Government to set up 20 world-class varsities: Javadekar

The central government may soon come out with a policy to set up 20 world-class universities in the country with ten each in private and public sector, Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has revealed.

Addressing the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017, Javadekar said, “We have finalised guidelines and soon will implement the policy to set up 20 world class universities in India, ten from private and ten from public institutions”.

“Earlier, we had the best universities Nalanda, Takshashila and Vikramsila. In those days, almost all the ten world-class universities were from India. This was destroyed by invaders because they knew the power of India lay in education,” the Economic Times quoted him as saying.

He said that to establish a Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) has also been approved by the cabinet. The agency will give a major push for creation of high quality infrastructure in premier educational institutions. Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) will promote the HEFA with an authorised capital of Rs 2,000 crore.

“The Government equity would be Rs 1,000 crore,” he added. HEFA would leverage the equity to raise up to Rs 20,000 crore for funding projects for infrastructure and development of world class labs in professional institutions.

Source: Digital Learning , 13-01-2017

AICTE to discuss nationwide common engineering entrance test

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is likely to discuss the issue of conducting a common entrance examination for admission to engineering colleges at a meeting later this month.

The common entrance examination for engineering is expected to be on the lines similar to that of NEET for medicine.

Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is in favour of holding a single entrance test for admission to engineering colleges of India. The pattern is expected to be same as that of the NEET. The common entrance test for engineering would address many concerns related to quality and bring more transparency, the Economic Times quoted sources as saying.

At present, Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) is the largest exam conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for admission to engineering colleges and universities of different states in the country. However, there several other engineering entrance exams conducted by different states and private universities for admission of students.

Another issue of conducting an exit test for engineering graduates is likely to be taken up for discussion at the AICTE meeting. The exit test will be conducted for pass outs of engineering colleges to assess skills and employability.

Source: Digital Learning, 13-01-2017

Barack Obama’s farewell speech: this is how a leader signs off

For the United States of America, the last couple of months have been no less than reality TV drama. You saw two presidential candidates fighting for votes and eventually locking horns in a series of high voltage debates on national TV with a million pair of eyes glued on them. Eventually on result day, Donald Trump trumped and stumped everyone and took over the coveted seat in the White House. Amidst the tornado of events, however, no one forgot Barack Obama.

So, what is it that made the 44th President of the United States of America a charismatic, unparalleled leader? Well, every answer can be found in his final address which is a lesson for all leaders on not just how to lead well, but to also do justice to the responsibilities given to you.

Do your job

Being in a leadership position isn’t as easy as it seems to onlookers. It requires a huge amount of conviction in the goals you’ve set for the greater good. Here’s what Obama says:

“If I had told you eight years ago that America would reverse a great recession, reboot our auto industry, and unleash the longest stretch of job creation in our history — if I had told you that we would open up a new chapter with the Cuban people, shut down Iran’s nuclear weapons programme without firing a shot, take out the mastermind of 9-11 — if I had told you that we would win marriage equality and secure the right to health insurance for another 20 million of our fellow citizens — if I had told you all that, you might have said our sights were set a little too high.”

A leader must continue to inspire despite challenges and roadblocks. To achieve what you set out for may seem impossible, but continuously and actively working towards it will not stop you from reaching your aim. During his tenure, Obama managed to dream the impossible, but did he not eventually succeed? That’s the point he proves.

Strike the right chord

The remarkable eight years that he reigned supreme over Americans and the entire world, Obama was always looked up to just like he still is. After the election results were declared, the one thing everyone was looking forward to was Obama’s speech before he finally and formally puts an end to his era. If not that then whom do you call a true leader? As any leader would or should, he chose his words wisely and kept everyone going. Towards the end of the speech he says, “I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change — but in yours.” There’s a huge round of unending applause by the audience. Deservingly so. Only a true leader can garner such massive love and support.

