Source ….https://www.routesonline.com
Natarajan
social networking
London Railings Made From World War 2 Stretchers….
Many housing estates throughout London are surrounded by black steel and mesh railings with peculiar notches around the edges. Although at first glance they appear to be some quirky architectural design, the notches have a purpose—or rather, had a purpose. These steel railings originally functioned as stretchers used to carry the wounded during the Second World War. The curves or the notches you see were the legs upon which the stretchers were laid on the ground. After the war was over many of these stretchers were repurposed to replace fencing that were lost in the war.
Photo credit: www.stretcherrailings.comIn the months leading up to the war in 1939, the UK government produced more than 600,000 stretchers at plants located in Hertfordshire and the West Midlands. The stretchers had a steel frame supporting a wire mesh; steel was chosen so that the stretchers could be easily cleaned and disinfected from germs, dirt and blood. The two notches on either end of the poles allowed the stretchers to be rested on the ground but still be picked up quickly and easily. Unfortunately, the stretchers were terribly uncomfortable and many volunteers from the Civil Defence Service, who were carried on these stretchers, complained of the hardness and discomfort.
After the war, the UK was left with a huge stockpile of stretchers that needed to be put to use, or recycled. As it happened, many estates in Britain’s cities had lost their perimeter fencing as these were removed and melted down to manufacture ammunition, tanks and other weaponry for the war. Then someone had this bright idea of welding together these stretchers and creating fences out of them.
These so-called “stretcher fences” can be found at many localities around London such as Peckham, Brixton, Deptford, Oval and East London. The metal structures were also used in other cities such as Leeds and also in Scotland, but they are most prominent in south and east London.
Many of the surviving railings today are in poor condition. Others were removed by local authorities due to increasing degradation. The newly formed Stretcher Railing Society believes that these railings are an important part of Britain’s heritage and needs to be preserved. As starters, they have began cataloguing the locations of these railings. You can check them out on their website.
Source…..http://www.amusingplanet.com
Natarajan
The village that gave India its new ISRO chief…..DR.Sivan
A humble son of a farmer who studied in local government run schools, in Tamil medium, is the new head of India’s premier space agency.
Dr K Sivan was born in Sarakkalvilai in Kanyakumari district in 1957. His father was a farmer, and Dr Sivan is the first graduate in the family.
By all accounts, his is an unusual story.
A young Sivan studied in government schools in his native village till the 5th standard, and completed his schooling in neighbouring Valankumaravilai, all in Tamil medium. Later, he graduated from the S T Hindu College in Nagercoil.
He then graduated from the Madras Institute of Technology in aeronautical engineering in 1980 and completed his master’s in aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in 1982.
That year he joined ISRO on its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle project, towards which he contributed in mission planning, design, integration and analysis. He has held various responsibilities during his stint in ISRO, finally going on to head India’s space agency.
At ISRO, he completed his PhD in aerospace engineering from IIT-Bombay, in 2006.
Dr Sivan, who takes over from Dr A S Kiran Kumar on Monday, January 15, for a three-year term, is only the second rocket scientist after G Madhavan Nair to head ISRO.
MAGE: Dr Sivan’s family home in Sarakkalvilai village. He comes here regularly to attend family functions and for the Bhadrakali Amman puja. Photograph: A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com
Sarakkalvilai falls on the outskirts of Nagercoil, which is the headquarters of Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. All of a sudden this small village has become the centre of attraction for people near and far, thanks to its famous son.
“Take the next right and it is at the end of the road,” says a villager, and as you reach the house you realise it is as unpretentious as the man who grew up there.
Dr Sivan’s sister-in-law Saraswathi lives in the family house with her daughter. “My eldest daughter got married five months ago and Sivan had come for the function,” she says, her eyes glowing with happiness.
Since the announcement about his appointment, people have been coming in droves to congratulate her, and her face beams with pride.
