Tuesday, February 27, 2024

The study published in Nature, a leading international journal, has taken the academic world by storm. Richard Van Noorden’s analysis based on the database of Retraction Watch, one media organisation, and other journals reveals record retraction of scientific papers from research journals ~ more than 10,000 papers in 2023, a 2.5 fold spike from the preceding year.

Ironically or fortunately, 8,000 of those papers had exclusively been from journals owned by Hindawi, a subsidiary of Wiley. The analysis also evinces that the retraction rate has trebled in the last decade. In India, the incidence and number of retractions have increased manifold since 2010 ~ from 595 papers between 2017- 19 to 1550 during 2020-22, or a 2.5 fold jump. India holds the 3rd rank in the world. Specifically from older IITs, many scientific papers had been retracted, for reasons like plagiarism of text and article and duplication of papers.

Two IIT (School of Mines) scientists have had 50 papers retracted. India has the dubious distinction of publishing the highest number of predatory journals ~ Madhya Pradesh tops the states ~ and resultant research papers. Predatory journals, otherwise a cottage industry, are a different genre without an editorial board and peer review system and publish almost anything for a hefty publication fee.

Moreover, shadow agencies, commonly known as paper mills or manuscript mills, are doing thriving business in India. Retraction is the outcome of the process where editors or external experts raise critical questions about the underlying idea, dataset, experiment and findings of research papers, for which the published papers cannot be relied upon. Being the last resort, retraction is invoked when the integrity and veracity of the paper come under the hammer.

Retraction Watch enlists 109 reasons for retraction, like errors in data collection or classification, fabrication or manipulation of data, oversight of research protocol, plagiarism, simultaneous publication, fake peer review and ethical or other misconduct. Though the boundary between acceptable human error and intentional misconduct is rather tenuous, it is unequivocal that deliberate fudging is responsible for more than threefourths of retractions.

The whopping numbers and alarming increase in retraction rates are pushing scientific academia to an epochal juncture. The phenomenon points to the overwhelming sweep and hold of sham science all around, belittles public trust in scientific research and shrouds and misleads the trajectory of knowledge and even public policy.

The fake research papers are stretching the credibility of research to a screeching, if not crushing point. Bogus publications are vindicating an international publishing scandal. The ominous and appalling eventuality points to overpowering problems for the future trajectory of science per se. What is exposed now is, ironically, the tip of the malpractice iceberg. The retraction figures habitually exclude conference papers, books, and above all, social science papers; otherwise, the aggregate would have swelled.

Flagging is relatively easy for scientific papers, as these are based on a specific or verifiable dataset, experiment or laboratory test. However, the detection process seems messy for social science papers, where replication is almost impossible. Papers dealing with survey data and critical or theoretical discourse can, at the most, be subject to plagiarism and multiple submission tests. The phenomenon of deception and misconduct is obviously much more extensive and multifaceted.

With the publication of fraudulent papers, the damage is already done and not much could be done to undo their fallouts, particularly in action-oriented research, except naming and sharing the authors and publishers. The influence or impact of fake research lingers on due to a long time lag ~ 9.5 months being the median of retraction. By the time the retraction decision is taken, the studies might have been extensively cited, used as the premise of many other genuine research studies or guided technology and public policy.

The large observational study in Lancet concluded that hydroxychloroquine was responsible for more deaths and heart related complications among Covid-19 patients. Accordingly, the WHO stopped clinical trials of the drug. However, subsequent investigation uncovered inconsistencies in the database of “Surgisphere,” the base of the study, and the paper was retracted. Similarly, laboratory studies indicated that the anti-parasite Ivermectin is the magic drug for treating Covid-19 patients.

Later on, these studies were found to have committed clear evidence of fraud. Retraction does not necessarily imply that the study will disappear altogether from circulation and use. Studies found that 90 per cent of the retracted articles continued to receive citations after retraction. For the print version of the studies, a retraction notice in a subsequent issue of the journal remains the only viable option. Yet, not everyone can keep up with such notification.

