Technology

According to a PTI report, the Naxals who attacked the Congress convoy in Chhattisgarh used archaic weapons from the 1830s and 1840s named Bharmar guns.

After Eric Schmidt's recent visit to India, he travelled to other parts of Asia which included the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. Much to the curiosity of those looking on from the sidelines, he spent all of four days in the "red" capital ostensibly to—just as he did in India—promote the Internet and Internet connectivity. However, a South Korean professor of North Korean Studies does not believe that this was the only item on Schmidt's agenda during his visit.

Nasscom has posted an interesting interview with Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, who talks about the status of the program and some of the imminent changes that we are likely to see in the next few years as a result of Aadhar.

Amidst the usual faff over Aakash 2 (and its perennially imminent release) is the following nugget by the Telecom and IT minister, Kapil Sibal:

"Recently, we had this very, very unfortunate event in Delhi and I called Rajat and said I want a technological solution of the safety of girls and women in our country."

India has consistently had an odd entry or two in the Top 500 supercomputers lists over the last decade or so. In the recently released list for June 2012, this number has increased to five entries and comprises the following:

About a month ago, there was a report on potential issues with iris scans. This week's Frontline contends that fingerprints are not infallible either and the related ramifications for the UID/Aadhar project. It also mentions that Nilekani has publicly stated that iris scans are "not a mature technology" and has questioned its accuracy.

India appears to have a burgeoning radio-controlled aircraft scene with plenty of hobbyists as well as vendors across the country. The following is a video of a 2010 event held around a 100 km out of Madras by the RCPA (Radio Control Pilots Association) in an area dedicated to this pursuit. As you can see, the field sports a full-fledged runway and associated amenities.

IIT Bombay has unveiled a custom designed electric car named EVo1 to take part in the Formula Student competition to be held at the Silverstone circuit in the UK in July.

The competition is a testing ground for the next generation of world-class engineers and it challenges university students from around the world to design and build a single-seat racing car.

A Coimbatore based company named Thunk has come up with a rather novel backpack which features a strip of solar cells on the front which can be used to charge devices on the go. The backpack itself is apparently "upcycled" which sounds like a marketing spin for recycled into something better. The backpack looks nifty and their promotional video is charming.

The Economic Times has a brief blurb on the status of the IPv6 transition in India.