India can shape the future of Internet, says ICANN chief

With next billion people on the Internet likely to come from India, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) CEO Fadi Chehadé on Monday said the country had the power to shape the future of Internet.

“India is central to what the Internet is at the global level... India is not simply getting into the digital world. The country is already an incumbent, a driver in the digital world in every sense of the word,” Mr. Chehadé said speaking at an event organised by Observer Research Foundation.

ICANN, a non-profit organisation, is the global body that oversees operation and administration of the Internet domain name system.

He added since his last visit to the country in October 2013, India’s place at the global level “has taken a new energy that is remarkable”.

Mr. Chehadé said India plays an important role in making sure things are run in the right direction in digital economy. “Its shaping how digital economy would look like, not tomorrow, but 10 years form now because the next billion people who will share the Internet will come from here... you will shape the future of internet,” he said.

Meanwhile, speaking at the same event, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the future architecture of the Web should not be a prerogative of a few and should be open to all.

He added that Internet must be equitable, effective, open-for-all and no one should be able to claim early arrival benefit.

“Internet is one of the finest creations of human mind. It can’t become a prerogative of few. Internet has to connect with local to become global,” Mr. Prasad said.

Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu top in girls’ education

Delhi, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are India’s best-ranked States in terms of gender-related education indicators, new data from the Ministry of Human Resource Development and UNICEF, shows.

Using district-level indicators of girls’ education, health and social disadvantages, the government aims to identify the most backward pockets of the country, requiring the most attention.

“Earlier, we used to look at the gender gap in indicators, and this is narrowing. However this, it was felt, was no longer adequate,” Vrinda Sarup, secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, told reporters on Monday. The new data from the Digital Gender Atlas for Advancing Girls’ Education will help States better channelise their resources to the areas that need it most, Ms. Sarup said.

While the atlas uses data earlier collected by other government agencies, it also creates a new composite index using 21 indicators to do with girls’ education, along four axes — access, infrastructure, teachers and outcomes. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi and Punjab are in the top 25% of the index’s range for elementary education, and the two Southern states and Delhi make the top quarter of the index for secondary education as well. Central and northern States, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, are among the worst performers.

However, the data shows that pockets of backwardness exist in better-off States too. Ramanathapuram, Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts in Tamil Nadu do as badly on the composite girls’ education indicator as Barabanki, Bahraich and Shrawasti in Uttar Pradesh. Bangalore’s urban and rural districts do as well as Mumbai or Pune, but the neighbouring district of Tumkur is among India’s worst off districts.

The atlas also creates a Vulnerability Index of factors which impinge on girls’ education, including the likelihood of joining the workforce early and early marriage.

The two southern States, along with Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, are the best performers here, with Gujarat, Rajasthan and the central and northern States among the worst.

Mar 10 2015 : The Economic Times (Delhi) Vedanta - Sufis in Disguise OSHO   Sufis want their energies to be used rightly , because they are creative people. They are not interested in name and fame; they are only interested in giving new life to people who desire God, long for God. Why should they waste their time and energy? There are many kinds of people. A few are curious people, they come just out of curiosity , they waste time. Then there are a few who come with enquiry . They are better than the curious people, there is some possibility that they may grow, but that is only a possibility .Then there is a third kind who is really a seeker, who is ready to stake his life, who is ready to lose something for it, who is ready to pay the price for it.The Sufi will work with the third person, he will remain available to the second kind of per son, and he will become absolutely invisible to the first kind of person: the curious. The Sufi is economical about his energy . He knows his days are numbered. What is 50 years compared to the eternal procession of time? He'll be here for only a few days, a few months, a few years. And he can work on only a few people. If he is surrounded by curious people, his energy will be wasted. I mean, one who is ready to stake whatsoever is needed to stake, who does not just have an `itch' in his head, who is not only curious but whose problem is that of life and death.Even if I demand that your life will be needed, if you are seeker, you will say , “I am available.Take this life but give me God.If by giving my life, God can be attained, then I am happily ready .“ Life is worthless for a seeker; everything is worthless -except truth.

