Jun 09 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

A HELPING HAND FOR THE NEEDY





BY N SIDDOJI RAO Founder, Help-Desk for Underprivileged

l l am from a homeless background and belong to a Scheduled Caste. I lost my parents at the age of sev en. I had nine siblings. I lost three sis ters and two brothers to hunger. I studied in government schools and stayed at government hostels. In the hostel, I had to eat rice full of black and white worms (when I added but termilk to it, they used to float in it).
But, since I was not able to get a decent meal anywhere, a worm-infested meal appeared like heaven to me. During the summer holidays, I used to do odd cleaning jobs in a hotel for three rupees a day regularly till graduation.
I used to wear clothes handed over by others after altering them.Despite hunger, poverty and being a social outcast, I managed to sail through and ended up at some of the best institutions such as Harvard Uni versity, Australian National Universi ty, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Andhra Pradesh Residential Degree College, Andhra Pradesh Residential Junior College, etc, and excelled. I have worked in India, US and Aus tralia. My performance has been out standing and even extraordinary at times. It has been an amazing odyssey.
From worm-infested rice to the world's finest basmati rice, from torn clothes to the finest global brands, I have experienced it all.
Many factors have contributed to this journey. Since childhood, I have always tried to understand and know my subject much better than others. I always tried to do my work (whatever I do) much better than others, though I have had a language problem (I am not proficient in either Telugu or English). Also, I was always prepared to sacrifice some happiness and comforts to achieve my goal of topping in schools, colleges and univer sities to attain greater happiness.
Moreover, people from my background don't have access to quality education. And they always have a negative opinion of people and the system; I, too, did due to the practice of `untouchability' and the absence of support. However, I gradually got over my negative views owing to the support of the government and a few people who treated me with love and respect. The reason is that all my teachers, classmates and the general public always respected me because of my hard work and academic record. For me, gov ernment is God as it gave me a supporting hand when I needed it badly.
The leadership training by the Ford Foundation inter national fellowship pro gramme for social justice, my life experience and some important people (such as K Madhava Rao, S Prasada Rao, etc) have moti vated me to work for the underprivileged rather than pursuing selfish career objectives. So, I aim to make the Dalit community an asset, indispensable to India in particular and the world in general to overcome `untouchability' and enjoy true liber ty. To achieve this, I have studied why some countries, communities and individuals are better developed than others. Through these extensive studies, I have realised that I need to make the Dalits more productive, more responsible and more communicative.
In addition, to bring desirable and effective change among Dalits, I have prepared myself for self-sacrifice, risk-taking, patience and commitment. That is why, I left my lucrative job in Australia. I have approached upwardly mobile Dalits for their support in achieving my goal and in helping the underprivileged. I have started an Information Centre for Dalits for the purpose of educational and em ployment opportuni ties in addition to career coun selling (per selling (per sonality de velop ment). I have start ed to use Dr Ambed kar, who built our na tion with a modern, democratic and accommodative constitution and who is known for his hard work, talent, scientific mind, sacrifice and indispensability in motivating Dalits and developing a high self-esteem among them. Finally, people have been convinced of my aim and started to support it and change themselves. I have given 1,500 lectures at every level -villages, schools, colleges, and universities -to make Dalits more productive, responsible, and communicative.
With the support of successful Dalits, I have created a help desk which supports to underprivileged Dalits. In this, we use the resources, skills, professional experience, time and energy of successful Dalits. The help desk carries out the following activities daily: z Monday: Counselling/lecture on how to get government officer-level jobs easily, personality development and professional leadership z Tuesday: Counselling/ lecture on employable skills, skill development -upgrading skills, overseas education counselling and education opportunities z Wednesday: Mentor young Dalit entrepreneurs and help them write project reports, etc z Thursday: Legal advice on any issue z Friday: Marriage counselling z Saturday: Solve scholarship or fee reimbursement problems The writer won the Ford Foundation international fellowship in 2002

