INDIAN I.T.WIZKIDS

AMAN REHMAN

Eight-year-old computer wizkid Aman Rehman. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir















For Aman Rehman, an eight-year-old animation wizard from Dehradun who is the son of a motor mechanic, recognition at the international level has started pouring in even as the boy applies for an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records under the young achievers category. Aman has made over 1,000 animation movies. Aman’s father M Rehman, an illiterate scooter mechanic who supports his wife and three children, claims that his son is the youngest wizkid and is very hopeful that it is only a matter of time that Aman gets an entry into the Guinness Book as the youngest computer wizkid in the world.

INDIAN I.T.WIZKIDS

RANVEER CHANDRA                       
                                                                                            

Researcher Networking Research Group ranveer@microsoft.com Tel: (425) 706-7034 Fax: (425) 936-7329

Ranveer Chandra is a Researcher at Microsoft Research. He completed his undergraduate studies in Computer Science from IIT Kharagpur, India, and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Cornell University in 2005. As part of his doctoral dissertation he developed VirtualWiFi - a virtualization architecture for wireless network cards. This software has been downloaded more than 125,000 times, and is among the top 5 downloaded software released by Microsoft Research. Windows 7 supports some VirtualWiFi APIs as well.
Ranveer’s research focuses on system challenges in designing computer networks. He is currently working on four different projects: white space networking, energy saving PC architecture, mobile systems, and network management. Ranveer was invited to the FCC to present his research on white spaces. Spectrum regulators from India (TRAI), China (SARFT), Brazil (ANATEL) and Singapore (IDA) have visited the Microsoft Campus in Redmond, WA to see a live demonstration of his research. Ranveer has filed over 40 patents on his research, 7 of which have been granted. He has also published more than 30 research papers, two of which have won the best paper awards at ACM CoNext 2008 and ACM SIGCOMM 2009. 
In 2008, he organized the MSR Cognitive Wireless Networking Summit in Snoqualmie, WA, which brought together leading academics and industry people to discuss the challenges in build dynamic spectrum access networks, for example over the TV white spaces. More information can be found here.

Recent Publications

• Paramvir Bahl, Ranveer Chandra, Thomas Moscibroda, Rohan Murty, and Matt Welsh, White Space Networking with Wi-Fi like Connectivity, in ACM SIGCOMM (Best Paper Award), Association for Computing Machinery, Inc., August 2009
• Yuvraj Agarwal, Steve Hodges, Ranveer Chandra, James Scott, Victor Bahl, and Rajesh Gupta, Somniloquy: Augmenting Network Interfaces to Reduce PC Energy Usage, in Networked Systems Design & Implementation (NSDI), USENIX, 22 April 2009
• Paramvir Bahl, Ranveer Chandra, Patrick P. C. Lee, Vishal Misra, Jitendra Padhye, Dan Rubenstein, and Yan Yu, Opportunistic Use of Client Repeaters to Improve Performance of WLANs, in ACM CoNEXT 2008 (Best Paper Award), Association for Computing Machinery, Inc., December 2008
• Srikanth Kandula, Ranveer Chandra, and Dina Katabi, Whats Going On? Learning Communication Rules in Edge Networks, in ACM SIGCOMM, Association for Computing Machinery, Inc., August 2008
• Ranveer Chandra, Ratul Mahajan, Thomas Moscibroda, Ramya Raghavendra, and Paramvir Bahl, A Case for Adapting Channel Width in Wireless Networks, in ACM SIGCOMM, Association for Computing Machinery, Inc., August 2008

PUNJABI KAVEESHARS

RANJIT SINGH SIDHWAN

Kavishar Ranjit Singh Ji Sidhwan used to sing with and without music. As most of us know that to sing unplugged is no ordinary skill, but Kavishar ji was a master of it. Kavishar ji was honoured with prestigious awards like Prof. Mohan Singh Award, Prof. Sohan Singh Sital Award and Amar Singh Award. He had the company of Shiromani Kavishar Sh. Karnail SIngh ji Paras Ramuwalia and Sh. Chann Singh Jandi during his singing career. Though ‘Papa Ji’ as Sh. Satinderpal Ji calls his father as is no more among us, but we are honoured and proud to have his outstanding memories as a great individual, professional singer and a caring father.

INDIAN ENTREPRENEURS

RAUNAQ SINGH

Born: 1922
Achievement: Founder of Raunaq Group; Elected as a member of the Executive Board of the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris 

Raunaq Singh was one of the earliest entrepreneurs of independent India who made it big. He was the founder of Raunaq group. The Raunaq Group's major companies include Apollo Tyres Ltd, Bharat Gears Ltd, Bharat Steel Tubes Ltd, Raunaq International Ltd, Menarini Raunaq Pharma Ltd, and Raunaq Automotive Components Ltd.

Raunaq Singh was born in 1922. After initial struggle he went on to become a powerful figure in corporate India. At one point of time in his life he could afford only one paisa a day for meals and when he retired his group was employing 9000 people on his payroll. 

Raunaq Singh was a great advocate of economic liberalization and globalization of the Indian business. He worked tirelessly to put the Indian industry on the global map. He held several key leadership positions in Industry & Trade Associations. These included President Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), President The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Chairman Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC), Chairman Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association, and President Federation of Indian Export Organization. 

