Black Saturday for Hyderabad !!

Last saturday(25-August), IT-Hub Hyderabad witnessed twin blasts killing more than 40 people and leaving about 80 seriously wounded. The blast spots, namely Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat in Koti are both popular recreation destination for the localites.

Pic Details : The pic shows the book "The Complete Reference : Java" that was purchased on the same day by a B.Tech. student from Koti(the hub of technical books in Hyd) who got killed in the blast at Gokul Chat.

Just the very next day, Police succeeded in detonating 19 other unexploded bombs- most fitted with timers and placed in plastic bags - at bus stops, by cinema halls, road junctions, pedestrian bridges, near public water tap, etc. Seems like terrorists had plans to explode the whole city !! (Just few hours before the blasts, the city police seized Rs. 2.36 crore in counterfeit notes smuggled into the city)

From last several weeks, the city has been observing several hoaxes to major IT companies(including Microsoft, D.E.Shaw & Co. and Oracle) spread across the city. There is a growing feeling of unease in the industrial sector, specially in IT sector, in the wake of these twin blasts.

Why is Hyderabad becoming a soft target for terror attacks? While that's a question that investigating agencies will have to probe and answer; its surely a high alarm for the government to re-introduce acts like POTA, TADA, etc. to take strict action against the terrorists. On the other hand, the residents of the city also need to take extra precautions while visiting such crowded places.

One good thing, I observed here was that after the blasts there were NO communal riots (quite unlike Gujrat) and all citizens are helping restore order in the capital. Although, today a strike has been called by a political party, but even then, the city is observing complete law & order.

*Sincere Thanks to many of my friends for showing concern and calling me shortly after the blasts to confirm my well-being ! Am so indebted to all of you !!! At the time of blasts I was working in my office just a few kms from Lumbini Park. Unfortunately, my current office is also amidst a busy marketplace.

ACM ICPC Regionals 2007

ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest(ACM ICPC) is the largest computer programming contest in the world. The ACM ICPC is an activity of the ACM that provides college students with an opportunity to demonstrate and sharpen their problem-solving and computing skills.

The ACM ICPC Asia Regional Contests invite Asian students to meet, establish friendships and promote fair competition in programming. There are thirteen sites in Asia region. The winning team of each site is eligible to participate to the world finals. Winning team may also get travel support from ACM ICPC Kanpur Site sponsors to participate in the world finals.

Personal Comments :

Well, this competition is not new to LNMIITians and we have been participating in it for past two years. It starts with an online elimination round. Those clearing that, would be eligible to compete in the IIT Kanpur on-site contest on October 27-28, 2007.

The problems are really nice and brainstorming. And, those already having fun with coding in Intra-College Programming Contests being organized by Prateek Goel and Anupam Gogar, must appear in it to test their skills. You might have a look at the last year's problems to get some idea.

For the newbies, .. this competition is about having a strong base in algorithms as well as coding, and sharp intelligence to look through seemingly tough problems. I would suggest you to contact Pankaj Mittal(IV Yr.) or Anurag Sodani(IV Yr.) for more details about the contest(both represented the college last year at the Kanpur event).

Well, some students might be scared to see that registration costs Rs. 2500 /- (although, Rs. 1000 /- shall be refunded if you are not eligible for onsite event). But, believe me, the exposure this contest provides to you is really worth the price.

For more details, just visit Asia Regional Contest- 2007, KANPUR SITE website.

Kindly note that :

Last Date of Registration: September 14, 2007

Preliminary Online Contest Date: September 22, 2007

All the very best to participants !! Cheeeers !!!

TGMC 2007 : Registrations Open

The Great Mind Challenge 2007

Service Oriented Architecture ... Web 2.0 ... PureXML ... Do you want to know what this jargon is all about ? And are you keen in learning and doing something hands-on? Then this is an opportunity for you to apply what the industry buffs are talking about.

