BITS IN UNESCO'S TOP 20 ASIAN UNIVERSITIES:
The recently released Science Report 2005 which is the fourth in a series published by UNESCO has listed BITS, Pilani as one of the top 20 Asian universities.
The report gives a Global Overview of Science and analyses the emerging trends in Scientific Research and Higher Education through the eyes of an independent team of experts. Six of the IITs (excluding IIT, Guwahati) also figure in the list of top 20 Asian universities.

BITSAA WOMEN’S COUNCIL – WELL BEGUN!:
The BITSAA Women's Council is going strong, with a 300+ group of enthusiastic women from all possible fields and careers who are networking, debating issues and forming a support system. It has a full team in place now, with folks having volunteered to be group mentors for Corporate Life, Academics, Entrepreneurship, Work-life balance, Writing and such like categories such like. Additionally, there is a 10 member executive team that is supposed to hold events in different cities across the world, and do press coverage if needed and work on BITSAA activities. Several events have already been held -- one in East Coast, one in Hyderabad, and two in Bangalore. Each meet had about half a dozen people, which certainly portends a healthy future for the burgeoning organisation..

SHANTI SHARMA, BITS ALUM WINS INDIRA GANDHI PRIYADARSHINI AWARD: 
Acknowledged today as one of the finest vocalists in the country, Shanti Sharma, a  classical singer from the Kirana and Indore traditions is endowed with a rich voice, aesthetic sensitivity and has received intensive talim from master vocalists like Shri Sangameshwar, Pt. Amarnath and Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan. Serenity, an integrated structured exposition of the raga, fluency and swift tanas are the hallmarks of her singing. Over the years, she has performed in most music festivals in India.

She was recently awarded the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award on the occasion of Indira Gandhi’s birthday celebrations. Shanti Sharma is at present a Faculty member of Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra.

BITSAA’S GLOBAL 30 UNDER 30 AWARD: 
BITSAA announced the first ever 2005 Global 30 under 30 Awards. This award is dedicated to all those young BITSians who thought and acted differently, who challenged the status quo, rewrote the rules, and created their own paths. To the leaders, innovators, researchers, students, entertainers, entrepreneurs, winners, engineers, scientists and concerned samaritans who came from every corner of India; to the best examples of what it means to be a BITSian. These awards will be presented every 3 years. Of the 30 winners, whose ages range from 18 to 29 and batches from 1992 to 2003, 8 are PhDs, 7 are MBAs and 3 are in arts, media and entertainment industry. The winners include 9 role-model women.

Among the winners was Minakshi Krishnan (’95 Pharma) who won in the category of Community Leadership. Minakshi completed the Mardi Gras Marathon in February 2005 and raised funds for the Whitman Walker clinic that works with HIV/AIDS patients in the U.S. She is the coordinator of Asha for the DC chapter. She   has also worked organizations in India including AID, and Kalpavriksh, and has been a Service Corps volunteer and an American Red Cross volunteer for blood drives.

ANITA GUPTA, BITS ALUM’S BIZ FASTEST GROWING AT FLEXTRONICS:
Anita Gupta (’81, EEE) is currently heading the Wireless and Convergence Business Unit at Flextronics Software Systems (FSS), which is part of the $19 Billion Flextronics corporate, and is focused in Telecommunication software. Not only is Anita’s business unit the fastest growing business at FSS, she has also been responsible for creating IPRs in the Wireless domain, which have been successfully licensed to Telecom OEMs. 

PAINTED PLATTERS: 
Sonali Mohanty (95 Phy Instru), a talented artist had her first exhibition of paintings at a coffee bar called "Painted platters" in Bangalore that received rave reviews from the Times of India (Bangalore Edition). Ten paintings ranging from oils to pastels with varying themes were displayed. Sonali is a Marketing Executive at Aztec Software & Technology Services Ltd., – we owe our cover design to her and Aditi Pany!.

BITS ALUM AUTHORS BOOK ON GLOBAL ECONOMIC AND GEOPOLITICAL ISSUES:
BITS alum, Dr. Rajendra S Sisodia and Dr. Jagdish N Sheth have authored a book, Tectonic Shift, which speculates on the world's economic and geopolitical future. While the world is still coming to grips with the implications of globalization, Tectonic Shift discovers the unfolding of an unprecedented realignment of forces - arguing that regionalization will replace the much celebrated globalization. Rajendra S Sisodia, EEE, BITS, Pilani, PhD, Marketing and Business Policy from Columbia, is Professor of Marketing and the Founding Director of the Center for Marketing Technology at Bentley College, Waltham.

His forthcoming books (all with Jagdish N Sheth) include Does Marketing Need Reform? , Firms of Endearment and The 4 As of Marketing. In 2003, he was cited as one of the '50 Leading Marketing Thinkers' in the world by the UK-based Chartered Institute of Marketing.

MOBILE MEDICS WINS 2006 GSVC IN NEW YORK: 
Mobile Medics, an idea floated by Sriram Gutta from BITS Pilani and Jordan Tongalson (Columbia MBA 2006) took top honors in the 2006 Global Social Venture Competition (www.socialvc.net). There were nine final teams from 110 plans, half of which incredibly came from India, some from existing businesses in the US, Africa and Asia. The GSVC is a premier event for social entrepreneurship in the world, and it turned out to be a great day for BITS Pilani.  
The entire Mobile Medics team at Pilani worked hard on the surveys, videos and pilots to make this happen, along with their management team and advisors in the US. Anupendra and co. will seed the venture with the prize money they have received.

KOTHARI: EXCELLENCE AWARD HONOREE:
Telephonics Corp, Farmingdale, New York, the largest defense company on Long Island honored Navneet K Kothari with Excellence Award by Mr. Joseph J. Battaglia, President, Telephonics Corp, at an award ceremony held on October 12th, 2005 at its Corporate Headquarter, Farmingdale, New York. He has been working as a Principal with the company providing technical expertise on various commercial and defense programs .He has been instrumental and successful in timely completion of multi-billion dollars rapid transit program .He was congratulated on having attained many milestones in his career. His dedication of service for last five years was exemplary in many ways and thus has been entrusted with many programs on multiple platforms on Secure Digital Communications programs worldwide.

He is an Honors engineering graduate from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, India and Dual Masters diploma in Telecommunication Networks and Management from Polytechnics University, New York.