Jun 18 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

ALUMNI: THE EX IS NOT FORGOTTEN





STAYING IN TOUCH, LONG AFTER YOU HAVE PARTED WAYS, IS DIFFICULT.
THEREFORE, WHAT MOTIVATES THE ALUMNI TO STILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE INSTITUTE APART FROM NOSTALGIA? ANURAG JHANWAR SHARES SOME INSIGHTS

Education has always been an industry more impacted by word-of-mouth than advertising.
One of the important stakeholders in any institution's reputation is its alumni; they are considered brand ambassadors, and their successes in their respective fields add immensely to their alma mater's brand.This is especially relevant to Indian business schools, with their uber-competitive environment.It has observed it is only the highergraded business schools (graded A** and above) that derive tangible benefits from their alumni engagement programmes.The benefits range from strong recruitment relationships, to alumni sponsorship for student ventures as well as research chairs.
Globally, the alumni networks of schools such as Harvard or Stanford are available to students and faculty members alike across countries. Of course, the vintage and highlyestablished nature of their programmes helps.
HOW,THEN, CAN THE NEWER PROGRAMMES START BUILDING THIS MUCH-REQUIRED PEDIGREE?
HERE ARE SOME WAYS FOR SCHOOLS TO BETTER HARNESS THE POTENTIAL OF THEIR ALUMNI NETWORKS: CREATE A STRONG COMMUNITY,WHICH CONTINUES TO BENEFIT GRADUATES Some of the world's most reputed Bschools offer online career forums, continuing education classroom programmes or webinars, alumni clubs and opportunities to interface with faculty members for guidance or knowledge-sharing.Their websites also offer directory services where one can reach any registered alumni in a given city or organisation. Similar best practices followed by some IIMs and other top institutes include a job forum for alumni, functional clubs and life-long learning avenues for alumni.
KEEP A TRACK OF ALUMNI CAREER GRAPHS Harvard, for example, gives out alumni achievement awards. Other global business schools frequently celebrate achievers' performance during annual meets or in annual publications. By building relationships with companies where their alumni are doing well, institutes can get better industry projects and faculty interaction opportunities for present students. Most top institutes thrive on deep relationships with recruiters. While older business schools have alumni in senior (and therefore influential) positions, newer programmes need to actively track ex-students who are outperforming their peers. Such alumni, even if not senior, can help build a stronger relationship with the company.
INVOLVE ALUMNI IN STUDENT ADMISSIONS ADMISSIONS Many global business schools get their alumni in India to speak with Indian students eligible for admissions to influence their choice of institute. One Southern institute has a link on its alumni page where students can be referred.This practice can also work well for newer programmes or institutes in non-metro locations in India, which would want the best students to choose them over other programmes. Also, for institutes attempting to improve their pan-India diversity, having alumni members vouch for their programme is of immense help.
Most of our top-graded institutes have alumni members in their interview panels as experts.This makes sense for institutes, which have a large pool of applicants to select from.While newer programmes may not have as much choice in terms of applications, alumni members checking the potential industry-readiness of candidates is a healthy practice.
MAKE STUDENTS STAKEHOLDERS FROM THE VERY BEGINNING Students need to hold themselves responsible for institutiondevelopment right from the time they are on campus. Many global business schools actively encourage alumni to sponsor campus events, entrepreneurial ventures and research cells. One Mumbai-based institute has a unique culture of a governmentaffiliated programme run entirely by students, in which the latter even has a say in the choice of visiting faculty.
Student accountability is therefore an area of improvement if they are to become responsible alumni.
The author is director, CRISIL Education Gradings Education Gradings Agree with the author? Tell us at www.ItsMyAscent.com/CareerAdvice

