Jan 06 2015 : The Times of India (Delhi)

South India beats North in the art of giving

Bengaluru: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Wipro chairman Azim Premji has been crowned the “Most Generous Indian“ for the second year in a row. In a ranking of Indian philanthropists put together by China's Hurun Research Institute, Premji, with a donation of Rs 12,316 crore to the Azim Premji Foundation between April 2013 and October 2014, is way ahead of others in the list.At No. 2 is Anil Agarwal of the London-listed Vedanta Resources, with a donation of Rs 1,796 crore, primarily towards social and rural development.At the third spot is HCL chairman Shiv Nadar, with a donation of Rs 1,316 crore.
Among cities, Mumbai tops the charts with 15 philanthropists in the total of 50, followed by Bengaluru (8) and Delhi (6). Overall, South Indians are more generous, donating Rs 13,300 crore -five times that by North Indians.
Infosys has the highest number of philanthropists in the top 10, with its founders Nandan Nilekani (along with wife Rohini) and Kris Gopalakrishnan ranked sixth and ninth.
This is the second year that Hurun Research Institute has put out a list of those donating at least Rs 10 crore.This year's report shows that 50 philanthropists donated over Rs 10 crore, up from 31 last year. This year's list has 27 new faces.
There are new-generation philanthropists like hedge fund manager Ashish Dhawan and cardiologists Vijay and Khushman Sanghvi, and they are seen to be unleashing a new wave of philanthropy in the country .
The total contribution of the top three philanthropists grew significantly by 29% (Rs 3,508 crore) over the previous year. Indian philanthropists contributed significantly to education (Rs 15,791 crore), followed by social and rural development (Rs 2,333 crore), healthcare (Rs 1,447 crore) and environmental protection (Rs 12 crore) between April 2013 and October 2014, according to a list put together by China's Hurun Research Institute.
Some 11 of the top 50 philanthropists do not live in India. Of these, five made their donations in India. Thirty-seven of the philanthropists are self-made, compared to 21 in the previous year. This year's list has several women, including Anu Aga, Rohini Nilekani, Zarina Screwvala, Yasmin Gupta, and Savitri Jindal.
Premji, with a net worth of $16.4 billion, has since 2010 transferred more than $4 billion to a trust that controls the Azim Premji Foundation, which works to improve the quality and equity in government school education. The foundation has established Azim Premji University, focused on developing talent and research for education and the social sector. Premji is quoted as saying: “I strongly believe that those of us who are privileged to have wealth should contribute significantly to try and create a better world for the millions who are far less privileged.“
Vedanta's Agarwal has pledged to donate 75% of his family's wealth to charity . Agarwal is estimated to have a personal fortune of Rs 12,316 crore. Nadar has committed $1 billion to his foundation, which focuses on providing highquality education to children from economically poor backgrounds.He has also started a developmental venture, Samudhay , to accelerate change in rural India.

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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.