the speaking tree - Moving Forward From Physical To Spiritual Light

G S Tripathi





The year 2015 is designated by the United Nations as the `Year of Light and Light Technologies'.Light is indeed precious; it helps dispel darkness just as the light within removes ignorance. And light-related technologies have contributed greatly to enhance the quality of life.In the physical domain, several physicists have contributed greatly to our understanding of light. Wave and particle natures of light have been established. Newton showed that white light has colours ­ through his dispersion experiments, involving a prism. Research on light has facilitated the correction of human vision; it has given us technology like optoelectronics, fibre optics, lasers and light emitting diodes. Lasers have made medical surgery easy , painless and affordable.The 2014 Physics Nobel Prize was for the discovery of blue laser, and showing that laser is a source of white light with red, green and blue colours, just like the Sun's light. While laser is made by humans, sunlight is natural.
The philosophical aspects of light are even more illuminating. There are many references to `light' in the Bhagwad Gita. Krishna says that the path through fire, light, day time, waxing moon and north solstice liberates a per son from the bondage of mundane existence. Krishna says that He is the radiant Sun of all luminaries, the Light of all lights, beyond all darkness.
The description of the cosmic form of Krishna refers to light, colour, radiance and effulgence. When Arjuna beholds the cosmic form of Krishna, he says: “If the splendour of a thousand suns were to blaze forth all at once in the sky, that would be the splendour of that Pa would be the splendour of that Paramatma.“ Arjuna is able to see a spectrum of colours in that exalted form exuding a blazing radiance. All depictions of saintly figures or gods and goddesses display a halo or aura to indicate divinity. Human beings also have an aura, a manifestation of bioluminescence from metabolic reactions, but the glow is not visible because its intensity is about a thousand times weaker than the intensity of light that naked eyes could perceive. As a school student, i read a poem entitled Lead, Kindly Light by John Henry Newman.
Here, the Light being referred to is the Lord Almighty and the poet who is a priest prays that he is encircled by the darkness of gloom and, although during his youth pride ruled his will, the time has come when he no longer can find his own way . He prays the Kindly Light to lead him on the right path. Sunlight comes primarily from thermonuclear fusion. There are various mechanisms by which a material body emits light, allows entry of light through it or stops light and reflects it.The emission of light is triggered by various mechanisms involving thermal, electrical, mechanical, chemical and biological effects. Photo luminescence involves emission of light by a body when excited by an incident light.
But when you go beyond physical light, there is the internal light. The one who sees this becomes enlightened. It is in the domain of knowledge and Selfrealisation. It is not in the power of ordinary humans to see and comprehend this light fully. This light shows new paths, transforms human kind and society and has ever-lasting effect on the mind and soul of a person.
Indic philosophy accepts light as a manifestation of Ultimate Reality . The Upanishads invoke Light thus: “Lead us from unreal to real, from darkness to light and from death to immortality .Aum shanti, shanti, shanti. Peace, Peace, Peace.“ (The writer teaches Physics at Berhampur University .) Post your comments at speakingtree.in

Now, digital Gender Atlas to map girls' edu progress

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





In order to monitor how various education programmes are working visa-vis gender-related indicators, HRD ministry has launched a web-based digital Gender Atlas, a tool which will map the progress on girl education throughout the country .Releasing the gender atlas on Monday , school education secretary Vrinda Sarup said, “It is a tool used for education planning and administration and helps us target a plan of action for effective implementation of programmes.“
“The atlas provides comparative analysis of individual gender-related indicators over three years and that enables a visual assessment of the change and an understanding of whether some intervention introduced in a geography at a particular point of time has worked or not,“ HRD ministry said.
Gender Atlas visualizes the vulnerability status based on composite index of three parameters such as rural female literacy and percentage of boys and girls with disabilities, particularly girls. The performance status of individual indicators can be visualized at the state and district level, differentiated by colour coding. For instance, the level of vulnerability of districts in Bihar or remote areas of Gujarat or Telangana can be measured with the digital atlas.
The atlas can be used by states, districts, block education administrators or NGOs, ministry officials said.

Learning the Entrepreneurial skills

In one of its kind entrepreneurship summit organised by The Economic Times India, talks about empowering the industries and segments through the dispersion of critical business knowledge but for servicing the entrepreneur industry, it is equally important to have skilled entrepreneurs to take the industry to the next level.

