A 28-year-old Indian-origin MIT scientist has won a prestigious award for his research on radio waves, solving a problem that had stumped scientists for almost 150 years and enabling a host of new applications from Internet of Things connectivity to motion tracking.

Dinesh Bharadia, a graduate of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, was honoured with the 2016 Marconi Society Paul Baran Young Scholar Award that carries a cash prize of $ 4,000.

Bharadia’s research disproved a long-held assumption that it is “generally not possible for a radio to receive and transmit on the same frequency band because of the interference that results.”

His work culminated in making full-duplex radios a reality through the development of effective self interference cancellation technology. Bharadia, who pursued his PhD from Stanford University in the US, will receive the award in November in California.

“Let’s say you are shouting at someone and they are shouting at you. Neither of you can hear the other, because you are both shouting in the same frequency,” said Bharadia, currently a researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.

“The noise in your ears (interference) from your own shout prevents you from hearing the other person. That’s a good analogy for why radios have needed to use two different frequencies to transmit and receive simultaneously,” he said.

“It’s also why solving the challenge of developing ‘full duplex radios’ effectively doubles the amount of available spectrum,” Bharadia said.

The problem is more difficult than it sounds, said Bharadia. First, the interference is extremely strong – nearly a hundred billion times stronger than the signal that the radio might be trying to receive.

The resulting interference depends on the environment and its reflectors, changing in real-time as people move around. Typical radios (eg Wi-Fi) span many frequencies and use multi-antenna systems. Bharadia was able to demonstrate systems that overcame all these obstacles.

He turned full-duplex radios into a commercial reality by inventing new formulas that could in real-time, model the non-linear, time-varying self-interference as well as analog and digital self-interference cancellation circuits to apply the model to the known transmitted signal and cancel the self-interference.

The analogue cancellation filter Bharadia developed, also unleashed the potential for many more applications. The unique architecture had to allow cancellation in all environments.

“Dinesh’s work enables a whole host of new applications, from extremely low-power Internet of Things connectivity to motion tracking,” said Sachin Katti, Bharadia’s PhD advisor at Stanford.

“It has the potential to be used for important future applications such as building novel wireless imaging that can enable driverless cars in severe weather scenarios, help blind people to navigate indoors, and much more,” Katti said.

Former British prime minister David Cameron, who resigned in the wake of the June 23 “Brexit” vote , announced his decision to step down as a member of parliament on Monday.

Cameron was the prime minister when Britain decided to lift its “boycott” of Narendra Modi’s government in Gujarat, imposed after the 2002 riots. He pushed for a “special relationship” with India and established a rapport with Modi during his visit to London in November 2015.

The MP from Whitney, Oxfordshire said he did not want to remain in the House of Commons and be a distraction to Prime Minister Theresa May’s government, whose views on key issues may be different from those of Cameron.

“Obviously I’m going to have my own views about different issues. People would know that and that’s really the point. As a former prime minister it is very difficult, I think, to sit as a backbencher and not be an enormous diversion and distraction from what the government is doing,” he said.

The 31-year-old Wawrinka is the oldest U.S. Open men’s champion since Ken Rosewall was 35 in 1970. Yet he already had gained the upper hand by the time No. 1 Djokovic clutched at his upper left leg and grimaced after missing a forehand while getting broken early in the fourth set. From there, Djokovic briefly began conceding points, showing little of the fight he’s so famous for.

Trailing 3-1 in the fourth set, Djokovic was granted the unusual chance to have a medical timeout at a time other than a changeover. He removed both shoes and socks so a trainer could help him out with what appeared to be blisters on toes.

Wawrinka complained to the chair umpire about the 6-minute break, and Djokovic looked over and apologized.

When they resumed, Djokovic earned three break points, but Wawrinka held for 4-1. That continued a pattern that carried throughout: Djokovic, as good a returner as there is in the game — now, certainly, and perhaps ever — managed to convert only 3 of 17 break chances.

Djokovic started limping later and received more toe treatment at the changeover before he served down 5-2 in the fourth.

The second ship of the Project 15B, a guided missile destroyer christened ‘Mormugao’ for Indian Navy, will be launched in Mumbai on September 17.

The Mazgoan Shipyard, which is building the ship will also outsource work for 10 blocks to involve private ship building yard in the programme.

The navy aims to take the level of indigenisation by the navy to 68% in this project.

