Civil Engineering Society Body 2012 2013

P Roy (Faculty In Charge) Ravi Sharma Debanjan Purkayastha Sandeep Menon Nishant Ranjan Convener/President cesnitsilchar13@gmail.com

Vice - President General Secretary Publication Secretary Cultural Secretary

ravisharmanits@gmail.com

aman_dbz@rediffmail.com
thesandeepmenon@gmail.com

ya.its.nishant23@gmail.com

Angshuman Ch. Baruah Mridu Pawan Uzir Nikhil Pasari

Assistant Publication Secretary Assistant Publication Secretary Assistant Cultural Secretary

Executive Members:Senior: Tilottama Roy K Prashanth Babu Junior: Navodita Bibhuti Montu Gambhir Dheeraj Swaroop Sophomore: Debanjana Gupta Prabhanshu Raj Biplab Bhattacharjee Fresher: Devajani Borah Ronak Sharma

Contents
Title Messages Coffee with CES Corporate Titans Civil Spectrum Software Experience Speaks Expressions Indian Kaleidoscope Our Esteemed Faculty Reminiscence CES Body 2012-2013 Page No. 4 6 9 16 36 41 46 59 66 70 74

Message from Director

Dear Reader, It is indeed a pleasure to learn that the Civil Engineering Society of NIT Silchar is going to publish the fourth edition of its Branch Magazine SRiSHTEE. This initiative by the Civil Engineering Society to publish its magazine regularly is laudable. After the resounding success of its inaugural edition, SRiSHTEE team has brought out another polished edition of the only branch magazine of NIT Silchar. I am sure the magazine will go a long way to promote a better academic environment and harness the talents and abilities of the students of our college. A vibrant academic atmosphere is a prerequisite for promoting a culture of research, scholarship and excellence for everyone who is associated with the magazine. The mission of this institute is to produce quality manpower, equipped with human and social values required to integrate excellent technical skill, social character, leadership, creativity and innovation for the benefit of mankind and sustainable development of India and to promote research in emerging disciplines and I hope this magazine will help our institute to reach this target. I convey my best wishes to the entire SRiSHTEE team and the Civil Engineering Society. Undoubtedly, the magazine will go a long way in promoting a better academic environment and provide an impetus to scholarly pursuits in the department as well as the institute as a whole. Dr. N V Deshpande Director, NIT Silchar

Message from Convener

Dear Reader, It is my great pleasure to find that my beloved students have brought out the fourth edition of our departmental magazine, SRiSHTEE this year. This pioneering project was started in 2009 and it impresses me how much we have travelled since then. SRiSHTEE has come a long way and has grown from strength to strength in terms of content, publication quality and editorial standards. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the Chief Editor of SRiSHTEE, all the office bearers and the entire SRiSHTEE team for their untiring efforts in publishing the fourth edition. Wishing CES and Team SRiSHTEE bigger successes in future and hope we will achieve even grander goals. Hope you all enjoy the magazine Parthajit Roy Assistant Professor Convener CES, NIT Silchar

Interview with Prof. B V Rangan

Dr B Vijaya Rangan is currently an Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering at Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia; he served as the Dean, Faculty of Engineering and computing, prior to his retirement. He has about 50 years of experience in teaching, research, professional and consultancy activities and, has taught and conducted research at major international institutions in Australia, Canada, USA, and India. Dr Rangan has published over 200 papers in international technical journals and conference Academic Qualifications BE Madras University, 1961 PhD Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 1967 Professional Standing Fellow, Institution of Engineers, Australia Fellow, American Concrete Institute Member, Concrete Institute of Australia Member, Engineering Earth and Applied Sciences Discipline Panel, Australian Research Council (1993-95) Prestigious Prizes and Awards Nicolaides Prize (1967), Institution of Engineers (India) Raymond Reese Structural Research Award
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proceedings and, about 60 research reports in the field of concrete structures and concrete technology. He has received many prestigious international awards and prizes for his research and professional contributions. Dr Rangan is a co-author of the well-known text book Concrete Structures and its predecessor Reinforced Concrete, widely used by university students and professional engineers in Australia and sold over 40,000 copies since publication of the first edition in 1976. He has also co-edited a reference book entitled Large Concrete Buildings, and contributed Chapters to other books. Dr Rangan actively served the Standards Australia Committee on Concrete Structures for more than 25 years and has contributed significantly to the development of Australian Standards on Concrete Structures. He is also a Fellow of several international professional bodies. (1974), American Concrete Institute Merit Award for Excellence in Concrete(1977), Concrete Institute of Australia Canadian Commonwealth Fellowship (1977) Building Science Forum Book Award (1977) ACI Fellow Award (1987), American Concrete Institute ACI Special Award (1997), American Concrete Institute Special Award (2005), Geopolymer Institute, France The following is the excerpt of the conversation carried by Srishtee12 Team by Dr. B V Rangan.

SHRISTEE12: Sir, first of all, we would like to congratulate you for all your achievements. You have set a benchmark of professionalism in the field of teaching and research in civil engineering. We are honored that you have given us some time from your busy schedule to talk to us. SIR: Thank you. SHRISTEE12: Sir, You have worked intensively on fly-ash based geopolymer concrete. Tell us briefly about geopolymers. SIR : Geopolymers are inorganic polymeric binders. A source material of geological origin or in by-product material such as fly ash, rich in Silicon(Si) and Aluminium(Al) is reacted with an Alkaline liquid which results in substantially fast chemical reaction producing a three dimensional polymeric chain and ring like structure consisting of Si-OAl-O bonds thus acting as a good binder SHRISTEE12: What are the advantages fly-ash based geopolymer concrete has over ordinary portland cement? SIR : In case of strength, geopolymer concrete has almost similar characteristics as ordinary portland cement, but GPC has some other advantages over OPC. It has excellent resistance to chemical attacks and is suitable to use in aggressive environment. It is more effective in environment with high density of CO2 and soil rich in sulphates. Due to low concentration of Calcium(Ca), it is highly acid resistant. Hence it is suitable for mining construction, sewer system, manufacturing industry, chemical industry etc. SHRISTEE12: What are the fields where GPC can be used? SIR: The usage of GPC is yet to be popular. Various tests are carried out to determine its workability and usage in various fields of construction. I have already mentioned the suitable areas where GPC can be effectively used. Research is going on to find if it can be broadly used it normal construction works. Due to its high durability over OPC, it is expected to be a replacement of OPC in near future. SHRISTEE12: With your tremendous experience what are the qualities you think makes a student successful? SIR: Work hard; learn from failures; believe in yourself.
SHRISTEE12: Sir, its been a great honor talking to you. The entire team of SHRISTEE thanks

you for enlightening us with your knowledge. We wish you a healthy and prosperous life ahead and expect to hear for you again.
SIR: Thank you Mridu Pawan. I wish you and your team all the best. Keep up the good work.

Compiled By:-

MRIDU PAWAN UZIR

Class of 2014

Corporate Titans
Turner Construction Company is one of the largest construction management companies in the United States . Sahara India Pariwar's real estate arms Sahara Prime City, American building contractor Turner Construction Company and US-based Acropolis Capital Group have formed a construction joint venture to take up large-scale housing projects in India and abroad. The new company, Sahara Turner Construction Ltd, has 63 per cent shareholding by Sahara Prime, 10 per cent by Turner Construction and the rest 27 per cent by Acropolis. Projects of Turner Construction Company are: Sahara Prime City is Sahara Turner's first and main customer. It is planned that construction volume of Sahara Prime City will reach $25 billion in the next 20 years, of which projects worth $2.5 billion will be completed in the next five years. Sahara Turner will execute this entire construction. Apart from this, Sahara Turner is planning to undertake construction contracts from third parties both in housing construction and infrastructure space. The firm will also undertake construction of hospital and school projects as well.

Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) is an Indian multinational conglomerate

corporation headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The company has business interests in engineering, construction, manufacturing, information technology and financial services. L&T-ECC (Engineering, Construction & Contracts Division) is the major contributor of L&T's share market. Currently, it is also listed as Indias largest construction organization. L&T covers varied disciplines of construction civil, mechanical, and electrical and instrumentation. L&T-RAMBLL Consulting Engineers Limited (L&T-RAMBLL) is a leading multidisciplinary Indian consultancy firm formed in 1998 by Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T the largest Indian Engineering and Construction Conglomerate) and RAMBLL (a leading firm of Consultants in Europe). Both L&T and RAMBLL have over six decades of experience.
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Projects of L&T-ECC are: The Engineering Construction & Contracts (ECC) division of Larsen & Toubro Ltd has bagged an Rs 922 crores civil works contract for the 2,000-mw Lower Subansiri Hydel Project coming up in the north-east. This is L&T-ECC's largest-ever single works order, in terms of value. Engineering and construction company Larsen and Toubro has bagged a Rs 5,550-crore contract to build the new integrated airport passenger terminal at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai.

Projects of L&T RAMBLL are:

Detailed Design of Chennai Outer Ring Road Phase I (DBFOT Annuity) Detailed Engineering Services for the Six Lanning of Pimpalgaon Gonde section of NH 3 from km 380.000 to km 440.000 (BOT) Consultancy Services for updating Feasibility Study Report for KERALA STATE TRANSPORTATION PROJECT Phase II.

W S Atkins (commonly known as Atkins) is a multinational engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services company headquartered in Epsom, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1938 by Sir William Atkins. Atkins is the largest engineering consultancy in the UK, the largest multi-disciplinary consultancy in Europe and the world's 13th largest design firm according to the Engineering News-Record. Burj Al Arab is a luxury hotel located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At 321 m (1,053 ft), it is the fourth tallest hotel in the world. Burj Al Arab was designed by architect Tom Wright of WS Atkins PLC. The design and construction were managed by Canadian engineer Rick Gregory also of WS Atkins.

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The London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has appointed Atkins as the official engineering design services provider for the London 2012 Games. The company is providing multidisciplinary engineering design consultancy for the temporary venues and overlay that LOCOG could provide within London and across the country for the Games. Atkins has been part of the design team for the Olympic Park site-wide infrastructure since late 2005, working with partners to deliver a range of services including aspects of the clearing and cleaning of the site, infrastructure such as roads, bridges and utilities and environmental and ecological support. It has two projects in India are: 1) Lulu shopping mall and hotel Cochin Lulu Cochin mall is a shopping mall under construction, in Kochi, India. It will be one of the largest malls in India and is built on an area of 2,200,000 square feet (200,000 m 2), with total area for mall alone at 1,698,000 square feet (157,700 m2) and remaining portion for a premium 5 star hotel managed by . It is anticipated to be the fourth largest mall in India . 2) The Iconia Hyderabad, India The Iconia conceived as a city within a city located at Hyderabad on a site area of 21.35 acres off Banjara hills offers three-, four- and five-bedroom apartments catering to the various market segments. The master plan comfortably accommodates eighteen, 20 storied high apartment towers, and includes club house, recreation zones offering gymnasiums, swimming pools, indoor game areas for activities such as badminton, squash, table tennis, billiards and snooker.

The Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SP Group) is a Mumbai based business conglomerate in India with interests in construction, real estate, textiles, engineering goods, home appliances, shipping, publications, power, and biotechnology. It was headed by Pallonji Mistry until 2012, when he announced his retirement and his son Shapoor Mistry took charge. The company is known for building some of Mumbai's landmarks around the Fort area, including the Hong Kong Bank, Grind lays Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Reserve Bank of India building, Bombay Stock Exchange building and Taj Intercontinental. Apart from these, the

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company has built a stone palace for the Sultan of Oman in 1971. After the 2008 Mumbai Attacks, the company was involved in the repairs and renovation of Taj Mahal Palace & Tower which was severely damaged by the attack. Other notable projects include The Imperial in Mumbai, Jumeirah Lake Towers in Dubai and Ebene Cyber City in Mauritius. Projects of Shapoorji Pallonji in India are: To fulfill the water supply needs of the Mumbai city a reservoir was built, in the famous Malabar Hills SPCL is working on the 1st five star hotel in North East - Hotel Radisson, in Guwahati, It has bagged the project of the Hotel Taj to be built in Guwahati. Hotel Taj is also a 5 star hotel, as you must know, by the TATAs.