Raunaq Singh won several awards for his entrepreneurship. He was often referred as "Mr. Exporter", because of his inclination for exports and export promotion for Indian Industry. Raunaq Singh also won international recognition for his entrepreneurial skills. was elected as a member of the Executive Board of the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris for a three-year term.

Raunaq Singh died on September 30, 2002.

PUNJABI FOLK SINGERS

HAZARA SINGH RAMTA

Hazara Singh Ramta (b. August 1, 1926 -) is a Punjabi folk singer, Poet and Comedian. Ramta was born in Sahiwal, Pakistan. Though Hazara Singh Ramta is a born poet and an epitome of artistic faculties, he started his singing career in 1952 with All India Radio and HMV by broadcasting and recording his beautiful ghazals and hilarious songs.

PROMINENT PUNJABI-1

MOHINDER SINGH RANDHAWA

Early life and education

M. S. Randhawa was born February 2, 1909 at Zira, Ferozepur district, Punjab, India to a middle class Sikh family, S. Sher Singh Randhawa and Shrimati Bachint Kaur. He did his matriculation from Khalsa High School Muktsar in 1924 and his F.Sc., B.Sc. (Hons.), and M.Sc. (Hons.) in 1926, 1929 and 1930 respectively from Lahore. In 1955, he was awarded a Doctorate in Science by the University of the Punjab for his work on algae, especially on Zygnemataceae.

Career

Randhawa joined the Indian Civil Service in 1934, then served in various capacities at Saharanpur, Fyzabad, Almora, Allahabad, Agra, and Rai Barelli until 1945, when he became secretary of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for a year. He was associated with the ICAR through its initial years and made huge contributions to this pioneering organisation which was responsible for the Green Revolution in India.

In 1946, he was appointed as the Deputy Commissioner of Delhi, when India was on the eve of independence. In 1947 he was in charge of the entire function where Jawaharlal Nehrudelivered his famous Tryst with Destiny speech. As the Deputy Commissioner, he helped persons uprooted by the Partition of India resettle, and then in 1949 he was sent as the Additional Director-General (Rehabilitation) and subsequently made the Director-General (Rehabilitation), Punjab. Dr. Randhawa then went to Ambala Division in Punjab as the Commissioner. He was brought back to the task of rehabilitating people in 1953 as the Development Commissioner and Commissioner Rehabilitation and Custodian, Evacuee Property, Punjab. During this time he was in charge of allotting land to those who had left behind lands in Pakistan and allotting land to them in Indian Punjab.

In 1955 he was made the Vice-President of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Additional Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, New Delhi. He then served the Government of India as Advisor, Natural Resources Planning Commission from 1961-1964 and the as special Secretary, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Govt. of India. Hesubsequently became the Financial Commissioner of the Capital Project Punjab from July 1966 to October 1966, and then he was appointed the Chief Commissioner of the Union Territory of Chandigarh in November 1966 and remained so till 1968.

Randhawa was chairman of the committee to plan the city which is now Chandigarh in 1955, and was instrumental in the city's landscaping. Other achievements include his roles in establishing the Rose Garden in Sector 16 in Chandigarh, the Punjab Agricultural University at Ludhiana, the Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, and the Anglo – Sikh Wars Memorial near Ferozepur which was completed in February 1976.

Death and afterward

Dr. Randhawa died on March 3, 1988 in his farmhouse in Kharar. The library at Punjab Agricultural University is named in his honor and maintains a collection of his works and laboratory instruments used by him.^[1]

Published works

• The Birth of the Himalayas (1947)
• Out of the Ashes; an account of the rehabilitation of refugees from West Pakistan in rural areas of East Punjab (1954)
• Basohli Painting (1959)
• Zygnemaceae (ICAR, New Delhi) (1959)
• Indian Painting : the scene, themes, and legends with John Kenneth Galbraith (Hamilton, 1961)
• Beautiful Trees and Gardens (1961)
• Kangra Paintings on Love (1962)
• Natural Resources of India (1963)
• Flowering Trees (1965)
• Chamba Painting (1967)
• Farmers of India (1968)
• Evolution of Life (1969)
• The Kumaon Himalayas (1970)
• Kangra rāgamālā paintings (1971)
• Beautiful Gardens (1971)
• The Famous Gardens of India (1971)
• Kangra Valley Painting (1972)
• Green Revolution (1973)
• Travels in the western Himalayas in search of paintings (1974)
• Gardens through the ages (1976)
• Beautifying India (1977)
• A history of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, 1929-1979 (1979)
• Kishangarh Painting (1980)
• A History of Agriculture in India (1980-1986)
• Basohli Paintings of the Rasamanjari (1981)
• Guler Painting (1982)
• Paintings of the Bābur nāmā (1983)
• Indian sculpture : the scene, themes, and legends (1985)
• Indian paintings : exploration, research, and publications (1986)
• Above all as an algologist he has published nearly 50 articles on different algae in reputed scientific journals from 1933 to 1962.
• Kangre De Lokgeet [Folf Songs of Kangra] (Punjabi)    
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  [BIBLIOGRAPHY
  1. Copyright © Dr V Nath C/O Darshan Singh Chahal "A Life to remember.]