Higher Education: Quality over quantity

IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board

Closing down worthless colleges and encouraging better ones is the way forward for India

Dr. PV Indiresan
Leading educationist & former Director, IIT Madras

Many people do know that India has over 20,000 colleges in arts and sciences but it also has over 16,000 dental colleges. A proposal from the Dental Council of India to halt further expansion of dental colleges was turned down by the government on the plea that all colleges are started according to norms and that there is need for more dentists. Unfortunately, there is no reliable study of how good these colleges are.

According to Mr Narayana Murthy, mentor of Infosys, barely 20 per cent of engineering graduates are employable. There are others who have said that among arts graduates, the figure is barely 10 per cent. Whatever the correct figure may be, we have to admit that most colleges are substandard and that most of the money spent on higher education is a waste. This over-expansion is a consequence of comparing ourselves with countries like the US where enrolment ratios are far higher. After WW II, sociologists developed a theory that higher education is not a privilege but a right. As a result, admissions to universities became largely unrestricted. We have university graduates working as peons or bus conductors. Except for a few colleges of excellence, the quality of learning has deteriorated.

Higher education has expanded but India's status in higher education quality is dismal. In the 2009 Times Higher Education-Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rankings, no Indian university features among the first 100. But universities in East Asia have been included in the first hundred. Hong Kong has three, ranked at 24, 35 and 46; Singapore two at 30 and 73; South Korea one at 47 and China has two at 49 and 52. There is no Indian university in the rankings from 100 to 200 either. It is only when one moves on to the next 100 that we find the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur at 237; IIT Madras at 284 and the University of Delhi at 291.

For over 10 years now, the Department of Science and Technology has been promoting postgraduate courses in engineering by offering sums in excess of Rs 2 crore per course ' on condition that industry too contributes an equal amount. Virtually all colleges that applied for assistance came from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. With great difficulty, the department has been able to persuade a few other states to join. Evidently, professional (and industrial) interest in higher education exists virtually only in the southern states. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council figures are not entirely reliable because institutions like the IITs and the AIIMS do not opt for accreditation. In fact, less than ten per cent of the colleges have come forward to be assessed. The accompanying table gives the list of states with A grades (3 points and above) and at least one A+ grades (3.45 and above) for the last three years. Earlier assessments under the old rules are not included. Five states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab have done well. That indicates the best colleges are in the Deccan area.

India Today provides another list of top colleges in various disciplines. Its list is selective and not voluntary. Hence it includes reputed institutions like the IITs, AIIMS, Vellore Medical College and the like. However, it does not include all outstanding colleges. Hence, strictly speaking, we do not have a truly reliable list of quality institutions in the country. The government has been active in trying to improve college education. It has put forth four proposals. First, it has inducted a National Council of Higher Education and Research (NCHER) to replace the UGC, AICTE and the like. It is not clear how NCHER can function when the UGC and the AICTE did not. Second, the government wants compulsory accreditation. Frankly, the current accreditation systems do not enjoy a high reputation.

Third, the government wants admission to all colleges (including arts) by a central admission test. The US does have in SAT a nationwide entrance test. However, the SAT scores are used for shortlisting only and not for deciding admissions the way the IITs do. Fourth, the government wants public-private Partnership but no capitation fees.

Instead of these, I suggest that there could be admission tests but they should only be for shortlisting. Also, let colleges improve through competition and not by the dictat of an NCHER or a central accreditation agency. Then, let the number of students admitted be related to (not equal to) the number that gained acceptable employment or admission to advanced graduate courses. Then, many colleges in India will have to close down. Closing worthless colleges and not mindlessly expanding their number is the right solution for our country.

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NEW DELHI ARTIFACTS: The lost treasures campaign

Prof Rajita Chaudhuri follow some off-beat trends like organizing make up sessions

ASI makes efforts to bring back artifacts held abroad

The Archaeological Survey of India has joined international network of various countries to give a fillip to effort to bring back precious Indian artifacts held abroad.

Many other countries such as Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Chilie, Cyprus and Bolivia are working together with India to reclaim their lost treasures. Also, they are getting support from the UNESCO. Each of these countries are trying to prepare a database of such artifacts. It's understood that once it is ready they will make a concerted effort through diplomatic and legal channels to reclaim their antiquities.