The digital version of the papers may conveniently be preceded by a retraction notification. But that step is not always evinced: onehalf of the retracted research papers on Covid-19 are still available in full-text without retraction notices. From an alternative perspective, the insistence is that the increasing rate of retraction is heartening as it demonstrates the concerted efforts and improving skills of the journal editors and watchdog agencies. Surely, more and more detections are due to the initiatives and surveillance by many stakeholders.

And variegated methodologies are being employed ~ analysis of the manuscript content, identification of softwaregenerated “tortured phases” designed to skirt plagiarism probes, screening of citation patterns and scrutiny of problematic papers. The newer method factors in the combination of authors that is likely to flag bought-in authorship. Nonetheless, it is equally explicit that more and more academics are resorting to spurious means. Estimates attest that the retraction rates are outstripping the number of research papers or that the rates are inversely proportionate to the increase in publications.

The journal publishers tend to be in a quandary as to how to detect pseudo research papers or how to reinforce their filtering mechanisms. For decades, the peer review process has served as the gold standard for determining the validity or authenticity of submitted manuscripts. The review is intended to examine and assess the quality and accuracy of the method employed, the analysis and the findings of the study by the subject experts. The review process ~ either concealing or disclosing the identity of the authors and reviewers ~ filters out the poor quality papers or ensures improvement with suggested modifications.

The appraisal report of the reviewers is the basis on which journal editors make final decisions. However, exponential retractions substantiate the deficiencies ingrained in the review system. It is more often hobbled by inconsistencies, loopholes, systemic manipulation and vulnerability. The review process is not yet organized, or infallible. As JT Torres puts it, the reviewers are professionals, but peer review is not a profession as yet.

The review process is susceptible to compromise or scheming. Occasionally it may be a namesake; otherwise, Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine would not have published the article “Contemporary Value Assessment of Marxist Ideology under the Context of Deep Learning.” The special issues of journals, owned by the Hindawi Group, were manipulated by way of selective guest editors and reviewers which eventually led to the retraction of 8,000 research papers in 2023.

AMAL MANDAL

The Statesman, 27/02/24

Indian Shakespeare~I

We call him Shakespeare of India. We regard him as the greatest poet and playwright of ancient India. The world recognises him as one of the greatest poets of all time.

We call him Shakespeare of India. We regard him as the greatest poet and playwright of ancient India. The world recognises him as one of the greatest poets of all time. Yet, few people have read his exhilarating poems and plays and very few know about his life and work.This is mainly because he wrote in classical Sanskrit,once the pride of India but now designated as a ‘dead language’ and also because there was no recorded history about his time. He is none other than our one and only Kalidasa, the legendary poet and dramatist of ancient India.Like England’s Shakespeare,Kalidasa’s life is also shrouded in many mysteries.

A few miles from the city of Nagpur in Central India can be seen a sleeping town, Ramtek, known for its ancient Ram Temple and a Kalidas Smarak (Memorial) to commemorate Kalidasa’s writing of Meghadootam, one of his famous works. It is believed that Kalidasa composed the exquisite long poem Meghadootam sitting on the hillocks of Ramtek and looking at the advancing dark monsoon clouds from there. In recent time, a university, Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University has been established at Ramtek in memory of Kalidasa.

This gives credence to the theory that poet Kalidas perhaps lived in this region, within the periphery of Ujjain, the capital city of a thriving empire ruled by the legendary king, Vikramaditya. But owing to the absence of any historiography and recorded evidence, this remains in the realm of speculation. Stories with considerable embellishment exist about Kalidasa’s early life, partly as folklore without any authenticity. One of the most popular stories has been that in his childhood, he earned the name of murkh Kalidas (Kalidas the fool) after he was found cutting the branch of a tree sitting on the wrong side, which could have resulted in a fatal fall. Another interesting story surrounds his marriage and his attainment of poethood. It is believed that, as part of a conspiracy hatched by some courtiers, the uninitiated young Kalidasa got married to an intelligent princess named Vidyottama and when she found out that her husband was not educated, Kalidasa was banished from the palace and asked to return only after he became a scholar.

