The past year has had its ups and downs (more of one than the other it seems!) but it is good to end on an optimistic note, with the hope that the coming year will be better than the one slipping away... Here's wishing all of us the very best for 2014!

WordPress made a report of this blog's activity, and before I turn to other matters, here it is (and many thanks to them for the quick if somewhat impersonal and automated post):

Here's an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 26,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 10 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Some noteworthy events on our campus during 2013, starting with the inauguration of the School of Life Sciences building by Dr. M. Pallam Raju on January 3, the visit of  Joseph Stiglitz, also in January, the starting of a Kendriya Vidyalaya on our campus in April, the visit of Amartya Sen and Venki Ramakrishnan in quick succession in December, bringing the number of nobelists that came to our campus this year to three! Many of the faculty were recognized for their excellence, in teaching Prof. Kumaresan was named Teacher of the Year by the Indian National Science Academy, Dr Vaitheeswaran was given the B M Birla prize in physics, and Dr V Vakulabharanam the Amartya Sen award of the ICSSR. Many of the departments and Schools were recognized for their excellence by the UGC through the grant of special funds for research- all of which has made us one of the better endowed universities, at least funds-wise... There is more to tell, and much of it has been posted on the UoH Herald over the past year, or on earlier posts on this blog. Many awards, many distinguished visitors, many concerts, and many conferences, all evidence of an active and vibrant campus.

There were also some events that caused us much sadness, the loss of four students as well as some of our retired faculty and staff. And the progress of various projects on campus has been slow, particularly on the matter of constructions and infrastructure. The turbulence of the world outside has sometimes been reflected in events on the campus... I really hope that such things will change.

Every new year deserves a resolution or two. We are now into our fortieth year, a special  anniversary of sorts.  Let us work to make the campus a better place, and our University the very best that we can be. Happy New Year!