“I was married 30 years ago into this family and at that time he was already working for ISRO in Thiruvananthapuram. He used to live in a lodge then. He comes home for festivals and family functions,” says Saraswathi.
The conversation is interrupted when former Tamil Nadu Congress president Kumari Ananthan lands up with a dozen supporters to congratulate her.
One of the men who comes along with Ananthan hands her a book with the message, “Please give it to him when he comes next.” Another hands her a monthly magazine.
“He comes here every year for the Badrakali Amman puja which takes place in April-May,” adds his sister-in-law.
“He comes with his family, offers prayers and leaves the same day. He always comes for all family functions. When he is with the family he is always smiling and joking. He never calls, but his wife calls regularly and keeps in touch with us,” Sarawathi says.
“He was a class topper from school to college,” says Dr Sivan’s uncle who lives in the house opposite.
“He was a brilliant student and never went for tuitions or private classes. His father used to pluck mangoes and young Sivan used to go to the market to sell it. He was a helpful child,” the uncle adds.
The school Dr Sivan studied at is also opposite the family house. The retired PT master there recalls him clearly. “He was five years my junior in school, I remember him as a very quiet boy.”
“I too was five years his junior,” another villager pipes in. “You know the final exams used to come during harvest time. His father used to be in the field while Sivan sat on the lower branch of a tree with his books, studying, keeping one eye on the harvest, and run if his father called. He was always studying.”
“When Sivan and I were in school we had a very good headmaster,” the villager adds. “That headmaster planted many trees in the school compound and made every class in charge of a few trees. In the morning, when we came to school, the first thing we did was to water the trees and only after that did we attend school.”
“Kanyakumari is basically an agricultural district,” an elderly villager points out. “Apart from coir, there was no industry here. We all survived on farming. It’s rich fertile soil and there is plenty of water. Paddy, bananas, coconuts, mangoes, rubber is grown here.”
“Sivan was exceptional,” the elderly gent adds, “while he helped his father in the field he continued studying every free moment.”
“As there was only a primary school here we went to nearby Valankumaravilai for our SSC (Class 10). Those days there was no 12th standard. As there was no bus facility we walked.”
A colleague from ISRO, who retired a decade ago and did not want to be named for this feature, recalls, “He (Sivan) would go home only to sleep. He is extremely hard-working and totally focused on his work. He was not only the first graduate from his family, he was also the first graduate from his village.”
“He is a disciplined taskmaster,” says D Karthikesan, former director of the ISRO Propulsion Complex in Mahindragiri, Tamil Nadu.
“He likes to keep everything on schedule and works with a deadline,” adds Karthikesan. “If he thinks there is a problem somewhere he will go and talk to the people actually working on the project, and never limit himself to seniors in the organisation.”
“Though he is a hard taskmaster,” the former ISRO scientist points out, “he is also extremely generous and always looks after the welfare of the people working under him. So people work hard for him.”
“He is a bold decision-maker,” says Karthikesan. “Where others may hesitate wondering if it would work or not, he will say it will work and will do it.”
“Though he followed the schedule strictly,” adds Karthikesan, “he also made sure that all parameters are met at every stage. Whether it is quality or safety, he made sure every parameter was up to the mark before proceeding, and yet kept a tight schedule.”
Dr Sivan has two sons. The elder one has finished his BTech, the younger son is in college.
The school Dr Sivan studied in was built over 60 years ago. “We need to pull it down and build another,” says a villager. A government-run school, the land was given free by Dr Sivan’s uncle.
The village still does not have a bus service, a fact the villagers highlighted to Kumari Ananthan, the Congress politician. Nor does it have a middle, high or higher secondary school.
K Sivan’s ascent bears an uncanny resemblance to another ISRO scientist who was born in a fishing village in Ramanathapuram, also in Tamil Nadu.
That scientist, of course, went on to become the most beloved President this Republic has had.
