela Kulkarni sharat Chander
sumalika addagarla shashank Kosuri
sruthi Korlakunta
othEr writErs: nitya muralidharan ruchika singh bhavishya Kamineni nikhil gopal Krishna suraj Peri ramcharan devalala Kavya ramaraju lakshita reddy aditya raman avinash badeti Pranav attavar sarang tammewar
PAGE 3
COMMUNICANDO LITERATI Commun I Can Do
Communication - the human connection - is the key to personal and career success. -Paul. J. Meyer
Established on October 4, 2007, Communicando is the literary club of our college. The club was established with the basic objective of providing the students a competitive platform to hone their literary as well as communicational skills. The club is very active in organizing activities and guest lectures for the benefit of the students. The activities of the club are organized by the student coordinators who are selected through a rigorous recruitment process. The club functions under the guidance of Dr. A. Sandhya Reddy and A. Vijayalakshmi. In their words, this club is “Of the students, by the students and for the students”. Since its inception, the club has come a long way and the very newspaper you are reading is a testimonial to this. Many students have grown, developed themselves and passed out as finer individuals with the help of Communicando. When the club started off in 2007, it started functioning with five students as coordinators of the club. They got together and organized a few literary events in the college. Now the club has 50 coordinators, spread across various teams working in tandem on various projects. The host of events organized
ranged from workshops to serious events. The host of events organized ranged from workshops to serious events like:
1. Grand Stand – Debate 2. Virtual Market 3. Elocution Competition 4.Simulate to Negotiate: Convergent Thinking 5.Pictionary – Weaving stones from pictures 6. Portrait ale – Story Telling 7. JAM sessions 8.AD Star – Advertising Strategies 9. Lectures by eminent personalities 10. Group Discussions 11. Literary and G.K Quizzes 12.Reviews – Books and Films 13. Word Star – Vocabulary Quiz 14. Alter Ego 15. Mock Press Conference 16. Young Orator – Extempore 17. Breaking News Newspaper Making 18.Fish Bowls etc.
Apart from these events which are organized during the academic year, the club also has two few flagship events which care conducted annually. They are LITERATI and Model United Nations (MUN). Literati is the annual literary fest of our college. Two editions have been organized till date – 2010 and 2012. This fest includes various literary events and is open to all colleges across the state. The first edition saw a footfall of over 400 students from various parts
FRESHERS!
of the state making it a grand success. The second edition saw a footfall of over 600 participants from across the state making it the biggest literary event in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The third edition of literati will be conducted this February. Model United Nations (MUN) is a student conference wherein students play the role of international diplomats and deliberate upon various international issues. The club has conducted two editions of CBIT MUN till date – 2011 and 2012. The first conference saw a participation of over 200 delegates spanning 6 countries across 3 continents, making it the biggest international conference in India for the year 2011. The second edition broke all barriers pulling in 250 people from over 12 countries across 5 continents. Both the conferences were held at Mahindra Satyam Learning World, Gachibowli. This year the club turns five years old and many new ideas are coming through. A new batch of coordinators was recruited recently and the future of the club looks promising. This year will be another milestone in an already illustrious history of the club. As engineering students, all of us need good communication skills because:
“The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives” – Anthony Robbins
Let us all heartily welcome our freshers, who are indeed the talented treasurers! During their inter, they might have been extremely stressed, but the lively atmosphere now will make them feel blessed. Our freshers step in with many aims and have an aspiration, so why not we, as seniors, be their right source of inspiration? These young buds are not just the colourful sparklers, but are the college's future and situational tacklers. Ragging is just to be treated as a tool for interaction, but not as a dangerous activity involving over-action. It is essential for the juniors and seniors to have good relations, so as to compete well and work towards many more new creations. Let us hope that our juniors earn a very good name, and indeed with that, CBIT keeps improving it's great fame! A poem by Nikhil, ECE 2/4
A CELEBRATION OF THE LITERATURE FANATICS BY
THANMAY KRISHNA
LITERATI is the annual literary fest of CBIT. It is the flagship event of Communicando – The literary club of CBIT. It is a daylong fest loaded with various formal and informal events. There have two editions of Literati till date–2010 and 2012. . The first ever edition of Literati was organized in September 2010. It was conducted the day before Carpediem in our college premises. Many formal events like Grand Stand, Mr. and Miss Literati etc. and a wide range of informal events were conducted. This fest was completely designed, formulated and put into action by the coordinators of the club communicando. Literati 1.O saw a footfall of over 400 people coming in from various parts of the state. Literati 1.O set a benchmark of sorts for the state as many colleges followed suit and opened their own literary clubs and organized their own literary fests. With Literati 1.O, Communicando firmly established itself in the state. Many organizations approached the
club for tie ups. Various seminars, talks were conducted in the college. . Exactly one year later in September 2011, CBITMUN, another flagship event of the club was conducted and Literati was pushed to the second semester. . Literati 2.O was conducted in February 2012. This edition of Literati was bigger and better in stature and size. Formal events like Breaking News, Da’Bang – The Quiz Show were conducted apart from Grand Stand and the flagship event – Mr. and Miss Literati. The informal events were a stupendous hit amongst the student community. . If Literati 1.O set a milestone, the second edition broke it comprehensively. The second edition saw a footfall of over 650 students thereby making the biggest literary fest ever to be conducted in the state. And this year, you all shall stand witness to the third edition of the celebration of literature. This February make sure you are there at CBIT. Because you definitely wouldn’t want to miss Literati 3.O. .
Some pictures from Literati 1.0 and Literati 2.0:
RAGGING
VIEWS
OF @
3RD
Ragging – A problem? A disease? An endemic? For The students of CBIT ragging is one thing – non existent. Speaking as a common student of our college, here are my experiences regarding this issue:
October 4th 2010. I was a timid first year walking into college for the first time. Ragging was a major concern for me. Having read about harrowing experiences for some students in other colleges I was indeed, afraid. However this fear was immediately shot down by the presentation the Anti-Ragging committee made on the day of the freshmen orientation, and a slight sense of assurance enveloped me. Nevertheless certain fears still persisted and walking around in the campus seemed like a challenge. A few days passed and I decided to venture into the ground during lunch break, hesitant of what I’ll come across. Soon I found that there was no need to be so cautious. Apart from a few curious stares, nothing even remotely close to what all I expected happened. From that moment on, I realized that I was a fool to be afraid.
Second year, and all of us were excited as we were seniors now! We waited for our juniors to enter the campus and when they did we could see the slight sense of fear on their faces. The same fear that we had on our faces just one year before. Based on our own experiences, we wanted to reassure them that there is nothing to be afraid, but the tight guard limiting contact between the juniors and senior didn’t allow us to do so.
YE@R STUDENT.
Eventually, they came out of their shell. Once we were able to interact with one another, strangely none of us felt the urge to cause them any distress. And soon enough, the fear on their faces disappeared.
Now, I am in third year and I see the same sentiment among the present second years. Seeing the process repeat for yet another year, I came to realize one thing—Ragging is a vicious cycle and the fundamental principle is that if you are not subject to it you will not feel like doing it.
My friends and I weren’t ragged and hence we never felt like ragging our juniors. If this wasn’t the case and our batch was subject to ragging then the situation may have been different. Even then, it wouldn’t have been an issue. The system that has been put to place in CBIT has ensured that no junior shall be ragged and no senior will feel the urge to rag. The latter is perhaps the greatest achievement because warnings and punishments aside, it is the realization that comes from within that makes the difference. CBIT has ensured that this feeling is instilled in every one of us.
It can safely be said that Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology is a ragging free campus and hopefully other institutes all over the country will do the same and erase this endemic for good.
