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The Square Kilometer Array (SKA), is a unique radio telescope being
planned by an international consortium consisting of Europe,
USA, Australia, China, Canada, India and South Africa.
SKA will have a collecting area of 1 million sq.m., in
the frequency range from 0.15 GHz to 20 GHz. This new generation telescope,
slated to become functional by the middle of the next decade, will be a
discovery instrument, being more than thirty times larger
than the largest radiotelescope in operation today.
Work is being carried out by SKA consortium members to study and prototype the
technologies that could meet the challenging requirements of the radio astronomy
community. While specialised meetings and workshops are held
to discuss, review and refine the science and engineering aspects of the SKA,
an annual meeting of the SKA consortium members is held every year, where
the status and progress of the previous year is discussed. The SKA 2005 meeting
will be held during October 31 - November 2, 2005 at the Hotel Pride,
Pune, INDIA, immediately after the URSI meeting in New Delhi, India. The meeting will be followed by a visit to the GMRT telescope
(3 Nov 2005) and the International SKA Steering Committee meeting (4-5
Nov 2005).
The scientific program of the meeting is being finalised
by the SOC and the latest
version is on the web. In addition to reports on the international
and national SKA activities, there will be sessions on the science and
engineering aspects of the SKA, and implications for the SKA
specifications. A full day will be devoted to Working Group meetings.
Facilities to display a limited number of poster papers are available
and intending contributors should forward a title and abstract of their
poster by August 31, 2005.
Engineering posters outlining
progress in SKA demonstrators and key technologies, together with
advances in system definition and design, are especially welcome.
Posters on SKA science themes are also welcome.
Registration
fee for the SKA meeting is US$ 175,(1US$=44 Indian Rupees). The
registration fee includes
tea and coffee during the meetings, lunch, conference dinner and
stationery.
A program for
accompanying persons is being arranged. For more details, including
registration fee please see the Registration Form.
Arrangements are
being made to book sufficient rooms in hotels within a few kms of the
Venue. The approximate charges per night are expected to range beetween
US $ 100 and 200, depending on the type of hotel. Participants should
note that accommodation in Pune is often difficult at short notice and
they should make their reservations well in advance.
A block booking of 80 rooms has been made in The Pride Hotel, where the conference is being held. These rooms, that are being given at concessional rates, will
be held for the conference participants till the 15 June 2005. Three
other hotels have also agreed to provide rooms at concessional rates for
this meeting.
More details
about specific hotels are given here.
Participants are urged to complete their registration
and hotel booking by 15 June 2005, since hotel accommodation at Pune is
in short supply and is difficult at short notice.
The city of Pune (also known
as Poona), with a population of over 2 mllion, is an important cultural,
educational and industrial center of the state of Maharashtra in western
India. (http://www.punediary.com).
Pune has a recorded history of over a thousand years. Its golden age was
in the 18th century when the Peshwas, Prime Ministers of the Maratha
Kingdom governed the city, during which period historical monuments such
as Shaniwarwada, Parvati temple, etc., were constructed.
The meeting is being held during the week of Divali, the Hindu "Festival
of Light". If the participants hear loud explosions and flashes of light, it
is not the outbreak of war, but just Indians firing crackers to attract the
attention of Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth.
Pune is located about 170
km south-east of Mumbai (earlier known as Bombay), on the Deccan Plateue
about 550 m above mean sea level. It is well connected by air, rail
and road to Mumbai, the nearest international airport. It is also
connected by air to Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai (earlier known as
Madras) with 1 or 2 flights operating every day.
The
weather in Pune in October/November is generally pleasant and dry with
a daytime maximum temperature of about 30oC and a night time
low of about 10oC.
Nationals of all foreign countries are required to entry visa
before arriving at any of the international airports in India. Please consult
your travel agent or the nearest Indian Consulate. Participants are advised to
apply for a "tourist visa" since this is generally simpler. If required and
requested by the participant, the LOC will send letters of
invitation.
Participants are requested to send the Visa
Information Form so that we get the necessary clearances.
Pune is connected by air to most of the international airports
in India, and we recommend that the participants fly directly into Pune.
Local airlines flying into Pune are the Indian Airlines,
Jet Airways, and
Sahara Airways.
Participants flying into Mumbai or Delhi will have to go from
the international to the domestic terminal using the airport bus or by
taxi.
For participants breaking their journey in Mumbai, a train journey from
Mumbai to Pune is an option. The 4 hour journey costs about Rs.250 and is an
interesting experience. However, the Railway Station is at considerable distance
from the airport and prior reservation in essential.
With the commissioning of an express road way between Mumbai and Pune,
travelling between the cities by car/bus/limousine is a viable option.
The 3 hour
drive from the airport to Pune costs about Rs.3000 by a hired car (inclusive of the driver). However, many flights arrive in Mumbai late at night and it may not be
a good idea to travel by road in the early hours of the morning.
Short tours from Pune can be made to places such as Ajanta & Ellora
Caves (Aurangabad), Goa, beaches of Maharashtra and Mumbai. Slighly
longer tours from Pune cover, most of India, including the Golden
triangle (Agra, Delhi and Jaipur), Bangalore, Mysore, Kerala, etc.
SKA 2005 Secretariat can help getting further information from
local travel agent, if required.
More information on Tours is
available here
Secretariat SKA
2005,
National Centre for Radio
Astrophysics,
TIFR Post Bag 3, Ganeshkhind,
Pune University Campus, Pune 411007, INDIA.
Tel: +91 20 2569 7107; Fax: +91 20 2569 7257 / 2569 2149;
Email: ska_pune@ncra.tifr.res.in.
Peter Hall
Michael Kramer
Pramesh Rao (LOC Chair)
Steve Rawlings
Richard Schilizzi (Chair)
Yervant Terzian
Steven Tingay
Peter Wilkinson
S. Ananthakrishnan
Richa Gupta
C.H. Ishwara Chandra
Annabhat Joshi
D.V. Pawar
B. Premkumar
A. Pramesh Rao (Chair)
Shankara Shetty
Reena Shrikumar (Secretary)
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Painting by Balwad (1994) inspired by GMRT
1st circular
2nd circular
3rd circular
NEW 4th circular
Update: 20
Oct
List of Participants
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