Jun 18 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

IIT-D India's best, not in BRICS top 10 centres

Manash Pratim Gohain

New Delhi: TNN





The Indian Institutes of Technology continue to represent the nation most successfully as far as quality of imparting higher education is concerned, according to the QS BRICS 2014 University Rankings published on Tuesday . The good news is that there are eight Indian institutions that have made it to the top 50. However, India is the only country that couldn't find a place in the top 10--which is the bad news.There are five institutions, led by IIT Delhi, in the top 20. Among institutions devoted to general studies, Delhi University is the highest ranked at 39, having bet tered its last year's rank of 53 and beating last year's topranked Calcutta University which is now at 50.
The QS BRICS 2014 University Rankings compares the Top 200 institutions in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and has identified China as the most likely among BRICS nations to achieve its goal of developing world-class universities.
The top-ranked university is Tsinghua University , followed by Peking University , both from China. In fact, China claims six of the Top 10 places, ahead of Brazil (two), Russia (one) and South Africa (one).
The overall rank of the top Indian player--IIT Delhi--is 13 this year, which is no improvement from last year's rank. The other Indian universities in the Top 20 are IIT Bombay (ranked 15), IIT Kanpur (ranked 16, up from 17 last year), IIT Madras (ranked 17, down from 16 in last year) and IIT Kharagpur (ranked 20, down by two ranks from last year). In all, 20 Indian institutions have found a place on the list.
Delhi University has overtaken the University of Calcutta to become India's highest-ranked general stud ies institution, thanks to improvements in staffing levels and research citations. The University of Mumbai is ranked 68 this year, down by six ranks from last year.
Meanwhile, IIT Kharagpur has a higher proportion of PhDs among its staff than any other university with three other Indian institutions also in the top five on this count. However, in overall staffing, only Manipal University is in the top 100.
Ben Sowter, head of research, THE-QS World University Rankings, says, “Indian universities have been struggling to keep pace with increasing demand for university education from the country's vast young population. There are now frequent calls for reform of the country's complex higher education system and for universities to become more transparent.“
The new government has promised a national commission on education to reform and revitalize the sector and to make India a knowledge hub. The first copy of the QS University Rankings: BRICS 2014 was presented to prime minister Narendra Modi.
Karthick Sridhar, vicechairman, Indian Centre for Assessment and Accreditation, said, “While it is sad to note India's absence in the Top 10, going by the excitement created by the new government, we believe that year 2015 will paint a different story .“

Jun 17 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

‘Super’ bananas for vitamin boost

Sydney: AFP





A super-enriched banana genetically engineered to improve the lives of millions of people in Africa will soon have its first human trial, which will test its effect on vitamin A levels, Australian researchers said on Monday. The project plans to have the special banana varieties — enriched with alpha and beta carotene which the body converts to vitamin A — growing in Uganda by 2020.The bananas are now being sent to the United States, and it is expected that the sixweek trial measuring how well they lift vitamin A levels in humans will begin soon.
“Good science can make a
massive difference here by enriching staple crops such as Ugandan bananas with pro-vitamin A and providing poor and subsistence-farm ing populations with nutritionally rewarding food,” said project leader professor James Dale. The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) project, backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, hopes to see conclusive results by year end.“We know our science will work,” Dale said. “We made all the constructs, the genes that went into bananas, and put them into bananas here at QUT.” Dale said the Highland or East African cooking banana was a staple food in East Africa, but had low levels of micro-nutrients, particularly pro-vitamin A and iron.
“The consequences of vi
tamin A deficiency are dire with 650,000-700,000 children world-wide dying ... each year and at least another 300,000 going blind,” he said.Researchers decided that enriching the staple food was the best way to help ease the problem. While the modified banana looks the same on the outside, inside the flesh is more orange than a cream colour, but Dale said he did not expect this to be a problem. He said once the genetically modified bananas were approved for commercial cultivation in Uganda, the same technology could potentially be expanded to crops in other countries.

Jun 17 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Let's ruin your mood

Bikram Vohra





Look your hair's all gone. Yes, i needed you to tell me that So, iam standing at this party like one of those shabby relatives at a rich man's wedding, a little out of place, a little awed by the opulence and wondering why i can't be home reading a book when this half stranger, like most people in our lives, walks up to me and says, ha, fancy meeting you here (which is rude enough) and then he adds, my, my, we are doing well, look how fat you have become, after which he proceeds to poke my stomach.
Go away , you horrible little man, where do you get off being so personal?
Attack mode is not only fashionable, the damn thing never goes out of season. I would have truly thought it's rare, like i would think twice before making physical remarks. Obviously i live on another planet.There are the ones who hit you with concern; migoodness, i am so worried about you, what have you done to yourself, no way , you have really put on the pounds. The ones who make a mystery of it: I saw you and i said, no, that can't be you know who, she looks twice her size, wo, you are living it up. What about the medical approach: hey , i am worried about you, little tummy there and it has gone to your hips, slow down, you know not good for you...at your age.
Then there are the ones who make it into a collective Broadway musical: hey everyone, would you believe this is Bik, look at him, hasn't he really ballooned...say whattt!! Not to mention the ones who cannot conceal their glee: Boy , you have sure let yourself go, you are literally bloated, and you look twice your age. The fake ones: you look lovely , just a little wee bit, teensy weensy little love handle, darling.
Look at you, your hair's all gone. Yes, i need you to tell me that, i came here this evening because i know there is this huge Texas-sized bald patch on the top of my head but i thought i need your confirmation and thank you so much for setting me straight, now i have the seal of approval on my lost hair, ergo, the evening has not been a total waste.
You have bags under your eyes. I have what? Bags, big brown bags under both your eyes. Oh, i thought you said i had bags under my eyes. I did. Isn't that none of your business? Oh, come on, smile, chill out, no wonder you have the bags, you are stressed. I would be a lot less stressed if i could whack you across the face.
Why are we all so fascinated by other people's weight and why do we believe they want us to comment on it? Don't they know the darn diet didn't work, don't they know they are struggling to drop those 10 pounds, you think they are so stupid they don't know they will never be size 8 again, they need to dress up to come to a party, find car parking space, bring a recycled gift so you can tell them.
Truly, this happened to me last week. Along comes this lady and she says, i haven't seen you of years. And i say, true. And she says, i saw you from far and i said no, it can't be him, he looks too grey and haggard. Fooled you, lady, it isn't me, it's a mask, see, this is the young real me, eureka, go leap off the balcony, you cow.
People love to hurt. They dress in the evenings and they carry a quiverful of poisoned darts which they then deploy to enjoy themselves by making other people uncomfortable. About you, your money (lack of it) standing (lack of it) property (lack of it) your current business success (or lack of it) your inside story (which they know more about than you) and they haven't the slightest qualm about bringing it up.
So, what is it? Don't we like each other? Are we so jaded that we only get our kicks by dishing them out?