Jun 09 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Social empowerment

Aaditi Isaac

TNN





The School of Social Work (SOSW) at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) has launched a new programme -Master of social work (counselling).“There is a dearth of professional counsellors in all sectors. The programme will provide both academic learning and professional education and training in counseling, extending beyond theoretical knowledge. It is tailored to suit counsellors working in a wide range of organisational and community contexts as well as individuals in families in a fast-changing social scenario. There are numerous problems being faced by people across the board. Unlike in the West, counselling services are inadequate in our country,“ says Gracious Thomas, director, School of Social Work, Ignou.
The two-year programme is organised in such a way that students can put into practice what they learn in the classroom. “Students will be able to assist trained counsellors in hospitals, jails, for childcare, in rural settings, etc. The university will provide students with a block placement at the end of the first year where students will be able to consolidate their theoretical knowledge and practical work experience under a social welfare agency. At the end of the second year, students have to intern for a month with an agency, depending on their interest and once they complete the internship they would be given a degree,“ he explains.
Once students complete the programme, they can work as counsellors in schools, corporate sector, health-care setting, social and welfare sectors, correctional settings, etc. There is an urgent need for specially trained counsellors to handle the stress of employees working with call centres, corporate sectors, families, family courts, correctional settings, school, universities and educational institutions, rehabilitation centres, refugee camps, institutions for the differently-abled, aged, child care and adoption centres, family planning, voluntary counseling and testing centres, rural sectors especially where farmers are driven to commit suicide, de-addiction centres etc. > AT A GLANCE z Eligibility: Bachelor's degree from a recognised university z Medium of Instruction: English z Duration: Minimum two years and maximum five years z Deadline: June 20 http://www.ignou.ac.in

Jun 09 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

In a first, comp convinces humans it's a real person

Andrew Griffin





Eugene Goostman, a computer programme made by a team based in Russia, cleared the Turing Test. It convinced 33% of the judges that it was a 13-yr-old boy

A programme that convinced humans that it was a 13-year-old boy has become the first computer ever to pass the Turing Test. The test -which requires that computers are indistinguishable from humans -is considered a landmark in the development of artificial intelligence, but academics have warned that the technology could be used for cybercrime.Computing pioneer Alan Turing said that a computer could be understood to be thinking if it passed the test, which requires that a computer dupes 30% of human interrogators in five-minute text conversations. Eugene Goostman, a computer programme made by a team based in Russia, succeeded in a test conducted at the Royal Society in London. It convinced 33% of the judges that it was human, said academics at the University of Reading, which organized the test.
It is thought to be the first computer to pass the iconic
test. The success came on the 60th anniversary of Turing’s death, on Saturday. The computer programme claims to be a 13-year-old boy from Odessa in Ukraine.“Our idea was that he can claim he knows anything, but his age makes it perfectly reasonable that he doesn’t know everything,” said Vladimir Veselov, one of the creators of the programme. “We developed a character with a believable personality.” The programme’s success may prompt concerns about the future of computing, said Kevin Warwick, a visiting professor at the University of Reading and deputy vice-chancellor for research at Coventry University. THE INDEPENDENT





Jun 09 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Teacher training weakest link in education chain

Subodh Varma

Subodh Varma TIMES INSIGHT GROUP





One of the most important streams of higher education is teachers' training. It is from here that thousands of young men and women spread out to teach children in schools, virtually holding the destiny of the future generations in their hands. Yet teachers' training remains one of the most chaotic, neglected and deficient sectors of India's vast education system.Sadhana Singh of Kanpur discovered this last month when she tried to enroll for the B.Ed program in Delhi.
The eligibility conditions laid down by the National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE) are straightforward: any graduate with at least 50% marks can apply for admission. Since the NCTE is the apex regulatory body for teachers' education, setting down the rules for everything from eligibility to facility standards, Sadhana was confident that she would get admission in Delhi's prestigious B.Ed programs in Delhi University or Jamia Milia.
She couldn't have been more wrong. For both these universities she was declared not eligible because she was a commerce graduate. She is not alone in this -there are thousands of commerce graduates who are denied admission to BEd programs, although such rules are in direct violation of NCTE norms and regulations.
Similar complaints have been received from Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.
Rama Mathew, director of Delhi University's Central Institute of Education (CIE) where BEd and MEd courses are taught says that the eligibility conditions were arrived at after past experience and approved by the university Academic Council. She was unaware that NCTE norms do not allow this prohibition of BCom graduates.
“It appears that there is a disjunct between our university and the NCTE. We will write to them to change the eligibility conditions,“ she said after the violation was pointed out.
Her colleague in CIE, Poonam Batra is heading a committee set up by the NCTE on the Supreme Court's advise to reformulate all norms and rules of the NCTE. In the new recommendations, the committee has maintained the previous eligibility conditions of any graduate with 50% marks.
Poonam Batra, who was a member of the Verma Commission set up in 2011 on the SC's orders to look into teachers' education, was aghast when TOI told her that her own institute was not allowing commerce graduates. She asserted that as per both existing and proposed norms, all graduates should be allowed.
Venita Kaul, a professor in Ambedkar University Delhi who was initially nominated to the Batra committee but resigned, told TOI that com merce is not taught in classes up to 10th and so there is no need for commerce graduates to be admitted.
“Moreover, NCTE norms are guidelines, states can adjust according to their local conditions,“ she said. This is clearly not the case: the NCTE is a statutory body and it lays down the law for teachers' education.
Farida Khan, professor in Jamia Milia and member of the Batra committee was also surprised that her own university was not allowing commerce graduates in violation of NCTE norms.
A senior teachers' education professor in Rajasthan, who wished to remain unnamed, told TOI that this confusion among the top brass of the NCTE and the blatant flouting of rules at the ground level is rampant across the country .
“Earlier Rajasthan too did not allow commerce graduates to enroll for BEd but after a high court order in 2005 where the NCTE's supremacy was upheld, the state government started allowing them,“ he told TOI.
Teachers' education has been plagued by sub-standard institutions and policy confusion for years.
India is facing a double crisis of both quality and quantity of school teachers.
According to the 12th five year plan there is an estimated shortage of 12.58 lakh teachers just at the elementary level. In addition, several States face an acute problem of untrained teachers. Tight fisted state governments are merrily employing contractual teachers at low pay scales sacrificing quality and discouraging talent.

