ISRO's K. Radhakrishnan in Nature Journal's top 10 list 

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan has been named by the journal Nature as one of the top 10 people that mattered in science in 2014. It is for the first time that the Nature journal has chosen an Indian working in India. Dr. K. Radhakrishnan is listed along with other people like Andrea Accomazzo, the Rosetta flight operations director, European Space Agency. The reasons for choosing Dr. Radhakrishnan lies all into the successfully launch of Mangalyaan into Mars orbit on September 24, 2014. India is actually the first country to do this in its first attempt and also the first Asian country to reach Mars. The Indian Space Research Organisation got over two other major milestones in year 2014. In January, the space organisation achieved notable success with the spaceflight of an Indian cryogenic engine and stage. India has been painstakingly working hard for some years to indigenously develop a cryogenic engine to improve the reliability of GSLV rockets and to take the rocket to greater heights. The latest launch of the heaviest and tallest GSLV Mark III and the successful re-entry of the unmanned crew module were the other landmark achievements. The other major events on ISRO's diary is the developmental flight of GSLV Mark III vehicle with a fully operational cryogenic engine in a timeline of two years. The next is the launch of Chandrayaan-2 mission configured with an Orbiter, Lander and Rover for in-situ investigation of the lunar surface in 2016-2017. ISRO has already developed and tested a lunar Rover. Dr. K. Radhakrishnan had worked in various major capabilities before becoming Chairman. He was in Department of Ocean Development for five years from 2000-2005 and was a Founder Director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad. Dr. Radhakrishnan is due to retire on December 31, 2014. Here are the other nine people listed by Nature– 1. Andrea Accomazzo 2. Suzanne Topalian 3. Radhika Nagpal 4. Sheik Humarr Khan 5. David Spergel 6. Maryam Mirzakhani 7. Pete Frates 8. Masayo Takahashi 9. Sjors Scheres - See more at: http://www.currentgk.com/science-technology/article/isros-k-radhakrishnan-in-nature-journals-top-10-list.html#sthash.Veev7Ee2.dpuf

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Free JEE test, a click away

EntrancePrime has announced a breakthrough free preparation and assessment tool for JEE 2015 Aspirants -JEE Calibrate. All JEE aspirants who are appearing for JEE Main 2015 Online or Offline can participate in JEE Calibrate, totally free of cost. JEE Calibrate is a simulation of JEE Main which is aimed at providing a feel of the exam before the exam. JEE Calibrate is a close simulation of JEE Main exam where students will get an All India Rank, detailed analysis report and expert suggestions and improvement tips. This will help the aspirants get a near to JEE experience right before the exam and the detailed result analysis will highlight the weak spots well within time so that corrective actions can be taken to improve rank. JEE Calibrate test will be available for a 72 hours window from 11 AM of 15th January to 11 AM of 18th January 2015 and result would be declared on 19th January. Students can register online at: www.EntrancePrime.com/JEECalibrate (Between December 19 Midnight & January 14 Midnight)
Apart from attempting JEE Exam like test, students also get detailed result analysis, suggestions and tips to improve their time management, accuracy and question selection strategy to help them achieve their maximum score. Also based on the Test’s performance, JEE aspirants will stand a chance to win exclusive rewards and prizes from EntrancePrime.
Ashutosh Modi, Executive Director, EntrancePrime said –“JEE Calibrate is our attempt to break the technology hurdle and bring precision to JEE preparation to each and every aspirant of the nation.” JEE Calibrate is first of its kind test to be conducted online & is available on any internet enabled device & Android App of EntrancePrime. JEE aspirants can register for free on www.EntrancePrime.com/JEECalibrateFees.   Through JEE Calibrate, EntrancePrime is planning to help around 1 lakh aspirants pan India to master the art of test taking and improve their ranks in JEE 2015.
EntrancePrime is India’s leading website for test series preparations. EntrancePrime is a part of diversified Education Company ‘JIVEM Education’ headquartered at Jhunjhunu near Delhi. JIVEM Education focuses on various segments of education such as Playschool, K-12, Test Prep, Sports coaching and e-learning. The company entered into the e-learning space in 2013 with its online test practice portal EntrancePrime.com for various entrance exams i.e. JEE, AIPMT, BITSAT, CA-CPT and NTSE. EntrancePrime has over 70,000 registered students and is receiving an average of 500 new registrations every day. It also provides detailed multi-angle result analysis of each test, based on multiple dimensions such as speed, accuracy, consistency, topic-level preparedness and concept-level understanding.
- See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2015/01/free-jee-test-a-click-away/#sthash.1rPq6tar.dpuf

Education a tool for just society’

Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari has said that education is a critical tool for developing a modern economy, a just society and a vibrant polity. It provides skills and competencies for economic well-being and social mobility. Education strengthens democracy by imparting to citizens the tools needed to fully participate in the governance process. It also acts as an integrative force in society, imparting values that foster social cohesion and national identity. Addressing at the “Golden Jubilee celebrations of the R.V. College of Engineering (RVCE)” at Bangalore, Karnataka today, he said that a well educated population, equipped with the relevant knowledge, attitudes and skills is essential for economic and social development in this century. He said that we have made progress in the field of higher education since 1947. Today, India has the third largest higher education system in the world. We have around 652 universities and university level institutes that impart higher and technical education. They also provide affiliation to more than 33,000 colleges and institutes. However, our higher education system continues to be afflicted with the three problems of access, equity and quality. Enrollment rates in our higher education institutions have gone up to around 17% but are still well below the world average of 26 per cent. Wide disparities exist in enrollment percentages among the States and between urban and rural areas while disadvantaged sections of society and women have significantly lower enrollments than the national average. The Vice President opined that curricular and academic reforms are required to improve student choices, with a fine balance between the market oriented professional and liberal higher education. Higher education must be aligned to the country’s economy and also to the needs of the global market. Innovative and relevant curricula should be designed to serve different segments of the job market or provide avenues for self-employment. Emphasis must be given to the expansion of skill-based programmes in order to make our youth employable in the job market. - See more at: http://digitallearning.eletsonline.com/2015/01/education-a-tool-for-just-society/#sthash.pVfPLpsZ.dpuf

Watershed in judicial history

The Supreme Court of India and the High Courts, described as the most powerful judiciary in the world, are witnessing dramatic changes in their institutional structure. Pending notification, the legislature has passed the Constitution (121st Amendment) Bill, 2014 and The National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014 to regulate the procedure for recommending the appointment and transfer of the Chief Justices and Judges of these higher courts, marking a watershed in judicial history. The new law provides for the setting up of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), a six-member panel headed by the Chief Justice of India, and includes two senior-most Supreme Court judges, the Union Minister of Law and Justice and two ‘eminent persons’ nominated by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the CJI and the Leader of the Opposition. Although controversial, this represents a much-needed reform of the older collegium system. That system was a judge-devised practice of appointments that evolved out of the ‘three-judges cases’ (1982, 1993 and 1998) wherein the Chief Justice along with a panel of senior-most judges would make a binding recommendation to the President on the appointees. This model was a reaction to blatant favouritism by the executive that marked appointments until the Supreme Court decided to change the procedure. To avoid charges of favouritism, the collegiums relied on seniority, which only encouraged more mediocrity.

Although such an inter-institutional model has the potential to enhance merit and diversity in the judiciary, it is the fine print of law that raises questions. With three of the six members being judges, a decision of the Commission can be vetoed by any two members. The judicial members of the NJAC lack the preponderance in voice necessary to maintain independence. The fear is that the NJAC may encourage High Court judges to give pro-government rulings with the object of gaining eventual promotion to the Supreme Court. This problem was dealt with by the Venkatachaliah Committee, endorsed by the Vajpayee government, which suggested a panel of three judges, the Union Minister and only one ‘eminent person’, thus reducing the scope for executive interference. Having a relook at this report might have been of value. But the BJP has ignored it and instead demanded more say in the NJAC; the Opposition did not seem to have any complaints about the procedure either. With several influential lawyers criticising the law for being a political assault on judicial independence, the constitutionality of the law is about to be challenged in court. Whether this would eventually lead to a conflict between the two wings of the government, is something to be seen.

Keywords: Supreme Court of India, High Courts, powerful judiciary, Constitution (121st Amendment) Bill, 2014, The National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014, National Judicial Appointments Commission

Jan 08 2015 : The Economic Times (Bangalore)

The Needle's Eye - The Science of Day-dreaming, or How We Forgot How to Fly

CHAITANYA KALBAG





The question is: if India had such a dazzling history of discovery and invention, how come we are now so abysmal in producing original research, and why do our brightest minds choose to flee to better climes?