Spurned by his wife, Kalidasa travelled to various places and finally came to the Gadkalika Temple (which still exists) on the bank of the river Shipra (Kshipra) in Ujjayini, where he started his tapasya. Here, he received the grace of goddess Kali and became a poet. It is also believed that Kalidasa was not his original name (which still remains unknown) and he was given the name Kalidasa because he received the blessings of goddess Kali. Nothing is known about whether the ‘learned’ Kalidas returned to his wife in the palace or whether he married somebody else. There are several versions of this story involving various places including Varanasi. Notwithstanding recent research and debates among scholars, no conclusive evidence has been found about Kalidasa’s origin.

Another dimension has been added to the confusion by several scholars saying that there were at least three poets with the name of Kalidas during the same period and that many works are falsely attributed to poet Kalidasa. William Shakespeare also faced similar accusations and became a victim of speculation. The theory of multiple Kalidasas should be discounted in the absence of any credible evidence. There is endless controversy about his origin and the place of his literary activity. Some scholars, based on the flora and fauna mentioned in his works, believed that he lived in the Himalayas while some others thought he lived in Ujjayini (modern Ujjain) and there were still others who speculated that he belonged either to Magadha or Kalinga.

According to Lakshmi Dhar Kalla (1891-1953), a Kashmiri Pandit and Sanskrit scholar, Kalidasa was born in Kashmir and later moved southwards to Ujjayini. Kalla in his book The Birthplace of Kalidasa (1926) supported this view by citing Kalidasa’s mention in his work about Kashmir’s flora-fauna (saffron plant, deodar trees, and musk deer), geographical descriptions (valleys and glades), some legends (Nikumbha in Nikumbha Purana) and Kashmiri Shaivaism (Pratyabhijna philosophy reflected in Sakuntala). Kalla’s theory of Kalidasa being a Kashmiri Pandit migrating to Ujjayini appears to be a plausible one because it matches the most common belief that poet Kalidasa, the genius, served as one of the Nav Ratnas (nine gems) in the court of the great king Vikramaditya at Ujjayini. Here again there is a twist. According to some historians, ‘Vikramaditya’ was a common title given to many powerful kings and since Kalidasa was supposed to belong to the Gupta era, in all probability, this Vikramaditya belonged to Magadha, so also Kalidasa. So the confusion remains.

According to the majority of historians of ancient Indian history, poet Kalidasa lived during 4th to 5th century CE in the Gupta era and that he had been one of the nine gems in the court of Chandragupta II (375- 415 CE) who ruled north India from his capital Magadha. If true, this will mean that poet Kalidasa lived in the Magadha region (modern Bihar) and not in Ujjain and the legend of his being a Ratna in the court of Malwa king Vikramaditya at Ujjayini would be a myth. Another confusion ~ a Sinhalese tradition says that Kalidasa died in Sri Lanka during the reign of Kumaradasa and died there being killed by a courtesan named Kamini. It is a mystery as to why and how Kalidasa landed in the distant island of Sri Lanka! It is a sad reflection on us that no records are available about the place of birth, death, life and chronology of creations of the greatest poet of ancient India.

It is also a tragic commentary on the Indian genius (the Rishis and Gurus) that unlike the Greeks who built academies and institutions to perpetuate their arts, culture science and philosophy, the great Indian kings, Rishis and scholars never bothered to create institutions, solely depending on the AshramGurukul system, although ancient India had been a treasure house of the highest forms of art, culture, literature and philosophy and produced a galaxy of great men and women in science, arts, literature and science. Kalidasa was one of them and he would have gone into oblivion but for his re-discovery by the Western scholars like Sir William Jones, Montgomery Schuyler Jr, Goethe, and Sir Monier Williams. Kalidasa wrote in classical Sanskrit. In an age when writing paper, pen, pencil, printing technology, indelible ink etc. were unknown and even the Devanagri script of Sanskrit was not fully developed, one can imagine how difficult it was to write and preserve the manuscripts. The writing materials consisted of mostly bird-feather pen, charcoal ink, vegetable colours, bhurjapatra, taalpatra and taamrapatra or cotton cloth.