Sleep after studying essential to retaining what you learn

In study published in Science, researchers at New York University's Langone Medical Center show for the first time that sleep after learning encourages the growth of dendritic spines, the tiny protrusions from brain cells that connect to other brain cells and facilitate the passage of information across synapses, the junctions at which brain cells meet. Moreover, the activity of brain cells during deep sleep, or slow-wave sleep, after learning is critical for such growth.

The findings, in mice, provide important physical evidence in support of the hypothesis that sleep helps consolidate and strengthen new memories, and show for the first time how learning and sleep cause physical changes in the motor cortex, a brain region responsible for voluntary movements. On the cellular level, sleep is anything but restful: Brain cells that spark as we digest new information during waking hours replay during deep sleep, also known as slow-wave sleep, when brain waves slow down and rapideye movement, as well as dreaming, stops. Scientists have long believed that this nocturnal replay helps us form and recall new memories, yet the structural changes underpinning this process have remained poorly understood.

To shed light on this process the researchers employed mice genetically engineered to express a fluorescent protein in neurons. After documenting that mice, in fact, sprout new spines along dendritic branches, the researchers set out to understand how sleep would impact this physical growth. They found that the sleep-deprived mice experienced significantly less dendritic spine growth than the well-rested mice.

The scientists showed that brain cells in the motor cortex that activate when mice learn a task reactivate during slow-wave deep sleep. Disrupting this process, they found, prevents dendritic spine growth. 

Source | Mumbai Mirror | 7 June 2014

Jun 07 2014 : The Economic Times (Mumbai)