PAGE 4
CBITMUN 2012
BY RUCHIKA SINGH
Coming together is a
beginning; keeping together is progress, and working together is success. We at CBIT, hosted the 2nd edition of CBITMUN’12 , keeping up to the set benchmark of the Premiere edition ,which was the first ever MUN conference in the city. This year it had the highest number of international participants in the subcontinent from Indonesia, Kenya, Bangladesh,Canada, Lebanon, UAE, Afghanistan and Nepal , across four continents represented & talked about macro issues concerning the whole world. MUN, in brief, is an academic simulation of the United Nations that aims to educate participants about current events, to investigate in-
ternational issues, debate , deliberate and seek solution from young minds visioned as exponents of change for a “Better Tomorrow”. Though CBIT is an engineering college, the purpose behind patronizing was to give its students a platform to master communication & negotiation skills. This was made possible with “Mahindra Satyam Learning World”, the venue. It provided a complete boardroom and semicircular setting , thus further rising the vanity. It believes that our technical savvy minds with blend of exposure to humane issues will bring in responsibility as a citizen, hence the event “CBIT MUN” 12. This phenomenal event lasted for four days. The opening day reflected the theme- “Cultural Exchange”,
where delegates depicted rich and varied cultural heritage of their respective countries through traditional dance and music. The next three days reflected the key theme; debates, discussions, conflict resolution, showcased through seven parallel councils from United Nations General Assembly, Development Program to Security council etc. and judged by experienced MUNner’s of the world. SRD: This year’s new idea, the “Social Responsibility Department” is a body pioneered by CBIT , initiated by Sreekar Reddy, Secretary General of CBITMUN’12 .Endorsing the belief of owning to one’s responsibility and make a positive impact by giving back to the world , one step at a time.
hearing this, it brings about a sense of emptiness from within. Sitting on the stage is our Organizing Committee watching everyone, hugging and signing autographs. We were at the brim of a breakdown. When we saw the faces of our Charge D’Affaires, we couldn’t hold in our tears any longer. Then random thoughts began to spiral in our heads. Thoughts like we made this happen, we worked for months, and suddenly there won’t be any meeting to attend, videos to be shot, pictures to pose for, and no more talking to people we wouldn’t normally talk to. It just hit us like a bolt of lightning. With that, Sreekar
Reddy, our secretary general, declares the conference closed. After this the emotions started to flow and everyone cried. However, it was through these tears, at that exact moment, when all of us felt like our objective had been served. On the 3rd of September, we all started to have a kind of feeling. The feeling one gets when they lose their baby. Some might even call it the MUN hangover.
compromise
sumed by his own selfishness and the men with the “great moral character[s]” will probably land up at an asylum sooner rather than later. It’s not that great or good people don’t exist but just that it’s about time we realize that the definition of good has changed.
CBITMUN12 -The BY AVINASH BADETI
September the 2nd. MUN ends, and everyone is really low. All our hard work for the past few months has paid off through these four days of ultimate fun and joy. Now the time has come for us to bid goodbyes to all the amazing people we have met in this phenomenon called the CBITMUN. How time flies. It makes me wonder whether it was all a dream. Amidst these joyous days, making friends amongst the colleagues and delegates from different places was an amazing feeling that cannot be explained in words. Our secretary general gives a goodbye speech. On
Experience
Food for thought: What lies within Through thick and thin the one thing that will hold us in good stead is our character.
However, an idealistic view on the subject would be a foolish one because at the end of the day the basic human quality that each and everyone possesses is want. Every person at some stage or the other will look for personal gain out of any situation and quite honestly one cannot blame that person because it holds true even for the one pointing the finger.
In almost all situations in life we are surrounded by this environment and therefore whether we like it or not we are invariably trained to behave in the same way. Every reader of this article will realize it holds true for him/ her as well. No one hates credit.
This rant of course was to get one thing out of the way – There is no point in preaching to people about ideal character because no such thing exists therefore the only alternative is to regulate our want.
“What lies behind us, what lies ahead of us is nothing compared
--Anonymous
to what lies within us.” How far would you bend your morals to ensure that a particular situation works out favorably for you? That’s where the question “what lies within us “comes into the picture, again to reiterate that it’s not a question of whether we will bend ourselves to get something or not, it’s only a question of how much.
Every situation in life will have three options: 1. Take the easy path, and look out for yourself. 2. Take the tougher path, and look out for your friends/ family. 3. Run away.
An idealist would certainly look at the second option and say, “That is something a person with great character would do.” But let’s look at option 2 in a different light. There is always an ulterior motive behind choosing any path/option and similarly.
In this case, the person in question would definitely be looking for one thing: respect. He would EXPECT the people he stood up for to have a great deal of respect for him after getting out of the sit-
uation. Now, what happens when this doesn’t occur? Will this great leader who looked out for his family and friends still be the same? Will there be no uncomfortable feeling from within for this person? Will there not be the slightest hint of resentment? There certainly will be at some level or the other. Therefore our friend with the great moral character will certainly want to burst out and show his feelings and let people know of all that he has done for them, causing the rest to start questioning his character. Our great friend who chose to tread on a tougher path will be branded as one with no morals, and his choice will be forgotten. Oh, what would people do then? Look out for just themselves or run away? What would people look for from “within”?
Now comes the “second best” option – compromise (Note: This option comes into the picture under the assumption that the person in question has at least a hint of a conscience.) Unlike the ideal man with the “great moral character”—Yes, I like repeatedly saying this with a sarcastic tone—people who choose to
actually
exist.
Such people do want to come out as winners but have a nagging thought at the back of their mind to ensure that they don’t do something that is completely wrong. Such a person will choose to tread the tough path but he will ensure that the people that he is protecting will know he is standing up for them. He may not stand on rooftops and scream about his great choice but he will certainly, subtly yet strongly let people know about it. So is this man bad? Is “what lies within” this person bad? That is for you to decide. In today’s world in whatever situation we find ourselves in, if we are able to maintain the balance and gain whatever we want without completely compromising our morals, then it should be treated as a job well done. Any man who has a single thought to spare about the rest can be considered a good man and such a person should do fine in most situations in life.
A person who looks out solely for himself will be eventually con-
But the hope never dies with CBITMUN. As we take the baton from the present team and as 2013 beckons, our family stands united.
So whatever the situation, whatever lies ahead, or whatever has been left behind by a person with a hint of morality, that person will triumph. However to expect an ideal man with “great moral character “(Oh, yes) is foolhardy.
To those of you who are still reading through this college student’s philosophical rant, thank you for your time and to all the members of the fairer sex the writer is apologetic for using only the word man repeatedly—it‘s just that it was easier to type. Till we meet again take some time out to wonder about what truly lies within YOU. This editorial was writen by Sreekar Reddy.; he is a third year Mechanical Engineering.
PAGE 5
Diesel Price Hiked by Rs.5 and LPG cap of 6 cylinders
BY
URVI RAO
September 13, 2012: In a politically-sensitive move, the government announced a hike in heavily-subsidised diesel price by Rs.5 a litre to check fiscal deficit. They also put a limit on the availability of cooking gas cylinders per family to six per year. The hikes come into effect midnight Thursday. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA), chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, took the decision, which has been decried by a combative opposition and even allies as "anti-people". UPA's second-largest constituent, Trinamool Congress, demanded a rollback, with party chief Mamata Banerjee saying she would have been very happy if she could have
withdrawn support from the regime rather than be party to such "anti-people" policy. The steep hike in diesel prices is expected to affect a wide gamut of transportation ranging from locomotives to heavy duty trucks. The government cited financial compulsions to justify the controversial price hike, which could fuel inflation and burden the common man who is already reeling from spiralling prices of basic commodities. The government however said diesel and cooking fuel prices have not been revised since June 2011. Citing rising global crude oil prices and devaluation of rupee, Petroleum Minister S. Jaipal Reddy had said on Wednesday that a hike in diesel, LPG and kerosene prices was "unavoid-
One for the Read: DRAGON SEED BY
SRUTHI KORLAKUNTA
The world had once faced the ravages of war, and yet again, amidst the thundering showers of ammunition and roars of giant packages of destruction dropped from the sky into the unknowing land, peasants and country men are pillaged and destroyed, not knowing in the least what the ‘enemy’ wants. Dragon seed , Pearl Buck’s novel published soon after she had won the Nobel prize for literature, is a moving novel about a place, close to the city of Nan king, in china during the second sinojapanese war fought during the second World War. It brings to life the family of a Chinese farmer and his family during the war time. The descriptions and the innocent account of war as seen from the eyes of a Chinese man, during times in which literacy was tom-foolery and mass communication and Media were magic, remain with the reader more as an experience than just a good read. Lao Tan, the protagonist, and his family live in a village, with China in the best of it’s times, where the summers shone, rains plenty, harvest rich and the whole family under one roof. Suddenly there come the ‘flying ships’ that drop huge pieces of metal into the land, initially mistaken for ‘ digging ponds’ where required. Then month by month, the ‘enemy’, the ‘short men with crooked legs’ burnt down the town, foul their women, kill their young and impose laws of harvest. Opium reigns and men are yellow with sickness.
