New beginnings

In the New Year, students explore options beyond the syllabus.

The earth has come around the sun once again and the cycle of seasons will repeat once more as we step into 2015. There is promise in the air, for all those who look forward to changes — in routines, careers and lives. This is indeed an important year for students who are completing their courses of study and looking forward to starting something new. What does this mean to them? Do they have an assessment of the changes that lie in wait for them? How are they preparing and what are their plans? As we spoke to the students, their evolved view of looking at education and opportunities came into focus. They are no longer content with merely following the syllabus, but keep looking for more opportunities to explore. This generation likes to keep its options open.

Necia Sequiera, a final-year BDS student of MOP Vaishnav College, believes that it is not necessary to have a post-graduation degree to grow in her field. “I think in today’s professional scenario, practice and skills are very important. So I would prefer to work rather than pursue post-graduation. And even if I change my mind and decide to pursue further studies, I would like to go abroad for post-graduation and settle there,” she says.

A bright outlook

Another student, Tanveer Bal, who is pursuing his final year English Honours at Christ University, Bangalore, wants to explore his skills and not stick to the beaten path. “I plan to pursue a Master’s in Philosophy after my undergraduation because it is the subject that stimulates me the most and I consider it my calling. For the New Year, I have a few plans. A book, graphic novel and a music album, in no particular order. Along with my studies, I want to explore my skills as a creative writer as well,” he says. And what plans do the ones who are not in the final year have? Ekta Khubchandani, a fourth-year Applied Arts student from Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai, has no plans to make this year similar to the last one.

“A bigger number, a New Year, and a different look to the same, old pictures. For me, this year will not be about getting back to the grind. I’ll be looking out for new opportunities that will help me grow further. I have a whole year, and I hope that it will help me chase my dreams of becoming a writer,” she says.

Change of scene

The year is going to bring in change for some. Anjana Udayakumar, who is in her third year M.Sc. Physics (Hons) programme at BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad, happened to take an elective on “Indian Economic Development.” Fascinated by the banking sector, she now plans to specialise in economics. On the other hand, there is Aritra Ghosh, who is now in the final year of B.Sc. Physics at Presidency College, Kolkata. For him, the horizons of physics are attractive still.

He has been pursuing physics quite passionately, what with attending summer projects at IACS, Kolkata, and the University of Tokyo and later the Asian Science camp. This experience has taught him not to specialise in a hurry and instead, go for a general M.Sc. Physics. He looks forward to learning computer languages like Python and about numerical computation, as he feels his future lies in computational physics.

Balaji, who will be completing M.Sc. Mathematics in 2015, wishes to become a teacher. Zealously, he says that he wishes to be a good role model and guide students who may fall for addictions. Having grown up in Tirunelveli, he would like to eventually go back there and teach students in his hometown. The coming year therefore has more exams in store for him such as the NET and the SLET.

Research holds special appeal for Sarayu Murali, who is in the fourth year of her dual degree programme at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad. Studying B.E. (Hons) in Chemical Engineering and M.Sc. (Hons) in Biological Sciences, she looks forward to a research which will combine both disciplines.

“Research that will bridge the gap between biology and engineering can not only find cures to diseases but will also act as a source to finding alternative sources of energy such as biofuels, making India a greener, cleaner place to dwell in,” she says.

From going beyond the syllabus to thinking of what would benefit the country, these students have great plans and dreams.

India lost 66 wild tigers in 2014

Tamil Nadu with 15 had the highest number of deaths

: Sixty-six wild tiger deaths were reported in the country in 2014. Two tiger deaths occurred on the last day of the year. It was the only day in 2014 when two wild tiger deaths were reported. One was at Bandipur in Karnataka and the other at Tadoba Andhari in Maharashtra.

As per statistics provided by Tigernet, the official database of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the highest number of wild tiger deaths was reported from the forests of Tamil Nadu —15, followed by Madhya Pradesh —14. Six of the deaths in Tamil Nadu were from the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

The majority of wild tiger deaths was caused by poaching. The data do not give a clear figure on the number of tigers killed by poachers, but it is estimated that about 50 tigers could have been killed in this manner.

Of the 66 deaths, only one death was due to natural causes — reported from the Valmiki Tiger Reserve, Bihar. Fights between tigers, possibly for territory control, caused three deaths.

Two tigers, suspected to be man-eaters, were shot dead by police personnel. One was near Udhagamandalam on January 23 and the other near Chandrapur in Maharashtra on July 19

In the Valmiki Tiger Reserve, one cub was found dead. Wild tiger deaths were also reported from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Karnataka and Uttarakhand. Thirty-two deaths were reported in the first six months of the year.

The highest number of deaths was in December — 10. Wild tiger deaths had taken place during all months of the year. The first tiger death of the year was reported from the Melghat Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra on January 10.

