India unveils $30 laptop designed for students

India today unveiled a Rs. 1,500 (around $30) laptop designed specifically for students. "If more companies decide to manufacture a similar device, prices will come down automatically", Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said after unveiling the low cost-access-cum computing device here. The device would be made available to students in 2011. When the ministry floated the concept of a low cost laptop some years ago, officials said it would cost Rs. 500 ($10). It will now cost about three times the initial projections. The ministry expects the prices to drop to Rs. 1,000 ($20) and reach Rs. 500 ($10) as innovations are introduced.

The device, no bigger than a conventional laptop, is a single unit system with a touch screen and a built in key board along with a 2 GB RAM memory, wi-fi connectivity, USB port and powered by a 2-watt system to suit poor power supply areas. "This is real and tangible and we will take it forward. Sun will rise for the Indian students in 2011", he said.

The ministry also invited private players to produce similar low cost computers. "When we started the project, the response from the private sector was lukewarm. Now many are willing to join the innovation", Sibal said. The ministry started its efforts by holding discussions on this concept with a group of experts at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras and IIT Bombay, a ministry official said.

The low cost laptops will be distributed in institutions by the HRD ministry. The final price will depend on the transportation cost. "We will give some subsidy on the device. As far as transport is concerned, if the transport cost in less, the government can bear that as well", Sibal added.

Source: The Economic Times (Online Edition), July 22, 2010

Symbiosis B-school scouts for global tie-ups

The Pune-based Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) is in talks with around seven international institutes to be the content provider and course designer for their courses. The institute has a working tie-up with the Khimji Training Institute LLC, in Muscat and Steinbeis University, Berlin. "We are in talks with close to seven more such institutes in places like Frankfurt. There is a five-week study India programme for the Seidman School of Business and the Grand Valley State University, Michigan. Also, there is a 24-month executive MBA for IBM Germany in collaboration with Steinbeis University, Berlin. On the local front, we run the SIBM Pune weekend Diploma in Finance for executives. We also have a tie-up with the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management", said Vivek Sane, Director, SIBM.

Ranked among the top five B-schools in the country, SIBM is looking to grow its brand further to gain international recognition. "We believe in one step at a time. Currently, we may not feature in Europe, USA and the like but in May 2010, SIBM received Asia’s best B-school award, presented by CMO Asia and titled the Business School with Best Industry Interface Award", added Sane.

The institute is also running a lot of initiatives for the benefit of students. Last year, it spent close to Rs. 1 crore on student welfare activities. The institute also conducts a series of guest lectures and panel discussions called Alpaviram, wherein industry biggies come in and share their knowledge with students. "We have a collaboration with Yashaswi Abhiyaan wherein women entrepreneurs come over to share their experiences. Our latest initiative includes a training programme we run with the State Election Board to train elected candidates for leadership communication and the like in their own languages", added Sane.

Last year, SIBM also started a value added lecture series involving lectures on latest industry trends in the subjects chosen by students. The institute also offers customised executive diplomas in business management for corporate for which it has tie ups with companies like Godrej, WNS, Avaya, Zensar, Wipro. "We deliver lectures on their grounds for the same. We have even innovated a diploma in business management for our engineering students", said Sane. For this academic year, SIBM is laying emphasis on bringing the industry’s best practices to the classroom.

Source: Business Standard, July 19, 2010

CET for IITs and engg institutes by 2011

The decision to conduct a single test or a common admission test (CET) for admission to the IITs and engineering institutes across the country, is likely to be finalised by the end of this year. While speaking to mediapersons after addressing the 56th annual convocation of IIT-Kharagpur, the Union human resource development minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal, said the panel of IIT directors, headed by IIT-Kharagpur Director, Prof. Damodar Acharya, will submit their report on conducting a common examination system by July, following which the ministry will go through their suggestions. "There have been many proposals and after going through the panel’s report, the ministry will choose the best suitable system", said Mr Sibal.

Mr. Sibal had appointed the panel to explore the possibility of replacing the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and other engineering exams held across the country with a single entrance test, with a focus on “general aptitude” and not knowledge of specific subjects. Mr. Sibal said there is a serious need to change the present examination system, where a student has to appear for 20 to 30 admission tests. Sitting for so many tests puts an enormous burden on the students and we cannot allow this to happen, he said.

