He completed high school at the age of 9, had a B.Sc at 10, an M.Sc in Physics at 12, and a PhD in Quantum Computing from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, at 21. In 2003, Time named him among the world's seven most gifted youngsters. Now, at age 22, Patna-born prodigy Tathagat Avtar Tulsi has become possibly the youngest assistant professor at IIT.
Tulsi will teach Physics at IIT Bombay from July 19, having chosen the institute over Waterloo University, Canada, and the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER), Bhopal, both of which had offered him jobs.
Tathagat Avatar Tulsi (Centre) poses with his parents after becoming the youngest assistant professor in physics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, in Patna on Tuesday. Photo: PTI
"I turned down Waterloo despite an impressive pay package because I do not want to go abroad now," Tulsi told The Indian Express over the phone from Patna. "My dream is to set up a lab focused on quantum computation in India, and one day help develop a largescale quantum computation-based supercomputer. IIT Bombay offers me these possibilities."
IIT Bombay confirmed that Tulsi is set to join its faculty. In an appointment letter sent on June 30, IIT Bombay Director Prof Devang V Khakar informed Tulsi that the institute's Board of Governors was pleased to offer him assistant professorship on contract at the Department of Physics.
Hailed early as a wonder boy, Tulsi suffered humiliation in August 2001 when a delegation of scientists taken by the Department of Science & Technology to Lindau in Germany for an interaction with Nobel laureates, suggested that he was a "fake prodigy" who had "mugged up" jargon which he spouted unthinkingly.
A hurt Tulsi went into a shell for several years. He returned to news this February after he became the youngest holder of a PhD in India.
"Back then it hurt a lot. But I have put the humiliation behind me, and now feel that I have achieved something. I am very happy to join an IIT as faculty. I am looking forward to teaching and research," Tulsi said.
France's lower house of parliament has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban wearing the Islamic full veil in public.
So the French lower house has voted to ban the burka or niqab in a public place. It was by a massive majority: 355 to 1. The Greens and some of the Socialists abstained.
There are still hurdles to be crossed, but France is heading to a moment when a woman wearing a full-face veil in public could be stopped by a police patrol and fined 150 euros (£125). If the police gather evidence that a woman is being forced to dress in a niqab, then the man faces a very heavy fine.
The mood among MPs today heading into parliament was strongly in favour of a new law. No doubt some would have been influenced by polls that suggest that up to 70% of French voters support such a ban. One French MP described veils as "muzzles", and "walking coffins".
But the main motive behind this vote was to reinforce French identity. MPs believe that those who live in, or visit, France should embrace French values. Time and again in parliament MPs argued that hiding a woman's face violates the ideal of equality and encourages segregation. The fear behind this is of separate, parallel communities.
There are only about 2,000 women in France who wear the burka or niqab. Many are recent converts to Islam. I spoke today to 26-year-old Anissa. She has been wearing the niqab for two years. She says the new law is Islamaphobic and she will not remove her veil.
"I think it is against international law," she told me. "Personally speaking, removing my veil is against my conscience. And I won't take it off."
That will be one of the difficulties: enforcing such legislation. Initially there will be a six-month period where women who wear the full-face veil are stopped and told about French laws and the reasons behind them. But after that period a police officer could tell her to remove the veil or risk a fine.
Clearly, in some suburbs of Paris with strong Muslim communities it would be very sensitive to order a woman to remove her veil. It will also be hard to prove that a woman is wearing a veil against her wishes.
Another risk is that the ban will create martyrs. Frederic Lagache of the police union said to me today: "Our concern is that some people will be manipulated by extremists and cause trouble on the streets when we stop them."
Already a businessman has offered to set up a fund to pay any fines incurred by women.
There are also likely to be a series of legal challenges.
But today marked an important moment in the debate over multiculturalism. Increasingly the French want new arrivals and members of ethnic minorities to integrate more. There will be those in the banlieues - the suburbs where many minorities live - who will argue that they are the ones who are prevented from integrating into mainstream French society.
Washington state teenager Colton Harris-Moore reportedly began stealing at age 12
He became famous for allegedly stealing cars, boats and planes -- while barefoot
The teenager was on the run from the law for two years
He was captured Sunday morning after a high speed boat chase in the Bahamas
The Barefoot Bandit has more than 80,000 Facebook fans who see him as a folk hero, a modern-day Jesse James. But police say Colton Harris-Moore is a brazen 19-year-old criminal, pure and simple.The beginning and end of Harris-Moore's two-year run as a wanted fugitive is the stuff of Hollywood. Indeed, one studio has optioned his story. But police and some of his victims don't think he should be glamorized as he makes his first court appearance Tuesday.
"They can never imprison a mind like yours Colton," wrote one admirer on Harris-Moore's Facebook fan page Monday, a day after he was captured during a high-speed boat chase in the Bahamas.
"I can understand on one level people being interested in his activities, but I think most thoughtful people, when they stop and think about it, realize he's a common criminal," said Bill Cummings, a sheriff who has been tracking Harris-Moore for years. "Those who see him as a folk hero aren't looking any deeper than the surface."