Be grateful

For someone who is in a position of authority, arrogance can come easy and integrity can be easily compromised, but Obama never let either usurp his mind. A leader’s mettle is also seen in his modesty. As a mark of his humility, he acknowledges his team who had his back the last 8 years, giving their best under his leadership. The POTUS says, “To my remarkable staff, for eight years, and for some of you a whole lot more, I have drawn from your energy… Even when times got tough and frustrating… You guarded against cynicism.”

A good leader will always appreciate and never forget his humble roots too because everyone starts somewhere and your words could just wake someone up and make them find a way to realise their own dream too. Obama reminisces:

“So I first came to Chicago when I was in my early twenties, and I was still trying to figure out who I was; still searching for a purpose to my life. And it was a neighborhood not far from here where I began working with church groups in the shadows of closed steel mills. It was on these streets where I witnessed the power of faith, and the quiet dignity of working people in the face of struggle and loss.”

Don’t forget humour

Inject humour to lighten things up. Work shouldn’t forbid you or your people from forgetting that there’s more to life. When Obama says, “You can tell that I’m a lame duck, because nobody is following instructions”, the audience laughs unanimously! The man has a humorous side to him, but that doesn’t make him less serious about the work he does or has done over the last 8 years of his presidential rule. You too have got to remember that you may be working on cracking the toughest deal or in the middle of some of the worst corporate muck, but stay in touch with the lighter side in you. When used at the right times, humour can help you and you team sail through the toughest of days with the minimal amount of stress.

Finally, as the man himself says, “If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.”

The author is co-founder, Work Better Training

Source: Hindustan Times, 15-01-2017

Create Your Own Destiny

SADHGURU JAGGI VASUDEV





All along, you've been shaping your destiny unconsciously .But you can also work on it consciously . If you make the effort to access your core and realise that everything is your responsibility , and shift your focus inside you, then you can rewrite your destiny . Those who are in a hurry to grow spiritually avoid getting into marriage, children and relationships because the moment you have a spouse, and children, you get identified with them. Once you get identified with them, one by one you get identified with too many things. Your identity gets scattered.However, searching for the real `you' does not mean denial of family or social situations. The root of all identification is in the two fundamental accumulations: body and mind.
Once removed from these two, `you' become free from all identifications. In this freedom, you become the master of your own destiny .
The significance of Sanyasa or Brahmacharya is just this: Shifting the whole focus to you. When I say you, it is just `you', not your body or mind. If you are unable to be like that, you just choose one more identity .
When you say `you', make it `you and your Guru'. You attach yourself to the Guru without any hesitation, because you have no entanglements from the other side. You can get as entangled as you want with him; for he is not going to get entangled. The moment you are ripe, you can drop the relationship.

Why Even Insecurity Can Be So Beautiful

Discourse: Swami Sukhabodhananda





Adi Shankaracharya says, `Mudha, Jahihi, mudha, mudha jahihi dhanagama trshnam mudha.' ­ O fool, give up, give up ...' Give up what?
Give up the very ordinary way of living ­ of anxiety , striving for name and fame, samsara, always wanting. Wherever you are, the ordinary way is always the way full of anxieties. He says, give up ­ jahihi.Lead a life extraordinary where in very devotion there is security , where in very insecurity there is joy . Insecurity by itself is so beautiful, because insecurity is something equal to moment to moment living. Things around us are changing.Change is constant.
When our hearts are filled with devotion, these changes appear as though the Lord is garlanding us with these changes. God is showering us with the gift of surprises through changes, inviting us to be creative and deal with fleeting moments of life, an adventure to encounter something new. The purity of our devotion gives tremendous joy .Therefore, the master says, `Please give up ­ jahihi.' Develop the attitude of giving up and discover the joy derived from giving up. We habitually seek joy in asking, taking and receiving. When someone gives us a birthday gift, we become very happy . But despite the many things we possess, we are empty inside.
This is because we think that joy is only in receiving. We hardly experience the joy of giving. We hardly give up anything. So he says give up ­ jahihi.In practising detachment one discovers that there is joy. It is very difficult for people to understand this concept as some even get attached to detachment.
A teacher accompanied by his disciple went out for a walk by the seashore. Both had embraced monkhood.They noticed a young pretty girl was drowning and seeking help. Sensing the impending danger, the guru dropped his water pot and ran towards the drowning girl, picked her up and brought her ashore to safety . She was practically half naked and had almost fainted from fear of drowning. The guru helped her out and spent a few minutes to comfort her till she regained her conscious. Thereafter, the guru and sishya continued walking. The sishya was witness to all the happenings.The journey back to their abode or ashram took almost three hours. The sishya was practising silence. The guru was ready for the evening discourse.
The sishya asked, `Guruji, we practice strict code of monkhood, and detachment, but you were touching the girl who was half naked to save her even though you are forbidden to be in the company of a female. Is it not against the vow of a monkhood?' The guru replied gently , `I picked her up, saved her, and soon after dropped her thought from my mind. You did not touch her or save her, but you are carrying the idea that i had picked her up not just at that moment but for so many hours in your mind. Now you tell me who is attached and who is detached?' There is joy in detachment. Please give up attachment ­ Mudhajahihi.When i say give up attachment, i mean it is not by using force that you give up attachment. You don't have to shave your head, and forcefully subject yourself to many forms of physical censure to practice detachment...