Abhijit Rajan ,is chairman & managing director of GAMMON INDIA .The company was established in 1922,Gammon India Ltd is one of the largest civil engineering construction companies .From the Gateway of India to India's first indigenously designed fast breed reactor ,Gammon is a name that is inextricably woven into the fabric of the country .With over 90 years of experience in the field of Infrastructure ,among its other achievements ,Gammon lay claim to the largest number of bridges built in the whole commonwealth. Gammon India has executed some notable civil engineering projects are:

Foundations of the Gateway of India India's first cable-stayed bridge at Akkar, Sikkim. The longest Railway Tunnel in Asia for Konkan Railway at Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. Elevated viaducts for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

Current projects of Gammon India having contract value more than 100 crore are: Construction of Nuclear island connected buildings & other safety related structures for PFBR at Kalpakkam (156.67cr). Rehabilitation and Up-gradation from Km 75.00 to Km 80.60 of NH25 in the town of Kanpur (including bridge across ganga)(159.06) Construction of Part Head Race Tunnel surge shaft, pressure shaft, power house and tail race tunnel (civil works) pkg. III, Lot-2, Prbati HE Pr.stage III(304.72cr).

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Alluri Venkata Sathyanarayana Raju familiarly known as AVS Raju is a person in the Indian construction industry. He is also now as doyen of Indian construction industry. He is the promoter and founder chairman of Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd. The Company has a track record of more than 28 years. Nagarjuna Construction Company Limited (NCC) is an India-based company. The Company is engaged in the construction/project activities. The Company operates in nine divisions: Building & Housing, Transportation, Electrical, Water & Environment, Irrigation, International, Power, Metals, and Oil and Gas. The Buildings & Housing division engages in the construction of housing projects, industrial and commercial buildings, information technology (IT) parks, shopping malls, sports complexes, stadia and hospitals. The Transportation division involves in the construction of highways, bridges, flyovers, elevated corridors, railways, airport terminals and ports. Projects of NCC in India are:

Civil and Structural work of Main Plant Building of 3 X 660 MW. Client : NTPC Super Thermal Power Plant Office Barh, Patna, Bihar. Value : Rs. 1090.00 Million. Construction of Medical College and Hostel Complex at AIIMS. Bhopal (Package I). Client: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India, New Delhi. Value: 3090.00 Million.

Construction of Godowns, Auction Platforms, Sundry Shops, Cement concrete roads, Compound walls and other facilities at A & B Blocks of Dasanapura sun-market yard, APMC, Yeswanthpura, Bangalore. Client: Agricultural Produce Market Committee, Yeswanthpura, Bangalore. Value: Rs. 860.00 Million.

Punj Lloyd is an engineering and construction group of India providing integrated design, procurement and project management services for energy and infrastructure sector projects. It is one of the largest construction company in Highways in India which built the Golden Quadrilateral, strengthening Indias infrastructure and East West corridor. Punj Llyod provides Design, Engineering, Procurement and Construction services for a diverse range of technologically challenging and complex projects, such as mega infrastructure, high-rise buildings etc. From airports and seaports, national highways to multi-specialty medical institutes, it deliver projects that embody esthetics, economics, and sustainability of the environment.
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Projects of Punj Llyod in India are: Design engineering and construction for strengthening and widening of NH - 4 from Belgaum to Maharashtra border (chainage 515 km to 592 km) from existing two lanes to four/six lanes, including 5 km bypass and 142 km of service road. Medicity Project, Gurgaon, India: Spread over 50 acres in Gurgaon, Medicity aims at integrating the highest end of modern Medicare with traditional forms of Indian medicine - Ayurveda, Unani, homeopathy and holistic therapies.

Design and Construction of elevated viaduct of 4.784 km under Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

HCC has executed a majority of India's landmark infrastructure projects, having constructed over 25% of India's hydro-power and over 50% of India's nuclear power generation capacities, 3,300 lane km of roads and expressways, and over 204 km of complex tunneling including, in addition to over 300 of bridges, 43 dams and barrages.

Projects of HCC in India are:

East West Corridor Project on NH-76 Bandra Worli Sea link- Indias first and longest open sea cable stayed bridge Delhi Faridabad Elevated Expressway Vizag Cavern Project, Vishakhapatnam, Indias first strategic oil reserves.

K. Prashanth Batch of 2013

Ravi Sharma Batch of 2013

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Pre-engineered building (PEB)

In structural engineering, a pre-engineered building (PEB) is designed by a manufacturer to be fabricated using a pre-determined inventory of raw materials and manufacturing methods that can efficiently satisfy a wide range of structural and aesthetic design requirements. Within some geographic industry sectors these buildings are also called Pre-Engineered Metal Buildings (PEMB) or, as is becoming increasingly common due to the reduced amount of preengineering involved in custom computer aided designs, simply, Engineered Metal Buildings (EMB). Historically, the primary framing structure of a pre-engineered building is an assembly of Ishaped members, often referred as I beam. In pre-engineered buildings, the I beams used are usually formed by welding together steel plates to form the I section. The I beams are then field-assembled (e.g. bolted connections) to form the entire frame of the pre-engineered building. Some manufacturers taper the framing members (varying in web depth) according to the local loading effects. Larger plate dimensions are used in areas of higher load effects. Other forms of primary framing can include trusses, mill sections rather than 3-plate welded, castellated beams, etc. The choice of economic form can vary depending on factors such as local capabilities (e.g. manufacturing, transportation, construction) and variations in material vs. labour costs. Typically, primary frames are 2D type frames (i.e. may be analysed using 2-Dimensional techniques). Advances in computer aided design technology, materials and manufacturing capabilities have assisted a growth in alternate forms of Pre-engineered building such as the Tension Fabric building and more sophisticated analysis (e.g. 3-Dimensional) as is required by some building codes. Cold formed Z and C-shaped members may be used as secondary structural elements to fasten and support the external cladding. Roll-formed profiled steel sheet, wood, tensioned fabric, precast concrete, masonry block, glass curtain wall or other materials may be used for the external cladding of the building. In order to accurately design a pre-engineered building, engineers consider the clear span between bearing points, bay spacing, roof slope, live loads, dead loads, collateral loads, wind uplift, deflection criteria, internal crane system and maximum practical size and weight of fabricated members. Historically, pre-engineered building manufacturers have developed precalculated tables for different structural elements in order to allow designers to select the most
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efficient I beams size for their projects. However, the table selection procedures are becoming rare with the evolution in computer aided custom designs. While pre-engineered buildings can be adapted to suit a wide variety of structural applications, the greatest economy will be realized when utilizing standard details. An efficiently designed pre-engineered building can be lighter than the conventional steel buildings by up to 30%. Lighter weight equates to less steel and a potential price savings in structural framework. Dhruv Saxena Batch of 2014

Effects of Technology
So often these days we hear and speak of the conquest of nature, the taming of a river, the war against insects and so on. Often these phrases are used without consciously attaching any value to them, but they have underlying them an attitude of hostility towards Nature & its creatures, a viewpoint which seems to assume nature as an enemy that needs to be vanquished. Alternatively, nature is seen merely as a resource to be exploited to take the maximum out of it, regardless of what this does to natural processes & to other creatures which depend on these processes. It is this attitude which sees fellow humans too as a resource to be exploited or other human communities as enemies to be conquered. Well, most of this destruction of nature is mainly because of the fast-running human mind and the more rapidly increasing advancements in the modern day technology. Science and its inventions over the centuries have made life easier & enjoyable. Its application has proved to be a blessing in more ways than one. The first significant advancement in technology was the invention of fire around 1 million years ago, this enabled humans to cook food, and create other items such as spears and utensils. Technology now has improved sharply, and with TVs, MP3s, Computers etc., our way of life has changed. We have become the people of modern ideas and innovations & this shows our stinking richness. With the introduction of Mp3s, TVs and computers, life for humans have become easier but also lazier. Obesity in children is at peak levels in India, United States, etc. Kids are preferring to stay at home and play computer games rather than going out and socializing like they used to. Quite simply kids are losing their social life, getting fatter and are having low academic achievements all because of their addictive games on Xboxes, Play Stations etc.

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But not only the children, has it also affected lives of adults. Cell phones can cause brain tumours and computers cause problems with your hands and fingers, and posture. So is technology really helping us? Are the pros outweighing the cons. should we take the risks? We have probably heard that listening to music at high volume levels from iPod can damage our hearing capability but have we cared how other gadgets are also causing damage to our overall health? Cell phones, microwave ovens and even the little Bluetooth device that we have attached to our ear causes radiation that might cause harm to our natural health. Technology has helped the nature as well, as it helps us to determine when disaster is going to struck, also when earth will vanish and many other theories, but Technology is necessary but not always a positive influence in modern life. This issue has especially come into vogue in the last decade due to the mind-boggling pace of technology. Technology has really been very hazardous to the environment as well. The modern world gadgets use technology of radiations and other harmful rays that have immense effect on the environment. They imbalance all the processes in turn causing a great effect on the entire living world and also the eco-cycle. Now coming to geosciences; it has largely affected the earth and the environment as it involves digging up of the earth to extract various resources of ones daily need. This in turn has led to over-exploitation of the resources all around the world. These resources take millions of years to be converted from the fossil fuels, organic matter. But due to extreme usage of them they are getting depleted. Technology, when misused, poisons air, soil, water and lives. But a world without technology would be prey to something worse: the impersonal ruthlessness of the natural order, in which the health of a species depends on relentless sacrifice of the weak. The fastest growing network of Google is not too far away from this destructive activity. The search engine which has won the hearts of many with its speed has created various problems as well. The problem lies in the way Google works. Using a search engine generates CO 2 emissions because the search request goes to more than one server that can be thousands of miles apart. Google have servers in the US, Europe, Japan and China. According to a recent study reveals that doing a Google search can emit anywhere between 1 and 10g of CO 2 depending on whether or not the computer had to be switched on. Thus the need of the hour is to adhere to more environmentally friendly practices such as switching to fluorescent bulbs and driving electric cars which is referred to as Going Green. Recycling material goods, using alternative energies and buying local goods are all components of the Green lifestyle. Nowadays, jute & paper bags are encouraged rather than plastic bags to carry various materials. Green Games (Commonwealth Games) will also be held in India & their motto would be to reduce environmental degradation. The purpose of this overhaul of lifestyle
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is to heal the environment of the damage that has been done to it by human existence. A noble cause indeed, but one that could possibly have negative side effects. So are we going to stop using Google for our searches? Technology will inevitably continue to grow, but we have to ask is technology doing more harm than good? Abhishek Gupta Batch of 2014

MATLAB
A brief introduction and its uses in Civil engineering Matlab, what is it? The numerous professionals and academics that I've encountered believe it's a programming language. Might be different in your field, but this was specifically phrased as being a question about the civil engineering profession. In this industry, it's a language. Matlab stands for Matrix laboratory, 1st invented in 1970 and still in use with continuous modifications. Talking about the Computer Science Departments, these people study computing for a living, all over the country teach programming classes using java, a primarily interpreted language. One of them said lol, you're a civil engineering student right? You don't know anything about computers. What I suggest is that I dont want the readers to assume that learning MATLAB is THE language for civil engineers. And that MATLAB is a programming language that employers want civil engineers to know. I know most schools require all engineers to take at least one computer science language because learning one will open more employments to graduates. Even basic structural programming can be a bonus toward a graduate's resume. In public I can refer MATLAB as a technical language. Most people may not use MATLAB as a programming language like C++, Python, or Java. Now, being a civil engineer, a question will strike in your mind i.e., What specific issues must I learn in Matlab that fits civil engineering? So heres my answer to this Matlab is a technical language. It does all kinds of mathematical objects computations. Google matlab and look at Google images to see what sorts of images you seem, a lot of graphs. It can solve a lot of things for you. For example, plotting xyz space, stimulation models, and mathematic computations, it

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can solve all sorts of matrices you may use in determining the stability of a structure.

