UGC, AICTE to be history soon; govt to bring new higher education regulator

UGC and AICTE are soon going to be a thing of the past with the government planning to replace them with a single higher education regulator.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) are soon going to be a thing of the past with the government planning to replace them with a single higher education regulator.

The proposed Higher Education Empowerment Regulation Agency (HEERA) is aimed at eliminating overlaps in jurisdiction and remove irrelevant regulatory provisions.

The HRD ministry is working with Niti Aayog on the plan of bringing technical as well as non-technical institutions under the same umbrella.

According to sources, a detailed blueprint of the proposed regulator and its legislation is being worked upon.

“Both Niti Aayog and HRD ministry officials are working on the plan. It was felt that multiple regulatory bodies led to excessive and restrictive regulation and hence contributed to lack of institutional autonomy,” a source said.

However, the plan to have a single higher education regulator is not a new one but has been recommended by various committees set up by the government.

Source: Hindustan Times, 6-06-2017

Rentier state

A government that derives its revenues predominantly from the sale of valuable resources it owns to clients in other countries. The idea was first proposed by Iranian economist Hossein Mahdavy in 1970. Saudi Arabia’s government, which earns almost all revenue by selling its oil to the rest of the world, is a good example of a rentier state. Some social scientists have argued that rentier states are unlikely to be accountable to their citizens as they are not dependent on tax revenues for their survival. This can lead them to be more tyrannical than other governments.

Source: The Hindu, 6-06-2017

Amartya Sen: The President should be a voice for sanity and fairness

A strong President can inspire us to stand up for all sections of the people, says Amartya Sen

The President of India has an elevated standing as head of the Republic, and should be a voice for sanity and fairness, says Amartya Sen, Nobel laureate and economist. In the run-up to the presidential election, he answered questions via email on the role of the President in a secular and federal democracy. An enlightened President has many things to do, but being a ‘rubber stamp’ is not one of them, he says. Excerpts from the interview:

President Pranab Mukherjee’s term ends soon. Given that the President has only a formal, titular role, is it better to look for a candidate outside the realm of active politics? Is opening up the position for writers, artists, public intellectuals and so on more desirable?

The President of India has an enormously important role in the leadership of the country. This is not only because of the particularly assigned duties of the President in special circumstances, as in a political crisis of governance, but also because of the elevated standing of the head of the Republic in motivating and inspiring the secular democracy of India, guided by the Constitution.

While a number of statesmen and politicians have played that role with distinction, going back to Rajendra Prasad (the first President of India), leaders of thought from other walks of life — including Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Zakir Husain, and K.R. Narayanan (among others) — have also, by their prominent presence and stature, helped to lead India to remain faithful to itself — reminding the country of the vision of fairness that gave birth to democratic and secular India after its long and hard fight for independence.

At a time when sections of society are apprehensive about the secular credentials of the government at the Centre and there is criticism from abroad that religious freedom is under threat, what should be the role of the President in guiding the government and its policy? Should the President be activist by nature, or confine herself to the customary, constitutional role as a titular head of state?

There are indeed serious reasons for concerns and apprehensions right now, based on observing the violations of human rights and of traditional protections that are going on in the country. The targeted victims come typically from vulnerable sections of the society — from minority communities (particularly the poorer Muslims), Dalits and tribal people. The President has potentially a hugely important role in insisting on fair treatment of all the people in the country and the immediate stopping of what The New York Timeshas alarmingly described, in its widely-read lead editorial of the day, “vigilante justice in India.” The recognition that India’s image as a successful democratic country has dramatically declined across the world may be a minor concern (even though it does worry many Indians, and should have worried the Government of India as well), but the violations and wrongdoings themselves have reason to agitate all fair-minded people in India, whether they are themselves targeted or not. The President can be not only the face of India, but also a great voice for sanity and fairness.

What sort of candidate would you endorse? Will you prefer someone with an independent mind, someone who will not be a ‘rubber stamp’, or someone who will take a strict, constructionist view of the Constitution and abide by its letter?

Accountants need rubber stamps — a country does not. The President not only has to exercise his or her own judgment, and to recognise that within the provisions of the Indian Constitution, he or she has a much bigger role than simply rubber-stamping decisions taken by others. A President can be quite tough — and ultimately effective — in asking the government to reconsider its priorities, especially when rights and fair treatment of countrymen are threatened, and also — to take another area of serious transgressions — when education, science and freedom of thought are undermined. There were very illuminating — and quite long — discussions in the Constituent Assembly on why certain provisions and articulations were necessary to stop the continuation of old injustices and the avoidance of new inequities. That background is extremely important in interpreting not only the nastiness of what are increasingly becoming the new rules of governance in India, but also for the determination to pursue equity to which the Indian Constitution made such an important contribution. An enlightened and strong President will have many things to do — being a rubber stamp is not one of them.