The entrepreneurs across diverse sectors have analysed current industry trends and charted the way forward for the next generation. To help the budding entrepreneurs these summit help in achieving a new outlook. J.P. Malhotra, MD, Bhartiya Valves is one such entrepreneur who feels that this kind of summit helps him in changing his method of working and has evolved him as a self-experienced entrepreneur who had learned the trait of business only through his self-experience and attending the conferences on entrepreneurship.

J.P. feels that entrepreneurship should be a subject for study in order to become a good entrepreneur. He shares, “I feel that entrepreneurship should be a subject of study which has to be formally learned. For an ordinary person who wants to be an entrepreneur, education has to be formalised and they should be told case studies followed by formal lecturing.”

Entrepreneurship is an interdisciplinary program that provides opportunities to students to learn about entrepreneurship- the process of creating value through recognizing and developing opportunities.

The subject serves to complement the student’s major area of study, in any college by offering a means of putting theory and practical knowledge. J.P. Malhotra is an example himself who left his job after 20 years of experience and moved on to work as an entrepreneur. Though he was taken a back during the initial stage of his business but he moved ahead with his experience and sufficient knowledge while attending seminars on entrepreneurship which had helped him develop his company.

Likewise, he wishes, would be entrepreneur should get adequate knowledge of the subject at university level. Breaking out of the 9-5 environment, today’s youth wants to be a job creator than to be a job seeker. To become an entrepreneur strong business background can be helpful in securing financial support. However, the qualification varied from business to business and the subjects of study too are different.

Brijesh Agarwal, Founder, indiamart.com also agrees that a formal education is required to become an entrepreneur but he also argues that entrepreneurship is just not limited to only theoretical education, it is equally important to see in what sought of environment one is born, among whom he moves, how much risk taking capability he has and all of that is impacted not only because of education but lot of other factors. It’s good to have a formal study but it should not be seen as giving more entrepreneurs necessarily. Education definitely aid but that is not the only way. ”

To be a successful entrepreneur, required skills are necessary. They have a tolerance for risk taking and a willingness to leave the security of a 9-5 job. The ability to multi task is a key, especially at the beginning of an enterprise, where an entrepreneur may need to function as a book keeper, customer service agent and marketing expert.

Mahesh Gupta, Chairman, Kent RO Systems Ltd. Feels, “To be a successful entrepreneur it is essential to know many laws, need to know many actions which you need to take, and it’s good to know that before they trouble you. I think there can be a course which can be planned to learn all those techniques. Basic concept of being entrepreneurship and to develop an idea which you can develop a business has to come through you.”

While studying entrepreneurship one should focus on how entrepreneur think and make decisions. One can also learn how entrepreneurial firms compete for customers in national and international markets, how they form strategies, how they organise their activities and operations to grow into successful and profitable businesses. Innovation and entrepreneurship is a strong complimentary major for students completing bachelor of commerce. Master of commerce, MBA are also the area of study that helps in preparing a good entrepreneur.

Theoretical education includes MBA, Communication, Accounting, Business law, Marketing, Computer Science and IT, Economics, Psychology, Entrepreneurship where as practical education includes Competitions, Hands-on experience, Internships, Research and projects.

To start your company, it is first essential to know the do’s and don’ts to be taken care of. They are:

Don’ts

Overnight success

Do not expect to achieve an overnight success. Entrepreneurship is a marathon. Even if you have the vision and plan, the team and the capital in place there will always be unexpected challenges in the way. Whatever the way to make the business success but the key is to stay focus on the long term vision and do not waver in your determination.

Ignore past

While you may have a very powerful idea to take your business forward but chances are that somebody might have tried it earlier and failed terribly but this should not deter your spirit to do good in business. Instead of dismissing these companies you should strive to learn everything about them and try to find out the reasons of their failure. This will help the new entrants to not repeat the same mistakes.

Money is just not the key

Do not assume that money will going to solve the problems of business. A perfect strategy with a better vision is what required first to push the business and reach goals. Ofcourse capital is important for any business but it needs to be used in right way. The best use of the investment funds is to take a model that’s been proven to work and scale it.

Always consult investors for strategy

From the investors’ point of view, it’s all about getting as big of a return on an investment as possible and as quickly as possible. Building a lasting company requires deliberate approach so it is not necessary to follow the investors’ approach to spend more on the portfolio of the company so investors can speed along to a quick and profitable exit.

