ICPC is an international collegiate programming contest.  The goal is for teams to solve as many problems as they can in a limited time (about 5 hours). The problems generally emphasize knowledge of mathematical and programming concepts such as graph theory and combinatorics.
Contest structure:
ICPC is a multi-level contest.  Teams of college undergraduates take part in a regional contest (such as the one held at Amritapuri) and, if they qualify, get invited to the World Finals.  In past years, one to three teams have qualified for the World Finals from Amritapuri.  A total of one hundred teams will be finally invited to the world finals from all over the world.
Because Amritapuri is only able to host about 50 teams on-site, the Asia-Amritapuri Regional Contest is itself a 2-stage one – an online contest held over the internet, and an onsite contest where contestants come to Amritapuri.  Invitation to the on-site contest depends upon your performance in the on-line contest.