“There are two kinds of people Greeks, and everyone else who wish they was Greek.” Gus Portokalos in ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ I couldn’t stop laughing every time the father of the bride in this comedy, which I watched (not for the first time) with my family a few days ago, claims every word in any language had a Greek root. I did stop laughing when I learnt that the Greeks owed it all to the Indians. Minister of Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan told the Indian Science Congress over the weekend that Indians had discovered the Pythagoras theorem but in a typically magnanimous gesture credited it to the Greeks. The minister, one of the few lucky members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet to have his portfolio changed from Health and Family Welfare after he said some rather odd things about condoms, also told his scientist audience that Indians had discovered ‘beej ganit’ but gave the credit for algebra to the Arabs.
Coming so soon after we were educated about the origins of the Taj Mahal – some ‘right-thinking’ scholars said it had originally been a Hindu building called Tejo Mahalaya before it was usurped by the heathen Mughals – I was ready to face more sobering facts, knowing at the back of my mind that Indian mathematicians had invented the concept of ‘shunya’ (zero). I had also read a bit about Aryabhata, the fifty-century
mathematician and astronomer whose work in geometry and trigonometry was breathtaking in its sophistication. Indeed, the Encyclopaedia Brittanica says that his second, long-lost work, Aryabhatasiddhanta, may have formed the basis for Islamic astronomy.
I’m willing to accept that ancient civilisations and men and women who lived centuries ago possessed knowledge and vision that makes phrases like ‘cutting edge’ and ‘state of the art’ sound trite in our world.
The Aztecs had not one but two calendars in their rich kingdom between the 12th and 15th centuries CE. Mohenjo-daro had planned streets, public baths and a central granary 26 centuries BCE. You have to stand at the foot of the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt to understand the size and scale conceived by those architects and workers who put it together 4,600 years ago. I remember standing high up in the special building constructed next to the pyramid to house the Ship of Khufu, a 143-foot long wooden vessel that was meant to transport the pharaoh in his afterlife, and marveling at the precision engineering that brought it about.
Many of us will remember hearing at our grandmothers’ knees about Hindu gods who flew about in vimanas (flying chariots), and anecdotes from the Mahabharata about blazing arrows that sounded like
missiles and lethal spinning wheels of light, chakras, that could sever the head of an opponent miles away.
So, although the authors of last Sunday’s presentation at the Indian Science Congress who made a presentation that Indians had perfected huge aircraft 7,000 years ago that were powered by 40 engines, had flexible exhaust systems, could hover in mid-air, perform interplanetary flights, and be seen on Indian invented radar have apparently refused to share their paper with nosy reporters, it is tempting to heed our prime minister, who told us back in October that ancient Indians must have been adept at plastic surgery and reproductive genetics to create the elephant-headed god Ganesha.
The question is: if India had such a dazzling history of discovery and invention, how come we are now so abysmal in producing original research, and why do our brightest minds choose to flee to better climes?
Modi delivered an inspiring speech at the Science Congress on Saturday and said all the right things. “Our universities must be freed from the clutches of excessive regulation and cumbersome procedures. They must have a higher degree of academic freedom and autonomy; and, there should be as much emphasis on research as on teaching. In turn, the universities must also subscribe to the highest academic and re search standards and accountabili ty,“ he said. The reality is quite dif ferent. Around seven years ago Professor C.N.R. Rao, who was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in November 2013, wrote an essay for Purdue University , his alma mater, on the dismal state of research in India. He noted that science and technology got just about one per cent of India's GDP . India contribut ed only about three per cent of global scientific research, produced only about 4,000 PhDs a year, a fourth of China's output, and “If one takes the top 1 percent of the research papers in the world, the percentage of Indian contribution is less that 1%.“
I have spoken with several Indians ANIRBAN BORA working in universities and corpo rate research laboratories abroad and they have similar tales to tell, about the lack of funding and of a re search atmosphere that nurtures discovery and innovation. Far from being a meritocracy that produces quality work that can stand up to peer review, Indian research is slop py and marred by rampant plagia rism. China, on the other hand, has been steadily and relentlessly build ing up its research institutions. Its universities now house thousands of committed world-class scientists, mathematicians and scholars. The Chinese are also single-minded about wooing the best of their diaspora back to the motherland by dangling very good incentives and rewards before them. It is increasingly common for the best Chinese researchers to spend half the year on an American campus and the other half in China, likely in heavilyfunded research universities. True, those universities have the heavy shadow of the Communist Party looming over them, but serious work is being done.
Modi has said ambitiously that the new NITI Aayog, the successor to the Planning Commission, will also tap into non-resident Indians ‘beyond just their financial support’ as his government strives for the ‘Bharatiya approach to development’. What does that mean, and how is it going to work practically? NITI Aayog will be headed by market economist Arvind Panagariya and at the top of the think-tank, besides fellow economist and Sanskrit scholar Bibek Debroy, will be former missile scientist V.K. Saraswat. It is really not rocket science: Modi told the scientists in Mumbai that research also needs to move away from government control to a greater degree of autonomy and excellence. To get there, we need to stop daydreaming about our Vedic breakthroughs and get hard-nosed about the long haul ahead.

Roadmap to Financial Inclusion: Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana Pravakar Sahoo

The state of financial inclusion in India, measured by any standard, leaves much to be desired. As in 2012, only 35 per cent of Indians older than 15 years had a bank account in a formal financial institution; in developing countries worldwide, the average is 41 per cent (World Bank 2012). Because of the Reserve Bank of India’s drive for financial inclusion, the number of bank accounts increased by about 100 million during 2011–13. today, there are 229 million basic bank accounts. Access to formal financial institutions has improved gradually, but thousands of villages still lack a bank branch; less than 10 per cent of all commercial bank credit goes to rural areas, where around 70 per cent of the total population lives. Thus, the need for financial inclusion programmes is beyond question. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched on 28th August, 2014. Initially, the PMJDY targets the opening of bank accounts for 7.5 crore families in a year, by August 15th, 2015. Around 2 crore bank accounts were opened on the first day of the scheme’s launch. Eventually, the target is to include every eligible Indian in the banking system. In Phase 1, all households will be provided a basic account, financial literacy will be taken to the micro level and the modus operandi for direct cash benefits will be put in place. Phase 2 intends to extend financial services to these basic account holders and provide them micro-insurance and pension. As it is difficult to spread bank branches across all unbanked areas, Bank Correspondents (BCs) will be deployed on a large scale to help execute the plan.