Given that the electoral college for electing the President of India is drawn partly from the State Assemblies, the President’s office has a federal character. Doesn’t this place an onus on the President to defend the rights of States? In practice, Presidents are often asked to endorse decisions adverse to State governments: for instance, imposition of Article 356 and appointment of Governors without consulting Chief Ministers. What should the role of the President be in such situations?

You are absolutely right that the President of India has a natural role in ensuring India’s constitutional federalism. When dictates of the Centre run counter to the legitimate rights and the traditional spheres of the States, the President certainly has a protective role that cannot be obliterated by the commands of the Centre. It would be absurd for the President to be guided only by the orders of the Centre when the Centre is itself an interested party.

What qualities should a President have?

The election of a President involves practical politics, but there are issues that go well beyond that. In building our future, we have to be careful not to shed the strength we have got from our past. Rabindranath Tagore wanted us to fight for freedom for all, with reason and determination. Mahatma Gandhi taught India the importance of public protest whenever we face inequities and unfair treatment of vulnerable people (by the way, among the names suggested in the papers, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the Mahatma’s grandson, would be an excellent standard-bearer, given his knowledge, experience and wisdom). The President of India should fit into this broad, non-sectarian picture, inspired by the history of our fearless and shared movement for independence (a history that some leading politicians in India seem to have forgotten). Within his or her constitutional as well as evocative roles, a strong President can make a major contribution in inspiring us to stand up for fairness for all sections of the people. If we do not ask anything from our President except being a rubber stamp, we are very likely to get nothing more than a decorated rubber stamp.

Source: The Hindu, 6-06-2017

Why climate change impacts human health so much

Changes in climate can affect the breeding of mosquitoes, reduce the availability of food and drinking water, and lead to infectious disease outbreaks. we need good forecast systems to adapt and mitigate effects of climate change.

The impact of climate change on human health is a clear and present threat. Climate variables affect the quality of air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and even dictate where we can live or work. Increased frequency of severe weather events – searing heatwaves, heavy downpours, floods and droughts – cause death and displacement, damage to public infrastructure as well as reduce the availability of food and drinking water. They also lead to infectious disease outbreaks on one hand and limit access to healthcare on the other. Recognising its need, the Government of India has added ‘human health’ as a mission in the National Action Plan for Climate Change in order to combat the impact on public health.

Ecological factors impact vector behaviour

Mosquitoes are highly sensitive to temperature, humidity and rainfall. Environmental and landscape changes coupled with rise in temperature and humidity levels influence vector behaviour and disease transmission. A case in point is the Indira Gandhi Canal project in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, which has altered the ecological profile of the region. As a result, the malaria vector Anopheles culicifacies and Plasmodium falciparum have now overrun the wet and water-logged canal command areas.

An Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study on tea gardens conducted across Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and Sikkim found that as a result of deforestation, new irrigation channels, changes in crop pattern, use of pesticides and higher annual mean temperature, a new vector species, An. culicifacies has invaded the region and is gradually replacing An. minimus, a stream breeder, which thrived in the forested areas. This may have implications on vector control as An. Culicifacies is resistant to DDT, a commonly used insecticide. The low humidity and rise in temperature due to deforestation has limited the breeding of An. minimus and An. dirus, which favoured high humidity and low temperatures in forest areas.

Developing early warning systems and tracking outbreaks

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar have created a heat vulnerability map of India, identifying places that are likely to suffer the worst from a spell of high temperature. The index can guide appropriate action plans to protect local communities and has helped reduce deaths due to heat stroke in Ahmedabad this year.

Leveraging space technologies and parameters like sea surface temperature and normalised difference vegetation index will help devise early warning systems for disease outbreaks. El Nino (a warm ocean current phenomenon that results in less rainfall) can cause extreme weather events and impact human health. Malaria epidemics have been associated with excess rainfall in arid areas or where rivers are transformed into pools, conducive for mosquito breeding.

A prediction model of the impact of climate change on malaria has been designed by the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR). An analysis of four vulnerable sectors, viz. the Himalayan region, north-east, Western Ghats and coastal region of India has shown that in a projected climate change scenario, Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir are likely to witness opening up of new areas for malaria transmission and increase in period of transmission windows in north-eastern states.

A Centre of Excellence, funded by the Department of Science and Technology, has been set up at NIMR to study the impact of climate change on diseases such as Japanese encephalitis, chikungunya and dengue. An early warning system for Japanese encephalitis – JEWS – has been developed by ICMR’s Regional Medical Research Centre in Dibrugarh and the North Eastern Space Applications Centre, Shillong. JEWS employs technologies like Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System in conjunction with epidemiological risk factors to identify villages that may witness disease outbreak, 2-3 months in advance. Given its high precision rate, it is now being adopted in additional JE endemic areas of Assam.