Source….A.Ganesh Nadar in http://www.rediff.com
Natarajan
வாரம் ஒரு கவிதை ….” யுத்தம் செய்யும் கண்கள் “
யுத்தம் செய்யும் கண்கள்
—————————
அகத்தின் அழகை முகத்தில் வெளிச்சம்
போட்டுக் காட்ட கூர் விழிகள் நடத்தும்
யுத்தம் ஒரு மௌன யுத்தம் !
வாய் பொய் சொன்னாலும் கண்
சொல்லாது பொய் ! கண்கள் பேசி
உண்மை தெரியும் யுத்தம் ஒரு
தர்ம யுத்தம் !
கருவிழி அடையாளம் தனி மனிதன்
ஆதாரம் …நித்தம் நித்தம் முளைக்கும்
பித்தர் சிலரின் தகாத செயலை இனம்
கண்டு அதை களை எடுக்க கண்கள்
செய்வது அறிவியல் யுத்தம் !
தான் குடியிருக்கும் உடல் மறைந்தாலும்
தான் அழியாமல் தன் விழி வழியே
இன்னொரு உயிர் இந்த பூவுலகைப்
பார்க்க தன்னையே தானமாகக் கொடுக்கும்
கண் தானம் கண்கள் செய்யும் ஒரு
அதிசய யுத்தம் !
Natarajan
in http://www.dinamani.com dated 13th Jan 2018
The Terrifying Phenomenon of Spider Rain….
The Terrifying Phenomenon of Spider Rain
Worryingly described by entomologists and arachnologists as a “not uncommon” occurrence in certain parts of the globe, spider rain can see anywhere from a few thousand to several million spiders tumble from the sky in a given area, seemingly out of nowhere.
So what causes it? This is thanks to a rather interesting behaviour exhibited by spiders known as ballooning, which essentially involves an individual spider climbing to a high point and then firing strands of silk into the air, with the result being the spider being carried away by the wind, sometimes for many hundreds of miles.
Arachnologists are quick to point out that countless spiders are probably flying around over head at any particular time and that they usually land without much fanfare and go about their way. Sometimes, though, many thousands or millions of spiders will decide to balloon at the exact same time, either because they’re a single colony or because weather conditions force them to. In regards to the latter, on rare occasions certain weather patterns can see the millions of spiders floating through the air at any given time being thrown to Earth simultaneously at the same location.
Other known causes of spider rain are floods and wildfires, which can prompt spiders to flee en masse to escape what would otherwise be their own demise, concerningly illustrating that the age old “kill it with fire” way of getting rid of spiders isn’t fool-proof.
As an example of the former flood trigger phenomenon, in Pakistan following devastating floods throughout the country in 2010, millions of spiders noped out of there in a hurry via mass ballooning. While you’d expect the people of Pakistan to be unhappy about having to deal with both millions of spiders raining from the sky and floods, the spiders were seen as a good thing by most citizens because they ate all the mosquitoes.
On that note, in addition to ensuring the skies remain free of disease carrying insects, wandering clouds of spiders also provide ample food for birds and other creatures- a fact that combined with spiders often being amongst the first creatures to return to land devastated by flood and fire (via ballooning and landing back in the area), means that spider rain is generally seen as being an overall beneficial thing for nature via allowing these staples of the food chain to quickly and widely disperse themselves.
While you can observe individual spiders floating about in most regions of the Earth, if you’re wanting so see the specific phenomenon of spider rain, where millions of spiders fall from above en masse, your best bet is to live in certain regions of Australia (because, of course it’s Australia where this is most common). As New South Wales resident Keith Basterfield states, “They fly through the sky and then we see these falls of spiderwebs that look almost as if it’s snowing.” (You can see something of this effect here in a video shot in Texas.)
Luckily for arachnophobes, mass ballooning is a behaviour near exclusively observed in smaller species of spider or ones that were born very recently, as larger spiders are simply too heavy to be carried along by typical winds. As a result, if you’re currently imagining endless waves of tarantulas raining from the sky, you can rest assured that if you ever witness spider rain firsthand, at least you won’t be dealing with big spiders, just the little ones that can crawl around on you without you even noticing they’re there… This is also significant because most small spiders don’t posses the ability to penetrate human skin with their bites, even if they are otherwise highly venomous.