Corpses pile up sky high and when rains came and canals carried these away, stench spread till heavens and with them, diseases that killed the young. Thus a large part of his family is lost, women and children to violence one after other, and the men, who wouldn’t kill beasts earlier take to cold murder at the sight of the enemy. The remaining family is separated, each son choosing his own path, by means unthinkable for generations till then. The family splits and the older generation comes to accept change though unwillingly. One may also observe the kind of treatment women received in Old China during those times where ‘ till then, no one was killed but a girl child too many now and then’ or ‘“in the end, she is only a woman“, Shows how trivialised women were in the society. Also Ling Tan’s character is moulded to be a very reasonable man that changes with times, and thinks with rationale. One may take delight in the way characters are carefully sketched. His wife Ling Sao, sons Lao Er, Lao Ta, Lao San and Daughters Panasio, and daughters in law Orchid and Jade, are beautifully described, each different from the other and each with a philosophy of his or her own to get through the difficult times . Bottom line : This might be one of the best books you read this season. If it has not happened yet – Go ahead and discover it.
able" despite the "painful and difficult" nature of such an increase. State-owned oil firms are losing around Rs.550 crore per day on the sale of regulated diesel and cooking fuels and around Rs.16 crore per day on petrol. Oil Marketing Companies (OMCS) have been selling diesel at a loss of Rs.19.26 per litre, kerosene at a loss of Rs.34.34 per litre and domestic
LPG for a loss of Rs.347 per 14.2 kg cylinder. The Congress defended the government's decision to hike the price of diesel.Party general secretary Digvijaya Singh said that the party was "solidly" behind Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his government on this decision. "... sometimes, a good government may have to take unpleasant decisions too," he said.
The diesel hikes affect everyone from auto drivers to fancy car owners to even our own CBIT students. We asked a few students to tell us their opinion regarding this issue and here is what they said:
“
Due the hike in prices, we have started carpooling to college, even if it means to adjust with the different timings each of us being in different branches have. – Pranav Kondala, ECE ¾
”
“
People should understand the production costs for diesel prices is higher than for petrol and the price for diesel is highly subsidized. The hike is justified. – Nagarjun Redla, ECE 2/4
”
CBIT CLUBS: Get Involved!
BY
NITYA MURALIDHARAN
Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology is at the top in the list of best colleges in the city. One of the main things that makes our college great is the balance of academics with extracurricular activities. It used to be such that extracurriculars meant only sports, but now we a multitude of clubs available for students to take part in, and the list is only growing. For those of you interested to explore areas other than just your academic field of study and are ready to put in your heart and soul into a club that interests you, we have compiled for you a list of clubs that CBIT has to offer:
•Communicando- The literary club of CBIT •CBCC-Chaitanya Bharathi Cultural Club •Street Cause •SAE- Society of Automobile Engineers
•ASME- American Society for Mechanical Engineers (specific to ME/PE branches) •NSS •Chaitanya Smruthi •IEEE Student Chapter (specific to EEE/ECE branches)
NSS: National Social Scheme BY
KAVYA RAMARAJU
The National Social Scheme club of CBIT is always striving to make the society a better place to live in. The NSS unit has taken up several activities under the guidance of its officer Mr. B. Sreedhar Rao.
One such initiative was the "Mega Blood Donation Drive" which was conducted on 17-09-2012 in our own CBIT campus, in collaboration with "Akhil Bharatiya Terapanth Yuvak Parishad". The students and staff of CBIT have actively participated in the event and
have helped in collecting about 125 samples of blood.
Another such activity taken up was the "Plantation Drive" on 21-09-2012. The volunteers and members of NSS have planted about 50 trees in the campus. In addition, NSS takes up activities like the issue of voter id cards, first aid training and mock fire fighting drills as well.
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SAE CONVENTION 2012
NITYA MURALIDHARAN
SAE convention 2012 provided a platform for students from all over South India to showcase their technical abilities and compete with the best of the best. It gave the opportunity for the students of CBIT to prove their mettle as good hosts and some of them turned to be good competitors as well. There is a yearning for practical application of subject knowledge in almost every student. The innate talent was unleashed at this technical extravaganza, where a variety of skills were on display. SAE is the society for automotive engineers. The SAE convention 2012 was particularly for the southern section. Students from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka came all the way to Gandipet, Hyderabad to take part in the various events organized by the students of CBIT. The preparation for the convention started months before. Students put in loads of efforts. Getting sponsors, finalizing the events, obtaining permissions, answering endless calls by the participants required good coordination and troubleshooting techniques, not to mention perfect planning and timely execution. The efforts put in by the students didn’t go unnoticed, as they won the “THE BEST COLLEGIATE CLUB AWARD” for the year 2012.
THE HIGHLIGHTS AUTO EXPO: Flashy cars and the good old vintages turned out to be the eye catchers at SAE . From the highly coveted Rolls Royce Phantom to the elegant Volks wagon Beatle, a mélange of vehicles including some designed by students were the stalwarts at SAE
WHO
BY
LAKSHITA REDDY
POLARIS ATV: An all terrain vehicle provided by POLARIS and a bumpy track created by the students , put them together and Viola an adventure ride at CBIT In addition, events like “Mind and Mettle”, “Aqua Bot” and “Robo Maze” saw the students guide their robots through obstacles, water and mazes to reach their goal. Precision at its best could be witnessed at these events. The predetermined events like Technical Papers, aero modeling, business plan, Computer aided analysis, computer aided
1. Technolites 2k12 Where? Vardhaman College of Engineering, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh When? 13th-14th October 2012 What? An Annual “Magnum Opus” event held to ignite the Torch in the direction of innovation. TECHNOLITES is where all action is and if you have what it takes to aspire glory then the right place to be is apparently here. It consists of events like paper presentations and poster presentations, workshops on automobiles, robots, androids, short film making, and spot events. The cultural event named Mr. and Ms. Technolites is also being held Dr. Jaya Prakash Narayan (President of LOKSATTA PARTY & MLA kukatpally) is going to be as the chief guest for our INAUGURAL FUNCTION. Contact: Vinod-9573411138 Sainath-9700847717 Ganesh-8686683846 Sainath-9700847717 Website: http://www.technolites12.com/ Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/technolites2012 2. DSP Processors Workshop Where? CBIT, Gandipet When? 16th - 18th October, 2012. What? A three day Workshop on DSP Processors & Applications. The field of digital signal processing has a major impact in many key areas of technology. Many new digital products in communication and information sciences (eg: Cell phones, Digital Audio Systems) are emerging in miniature size. The digital systems have to process real world signals in real time. But the real world signals are of infinite length and the processing should be completed in real time. For such applications, the speed of the processor is very critical. Hence the need for special purpose Digital Signal Processors. The course is aimed at giving training on Texas and Analog Devices DSP processors. Contact: Email: kakarlasubbarao@yahoo. com Phone: 9440115130, 9908898845 Website: http://cbit.ac.in
IS
Hailing from Moradabad ,Uttar Pradesh Mr. Robert Vadra is an Indian businessman. He married to Priyanka Gandhi, daughter of Sonia Gandhi, and became a member of the Nehru Gandhi family. Despite being a part of a family having a great history in politics, Mr.Vadra tends to stay away, insisting that he is a businessman and his major and only focus is Artex, a company which specializes in jewellery.
manufacture and Auto quiz offered a platform where the tough completion brought the best of the best in the fore front. The spot events like poster presentation, ensured that the participants were engaged all the time. After the hectic schedule of the first day a cultural evening was organized in the evening, where not only the students but also the lecturers were seen relaxing and having fun interacting with one another. All in all, the event was a success. Credits to the students, faculty and SAE southern section. Kudos SAE CBIT!
UPCOMING EVENTS
3. Tecstasy 2K12 Where? CBIT, Gandipet When? 17-18th October 2012
ROBERT VADRA?
There have been many speculations and controversies regarding how Vadra acquired his earnings as he gained his billions literally overnight. This small time exporter of jewellery made his entry into real estate with the country’s largest property firm ,DLF Ltd. and also several other business ventures. Vadra ia also the sole owner of the Sky Light hospitality Pvt. Ltd. In the last four years Robert has gone on a property buying binge and has purchased atleast 31 properties
mostly in and around New Delhi which, even at the time of the purchase, were worth several hundred crores of rupees.