Of late, India has launched a campaign for the return of iconic Kohinoor and Sultanganj Buddha statue that were taken away during the British rule. But, chances of bringing these rare artifacts back are really dim as British Museum Act-1963 doesn't allow items acquired through authentic process to be removed, according to experts. In order to get these artifacts, India and other countries will have to mount pressure on the UK to change its antiquities law.

Even ASI officials are apprehensive about the move. They believe that their efforts may not yield positive results in particular cases. A senior ASI official told TSI on the condition of anonymity: "We have successfully brought back many lost and stolen artifacts in the past. But Kohinoor is a different case altogether. There are many complex issues involved in the process. We are studying the antiquity law of the UK and trying to collect the necessary facts." ASI chairman Gautam Sengupta has stressed on the need to be realistic on the chance of getting back these most-talked about treasures.

Earlier, the ASI had succeeded in bringing back many stolen artifacts such as Atru Tehsil of Rajasthan and a Buddha statue of Bodhgaya, Bihar. Indian-origin people lobbied in the UK for the return of these stolen items. Besides, the ASI also raised the issue with UK Ambassador and ultimately the artifacts were returned. Can the ASI repeat its success story again? It seems difficult with Kohinoor, say experts. They said the Britishers took it after the treaty of Lahore was signed following two wars with Sikhs. However, the ASI is trying to push the matter on case-to-case basis as the list of artifacts held abroad is too long to handle.

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KERALA CUSTODIAL DEATH: Cops in the dock

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Father says police killed his son, but cops rubbish charge

The image of Kerala police took a beating after reports surfaced of the death of Sampath, 26, in police custody on March 29. He was the main accused in the sensational Puthoor Sheela murder case. She was killed on March 22, 2010, in the day light at her house in Palakkad and her mother Karthiyayani (70) was also brutally attacked.

The police claimed that Sampath developed chest pain and was taken to Palakkad District Hospital where he was declared dead. However, people are not willing to believe the police story. They accused the cops of killing him. The cops rubbished the charge. However, the High Court has asked the police to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigatoin (CBI).

Based on a petition filed by Sampath's brother and father, the court doubts the police version. Besides, Justice V Ramkumar feels that the cops are hiding the role played by then Superintendent of Police P. Vijaya Sakhare in this case. The Crime Branch of police had taken over the Sheela murder case days after the incident.

Justice Ramkumar expressed shock at lock ups being converted into killing chambers. He said he could not believe that 14 officers accused in the Sampath case are absconding and could not be arrested. He ordered the immediate handing of the related documents to the CBI Kochi Unit superintendent.

The counsel of Sampath's family members alleged that since Sheela was the sister of a top IAS official in Tourism Department, a high-level interference resulted in the custodial death.

The court pointed out that according to post-mortem report there were 63 injuries on Sampath's body. It is alleged that reports showed that electric shock was applied on the victim during interrogation. After this incident the credibility of the state police force, which is supposed to be the protector of people's life and properties, is at stake.

But Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan lost no time in stating that the judge has taken a biased view of the case while handing over the case to the CBI. Kerala Home Ministry boasts of police reforms and of late many police stations have been converted into Janamaithri (people friendly) police stations.

But with such cases coming to the fore, people will stop trusting the police force, according to activists. They said the police still used third-degree methods to divulge information from alleged culprits. Several custodial deaths during the Left Democratic Front (LDF) have tarnished the image of the police in the state.


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Which colour do you 'need'

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Ever wondered why the colour of money is usually green and workplaces are often painted blue and yellow? And why black is not a colour for an auspicious occasion while red is the choice of colour for most brides? Aakriti Bhardwaj sets out to find if interpreting colours correctly will indeed lead us to the pot of gold that lies at the end of the rainbow.
AAKRITI BHARDWAJ

While driving back from work one day, I heard an RJ on a radio channel dishing out advice to people for various problems through the usage of colours. A caller rang in and said, “I’m in love with this girl, who is my boss. She is going to London in 10 days and I need to tell her that I love her and I don’t want her to go.” The on-air colour therapist cum RJ Rochie Rana advised him to use red, pink and purple in his office. The week after, I tuned in again to find out about the fate of Mr Romeo. He apparently had walked up to his girl and proposed. “I think even I love you,” was the reply the lucky man received! But how could mere colours make someone fall for a person? Desperate to figure out how colours can fix our problems, I fixed an appointment with Rochie Rana, a colour therapist, pranic healer and an ex-radio jockey.