Thus, for the most part, spider rain is harmless (to humans). However, the phenomenon can potentially damage crops when millions of spiders all land in the same location, with their subsequent webs cutting the plants off from enough sunlight. (See a picture of this here.)
But I think the main point we want to drive home to arachnophobes is that some spiders can fly, and at any given time they may just fall from the sky on top of your head…
Source….www.today i found out .com
Natarajan
Which is the ‘Best Police Station’ in India? This Coimbatore Station Bagged the Award!
The New Year brings with it new beginnings and felicitations of various kinds – best movies of the year gone by, television series, best designers etc.
Now here is an award with a difference – Tamil Nadu’s RS Puram police station, in Coimbatore city, won the award for the ‘Best Police Station’ in the country in the category of SMART Police Stations, an initiative by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
SMART Police (S-Sensitive and Strict; M-Modern with mobility; A- Alert and Accountable; R- Reliable and Responsive; T- Trained and Techno-savvy) was a concept that was introduced by Prime Minister Modi at the 49th annual conference Directors General/Inspectors General held in Guwahati in November 2014.
Station House Officer T Jothi, Inspector (law and order), received the award from Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at the All India Conference of Director Generals/Inspector Generals of Police held at BSF Academy Tekanpur in Madhya Pradesh.
The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, the National Security Advisor, Shri Ajit Doval the Union Home Secretary, Shri Rajiv Gauba and other Senior Officers are also seen.
This is yet another feather in the station’s cap, the RS Puram station has an exclusive room for visitors, a waiting hall, investigation room, a receptionist cabin, treated drinking water and a ramp for the disabled. The all-woman police (east) has set up a crèche for the kids accompanying petitioners.
Station House Officer Jothi attributed the station winning the award to the teamwork of Tamil Nadu police. “No single person was responsible for the award. It is a team from the top to the constable level,” he said. “The station has been chosen as the best in the nation based on 80 parameters including basic amenities, crime detection, property recovery, cleanliness and citizen-friendly,” he said, as per a report in DNA.
The Hindu reported, following instructions from the State police headquarters, the Coimbatore City Police sent a file containing the initiatives it had taken in the past for effective and friendly policing. Based on the proposal a Home Ministry team visited the city and interacted with people who fell under the police jurisdiction limits.
Some of the parameters considered for the assessment include the rate of crime detection, execution of warrants, recovery of properties, enforcement of local laws and special acts, preventive arrests and detention under Goondas Act.
Here are the other stations that made it to the top 10 list released by the Ministry:
1. R.S.Puram PS, Coimbatore
2. Panjagutta, Hyderabad
3. Gudamba, Lucknow
4. Dhupguri, Jalpaiguri
5. K4 PS, Anna Nagar, Chennai
6. Banbhoolpara, Nainital
7. Ghiror, Mainpuri
8. Rishikesh, Dehradun
9. Valapattanam, Kannur
10. Kirti Nagar, Delhi
Source….Vidya Raja in http://www.thebetterindia.com
Natarajan
வாரம் ஒரு கவிதை ….”வீணையின் நாதம் “… கவிதை 2
வீணையின் நாதம்
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வீணையின் நாதத்தில் கீதமும் இருக்கும்
வேதமும் ஒலிக்கும்
பேதமும் பார்க்காதே வீணை தன்னை
இசைப்பவர் யார் என்று ?
இசை ரசிக்கும் ரசிகருக்கும் எம்மதமும்
சம்மதமே..இசை ஒன்றே அவர் பேசும்
மொழி …உண்ணும் உணவு !
இசைவிழா நேரம் இனிய ராகத்தில்
இணையும் மனசு சட்டென்று மாறி
ஒருவர் மீது ஒருவர் வசை மாரி
பொழிவது ஏன் ?