Lashing out at the private coaching centres, Mr. Sibal said only rich families are able to send their wards to the coaching centres that prepare students for the IIT-JEE and this gives some students an additional advantage. But, students from poor families are not so privileged. Moreover, admitting students trained in coaching centres to the IITs is not the best way to get the best students, he added.

Mr. Sibal supported the views of Mr. B Muthuraman, Chairman of the Board of Governors over laying stress on research and postgraduate studies. During his convocation speech, Mr. Muthuraman had said that the old IITs like the IIT-Kharagpur should lay more stress on PG and research while the newly established IITs should focus on undergraduate studies.

Mr. Sibal laid the foundation stones of four buildings, Nalanda Academic Complex, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Hall of Residence, Chanakya Hall of Residence and Gurukul-I. During the convocation ceremony, Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) was awarded to Dr. Srikumar Banerjee, Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, Prof. K.L. Chopra, scientist, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, flute maestro, Prof. Goverdhan Mehta, scientist and Mr. Shiv Nadar, HCL's founder chairman.

Source: The Statesman, July 18, 2010

Bharti's Mittal putting more money aside for education

Having helped with the transformation of India through the power of communication, Sunil Mittal, the founder of the country's largest mobile phone operator --- Airtel, is channeling his wealth towards education for poor children that has the power to change their destiny. Right now, Mittal's philanthropy through the Bharti Foundation has touched the lives of 30,000 underprivileged children and the telecom czar has pledged to put more money aside to expand this number to at least 100,000. In 2000, when the telecom sector was in the midst of a revolution, Mittal realised that connecting communities in small towns and villages through mobiles was not enough. They needed the power of education. And the Bharti Foundation was set up to make this possible.

In an interview with PTI, Mittal said: "The focus of the foundation is education for the poor in the villages. Nearly 30,000 students are already there in 236 schools. We are determined to take it to 1,00,000. This will be the single largest intervention by any corporate in the history of this country". Mittal has already donated Rs. 200 crore (Rs. 2 billion) towards various educational initiatives.

The first generation entrepreneur, who has been ranked among the top philanthropists in the country, feels that money is not going to be a limiting factor for his initiative. "Whenever money is required, we will put in cash", he said. Mittal, who started his business as a bicycle manufacturer and is now leading the over US$ 8 billion business conglomerate Bharti Enterprises, is also ready to part with his stake in the company for charity. "We will put in cash or (dilute) stake" whenever required, he added.

The company he founded is the largest mobile phone operator in terms of subscribers in a country where mobile phones are seen as a tool for economic empowerment. Everyone from fishermen to street vendors use mobile phones across the country, thus gaining access to information such as the market price they need for growing their business.
At Bharti Enterprises, there is absolute belief in education being the most important tool for social and economic development in India. This belief is what led to the launch of the Satya Bharti School Programme in 2006. Currently, 236 Satya Bharti Primary Schools are operational, reaching out to approximately 30,000 children across the states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Of these 236 schools, 49 schools are adopted government-run schools, reaching out to about 6,000 children across the Neemrana and Amer blocks of Rajasthan.

Mittal, a recipient of the country's third highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan, believes that this initiative will help him give back to the society what the society gave to him.

Source: The Economic Times, July 18, 2010

CBSE to introduce full-time vocational courses this year

Students bored with the regular Science, Arts and Commerce subjects finally have a wider choice of courses to choose from. The CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) will this year introduce full-fledged vocational courses — equivalent to a Higher Secondary School Certificate —- in Media studies & Film Appreciation, Geo-spatial Practices and Hospitality and Management.To begin with, the Media Studies course will be started in 10 schools in Delhi, 6 in Mumbai and 4 in Pune while the Geo-Spatial course, that will focus mainly on cartograpgy and GIS-based mapping, will be available in 9 schools in Delhi, 3 in Kolkata and 1 in Mumbai.

CBSE has roped in Subhash Ghai’s Whistling Woods Institute and Rolta India Limited — agreements will be signed on July 19 — to help train teachers and devise curriculum for Mass Media Studies and Geospatial Practices courses respectively. A tie-up with the Union Tourism Ministry is also on cards for a course in Hospitality and Management, with focus on Food and Beverages.Students can opt for a vocational course and skip the regular Science, Arts and Commerce courses if they so wish. Otherwise, they can also take any of these as an add-on to three Science or Arts subjects.