There have been allegations that Robert Vadra had amassed an enormous deal of wealth in a very short span of time. But the source of his income is not publically known. There have been several questions as to why Robert Vadra is exempted from being frisked at airports which is a privilege to only VIP’s like the prime minister and president of India enjoy. Congress is overlooking the fact which is already stated earlier that the charges against Vadra were baseless and false. If the allegations are
What? Our very own IT department’s fest. Last date to register for non-spot events: 12th October 2012 Contact: SaiKumar Reddy | 9505624807 Website: http://www.cbit-tecstasy.in/
4. FOSS4G-India 2012 Where? IIIT Hyderbad Gachibowli, Hyderbad When? 25-27 October 2012 What? The first in a series of National Conferences on free and open source software for GeoInformatics (FOSS4G) that are planned to be held every year with a mission to foster the development and promote the widespread use of Open Source Geospatial Technologies including support for software development and publicly available Geo-data. The proposed theme of the conference is “Open Source Geospatial Resources to Spearhead Development and Growth”. This conference is expected to become a platform for India and its neighbors to bring together the developers and users of FOSS4G tools - academicians, researchers, technologists, companies and entrepreneurs to share, discuss and collaborate towards faster adoption and use of the geospatial tools across the country. Contact: Website: http://lsi.iiit.ac.in/foss4 gindia Email: foss4g-india@osgeo.inPhone: 040 66531332
5. ATMOS 2012 Where? BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, Andhra Pradesh When? 26th-27th October 2012 What? ATMOS is the Technical Fest of BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus. Started in 2012, it aims to promote technical knowledge and attract talent from various parts of India. Events include competitions, guest-lectures, workshops on Android app development, hacking and bot building by Wikipedia to name a few. Contact: K.Lalith-Publicity Co-ordinator (lalith.kotamarthy@gmail.com) (9505093537) Website: http://bits-atmos.org/ Facebook Page: https:// www.facebook.com/bits.atmos
baseless and defamatory in nature, then why don’t they file a deformation suit against those making the allegations? Nevertheless, the times demand of us now more than ever before to reflect on what Gandhiji would have thought about all this. It is very well known that if any person, atleast those in public life, were ever in doubt about a policy they should think how will it impact on the poorest of the poor.
FDI IN RETAIL TRADE: THE DEBATE CONTINUES by
suraj Peri
“A good investment climate is central to growth and poverty reduction. A vibrant private sector create jobs, provides the goods and the services needed to improve the living standards, and contribute taxes necessary for public investment in health, education, and other services. But too often governments stunt the size of those contributions by creating unjustified risks, costs, and barriers to competitions”
-Francois Bourguignon, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, World Bank It appears that initial eu-
phoria following the Cabinet’s decision to liberalize foreign investments in retail trading is quickly turning into skepticism. The Cabinet’s decision to permit 100% Foreign Direct Investment (“FDI”) in single brand retail trading (“SBRT”) and 51% FDI in multi brand retail trading (“MBRT”) is already facing criticism from various quarters. Reports have come in of several opposition parties like the Trinamool Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India – Marxist, etc. voicing their concerns over this decision and threatening to im-
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pede its execution in the states where they have majority or nonCongress alliances. It remains to be seen how in fact they will enforce these impediments. Needless to state, the resistance to the Cabinet’s decision has been severe enough to delay the ParliaSession Monsoon ment’s bringing about a deadlock scenario. With the withdrawal of the strong 19 member TMC support by Mamta Banerjee to the UPA, we could be seeing several bumps in the months to come, but in all likelihood the government would continue till the scheduled polls in 2014.
THE NBA SEASON 2012-2013
by
sarang tammewar
The 2012/2013 NBA season is officially underway, starting on the 30th of this month, with the season opener between the regaining Champions the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics. The NBA was founded in 1946, and has since been the premier professional basketball league in the world. This season will be the 67th installment of the league which is consisting of 30 teams in 2 conferences, the East and the West. The previous season saw the Miami heat win the championship with Miami’s Lebron James winning the MVP award. Can the heat defend their championship or will the new squads and life of other teams prevail? Let’s just enjoy the show and see what happens. Major Summer Transactions
1. Hornets Trade Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor to Wizards for Rashard Lewis 2. NY Knicks Get Marcus Camby from Houston Rockets for Spare Parts and Picks 3. Atlanta Hawks Take Devin Harris, and Utah Jazz Take Marvin Williams 4. New Orleans Hornets Trade Gustavo Ayon to Orlando Magic for Ryan Anderson 5. Raptors Get Kyle Lowry from the Rockets for a Lottery Pick and Gary
Forbes 6. LA Lakers Get Steve Nash from Phoenix Suns for 4 Draft Picks in Sign-and-Trade 7. Brooklyn Nets Get Joe Johnson from Atlanta Hawks for Slew of Players 8. Heat signed Ray Allen to and Rashard Lewis 9. 4-team trade with La Lakers, Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets and Philly Sixers where: The Lakers receive: Dwight Howard, Chris Duhon, and Earl Clark. The Magic receive: Arron Afflalo, Nicola Vucevic, Al Harrington, Josh McRoberts, Moe Harkless, Chritian Eyenga, a conditional Lakers' first-round pick, a conditional 2015 second-round pick, the lower of the Nuggets' two 2014 picks, a 2013 second-round pick, and a protected pick from the Philadelphia 76ers. The Nuggets receive: Andre Iguodala. The Sixers receive: Andrew Bynum, Jason Richardson. Potential Teams to Go All The Way Western Conference:
-Lakers, Lakers, Lakers - San Antonio Spurs - Oklahoma Thunder Eastern Conference: -Miami Heat -Chicago Bulls -Indiana Pacers
CBCC: Chaitanya Bharathi Cultural Club
by
shashank bhargav
Culture for the rest of the world might just be a definition involving different races, religions, and their habits. But in India, culture is what we are, a mere reflection of one’s deeper self. We Indians are the epitome of culture. We stand tall, on the pinnacle, among all the countries with our distinguished and diversified culture. As a result, in recent years our own college has taken up the responsibility to maintain and spread the culture of our India. This is when CBCC was formed. Chaitanya Bharathi Cultural Club was founded on 22nd September 2007, under the guidance of very dedicated, consecrate and devoted staff members of CBIT, not to mention the help of the management at that time. Since its inception, CBCC has left no stone unturned, whether its organizing the cultural day or celebrating any occasion. CBCC with its own diverse environment, has organized many successful events till date. It has got its own group of dancers and singers, without which it would be incomplete. Any event which requires above two talents to be showcased has to approach CBCC. Now the club has turned five years. And in order to celebrate their 5th anniversary, they organized an event called RENAISSANCE: Rebirth of ART on 22nd of September 2012.
THE EVENT: On the day of the event, until 3:30, college went on as usual. But starting at 3:31, the tunes of DJ’s electronic beats started to shake up the foundations of the college. This DJ was none other than our own CBIT student, Manideep of CSE1-3/4. People began to assemble and the slight delay in the program only increased the enthusiasm of the audience. Soon they were informed that Shekar Kammula was in the college premises, and the dreams of many were just seconds away from reality and so were mine. As Shekhar Kammula entered, the whole of the crowd went into a temporary lapse where all eyes were on one guy: Shekar Kammula.
The program took off from there, with speeches by the principal, vice principal, and then followed by the truly amusing speech of Shekar Kammula
where he said, “Your principal sir used to teach me machine drawing, back in the days…There has been a lot of change in the campus as I did not visit the college in recent times”. He praised that the college now looks like some sort of an IT company, meaning truly professional. He ended his speech in a satirical way, by telling that his next film is with Pawan Kalyan! (You could imagine the response) As he finished his speech and came to sit down next to the principal, all the people thought that he was the center of attraction. But no sooner did they realize they were wrong.
