Honesty

There was a time (until recently) when I was of the opinion that the only non-corrupt people are the academic people (that is, the educators and teachers). But of late, this has been proven to be a myth and nothing more. Lies, prejudices, jealousy and dishonesty are not alien to the academic people. At the root of all these lies vanity.

Recruiters scrapping aptitude tests – A good sign?

(This is something that I wrote long back...but never got it published anywhere. So, just posting it here. )

Science educators across the country have been discussing the need to improve the Indian educational standards, particularly calling attention to the “pattern recognition” type of training in the current educational system¹.  Researchers have been calling the need to inculcate ‘irreverence’ in science education^{2, 3}. However, it is not only the educational and research institutes that play a role in setting the standards of the graduates. Students’ motivation to learn, apply and achieve are, in part, inspired from the recruiters. Particularly with the engineering colleges, majority of the students aim to get placed in the IT companies. Thus the IT companies, or any other recruiting company for that matter, play an important role in setting the standards as to what to expect from graduates. In this line, the aptitude tests that these recruiting companies conduct as a form of screening the potential candidates has been helping to set the necessary levels of ‘thinking’ that a graduate should possess. Whether these aptitude tests are indeed up to the standards is a question of separate debate and discussion though.  The recent news article that appeared in Hindu (http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/money-and-careers/article938221.ece shows a policy change towards what recruiting companies want from students. The news article says that the companies are looking for “consistent performers”. A consistent performer from our current educational system is one who has successfully been able to recognize patterns among words and numbers and was able to reproduce it effectively without error in exams. Moreover, this initiative is also a bias against the ‘late bloomers’. There can be no reason to discriminate the late bloomers against ‘consistent performers’. Such initiatives do not facilitate the goals that educators and researchers are aiming to set up. Recruiting companies should realize their role in education and devise recruiting strategies based on discussions and views from educators and researchers. With a long-term vision, recruiting companies along with academicians can, and have the ability, to transform Indian educational system and hence the society as a whole. 

REFERENCES

1.            Mohanan, K.P. (2010) Entrance examinations for science and technology. Curr. Sci. 99:1321.

2.            Mashelkar, R.A. (2010) Irreverence and indian science. Science. 328:547.

3.            Balaram, P. (2010) Irreverence and advancement. Curr. Sci. 98:1155-1156.

A misconception

A major misconception that I am currently seeing is that people, in general, think that those in the teaching profession know "everything".

Peace

The days are new, fresh and lively. Music sounds more euphonic. The stillness of silence is enjoyable. The stillness in the air brings ecstasy. Six years now. And my mind is not preoccupied only now. Maybe this is what is called peace. :-) 

Uniform Syllabus

I was wondering if in UG colleges we were told/helped realize the relevance and the interconnect of each modules we study. My guess would be everyone would say no. Unlike in PG programmes, students in UG programmes (engineering) do not have much flexibility in choosing modules. The modules and its contents are decided by an "expert" committee which are then "handed down" to faculty members. Since it is a "handed down" structure, I doubt if the faculty members would ever know why a particular chapter was included in the syllabus, or why it was not - without which (s)he cannot pass on the intended purpose. While the goal of having uniform education is laudable, I think it has such practical constraints which severely impact the quality. (Of course, this is relevant to the TN situation...not sure how it applies elsewhere.)

India Rising

Check out the latest issue of science for an exclusive interview with the Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Singh. (Click here for the interview and here news focus.)
What really captured my attention was this statement of his:

"unless one is optimistic, one is overwhelmed by the dimension of the development task that we have to accomplish"

 And check out what he has to say on the nuclear energy issue as well! 

Mathemagic

Fear gripped the bones during Math classes in the primary/high school. Algebra and Muliplication tables - Oh Man! How do we remember all those formula and numbers? But there seems to be new and easy ways of understanding/learning these! Check out the videos below.

Longest Straw

Am sure each one of us wrote this definition for 2 marks in one of our examinations:

The movement of a liquid along the surface of a solid caused by the attraction of molecules of the liquid to the molecules of the solid is called capillary action.

(Am sure many of us used solid and liquid interchangeably.)

Honestly, how many of us were able to fully grasp the importance of this phenomena? There of course were several examples cited in the text book and some of them that I recall are oil rising in the wick, drying towels, transpiration in plans. Although these examples were supposed to enhance our understanding, the million dollar question is whether it enhanced understanding or increased the burden of memorising.

When I came across the below video, I could immediately understand and appreciate what a capillary force is...and all the examples I memorized made sense! So, what is the difference? Why couldn't I grasp and appreciate capillarity from the book as much as I did after watching the video? The primary reason, I think, is because here (video) they have used a practical day-to-day activity to explain the concept. Further, the practical way of explaining, that is showing it "in action" further interests and keeps the mind involved unlike the bookish texts.

Let us think and create more such videos!

Forever Dependent?