To preserve, make copies and popularize the manuscripts for generations must have been a herculean task and therefore, the literary creations were necessarily confined to the author’s family or a small coterie of friends and royal patrons. It is suspected that Kalidasa who had been a prolific writer must have produced a lot more wonderful poems and dramas many of which must have been lost and only a handful of them that received royal patronage and were performed before royal audiences finally survived. Kalidasa’s works which have survived through centuries and are indisputably attributed to him have been two epics, three plays (dramas) and two long poems. These are:

1. Kumarasambhavam (Mahakavya or Epic): It is about the birth, adolescence and marriage of goddess Parvati with Shiva and birth of their son Kartikeya.

2. Raghuvamsam (Mahakavya): It is an epic poem about the kings of the Raghu dynasty.

3. Abhijnanasakuntalam (Play): Regarded as a masterpiece, it tells the story of King Dushyanta’s falling in love and gandharva marriage with Shakuntala, daughter of Viswamitra and Menaka, abandoned at birth but adopted by sage Kanva, during a hunting trip in the forest. Owing to a curse of sage Durvasa, the king completely lost his memory and refused to accept her when a pregnant Shakuntala went to the palace to be united with the king. She could not show the royal ring given to her as she had lost it while taking a bath en route in a river. When the ring with the royal seal was found by a fisherman from the mouth of a fish and returned to the palace, King Dushyanta remembered everything and the remorseful king sets out for the forest to be united with Shakuntala and his son Bharat.

4. Malavikagnimitram (Play): King Agnimitra falls in love with an exiled servant girl Malavika. After the queen comes to know about it she tries to get her killed but it is discovered that Malavika is actually a princess. The queen accepts her and agrees to marry her with king Agnimitra.

5. Vikramorvashiyam (Play):Following an unfortunate incident in heaven, the celestial nymph Urvasi, was sent back to earth as a mortal with the curse that the moment her lover lays his eyes on the child she will bear, she will die and being immortal, return to heaven. However, after coming to earth, Urvasi and king Pururavas fell in deep love and she didn’t wish to return to heaven. Following various mishaps which she overcame with courage, the curse is lifted and the lovers are allowed to remain together on earth.

6. Meghadootam ( The Cloud messenger ~ a khandakavya): This long poem tells the story of Yaksha trying to send messages to his lover through the dark monsoon clouds. This is one of the most popular and most sublime poems, unparalleled in Sanskrit literature

7. Shyamaladandakam (long poem): In this long poem, the poet describes the wonderful beauty of goddess Matangi.

Parimal Brahma

Source: The Statesman, 22/02/24

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Quote of the Day February 20, 2024

“You have no control over what the other guy does. You only have control over what you do.”
A. J. Kitt

“दूसरा व्यक्ति क्या करता है, उस पर आपका नियंत्रण नहीं होता है। आपके पास केवल इतना नियंत्रण है कि आप क्या करते हैं।”
ए.जे.किट्ट

Gulzar, Sanskrit Scholar Rambhadracharya Selected For 58th Jnanpith Award

Renowned Urdu poet Gulzar and Sanskrit scholar Jagadguru Rambhadracharya will receive the 58th Jnanpith Award. Gulzar is known for his works in Hindi cinema and is considered one of the finest Urdu poets of this era. Jagadguru Rambhadracharya is the founder and chief of Tulsi Peeth in Chitrakoot, and is a renowned Hindu spiritual leader, educator and writer of more than 240 books and texts. The recipients for the award were decided by a selection committee chaired by Jnanpith awardee Pratibha Rai. Established in 1944, the prestigious Jnanpith Award is given annually for outstanding contributions to Indian literature.

President Approves New Anti-Cheating Law for Public Exams

On February 15 2024, President Droupadi Murmu granted her assent to the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, clearing the legislation for implementation after passage by both houses of Parliament in the recently concluded Budget session.

Public examinations refer to examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission, Staff Selection Commission, Railway Recruitment Board, National Testing Agency, and Departments of the central government.

Unfair means include, unauthorised access or leakage of question paper or answer key, assisting a candidate during a public examination, tampering with computer networks, conducting fake examination, issuing fake admit cards and offer letters.