Inclement weather conditions can have an immediate effect on morbidity and mortality. Managing these contingencies can put tremendous stress on the health system. To respond swiftly and effectively, health systems must be equipped to deal with emergencies arising from shifts in weather conditions. Forecast systems will give sufficient lead time to health authorities to strengthen their preparedness mechanisms and gear up well in time to deploy adequate control measures to deal with an impending disease outbreak. Solutions will come from technology and a better understanding of how people and organisations respond to crises. Research, of course, will need to show the way.

Soumya Swaminathan is secretary, Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and director general, Indian Council of Medical Research

The views expressed are personal

Source: Economic Times, 6-06-2017

Do Good Naturally

SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA





As a teenager, I always carried some cotton, antiseptic and a bandage in my pocket. After all, someone could get hurt. One day , I was in a bus. A fellow passenger got hurt. Here was my chance to become a hero, I thought excitedly . Out came my kit.I applied some antiseptic on her bruise and bandaged it.Another passenger looked at me and said, “Do you know, you have caused this bruise -indirectly .“ I was taken aback.He continued, “You waited for someone to fall and get hurt so that you could use your medical kit.“ My take on nishkaama karma, selfless action, had failed.
Krishna says that the path of selfless service can lead you to the ultimate Truth. But even the slightest motive spoils the selfless act. Ma Sarada, the Holy Mother, was a personification of nishkaama karma. Her spiritualism was in her motherliness. She was constantly engaged in motives-free service.And we all have this Universal Mother hidden within.
Take parenting. Today , it's a duty . Parents earn money; they buy gifts and other things for children. But that's not what parenting is about. Remember, a child can live without materialistic things but not without love. When love is absent in a parent-child relationship, children tend to become aggressive.A parent who fulfils all the desires of his child is called a good parent. No one is giving love, no one is getting love. It is a loveless state. It is important to bring up the compassion latent in our hearts -not just for family , but for all. Let love blossom.

Transform Higher Education

Pritam Singh and Subir Verma





How to restructure AICTE and change its role from strangulator to enabler of India's talent

Since the time the Modi led NDA government assumed office, it has made education one of the central concerns for building a “new India“. Recent announcements relating to the restructuring of regulatory bodies, autonomous accreditation board, national rating framework, testing agency and nurturance of 20 institutes of higher excellence, manifest its firm commitment to education.The IIM Bill also revealed a transfor mation in governments' understanding that academic innovation and performance excellence is a direct outcome of autonomy enjoyed by educational institutions. These measures of the NDA government could not have been more needed or timely .
In this context, it is worthwhile to highlight that in the recent Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), surveyed by INSEAD and the Human Capital Institute, Singapore, India ranks 92 out of 118. The INSEAD study also identified government regulatory landscape and expenditure as significant enablers of a country's talent competitiveness.
The ranking of India on all these dimensions is symptomatic of the malaise afflicting our education sector. India ranks 94 in regulatory landscape, 107 in ICT infrastructure and 63 in formal education expenditures. This is not surprising. India's spend on education has been around 3.84% of GDP , compared to the international average of 4.4% (World Bank, 2012). In PPP per capita terms, India spends around $2,419 on tertiary education as against US spend of $10,888 and China's spend of $17,851 (Unesco Institute of Statistics, 2013).
It is clear that if there has to be a transformation in the quantity and quality of talent, India needs to take some drastic measures on the above twin enablers of talent. Technical education in India is regulated by the government through the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). This bo dy was set up by an Act of the Parliament in 1987 with the vision of being “a world class organisation leading technological and socio-economic development of the country by enhancing the global competitiveness of technical manpower and by ensuring high quality technical education to all sections of the society.“
But beyond mere quantitative expansion, AICTE has failed to realise its objectives. GTCI unmasks this failure. It ranks India 86 in vocational and technical skills, 66 in high level skills and 66 in innovation output. AICTE in its own 2017 survey reported that 66% of the technical graduates in the country are unemployed or worse still, unemployable. AICTE cannot shirk its culpability by admitting this sad state of affairs.
A diagnosis of AICTE shows that its failure is not just strategic, but, more importantly , organisational. In the business world, great organisations have been those who were able to develop a “fit“ between their external environments and the configuration of their strategy , structure, systems, management style and work culture. For a diversified organisation, the fit involves constructing a multi-divisional structure to effectively understand and respond to the strategic logic and performance imperatives of different operating contexts.
Structurally, AICTE represents this principle of differentiation. But it is in installing the matching integration mechanism that AICTE has totally failed. Instead of inaugurating a governance system founded on the pillars of open information sharing, widespread interaction and consultative decision making involving stakeholders, AICTE has relied on hierarchical control of operations and finance.
Centralised decision making and the search for one standard response has led to homogenisation and indifference to the variegated specificities of its multiple environments. These flaws can easily be corrected in just one stroke: make AICTE include representatives of technical institutes and management schools in their management committee governing body advisory council. This aspect of stakeholder management is not just a good governance practice. It is a strategic necessity.
Another sound governance principle is woven around the twin themes of professionalism and continuity . This overarching need has been studiously negated by AICTE. Historically , its officers come on deputation, with no prior understanding and therefore sensitivity to the peculiarities and nuances of education. By the time meritorious officers are able to develop the much needed understanding, it is time for them to go.
The result is inadequate commitment to the vision and objectives of AICTE.This need could be easily addressed if AICTE develops a viable strategy to attract distinguished scholars and thought leaders to join in its different functions and activities.
At best AICTE has involved some mem bers from IIMs and IITs; but scarcely have these educationists shown adequate understanding and sensitivity to the needs of the private sector. It is high time that AICTE creates a mechanism by which noted educationists and senior academics feel valued for their time and contribution.
In terms of its role, AICTE has been compliance centric ­ labs, land, infrastructure, curriculum, syllabus, teaching hours, etc. In this overarching preoccupation research, the most critical component in all good global ranking and accreditation, remains ignored.
Not surprisingly , the best ranked technical institute of India ranks 201st in the world. Development of impactful research, nurturance of research culture and readying academic professionals should have been the lynchpin of AICTE's strategy . Alas, in the last few years even the research grants have dwindled and almost dried up.
The need for all the above has been repeatedly brought to the notice of the AICTE. The reports and recommendations for reforms are all there ­ gathering dust or lost in the cupboards.The government must step in before AICTE strangulates the technical education sector beyond repair.
Pritam Singh is former director , IIM Lucknow. Subir Verma is professor, FSM Delhi