Jun 17 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Govt plans `soil health cards' for all farmers

Vishwa Mohan

New Delhi: TNN





New Delhi: Seeking to spur agricultural growth, the Centre will soon launch a comprehensive plan to provide `Soil Health Card' to all farmers across the country .The card will carry cropwise recommendations of nutrients/fertilizers required for farms, making it possible for farmers to improve productivity by wisely using inputs.
A computerized system will be developed allowing local agriculture science centres to keep details of `soil test' results. Soil samples will be collected even from small farms in remote villages. The system will, eventually , allow farmers to download the health card using `unique number' allotted to each soil sample. This way , any change in ownership of the particular farm land will not create any problem in getting such cards or getting it updated.
Though a few states including Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana had successfully distributed such cards a couple of years ago, most states did not make it operational be agricultural universities. The Centre's fresh move will make it universal. “Providing `Soil Health Card' to all farmers across the country is our priority. We are working out the details, studying best practices being followed by different states,“ agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said. He said the move will help farmers in identifying “health of the soil“ which will go a long way in improving productivity through judicious use of fertilizers and water.
Since collecting `soil samples' and uploading/updating the test results will be a mammoth exercise, the Centre may write to states urging them to culture universities. Officials here do not rule out the possi bility of linking the final de gree of agriculture students with their work in fields like helping `Krishi Vigyan Ken dra' officials in sample collec tion and periodic update.
All soil samples will be tested in various testing labs across the country . Thereafter, experts will analyze strengths and weaknesses (micro-nutri ents deficiency) of the soil and suggest measures. The result and suggestion will be displ ayed in the cards. Singh said the soil card and irrigation facility for all villages would be two major components of NDA's agriculture policy .

Jun 16 2014 : Mirror (Pune)

No country for thinkers

SHANTA GOKHALE





SEPARATING THE BEST FROM THE BANAL ON OUR CULTURESCAPE Liked/hated her column? Write to Shanta Gokhale at punemirror.feedback@gmail.com Writers, particularly historians, have been persuaded, in the interests of peace in the jungle, not to think, write or even speak