MANOGNYA TEJASWINI: THE LIVING ART! She is the niece of our very own vice principal, Sharma sir. Upon his request she accepted to perform here at CBIT. At first all the audience were skeptical about her performance, a classical dance, seriously? However, the moment she came on to the stage and started her routine, ther was a jaw dropping moment. All the people were surprised by the way she was manipulating the expressions on her face prior to the song chosen. They were thoroughly awestruck, unable to take their eyes off her. When she went backstage, all of us thought that the awesome performance had ended. But yet again, we were wrong. She put up a pot their on dais and started dancing on it with diyas in her hand and one diya on top of her
head. And, she managed to do it with grace. However, this wasn’t the end. This talented dancer ended up entertaining us with not 2 or 3, but 5 performances, unbelievable right!? This was the highlight of the event. Another scintillating event was the per
boys’ pop dance, consisting of many stunts, which shook everyone off. The next song Radha Kaise Naa Jaley truly showcased the tongue in cheek comedy between Krishna and Radha. Following that was the singing troupe—well, they need no intro-
Photo Credits: sumanth PhotograPhy
duction. They rocked the stage with the peppy numbers, and made the audience go crazy in rhythm. In CBIT, it’s not only the students but even the faculty are just as equally talented. There was a singing performance by Phani Chandra Sir of EEE and Shankar Reddy Sir as well. To top it all off, they had a cultural ramp walk consisting of only girls showcasing the various, beautiful attire of our culture. Sumitra madam of Bio-Tech also walked the ramp, setting it on fire! All together, it was a superb event studded with stars and blessed performers who made the day as awesome as it could have been.
formance of the two finalists Harini and Rohith of the reality show Padutha Teeyagaa, who were invited for a special performance of our event. They were really good with the kind of songs they sang. They covered almost all genres in Telugu. In the end they were asked to sing a song of Pawan Kalyan. Overall, it was pretty cool.
SHOW CASING CBIT’S OWN TALENT: In addition to the outside talent, CBIT showcased its own singing and dancing skills, this time in a different way than usual. One song they performed under sent across the message “SAVE WATER.” Following that was the
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New Gold Fish @ CBIT BY
SUMALIKA ADDAGARLA
Mark Splitz, Ian Thorpe, Michael Phelps with their mind boggling achievements at the highest competitive level have taken swimming from a summer pastime to a much more serious sport. This transformation couldn’t have been any less serious in the city of Hyderabad. Over the hot burning summers, many pools have popped up and many winners have emerged. Leading this school of fish is Jishnu M Dantu, a student of second year, Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology. In a society where academics is given priority over everything else, Jishnu has proved that striving for excellence in other fields is just as important. Having taken up swimming in his 4th class, he has come a long way in this field and has already taken part in a number of national and state level
swim meets. The usual college and university competitions are now a cake walk for him. Jishnu started his coaching under Mr. Bushan M Kumar in Bangalore. Though in Hyderabad Jishnu continues to be guided by Mr. Bushan. He practices for 3-4 hours a day at the B V Gurumurthy Swimming Pool in Secunderabad and doesn’t hesitate to put in the extra effort required to further improve his performance. His efforts had already paid off, fetching him gold in the ‘seniors’ category at the state level swim meet held earlier this year. His recent exploits at the OU Inter College Swim Meet have surely landed CBIT on the state swimming grid. Jishnu asserted his dominance at the Inter College Swim Meet held at OU on September 3rd this year .He created quite a stir by emerging victorious in all the events that he took part in. He won 3 gold medals in the 50m Backstroke, 50m Freestyle and 100m Freestyle categories. His achievement placed CBIT second in the men’s team championship. On being asked about his inspiration, Jishnu says, “Swimming greats like Ian Thorpe and Alexander Popov have played a huge role in my taking up swimming professionally. Also, my parents have al-
ways encouraged me to continue swimming professionally. Their giving me this kind of freedom has been great.” His college has also been very encouraging and accommodating in his pursuits. “The college has so far been very understanding regarding matters of attendance and that has helped me concentrate on my practice without any distractions. And I see to it that my studies don’t suffer because of my practice,” adds Jishnu. Apart from swimming, he also has a keen interest in robotics and has taken part in a number of workshops regarding the same. On being asked about his future plans about continuing swimming professionally, he says, “I would like to keep swimming professionally for as long as possible. For now, I am focusing on the present and am training hard for the inter university swim meet to be held in Kolkata from 3 Oct to 7 Oct.” This CBITian has high hopes for the future and has his sights set on the Commonwealth trials to be held next year. As Michael Phelps once said, “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” Here’s to hoping that he succeeds in his endeavor and continues to bring brilliance to our college in the future as well!
UEFA Champions League for DUMMIES BY
PRANAV ATTAVAR
The UEFA Champions League known simply as the Champions League, and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual continental club football competition organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. The tournament consists of several stages. In the present format, it begins in midJuly with three knockout qualifying rounds and a play-off round. The 10 surviving teams join 22 seeded teams in the group stage, in which there are eight groups of four teams. Each of the eight group winners and eight runners-up enter the final knockout phase, which culminates with the final match in May. The winner of the UEFA Champions League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA club World Cup. The price money for the matches won is as follows: •Playoffs: €2,100,000 •Group stage: €3,900,000 •For each match in group stage: €550,000 •Group match victory: €800,000 •Group match draw: €400,000 •Round of 16: €3,000,000 •Quarter-finals: €3,300,000 •Semi-finals: €4,200,000
•Losingfinalist: €5,600,000 •Winning the Final: €9,000,000
The tournament proper begins with a group stage of 32 teams, divided into eight groups. Seeding is used whilst making the draw for this stage, while teams from the same country may not be drawn into groups together. Each team meets the others in its group home and away in a roundrobin format. The winning team and the runners-up from each group then progress to the next round. The third-placed team enters the UEFA Europea league. There are eight groups starting from group A to H respectively. The teams are divided into the groups as above. Each group has a promising team and the essence of UEFA lies in the matches between them. >Group A has Paris SG who is currently leading the group results with 3 points >Group B has Arsenal leading them with 3 points. >Group C has AC Milan as one of the most promising teams and of course Malaga is heading the group with 3 points as of now. >Group D has Real Madrid in it who are undoubtedly the best team having won the title maximum number of times. >Group E has Chelsea, which is
currently not in its best of forms, but will for sure top the table. >Group F has no such challenging teams and Group G and H have Barcelona and the all time favorite Manchester United For the group stages, the winning team from one group plays against the runnersup from another group, and teams from the same association may not be drawn against each other. From the quarter-finals onwards, the draw is entirely random, with association protection. The tournament uses the away goal rule: if the aggregate score of the two games is tied, then the team who scored more goals at their opponent's stadium advances. The group stage is played through the autumn, whilst the knock-out stage starts after a winter break. The knockout ties are played in a twolegged format, with the exception of the final. This is typically held in the final two weeks of May. Given the present squads and the fixtures, the competition looks stiff and mouth watering but it could be any body’s trophy in the end. Manchester United, Arsenal, Barcelona, Real Madrid have equal chances of winning the title.
EPL - Signings worth the Money
BY
S HASHANK K OSURI
Being the most competitive league in the world, there will be players from around the globe coming into the English Premier League to achieve success. However, not everyone is successful, or to be exact, not every one is EPL material. Of the players who came in this season, few have already pronounced they are here to achieve great things with their performances in the recent weeks. Some of those signings who could turn out to be the transfer of the season are:
OSCAR DOS SANTOS EMBOABA JÚNIOR: Commonly known as Oscar, he is an exceptional talent from Brazil. With his play making ability and elegant passing skills he is being tipped as the “new Kaka” of Brazilian football. Oscar who moved to Chelsea from International will be deployed as one of the three players behind Chelsea’s main striker, along with Mata and Hazard. This 21 year old wonder kid has announced his arrival in English football producing an outstanding goal against Juventus in the champions league match.”I won’t say it’s nice to concede a goal, but it’s still nice to be a part of a great goal. Compliments to him, “were the words of Gianluigi Buffon, one of the worlds finest keepers. Oscar describes himself as an elegant footballer and has the ability to read the game. He does not rush and dribble with the ball at his feet but tries to do good things with the ball. This Brazilian midfielder is one of the few dazzling creative players with a dusting of magic on his boots.
JOE ALLEN: Rejuvenation at Liverpool!! Many scouts are eagerly waiting for this to happen. Their crisis since long has been the replacement of “The Red Beard”, Xabi Alonso. Joseph Michael Allen may be the perfect addition to fill in the shoes which have been too big for many players. Aquilani’s “non-receptive to English football” and Lucas Lieva’s wrecked injuries will be a luminous path for the 22year old Joe Allen to prove himself as an elegant midfielder. It took many to drop their jaws to see Liverpool spending 15 millon on him. His classy passing and ability to maintain possession are just the tinge to be fond of him. He is one of the brightest blazes from Swansea youth academy’s sparks. He was never seen much till the 2010-11 season where he took the chance of an injured player and pulled off a wide applauding for his tactical passing (and won the match). His defensive ability to hold the midfield will also be very prolific. He may
be the crucial piece of the dominoes in Brendan Rodgers’ s hort-passing revolution at Anfield.