Key Provisions

Punishment for Cheating

The new law stipulates a jail sentence ranging from six months up to two years along with fines between Rs 10,000 to Rs 5 lakh for students caught attempting to cheat in public exams conducted by designated testing bodies.

Ban from Taking Any Tests

Those found guilty of using unfair practices during examinations face a ban from appearing for any national or state level examination for six months to lifetime depending on severity of ethical misconduct. This includes professional course entrance tests too.

Applicability to Exam Officials & Coaches

In addition to students, chief invigilators, independent representatives, paper setters and solution providers also face up to two years prison time and fines for abetting cheating through leaks of question papers, answer keys or via other illegal collusions.

Authorized Test Conducting Entities

All examinations held in physical mode by the National Testing Agency and various other testing bodies operating state and national level eligibility tests fall under purview of the stringent legislation.

Current Realities

Addressing Digital Age Grey Areas

The anti-cheating regulatory framework aims to address ethical misconduct grey areas which emerged from proliferation of technologies like spy cameras, ear pieces and online remote assistance which enable large scale leaks discrediting academic credibility.

Curbing Coaching Mafia Menace

It also aims to deter the parallel cottage industry of coaching mafias specializing in facilitating cheating either through imposters, solvers or by compromising processes in connivance with corrupt insiders.

Challenges in Implementation

Monitoring Infrastructure Overhaul Needed

While the legislation sets strong deterrence, experiencing agencies have flagged need to exponentially upgrade monitoring infrastructure and protocols through surveillance analytics, data mining, biometrics and forensics for robust nationwide implementation.

Concerns Over Ambiguous Provisions

Educational experts contend some provisions like imprisonment for minors, applicability on teachers are somewhat ambiguous requiring clarifications while expressing concerns over possibilities of over-policing impacting student welfare.

What is ‘ANUVADINI’- AI Tool?

The Government of India has directed all school and higher education institutions across the country to make available digital study material in Indian languages for every academic course within 3 years. This policy aims to enable students to learn in their native tongues aligned to India’s linguistic diversity.

Background

The National Education Policy 2020 has prioritised education in native languages and has also recommended a three-language formula for school education till Class X. The National Curriculum Framework 2023 for school education stated that till Class X a student need to study three languages of which two should be native Indian language and in Classes XI and XII where study of two languages have been recommended, one of which should be native Indian language.

Coverage of Initiative

The digital study materials access mandate applies to both government and private institutions and covers all courses from school textbooks to specialized university texts spanning sciences, humanities, engineering, medicine, law etc.

Anuvadini- the AI Tool

‘Anuvadini’, an Artificial Intelligence-based multilingual translation application developed indigenously, will facilitate swift conversion of existing English materials into multiple languages through machine learning as the bedrock, followed by expert manual reviews for accuracy.
Significant headway has already been achieved over past 2 years with thousands of textbooks translated across domains and curated on the online portal Ekumbh under the initiative. 12 regional languages textual options also exist for national entrance examinations now.

UGC Guidelines

The University Grants Commission (UGC) also issued rules for higher education institutions to provide courses in Indian languages. The UGC said that the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology has made standard glossaries that can be used to translate. These glossaries cover a wide range of topics. According to the rules, technical terms that are hard for students to understand may be given in English between quotes after their Indian language counterparts.

Intended Benefits

Removing language barriers in accessing high quality pedagogical resources would democratize quality education for the masses while preventing drop outs. It would also promote usage of native tongues in higher academia and professional domains instead of English.

Uses in other arena

More than five thousand judgments of the Kerala High Court and District Courts have been recently translated into Malayalam with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The judgments are translated using the AI tool ‘Anuvadini’ prepared by AICTE under the Union Ministry of Education.

Digital Ecosystem

In school education, study material is being made available in multiple Indian languages including over 30 languages on DIKSHA portal and competitive exams like JEE, NEET, CUET are being delivered in 12 Indian languages and English.
For the past two years, the translation of engineering, medical, law, UG, PG and skill books are also being done.
In a decision aimed at providing students with the opportunity to study in their own language, Centre has decided that study material for all courses under school and higher education will be made available digitally in Indian languages included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.

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