Saturday, June 30, 2012

IITBHU : Such a long journey

Vide Notification no. F.No.8-5/2008-TS.I (Vol.-IV) from Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India, the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 2012 (No.34 of 2012) has come into force on 29th day of June 2012 and consequently, the erstwhile Institute of Technology, BHU has become Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi w.e.f. June 29, 2012.
IT-BHU had always trait of becoming independent and autonomous. Now, that goal had been achieved. Speech given by Jawaharlal Nehru on 15th August 1947 : 'Tryst with Destiny' is coming in back of my mind. In 2009, IT-BHU was slated for conversion into an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) by amending the Institutes of Technology Act 1961 through The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 2011 which was passed by the Lok Sabha on 24 March 2011 and by the Rajya Sabha on April 30, 2012. The institute is now officially known as IIT-BHU.

To once visit in Varanasi is a very desirable fate and one accepts the fact that nothing is outside the realm of possibility in India. Irrespective of this, I don't know why I despise Varanasi while loving the college in equal proportion. The river Ganga that flows through Varanasi is a reservoir of filth, chaos and poverty, but also a meeting place for memories and belonging. I had expressed much anger in Banaras: A Bitter Memoir. Holy City of Kashi is the most sacred place for millions but mine love is limited to my college only.

An average ITian is a self contained creature and sometime desiring for an extra 'I'. However, an ITian richly deserve more than the quasi-IIT status. It is true that we all have walked on the roads of IT-BHU with a question in our hearts. Why is there so much bureaucratic and political hurdles in one small conversion ? May be Indian state can bear anything from corruption to nepotism, but an 'autonomy' to make its own decision is blasphemous !

There is always a pivotal moment of self awareness in a society that is held together for so long by the belief of superiority. We all know thoroughly about rise of new IITs and the gradual fall of ITBHU from its peak position. The fall was initiated long ago with internal politics, low funding and shoddy appointments. Even ITBHU introduced entrance pattern of IIT-JEE in 1971 only, it could not update itself with the changing times so quickly. However, much deserved yet over-hyped IIT brand continues to elude the institute. Administration, Faculty and Students of IITBHU need more interaction with the honest, progressive, modern and reasonable world outside of its own citadel.

Imminent effect of IIT Status is already visible through an upward movement in JEE ranks for IIT BHU. [Quick Analysis Here]. It appears to be name change for many but the first step towards great change has already been taken. There were few questions raised previously about future of ITBHU. See the winds of change has already started flowing among the faculty, alumnus, students and administration. After IIT, What Next?
'The Old order changeth, yielding place to New'
I cherish 'IIT tag' for ITBHU not because of the 'brand value' but because of the wide spectrum of 'autonomy' enjoyed by them. The tag will naturally attract higher ranked JEE candidates and procure high funding levels for faculty. I dreamed of college who should be identified with the liberty and opportunity. I dreamt once ITBHU such a place for me. I no longer cherish the dream and am driven by different ideology. Yet, this was a cause close to my heart. Opening of new IITs and up-gradation of old Institutions is a slow step towards reform in the higher technical education. I was personaly much against people who were opposing opening of new IITs as this may dilute the 'IIT' brand. This is much shameful that our best minds were more concerned about brand than scarcity of good institutions. Only under umbrella of IIT, the autonomy could have been achieved and now had been achieved.
“The job of the university is to not give society what it wants, but what it needs.”
A good way of spreading brand awareness and also making the best out of the time in the institute is to try to do something out of the box such as travel abroad for internships, leverage the IT-BHU network in securing jobs etc. The journey to this red letter day for IT BHU fraternity has been long and full of roadblocks. This could not have been possible without countless& well-wishers, proud alumnus, ITBHU administration, esteemed Professors and current students. They protested, lobbied and even gone public with their demand of the conversion. Kudos to all of them. There were opposition and blocks from the section inside BHU that were seeing threat to the heritage of Madan Mohan Malviya. With persistence, the milestone for upcoming glorious years had been achieved.

I am not yet convinced about how this move will benefit thousands of poor students. To be poor is to be without any entrance exam coaching or good schools. Already, there is a huge information gap between middle class and lowers class. People with good information and money set are less dependent on government spending and public goods. They are in much better situation to get an admission in any IITs at the end of school education. I hope that IITs should make reservation of seats for a youth from BPL card holder family. That will be a good initiative from such an old and prestigious Institute.

Changes are slow but inevitable. As time passes either we adapt or get left behind. The widespread serenity of VT has taught us to endure and have a patience for the cherished moment. I am happy to be a tiny part of heritage of both BHU and IIT system. Yet a question remains unanswered in my mind at this happy hour. Do the best students need the IIM or IIT stamp to be seen as special ?

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Ten Issues - 23

1- Retuning Alha Udal : The lustrous versatility of film music, and change wrought by time. Gulzar knows our culture more than anybody in music industry.