But HRD Ministry does not want to limit the vocational courses to the 10,000 CBSE schools only. It is working on a Rs. 2,000 crore plan to set up 2,500 vocational schools across the country —- at least one Model Vocational School with at least six vocations on offer in every district. Existing schools can also start Vocational Studies Units. Headed by a Deputy Principal or Vice Principal, the unit, complete with a workshop and linkages with local industry, will offer full fledged vocational courses. HRD Ministry will facilitate their tie-ups with industry and institutes. The only glitch in the plan is that Planning Commission views it as rather expensive.

"We will begin with a smaller number of schools this year. Next year the courses will be introduced in more number of schools", an HRD Ministry official said. "Schools are, in fact, showing a lot of interest in vocational courses". CBSE had earlier introduced a vocational course in Financial Markets Management with the help of NSE. Success of the course prompted the board to introduce the new courses.

Source: Indian Express, July 18, 2010

Indian-origin woman named professor of Economics at Harvard

Noted academician Gita Gopinath has been named Professor of Economics at the prestigious Harvard University, becoming the first Indian-origin woman professor in the institution's history. Gopinath, 38, has been a member of the Harvard faculty since 2005 and was named associate professor in 2009. Her focus area is business cycles in emerging markets and price fluctuations across international borders. "Professor Gopinath's research on emerging markets has proven extremely important to our understanding of their business cycles and her studies of price stickiness have been highly influential among macroeconomists", Dean of Social Science in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences Stephen Kosslyn said here. Gopinath's research has examined price stickiness at the U.S. border, addressing questions on whether prices are set in the producer's or the consumer's currency and how this transnational pricing responds to exchange rate shocks.

University President Drew G. Faust had confirmed tenure for Gopinath in May, making her only the second internally promoted woman full professor and the third woman to be tenured full professor in the department. "On campus, she has played a central role in the vitality of our programme in international economics and especially in teaching and advising students in this field", Kosslyn added.

A University of Delhi alumnus, Kolkata-born Gopinath has a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University. She was an assistant professor of economics at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. She is also an associate of the National Bureau for Economic Research, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the International Growth Centre at the London School of Economics and Oxford University.

Earlier this month, IIT alumnus Nitin Nohria took over as the 10th Dean of Harvard Business School (HBS). At HBS itself, Nohria is among some 25 teachers of Indian-origin in a faculty of just over 200. Nobel laureate Amratya Sen is currently the Thomas W Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard.

The Economic Times had earlier reported on Prof. Gopinath's achievements on May 23, 2010. The report is reproduced below.

Harvard's newest India connection : Prof. Gita Gopinath
Gita Gopinath’s ground-breaking research is helping economists get a better understanding of the financial crisis in Greece and Iceland. No surprise really, considering that Prof. Gopinath has recently been named tenured professor at Harvard University’s high-brow Department of Economics and she thus becomes the third woman ever and the first Indian after Nobel laureate Amartya Sen to receive such as outstanding honour.

Prof. Gopinath, who is only 38, works in the area of international macroeconomics and finance—areas that have become significant in light of the current financial crisis and the critical macroeconomic situation. "She has made fundamental contributions to the understanding of sovereign debt defaults, which is the current leg of the crisis in Europe. Her work also shows, at a very deep level, why many emerging markets tend to experience greater macroeconomic volatility than advanced economies and has significantly advanced understanding of the interaction between prices and interest rates", says Kenneth Rogoff, Prof. of Economics and Public Policy at Harvard and former chief economist at the IMF.

Prof. Gopinath has some advice for Indian policy makers too and sees a major lesson from the Greece debt crisis for countries that have to work extra hard in preventing runaway budget deficits. "This should be a top concern for India. Its close to 7% projected budget deficit is on the high side. Even though this size of deficit is smaller than the U.S., the risk to the economy is larger for India. This is because from the international investors’ perspective, India still is an emerging market, there is more uncertainty about how India will correct its deficits and what is even politically feasible, so the tolerance for Indian deficits is much lower", she says.

