Developing software for the Indian Army

For once, it's the other way round. Thanks to the computer skills of two city-based youngsters, soldiers in Kargil and Drass sector have something to cheer about. Twenty-one years old Navdeep Singh Thakur and Shikha Kanwar, final year B Tech students of Sri Sukhmani Institute of Engineering and Technology, Dera Basi, have successfully completed their own mission fateh by developing two software - Digital Data base Information System (DDIS) and a Digital Avalanche Atlas -which have already been implemented by the Indian Army.Explains an enthusiastic Navdeep, "These two projects just fell in our laps when we were undergoing our six months industrial internship in the R&D wing of the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE). We were asked to facilitate in the research work by storing and reading the satellite images that keep coming in SASE. We used conventional methods like maps, topographical sheets and remote-sensing satellite pictures for our research which gave us the idea to develop the software." For us laymen, Navdeep and Shikha have developed a system of storing and classifying satellite images and all the "highly classified data stored in these images" in installable versions on CDs to aid the researchers and scientists working on key defence-related issues. As regards the other project, Shikha informs, "It's a one-button information guide about avalanches on the Himalayan track, which includes details about their location sites and probability as also particulars about which Army and civilian settlements come under target if an avalanche strikes them. The information is as exhaustive and conclusive as an extensive recce on foot." Not willing to divulge any further facts except that there are about 600 avalanches in the Himalayan region comprising of Kargil, Batalik, Siachen and Drass sectors, the two declare "We've been told not to let out this highly confidential information". Both, however, are anything but tongue-tied to inform that they were paid a stipend of Rs 4,500 for this work. How does it feel to know that none other than the Indian Army has benefited from their internship? Navdeep says, "I feel proud that in my own way I could do something for my country." For Shikha, whose father is also in the Army, "it works both ways, even the civilian population will be better prepared if they know in advance about an impending avalanche." With dreams of working in R&D, the youngsters also share their credit with their guides at SASE, Mandeep Singh and Narender Thakur.