President tells NITs to drive ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’ 

President Pranab Mukherjee asked higher educational institutions to be at the forefront of bridging the digital divide, income asymmetries and rural-urban differentiation in the country, especially, in view of the ‘Make in India’ and the ‘Digital India’ initiatives unveiled by the Government.

 He said NITs can and need to be the connecting force between rural innovations, local employment and world class manufacturing.

President Mukherjee said this while inaugurating a two day Conference of Directors of National Institutes of Technology (NITs) at Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 29. This is the second Conference of Directors of NITs during the present Presidency and is part of the regular, focused interaction the President has been having with Central Universities, IITs and IISERs in his capacity as Visitor to these institutions.

The President also called upon all NITs to deepen and broad-base their involvement with society. He said their work must find resonance with the needs and aspirations of our people. On the model of the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana launched by the Prime Minister recently, NITs should adopt at least one village each and transform them into model villages worthy of replication across the country. They must source, if required, experts from other Central institutions to provide solutions to the wide mosaic of issues that such a transformation to model villages will entail.

- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/10/president-tells-nits-to-drive-digital-india-and-make-in-india/#sthash.BV8uftH8.dpuf

Higher Education survey launched

The All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2014-15 was launched by secretary, higher education, ministry of human resource development, Satya Narayan Mohanty on 27 October. The survey, undertaken as an annual, web-based, pan-India exercise on the status of higher education since 2010-11, covers all the Higher Educational Institutions in the country.

The annual survey collects data on several parameters like teachers, student enrolment, programmes, examination results, education finance, infrastructure, etc. Such parameters and the data collected under these come in handy for making informed policy decisions and conducting research in education development.

The survey is building a sound database, which is getting updated annually as per information submitted by the institutions. The data is uploaded on the AISHE portal (http://aishe.gov.in). The government will decide on the further action once the data for survey is collected.

So far, the HRD ministry has released the final reports of AISHE 2011-12 and provisional reports of AISHE 12-13, which are in the public domain. While the Survey exercise is in its fourth consecutive year now, the AISHE 2013-14, launched on June 17, 2014, is also underway. With the launch of AISHE 2014-15 in October, the time lag in dissemination of higher education statistics has been eliminated.

- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2014/10/higher-education-survey-launched/#sthash.Y5ncqM7C.dpuf

TISS M.Phil. & Ph.D. Programmes Admissions, 2015: announcement

TISS M.Phil. & Ph.D. Programmes Admissions, 2015: announcement

TISS M.PHIL. AND PH.D. PROGRAMMES ADMISSIONS, 2015

TISS invites applications for the Integrated M.Phil-Ph.D. and ‘Direct’ Ph.D. Programmes (academic year 2015-2016) with the various Schools and Independent Centres of the Institute across TISS Mumbai, Tuljapur, Guwahati and Hyderabad Campuses. UGC JRF qualified candidates, post graduates, students in the final year post graduation in Social Sciences and allied fields and individuals with M.Phil and / or industrial, academic and field based experience in Social Sciences, Social Work, Disaster Management, Development Studies and allied fields are invited to apply.

To go to the Online Application Form, please visit M.Phil. & Ph.D. Programmes Admissions, 2015 > Admission Process > How to Apply (click here to visit)

Admission to the Integrated M.Phil – Ph. D. programme & Direct Ph. D. programme will be in the following Research Areas :

Sr. No.	Research Areas	Mumbai Campus - No. of seats*
		Integrated M. Phil-Ph. D	Direct Ph. D.
1.	Habitat Studies	5	5
2.	Public Health	15	5
3.	Health Systems Management
4.	Management and Labour Studies	20	12
5.	Social Work	25	15
6.	Disaster Management	5	5
7.	Education	4	4
8.	Women's Studies	10	5
9.	Development Studies	15	10
10.	Social Sciences	10	10
11.	Media and Cultural Studies	-	2
12.	Inclusive Development and Social Justice	10	-

*Stated numbers can change and are subject to Research Council & Academic Council approval

Sr. No.	Research Areas	Hyderabad Campus -No. of seats*
		Integrated M. Phil-Ph. D	Direct Ph. D.
1.	Education	10	-
2.	Women's Studies	10	-
3.	Social Sciences	-	5