During the year, 12 cases of seizure of tiger parts were registered. This included seizure of seven tiger skins. While three tiger skins were seized from Maharashtra, two were seized from Andhra Pradesh and one each from Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

In 2013, the number of wild tiger deaths was 63 and the highest number was reported from the forests of Karnataka —16, followed by Maharashtra, 9.

In 2014, Karnataka accounted for seven wild tiger deaths. In 2013, only one wild tiger death was reported from Tamil Nadu.

Jan 05 2015 : Mirror (Mumbai)

THAT'S WEIRD - UK college offers selfie course for $160

LONDON PTI





A UK college here is offering its students a new course on the art of selfies and chance to become fully qualified selfie-takers. City Lit College will offer a first ever ‘selfie course’ for Euro 132 ($160) starting this March called “The art of photographic selfportraiture”.The month-long course consisting of lectures and seminars will help students “improve critical understanding of the photographic self-portrait,” The Telegraph reported.
Students can look forward to explore no tions of identity, selfhood and memory.
“The budding photographers will be taught how to explain ideas of space, place and surrounding issues, use light and significant detail in their work and even develop new ideas to make their photography more relevant,” the report said.
They would also be expected to “critique visual work from a variety of practitioners,” it said.
The ‘practitioners could include Ellen Degeneres whose 2015 Oscar selfie became the most retweeted ever.

Jan 05 2015 : The Economic Times (Delhi)

Celebrating Ancient Indian Inventions

Divya Rajagopal

Mumbai:





Indian Science Congress hopes to revive knowledge in ancient texts

Egg shells, cow dung and juice of cactus were used as polymers to build houses, knives used by ancient Indian surgeons were so sharp they could slit a hair strand into two, and much before Wright brothers invented aeroplanes Maharishi Bharadwaj wrote about it.These were some of the key points of discussion at a session on 'Ancient Indian Sciences through Sanskrit' at the 102nd Indian Science Congress held in Mumbai on Sunday. According to the organisers, the topic was introduced in an attempt to revive the “vast knowledge of science“ contained in the Puranas and Vedas.
“The objective of this event is to have a pure secular and scientific session,“ said Prakash Javdekar, the Union environment minister, who inaugurated the session.“Ancient Indian scientific theory, without much tools and machines, was based on observation, logic and that wisdom has relevance today,“ tronomy, it was ancient India that discovered that earth moves around the sun,“ said Dr SB Nimse, vice chancellor, Lucknow University, and an organiser of the event.
The session also focused on topics like engineering applications of ancient Indian botany, scientific principles of ancient Indian architecture and civil engineering, ancient Indian aviation technology and advances in surgery in ancient India.
Dr AS Nene, retired professor of civil engineering from VNIT College Nagpur, spoke about how a herbal paste prepared by grinding eleven types of seeds or roots in cow's urine, when applied to a person's feet helps in locating underground water. He, however, cautioned that the experiment couldn't be proven because of lack of availability of certain ingredients.
Captain Anand J Bodas, who had created a stir a few days before with his theory on ancient aviation technology, was undeterred by criticism and urged young Indians to explore the writings of sage Maharishi Bhardwaja.“In 21st century, we all should study and spread achievements of sages,“ Bodos said.“In ancient times, exhaust wipes were made of clothes and animal skin, which made it easier to wipe, we all should study that technique and manufacture such equipments for airplanes“ he said.
Reacting to criticism about mixing of science and mythology , Dr Gauri Mahulikar, head of Mumbai University's Sanskrit department, who put together this event, said that one should not form opinions without analysing, debating and justifying truths. “Debate has been integral part of our education,“ Mahulikar said.
“Sanskritists and scientists should come together for such interdisciplinary innovative projects. I would propose to all government bodies to incorporate primary introductory process of ancient Indian sciences in their science syllabi,“ she suggested.
This session on ancient Indian Sciences had created much furore in the last couple of weeks, with over 100 scientists rubbishing the idea as pseudo science. NASA scientist Ram Prasad Gandhiraman started a petition which asked the ISC not to give a platform for such ideas.