The strapping 6-foot, 5-inch high school dropout was raised by a single mother in a trailer on Camano Island off the rugged coast of Washington state.Local media accounts, including a detailed profile in Monday's edition of The Herald in Everett, Washington, cite court records that tell the story of a turbulent childhood.
They can never imprison a mind like yours. --Facebook fan
When Harris-Moore was a boy, his classmates called him "Klepto Colt," wrote journalist Bob Friel, who lives on nearby Orcas Island. Friel's lengthy profile was published in Outside magazine in January. Friel wrote that he pored through hundreds of pages of court records, learning that young Colton had been referred to Child Protective Services a dozen times.It's not clear how Friel gained access to these juvenile court records, which are usually sealed. Friel is writing a book on Harris-Moore's life.As a thief, Harris-Moore started out small -- shoplifting and breaking into homes, police say.
He earned his nickname by living in the woods and leaving bare footprints at some of his alleged crime scenes. One detective called him "a feral child." Helen Simmons, a store owner on Camano Island, told CNN affiliate KOMO what Harris-Moore allegedly stole from her: "Beef jerky, potato chips, food," she said. "Never beer, never wine, just food."
He might have remained an obscure juvenile criminal, but he gained national fame after he took to the skies, allegedly stealing and crash-landing airplanes despite never having any formal flight training.
"Fly, Colt, fly!" an admirer wrote months ago on his Facebook page. The phrase has been reprinted on T-shirts and decals. Songwriters have rhapsodized about him. Time magazine published a story headlined, "America's Most Wanted Teenage Bandit." People magazine has profiled him, making him a bona fide celebrity.
A movie about his high-flying escapades, tentatively titled "Taking Flight: The Search for a Young Outlaw," is in the works. His mother issued a brief statement Monday saying she's glad her son is safe and that no one was hurt during his capture.
"I have not yet been able to speak to him," Pamela Kohler added. "It has been over two-and-a-half years since I have seen him, and I miss him terribly. I hope that it will be possible for me to see him sometime soon. However, I don't yet know when that might happen."
Kohler hired a Seattle attorney for her son, but since he is an adult, the final decision rests with Harris-Moore. The attorney, John Henry Browne, told CNN affiliate KOMO that he hopes all the pending charges can be consolidated into a single federal case in Seattle.
Harris-Moore has dodged arrest warrants since 2008, and until early Sunday morning, eluded even the FBI, which had posted a reward for his capture.
Until recently, the teenager stuck close to home, reportedly hiding out in the Northwestern wilderness, including an ancient Indian burial ground accessible only by water or air, Outside magazine reported. He is also suspected of crimes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, South Dakota and Indiana and other states.
In his Outside magazine profile, Friel tried to figure out why Harris-Moore seemed to delight in thumbing his nose at the police.
"The only hint of a motive I can dig up is a note Colt wrote to his mom after the Camano Island deputies found one of his campsites, filled with stolen merchandise," Friel wrote. "His dog, Melanie, was at the camp, and the police took her. 'The cops wanna play, hu!?' Colt wrote. 'It's war! Tell them that.' "
Those who see him as a folk hero aren't looking any deeper than the surface. --Sheriff Bill Cummings
Harris-Moore's Facebook fan page includes his now-infamous self-portrait. It was found by police in a stolen camera left behind in a stolen Mercedes. He is lying on the dirt, gazing into the camera with his lips slightly upturned in a smirk.
In the end, his notoriety brought about the Barefoot Bandit's downfall. Authorities suspect he stole a plane in Indiana over the July 4 weekend, which was found in the Bahamas.
A week later, a security guard at a Harbour Island resort in the islands recognized Harris-Moore as he arrived on a 15-foot skiff.
It was 2 a.m. Sunday, and the wanted teen was running up a dock at the resort. He carried a gun and a knapsack slung over his shoulder, said resort manager Anne Ward. The guard called Ward for help. By the time she arrived, Harris-Moore had jumped on another boat, trying to escape.
But the teen misjudged the depth of the water and the boat ran aground. By this time, a crowd had gathered to watch the drama.
Harris-Moore tossed his computer into the water and put a gun to his head.
"He was going to kill himself," said Ward. "Police talked him out of it."
Harris-Moore began acting out at age 10 and, according to The Everett Herald, started stealing early. By 12, he was accused of breaking into a local business, setting fire to a school and destroying property at a Thriftway grocery store, the newspaper reported.
He pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property and in 2006, he was ordered to be in court at a juvenile justice center, a date he skipped. He soon started breaking into homes on Camano Island, and the Sheriff's Department issued a warrant for him, the newspaper reported.
It's not clear how the newspaper got access to Harris-Moore's juvenile records. Harris-Moore pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary and was sentenced to more than three years in the custody of the state juvenile detention facility. He escaped from there in 2008 and has been on the run until now.
The teenager's fans have embraced Harris-Moore's exploits, drawing comparisons to Frank Abagnale Jr., the con artist played by Leonardo DiCaprio in "Catch Me If You Can."