SANTIAGO CAZORLA: A Spanish midfielder hailing from Malaga, Cazorla was built up as a professional in Villareal . If you’re a Spanish midfield stereotype then it’s unsurprisingly easy for you to guess his eagle-eye vision and passing. He was signed by Arsene wenger for a club record fee to concrete the arsenal team which is very frequently sabotaged by the exit door at the club. His bond with Robert “bobby” Pires has always directed him to be a part of arsenal. He is ambidextrous, and this justifies his unimaginable versatility in his game. He was embraced to play at right, left, central and also an attacking midfielder at Malaga. His fusing with Arsenal also makes him fill a void of injury concerns the team had last season, since the 27 year-old likes to play in any position if a player is injured. His ballistic 30 yard kicks will be cannons directly from the arsenal armory which have the power to leave the enemies to ponder upon the rebirth of Liam Brady. Cazorla certainly lights up The Emirates this season and provide plenty of ammunition for fellow new signings Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski.”Good Old Arsenal” would be an ear-splitting chant by the gooners this season as their contention for the title may be pedaled by this iconic signing. MIGUEL PEREZ CUESTA : Commonly known as Michu, he was the lone bright spot in a team (Rayo Vallaceano) which narrowly avoided relegation last season scoring 15 goals.
It’s surprising that the clubs run by Sheikhs, American business giants and Russian oligarchs weren’t interested in signing him. He was brought by Swansea for 3.8 million dollars and this signing could become the biggest bargain in a long time. He best fits in the role just behind the striker and is known for his passing, fitness, aerial ability and finishing prowess. His physicality is also an added incentive. With the loss of Scott Sinclair to Manchester city and Joe Allen to Liverpool, his inclusion to the squad came at the right moment for Swansea city. In the opening five matches of the season Michu has notched up four goals including two goals on his debut which helped Swansea thrash QPR 5-0. With Michu already showing his attacking potential he could well be the signing of this summer!
T20 CRICKET
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Gangnam Style! The Caribbean Way!
BY RAVI TEJA GAMINI
The world cup returns to West Indies after 33 years, the last time being in 1979. Celebration might just be an understatement for this jolly bunch of boys from West Indies, but they are likely to cherish it for the rest of their lives. Speaking about the final, it was one of many twists with both teams dominating at different stages of the game. Especially with the West Indians pulling off an unbelievable turnaround to come back and beat the Lankans by a huge margin of 32 runs. No sooner did they gain victory, did the entire team began their celebrations: the gangnam style! Earlier, West Indies had a slow start and their score read 38-2 after the
end of 11 overs. But the blitzkrieg from Marlon Samuels, which included six massive sixes which ensured 99 runs in the last 9. Eventually West Indians finished at 137-6. When the Sri Lankans started batting, their approach looked more planned in the first 9 overs which eventually tore itself apart as the entire batting line up failed to make an impact good enough to take their team to victory as Sri Lanka crumbled to 101 by 19 overs. West Indies were a better team during the day as they kept cool under pressure by batting bravely and bowling intelligently to pick up wickets quickly to wrap up the game. The Indian Debacle
The Indian t20 squad did very well to beat the top teams in the World Cup but was knocked out on the basis of net run rates. It is however arguable that it is unfair to the team that lost only one match. Many Indian fans would be disappointed but not disheartened. India was expected to make it to the top four with the kind of t20 specialists it boasts of. However, it is cricket, where anything can happen. All India can do now is to look into where they went wrong.
Jayawardene Quits as Captain Mahela Jayawardene steps down as captain of the Sri Lankan twenty20 side. He however would continue as captain for the other forms of Cricket
Sachin Speaks The little master would like to assess his cricketing future after the home series against England in November. He quoted ‘’I am 39 and I don't think I have plenty of cricket left in me. When I feel that I am not delivering what is needed, and then I will re-look at the scheme of things. I am already 39 and no one expects me to go on playing forever.”
Aussie Women Win the Twenty20 World Cup Australian women retain their twenty20 title after beating England in Colombo. After being set a target of 143, English women fell short only by 4 runs finishing at 138.
F1 - Where a Second Lasts Too Long BY
ABRAR AHMED
“Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you. “ - Satchel Paige The words of Satchel Paige don’t seem to be more apt than in the context of Formula One. Over the years since its inception, this sport has left the world asking for more and so has the competition responded. It's been over 60 years since Formula 1 was introduced to motorsport fans, and it still remains just as fresh and competitive as it used to be back in the simpler times. Although technology has continually been upgraded in this sport--prompting several rule changes--a team is nowhere without a top driver, and F1 attracts the best in the game. From Ayrton Senna to Niki Lauda to Michael Schumacher to Lewis Hamilton every one has only set the bar higher and made the competition stiffer. If 2011 proved to be very dull and predictable for the F1 fans this season surely promises to make up for the loss of entertainment. Though rules have changed from the previous year, teams have matched to it with their great innovations to leave the rest of the grid behind. The F1 2012 season, with its series of twists and turns, promises to be one most closely contested one. Be it Fernando Alonso or Mark
Webber or Sebastian Vettel, no one is going to let the other have a second’s sigh of relief in this season. With seven different winners in the first seven races, this has promised to be very exciting. Frequent rule changes and brilliant innovations have sent this sport soaring to great levels. Double diffusers in 2009 created big performance gaps and leaded to a season of playing catch-up. The regulations are so tight that, for the first time in a long time, perfection has almost been achieved. And that's why everything is so very close this year. With only 5 races left in the season, the championship is widely open with Fernando Alonso leading the pack being closely followed by Sebastian Vettel (just 4 points adrift) and Kimi Raikkonen. The 2008 champion has surely set a good lead upfront with 8 podium finishes in 14 races. Vettel, the clear cut winner of the previous two seasons, trails closely behind. With nearly 125 points up for grabs it can be anybody’s championship. Though Vettel is powering himself to checkered flags it takes Alonso just podium finishes to wrap this championship up in his favor. This season promises to be decided only at Brazil, the last race of the season. Apart from the on track developments there has also been a lot of
activity off of it. From the unhappy pay checks to technological glitches to penalties to team mind games, this season has been very spicy. With Mercedes securing the Lewis Hamilton’s services, the atmosphere at Japanese Grand prix is sure to change. This switch from Mc Laren has primarily been a repercussion of the financial crises the sport went under. Having his pay slashed, Hamilton stated looking else where. Though Mc Laren revised their pays to match Mercedes’ offer, it could not stop Hamilton from leaving the team he joined 14 years back. This development has rung the curtain down on one of the most celebrated careers in the sports history. Michael Schumacher being on his way to a second retirement is surely disheartening the world F1 fans. The seven time world champion has admitted that his return to the circuit in pursuit of unprecedented 8th world title has surely gone haywire with just one podium finish in this season. Overall, the 2013 season promises to be totally different than before. As bright as the future looks, the reset of the present season will be very exciting. It promises to be a nail biting finish.
CBIT SPORTS
BY VENNELA KULKARNI
THE CBIT PHYSICAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
The department of physical education, CBIT, was established in 1979 with the belief that physical education not only keeps young people physically fit and mentally sound but that sports as a whole breaks barriers of religion and class to unite people from diverse backgrounds in achieving a common glory.
Over the years, CBIT sports has produced many university-, national- and even international- sportspersons. It is well equipped with several indoor and outdoor facilities for sports such as cricket, football, volleyball, basketball, athletics, badminton, table tennis, caroms, chess etc. It regularly organizes the Osmania university intercollegiate tournaments and national level inter-engineering college tournaments.
SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS : 2012-2013 Osmania University Intercollegiate tournament
1. Men’s Swimming- 3rd place •Jishnu Maharshi (2/4 ECE) - 3 individual gold medals in 50m backstroke, 50m freestyle, and 100m freestyle 2. Men’s Chess-2nd place •P.Balaji (4/4 Production) •M.Srinath (4/4 CSE) •Y. Sai Kumar Reddy (3/4 IT) •K. Raja Ravi Kiran Reddy (3/4 Chemical) •Tridev (2/4 Civil) •V. Sudheer Kumar (2/4 ECE) 3. Women’s Badminton-3rd place •Hemalatha (3/4 IT) •Rohini (3/4 Biotech) 4.Women’s Volleyball-4th place •S. Sri Kanya (4/4 ECE) •Vennela Kulkarni (3/4 IT) •Ramya Deepika (3/4 ECE) •S. Anusha (2/2 MBA) •Aditi (2/4 ECE) •K. Priyanka (2/4 EEE) MGIT Inter- engineering college tournament
1. Men’s Cricket- 1st place •Rahul Reddy (4/4 Mech) •Y. Likit (4/4 Biotech) •D. Sandeep (4/4 CSE) •Shivam Sharma (3/4 Mech) •S. Pranay Kumar (3/3 ECE) •A.S. Yashwanth (3/4 Mech) •Sai Kumar Reddy (3/4 IT) •Pushparaj (3/4 Mech) •Md. Zakir (3/4 Civil) •K. Anurag (3/4 Civil) •Y. Anurag (2/4 Prod) •Rajat (2/4 Prod) •BJL Chandrabose (2/4 Mech)
National Inter Engineering Tournament IIT Kanpur
1. Athletics Long Jump - Gold •Laxmikanth N 2. Athletics 100m, 200m - Gold •Laxmikanth N 3. Athletics Triple Jump - Gold •Laxmikanth N
Movi_: Lif_ is B_[utiful
BY ADITYA RAMAN
After a long hiatus of 2 years Sekhar Kammula is back with his original forte of family entertainers but as always, it suffers from dragging narration and its length. Since it was Sekhar Kammula’s movie, the expectations were quite high among the audiences since he is a good writer and has the knack for dealing with fresh, simplistic and natural happenings beautifully. But Life is beautiful lacks freshness as it makes you remember his Happy Days all through the first half. The scenes between the gold phase and B-phase, the cricket match and some other instances run a parallel between th senior-junior scenes in Happy Days. Screenplay has gone for a toss and the
pace drops at many times. Editing could have been much better in the first half and many silly scenes should have been chopped off.
Although this is what I felt about the first half, it is passable with “cool” scenes and the pace in the second half is more focused on conflicts in love and life. The narration here
is slow paced thus making it drag on longer than it needs to. Lengthy second half and weak screenplay are the negatives of the film. The climax is an asset for the film which is packed with the mother sentimental scenes that came out well. Amala is superbly natural actor and she has dealt them with such ease. The montages in the ‘Amma..’ song were captured well. Life Is Beautiful might have done wonders if the silly episodes could have been chopped off. Watch it if you have time to spare and if your tear ducts haven't been recently used. Rating:3.5/5
Green Bawarchi
BY SREEKAR REDDY AND SHARAT CHANDER
The hustle and bustle of the streets of Narsingi greet you as you enter this restaurant and the waiter quickly whisks you away into the A/C section. Since most are regular customers, menus are not required because everyone already knows what they want to order. The service is pretty prompt and before you know it, a humungous serving of biryani is placed in front of you. And if it hadn’t already by now, your mouth starts to water with anticipation. The only place that comes to a CBITian’s mind when it comes to lip smacking food is the Green Bawarchi restaurant located at Narsingi. This place has become a major hangout spot for the students who seek a break from their routine meals. It has especially become an instant hit with the “hostel-ers” who flock to Narsingi at least once a week to take a break from hostel food.
It caters perfectly to students as they can get quality food for a very minimal price. The menu is not only long, but also shows a variety of good dishes ranging from a hyderabadi dum biryani to a simple butter naan. The biryani has a different taste to it compared to what is served at other joints ; the spices and masala certainly reach a whole new level. It may be an overwhelming touch to the taste buds at first but with each spoon the Green Bawarchi biryani definitely grows on you. Initially, when we heard so much about this restaurant, our expectations were sky high. Now, we can safely say that the Green Bawarchi has lived up to our expectations. Shut your eyes until you are seated, don’t mind too much about your surroundings and you should be more than fine. Enjoy!
The Kite Runner BY SURAJ PERI
A Thousand Splendid Suns BY RIYAZ SUNDRANI
Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, but writes good English with a simple, pure writing style. His first novel,The Kite Runner, became a favorite among reading clubs. That book tells a power story of two boys who are close friends growing up in Kabul. The main character is much like Hosseini himself and the book is about the relationships of male friends and of fathers and sons. In particular it shows the destructiveness of the Taliban to males. Moreover, Hosseini recognizes that the plight of women under the Taliban is far worse. This situation is explored in his second novel, A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS. First, the bad news, because this story is not autobiographical he could tell any story he wanted. So he chose an apparently borrowed framework. At best, his story is a retelling and amplification of Alice Walker's The Color Purple. It is more broadened and the setting is very different, but the sit-
uation and even the plot is more or less the same. It is the story of a young woman who is forced into a loveless marriage with a much older man who uses her as a slave and as a target for abuse. The situation goes on for years and just when things seem like they can’t get any worse, the husband brings another more attractive woman into the household The two rivals conflict and fight for the number two position in the household until they realize they have more in common than they have differences. Soon their dislike for each other turns to a solid friendship and genuine affection for each other, and at the same time a shared hatred for the offensive husband. Because this plot is the same for both stories, Hosseini’s lack of originality is the one demerit of his otherwise fine book. Since The Kite Runner was for me a new plot, I would rate that book a little higher. However, this book is still an engrossing and excellent read. In addition to the general plot, this book shows that there are worse things in the woman's lives
than their abusive husband. We are given a background of the wars in Afghanistan and the two women seem to suffer with each regime change. But when the Taliban take control the situation becomes truly harrowing and nearly unbearable. Women are treated lower than animals. Most medical facilities are male-only. The conditions at the rare and distant women's hospitals are completely barbarous. The descriptions of the "hospital" are nightmarishly the most haunting images of the book. This book will be an education for Americans as well as the rest of the world on the concentrated evil that the Taliban brought to Afghanistan. The first book had a scene of the stadiums in which women are stoned to death in front of large audiences. The second book considers the same stoning of the stadiums to be an important part of the plot. In that sense the two books dovetail. Overall, A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS is more about victimization, which perhaps is not so uncommon a theme.
The earth turns and the wind blows and sometimes some marvelous scrap of paper is blown against the fence for us to find. And once found, we become aware there are places out there that are both foreign and familiar. Funny what the wind brings. And now it brings "The Kite Runner," a beautiful novel by Afghan-American Khaled Hosseini that ranks among the best written and provocative stories of the year so far. Set in Afghanistan during the 1970′s, ‘The Kite Runner’ is an insightful novel that spans three decades of the life and customs of a people and a country that have tragically become synonymous with terrorism. The story opens on an Afghanistan very few of us know or even care to remember; at a time when its streets and people were not ravaged by the mania of religious extremism and war; when it was (believe it or not) a country of prosperity and liberal thought. Growing up in the midst of this is our narrator Amir with his odd family made up of his father Toghfan Aga, a bear-like man who is among the wealthiest and most respected public figure in Kabul. With them live their faithful servants, Ali and his young son Hassan, who have served the family for many generations as well as Toghfan Aga’s business partner and closest friend, Rahim Khan. This is the tale of Amir and his friendship with Hassan, and how the tragic events of one fateful day drive these two motherless boys apart. Guiltridden Amir is destined from that day forth to carry the immense burden of his betrayal, all because he did not have the courage to stop the things he saw in happening in a dirty al-
leyway. I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek… Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years. On one level, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is the story of two boys in Afghanistan and Afghan immigrants in America. It is a story set in a culture that has become of increasing interest to Americans since the September 11, 2001 attacks. On the other, it provides a good way for people to learn more about Afghan history and culture in the context of story. Looking at The Kite Runner as a story about culture, however, misses what the book is really about. This is a novel about humanity. This is a story about friendship, loyalty, cruelty, longing for acceptance, redemption and survival. The core story could be set in any culture because it deals with issues that are universal. The Kite Runner is one of the best books I have read in years. This is a page turner with complex characters and situations that will make you think hard about friendship, good and evil, betrayal, and redemption. It is intense and contains some graphic scenes; however, it is not gratuitous. "The Kite Runner" is a song in a new key. Hosseini is an exhilaratingly original writer with a gift for irony and a gentle, perceptive heart. His canvas might be a place and time Americans are only beginning to understand, but he paints his art on the page, where it is intimate and poignant.