“There are two ways to look at colour therapy,” said Rochie, my shepherd for the day, lounging on a chair in a café sporting a black attire and sipping on a yellow drink. “One is colour therapy that originated along with ayurveda. In India, the principle was really simple, they understood colours affect people. Brides always wore red, that was colour therapy because they understood that red is the colour of sexual desire. It is the colour of bonding sexually, as in ancient India there were arranged marriages, so it helped women to feel more comfortable. They wore henna on their hands, as yellow is the colour which stopped them from feeling tired and helped cool their nerves as they worked in the kitchen and in the field. This is the Indian version, which started with ayurveda and it became really big while colour therapy was left behind. Then came Pythagoras (the man behind the Pythagoras theorem), who understood that every colour has a wavelength and every wavelength of every colour was constantly hitting your mind and giving you certain messages, and it had an effect on your mind, body and soul. Green was a natural master healer. Colour therapy is very old but Pythagoras actually is the man who gave colours their vibrational modalities, and therefore made it very scientific.”

Colour therapy is often criticised, for the placebo effect alone may help heal some patients. “You can verify it” Rochie said with a defensive look that stemmed from her love for her art... sorry science! “It’s empirical. Pythagoras said there are vibrational modalities. It is certified by doctors across the world. There are psychological institutes that dwell upon colour therapy. The University of Massachusetts always stands by the effect of colours on marketing and sales. For instance, no restaurant will have insufficient red or orange because those are the colours that make you want to eat. We don’t work on placebo effect. Which colour do you 'need' Colours have an effect even on those people who don’t believe in them. What I do is purely scientific. It is no voodoo, it is science. Colour therapy is not restricted to emotional and physical pain, I have cured people of migraine, hepatitis and by combining it with pranic healing, I’ve brought back people from the last stage of cancer!”

On a table in front of me, she then laid eight cards, each of a different colour. I was to pick one card at a time, whichever I was attracted to, and then flip it over and continue the drill with the rest of the cards. Each card had a number written on the other side, which became Rochie’s reference number. This process was to be done twice.

So I flipped each card one by one. Orange attracted me the most, green, blue and pink followed, next was the very bright yellow, and brown, black and grey were the last in my list. The second time the sequence was slightly altered. My therapist then did some math while I finally decided to look at the menu.

“You are a very emotional person and right now you are sort of emotionally distressed...” she’d begun. And as she continued, I was dumbstruck by the accuracy in her judgement of my current situation. I felt as if I had been shown a mirror, and it had reflected thoughts, which had perhaps been buried deep within me, things I never had the courage to face. She told me that I wanted to break away from personal or professional ties as they were making me unhappy. If I continued pushing myself, she warned that it could become a much larger problem. I asked her for solutions and she gave me three simple things to do for 14 days. On the eighth day itself, I could feel the difference. Today, I am more sorted and I have my priorities right. No wonder when we are sad, browns and greys seem to hold the maximum appeal and in happier times we invariably end up picking reds, purples and pinks. Try wearing a bright colour when feeling gloomy, it might surprise you by bringing that smile back! Which colour do you 'need' Colour Quotient
by Rochie Rana

For relationships:
Keep pink, purple and red close to yourself. It’s a myth that red makes you aggressive. A 100% exposure to red would make you aggressive. But red is for a very active, healthy and romantic relationship. Purple is for a very soulful relationship, I usually suggest it for couples who’ve been married really long and have lived out their sexual inclinations and are now trying to connect at a higher level.

To soothe or calm oneself:
Go for a lot of indigo and a little bit of blue. Always use only a hint of the colours; if you use a 100% blue, you are likely to feel depressed. Colours have contraindications as well. Too much of one colour can result in trouble.