நாதத்தின் ராகம் மட்டும் என்ன என்று
அலசிய அதே ரசிகர் கூட்டம் ஒரே இரவில் நீ என்ன
இனம் நான் என்ன இனம் என்று
அபஸ்வர ராகம் பாடத் துடிப்பது ஏன் ?
வீணை வடிக்குது கண்ணீர் இன்று
தன் நாதமும் கீதமும் வீணாய் போனதே என்று !
Natarajan in
http://www.dinamani.com dated 7th Jan 2018
தலையாட்டி பொம்மையும், தஞ்சை பெரிய கோவிலும்!
தஞ்சாவூரில் தயாரிக்கப்படும் தலையாட்டி பொம்மைக்கும், தஞ்சை பெரிய கோவிலுக்கும் என்ன சம்பந்தம் இருக்க முடியும் என்று தானே நினைக்கிறீர்கள்…
இந்த சாதாரண தலையாட்டி பொம்மைக்குள் தான், மிகப் பெரிய தத்துவத்தையே ஒளித்து வைத்துள்ளனர், நம் முன்னோர்.
கொட்டாங்கச்சி எனப்படும் தேங்காய் சிரட்டையில் பாதியை எடுத்து, அதில், களி மண்ணை அடைத்து, தலையாட்டி பொம்மைகள் செய்யப்படுகிறது. அந்தப் பொம்மையை தரையில் வைத்து, எந்த பக்கம் சாய்த்தாலும், அது, ஆடி ஆடி கடைசியாக நேராக நின்று விடும்.
சமீபத்தில், தஞ்சை பெரிய கோவில் வளாகத்தில், தண்ணீர் பற்றாக்குறை காரணமாக, ‘போர்’ போடுவதற்காக, ஆழ்துளை கிணறு தோண்டியுள்ளனர். அப்போது, களிமண்ணோ, செம்மண்ணோ வரவில்லை; வேறு ஒரு வகை மணல் வெளிப்பட்டிருக்கிறது.
அது, காட்டாறுகளில் காணப்படக் கூடிய மணல். சாதாரண ஆற்று மணலுக்கும், காட்டாறு மணலுக்கும் வித்தியாசம் உண்டு. சாதாரண ஆற்று மணலை விட, காட்டாறுகளில் காணப்படும் மணலில், பாறைத் துகள்கள் அதிகம் காணப்படும். மேலும், சாதாரண மணலை காட்டிலும் கடினமானது. கோவிலை கட்டுவதற்கு முன், அந்த மணலை அடியில் நிரப்பியுள்ளனர்.
இத்தகவலை அறிந்த, தஞ்சை பெரிய கோவில் மீட்புக் குழுவினரின் முயற்சியால், போர் போடும் வேலை உடனடியாக தடுத்து நிறுத்தப்பட்டது.
ஏனென்றால், ஆயிரம் ஆண்டுகளாக இந்த பூமியில் ஏற்படும் அழுத்தங்களையும், நிலநடுக்கங்களையும் தாங்கி, நான்குபுறமும் அகழிகளால் சூழப்பட்டு, கம்பீரமாக காட்சியளிக்கும் இந்த உலக அதிசயத்தின் அஸ்திவாரமே அந்த மணல் தான்!
இவ்ளோ பெரிய கோவிலுக்கு, மணலை கொண்டு அஸ்திவாரம் அமைக்க, சோழ தேச பொறியாளர்கள் என்ன முட்டாள்களா!
கோவிலின் அதி அற்புத தத்துவமும், சோழர்களின் அறிவின் உச்சமும் அங்குதான் வெளிப்படுகிறது.