Writing an M-file program requires knowledge of MATLAB syntax, which it depends on the toolkits the coder is using. But then again, Im probably suggesting readers not to confuse with that MATLAB is the computer language that an engineer should learn. Dhruv Saxena Batch of 2014 Compiled By Sandeep Menon

Thrust areas of research in civil engineering

i) Environmental Engineering
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. High rate anaerobic wastewater treatment by UASB & anaerobic baffled Reactor. Pre & Post treatment of UASB reactor. Aerobic hybrid reactor for domestic and industrial wastewater treatment. Ozonation for colour removal from industrial wastewater. In-vessel composting for municipal solid waste, vermi composting. Riverbank filtration. Air quality monitoring and modelling, rish assessment emission inventories, and climate policy analysis.

ii)Geomatics Engineering
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Remote sensing: multi spectral, hyper spectral and microwave. Digital image processing. Geographic information system and digital terrain modelling Physical geodesy Photogrammetry: analytical, digital and close range GPS surveys:: static, differential and real time computer cartography and mobile mapping

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iii)Geotechnical Engineering
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Earthquake geotechnical Engineering. Engineering behaviour of rocks and rock masses Ground improvement. Landslides analysis and control Numerical analysis and control. Pile foundations Static and dynamic soil-structure interaction underground space technology for river valley projects, strategic construction etc.

iv) Hydraulics Engineering

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Physical and mathematical modelling of river processes. Fundamental aspects of clear water and sediment-laden water flows in channels Sub surface flow and transport modelling. Pollutant transport in rivers. Studies on fluid dynamic drag and redeveloping boundary layer flows Flood forecasting. GIS and remote sensing applications in water resources. Ground water hydrology. Inverse problems hydrologic modelling.

v)Structural Engineering
1. Post peak response of P.C., R.C. and masonry structures 2. Behaviour of fibres reinforced concrete in shear 3. Non flexural behaviour of structural concrete 4. Analysis and optimum design of laminated composite 5. Impact and hydro-thermal behaviour structures 6. Long term response of P.C. bridges built with HPC 7. Thermal and durability studies on concrete 8. Load deformation behaviour of confined concrete 9. Wind history and structural response studies 10. Non linear dynamic analysis 11. Health monitoring, residual life assessment and retrofitting of structures application of soft computing techniques in structural engineering.

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vi)Transportation Engineering
1. Integrated transportation systems- motorized and non- motorized systems. 2. Pavement material characterisation 3. Pavement design, analysis, evaluation and management 4. Traffic flow analysis and highway capacity 5. Economic analysis of transportation projects 6. Safety, Accident Analysis 7. Transport and traffic modelling 8. Intelligent transport systems 9. Pedestrian flow modelling. 10. Rural road network planning and design
Dhruv Saxena Batch of 2014

TOTAL STATION
Total station is an electronic/optical instrument used in modern surveying. The total station is an electronic theodolite (transit) integrated with an electronic distance meter (EDM) to read slope distances from the instrument to a particular point. Robotic total stations allow the operator to control the instrument from a distance via remote control. This eliminates the need for an assistant staff member as the operator holds the reflector and controls the total station from the observed point.

Technology
Coordinate Measurement
Coordinates of an unknown point relative to a known coordinate can be determined using the total station as long as a direct line of sight can be established between the two points. Angles and distances are measured from the total station to points under survey, and the coordinates (X, Y, and Z or northing, easting and elevation) of surveyed points relative to the total station position are calculated using trigonometry and triangulation. To determine an absolute location a Total Station requires line of sight observations and must be set up over a known point or with line of sight to 2 or more points with known location.

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For this reason, some total stations also have a Global Navigation Satellite System interface which does not require a direct line of sight to determine coordinates. However, GNSS measurements may require longer occupation periods and offer relatively poor accuracy in the vertical axis.

Angle measurement
Most modern total station instruments measure angles by means of electro-optical scanning of extremely precise digital bar-codes etched on rotating glass cylinders or discs within the instrument. The best quality total stations are capable of measuring angles to 0.5 arc-second. Inexpensive "construction grade" total stations can generally measure angles to 5 or 10 arcseconds.

Distance Measurement
Measurement of distance is accomplished with a modulated microwave or infrared carrier signal, generated by a small solid-state emitter within the instrument's optical path, and reflected by a prism reflector or the object under survey. The modulation pattern in the returning signal is read and interpreted by the computer in the total station. The distance is determined by emitting and receiving multiple frequencies, and determining the integer number of wavelengths to the target for each frequency. Most total stations use purpose-built glass corner cube prism reflectors for the EDM signal. A typical total station can measure distances with an accuracy of about 1.5 millimetres (0.0049 ft) + 2 parts per million over a distance of up to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft). Reflector less total stations can measure distances to any object that is reasonably light in colour, to a few hundred meters.

Data processing
Some models include internal electronic data storage to record distance, horizontal angle, and vertical angle measured, while other models are equipped to write these measurements to an external data collector, such as a hand-held computer. When data is downloaded from a total station onto a computer, application software can be used to compute results and generate a map of the surveyed area.

Applications
Total stations are mainly used by land surveyors and Civil Engineers. Either to record features as in Topographic Surveying or to set out features (such as roads, houses or boundaries). They are also used by archaeologists to record excavations and by police, crime scene investigators, private accident re-constructionists and insurance companies to take measurements of scenes.

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Mining
Total stations are the primary survey instrument used in mining surveying. A total station is used to record the absolute location of the tunnel walls (stopes), ceilings (backs), and floors as the drifts of an underground mine are driven. The recorded data is then downloaded into a CAD program, and compared to the designed layout of the tunnel. The survey party installs control stations at regular intervals. These are small steel plugs installed in pairs in holes drilled into walls or the back. For wall stations, two plugs are installed in opposite walls, forming a line perpendicular to the drift. For back stations, two plugs are installed in the back, forming a line parallel to the drift. A set of plugs can be used to locate the total station set up in a drift or tunnel by processing measurements to the plugs by intersection and resection.
Dhruv Saxena Batch of 2014

Usage of Industrial Waste in Road Construction

Highway engineering is a very important module of civil engineering. From the early dawn of human civilization, roads have been constructed for transportation and communication purposes. With the passing of time, methods and compositions of road construction have also changed. In place of dusty and muddy roads now we travel on express highways. However, from the very beginning the very basic constituents of road construction have been extracted from nature. However, these natural resources are being exhaustible in nature; their quantity is declining day by day. In addition, the cost of extracting and processing good quality products out of natural resources is also increasing. Concerned about this, the scientists are looking for alternative materials for highway construction, and industrial waste product is one such category. If these materials can be scientifically utilised, the problem of pollution and waste disposal can be greatly reduced. Here is a list of various industrial wastes that can be utilised in highway construction largely.
Waste product Fly ash Source Possible usage Bulk fill, filler in bituminous mix, artificial Aggregates

Thermal power station

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Blast furnace slag

Steel industry

Base/ Sub-base material, Binder in soil stabilization (ground slag) Base/ Sub-base material, bulkfill, recycling Bulk-fill Bulk-fill Foundry industry Granular base/sub-base, aggregates in bituminous mix, bulk fill Stabilization of base, binder in bituminous mix Air entraining of concrete. Filler in bituminous mix Rubber modified bitumen, aggregate. Glass-fibre reinforcement, bulk fill Bulk-fill, aggregates in bituminous mix Bulk-fill, aggregates in bituminous mix

Construction and demolition waste Colliery spoil Spent oil shale Foundry sands Mill tailings

Construction industry

Coal mining Petrochemical industry Foundry industry

Mineral processing Industry

Cement kiln dust Used engine oil Marble dust Waste tyres Glass waste Nonferrous slags

Cement industry Automobile industry Marble industry Automobile industry Glass industry Mineral processing Industry Bricks and tile industry

China clay

Possible usage of industrial waste products in highway construction

Material acceptability criteria:

Roads are typically constructed from layers of compacted materials, and generally its strength decreases downwards. For conventional materials, a number of tests are conducted and their acceptability is decided based on the test results and the specifications. This ensures the desirable level of performance of the chosen material, in terms of its permeability, volume
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stability, strength, hardness, toughness, fatigue, durability, shape, viscosity, specific gravity, purity, safety, and temperature susceptibility etc., whichever are applicable. There are a large number tests suggested by various guidelines/specifications; presently the performance based tests are being emphasized, rather than the tests which estimate the individual physical properties. The tests and specifications, which are applicable for conventional materials, may be inappropriate for evaluation of non-conventional materials, such as industrial wastes. This is because the material properties, for example, particle sizes, grading and chemical structure, may differ substantially from those of the conventional materials. Thus for an appropriate assessment of these materials, new tests are to be devised and new acceptability criteria are to be formed. However, with the advent of performance-based tests, it is expected that the performances of the conventional as well as new materials can be tested on a same set-up and be compared. Health and safety considerations should be given due importance handing industrial waste materials.

Suitability of industrial wastes as highway material:

The following table summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of using specific industrial wastes in highway construction.

Material Fly ash

Advantages

Disadvantages

Lightweight, can be used as Lack of homogeneity, Presence of binder in stabilized base/ slow strength sub-base because Of sulphates, development pozzolanic properties. Higher skid resistance Unsuitable for concrete works and fill work beneath concrete slabs

Metallic slag (a) Steel slag (b) Nonferrous slag

Light weight (phosphorus May show inconsistent properties slag) Being strong can be used as aggregates granular base Used in production of Ground water pollution due to Leachate in used as unbound May show Inconsistent properties

Construction and demolition waste Blast furnace slag

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cement, granular fill. Foundry sands

aggregates

Substitute for fine Presence of heavy metals in nonaggregate in asphalt mixes. ferrous foundry origin, less affinity to bitumen Some are pozzolanic in Presence of poisonous materials nature. (e.g., cyanide from gold extraction). Can be used in soil Corrosion of metals (used in stabilization because of its concrete roads) in contact because hardening property when of significant alkali percentage exposed to moisture Being very good air Requires well entertainer could be used in collection system concrete works Enhances fatigue life organized oil

Mill tailings

Cement kiln dust

Used engine oil

Waste tyres

Requires special techniques for fine grinding and mixing with bitumen, Sometimes segregation occurs.

From the following table we can see that some of the industrial waste may find their usages in highway construction, while some other may cause some environmental problems. Recycling and reuse of industrial waste is a huge field of research and studies are going on to make the best utilisation of the industrial waste.

Mridu Pawan Uzir Batch of 2014

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Civil Engineering- A Deep Insight

Introduction:
Civil Engineering is one of the most traditional studies in India. British started very good schools for civil engineering studies and successfully completed some of the best public projects like Ganga canal and Indias railway network, to name a few. Few of the subjects taught in the 4 years of engineering are fluid mechanics, soil mechanics, design of structures, structural mechanics and water resource engineering, etc. Students are also partly exposed to subjects like transportation engineering, geotechnical engineering, remote sensing, transportation system engineering, etc.