If you are through for a long haul so beware of moneymen and their unquenchable thirst for short-term gains. It’s your company and grows it on your own terms.

Do’s

There are many entrepreneurs who get involved in industries about which they do not know anything. There are several advantages to starting a business in an industry with which you are already familiar: you will have a better understanding of your customers’ needs, you’ll be more familiar with the competitive landscape and you’ll be able to speak more intelligently about your vision to employees, customers, investors, and other key stakeholders.

Raise alarm

For the start-ups there is a need to know lot more things while running the business but that only comes through the experience and the practical knowledge. Do not hesitate to ask help when in doubt or trouble. Whether you seek help internally or externally, people will respect the fact that you are aware of the limits of your knowledge and are actively seeking to enhance your understanding of a problem.

Be focus to achieve purpose

Entrepreneurship can be tiresome with full of setbacks and disappointments. The best defense against discouragement is to have a strong sense of purpose. Make sure that your purpose of starting the business is clear to yourself and that they provide the meaning and motivation you need to get your business off the ground.

Learn from mistakes

All human beings are bound to make mistakes, especially entrepreneurs who rely on optimism to get through the hard times. However, ignoring the mistake and allowing it to fester can be costly to the company, so one should have the courage to admit when you are wrong and when it’s time to change course.

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Budget 2015: Education sector gets 2 percent less

The education sector saw over a two per cent cut in the outlay announced in the Union Budget, even as the government proposed to set up new IITs and IIMs in some states. The slash in the education sector as compared to the revised allocation in 2014-15 is 2.02 per cent.

School education and higher education sectors have got Rs 69,074 crore. The revised estimate for 2014-15 was Rs 70,505 crore. The cut is, however, about 16.54 per cent if compared with the actual outlay the 2014-15 fiscal.

Notwithstanding the cut, HRD Minister Smriti Irani described the Budget as “pragmatic” and said she was “extremely grateful to the allocation of funds for higher learning and also about the thrust on innovation through funding”.

While the school education sector has got an outlay of Rs 42,219.50 crore for 2015-16, the higher education sector has got Rs 26,855 crore. The thrust has been on the higher education sector with the announcement of an IIT in Karnataka and upgradation of Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad into a full-fledged IIT, a long standing demand for the people in Jharkhand.

“I propose to set up an IIT in Karnataka, and upgrade Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad into a full-fledged IIT,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said in his Budget speech. “IIMs will be setup in Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh,” he added.

The Minister also announced setting up of Institutes of Science and Education Research in Nagaland and Odisha. A Centre for Film Production, Animation and Gaming in Arunachal Pradesh and Apprenticeship Training Institute for Women in Haryana and Uttarakhand has also been proposed. Jaitley also announced the setting up All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Assam.

“Keeping in view the need to augment medical sciences in Bihar, I propose to set up another AIIMS like institution in these States,” the Finance Minister said. A Post Graduate Institute of Horticulture Research and Education has also been proposed in Amritsar and upgradation of the existing National Institute of Speech and Hearing in Kerala into a University of Disability Studies and Rehabilitation.

“I also propose three new National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Chattisgarh,” he announced. Bringing his focus to the education sector, he said that a student financial aid authority will be established to administer and monitor scholarships as well educational loan schemes through the ‘Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram’.

“We will ensure that no student misses out on higher education for lack of funds enable all poor and middle class students to pursue higher education of their choice without any constraint of funds,” he said. An integrated education and livelihood scheme called ‘NaiManzil’ will be launched this year to enable minority youth who do not have a formal school-leaving certificate to obtain one and find better employment, he said.

The Finance Minister also announced his government’s intention of upgrading over 80,000 secondary schools and add or upgrade 75,000 junior/middle to the senior secondary level to ensure that there is a senior secondary school within 5 km reach of each child. The Budget proposal also laid down new financing pattern for some flagship programmes in the education sector.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan and Mid Day Meal Scheme would now be fully finaced by the Centre. However, the ambitious programme of setting up of 6,000 Model Schools has been delinked from the central assistance and has been put to the state basket.

Schemes like Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA) and Rashtriya Uchcha Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) will now be run under a new funding pattern.