Love Energy That Mysteriously Fulfils You

Discourse: Swami Sukhabodhananda





Love has mysterious ways of being fulfilled. All of us seek fulfilment in some form or other. Some seek it in relationships; others seek it through power, name, fame or money . But the common factor is that all of us seek fulfilment. All things that we seek, except love, put us in “wanting mode“ and not in “fulfilling mode“. Love is the only energy that mysteriously makes you feel fulfilled.In the corporate context, can you bring in love? Yes, you can. Do what you love and love what you do. Love your work, love your difficulties, and love the richness of difference between you and your boss. What is wrong with having differences? Why should you see the difference without the energy of love? If you bring love energy at your work front, then you won't need a holiday from work, for work itself becomes a holiday . Love is experienced when you accept people for what they are and motivate them to peak their potential. Love makes one enjoy one's relationship and one's work and builds trust. Through this process, you accept the weaknesses and faults of the other ­ be it your boss or life partner ­ and learn to love them for what they are.
During the American civil war, someone approached Lincoln and said, “We have an enemy , and somehow we should destroy them.“ Lincoln responded, “Do I not destroy my enemies, when I make them my friends?“ This is the power of love.Lincoln continued his commitment to make friends of his enemies. Can we learn from Lincoln the power of love, the power of commitment?
In one's organisation there can be internal enemies. Instead of being stressed out, learn to love them, accept them, make friends and transform them. The whole process involves love, which leads to fulfilment.
Love gives the power of “direct perception“. In day-to-day living, there is no direct perception because one's perception is through resistance.
One resists through one's likes and dislikes that become one's rigid framework.
Without direct perception, in the corporate world, one can't see others objectively; for one's rigid likes and dislikes interfere with one's perception. One tries to safeguard and protect what one wants and hence is not free to see the other objectively.
Understanding happens, u see the `other' person for what when you see the `other' person for what he is. This is true at work and home.Understanding comes through being aware of “what is“. To know “what is“, one should not allow one's interpretation, prejudice, and conclusions to interfere in one's perception. One should see “what is“ without condemnation, without giving one's personal slants in one's perception. One always gives personal slants, for one is caught up with one's point of view and hence, one is always in “self-love“.
Love is not “self-love“. “Self-love“ is exclusive. Love is always inclusive, and it is never exclusive. When you exclude the other, you are in conflict with the other and hence there is chaos. When you truly love the other, include the other so that you are not in conflict. Team spirit happens in such an inclusive space.
The corporate world will be in the pink of health if you learn to explore how to bring love as the basis of your work. This should be our real goal.From this backdrop, go ahead in reaching your materialistic targets.Then life is truly fulfilling.