Health:
Stay in the pink with green. Hospitals across the world use the colour green. It is considered as nature’s master healer. For example, if your blood pressure is low and your friend’s blood pressure is high, and if you are both exposed to green for seven minutes or more, both of your blood pressures will become normal!

For studies:
Yellow. This is the colour that increases concentration by 80%. So, if you are writing on a legal pad, chances of you remembering what you have written are 80% higher. But don’t overdo yellow, like wearing yellow, seeing yellow and writing on yellow, unless you want diarrhoea!

Physical pain:
Treat pain with green. Put some oil in a green glass bottle or cover a glass bottle with a green cellophane paper and keep it out in the sun for seven hours. This solarised oil can be used wherever there is pain for 14 days. Green is the only colour that doesn’t have side-effects. You can use as much of it as you want. You could also drink solarised water twice a day.

Prosperity and wealth:
Green, orange and purple. Technically, the colour of prosperity is green because the colour of money is green. Purple is a very good colour to bring in money as well and so is orange.

Workplace:
Yellow and orange at workplaces is good. Yellow is particularly good for people in creative jobs because it makes you think faster and think out of the box. Orange helps one push the envelope. It keeps you energised.

Combating negative thought:
If someone’s feeling negative, jealous, envious or angry, happy colours like white and purple should be used. A lot of people who have a lot of negative energy are not attracted to these colours as it repels them.

Business meetings:
If you are wearing black you are not going to get intimidated in a meeting. You would look dignified, feel confident, secure and be more assertive.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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A promise not kept

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Six years gone & STF men who killed Veerappan get nothing

When the elusive forest brigand Veerappan was shot dead by the joint Special Task Forces (STFs) of both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on October 18, 2004, the then government had promised to reward the cops involved in this operation.

Dharam Singh, who was the Chief Minister of Karnataka at that time, had announced various incentives, including cash rewards and promotions to all the 754 Karnataka STF personnel involved in the operation. Also, he had promised to gift residential plots to brave officers at their respective district headquarters.

Now, almost six years after that incident it looks that the operation has been forgotten. The STF has been renamed Anti-Naxal Squad (ANS) and redeployed in the dense jungles of Western Ghatts. Different governments came and went, but nobody made an effort to fulfil the promise despite repeated reminders and pleas by potential beneficiaries.

Upset with the attitude of the government, some personnel resorted to legal battle. B.Venkappa Rai and D.R.Jayaswamy of Mysore, N. Jagannathan, B.K. Bhaskar and Ningappa of Bangalore filed a case in the court against the state government. Finally, the court ordered the state to sanction the plots to the petitioners. But the government didn't act. And when it continued to ignore the court order, the petitioners filed Contempt of Court petition against the state government. This time, the government acted and sanctioned residential plots to all the above petitioners. But the government can get into trouble if the rest of the personnel also approach the court. In such a situation, the government might find it difficult to provide the plots to all of them.

Therefore, it immediately swung into action and issued an order on May 17, 2010, (HD92 POP 2010). It stated that instead of giving plots to the personnel the government would give them money that is cost of the plots (Rs 510 per square-foot). Some officials said Rs 20 crore is going to be allotted for this purpose. They said the government reneged on its early promise because there is shortage of plots in urban centres across the state.

According to the promise, the personnel holding post of inspector and lower level were supposed to get 30/40 plots and those above the inspector level 60/40 plots. Some activists said the recent offer was nothing but an eyewash, for none could get a plot with the price the government has fixed as the land value has risen in the urban centres, particularly in metropolises like Bangalore. The government is trying to wash its hand off the whole issue.

Moreover, even if one goes by the price per-square-foot fixed by the government, the total amount needed is around Rs 46 crore. But, as per the order, only Rs 20 crore is going to be allocated. Is it another eyewash?

Kumar Buradikatti

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IS POP FINALLY DYING OUT

Non-film music albums, which were in vogue a few years back, have now suddenly taken a backseat. But then, who is to be blamed for this downward trend?

When was the last time you watched a music video (a pop music video) on MTV or on any other music channel for that matter? Better, when was the last time you bought a CD that had non-film Hindi music? Over the last two years, the genre of non-film music (or pop as some popularly call it) has been gaining in obscurity.