The Field:
From the pyramids of Egypt to international space stations, civil engineers have always faced the challenges of the future advancing the civilization and building our quality of life. Today the world is undergoing vast changes the technical revolution, population growth, etc. It is high time for a student to find the right career. Civil engineers are the leading users of sophisticated high-tech products applying the very latest concepts in Computer Aided Designing (CAD) during the process of designing, construction, project-scheduling and cost control. As the technology expands, as the worlds population increases and as the environmental concerns mount, a civil engineers skills are going to be indispensible. Whatever area you choose, be it design construction, research teaching or management, civil engineering offers a wide range of career choices for your future.

Preparation:
A civil engineer training should continue throughout his or her entire career. At college, an engineer gains the ability to learn that will last throughout his life, while at the same time absorbing the basic knowledge or skills that every engineer must master. On the job experience gained through co-op assignments, internships or summer jobs, is a vital factor in making a young engineer credible to potential employers. Gaining professional licensing is often important to career advancement. Anyone looking for a job has to get comfortable with the idea of selling ones strength. Marking includes both a profound knowledge of the product (yourself) and the buyer (the employer). When you find a match between your interests and their needs, the chances of success are high, from an accredited engineering curriculum followed by approximately four years of responsible engineering experience and finally the successful completion of a written exam.

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Scope:
Opportunities for civil engineers exist in the public as well as the private sectors in large numbers in all branches of design, construction and maintenance, infrastructure development in both India and abroad. Asia, where the infrastructure development is picking up and Indian engineers are in a great demand, civil engineers can find jobs in government departments, private and public sector, industries, research and teaching institutions. Civil engineering graduates can also go in for research and take up teaching or they can open their own independent consultancy services.

Higher Studies and Scope:

Conventionally, the courses being taught to the students in the civil engineering branch currently have very high bias towards structural engineering. Structural engineering subjects take about 50% of the total course load while the remaining four areas take 50% altogether.

Redefining the graduate civil engineering curriculum:

There is a clear focus on the need for IT enabled civil engineers. In this emerging scenario the present course structure of civil engineering requires bifurcation into two branches. These two branches are: a) Civil and structural engineering b) Environmental information technology or geo-spatial information technology The first branch is a well-known branch but the second one deals with surveying, remote sensing, geographic information systems, soft copy photogrammetry, transportation, computer graphics, urban planning and IT related subjects.

Conclusion:
There is a clear focus on the need of IT enabled civil engineers. The availability of space application tools like very high resolution remote sensing data, GIS and soft copy photogrammetric tools and web based applications of GIS throw new demands on the level of expertise of civil engineers.
Ayan Das Batch of 2013

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Meet the Jetsons

For those who spent most of their childhood tuned on to cartoon network, the names like Flinstones and Jetsons would not be less familiar than the popular celebs. For the laymen, the context will be suitably explained by the mere knowledge that the Jetsons were a futuristic view by the cartoonists, of the kind of life we may live hundreds of years from now. The Jetsons were a common family of the space age with all the ordinary life styles of the time to be. The cartoon-show featured the comical aspects of such a lifestyle with all the habitations in the sky, with artificial food-capsules, and space vehicles and all such junk. But it captured the fancy of a few, and one should not be surprised if we soon come up with a social colony like the Jetsons. The urge for newness is engraved in mans veins, and this urge is further amplified if his normal ways start posing a threat to his existence. Man has spread his concrete realm so haphazardly that the nature has been deprived of breathing space in most of the metropolis today. We may be still far from a time when we meet the Jetsons, but the time to live in the sky has arrivedas Tokyo has the biggest project going on sky city. Like the species on the blink of extinction, most cities just dont work anymore. Now with the dawn of a new millennium, architects, city planners and futurists are all asking, whats next? In Tokyo, plans already exist which might change the way people live 50, 100 or even 500 years from now. Its called Sky City, two-thirds of a mile high and twice the height of the tallest skyscraper today, with homes and jobs for hundreds of thousands of pioneers, the worlds first homesteaders in the sky. But can it be built and will it be safe? Will Sky City be the metropolis of the future or a death trap in the sky? Tokyo, Japan, is home to more than twelve million people. Like any city today, it is jam-packed with glass, steel and concrete, a painful sacrifice for people who consider trees sacred. But if visionary architects have their way, all that will be replaced by a building that creates green space indoors. Its called Sky City, two-thirds of a mile high and by-far the tallest building in the world. It is not what can be called a building, but a vertical city. A radically new urban landscape with a total interior space as large as twenty three Disneyland, sky city resembles a stack of fourteen hollow bowls called space plateaus, in each a lush green open air parking space and a revolutionary e-transportation to speed residents and visitors among the ten-storey high rises that await each plateau. Inside there will be shops, restaurants, offices, entertainment and sports complexes, making it possible to live from cradle to grave without ever setting foot on mother earth. Two hundred and forty miles of urban sprawl has created a commuting nightmare. Millions crowded to trains each day, most Tokyo residents spend two to four hours every day travelling to and from work. That would be more than twenty hours a week, a total of more than five years stolen from their lives unproductively which could have been spent
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creatively. This is why sky-city visions a new urban landscape, a city of the future, curved out of thin air. But where can you put a building this large in one of the worlds most crowded city like Tokyo. With a footprint of more than thirty acres, sky-city can effectively condemn more than a hundred and twenty Tokyo city blocks, possibly erasing centuries of Japanese heritage. It attempts to anticipate the needs of tomorrow today. But it is also among the biggest economic gambles ever. Not many would have the stomach to attempt such a drastic measure to the Tokyo land crash. But at the MORI building company in Tokyo, the urban planners are determined to think big. They are raging a ferocious battle to remake their city. There is very little open space in Tokyo. The roads and streets are very narrow, community parks are not very big and Tokyo is in serious need of some breathing space. Because sky-city will expand upward and not outward, it could be the first step in shrinking Tokyos concrete jungle. Plants can also be planted for creating a series of parks around the monstrous structure. Less concrete and more trees mean less temperature and reduced pollution. There was a time when the fire engines couldnt push their way in through the narrow, congested building spaces of Tokyo resulting in the loss of millions of property in one of the fire infernos which could have been easily controlled otherwise. And today they have come up with the pertinent solution for most of their problems by the name of Sky city. If they succeed then it would prove to be a big step forward for mankind. The Japanese have proved their engineering brilliance with the very vision of the possibility of the SKY CITY. It will be remarkable to see who will pioneer the space age. Until we meet the jetsons. Apurba Jyoti Gogoi Batch of 2013

The Future of Energy: SPACE-Based Solar Power

On the ground, solar power has its limitations. Solar cells are not especially efficient. It rains. The sun disappears at night. A space-based solar panel can generate five times the energy of a similar panel on earth by circumventing both weather and hours lost due to darkness. A 2007 study by the U.S.s National space society estimates that a one-km-wide band of photovoltaic in geosynchronous orbit with Earth could generate the energy equivalent of all the oil remaining
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on the planet over the course of one year. Though costly, launching working solar satellites is possible today. Its transmitting the captured energy to earth that presents a challenge-one that scientists are just starting to work on. If beaming power from space sounds disconcerting, the concept is remarkably safe and simple. Satellites outfitted with solar panels would gather the suns energy 24 hours a day and then convert that energy into an infrared laser beam. The high-efficiency laser would transmit 80% of the captured energy to groundbased receivers; one design calls for 18-meter-wide laser beams and 2,956.5-square-meter ground-based receiving stations. if clouds hinder the beam from travelling through the Earths atmosphere, the satellite could redirect the energy to other satellites or receivers in the network. In December 2011, the European space company Astrium will test the feasibility of an infrared laser-based transmission system in Germany. We are simply looking to demonstrate transfer of power by laser in an eye-safe wavelength, says Matthew Perren, the head of innovation Astrium. We are trying to transmit power a wavelengths that our eyes are not sensitive to, so that you can safely walk through the beam or accidentally look at it. In 2016, the company plans to launch a preliminary satellite, outfitted with 152-square-meter solar panels, which will transmit a few kilowatts of power to a ground based receiver. By 2020, Astrium says, it will be running a satellite that can provide 10 kilowatts, enough to power 10 single family homes. Meanwhile, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the California-based Solaren Corporation are planning to use microwaves to transmit solar power. Whereas the high-efficiency lasers tested by Astrium have only recently become available, highly efficient microwave transmitters have been around for years. In 2008, physicists beamed 20 watts at microwave frequencies from a mountain on Maui to the island of Hawaii, a distance of 153 km, roughly one and a half times and the depth of Earths atmosphere. JAXA has teamed up with Mitsubishi another companies on a $21-billion, 30-year project to launch satellites, each with 4 square km of solar panels, into space. The effort would generate one gigawatt of power, approximately equivalent to a nuclear plant. Solar High Study Group, an independent advocacy group, says there is room in orbit for thousands of these satellites. If space-based solar-power satellites are launched-a significant if, given the political implications of putting lasers in space-the first recipients will probably be research labs at North and South poles, or other places where power is in short supply. The U.S. Department of Defence has also expressed an interest in transmitting space power to the battlefield, where the costs associated with fuel delivery can reach up to $100 a liter. Regarding the environmental effects, Stephen Sweeney, a physicist at the University of Surrey in England who is working on the Astrium system, says it would not heat the planet or change
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the climate. He also notes that because of the wavelength used in laser, the beam would not damage any animals that might stray into the beam path. Sourav Ghosh Batch of 2015

Bamboo-As a Reinforcement
In its natural form, bamboo as a construction material is traditionally associated with the cultures of South Asia, East Asia and the South Pacific, to some extent in Central and South America. Bamboo has been used as reinforcement for concrete in those areas where it is plentiful, though dispute exists over its effectiveness in the various studies done on the subject. Bamboo does have the necessary strength to fulfil this function, but untreated bamboo will swell from the absorption of water from the concrete, causing it to crack. Its importance as a reinforcement material in precast concrete was given less importance until the extensive study carried out at Clemson University in the United States. The first research study was done in 1964 in U. S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station. Ultimate strength design procedures, modified to take into account the characteristics of the bamboo reinforcement were used to estimate the ultimate load carrying capacity of the precast concrete elements with bamboo reinforcing. Based on this experiment here are some mechanical properties of bamboo. Mechanical property Ultimate compressive strength Allowable compressive Strength Ultimate tensile strength Allowable bond stress Modulus of elasticity Value(N/mm2) 55.2 27.6 124 0.344 17236.9

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These mechanical properties can be substituted in the equations and design procedures of steel reinforced concrete just by replacing the properties of steel by bamboo. The design procedures for bamboo reinforced concrete can thus be obtained. Selection of bamboo culms (whole plants)is another very important task as not every bamboo will give the above mentioned mechanical properties. The bamboo should show a pronounced brown colour ensuring the bamboo at least 3 years old. Bamboo culms of largest diameter available should be selected. Unseasoned bamboo must be avoided. Avoid bamboo cut in spring or early summer. These culms are generally weaker due to increased fibre moisture content. Due to low modulus of elasticity of bamboo, flexural members will nearly always develop some cracking under normal service loads. If cracking cannot be tolerated, steel reinforced designs are required. Experience shows that split bamboo performs better than whole culms when used as reinforcing. Better bond stress develops between concrete and bamboo when the reinforcement is split in addition to providing more compact reinforcement layers. Bamboo was given recent consideration for use as reinforcement in soil-cement pavement slabs in which the slabs behave in elastically even under light loads .Further studies will be required before complete confidence can be placed on the design procedures of bamboo as reinforcing material.
Apratim Das Batch of 2013

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Civil Software
NOVA POINT ROAD PROFESSIONAL
Nova point Road Professional is a model based road, highway and street design software package including intersection design. The Highway design software package includes sight distance analysis, multiple lanes and grad separated intersections. The Road design software and street design software include dynamic vehicle turning analysis and at grade intersections including automatic roundabout design. The program has complete and integrated functions for design, quantity calculations, drawings, reports and 3D visualization. Alignment design, highway design, road design, street design, intersection design, drawing production and 3D presentation are the main components of Novapoint Road Professional.