Prof. Gopinath, who completed her bachelors in Economics from Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram College and masters from Delhi School of Economics before moving to the U.S. for a Ph.D., considers herself a product of the Indian education system. "When I was doing my bachelors from Delhi University, India experienced its first major external financing and currency crisis in 1990-91. This inspired me to pursue graduate work in economics and was the foundation for my interest in international finance", she says.

Her father, TV Gopinath, a farmer and entrepreneur in Mysore, too, believes that increasingly, young Indians from small towns and villages will do well in academics and have the confidence to compete for top honours with their wealthier and savvier counterparts in cities. "My daughter went to school in Mysore, but was unfazed by the intense competition that she faced in Delhi. Later, Harvard University offered her an admission for Ph.D. but didn’t give her any financial aid. Because we couldn’t afford to fund her, she decided to go to the University of Washington, Seattle, where she was offered funding. She left the university after two years, but was given an MS in Economics in recognition of her extraordinary capabilities", says Mr Gopinath, a proud father.

Today, Prof. Gopinath herself sees mentorship from seniors as an important tool in breaking the gender glass ceiling at Ivy League universities in the U.S. There are very few women faculty at the top. At Harvard’s economics department, for instance, there are only three tenured women out of around 40 tenured faculty. While this is very low, it is still a lot better than it was in the past. Prof. Gopinath thinks that junior women could benefit from having senior women as mentors, so when that pool is very small this is just harder to accomplish. In academia, the whole tenure clock makes having a family difficult, so this is a bigger challenge for women. "I am very fortunate to have a hugely supportive husband in this matter".

Overall she believes universities are now increasingly cognizant of the special challenges for women and explicit provisions are being made through family leave policy and stopping the tenure clock for a year when you have a child, policies that unfortunately were not in place in the not too distant past. "These are positive signs", she adds.
Her husband and former classmate, Iqbal Dhaliwal, Director of Policy at the Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT’s Department of Economics, acknowledges that her job has been far more stressful than his because she was on the tenure clock at Harvard.

"The research they do is very intense with the added pressure of peer-review and the need to publish in top journals. I am not a professor, but work on the policy side of research at MIT. Both of us appreciate the importance of dual careers and accept the challenges that come with it. Since we really cherish and value the time that we get with each other and our little son after work, we try to be as efficient in the office as possible, and try to make sure that the time we have together is quality time", he says.

In a recent interview published in the Harvard Crimson, the university’s newspaper, Prof. John Campbell, the Chairman of Harvard’s Economics Department praised Prof. Gopinath’s ability to move between theory and data analysis, and her strong skills as a teacher. "She has worked with some of our best Ph.D. students", Prof. Campbell said. "She is really becoming a professional leader in terms of training economists. She is the complete package".

Her former students too endorse this view. "Promotions in top research universities are exclusively based on research and publication record and do not condition on the quality of teaching. Teaching, however, still takes a significant amount of time. Prof. Gopinath was an important figure in graduate teaching in the economics department", says Oleg Itskhoki, who is now on the faculty at Princeton University’s economics department.

Source: The Economic Times, July 18, 2010 & May 23, 2010

Self-disclosure rule hits new tech institutes seeking AICTE nod

India's technical education regulator denied approval to three out of every four new institutes that had applied to start courses this academic year, following a new approval policy implemented in January in the wake of corruption charges. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) rejected applications from as many as 1,626 new institutes out of the 2,176 that wanted to start courses in engineering, business administration, computer applications, pharmacy and architecture, among other subjects. The earlier practice was for the regulator to send inspectors to verify claims made by applicants before approving them. In its new policy, institutes have to upload information --- including land records, faculty details and a video capsule of their facilities, along with a sworn affidavit --- on AICTE's website before it sends inspectors.

The rejection rate is high this year because many applicants simply failed to upload the required documents. "We are shifting from inspector raj (rule) to self-disclosure regime. It will bring transparency and cut down corruption in the technical institution system of India", AICTE's Acting Chairman S.S. Mantha said. "We have given approval to 550 institutes this year and the rest failed to get it as they could not disclose the required details", he added. In contrast, the regulator approved 1,131 new institutes last year and 1,345 institutes in 2008.