Manu lived in a house of straw, believing it to be built of stone.Donny lived in a house of sticks, also believing it was built of stone. Bandy lived in a house of mud. He too believed it was built of stone. The houses had been around for decades, so the three writers naturally felt safe and protected in them. And so they were too, till a wolf began to prowl around their jungle.
This wolf was sharp-eyed and razortoothed and abhorred writers, particularly historians. Instead of walking docilely down the many well-trodden paths in the jungle, these disruptive spirits had to go climbing trees, looking at the vast world beyond and writing about it. The wolf was convinced that such writings would pollute young wolfminds.
The thing about the trees was true though. Manu did climb many trees and discovered that there were 300 Ramayanas over and above the two that the wolf knew. The fact that even two existed, disturbed the wolf greatly, since his elders and betters had taught him to strictly follow the rule of one: one jungle, one language and one animal species.
Manu on the other hand, had felt a surge of excitement at the thought that an epic written and revered in the jungle of his birth centuries ago, was so inspirational, that it had spawned 300 versions across the country and the eastern world. Could
you say that about The Iliad or The Odyssey? Nope.Manu’s discovery of 300 Ramayanas made the wolf angry. Very very angry. So angry that he rushed to the house of straw (HOS), and howled at the chief, “Ohyoupig, don’t you know that I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll bring your house down if you don’t throw Manu out onto the garbage heap where he and his tribe belong? “For a while, the chief of HOS thought nothing of the threat. He was even heard singing, “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf.” But he soon discovered that the wolf’s anger had the full support of the laws of the jungle. The wolf simply had to say his feelings were hurt and the house of law would throw its doors wide open to him.
That silenced the HOS chief. Manu was ejected from the house, and the wolf sang, “Sacredyboo, scaredyboo / Who is stronger, me or you?” Prompt came the fearful answer from HOS, “You, my master, youyouyou.” Emboldened by this victory, the wolf trotted over to the house of sticks, popularly known as HOST, and howled, “Out with Donny who thinks there’s more to my religion than meets my eye. Out with her or I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll bring your house down. “The chief of HOST flapped around for a while, uncaringly as it were, and was even heard to sing, “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf.” But when the wolf, aided by the law of the jungle, huffed and puffed, HOST not only threw Donny out, but PULPED her.
Imagine the cruelty of the act! The world outside the jungle cried, “Murder most foul!“ But the wolf merely rubbed his paws together and chortled, “Sacredyboo, scaredyboo/Who is stronger, me or you?” Prompt came HOST’s answer, “You my master, youyouyou.” The wolf, now confident of his powers, soon bent his gaze on the house of mud (HOM), and whispered in the chief’s ear, “Psst. You need to take another look at Bandy’s Plassey to Partition: A History of
Modern India.There are things there that have made me very angry. “Instantly, all the people in HOM went into a huddle and pored over not just Bandy’s book but many others, scissors at the ready to cut and pare.
In time, what was bound to happen, came to pass. One day The Jungle Times carried this front page news: “The chiefs of HOS, HOST and HOM have been persuaded to step down in favour of the wolf.
Writers, particularly historians, have been persuaded, in the interests of peace in the jungle, not to think, write or even speak.
They may, however, hold hands and sing, “Here we go round the mulberry bush, the new jungle anthem.”

Jun 16 2014 : Mirror (Pune)

Business of research papers

GOURI AGTEY ATHALE





GOURI AGTEY ATHALE WRITES ON WHAT MAKES PUNE INC TICK Liked/hated her column? Write to Gouri Athale at punemirror.feedback@gmail.com Newer institutes, colleges take the easy route instead of enhancing quality and stringency of parameters

The monetary side of the business explains the attraction of hosting scientific and other high-end, knowledge-based conferences and subsequent publications of papers presented at the conference.The registration fee is between Rs 5,000-10,000 per head, if the conference is in India and the expected number of attendees is around 200-400 people. If the conference is international, then the registration fees are in the region of $ 300-500 per head. Do the math: it works out to substantial amounts with fairly low initial investment.
Participants also have to pay for the publication of their papers and according to people in the know, this is where they really make the money: the publications side of the conference.
Add that and the business is significant.
This has led to several sting operations by well established scientific and mainstream newspapers and magazines, exposing the racket. Nothing’s changed! Why is this relevant? Institutions pressure their staff (looking for tenure) and students to publish research, based on the ‘publish or perish’ philosophy. This gives rise to the business of hosting conferences where you might have been ‘invited’ but have to pay for your travel, stay and pay for the publication of your paper.
Quality is at stake, especially as newer institutes and colleges start their own journals, taking the easy route instead of enhancing the quality and stringency of parameters of existing journals. Academic rigour will get you quality but if you focus on just meeting the norm that an academic staff member has to have publications, never mind the quality of said publication, then a fall in standards is inevitable.
As a senior academic from Pune University explained, “This is a problem of the knowledge industry. Institutes require their staff to publish and there are elements who ensure that this happens... for a price. Universities have tightened their procedures and systems, ensuring their staff attend only credible conferences.” A young scientist and researcher at a well regarded institute in Pune told me of the high level of filters that he has set up on his email account.
Despite this, at least two-three invitations for in
ternational conferences sneak into his email.These are mainly from Chinese entities but not only from them: this business like a host of others, is global.
The practice is rampant in India as well as more and more institutes look for credibility and as more academic bodies insist on publications. Researchers and academics agree there is need for the academic community to take action by enforcing standards: consolidate the number of existing publications and improve their quality by enforcing rigorous and stringent standards.
The financial angle, however, has taken precedence over the academic. The financial angle for the entrepreneur and that of the academic/ researcher seeking a permanent post are the primary drivers of this business. Universities
and research institutes have begun to blacklist such entrepreneurs as well as tightened their grants to attend conferences that are not recognised nationally or internationally.The first filter that universities and research institutes have begun to apply is that any conference where the invitee has to pay to attend is a strict no-go: this is part of the realisation that academics is not the focus of the conference.
That this is not going to stop is clear because there is a paucity of funds in the ‘developed’ world as a result of the economic meltdown which makes holding of international conferences a money spinner. This is compounded by the premium emerging countries put on international publications, regarded as the gold standard. Eternal vigilance is the need, obviously!