But sample this, and you hit the paradoxical digit wall: In 2009, there were as many as 30 pop albums (in Hindi) released. While music production company Tips released two pop albums, Sony and Saregama came out with three each during this period. Universal Music, however, had a comparatively better count of 16 non-film releases. Yet, the overall annual figure of pop albums is much less than what it used to be in the early years of this decade. Four years back, non-film music used to have 22-25% share of the music industry in terms of value.

Unfortunately, industry estimates suggest that this share has fallen by a good 50% as of now. Rajeeta Hemwani, VP – Content and A&R, Universal Music says, “Over the last two years, labels have completely shied away from non-film music due to the changing dynamics of the industry. Though the music industry on the whole has been on a slow track, but non-film music has taken a bigger hit than film music.”

This is completely opposite of how music labels operate in the West, with a mammoth share of 90% and above of the approximately $12 billion industry being accounted by non-film music sales (33% being digital downloads; and WalMart and Apple being the top two retailers). As per the FICCI-KPMG Media and Entertainment Industry report 2009, the size of the Indian music industry has fallen by about 12% to Rs.7.3 billion in 2008 as compared to Rs.8.3 billion in 2005. One of the primary reasons for this de-growth has been the erosion of sales of physical formats, a trend which is expected to continue in the future as well. Physical formats such as audio cassettes and compact discs, which accounted for about 87% of industry revenue in India in 2005 currently account for just 60%. What further adds to the woes of non-film music is its lackluster performance on digital front too. While film albums like Delhi6 and Singh is Kinng have easily made a few lakhs through the digital medium, collecting even a few thousands through the medium has been a tough battle for non-film music albums.

But it’s just not the falling proceeds of the music industry which is to blame for this extinction. Over the last three years, pop music has been strongly ignored by television channels and radio stations, which in turn has discouraged music labels to invest their money in pop albums. As Universal’s Hemwani points out, “Today, even the best of the pop videos with best artist gets played once or twice in a day on a music channel like MTV. We can’t expect 7-8 rotations per day of a pop video on music channels today.

If we don’t get a good air-play how can we expect these albums to get popular or even noticed for that matter.” The point raised by Hemwani is actually a result of changing business strategy of leading music channels like MTV and Channel V. Reality being the latest fad among the youth, music channels are now embracing more reality content in their programming mix at the cost of music.

Today a channel like MTV has only 20% share of music in its programming mix. Not just that, MTV has also dropped the phrase ‘Music Television’ from its logo in October 2009. Ashish Patil, GM – MTV India & Senior VP – Creative & Content says, “Dropping the ‘MUSIC TELEVISION’ tag from the logo is a big symbolic statement and finally closes the loop on the repositioning exercise MTV kicked off two years back. We were born of music, inspired by music, driven by music – but not limited by music… MTV is beyond music, beyond television.” Similarly, Channel V has just 60% of music content today. This is a significant fall compared to an 80% share that music use to have just two years ago in its programming mix.

Today music channels have less on-air time for music content and even lesser time for pop music simply because film music has a wider appeal than pop. Radio stations too don’t give significant air-play to non-film music. Thus, the non-film music content has to rely mostly on paid promotions (both on TV and radio) to get noticed. This in turn takes the marketing cost of these albums higher. That’s the reason why private albums of big singers like Mohit Chauhan (Fitoor) and Kailash Kher (Yatra), released in 2009, aren’t as popular as their previous albums. However, the good news is that the non film music has been climbing up through live events, thanks to a number music bands surfacing in the country. “Over the last two years non-film music has made significant money through events which is a good sign for the category,” says a media analyst. Industry experts too feel that this is in fact the area that will drive the growth of the non-film music category in future. Even as per the FICCI-KPMG report, “The public performance segment, with revenue of Rs.173 million in 2008, is expected to reach Rs.378 million by 2013.”

Industry experts are hopeful that with some support from TV channels and radio stations in the form of having a particular slot, non-film music could grow in future. Moreover, with new radio and TV channels getting on the block, the domination of mass music (in Indian context, films) will pave the way for niche content. Even if one or two pop music radio and TV channels go on-air, it can give the non-film music category the much needed boost.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

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