Sr. No.	Research Areas	Guwahati Campus -No. of seats
		Integrated M. Phil-Ph. D	Direct Ph. D.
1.	Social Sciences	10	5

Sr. No.	Research Areas	Tuljapur Campus -No. of seats*
		Integrated M. Phil-Ph. D	Direct Ph. D.
1.	Rural Development	10	5

Important Dates:

Last date of submission of Application Form:	January 15, 2015 by 6.00 p.m.
Announcement of shortlisted Candidates for RAT	January 27, 2015
Research Aptitude Test (RAT) Announcement of candidates invited for Personal Interview (PI) Personal Interview: Mumbai Campus  Tuljapur Campus Guwahati Campus Hyderabad Campus	February 13, 2015 February 20, 2015 March 13 - 17, 2015 to be announced soon to be announced soon to be announced soon

Please note that the date of the RAT, Announcement of candidates invited for PI and PI at Mumbai and other campuses are tentative and final dates will be announced by November 21, 2014.

Oct 31 2014 : The Economic Times (Delhi)

No More First Class Travel for Govt Staff

New Delhi Our Bureau





Government employees can't travel first class, the government has said, following a UPA tradition as it puts in place a mid-year austerity drive seeking a mandatory 10% cut in non-plan expenditure by ministries and departments.The finance ministry directive also bars meetings in five-star hotels and the purchase of new cars besides a freeze on new appointments.
“In the context of the current fiscal situation, there is a need to continue to rationalize expenditure and optimize available resources,“ a finance ministry statement ministry statement said on Thursday.“Such measures are intended at promoting fiscal discipline, without restricting the operational efficiency of the government.“
The directive came a day after expenditure secretary R P Wattal told financial advisors of various ministries and departments to remain within budget and be prudent with spending and maintain fiscal discipline.
“The message is clear that funds should be prudently spent,“ said an official who attended the mee ting.The previous UPA government put similar measures in place in 2012 and 2013 as it sought to narrow the fiscal deficit.
The creation of new positions as well as car purchases are mostly banned and video conferencing should be used wherever possible.
Interest and debt payments, the de fence budget, salaries and pensions will not be affected by these steps, it said.“While officers are entitled to various classes of air travel depend ing on seniority, utmost economy would need to be observed while ex ercising the choice keeping the limi tations of budget in mind. However, there would no bookings in first class,“ it said.
The ministry said the purchase of new vehicles to meet operational requirements of the defence and paramilitary forces and security organisations are permitted but a ban on the buying of any other vehicles would continue.
“In the context of the current fiscal situation, there is a need to continue to rationalise expenditure and optimise available resources,“ it said.

Oct 31 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)

IIT Delhi will award 178 PhD degrees

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





IIT Delhi will hold its 45th convocation on November 1, at which 178 PhD, 935 postgraduate and 729 graduate degrees will be awarded. Physicist and Nobel Prize winner George F Smoot will deliver the convocation address.IIT Delhi director R K Shevgaonkar said that MHRD has asked the institute to coordinate for the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan. IIT-Delhi will collaborate with the other IITs, NITs, other technical institutions and NGOs for rural development. “Each IIT will adopt 10 villages in the neighbourhood and suggest financially viable technological solutions to problems of sanitation, water, energy and housing,“ he said.IIT-Delhi has already helped set up micro-enterprises in a village in Jodhpur.
While the number of PhDs being awarded over the last three years has declined marginally , IIT authorities promise that the number will be more than double in two years.

Academics must question more: Romila

Urges intellectuals to resist assault on liberal thought

Historian Romila Thapar asked a full house of Delhi’s intelligentsia on Sunday why changes in syllabi and objections to books were not being challenged.

Prof. Thapar was delivering the third Nikhil Chakravartty Memorial Lecture here on Sunday, titled ‘To Question or not to Question: That is the Question.”

“There are more academics in existence than ever before but most prefer not to confront authority even if it debars the path of free thinking. Is this because they wish to pursue knowledge undisturbed or because they are ready to discard knowledge, should authority require them to do so,” the eminent historian asked.

Tracing the lineage of the modern public intellectual to Shamanic philosophers of ancient India, Prof. Thapar said the non-Brahminical thinkers of ancient India were branded as Nastikas or non-believers. “I am reminded of the present day where if you don’t accept what Hindutva teaches, you’re all branded together as Marxists,” she added.