IBM Academic Initiative India team is ready AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!! with the right ammunition to arm YOU ALL in the fast paced, everyday evolving world of technology. We are here to share our ammunition - Â plethora of opportunities with you all.

Pick up YOURSELF and make the most of it. IBM ANNOUNCES THE REGISTRATION TO THE GREAT MIND CHALLENGE 2007 OPEN. If you think you can do it, you can..........

The top 100 participant students will be interviewed for job placements in IBM.

Personal Comments :

A great competition to showcase your talent of accomplishing real-life projects, the only demerit being that its limited to IBM technologies ONLY :( . Anyways, if you are interested in DB2, WebSphere, Rational, Tivoli, etc. , this is an opportunity you just cannot afford to ignore !

In case, you are new to all this, but interested to learn it, IBM helps you with free remote support and mentoring through forums, etc. Plus, you get a free copy of some of these software too !

Last year, Arti Ma'am was involved in it along with some students. The newbies can contact her for more info and guidance.

More details can be grasped from this link : TGMC'07

Deadline for registration : 31st August 2007

# Thanks to ARJUN( III Yr ) for sharing this information with all of us!

Special Congratulations

Following the enquiry from some of you regarding the current status of some of my batchmates who unperturbed by their ill luck at Campus Placements, came out shining from this difficult phase; I am posting here the information as per my knowledge :

Amit Jain : L & T Infotech, Mumbai
Anubhuti Gupta*^ : Huawei Technologies, Bangalore
Arpit Jain : L & T Infotech, Mumbai
Mayank Sharma : 3i Infotech, New Delhi
Rachita Agarwal^ : L & T Infotech, Mumbai
Sudarshan Vyas : L & T Infotech, Mumbai
Vinod Kumar : 3i Infotech, New Delhi

* Dropped the offer from L & T Infotech to join Huawei.
^ Already joined the company.

Special thanks to Shri A. P. Singh, for arranging interviews of 3i Infotech.

NOTE : In case any of you has more updated info, kindly let me know : abhi.rjp@gmail.com

Happy 60th Independence Day !!

Dear LNMIITians,

On the eve of the 60th Independence Day of our motherland, I extend to you all my greetings and best wishes for your prosperity.

Over the past few decades, one of the arenas where our nation has proved out to be indomitable is in the abundance of world-class talent pool for the Information and Communication Technology based industries(with the current progress rate being 28% p.a.). I am glad to observe that LNMIIT is also playing its role in this progress, by empowering us all with state-of-the-art skills to carry this baton ahead.

It gives me immense pleasure to observe all my fellow batch mates doing well in their respective domains. I specially convey my congratulations to all those who could not manage to get placement through college, but fought on their own to grasp jobs no-less-better than those offered at campus. In doing so, they have achieved self-confidence as a bonus gift along with their first job.

It looks like(and I sincerely wish too !) that this year we shall achieve 100% placement. But even if that's not the case, some of your seniors have already proved that there is nothing to worry much about.

This great day I wish you could spare few moments to go through the following lines extracted from an interview of Shri J.R.D.Tata :

"nothing worthwhile is ever achieved without deep thought and hard work, ... that one must think for one self ... and never accept at their face value slogans and catch phrases to which unfortunately our people are too easily susceptible, .. that one must forever strive for excellence, ..or even perfection, in any task, ..no matter how small, .. and never be satisfied with the second best , .. that no success or achievement in material terms is worthwhile unless it serves the needs or interests of the country and its people,... and is achieved by fair and honest means, .."

Lets all pledge to dream BIG, and promise to put our souls in achieving our goals, .. Lets all pledge not to compromise with our dreams, .. as this kills the very meaning of our life, .. Lets pledge to look for solutions rather than problems, ..

Its no more than a few months of my experience as a software tester, but by now, I realize one thing for sure, .. "the greatest software tester is not the one who finds the maximum bugs, ... but the one who gets the maximum number of bugs solved, .."