2- Evaluating responses to India's macroeconomic crisis by Shubho Roy and Ajay Shah.

3- Not an April Fool: We are encouraged to over-share, for commercial reasons (just as we are encouraged to over-consume, but that's an issue for another time).

4- वक्‍त की छलनी में चेहरे गुम हो जाते हैं, गीत अमर रहता है ♦ जावेद अख्‍तर - पिछले दिनों जावेद अख्‍तर को राष्‍ट्रपति ने राज्‍यसभा की सदस्‍यता दी। 17 मई 2012 को जावेद साहब ने संसद में अपना पहला भाषण दिया।

5- Sheryl Sandberg’s Inspiring Speech At Harvard Business School. Sandberg urged the new graduates to think of their careers as a “jungle gym,” jumping around instead of following a preordained progression. She urged her listeners to take similar leaps, perhaps accepting a job that’s a step down from what one is currently doing if it offers the chance to learn something new. “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship,” she said, “don’t ask what seat—just get on.”

6- Graduate Student: To Be or Not To Be by Karthik Shekhar who is a graduate student at MIT. He earned a Dual Degree in Chemical Engineering in 2008 from IITB.

7- An Open Letter to India’s Graduating Classes - The author is a partner with KPMG.

8- We are now going to uncloak the anonymous man and tell the story of Stephen Ridley. Life is short - you're young, you're old, you're dead. React to that knowledge. You have nothing to lose.

9- Why People Should Not Be Poor by Neera Chandhoke - Can we reflect on the right not to be poor without taking on these background inequalities? Arguably, the right not to be poor is best articulated as a subset of the generic right to equality. The concept of equality is, however, not self-explanatory. In many circles, redistributive justice has replaced equality. It is therefore time to ask the question – equality for what? Unless we are careful about the way we approach the poverty debate, we will land up not with equality, but with “sufficientarianism”.

10- ARTICLE 17 is a campaign launched by Video Volunteers on April 14th, 2012, to urge the National Commission for Schedule Castes, (the government body that is constitutionally appointed to direct and implement the safeguards against untouchability), to prosecute cases of untouchability.

Thought of the Day : - “The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn’t hear, doesn’t speak, nor participates in the political events. He doesn’t know the cost of life, the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swells his chest saying that he hates politics. The imbecile doesn’t know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies.” ― Bertolt Brecht

Monday, May 28, 2012

Ten Issues - 22

1- Banning middlemen from oil trade could drive down price of crude by 40% : These middlemen add little value and lots of cost as they bid up the price of oil in pursuit of financial gain. They are "pure" speculators - investors who buy and sell oil futures but never take physical possession of actual barrels of oil.

2- Daron Acemoglu on Inequality - The US, the UK and many other countries have become far less equal over the past 30 years. The MIT economics professor says it's important we understand how and why this happened, and what it means for our societies. He also review Five Books.

3- The Emperor Uncrowned - A complete reportage on the rise of Narendra Modi.

4- The new think tank by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha:- Dry intellectual pursuits such as neuroscience and auction theory are solving problems on the ground. We met four people whose models prove how.

5- December 1984 By Sathyu Sarangi : Many of the battles begun 25 years ago, in the aftermath of catastrophe, continue today. A deep and moving saga of the struggle of Bhopal victims.

6- Of chick charts, hen charts and other such women’s stories: Saba Dewan - This could be termed as a pioneer of the Feminist movement in modern-day Delhi. It will be difficult to fathom that such sexist and misogynist behaviour existed in educational institution.

7- Plutonomy and the precariat: On the history of the US economy in decline - Prof. Chomsky explains that the current US economy is built on 'growing worker insecurity' - people who are too busy and poor to make demands.

8- The Importance of Not Being Earnest : The larger implications of a country that takes itself too seriously. - We as the Public India seems to have no sense of humour at all. And all attempt of sarcasm and other sharper kinds of humour.

9- Marx at 193 by John Lanchester - Writer review here importance of Marx and he really did have the most astonishing insight into the nature and trajectory and direction of capitalism.

10- Great biographic article on Prof. Amartya Sen who studies of social choice, welfare measurement, and poverty and do research on fundamental problems in welfare economics.

Quote of the day :- Personally, I'm in favor of democracy, which means that the central institutions of society have to be under popular control. Now, under capitalism we can't have democracy by definition. Capitalism is a system in which the central institutions of society are in principle under autocratic control. Thus, a corporation or an industry is, if we were to think of it in political terms, fascist; that is, it has tight control at the top and strict obedience has to be established at every level - there's a little bargaining, a little give and take, but the line of authority is perfectly straightforward. Just as I'm opposed to political fascism, I'm opposed to economic fascism. I think that until major institutions of society are under the popular control of participants and communities, it's pointless to talk about democracy.” — Noam Chomsky