Are we going to be forever-dependent on others? When are we going to harness our own potential and be self-dependent?

http://www.thehindu.com/business/article2793429.ece?homepage=true

The above news irritates me. 

National Unique ID

Although I haven't been following the issues on the National Unique ID, this article caught my attention. It tells that two different groups, the Nandan Nilekani group and the National Population Registry group are doing the same work. Further, it also tells that the National Identification Authority of India has raised issues on dealing about illegal immigrants. I certainly don't understand why there would be no inter-communication between officials and make works simpler by sharing the load between the two groups. As to the issue of illegal immigrants, that is the first thing anybody who is going to issue a national ID would think of. I wonder what they discuss before they start working on such projects - money?

Whatsoever his motivations are, Dr. Swamy, is undeniably a bold politician.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2697711.ece?homepage=true

Rejections

An interesting article on rejections: http://indiabioscience.org/node/228 

Indian government - sincere or is it naive?

The last of couple of days, the media has been reporting about Mr. Kejriwal's tryst with the IT deparment - for a mere 9 lakh rupees, when Ms. Kanimozhi, Mr. Raja are enjoying a luxurious Tihar jail residence for still not accounting for the over 200 crores of money that vanished into thin air. And I am really wondering if the government is really that naive to think Mr. Kejriwal would back off from his civilian fights under such petty pressures, or, has it become very sincere to account even for a penny?. (Note: Mr. Kejriwal claims there has been no correspondence in this regard from the IT department since he resigned, and only before the fasting of Anna had he recieved the notification. That is too much to be a coincidence.)

PMO under Lokpal?

I was under the impression that Team Anna wanted the PM's office to come under the ambit of Lokpal. I thought that was a crucial demand that the government and the opposition found hard to agree upon. Today, I read in the newspaper nothing about this demand. When was this demand given up?

Supremacy of the Parliament?

Everybody talks of the supremacy of the parliament:See http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2400160.ece

What I don't understand is this: The people (atleast who really support the cause of anti-corruption) do NOT have faith in the members who constitute the parliament. And, when one does not have faith in its members, how would (s)he trust the system (system:the parliament as the supreme democratic unit of the Nation)? I think we need to step back and ask ourselves "Are we interested in preserving the existing system, that is the supremacy of the parliament, or, are we interested in bringing a strong anti-corruption system?"

Secondly, I read somewhere that BJP is now supporting the demands of Team Anna while a few days ago they had outright rejection of the demands. If that was truly a sincere resolution, I appreciate it. However, given the whimsical and corrupt attitudes of the politicians in general,as an ordinary citizen, I am disinclined to believe there are no ulterior motives - maybe even to bring down this government so that they can come to power.

Third, Rahul Gandhi's voice is coming out prominently now - after about 10 days of Anna's fast. Am I to believe that he didn't have any opinions earlier? All I can think of is that Congress is playing a very tactful drama to bring Rahul into leadership. Disgusting drama.

Does the Parliament any longer represent the people?

"...the path that he has chosen to impose his draft of a Bill upon Parliament is totally misconceived and fraught with grave consequences for our Parliamentary democracy."

There can be nothing more grave than the arrest of Anna Hazare to demote the democratic principle of the country. The parliament, as I understand, is an institution that represents the people and the people's mind. There are strong protests from people all over the country in support of Anna Hazare. Yet, the parliament - including the ruling party and the opponents - are against implementing Team Anna's version of the Lokpal Bill. Doesn't this mean that the parliament no longer represents the interest of the people? I don't understand this form of governmental organization.

"They must allow the elected representatives of the people in Parliament to do the job that they were elected for."

If I understand correctly, the Team Anna's version of the Lokpal doesn't trust the elected members in the Parliament to do the job. With atleast two of its ministers in the Tihar jail for corruption, on what grounds may we expect the members of the parliament to make laws that protect the interests of the people?

யாரிடம் தோற்கிறோம் என்பதைப் பொருத்தது தோல்வியின் வலி.

Physics is where real researchers are: They go behind ideas and concepts!
Physics is were real professors are: they “profess” ALL knowledge irrespective of their own expertise!

வார்த்தையாக அலைகிறேன் கவிதையை தேடி;
வார்த்தையே கவிதை என்றறியாமல்.

Padma Awards

Why are non-Indians and who don't live or contribute to India's development awarded the 'Padma" awards?

For example:
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/interview/article1402577.ece?homepage=true

I understand Prof. Venki, Nobel Laurette, was also awarded a Padma.

No doubt they have contributed most to Science. No doubt they deserve the highest honors around the world. But why would an award instituted for the Indian citizens who have contributed to the development of arts, science etc in India be given to someone who did almost nothing to India? (They probably were not given a good chance in India, or didn't find the right intellectual mix that is required for such accomplishments - this is a different issue which again we Indians need to think about, especially in the Science sector.)

If inspiring the younger generation is a purpose to argue, then I only find inspiration to leave India and work abroad forever. :-\