Perhaps, the same applies to life !

Jai Hind !!

Techniche '07 : 7 - 9 Sept , IITG

Hey Geeks & Budding Managers !!
. . . . . . here comes the 9th edition of Techniche, the annual techno-management festival of IIT-G.

Techniche is a pragmatic endeavor, aimed to increase the understanding of this human built world around us. It is a vision that strives to enhance the potential for authentic creativity and fan the sparks of innocation of the "to-be-prodigies" of our nation.

The registration for all contests has begun, so hurry, choose the contest of your choice and prove your calibre, ... all the very best :)

Well, I would specially recommend trying out Byte Code and Trinity of Neo ; but then there is lot more to be enjoyed at Techniche, .. Discover urself !

Talk with the CEO : Mr. Lakshmi N. Mittal

Hi LNMIITians,

Hope you all are having an awesome time at the institute.

As per my understanding, many of you have a desire to interact with Mr. Lakshmi Niwas Mittal. Unfortunately, you all(other than the final year students) missed the chance as he couldn't come for the maiden Convocation ceremony. Anyhow, I just figured out a site(ArcelorMittal TV) through which you can post your comments(and questions, if any) to him. ( although I am not sure whether you would receive any response or not ! )

ArcelorMittal TV is a web 2.0 web-tv and blog, documenting the challenging merger of the two leading steel companies. This site talks about the post merger integration process of ArcelorMittal and talks about their forthcoming endeavours. The good thing is that it features a section called "Talk with the CEO" where you can post your comments to Mr. Mittal. The site states that Mr. Mittal answers to the issues raised here on a monthly basis, but I am a bit doubtful about that.

You may use the site or blog to share your thoughts, but unless you got a note worthy point with respect to ArcelorMittal, expecting a response would not be a sensible idea. Just remember, that this site is not Mr. Mittal's personal site, and that its strictly meant for discussions related to the company.

Last request, be sincere and kindly do not spam.

Placements rockin' at LNMIIT !!

Following the placements from TCS and Wipro in the month of May, last week LNMIIT was visited by Sapient and CSC for more placements. This session resulted in 7 offers from Sapient and 13 from CSC.

Heartiest Congratulations to the following folks for making it through to these good companies :

Sapient :

Abhishek Sharda
Ashish Kumar Gupta
Dheeraj Kankaria
Pankaj Mittal
Payas Gupta
Prateek Mittal
Vikas Choudhary

CSC :

Abhidev Jain
Ankit Sethi
Anshul Vijay
Hitesh Sharma
Mayank Vishnoi
Megha Jain
Naveen Mehta
Puneet Kochar
Raksha Sharma
Ritesh Garg
Rohit Hoon
Rohit Sharma
Sonam Mathur

This takes the placement statistics to a new height as nearly 80% of the final year batch is placed right at the beginning of this academic year. Thanks to the efforts of the placement cell as well as the talented final year students to bring this glory to the institute.

I also realized that some of our faculty members are striving hard to bring some BIG companies to college, like Microsoft, D.E.Shaw & Co, etc. Its a great going for LNMIIT, and the day is not far when we shall achieve 100% placement as well as some cool 'Dream Jobs' for our super-talented LNMIITians.

Wanna test your analytical skills ?

I just randomly landed over a good puzzle, and felt that it might serve as a treat to your brain cells. So, just grab a piece of paper and a pencil, ... and here you go, ....

Ten teachers are assigned to evaluate a multiple choice test. In order to secure the privacy of the examination, each teacher was given only the answers of some of the questions. The point is to guarentee the gathering of at least five teachers for getting answers to all of the questions. (That is to say, no combination of four or less teachers will be able to collect all the answers, whereas any combination of five or more teachers will be able to collect them all).

What is the minimum possible number of questions in this test and at least how many answers should be given to each teacher?

Kindly do not mention the answer in your comments. Thanks !

This puzzle has been taken from http://www.puzzleup.com/