LUSAS
LUSAS Civil & Structural analysis software is used by engineers worldwide for all types of civil and structural analysis including linear, nonlinear, seismic, blast, buckling, impact and fire. It is used on a full range of structures from simple slabs, buildings, frames, masts, towers and tanks through to heavy civil engineering structures such as cooling towers, dams and tunnels. LUSAS software consists of a Windows-based Modeller, used for model building and viewing of results, and a Solver for carrying out an analysis. Four commercial application products cater for the following industries: Civil & Structural - for civil, structural, nuclear, seismic, geotechnical and offshore engineering. Bridge - for bridge engineering analysis, design, and assessment.

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TELEMAC
TELEMAC is a two-dimensional finite element computer program developed by the National Hydraulics Laboratory (LNH) for the solution of shallow water equations. It has been designed for a large range of studies, including tides, harbour, and coastal facilities, sea and estuary pollution, and hydroelectricity and river engineering. TELEMAC-2D is used to simulate free-surface flows in two dimensions of horizontal space. At each point of the mesh, the program calculates the depth of water and the two velocity components. Engineering application TELEMAC-2D is used in many fields of application. In the maritime field, particular mention may be made of harbour structure design, studies of the effect of building submersible breakwaters or dredging works, the impact of discharges from a sea outfall, study of thermal plumes; and, with regard to rivers, the impact of various types of construction (bridges, sills, groynes), dam breaks, flood studies, transport of dissipating or non-dissipating tracers. TELEMAC-2D can also be used for a number of special applications, such as industrial reservoir failures, avalanches falling into reservoirs, etc.

Tidal currents in Atlanta Bay

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STAAD.Pro
It is a structural analysis and design computer program originally developed by Research Engineers International in Yorba Linda, CA. The commercial version STAAD.Pro is one of the most widely used structural analysis and design software. It supports several steel, concrete and timber design codes. It can make use of various forms of analysis from the traditional 1st order static analysis, 2nd order p-delta analysis, geometric nonlinear analysis or a buckling analysis It is used by: Professions Structural engineers Consulting engineers/engineering consultants Firms Structural engineering Structural consultant Multi-discipline E/A and A/E Departments in construction companies, owner/operators, and government agencies

NISA Civil
NISA/CIVIL is truly integrated & versatile structural engineering software which offers Structural Engineers a powerful CAD based tool for the Analysis, Design & Detailing of RCC & Steel structures like Buildings, Bridges, Shells, Towers, Irrigation Structures & Water Containment Structures. It has excellent reporting and graphing features and automatically generates detailed AutoCAD drawings.

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NISA/CIVIL V17 Top 5 New Features/ Enhancements Concrete Design as per AERB/SS/CSE-1, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, India and Steel Design conforming to AERB/SS/CSE-2 & AISC-2005 Design of Flat slabs (equivalent frame method), Rafts (rigid beam theory - IS) and Shear Walls Automatic Wind Load generation as per ASCE 7-05 and Seismic Loads generation conforming to ASCE 7-05 & BS EN 1998:1-2004 Automatic selection of design size for beams, columns & isolated footings with user defined footing size options. Additional features such as support height specification, overburden pressure and eccentricity of column for isolated footings Design and drawing generation of concrete Staircases, Rebar rationalization for beams and columns, improved user interface with convenient hot buttons, Seismic Ductile Detailing design provisions as per IS:13920.

Arc-GIS
Arc GIS is a geographical information system(GIS) software developed by ESRI. It is used for: creating and using maps; compiling geographic data; analyzing mapped information; sharing and discovering geographic information; using maps and geographic information in a range of applications; and managing geographic information in a database. ArcGIS includes the following Windows desktop software: ArcReader, which allows one to view and query maps created with the other ArcGIS products; ArcGIS for Desktop is licensed under three functionality levels: ArcGIS for Desktop Basic (formerly known as ArcView), which allows one to view spatial data, create layered maps, and perform basic spatial analysis;
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ArcGIS for Desktop Standard (formerly known as ArcEditor), which in addition to the functionality of ArcView, includes more advanced tools for manipulation of shapefiles and geodatabases; or ArcGIS for Desktop Advanced (formerly known as ArcInfo), which includes capabilities for data manipulation, editing, and analysis.

Ravi Sharma K.Prashanth Batch of 2013

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Project Internship at IIT-G

The euphoria of learning something new sets the mind ablaze no less than the manner in which the first alpha-book of nursery amuses a three year old of a playschool.
The following is a note on one of the most memorable and fruitful experiences of my life at one of the most prestigious institutes of engineering in India, IIT Guwahati. Looking at the way the students of most engineering colleges today are trying to spend their vacations more and more productively, it might often confuse many students as to go for an industrial training or a project internship. Besides some also believe that the best way of manifesting long holidays is to learn some lucrative softwares which will above all earn you a certificate, a fact that would turn on the attention of eighty per cent of the class, something that would do wonders to your resume. But in many cases you take a decision to make a decision. It was in fact the case with me. I always kept a big NO in reserve for higher studies, but would definitely dare a chance to change my opinion. Some wise senior once quoted to me that a project internship gives a good idea of post-graduation studies. So I thought it was worth giving a try. The prospects of having a project internship in IITs always keep you restless whether you are really desperate to make the most out of it or just want to play soft. Right from the time I sent the request mail to my project guide till the moment I landed with my luggage at the intern hostel of IITG, I always kept my fingers crossed as I had heard that summer projects are often called off unpredictably by the guides in case they tangle themselves in some important schedules. The best time to send the mails is by the end of February I found. Because once a professor engaged two or three students under him, he would not give way for more. The most probable criteria they put for selection is first come first in. However my request mail was answered very humbly by Dr. Ajay Kalamdhar, Assistant professor of the department of civil engineering, IITG. His field of specialisation was water resource engineering and waste management. I had spent my letters of requests to a few more professors whose reply was either negative or a stern disapproval for interns from 4 th semester. But I was glad to get my reply without any personal contacts to do the trick for me. That semester, our exams were postponed to be due after the vacations. This was bad news superficially because it meant we couldnt leave our books behind that summer. But when we arrived at IITG and a senior student under our project guide arranged our admission into the intern hostel, we were amazed at the splendour of the mansion we were to live in and forgot all the burden of our books. All the project interns including us were housed in hostel Kapili, named after one of the rivers of Assam like all the other hostel were. All the rooms were single sitters and were well equipped with wardrobes, desks, beds and above all, LAN,
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something which completes the needs of an intern with serious motivations to explore his topic. The campus was even more beautiful, with exotic scenes to view every half a kilometre of its lanes in its sprawling campus area of over seven hundred hectares. No wonder the hills within the campus added to its beauty apart from the jubilant structures which makes IITG renowned as one of the best infrastructures in the country. I met my project guide only on the third day of my stay in IITG. During these days a PHD student under our supervisor stated all the details of our project. He was one of the friendliest seniors I ever spoke to or worked with. He made us feel free and at ease to start off with our project. When we finally met our supervisor one morning, we realised how correct our PHD senior was about his friendly and inspiring nature. He allotted us our assignments and asked us to report from time to time for his approval. Also he assigned two more senior M-tech students to guide us though the instrument set-up. The most remarkable thing was that he kept updating himself about our progress from time to time during the day, either by calling us to his room or by having a word with our seniors. We realised there were so many other project interns under our supervisor, all sharing the same affection from him. The following days, we spent most of our time in the environmental lab of IITG which was an integrated part of the civil department building. Our project was on The efficiency evaluation of waste-water and water treatment plants. There were nearly 16 tests on each of the samples of both the waste-water and water treatment plants. We even spent some of the days working from 9 in the morning till 4 in the evening. But amazingly we came up with a project report so complete and genuine, that it impressed our guides more than we could ever expect. He made us convert our report into a full-fledged book in black-gold binding. We were more than satisfied to see him pleased. We even gave a brief presentation in the seminar hall of IIT-G civil department before a small group of mtech and PhD students. It was no doubt a lifetime experience. That one month in IIT-G still brings vivid nostalgia to my mind and perhaps it would never stop. However the day of departure came without any sorrow of leaving the institute and its abode. This was probably because we were so busy in our work throughout the month and were enjoying our hard work with such thrill, that we could think only of completing our jobs as soon as possible and leaving for our homes. Yet I still remember the moment when our vehicle heavily loaded with our baggage crossed the imperial gate of IIT-G for the last time.

Apurba Jyoti Gogoi Class of 2013

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Summer Camp @ IIT Kanpur

In the summer of 2010, I got a wonderful opportunity to attend the summer camp at IIT Kanpur. Unlike the typical IIT stuff the camp mainly focussed to re-create the romance of Civil Engineering profession and motivate the participants to excel in this fascinating field of human endeavour.

Getting Selected.
Getting selected to this coveted four-week all-expenses-paid Camp is a matter of pride to the second year civil engineering students across the country. For students from the non-IIT system, this is also an opportunity to get acquainted to the on-going technology projects in the Department of Civil Engineering at this Institute. Only two students from each college, who have performed well in academics as well as extra-curricular activities, get nominated for the camp. Whenever a guy from 2nd semester thinks of spending his summer in IIT Kanpur the one thing which comes into his mind is am I proficient enough to get selected??, he becomes really sceptical about his selection Similar was the case with me and I tried to represent myself the best I can in the application form so as to match their standards and to my fortune I was selected. I saw my name appearing in those 60 sophomore candidates each from various colleges across the country.

30 Days of Summer Bonanza..

The clock ticked 5 as I made my entry into an institute in which I was guided to visitors hostel so as to complete the registration process where I met my fellow campers. I met people of grades higher than mine, and some of them far lower. In the first couple of days, it gave me a slight complex of inferiority. Initially I thought it would be a boring month. I was sure I would get bored with these people. Or at least I would end up having differences with most of my groupies. But as it was one week past, we got so attached to each other that it felt like a long friendship already. We had tight schedules for more than 14 hours every day that included talks, lectures and presentations relating to major constructional experiments and feats from around the globe. Mega-structures were reduced to plain simple words. Also the informal sessions that they held as the last thing every day were invigorating. The civilengineering part of the whole camp was more like a side-effect. The camp reminded me at every point, that I am an individual first and civil-engineer next. It also pointed to me at every point that as a civil engineer, it is barely sufficient that we cram notes and top examinations. Prime focus was on elucidating expert projects around the world, their construction techniques, material selection, geometry and all. The hows and whys behind successful structures were explained to us in meticulous detail. We were shown presentations with original pictures from these building sites so as to furnish us with

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practical details. What was more important is creativity and innovation that comes only to well-rounded personalities than to book-worms. The nights became pleasanter when we gathered for the post dinner session. They made us dance, sing, act like old movie stars and debate. Though it felt tiring then, peeping back into those memories today, I know of the deep togetherness that 1 hour brought about. Every day was a new world, a new wonder when we got to know those structures were made by people very much like what we would be in our forthcoming years. All in all, it was a good learning period. We had compulsory sports every day during evenings to make certain of their physical well-being for the last one week site visits, in Delhi. The camp taught me more about myself, my inner self, probably more because, this was the first time I was cut-off from my real neighbourhood, altogether for a month. All that really mattered was the person I had built out of myself, in spite of a bunch of friends doing amazingly well academically around me. The camp made us realize that every individual is special. It provided a platform to showcase your innate talent which you fail to explore. Shobhit Shukla Batch of 2012

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Poetry
Dejected
I'm a nobody, lost in the crowd, I can't be heard, I'm not that loud, To make a roar, and silent all, I'm a sulking loner, in a ball. I hear them dance, the music fair, Absently I gaze in the air. They haunt me when I try to sleep, Those vows and words I failed to keep. I failed to rise, and make the kill, They were so true! I'm mentally ill. I vie for good, but find the crap, My ways of escape end in the trap. I'm nothing, loons should not be proud, No wonder, I'm lost in the crowd! It feels so bad, when you deserve, To rule, but you're destined to serve. When you have failed, who gives a shit, To what you are, your worth, your wit? "Oh, he? That loser, what he thought? These wars are not so easily fought!" "I'm glad the things have come to this, He's doomed! Its what I used to wish!" "That haughty chap, now where he'd go? I'm sure, he himself, doesn't know!" I swear, if I could get a gun, I'd blast those heads off everyone. A weaker chap, in as much pain, Would long before, have slashed his vein. I'm mad, I know, from head to toe, This seizure won't just let me go. This madness does not let me rest, Just makes me crazier for the crest. This race isn't, just over yet, Though it may seem, I've lost the bet. But what I've lost, is just some sleep, The price I'll take, will not be cheap!