“Public intellectuals, playing a discernible role, are needed for such explorations as also to articulate the traditions of rational thought in our intellectual heritage. This is currently being systematically eroded,” she explained.

Prof. Thapar stressed that intellectuals were especially needed to speak out against the denial of civil rights and the events of genocide. “The combination of drawing upon wide professional respect, together with concern for society can sometimes establish the moral authority of a person and ensure public support.”

However she said academics and experts shied away from questioning the powers of the day.

Why no reaction?

“This is evident from the ease with which books are banned and pulped or demands made that they be burned and syllabi changed under religious and political pressure or the intervention of the state. Why do such actions provoke so little reaction from academics, professionals and others among us who are interested in the outcome of these actions? The obvious answer is the fear of the instigators — who are persons with the backing of political authority,” Prof. Thapar said.

“When it comes to religious identities and their politics, we witness hate campaigns based on absurd fantasies about specific religions and we no longer confront them frontally. Such questioning means being critical of organisations and institutions that claim a religious intention but use their authority for non-religious purposes,” she said.

Prof. Thapar rued the fact that not only were public intellectuals missing from the front lines of defending liberal values, but also alleged a deliberate conspiracy to enforce what she termed a “Lowest Common Denominator” education.

“It is not that we are bereft of people who can think autonomously and ask relevant questions. But frequently where there should be voices, there is silence. Are we all being co-opted too easily by the comforts of conforming,” she asked.

Why Western Ghats in Karnataka receive more monsoon rainfall

Due to the greater width, there is more time for drops to coalesce and precipitate

In a recent study of rainfall trends using remotely sensed satellite data and actual field data from the Indian Meteorological Department of the Western Ghats region over the past 14 years, it was found that during the monsoon months of June, July, August, September, the average rainfall was more over Karnataka than Maharashtra and Kerala.

The Western Ghats run parallel to the Arabian Sea coast for approximately 1,600 km from the Maharashtra-Gujarat border to the southern tip of Kerala.

There are several reasons for this. First, the mountain topography in Karnataka is broader than the narrow topography of the Ghats in Maharashtra. Due to the greater width of the mountains, the rain bearing winds have to necessarily travel a longer distance and have more time for the drops to coalesce and precipitate as rainfall, resulting in higher rainfall. In contrast, the narrow width of the Ghats in Maharashtra allows the rain-bearing wind to cross over to the leeward side rapidly before precipitation can occur. As for Kerala, the Ghats there are in the form of isolated mountains, where the rain-bearing winds can easily cross over to the leeward side through the gaps in between without precipitation occurring.

Second, the slope of the mountain has a direct bearing on the possibility of precipitation. This is borne out by the Ghats of Karnataka where the mountains are gently sloping, compared to the steep slopes of the Ghats in Maharashtra and Kerala.

The air parcel will retain its energy and speed for a longer time when the slope is gradual. This will provide sufficient vertical motion to cloud droplets to grow by collision–coalescence process and hence form precipitation.

Third, the gentle slope provides a greater area for sunlight absorption and heating leading to greater convection when compared with an abrupt slope i.e. less Ghat area such as that of the Maharashtra and Kerala Ghats.

Fourth, the continuous mountain range presents a greater barrier to rain-bearing winds than a range comprising isolated mountains with gaps in between where the winds can easily pass to the leeward side. Unlike in the case of Kerala, the Ghats in Maharashtra and Karnataka are continuous.

The study carried out by Sayli A. Tawde and Charu Singh was published recently in the International Journal of Climatology. Ms. Tawde is pursuing her PhD in the Centre for Atmospheric & Ocean Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and Ms. Singh is a scientist at the Marine and Atmospheric Sciences Department, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, ISRO, Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

Interestingly, the study found that often areas of heavy rainfall were far away from the summits of the mountains, as much as 50 km away.

“The reason for this is that there is more chance of rainfall occurring at the foot of the mountain as there is greater depth for the moisture in the clouds to coalesce into big drops which finally reach the ground,” notes Ms Tawde in an email to this correspondent.

Keywords: Western Ghats, monsoon rainfall, satellite data, Maharashtra-Gujarat border, Indian Meteorological Department