BRAINTEASERS
Q1. What is special about the following sequence of numbers? 8 5 4 9 1 7 6 10 3 2 0 Q2. A rooster lays an egg at the very top of a slanted roof. Which side is the egg going to roll off on? Q3. What seven-letter word has hundreds of letters in it?
Q4. A prisoner is told "If you tell a lie we will hang you; if you tell the truth we will shoot you." What can he say to save himself? Q5. How far can a dog run into the forest?
Q6. Name three consecutive days without using the words Wednesday, Friday, or Sunday.
Life!
BY RAMCHARAN DEVALALA
Life is a magical gift. It is tough to understand because it is swift; A person who cares, never dares And the one who dares, never cares The collaboration of these two can make the impossible come true. People lose confidence here; They live only with fear. No matter if you are pushed to the wall Or made to fall Learn to bounce back like a ball. If your life is full of crashes Learn to rise like a pheonix from its ashes. The problem might be like mighty jaws But tear them apart with your claws. Trust me…. It is not about who won or lost, it is all about how you fought.
Answers: A1. The numbers are in alphabetical order. (eight, five, four, nine, one, seven, six, ten, three, two, zero) A2. A rooster doesn’t lay eggs. A3. Mailbox A4. You will hang me. If they hang him, then the statement was true and they could only hang him for telling a lie. If they shoot him, then it makes the statement a lie and they were only to shoot him for telling the truth. An alternate solution is to say, "You will not shoot me," leading to the same quandary for the killers. A5. Halfway. After that it will be running out of the forest. A6. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Fun Facts:
•One million, million, million, million, millionth of a second after the Big Bang the Universe was the size of a...pea. •It takes 17 muscles to smile while taking 43 muscles to frown. •The human brain is composed of 75% water. •More germs are transferred while shaking hands compared to kissing. •If stomachs did not have a lining of mucus, your stomach would digest itself. •On average, women say 7,000
CARTOON CREDITS: BHAVANA YALLA
words per day while men manage just over 2,000 words. •Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times. •The cigarette lighter was invented before the match. •Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different. •Bill Gates' first business was Traff-O-Data, a company that created machines which recorded the number of cars passing a given point on a road.
PAGE 11 BY BHAVISHYA CHANDRA KAMINENI Open any tech webpage, and you're bombarded with this word. What is it? What changes has the Big A made? Let’s take it under the glass and have a closer peek: iOS 6 is the latest mobile operating system from Apple for its lineup of iPads, iPhones and iPod touches. It is a direct rival to the Windows 8 and Google's Android Jellybean. Let’s kick off by talking about the newly added features:
Facebook Integration : This is a nifty feature because, lets face it, the only way we share anything these days is through Facebook. This comes as a welcome addition as you can now post on facebook with just a tap. Facebook contact sync has also been added and is quite similar to the one on Android.
Panorama Mode : Mobile photography has become a phenomenon and given the high quality eyes Apple products have, the inclusion of the panorama mode is a thing to be happy about. This mode takes continuous shots of your surroundings and combines them into a single, very wide angle picture. This mode lets you cover 240 degrees of view around you and would be useful in many situations.
‘Do not disturb’ mode : Let me paint a scene. It’s the weekend after a week of exams. You’ve been busy studying through the nights, and finally you can catch up on sleep. You don’t want to be disturbed. That’s when
iOS 6 this feature comes in handy. It lets you turn off all the notifications from your phone for a given period. But if a person tries to call you more than once continuously, the phone assumes it’s an emergency and rings. Nice! That’s quite a thoughtful touch.
way we look at speaking to a machine. It has been enhanced and now provides lots of information like scores and restaurant rating. Several new languages are also recognized by Siri in iOS 6. Unfortunately the accuracy of Siri with Indian accents is still low and can get frustrating. So you're better off doing the task manually. Passbook: This is a new app that lets you use your phone as a credit card. The downside is that feature is still in its initial stages and it probably will take a few more years for the infrastructure to be fully functional. As of now, there's not much you can do with it.
Apple maps : Apple has broken its joint venture with Google to provide maps and has designed its very own app. These new maps provide features like 3D Fly Over mode, where you can look at a city as if you were in a helicopter. They also provide turn by turn voice navigation when you're on the move. But there's a rather big catch. Apple maps are available for only a few countries and the flyover mode doesn't have any particular practical use. India is currently unsupported and so are many other countries across the globe. Although you can get back Google maps, Apple shouldn't have messed up with this.
Overview: iOS has always been the king among the mobile OS platforms. With its smooth fluid interface, great features and neat animations, it has been the benchmark to which other rivals have been trying to reach. The app store remains to be the finest inventory of apps on a mobile platform with amazing games and neatly designed apps. The iOS 6 , the latest incarnation only takes it a notch higher. It improves the response of the whole system by a small fraction and adds pleasing new additions to it. Though it’s not a cutting-edge revolution, it does improve on its predecessor. If you're out there in the market for a new smartphone, make sure you have the iPhone on your list. You'll have a good time with the latest iOS.
iPhone 5
If you haven't heard of it already, consider yourself cast away from this world. The pygmies in the African continent probably know about it too. What has made 50 lakh people run to the Apple Store and buy one in just 3 days? Why are all the techies calling it a sensation? Here's all you need to know about the iPhone 5: Thinner, lighter, stronger: Lets face it, the iPhone 4 and 4S have always been criticized for being fragile. Their glass screens and glass backs were prone to crack when dropped down. In the iPhone5 this has been fixed by replacing glass back panel with an aluminum one, which I think looks gorgeous. Physically, the iPhone 5 is slimmer and lighter than its predecessors. It’s among the slimmest smartphones today. And last but not least, the screen size has been increased to 4 inches which increases usability and makes videos look better. The Numbers: The iPhone 5 is a processing powerhouse. It packs a dual core processor (in other words 2 processors) and 1 GB RAM. Theoretically, it’s twice as fast as the previous gen iPhone. Tests conducted by various websites have shown that the iPhone 5 is, indeed, the fastest and most responsive smartphone in the world right now. Apple has done a great job this time around as well. The Screen: The iPhone 1, 3G, 3GS, 4 and the 4S
Better Siri: Remember Siri? The personal voice assistant on your phone that changes the
have always had the same screen size: 3.5 inches. To stay updated with the smartphone era we live in, Apple has increased the size to 4 inches. In addition, they have increased the colour saturation and resolution of the screen. The iPhone 5 has one of the best displays and the games, apps, videos and webpages looks absolutely crisp and vivid. Connectivity: The iPhone 5 has 4G LTE which supports speeds of up to 21 mbps from your cellular connection. The iPhone 5 has dual band WIFI which supports speeds of up to 100 mbps from your WIFI network. Now, that is seriously impressive.
Camera and Multimedia: The iPhone 5 has an 8 megapixel camera on the back and 1.2 megapixel camera on the front. The iPhone 4S is already the best camera phone and the 5 only takes it a bit further. It has a slightly better low light capability and has slightly faster photo taking times. The front camera has been improved too and now supports video calling in
High Definition. To top it all off, videos are now recorded in 1080P HD, and you can click pictures simultaneously while capturing a video. Other additions: This latest iPhone supports the brand new operating systems iOS 6. The battery has been slightly improved. The call quality has been improved and the touch screen response is even better. The USB/charging port is now smaller than the previous models allowing the phone's casing to be slimmer. The iPhone 5 comes with a new type of earphones called "Earpods". Apple claims it took them 3 years to develop and they sound just great.
Overview: The iPhone 5 is a great device. It takes great pictures, it’s twice as fast as the previous one, it’s entertaining, it has great battery life, it looks good and feels well made, and it delivers on all fronts what you'd expect your next smartphone to be. There are some who argue that there is nothing revolutionary or cutting edge, but the ultimate point is this: the iPhone 5 doesn't try to solve a problem that doesn't exist, rather it aims to approach perfection of a form. It’s made beautifully, works like a charm and impresses you every single day. It'd be a great investment for anyone looking for a high end smartphone. You wouldn't regret owning one. After all it is The Best Smartphone of 2012.