It said it has set a target of 2018 for the first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) while the government is seriously considering IAC 2 and it is in planning stage.

Vice admiral GS Pabby, controller warship production and acquisition, said the navy has the target of having 212 ships in its fleet by 2027 and it will be a “real challenge” and there is a need to work “very hard” for it.

Noting that in last one year the Indian navy has inducted five ships, which includes three warships, Pabby said this is the first time the naval forces have built so many ships of a class, — 10 ships of 15, A and B class – and this process has helped in indigenisation.

In 2011, the government had sanctioned four 15B ships at the cost of Rs 29,700 crores.

The first ship of the project, guided-missile destroyer ‘Visakhapatnam’, was launched on April 20 last year.

During launching ceremony the hull of the ship which is constructed on dry area is floated on water for the first time. It is a milestone event for any vessel.

“The last six years can be called the golden years of Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders. Since 2010, the yard has delivered one major warship platform to Indian Navy almost every year.”

“Commencing with the high-end stealth frigate INS Shivalik, delivered in 2010, the yard dedicated to the nation INS Satpura and INS Sahyadri in the same class.”

“This was followed by the highly acclaimed stealth destroyer INS Kolkata sporting a unique silhouette afforded by MF STAR antenna and INS Kochi in subsequent years. The third and last destroyer in this series, Chennai was delivered to the Navy in August 2016 and will be commissioned shortly,” it said.

MDL is also constructing six Scorpene class submarines for the Indian Navy under a transfer of technology from DCNS of France. The first boat in this class, Kalvari, will be commissioned into the fleet soon. The launch of the second boat is slated later this year.

The yard is now ready with the augmented facility created recently for a second line of submarines.

For the first time in its history, Mazagon Dock in 2015-16 achieved a value of production (VOP) above Rs 4,000 crore with an operating profit of Rs 218 crore.

The top court modified a September 5 order and asked Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs water to Tamil Nadu per day till September 20.

The earlier order asked for 15,000 cusecs to be released daily for 10 days, triggering violent protests and attacks in both states.

Karnataka wanted the apex court to keep the September 5 order in abeyance for five days but the SC refused to do so, instead modifying the order.

The order came on a day the Cauvery Supervisory Committee was to meet to decide on the quantum of the river’s water to be released to Tamil Nadu and other states.

China responded Monday to calls that it needs to do more to rein in North Korea’s nuclear program by saying that American officials were truly to blame for inciting conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

The detection Friday of North Korea’s fifth nuclear test brought new pressure on China, Pyongyang’s economic lifeline and the closest thing it has to a political ally. US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said China had an “important responsibility” in North Korea.

But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters Monday that Carter was “being too modest.” She cited a Chinese saying — “Whoever started the trouble should end it” — in calling on the US to “take on its due responsibility.”

“I think the U.S. should go over the process of the development of the nuclear issue and earnestly work on a tangible and effective resolution,” Hua said.

China has agreed to allow sanctions at the UN Security Council after previous tests by Pyongyang, and says it has restricted shipments of jet fuel and imports of certain minerals from North Korea, which otherwise remains in almost total isolation from the world. Critics, however, say China hasn’t done enough to tighten economic pressure on North Korea as punishment for its nuclear tests, which the Chinese government has publicly opposed.

Since Friday, Chinese state media have repeatedly linked North Korea’s latest nuclear test to the American deployment of a high-altitude missile defense system in South Korea, which China has long opposed.

Hua did not mention the missile defense system, known as THAAD, on Monday. But she said all sides needed to resolve their concerns in a “balanced way.”

Even if China wanted to rein in North Korea, analysts say it’s not clear that it could.

North Korea has repeatedly rejected China’s entreaties not to test nuclear warheads, and Pyongyang officials appear to be exploiting tensions between China and South Korea over THAAD, said Tong Zhao, an associate at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center think tank.

“Beijing apparently has very little real leverage,” Zhao said in an email.

One possibility is that China could try to broker a deal to freeze North Korea’s development of new missiles and warheads as part of the U.S. and South Korea suspending joint military exercises, Tong said.

But Adam Mount, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for American Progress, said China has more leverage, and more reason to act, than its officials sometimes make it seem publicly.

“More and more, China treats North Korea as a threat to its national security and regional stability,” Mount said. “Encouraging this transition should be at the top of the next (American) president’s agenda with China.”

Concerned that students continue to stoop under the weight of heavy school bags, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday asked affiliated schools to enforce additional measures to lighten students’ burden.