MANUFACTURING Agenda for Manufacturing Micro Enterprises

Tamal Sarkar





The world of MSMEs is highly polarised. Of the 11.5 million manufacturing MSMEs (4th Census), 99% are MEs and less than 1% are SMEs. Also, 91% of the units are unregistered. Interestingly, the pain points that constrain the growth prospects of MEs and SMEs are not similar on many occasions.One prime issue that cripples MEs is access to formal finance. The major obstacles are registration of units, availability of small value loan at competitive rates and efforts of formal finance to reach MEs. MEs which started business either from home or rented premises, often end up operating from non-industrial land — almost a no-no as per banking norms. This requires policy intervention in supporting them in seamless conversion or relocation, if in cluster. Relocation needs to be done for the entire value chain, not just the industry in question. Special allocation of land must exist for this in a time bound manner.
A large number of MEs have a
need for loans of less than .`5 lakhs in one go. Such small value loans are not an attractive business scenario for some banks. Here, NBFCs can be supported to create various combo products for the ME clusters there, so that loan disbursement is fast. Also, NBFCs may be allowed to disburse subsidies given by ministries. Simultaneously, banks may be given targets not only with respect to value, but also to the number of non-repetitive-ME loans.
Role of pollution control boards is regulatory. Pollution control equipments are costly. There is also no approved vendor for pollution control equipment. Some desired interventions are (a) supporting MEs in reaching the pollution norms gradually in a time bound manner, rather than frightening them away (b) incentivising research for creating affordable pollution control equipment and (c) creating a list of approved
vendors for sourcing pollution control equipment/techniques.Most MEs are not even aware of scores of labour laws, leave aside the intricacies and confusions.
While simplification is the solution, immediate support is needed for providing (a) legal education and counselling in each of the industrial townships, starting with locations having more than 10 ME clusters and (b) creating an incentive mechanism for MEs who cater to these norms.
95% of MEs are proprietary/partnerships and are mostly one-person shows. They need affordable and quality business development service providers (BDSPs). At present, BDSPs who are useful are mostly not affordable. Availability of labour is a prime issue. While some of it is due to growth in real wages via MGNREGA, MEs, particularly unregistered ones who have the lowest
capacity to pay, took the worst hit.Taking the clue, there has been a trend for mechanisation. With passing years, this may lead to deskilling of labour, for whom it will be a point of no return, leading to further rise in labour costs. MGNREGA must be linked to providing employment incentives for industrial skilled work. The situation also needs creating or transferring ME friendly technology on a war footing, if we want to touch the planned target in manufacturing value added.
Also of importance is the means of communication. Most support schemes are available in English and are too complex. Simpler versions may be made available in Hindi and vernaculars. Adequate budgetary arrangements are also needed to take care of rising applications through this process. Not least is the need for clearance in a fortnight and ensuring that the cost of availing support should not be costlier than the quantum of support itself.
Cluster-level product based industry associations can help achieve these goals, if they are strengthened by creating a strong secretariat along with necessary infrastructure. They will also be the one-stop shop for putting forward the voice of MEs to ensure these achievements.

Jun 07 2014 : The Economic Times (Mumbai)

MANIFESTO FOR DESIGN

Makarand Kulkarni Design Director at Ether Design, Bangalore





If design community is included at the highest level of decision-making, we can usher in a revolutionary way of making things happen in this country. We must learn to protect our intellectual property as fiercely as our immovable property

In his September 2013, address at platinum jubilee celebrations of the International Advertising Association, Narendra Modi called for establishing Brand India on the world stage. He gave many ideas and examples on where we could start on this. Amongst the things he mentioned was learning from how Mahatma Gandhi influenced hundreds of millions of Indians through unique storytelling using his symbols. Each object that Gandhiji carried and used communicated big ideas with effectiveness that is so difficult to create even in today's connected world. Gandhiji's life was a very well documented experiment in itself as it happened, a reality show that inspired unprecedented collective action in the last century.Modi went on lamenting the lack of `packaging and presentation' of many inspiring ideas that India stands for, ideas that could not only impress but inspire the world to solve its ongoing problems. He also underscored the importance of soft power in international relations. In many ways, this speech is a call to action for designers too.
Design, indeed, is the tool that actually manufactures all perceived reality as consumed by human senses and may the force be with the designers.
We are optimistic that a big push will be provided to large-scale infrastructure projects in a responsible way. The pros and cons of these projects should and must be debated not only by the management thinkers, bureaucrats and urban planners but also by design thinkers, furniture designers, graphic and exhibition designers. We designers have immense empathy for people and we can demonstrate our ability to create functional and experientially rich environments that also communicate our heritage with local sensibilities and global appeal. Together, we can definitely create a uniquely Indian urban experience that can inspire the world.
Let us all play an important role in primary and secondary education. We can bring in the much-needed difference by showing a way to use science and technology with a sense of history and culture. The much talked about belief in our values and our traditions needs to be inculcated at a young age. Why not look at modules that blend cultural anthropology and modern technology to foster problem-solving skills?
Working together as a team at the school level itself can work wonders when it comes to solving complex civic problems.
Designers can `package and present' a unique story for things that have the inherent symbolic value, be it a book on Gandhiji or Ayurveda and Yoga. We are not talking about the last leg aesthetic intervention after the story is writ ten but an upstream thinking on what and how it should be done. We should be on the policy committees and decision-making bod ies that will promote international trade, l s promote tourism, build museums and write guidelines for doing these. t The world has been talking about an eco logically sustainable way of life. Designers i have been, in their own capacity, effecting t this change at product level and packaging. t , We need clear policy on how manufacturers make these things and the role of designers as product architects. We do not authorise unqualified medical intervention, why do we allow unqualified development of consumer products?
Last and most important aspect is of intellectual property. If we do not develop this aspect of our story, we cannot reach out to the world with it. We must learn to protect our intellectual property as fiercely as our immovable property. After all, our culture, tradition and heritage are the most important real estate that we have.
Here's hoping we get to do what we got to do.