"He's become the poster child for the disaffected American who doesn't care and is proving it by thumbing his nose," said Dr. Casey Jordan, a noted criminologist and professor at Western Connecticut State University.
"The potential was there for him to evolve into violent crimes, but it didn't happen," Jordan said. "I see a lot of his attention seeking behavior as a cry for help."
But Harris-Moore's alleged victims are not so charmed.
Josh Flickner, who works at a grocery store in Washington state, is outraged that some people are comparing Harris-Moore with a modern-day Robin Hood.
"I know schoolteachers and other average, middle-class people that he's stolen from," said Flickner. He also said Harris-Moore used a stolen credit card at the store years ago.
"I remember him coming in, usually with his mom," Flickner told CNN. "And I remember him always looking really suspicious, and he would stand in front of like the candy section and just stare at me to see if I was watching him," Flickner added.
"Needless to say whenever he came in, we were always watching him."
JOHANNESBURG – The rules of soccer are jammed together in a long document provided by the sport’s governing body, FIFA. And nowhere, not once in 140 pages, is the word “cheating” mentioned.
Given the stubborn refusal by the men in charge to admit that cheating is either a serious problem, or needs fixing, perhaps its omission should come as no surprise.
Ghana's John Pantsil speaks with referee Olegario Benquerenca as John Mensah lies on the field. (Dominic Barnardt/Getty Images)
But what this World Cup has proved without any doubt is that unfair and unsporting behavior is rife within the “beautiful game” and is a stain on the sport’s credibility.
Few, if any, games at this tournament have passed without clear and blatant attempts to gain an unjust advantage. Some teams are worse than others, but no one is blameless.
And still FIFA refuses to act. Still, it fails to address what may be its biggest problem.
“We have footballers cheating and taking advantage of it to get a result,” said former elite referee Kenny Clark of Scotland.
Uruguay’s Luis Suarez was lambasted internationally for the intentional handball on the goal line that kept his team alive in Friday’s quarterfinal. Suarez was red-carded but Ghana missed the ensuing penalty kick, allowing the South Americans to progress to the semifinals in a penalty shootout.
While Suarez’s action was both instinctive and understandable, plenty of other incidents are premeditated and affect soccer’s reputation. In fact, before you get too upset at the misfortune that befell Ghana thanks to Suarez’s handball and Asamoah Gyan’s subsequent miss and meltdown, think back to the extra time period.
That was when the Ghanians used every trick and tactic to waste time and slow down the tempo of the game. On five separate occasions, a Ghana player fell to the turf expressing varying degrees of mortal wounding only to bounce back to his feet after a couple of minutes of groaning.
Earlier in the tournament, Brazil’s Kaka was unjustly red-carded when Kader Keita of the Ivory Coast feigned injury after colliding with the former World Player of the Year and spending minutes writhing on the ground in mock agony. Then there was German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who gleefully admitted that the way he hurriedly played on against England may have “fooled” the referee into thinking that Frank Lampard’s shot had not crossed the line for a tying goal.
Perhaps the worst moment of all at this World Cup was the way Joan Capdevila of Spain flopped dramatically in the round-of-16 victory over Portugal to provoke Ricardo Costa’s sending off. That Capdevila remains in the tournament and was eligible to face Paraguay in Saturday’s quarterfinal was a travesty.
It is not like FIFA doesn’t have options to address these problems. It is all powerful in the soccer world. It could take action on these other blatant displays of cheating, but it doesn’t.
Perhaps FIFA assumes that the soccer public now simply expects unscrupulous actions from players and it uses that as a shield for its lack of activity. But if just once, like when Brazil’s Rivaldo was hit in the thigh in 2002 and went down clutching his face, a Keita, a Neuer or a Capdevila was sent home and banished from the tournament for their deliberate deception, the problem would swiftly clear up.
This is the World Cup, the world’s game, and it deserves better. It deserves a governing body with some spine. And it deserves an environment where cheats cannot prosper.
Bangladesh made an inauspicious start to the one-day leg of their tour of the British Isles, as a second-string Sussex side hammered them by 149 runs at Hove. Chasing 254 for victory following fifties for Michael Thornely and Ben Brown, Bangladesh stumbled to 85 for 7 in the 22nd over, before being bowled out for 104.
MSNBC.MSN.WASHINGTON — If cars had wings, they could fly — and that just might happen, beginning next year.
The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Mass., says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2011. It recently cleared a major hurdle when the Federal Aviation Administration granted a special weight limit exemption to the Transition.
"It's the next 'wow' vehicle," said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh. "Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don't fly."
The Transition is a long way from cartoon dad George Jetson's flying car zooming above traffic, or even the magical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
"There is no launch button on the (instrument) panel," Gersh noted.
Rather, the car-plane has wings that unfold for flying — a process the company says takes one minute — and fold back up for driving. A runway is still required to takeoff and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both. The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations
The company is pitching the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient — and cheaper — way to fly. They say it eliminates the hassle trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you're good to go. When you land, you fold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive hangar fees because you don't have to store it at an airport — you park it in the garage at home.
The plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers. Gas mileage on the road is about 30 mpg.
Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive .
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