Jan 05 2015 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Sense On Science





PM's call to put science and research at forefront welcome, now government must act on it

Speaking at the Indian Science Congress, Prime Minister Narendra S Modi hit all the right buttons by declaring that he will pay as much attention to ease of doing research and development in India as to ease of doing business, that China's emergence as the world's second biggest economy paralleled its rise to second place in science and technology and that India needs to focus on science and innovation as a top priority . At a time when he is also putting research-led initiatives at the centre of his foreign policy, the PM's call for greater flexibility in science funding and freeing the university system from excessive regulation and cumbersome procedures is welcome. Now his government must act on it.Unfortunately India's education sector remains an exemplar of exactly the reverse maxim of what Modi wishes to promote: maximum government, minimum governance. India's overly regulated education sector means that not one Indian university is currently ranked among the world's top 200. India is also the only Brics country with no representation among the top 100 global universities.
With only 0.88% of Indian GDP going to research and development investments, India also spends much less on science and technology than US (2.74%), South Korea (4.04%) or China (about 2%). With government aiming to increase R&D ex penditure to 2% in the current Plan period (2012-17), India needs a drastic overhaul of how it manages higher education.
Instead of focussing on greater autonomy and flexibility to universities, the HRD ministry has so far aimed for even greater centralisation. Delhi University was forced to scrap its experiment with four-year undergraduate degrees, Kendriya Vidyalaya students were put in an impossible situation with the row over German and Sanskrit, IIT Delhi's director resigned reportedly over an educational tie-up with Mauritius and a draft Bill has been circulated proposing greater uniformity in governance structures at central universities.
Universities need functional and financial autonomy for achieving excellence, not greater control from Delhi. We have seen great innovations in several Indian sectors after the state withdrew stifling controls.The time has come for government to get out of the way in higher education too. Government must provide only a broad framework, an enabling environment for innovation as it opens up the sector. The rest should be left to competition and a transparent performancebased system of funding without fear or favour.

Jan 05 2015 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Pollution Solution





Swachh Bharat also means Swachh Vatavaran, start discouraging diesel

Showing up the continuing constraints on deregulation in India, S government has raised excise duty on fuel three times since November ­ violating the spirit of deregulation to meet its budgetary challenges, instead of wholly passing through the drop in global prices. This kind of interference also undermined both UPA and the previous NDA government's commitments to price deregulation. Meanwhile, nothing much is being done about a truly foul distortion in the fuel price market ­ higher excise duties on petrol make diesel look more attractive, even though diesel is much the worse polluter as it is easier to adulterate.Helped along by this differential diesel passenger vehicles reportedly accounted for 49% of all new cars sold last year across India ­ up from 20% just a few years ago, even as data about their polluting impact is piling up. An Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority report linked a spurt in diesel cars to the premature death of thousands of children in Delhi. In winter, signs of a growing crisis are palpable in the capital and other north Indian cities. A low-hanging shroud of smog impairs visibility , chokes lungs; children are particularly traumatised by asthma, respiratory illnesses and hospitalisations.
Votaries of low diesel prices call it the poor person's fuel. But there is nothing stopping the wealthy from taking advantage of India's fuel pricing anomaly . After all private cars use a lot more diesel than buses or agriculture ­ an overwhelming majority of SUVs are running on diesel. In India's growing car market, every day's delay in discouraging diesel noxiously expands how long the country will be captive to its pollution. Swachh Bharat ought to include Swachh Vatavaran, clean air, in its definition. It's imperative to level excise duties across petrol and diesel.

Jan 05 2015 : The Times of India (Delhi)

IIT-M TO POWER IDEAS of entrepreneurial success

Sindhu Hariharan





Centre for Innovation (CFI), a student-run innovation lab at IIT-Madras, is run ning an initiative called Nirmaan, a mock incubator to support students with entrepreneurial interests by providing them a riskfree environment to develop their ideas and shielding them from financial pressures through seed funding. Mahesh Panchagnula, adviser of co-curricular at IIT Madras, said that though CFI's motto is `Walk in with an idea, walk out with a product', right now the students build a prototype and leave it at that. Through Nirmaan, they aim to make students work on improving their prototype so that at the end of their college stint they are ready with a marketable product.Twenty-nine teams and projects are now part of Nirmaan after a registration and selection process in September.The seed funding of `2 lakh per team is being provided as per requirement and the progress of ideas is being reviewed by a faculty team. The funds come from alumni grants, corporate sponsors and institute funds.
Sai Gole, a student manager at CFI and also a member of Nirmaan, said the idea is to make it easier for student ventures to enter the startup ecosystem outside the college by reducing a few steps in the process.“With a relatively mature product and a network of mentors already with them, it is easier for the student entrepreneurs to approach incubators and investors,“ Gole said. She added that almost six startup teams that were part of CFI were able to get incubation at IIT Madras' incubation cell.
The 29 teams which are part of Nirmaan are working on a variety of in novative products ranging from a lightbased wearable that is an alternative to alarm clocks to portable paper strip tests to detect milk adulteration. Student managers of CFI are also planning to approach the faculty and students of other colleges to explain the concept of Nirmaan and two institutions have already expressed interest in the idea.
IIT Madras started CFI in 2008 with funds donated by the 1981 batch during their silver jubilee reunion. While CFI's clubs had around 500 student members in 2008, it now boasts of almost 1,300 student members showing the increase in a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among the institute's students.