QUOTES OF DR KALAM

PTA EXECUTIVE 2014

PTA Committee - 14th May, 2014

6th International Interfaith Conference on Holy Books

6th International Interfaith Conference on Holy Books

UNITED RELIGIONS INITIATIVE, SOUTH INDIA-SRI LANKA REGION

KARICKAM.P.O, KOTTARAKKARA, KERALA, INDIA-691531

Dear friends,

The inter-textuality series of conferences on Holy Books was started
in 2005 under the joint auspices of Cosmic Community Centre, Karickam
and Dr. Alexander Mar Thoma Centre for Dialogue, Kottarakkara. Eminent
scholars from different parts of the world attend this biennial
program. Four books have been published with all seminar papers so
far. Themes of the conferences before were-
1.      2005 – Intertextuality of the Holy Books
2.      2007 – One Word, Many Versions: a Re-reading of the Holy Books
3.      2009-- Holy Books and Violence
4.      2011-- Holy Books and People of Differing Faiths
5.      2013—Holy Books and Life After Life
The sixth conference in this series will be held on 31st January and
1st February, 2015 at the Sarvodaya Institute of Higher Learning,
Colombo, Sri Lanka. This will be followed by URI Asia Assembly from2nd to 3rd February at the Sarvodaya headquarters in Colombo. Please
note that this is UN Interfaith Harmony Week and our programs will be
part of this celebration, too.
The theme this year is “Holy Books and Eco Spirituality.” As usual, a
book will be published with all papers that are to be presented.
Articles shall  be received before 15th November, 2014, so as to be
included in the book.
Registration fees will be 1000 Indian rupees (2000 Sri Lankan rupees)
per day for one participant. Kindly send in your registration and
papers as early as possible. A trip to Kandy will also be arranged on
the 4th (expenses shared).

For details:
URI Office, Karickam.P.O, Kottarakkara, Kerala, India-691531
Tel: 91-474-2663903 , 91 94465 93013
E-mail: urikarickam12@gmail.com

                                                                Dr. Abraham Karickam
                                                                Dr. Ravi Kandage (coordinators)

Beautiful Birds

New mineral discovered in Australia, named Putnisite

New mineral discovered in Australia, named Putnisite

Scientists have discovered a newmineral in Western Australia that is unique in structure and composition among the world's 4,000 known mineral species.

The mineral was named after theAustralian mineralogists Andrew and Christine Putnis.The mineral 'Putnisite', described by a visiting research fellow at theUniversity of Adelaide in Mineralogical Magazine, was found in a surface outcrop at Lake Cowan, north of Norseman in Western Australia. The new mineral occurs as tiny crystals, no more than 0.5 mm in diameter and is found on a volcanic rock. It appears as dark pink spots on dark green and white rock which, under the microscope, appears as square, cube-like crystals.

It combines the elements strontium, calcium, chromium, sulphur, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen - a very unusual combination.

Indian-American Scientist Anil Jain developed first 3D model of human fingerprint

Indian-American Scientist Anil Jain developed first 3D model of human fingerprint

An Indian-American scientist has built the first 3-D model of a human fingerprint called Phantom on 06 March 2014.That could boost the accuracy of fingerprint-matching systems and improve security technology.  The 3-D finger surface, complete with all the ridges and valleys that make up the human fingerprint, is made using a 3-D printer.

• Tools like this would help improve the overall accuracy of fingerprint-matching systems, which eventually leads to better security in applications ranging from law enforcement to mobile phone unlock.
• Imaging phantoms are common in the world of medical imaging. For example, to make sure anMRI machine or a CT scanner is working properly, it needs to first image an object of known dimensions and material properties.
• In health care, a 3-D heart or kidney can be created. Because the dimensions are known, they can be put into a scanner and the imaging system can be calibrated
• In this case, the ultimate goal is to have a precise fingerprint model with known properties and features that can be used to calibrate existing technology used to match fingerprints.

Boston Dynamics developed Life-sized Anthropomorphic robot named Atlas.

Boston Dynamics developed Life-sized Anthropomorphic robot named Atlas.

 Boston Dynamics of US developed a life-sized Atlas Anthropomorphic robot called Atlas. The robot was developed as a part of a challenge to create a robot that could go at the places, which are dangerous to humans.

• The Atlas robot has been designed not as a warrior but it is a humanitarian machine and will be used for the rescue purposes at the time of natural disasters.
• The 6-foot-2-inch Atlas is a powerful robot in the form of an adult human. It moves with a variety of lifelike and natural behavior, including dynamically-balanced walking, calisthenics, manipulation and user-programmed tasks.
• This robot has been developed by Boston Dynamics and is a brainchild of project of DefenseAdvanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).