அகழிகளால் சூழப்பட்டுள்ள தீவு போன்ற அமைப்பில், காட்டாற்று மணலால் கோவிலுக்கு அஸ்திவாரம் அமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. தலையாட்டி பொம்மையை சாய்த்தால், எப்படி கீழே உள்ள கனமான அடிப்பரப்பில் ஆடி ஆடி நேராக நின்று விடுகிறதோ, அதேபோல், பெரிய கோவிலும் எத்தகைய பூகம்பம் வந்து அசைய நேரிட்டாலும், அசைந்து, தானாகவே சம நிலைக்கு வந்து விடும்.
சோழ தேச பொறியாளர்களின் அறிவிற்கு, உலகில் வேறு எவரும் ஈடாகார் என்பதற்கு இது ஒன்றே சான்று!
Source….Pushpa in http://www.dinamalar.com dated 7th Jan 2018
Natarajan
A Briefcase….Lost and Found ….!
The rigmarole involving a lost piece of luggage
I went to Kolkata with an upset tummy and returned with an upset husband. He had been very cheerful while we boarded the flight and the plane began to taxi. The air hostess started her routine, giving seat belt instructions and survival tips if the plane decided to take a dip into the ocean. My husband took a dip into his book when I asked him, “Where’s your briefcase?” I just remembered it wasn’t part of the hand luggage we had shoved into the overhead compartment.
He answered airily, “We checked it in,” and returned to his reading when what I said next made him forget his book for a long time. And that was some achievement. “We didn’t,” I persisted. “It was your carry-on baggage. Remember you left it unlocked because it would be with you?”
He turned ashen, clapped a hand to his mouth and jerked forward, straining his fastened seat belt and crashing back into his seat. “Oh no! I’ve left it behind! Where?” As he tried to figure that out, the plane accelerated and took off leaving his briefcase behind in Kolkata. “At the security check!” My husband exclaimed, looking aghast as he recalled his memory lapse.
He had forgotten to take it after the security check, having been pleased to collect his sling bag into which he had deposited his wallet, phone, pens and a notebook with a spiral spine, all guaranteed to beep if on his person. In fact, at the security check on our way to Kolkata, his pocket had behaved so much like an impromptu orchestra that on the return he had hit upon the idea of emptying his pockets into his shoulder bag before it was screened and, cock-a-hoop with its success, had completely forgotten his briefcase.
“What next?,” I asked. “No point informing the crew; no plane is going back for a briefcase unless it contained state secrets. And what’s in it?”
We racked our brains to recall the contents. Luckily my husband had emptied the case to accommodate the last minute shopping of the previous evening. So it didn’t have any important documents or cards. But it contained new silk saris, dress material, T shirts and a few knick knacks.
“So if we don’t recover it, we only lose these,” said my husband, looking relieved. “The saris!,” I cried in anguish.
During the flight we discussed the next course of action. I believed we would recover the case since my husband had chosen the best place in the airport to leave something behind – at the security check. Then I recalled that any abandoned piece of baggage is viewed with suspicion. “What if they immerse the case in water? Or something else?,” I was alarmed. “The saris!,” I cried out again. “They’ll be ruined.”
“Can you think only of saris?,” my husband snapped. The tension was getting to him. “One of them is your gift to me, that’s why,” I said and that mollified him.
We had more than five hours in Chennai before boarding the flight to Thiruvananthapuram. Earlier we had wondered how we would spend the time, but my husband’s ingenious briefcase plot took care of that. We explored the length and breadth of the airport putting in a few kilometres of brisk walking-cum hops, skips and jumps before learning what to do.
The airport manager, seeing my husband’s anxious face, reassured him, “Don’t look so worried, sir, you’ll get it back. Such things happen all the time.”
“‘Really?” Now my husband beamed, grateful he didn’t hold exclusive copyright for losing baggage.
The Lost and Found Department at Kolkata airport whom we called were close-lipped about the whereabouts of the briefcase but gave instructions on the procedure to follow in Thiruvananthapuram.
Once home, we revived our letter-writing skills what with the never-ending letters and e-mails we had to send to various addresses, describing the briefcase and its contents, all with scanned copies of the boarding pass and ID proof attached.