Dear Reader

Wish You A Very Happy Bihu

TISS Guwahati Campus Library

How To Be Smarter Than Your Brain

Deepak Chopra





Left to its own devices, your brain knows zero about neurons; it has no idea where thought comes from. Because the brain knows nothing about itself, neuroscience began by assuming that the brain is the only privileged object in the known universe that is conscious. This assumption is almost never questioned by any neuroscientist because the everyday work in that field consists of tinkering with the brain's biology. All higher questions about mind, psychology, religion, morals, aesthetics and metaphysics are reduced to biology.Yet in assuming that the brain is a privileged object, neuroscience contradicts itself. Objects are things; things have working parts; the working parts, when fully understood, define the thing you are studying and want to understand. But there is nothing privileged about the brain's working parts. Its basic chemicals are the same as in the rest of the body. The glucose on which neurons feed isn't smarter than the glucose coursing through the bloodstream everywhere else. Nor is there a point, biologically speaking, where you can say, “Here is where all of this physical stuff learned to think.“
The brain's inability to understand the brain is a profound dilemma that isn't solved through biology. But neu roscientists insist that biology holds the key to everything about the mind. In fact, most of them firmly believe that Brain = Mind. The promise that brain biology is sufficient to explain mind, morality, religion, metaphysics, thinking, feeling, creativity, and so on is empty.
So how can we become smarter than our brains? If biology is a dead end, what path to understanding will get past biology? The first step is to acknowledge that the brain isn't a privileged object. It isn't the source of the mind any more than a radio is the source of Mozart and Beethoven. The brain, like a radio, is a receiver. The reason the brain doesn't know that it is a receiver ­ aside from the fact that it doesn't know anything about itself ­ is that it is too involved in the reception.When thoughts, feelings, sensations, and images fill our minds, we are creatures of experience, enveloped by those experiences.
The second step is to clearly define the question: “How do we know what we know?“ The only viable way to begin to find the correct answers is to concede something very basic: All knowledge comes from experience, and all experience is in consciousness.Neuroscience resists such an answer because it goes beyond biology, yet the subject of the brain always did go beyond biology, into philosophy, psychology, and metaphysics. Trying to fence the mind inside the confines of the brain's apparatus was never valid to begin with. The problem of the mind is a human problem, not a neuroscience problem.
All knowledge comes from experience and all experience is in consciousness. Thoughts, memories and our experience of a universe in space-time are all conscious phenomena. If you agree on this, then to truly understand the mind, you must abandon the brain entirely from its privileged position, demoting it to the lump of atoms and molecules that it actually is.
You have now freed the mind from any dependence whatsoever on the brain. Mozart lived before the radio and didn't depend upon it to create music. The mind existed before the brain and isn't dependent upon it to create thoughts. Explaining the mind without the brain is unthinkable in the present context of scientists ­ but it will happen.