In the footsteps of the Maharashtra government — which enforced a new school bag policy last year limiting the weight of the bag to 10% the weight of the child — the CBSE in April issued an advisory that affiliated schools, too, must make bags lighter. The board has suggested ways in which schools, teachers and parents can achieve this, based on their feedback.

One of the major suggestions is that schools should ask students to stick to the timetable and make them aware about the effects of fatigue caused owing to heavy bags on their daily performance in class. “Young children whose spine is at a crucial stage of growth are most susceptible to back, muscle, shoulder pain and in extreme cases the distortion of spinal cord… the impact may well be irreversible,” read the circular issued by KK Choudhary, director, academic, research and training.

Among a slew of suggestions such as random checks, parental supervision while students pack bags and pairing students to share textbooks, the board stated that Class 1 and Class 2 should not be assigned homework or carry school bags and light weight textbooks should be prescribed.

Education officials in Mumbai observed that CBSE and ICSE school bags are heavier than the Maharashtra state board because they have multiple textbooks for each subject. “Students cannot rely only on the NCERT books in higher classes, reference books are needed to solve questionnaires because they are asked questions from different books in the exam,” said Kalpana Kumar, principal, St Joseph’s School, Panvel.

Recognising that this practice increases the bag weight, the CBSE suggested, “Schools should not prescribe too many additional and supplementary textbooks that are at times voluminous, costly and designed in a pedagogically unsound manner.”

It asked schools to set aside a few hours in the timetable for students to complete their homework and assignments, but schools called it an “impractical” move. “We cannot afford to make separate provisions for homework completion for each subject during school hours,” said Ganesh Parmeswaran, principal, Bal Bharti Public School, Navi Mumbai, adding that measures taken by schools to reduce the weight of the bags are not working.

“Many schools tried to rejig their timetable and allot double periods. We even gave parents freedom to take any step they want to lighten the bags, but it hasn’t helped much. Often teachers insist on bringing more books or tuition books are stowed away in the bag and this increases weight,” said Parameswaran.

Directives of the CBSE:

What schools can do:

Exhort students to abide by the timetable and to repack their bags daily to avoid carrying unnecessary articles and books.

Check school bags randomly to ensure students aren’t carrying heavy bags

Relate the adverse effects of fatigue caused due to heavy bags through special assemblies.

Don’t assign homework to students of classes 1 and 2 and ask them not bring their school bag.

Keep a separate provision in the timetable for students to complete their homework or assignments during school hours.

On days having sports period, allow students to wear sports uniform for the entire day so they don’t carry it separately.

Prescribe light-weight textbooks and don’t assign too many additional books.

What teachers can do:

Don’t penalise students for not carrying textbooks or workbooks. The fear may compel most of them to bring all the books adding to their burden.

Allow pairs of students to share textbooks so that one will bring half of the books required for the day and another student will bring remaining.

What parents can do:

Buy lighter backpacks with two taut straps. Raise health concerns over heavy bags in the parents teachers meetings

Regularly clean their bags and supervise packing. Instruct students to avoid hanging the bag on their shoulders with only one strap.

Based on The Hindustan Times article.

The US Commerce Department has primary oversight of the internet’s management, largely because it was invented in the United States. Some Republican lawmakers are trying to block the handover to global stakeholders, which include businesses, tech experts and public interest advocates, saying it could stifle online freedom by giving voting rights to authoritarian governments.

The years-long plan to transfer oversight of the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, is scheduled to occur on Oct. 1 unless Congress votes to block the handover. The California-based corporation operates the database for domain names such as .com and .net and their corresponding numeric addresses that allow computers to connect.

In the Sept. 13 letter, a copy of which had been reviewed by Reuters before it was sent, the technology companies said it was “imperative” that Congress does not delay the transition.

“A global, interoperable and stable Internet is essential for our economic and national security, and we remain committed to completing the nearly twenty year transition to the multistakeholder model that will best serve US interests,” the letter said.

Other signatories include Amazon, Cloudflare, Yahoo and several technology trade organizations.

Former presidential hopeful Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who leads the opposition against the handover, will hold a congressional hearing on Wednesday to review the transition, which he has criticized as a “giveaway of our internet freedom.”

Tech companies, technical experts and academics have said the transition is overdue and necessary to keep the Internet open and globally oriented, and that the proposal includes safeguards against any potential abuse by any one country.