The self-disclosure policy was implemented after AICTE was dogged by accusations that its inspectors demanded bribes from institutes seeking approval. On 16 July 2009, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's top investigating agency, arrested a Member-Secretary of AICTE and also filed a corruption case against then Chairman R.A. Yadav. The chairman was suspended two weeks later.

Mantha, his successor, said the new policy is more transparent and ensures that institutes cannot lie to either AICTE or prospective students about their infrastructure. "Now they have to give an affidavit and if any of their claim comes out to be untrue, then we can file criminal cases against them". The video capsules uploaded by the approved institutes is to be made public in four months. "This will help students get a first-hand view of every single technical institute approved by us. Students must know where they are applying or going to study", said Mantha.

Some 1.4 million seats for technical education were available in the country at the end of the last academic year. Mantha said 250,000 new seats are being added from this session. "While 100,000 seats will come from the new institutes, expansion of old institutes will add up 150,000 more seats this year", he added.

A senior official at the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), requesting anonymity, said that the self-regulatory mechanism is a step in the right direction for AICTE, which is hoping to repair its dented reputation. The institutes agree. Prashant Bhalla, Vice-President of Manav Rachna International University at Faridabad, said his institute has won AICTE's approval. Institutes that do not intend to cheat students or the government are happy as the new process is less cumbersome, Bhalla said, adding that AICTE needs to improve its website to make uploading of details smoother.

"The aim is to bring in a culture of transparency. This is a sign of maturity in the technical education sector", said Narayanan Ramaswamy, Executive Director (Education) at audit and consulting firm KPMG. "Self-governance is better than somebody monitoring you always", he added. "The self-disclosure policy will benefit the students most as they will have all information about institutions".

Source: Mint, July 15, 2010

Indians barred from taking licentiate test for U.S. practice

Tens of thousands of Indians who went to the United States to cash in on the health industry boom have been served a blow as the federal government has decided against allowing Indians to sit for the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE), a licentiate test without which students cannot practice in the U.S. The decision was taken by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy, a national body, reasoning that it found systematic and methodical sharing and distribution of recalled questions by significant numbers of graduates of programmes in the affected countries as well as several exam preparation companies specifically targeted to these graduates. Apart from Indians, students from Pakistan, the Philippines and Egypt have also been barred from taking the exam.

The federation recognizes the significant consequences of this policy decision but feels that it needs to be made clear to all candidates that the federation will not tolerate security breaches, it stated in a notice sent out to all the candidates who had registered to take the NPTE. Candidates will now have to wait for a year, which is when the federation is likely to introduce a more secured version of the test.

A parent from Mumbai whose daughter is enrolled with the University of Pittsburgh said the U.S. government's decision was not fair as they had found no evidence against Indian students sharing the questions with their friends. Even in the communication released to students, the federation stated, "Evidence was obtained through extensive forensic analyses of exam performances as well as a variety of legal actions brought by the federation in the United States and abroad. Most notably, this includes the raid and seizure of evidence from the St. Louis Review Center in Manila, Philippines, and its alleged owners/operators, which revealed the widespread sharing of hundreds of live test items".

Announced on Sunday, the decision caused ripples among the student community, some of whom are speaking of filing a case suit in an American court. This unfortunate news has disheartened me and shattered my dreams. What should I do next I am not able to find any way, noted Vijayta on a blog that has several students agitated with the United States government's decision.

Source: The Times of India, July 15, 2010

Right to Education likely to be watered down

In what could end up diluting the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the government is considering a crucial amendment whereby private schools will not be required to admit all applicants and can screen and select most of their students.
The admission-as-an entitlement provision will be limited to poor children in the neighbourhood for whom 25% seats are set aside. Schools will continue to have the right to screen 75% of the admissions, in a major amendment prompted by sustained lobbying by private schools. Public schools were up in arms, insisting the no-screening clause could seriously affect their quality.

Signalling a rethink, HRD minister Kapil Sibal said, "There are practical problems ... How will schools like Doon, Mayo, Modern and others give random admission to children I have suggested that while schools will not screen 25% of poor children who have to be taken,75% will go through screening". Section 13 of RTE Act not only bans screening but fixes a penalty of Rs 25,000 on a school for first contravention and Rs 50,000 for later.

Source: The Times of India, July 15, 2010