Now in the ball, I hear them dance, Absently I lay down my plans. To make a roar, to silent all, And charm some bitches at the ball. I will be heard, the thunder loud! The lightening in the cloudly crowd! Anurag Anand Class of 2015

Small Dream
Dream, Dream, Dream Dreams transform into thoughts And thoughts result in action Men often becomes what They believe themselves to see. If I believe I cannot do something, It makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, Then I acquired the ability to do it even If I didnt have it in the beginning. We, the young generation is the wealth of the country, When we grow up we can be the role models for our society and country. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it. Vision ignites the minds. So dream dream dream as big as you can with great vision. Rohit Yadav Class of 2014

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Tale of Two Girls

There goes my sweet Country Girl, In that wind those curls unfurl, Longish skirt on a simple blouse, Walking with a herd of cows. She won't know what love does mean, These all stuff don't find her keen, For she has much chores to mind, Firewood, fodder, food to find. Walking by the river bank, I thought I might play a prank, May be she would give a glance, Who knows? I might get my chance! But she turned around and strode, Faster on that country road, Faster through each hedge and cut, Until she had reached her hut. At dusk I hear her song so sweet, Though weary are her pretty feet, She grumbles not, and cooks the food, For soon be back her father would. Has no books, she can't read or write, No one does ever heed her plight, Ere rooster crows, she has to rise, This is life, and its her prize. Hark! there goes my City Girl, Watch that micro skirt unfurl, Lower jeans on a slimmer waist, On her face, some make-up paste. She'll never know what love does mean, But to know, she's utmost keen, For she has just boys to mind, One in front and ten behind. Walking by some florist's shop,
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On her I let a flower drop, She turned up, gave me a glance, I knew that I had my chance. Then she turned around and strode, With me at her back, on the city road, Then we entered in her car, After that things went too far. At dusk she shops, now jokes apart, Though weary is her carry cart, She grumbles not, and buys them all, When she has surfed through every mall. She has her books, but loves to talk, To every guy who lives next block, She sleeps too late, is late to rise, Befools the guys and thinks she's wise...... Anurag Anand Class of 2015

The Sheathed Sword

A sheathed sword, O Christ, Is she! With nothing, but the hilt, to eyes, The scabbard veils the rest of all, The Blade! It fascinates the wise! Immaculately carven hilt, Ensnares the fools, and further just, The wonder blade, the latent glow, Eludes the stains of every lust! The club, the axe, the bow, the mace, Its not that they are baser race, But yet, no sheath! And yet, a grace, No sword in scabbard could outpace! A leather skin makes no less sharp, The blazing steel which underlies, In passion; master sets her free, She fills the scene with moans and cries!

A sword, once forged; she craves for War, She longs to bite the necks she sees, She wants her master rip her sheath, And stain her with his victories. The hilt, too close to masters loins, She holds there like a bitch in heat, The master, proud to have her so, And more like her adorn his fleet! The swordsmen, curse you! Ugly curs! You blindly call her tool of wars, She brought you pride; you brought her veil, And underneath, host of scars. You forge her at the hour you need, Abandon at your slightest whim. She blazes at those nights of wars, Recedes that blaze, at day, to dim. These trifles, none of my concern, I fantasize the battle field, The lusty strokes, the moans, the sweat, The Blazing, naked sword I wield!

Can't we forget them for a while..??? I pound the pending summers From dusty brown to pale grey, Casting in color and life, Keeping prickly paranoia at bay Moving on in serious westerlies, I drizzle on and on, Helping rugged, rusted hands, Towing on dry crops, Vested in me, is their livelihood, I can't go back on my time, As vowed... I am rain, I am peace, I am joy, I am grace, Think for once, As to how a year would be, With monsoon without a trace...!!! Debanjan Purkayastha Class of 2013

Monsoon at my own backyard!!!

I mediate, I relocate, I transcend... Perimeters of earthly pastures, The greens turn greener, The sands turn darker, Not a single one hesitant to welcome me with, A friendly gesture, I turn the world, Oblivious of the pending grease and doom, I bring upon all a smile unforeseen, For, I am water, I am rain!!! Comes with me, hope redefined, Blended with energy and jive, Floods and lashing waters,
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Prose
Dream for an aids free generation
When you dream for yourself, the question mark is over your own commitment only. But when you dream for your native world, your strategy asks more of you than your commitment. It needs organization, motivation, goodwill, perseverance and much more in a blend of sustainable proportions. A dream for the generation would be perhaps more intricate. Prolific writers would not deny the fact that thinking for a generation is one of the most subtle topics that have ever prevailed. The world has never faced the dearth of good men with noble intentions who have had promising visions for the world. But as quoted by Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, a dream is valuable only when it is converted into fruitful thoughts and these thoughts are converted to perceptible action. This piece of writing would remain an honest attempt to ignore what is practically impossible and to incorporate what is though difficult, not impossible to inculcate. AIDS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, needless to say has always served as a faithful foe to medical science since time immemorial, the date of discovery rather insignificant. Medics define it a severe condition where the immune system of the person becomes mute and the body becomes vulnerable to other chronic diseases, a tuberculosis

infection being the most commonly acquired. Though the secondary clinical features are not easily citable, distinguishable effects like weight-loss, anorexia, fever and weakness always accompanies the AIDS victim. One rare case in a hundred may survive to live a normal and long life. But the insecurity embedded within the knowledge of having the disease always leaves the victim half dead. What makes the disease far more deadly is the social negligence and disgust that a victim has to face irrespective of the way he has attained it. The common idea of a layman is that unsafe sexual practices are the most obvious causes of AIDS. But an educated mans diary would reveal many more ways of acquiring the infection, which suggest that the vice called AIDS is on the loose and everyone in the society is equally prone to it. The statistics of last year have revealed that there are more than thirty four million AIDS victim all over the world with a growth rate of two and a half million every year. Out of these, more than two million victims face death every year on account of the syndrome. An insight into the statistics shows that the African countries are the major reservoirs of this human epidemic, while many first world countries have shown good signs of recovery with a fall in the growth rate of victims. The fact throws enough light on the fact that lack of awareness and proper education might be the primary assistants of the pandemic. The HIV virus which is a retro virus was first seen in monkeys, but its deadliness
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was manifested in human beings soon. Its entrance into the human gene pool is unrecorded, but it had the curious capacity to multiply its number of victims through bodily fluids. Sexual contact and exchange of saliva were the most common ways detected. But the virus had a way of manipulating the DNA and genes of the vessel and hence sharing shaving utensils and syringe needles, or even blood transfer in any way came to be recognised as chances of attaining the infection. The topic has provided enough food for thought from the medical scientists. But, since the virus alters the genetic constitution invariably, creating an antidote remained just an idea on the blackboard. Antibiotics have been prepared and distributed, but are neither readily available nor affordable. What seems to be the only weapon against this deadly disease is mass awareness. This is where the question of realisation of an AIDS free generation comes into view. With awareness serving as the only torchlight in the dark of this pandemic, we have to capitalise on all available information which might turn the attention of the young and also influence them in the right way to take proper measures. Leaving the international organisations apart, even NACO, the National AIDS Control Association, has been restlessly working to spread mass awareness and sex education all over India. In recent years even the media has been equally supportive to the ideas of the AIDS activists. It is probably a result of all such voluntary activities that most of the people today dont unknowingly fall a
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fate to this infection. But the problem lying within this solution is that it has not been loud enough to produce a movement. The demand of the situation is that every person aware of the problem must willingly come forward as a helping hand and increase the intensity of the movement. The ethical uneasiness of the people to deal with topics related to AIDS must be shed off immediately. Everyone who dreams of an AIDS free generation must also dream of a mass movement of AIDS awareness where the number of activists would outnumber the unaware and uneducated masses by a large margin. This means that the movement must engulf every person it influences and manifest them to spread the agenda. The third world countries should be more seriously dealt with as the people of these countries are especially protective in nature against such discussions. Fighting their superstitions might fuel the movement in a better way. There are believes in some African tribes that having sex with a virgin women relieves a victim from AIDS. Such superstitions should be tactfully settled and substituted with better options. It often becomes difficult to create awareness among the jungle tribes. But the generation cannot be completed excluding them. Maintenance of safe sexual practices is not easy to achieve for all and it would be pointless to be argumentative in such cases. So the use of condoms should be promoted and its availability should be ensured in all places. But all this is again possible only when there is a mass movement in support of this alteration. The recovered

countries should come to the aid of the others. Regarding the young generation, they should be debarred from unsafe sexual practices by all means. The media should be monitored and censored in a better way as to be more idealistic for the young people. Once again the media will tend to do so only if there is a mass movement. They have been selling sex and doing lucrative business for a long time which has told on the moral health of the young and urban. The number of porn channels in the net is so large without any restriction that the sudden eagerness to explore sex at a young age has become obvious nowadays. Even then the use of condoms and other preventive measures should be taught to the students at school itself. A mass movement is what should deliberately help in the realization of the dream. But self-commitment is equally important. When the movement incorporates everyone in the upcoming generation as an AIDS activist, it becomes his responsibility to stick to the ethos of the movement. Ill practices in the market like use of common razors by barbers, use of common needles by doctors, careless transfer of blood in patients, can all be vanished in a blink if everyone becomes serious to serve the movement. A wise man once quoted be the change you want to see. This is suggestive of the fact that if we change our notion towards AIDS, we can change others too. Just like darkness is nothing but the absence of

light, AIDS too is nothing but the absence of awareness. Apurba Jyoti Gogoi Class of 2013