We also had endless calls to make and everyone wanted details. I was most relieved we had decent items inside the case and lauded my husband’s uncanny foresight that had made him remove his innerwear from it.
Lost and found
After many twists and turns in the plot in the next few days that would have done Jeffrey Archer proud, the briefcase, decorated all over with the Lost Property number, returned home. Bringing it in, my husband declared he wouldn’t leave the corporation limits again. Ignoring his loaded statement, I asked anxiously, “Are the saris intact?”
A fortnightly column by the city-based writer, academic and author of the Butterfingers series. She can be contacted at khyrubutter@yahoo.com
Source….Khyrunnisa . A
Natarajan
Akademgorodok: Siberia’s Silicon Valley….
Tucked away in a remote forest of birch and pine in the heart of Siberia, 3,000 km away from Moscow, at a place where winters are six months long with temperatures dropping to minus 40 degree Celsius and summers are swaddled with mosquitos, is a city built for scientists and researchers. This frozen wasteland is more suited for polar bears than scientific endeavors, but Nikita Khrushchev felt the distance from Moscow was necessary so that the country’s sharpest scientific minds could work together on fundamental research away from the prying eyes of bureaucracy. This is Akademgorodok, or “Academic Town”—the Soviet Union’s answer to America’s Silicon Valley. 
The Academpark Technopark at Akademgorodok. Photo credit: gelio.livejournal.com
Akademgorodok is situated in the middle of a forest 30 km south of Novosibirsk city. It is one of several Akademgorodoks built between the late 1950s and mid-1970s in Siberia; the Akademgorodok outside Novosibirsk is the most successful one. Located within Akademgorodok is Novosibirsk State University, 35 research institutes, a medical academy, apartment buildings and houses, and a variety of community amenities including stores, hotels, hospitals, restaurants and cafes, cinemas, clubs and libraries. Less than two kilometer away is an artificial beach created by dumping hundreds of tons of sand along the edge of the Ob reservoir.
At its peak, Akademgorodok was home to 65,000 scientists and their families. It was a privilege to live there, and many scholars in the 60s escaped to the frozen hinterland as a sort of voluntary exile in order to be far from the totalitarian rule of the Soviet capital, and lured by the promise of new housing and professional advancement.
Residents enjoyed great levels of freedom and indulged in activities unheard of in any other corner of the Soviet empire. They discussed the foundations of Marxist theory and about economic reforms, read books, listen to poets and singers not approved by the regime. Scientific research in areas dismissed as dangerous pseudoscience in Moscow, such as cybernetics and genetics, flourished.
Living standards in Akademgorodok were also higher than in the rest of the country. Shops were stocked with subsidized foodstuffs not easily obtainable elsewhere, and apartments were well-furnished. Those who obtained a doctorate were given a special food delivery service, which provided them a wider selection of groceries than the general population could avail. Members of the Academy of Sciences had access to even higher level of services and were allotted single-family residences rather than apartments.
But the utopian vision of no bureaucratic interference proved impossible in the Soviet Union. Freedoms got severely curtailed in the 1970s during the rule of Leonid Brezhnev. Then when the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, many of the former communist nation’s best minds fled to the west. But economic reforms brought about by the end of communism saw the beginning of private investment and venture funding in Akademgorodok. From USD 10 million in 1997, this rose to USD 1 billion by 2015. There are some 300 companies operating at Akademgorodok today dabbling on everything from nano-ceramics to motion graphics for the American entertainment industry. Its current population stands at over 100,000.
While the figures pale in comparison to that of other countries and even elsewhere in Russia—Skolkovo, an emerging tech hub on the outskirts of Moscow, for example, has over 1,100 startups generating over USD 1 billion in revenue alone at the end of 2014—Akademgorodok will remain as Russia’s original Silicon Valley.
Photo credit: gelio.livejournal.com
Source….Kaushik in http://www.amusingplanet.com
Natarajan
Take off with Natarajan 