The Ceremony
The sun over his head was scorching and an extremely urgent need to urinate overflowed his senses. Around him was a barren land, some slum area. He could see poverty stricken people around him, all of them walking to a destination. He saw the road leading to a huge tree. As he travelled further the tree became clearer in sight. From what he could make out, it was like a very big feast. Where are they going?, he asked the fellow traveller. Now this fellow traveller was a blind man. He had a sparse hairline and seemed to be suffering from some gruesome disease. Cant you see, everyone is going to the fair!, the blind traveller answered. Slowly he reached the big clearance where the big tree was stood. From some distance he could see some girls swinging on a makeshift swing made of ropes and hung on the branches. Everyone was enjoying and strangely, something seemed to make him happy. He made his way through the crowd to see the pretty girls who looked more like angels giggling as they swung from one end to the other. Some other girls were helping them swing by providing occasional pushes to keep the speed steady. The long hairs of the girls were dancing in the breeze which
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blew against them. Finally he reached the opening, right in front of the tree. The scene he saw next shook him right to the bone. He gulped his heart. He saw that the weight of the girls on the swing was balanced by corpses, dead girls who hung on the other end of the swing rope. Blood dripped down from the neck and the portion from where they were hung. Every time the swing was pushed harder, their necks were pulled even harder. The entire tree was filled with old ropes holding the skulls of the other victims who had been sacrificed on previous such occasions. What the heck is going on here?, he asked one of the audience. I mean dont you have any morality? What is the damn logic in killing innocent girls so that some other pretty girls would enjoy. How dare you challenge our ceremony?, the leader of the tribe rose up and pointed to him. We have followed this custom from the ancient times. Kill! Kill! Kill! suddenly all the people begun to scream. Suddenly, he noticed a very strange thing. All the spectators were men, and the women sat on the swings, pushed it or dangled dead, hanging. Time to time more women would be brought to the hanging spot so as to allow more girls enjoy the swinging experience. The next thing he noticed was that he was dressed like a girl. He was alarmed to notice that he had breasts and his skin was no longer remained weather beaten and crusty. It was unusually softer. He
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touched his hands, they were smother and more delicate. His wrists were rounded, just like a girls. I am a man! he cried to himself, but his voice was soft like a girl. The urge to urinate still hung around and he looked down but was even more afraid. He felt cursed, as if he was wearing some suit which could be changed at some point. Come sister a few girls held him and pushed him to the tree. The cold dark shade of the tree covered him as he walked through the pool of blood and rotten beheaded bodies. He felt weak and unable to move. He wanted to run away but providing resistance was becoming exceedingly difficult for him. The girls undressed him and he was frightened to see his own body which was now a womens. He was dragged to the hanging stand and his heart accelerated with lightning speed with every inch. The hanging rope was tied around his neck. Please let me go!, he cried. I am not a girl. I am a man. Its alright sister, a woman smiled at him. Slowly the rope was pulled as two girls sat on the swing and some others pushed them. He felt the rope tug at his neck and a strong pain triggered through his backbone. He could no longer breathe and hot blood gushed through his mouth and neck. He tried his level best to scream but nothing seemed to work. He could feel the warmth between his legs as urine leaked

out. Beside him was a head hanging from the branch. He looked at it. It should have made him afraid but it did not. Its all right sister. the head looked at him. Its a men dominated world where women are made to hate each other. He felt he was dying, he tried hard to breathe but all in vain. He tried to shout but he couldnt. He wanted to move his body but it was out of his control. He felt helpless and wanted it to end. He realized that it was a dream but even the dream was becoming torturous for him. I want to wake up, he screamed in his mind. What happened? his mother asked him. What were you murmuring, wake up and look after your sister, we have to pay a visit to Padmas home. He came to his sense. All the incidents that happened the previous day came to his mind. He peeped outside the window. The place where the woman burnt herself was still dark with soot. Ting tong The bell rang. He went to the door, it was his brother. His brother returned after a long time. Hey why is the neighbourhood so silent, his brother asked him as he went to the table and drank a glass of water. You would not believe what happened yesterday, he looked at his brother. Freshen up and I will tell you everything. Half an hour later

Both of them sat down on the table Do you know yesterday a girl named Pinky came to Padmas house, and she was beaten by Padmas mother and dragged all the way to the street in front of everyone. Pinky took private tuitions from Padmas father. I guess you can imagine what was going on. Pinky was not coming to school from a long time. I never knew this was happening. She came early in the morning. Nobody of us knew until we heard loud cries and when we came out we saw those devils. Padmas mother and grandma dragged her holding by the hairs to the road. Padma cried her heart out but no one helped. What the hell were you doing, loser? His bother raised his brows at him. Papa would not allow me and neither mother would. When I tried, mother threatened me to leave the house. We are no one to interfere in their business, that what she said me. Pinky was abused.. Bitch was what she was named by padmas mother. She was beaten, kicked and all the bastards were in their home watching everything. Where was the hero? His brother looked at him. He fled away When they were all done she was left all alone in the roadbut that poor girl would not go. She came to our veranda and sat down there for the whole day, crying.

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Maa would not let anyone go out because she did not want anyone of us be involved in that. But at a time she herself went out with a glass of water. She said she was pregnant And the bastard lied to her that he wasnt married. When she called him one day, a woman received the call. And thats how she came to know he was married. If my mother comes to know about it she will kill me. I have brought disgrace to my family..I think I will kill myselfThats what she said. As evening came she finally leftwe thought she would inform the police but at about 10 at night we went out after hearing a shriek. She burned herself down. She died this morning in the hospital. Police came and maa tried to stop me but said everything. No one could anything yesterday. Dad vomited and so did maa. This incident will probably be a matter of fun and entertainment over tea in most houses but no one even tries to know what she had to go through. For gods sake she was just seventeen. I mean anyone would have been in her place. Ok ok.no need to be a hero, his brother looked at him. I will beat that man to death when he comes back. I even had this weird dream before sometime where girls were hanged by other girls so that men could enjoy. I saw that I was a girl. It was a very scary dream. I even saw a head saying me

Its a men dominated world where women are made to hate each other. Parag J. Gogoi Class of 2015

Behind the ATM

It was a busy Tuesday. People passed by the ATM, without casting it a second glance, except for those who had to withdraw money. Hardly anyone knew that the desolate looking house, of which the ATM was a part, was actually buzzing with life. In it lived Rashi along with her dreams and her hopes. And that deep secret she hoped would be buried in her heart forever. Rashi was a girl of 18. She went to a normal school, had normal friends, and had all those schoolgirl crushes, had the same passion for movies or music as all normal 18 year old girls had. But Rashi was special. Though she did not know it. All she knew was that she nurtured a deep burning love for Shubham. And he had no idea about it. No one did. Shubham was her best friend ever. Since the last two years, they had been inseparable. Their friendship had started in quite an unusual way. He was a new boy in their class. And all of her friends couldnt stop gushing over him. She didnt quite understand what was it that made him special, although she thought the name Shubham sounded as if he was a film star or something. And when she finally saw him, she knew this guy wasnt

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much of a looker. Maybe he had brains. Rashi intended to find out, Soon. They had three periods together. And he always sat on the seat behind her. Talking to all her friends. Except her. And as she heard their laughter, she always wished she could be a part of it. But she was too shy to even start their conversation. Until one day, he was joking to all the girls, that they never even asked his name. So he joked that he would write his name on their hands, so they could always remember him. And he wrote down his name with a pen on their hands one by one. He paused when he came to Rashi, but smiling he said I know we have never talked, but I hope we will be good friends. I am Shubham. Rashi, she replied shyly. Wow your hand is so fair. And so are you, of course, he winked. And that night Rashi couldnt sleep. She tossed and turned in bed. She hadnt yet washed his name away. And the scene played in her mind over and over again. He had called her fair. Many people had told her that. But he had made her feel beautiful. And that was something no one had ever done before. She jumped out of bed to stare at the mirror. She smiled. Maybe she didnt look that bad. But a guy like Shubham had called her fair. That must mean something And when she finally fell asleep, the last thought in her mind was of roses and black ink and smiling guys calling her fair.

And that marked the beginning of their story. A sweet story, sprinkled with tears here and there, but something they both knew they would cherish for all their lives, even if they somehow lost contact (Although there was a very slim chance of that happening) As the days passed, they talked more and more. And she let him into her own guarded world, sharing all her secrets with him. He, in turn opened up to her. And they became the best of friends. And Rashi didnt even realize when and how she started developing feelings for her. Was it the way he always made her smile, no matter how low she was. Or was it the way he seemed to fill her empty world with colors. Or maybe it was those messages he sent her every day. Each message said how much she meant to him, and she loved how he made her feel special all the time. Shubham always talked of Shreyasi, another girl of their class. And how pretty she was. But Rashi knew well enough that the feelings he had were not serious. And soon enough, he got over her. Then came Deepika, a girl who was heavily crushed by him. But all Shubham thought about her was that he considered her as his sister But things changed when Namita came into his life. She was a perfect match for the vivacity in Shubham. Cheerful and bubbly, she lit that spark in him, which was missing with anyone else. And as Shubham started falling for her, the first person he thought of sharing this was with Rashi. And she heard out all his stories, with the same eagerness as she
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did before, but she didnt know why this hurt her so much. After all her best friend was falling in love with someone, and she should have been happy. But the very sound of his laughter cut like a knife. And that was the day Rashi realized that she was completely and irrevocably in love with Shubham. And as the closeness between the two of them decreased, Rashis role in Shubhams life began to take a backseat. Though on the surface everything was perfectly alright, but she knew somethimg was breaking. And as the days passed by, even Shubhams behavior towards her changed. He started to be rude, sometimes without any reason. And although it hurt very badly, Rashi swallowed her pride and allowed him to continue this way. Because the pain he gave was not reason enough to let go of the most beautiful part of her life. When the two of them finally got together officially, the first person to know it was Rashi. And she never let it show, her world suddenly became colorless. All the dreams, the hopes she had, were shattered. And as the days passed, it felt as if the only reason she had for smiling had left her. Forever. But when they finished school, Namita went away to another college, and eventually they lost touch. Initially Shubham was depressed, and Rashi was the one on whom he totally depended to bring his world back to normal. And in being his solace, Rashi found happiness. And in their new hostel, she had another

girl Anu as her roommate. And in some strange way, it felt as if they had known each other for years, even in their first month itself. Although Rashi had always kept her world confined to her shell, she slowly found herself sharing everything with her. It started with those small school stories, went on to crushes, and finally she found herself opening up about her love for Shubham to Anu. And for the first time in her life, she actually found someone who listened not just for the sake of spreading rumours, but because she actually cared. Anu, never really liked the sound of Shubham. Mainly because he didnt return her best friends love. But she knew that these two, however he denied, or she shied away from it, were made for each other. Now that Shubham too was her friend, she knew talking it out with him would have no effect whatsoever. So she just arranged get-togethers. Parties where almost everyone else seemed to cancel their presence just at the eleventh hour. And Shubham and Rashi ended up together. Sometimes chaperoned by Anu. Just seeing how much they enjoyed each others company, gave her pleasure. At night when they started their usual roommate banter, Anu always mentioned Shubham. And watched her roomates face light up in animation when she talked about how he had made her day special. And then suddenly Anu told Rashi to stop talking with, or meeting up Shubham. Confused and hurt, she couldnt understand why her own roomie was being harsh on her. But she knew her enough not to ask questions. Or to go
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against her wishes. Because, when she didnt get her own way, Anu wasnt someone you would dare to cross. Shubham was sad too. He tried so many times to contact his best friend, but it was always her roommate who answered the phone. Even in college, their paths never seemed to cross. He asked this question many times to Anu, but she always dodged it. He was upset. It was as if the ray of sunshine in his life was lost and he had no intention of Rashi go the same way as Namita had done. And by this time, he was almost sure what he had for her was definitely more than mere friendship. Because he could simply NOT be happy without her. And he wanted to make it clear before she went away forever. Meanwhile Anu had something else in mind. One evening in mid-October, she called Rashi for a rooftop picnic at their friend Prernas terrace. And when she did arrive, there was no one there. Rashi decided to wait until either Anu or Prerna arrived. So when she heard footsteps beside her, she smiled and turned around her. But her smile faded when she saw that it was Shubham. They were best friends, and it was a mark of the strength of their friendship that she sensed no awkwardness in the air. In fact her heart warmed at the sight of his dimpled smile. He came and sat next to her. Mind if I? he asked mischievously, as he put his arms around her and pulled her close. She breathed in his cologne and

smiled back Of course Mr. Dimples. Wholl not give you permission? And as they talked into the night, she let her head rest on his shoulder, and he could feel the warmth of her scented hair wash over him. There was a sense of contentment in the air, as she squeezed his arm and asked, Dont you feel something extra special tonight? He looked up at the sky, sighed, and simply said Mars is unusually bright tonight. Anangsha Alammyan Class of 2015

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Union Budget 2012-2013

And its implications on infrastructure and real estate sector

What is Union Budget? The Union Budget of India, also known as the Financial Statement, is the annual budget of the Republic of India, officially meant to be presented each year on the last working day of February by the Finance Minister of India in the Parliament. Then the budget has to be passed by the house before it can come into effect on April 1, our financial new year. The Union Budget for 2012 - 2013 was presented by Pranab Mukherjee on 16th March 2012; this was the 7th budget of his career. These budgetary proposals will be applicable from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013.

Did you know?

The first Union budget of independent India was presented by R. K. Shanmukham Chetty on November 26, 1947. Also the Former Finance Minister Morarji Desai presented the budget ten times, the most by any.

As any engineering work is preceded with a survey, the Union Budget is also preceded with a survey and that survey is called the Economic Survey. Economic Survey is a flagship annual document or the report card of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It reviews the developments in the Indian economy over the previous 12 months, summarizes and benchmarks the performance on major development programs, and highlights the policy initiatives of the government and the prospects of the economy. The Economic Survey is also presented by the Finance Minister in the Parliament every year, just before the Union Budget. Impact of Infrastructure and Real Estate on the Economy: Infrastructure sector acts as a catalyst in development of all other sectors of the economy. Thus it has been the focus of Government. Fully recognizing the need to fill the void in financing infrastructure projects, last years budget had set up an infrastructure debt fund. Pessimism in the Western economies continued influencing market sentiments and foreign capital inflow in the sector. This may have perhaps led, in the current budget, to augment low cost funds from outside India; a reduced tax of 5% has been doled out to foreign investors providing debt to key infrastructure projects such as aviation, power, toll road, bridge, port etc. Real Estate sector is not only the biggest contributor to Gross Domestic Product GDP of the country but is also the fourth largest sector in terms of Foreign Direct Investment FDI inflows in the country. The industry was looking forward at the budget to come with policy decisions, such as the long standing demand of the realty sector for an industry status,

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which would have eased the borrowing cost and avenues for raising funds for the developers. The Impact: Infrastructure Development: Power: Coal India Limited to sign fuel supply agreements with power plants having longterm power purchase agreements with Distribution Companies and getting commissioned on or before 31 March 2015. Existing power projects to be allowed to get External Commercial Borrowing ECB to part finance Rupee debt. During the twelfth plan period, investment in infrastructure is proposed reach Rs 50 lakh crore. Private sector is expected to contribute at least half of the outlay. Viability Gap Funding under the scheme Support to PPP in infrastructure extended to more sectors. Infrastructure Debt Fund with an initial size of Rs 8,000 crore launched. Rs 60,000 crore to be raised through tax free bonds allowed for financing infrastructure projects during financial year FY 2012-13. Approval of a harmonized master list of infrastructure sector. IIFCL has put in place a structure for credit enhancement and take-out finance for easing access of credit to infrastructure projects.

Roads:

Target of covering a length of 8,800 kilometers under National Highways Development Project. 14% enhanced allocation for Transport and Highways Ministry. Capital expenditure on the maintenance and operations of toll systems for roads and highways is proposed to be financed through ECB In September 2011 central assistance of Rs 18,500 crore spread over 5 years approved for Delhi Mumbai Industrial corridor. Housing: Proposals under consideration to address the shortage of housing for low income groups in major cities and towns including, allowing ECB for low cost housing projects, setting up of a credit guarantee trust fund etc.

Compiled by: Sandeep Menon Batch of 2013

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The Ombudsman Fiasco

As the India Against Corruption movement finds itself locked in a stalemate, the nation lets out a collective sigh, with emotions as varying as relief from the North Block to disappointment from the commons. When it all started in April with Anna Hazare declaring a fast unto death, which was more figurative than direct as we went on to find out, the people turned their heads. Soon, their scepticism waned as the movement got widespread media attention. Support from prominent personalities like Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, soon the masses turned in flocks to someone they hoped could be their next Mahatma. The task of removing corruption was no less herculean than winning the national independence, and so it would have taken a man with a grit which matched that of the Mahatma himself. A calm, principled, clean-imaged Anna looked much the same, more so when he had his share of Champaran feats at Maharashtra. As in the case of the Mahatma, he faced suppression too, only the culmination turned out to be different. That is, a failure, in this case. The ruling party lacked the number to get it through, and the opposition was only well aware of this fact. Time was a huge constraint; the session was being held through midnight; with around 187 amendments pending in the Rajya Sabha, it was next to impossible to debate them all within the stipulated time. The opposition realized this fact that the bill would not be passed owing to paucity of time and went on to scuttle its passage. If we pose a glance over what ideas the prominent parties had over in the vision of its Lokpal, we would find it rather vivid and ironic. Opposition, like Trinamool Congress, did not want the Lokayukta clause itself. They wished to remove the clause that encroached federalism and pleaded that the state be allowed to form their own rules on Lokayukta, something which could not be accepted by the ruling alliance. A stalemate could be seen on the cards. BJP preferred to be vague over what it meant by a strong Lokpal. Being the majority, it wanted voting over the bill in the Rajya Sabha to defeat the motion as it could be utilized against the Congress in the coming assembly elections in the five states. On the other hand, UPA paid more emphasis over a strong support from its stronghold, The Lower House. Despite that, they couldnt outnumber their rivals by a margin huge enough to provide them with a decisive majority owing to absence of few of their alliance partners whom they blamed later for non-cooperation. On a closer look, this was only natural as with the assembly elections just around the corner, they didnt want the biggest party of the alliance, Congress, to take credit of the whole affair in the event that the bill was passed. The bill was a baby that nobody wanted. A deadlock it was and being a political variety, only harder to break. On the other side, there was very poor attendance in the Mumbai fast. Although team Anna installed twenty buses to ferry people to the fast venue, which was well provided with food and water ironically, the support received was only lukewarm.
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Apparently, Anna gave up on the moment he realized that the people were not really bothered. Somehow or the other, the media had succeeded in convincing a large section of the masses that Annas entourage too, had its share of corrupt people and internal rifts, and this wasnt a welcome thing in times of adversity. Today, there is no news over this anticorruption propaganda, the issue has gone dormant and the shrewd minds of the bureaucracy and the ministry do not see any major threat to corruption in India in the near future. It would be exceedingly difficult for Anna Hazare to rise from his hiatus and clean these Augean Stables in shoes of the Mahatma. The salient features of the Lokpal/Ombudsman Bill are: To help the common people, o If any work is not completed within the prescribed time in any government office, the Lokpal Bill imposes financial penalty on the guilty officers which would be given as a compensation of compliment. o So, one can approach the Lokpal if ones ration card or passport or voter ID card is not being made or the police are not registering a complaint case, or any work is not being done in the prescribed time. Lokpal has to get it done in a months time. One can also report any case of corruption to Lokpal, like poor quality of road being constructed or Panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its investigation in a year, trial must be over in the next one year and thus the guilty will be punished within two years. The government cannot appoint any corrupt or weak people as Lokpal member. If some officer or Lokpal member becomes corrupt, then any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer discussed will be prosecuted in the next two months. An institution called Lokpal at the centre and Lokayukta in each state will be set up. Like the SC and the election commission, they will be completely independent of the government. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their decision. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore. Investigation in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial has to be completed in the next one year and the corrupt person is to be sentenced, altogether, within two years. The loss incurred to the government by the corrupt person will be recovered at the time of conviction. It will also be the duty of the Lokpal to provide protection to those who are being victimized for raising their voice against corruption.

Anurag Anand Uma Kant Batch of 2014

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Is India a Democracy?
After much awaited independence from a harshly imperial British regime, it was only obvious for Indians to establish a form of government which directly laid the power into hands of the people and not into a single body. Taking inspiration from the popular outcries from the likes of the French Revolution and American War of Independence, our leaders went for a democratic setup. Not only it came to be seen as an allegory of freedom from autocracy, but the way it raised the level of the bourgeoisie from politically neglected economic bodies to potential lobbyists; democracy was received with a unanimous welcome. We Indians are born with a congenital thought that this is the only form of government suitable for a country as populous, geographically diverse and in demands as vivid as ours. Let us take a few moments examining critically how does democracy in India stand against the backdrop of the contemporary happenings that have been gripping the nation every now and then in the recent past. The constitution vouched for a bicameral system of parliament; it was supposed to be the seat of democracy, the House of the People and the House of the State were in concise the whole essence of the democratic setup. But, the contemporary outcry for a third body called Jan Lokpal perhaps suggests that either the constitution lacked insight into the future, or these demands are really undemocratic. The constitution makers made their insight evident by allowing the constitution to be flexible to amendments provided they are passed from both the houses with a suitable majority. But as we saw recently, the Jan Lokpal Bill was not acceptable to the government and the UPA version of the Lokpal could not attract enough votes from the houses to get it passed. Anna Hazare, though his intentions appear to be noble, disappointed the masses who expected him to be their next Mahatma. Anna took up democratic measures to protest. The masses gave him enough popular support and it would be an injustice to blame anyone for the Lokpal fiasco. An ironical instance of a democratic appeal being stuck up in a democratic system. Not really the peoples form of government, is it? Winston Churchill once remarked, The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with a common voter. Vote banks are used by the political parties to their advantage. Especially in rural areas, people usually prefer to vote for the candidate who belongs to their caste, in anticipation of some special help from him. The desi antics of Lalu Prasad Yadav are more than light-heartedness, they make the rural people feel that he is one of them; he carries their culture with him no matter how high he goes. At election campaigns, leaders sweat it out in the dust and sun with a constant plastic smile that goes perfectly well with those folded hands; and once into power, they make sure each drop of sweat oozed pays off. Another instance: A voter can vote for a single party, but multiple parties can co-align to form a government. The status of democracy has just been reduced to that of a game of political manipulations to acquire power. The people do play an
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important role, but that is curtailed to queuing up at the election booths with a confused and hopeless mind. There is a yawning chasm between the government and the people. Certainly, this was not the form of democracy The Drafting Committee had aimed for. We all are familiar with the 9/11 attacks, and more importantly, its aftermath. Inspires awe. Also, we are equally familiar with the 13/12 attacks on the parliament and the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, and their aftermaths as well. Inspires frustration. There is an alarming apathy among the government towards the defence issues. We responded to the parliament attacks in form of fruitless summits and unsuccessful dialogues. Afzal Guru is yet to be hanged. The Mumbai attacks, another series of bilateral summits and some threats to our neighbour. Kasab enjoys the long periods of trails; all the time relishing the countless sums offered the exchequers. The Prime Minister remains mute amidst blames from ministers of his own cabinet and questions from the opposition over his credibility. The Rupee plummets down and down in the share market. Ask any citizen, everyone is disappointed with the current state of affairs. The system, evidently, is in turmoil. It is easy to put innumerable should-be-s over ideas, but exceedingly difficult to implement them all. Yet, time has come for some radical changes into the democratic setup, changes which remove the neo-liberalist elements which are weakening the system, at the same time maintaining the basic foundations of democracy. The Supreme Court must be vested with a suspensive veto over the laws issued by the ruling government. The Election Commission should ensure that the popular choices are weighed on the scale of quality, not quantity. Trials should be speedier. We the youth have to put on this yoke on our shoulders, as democracy in India is something that cant be totally done with. To quote Churchill, Democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried in history. Anurag Anand Batch of 2014

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Our Esteemed Faculty

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Reminiscence

Civil Engineering Society Body, 2011-2012

P Roy Punit Giria Shobhit Shukla Zain Ahmed Suman Pran Sonowal (Late) Apurva Jyoti Gogoi Ravi Sharma Debanjan Purkayastha Nishant Ranjan Convener General Secretary Publication Secretary Lecture Secretary Cultural Secretary Assistant Publication Secretary Assistant Publication Secretary Assistant Lecture Secretary Assistant Cultural Secretary

Executive Members / Class Representatives 3rd Year Dimpi Das Debanjan Purkayastha Sandeep Menon K Prashanth Babu 2nd Year Sulagna Sarma Mridu Pawan Uzir Ankit Singh 1st Year Debanjana Gupta Anurag Anand

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London Orbit Tower