Educational Cess

There’s Confusion Surrounding The Collection

Urmi A Goswami NEW DELHI

WILL finance minister P Chidambaram tell the nation how much money has been actually collected as education cess, because his ministry can’t come up with one figure. The total amount of cess collected seems to vary, depending on where the information is being given. The variation in the amount collected ranges from about Rs 200 crore to Rs 500 crore.
In November 2007, minister for state for human resource development MAA Fatmi informed Parliament on the basis of information provided by the department of revenue that Rs 4,159.39 crore, Rs 7,117.07 crore and Rs 9,037.23 crore had been collected as education cess for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07, respectively. These figures are substantially different from the ones provided by the government’s official accountant, the Controller General of Accounts.
The 2% education cess, according to figures from the Controller General of Accounts, is Rs 5,557.58 crore in 2004-05, Rs 7,322.82 crore in 2005-06, and Rs 9,466.5 crore in 2006-07. To make matters a little more ambiguous, figures available with the HRD ministry show cess amount to be Rs 4,318.51 crore in 2004-05, and Rs 7,637.75 crore in 2005-06. For the year 2006-07, the HRD ministry only had figures till February — Rs 6,833 crore.
The 2% education cess was introduced in Budget 2004-05 to ensure that more money flowed into the basic education segment as promised in the UPA government’s common minimum programme. The education cess is levied on all central taxes such as corporate tax, income tax, service tax, custom duty and excise. Since no separate fund had been created for the cess, that year the finance ministry debited Rs 4,173 crore from the year’s expenditure on SSA and mid-day meal, which was Rs 6260.50 crore.
In November 2005, the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (PSK) was created as a non-lapsable fund in the public accounts. In real terms, it means the total quantum of money collected as education cess would have to be parked in a designated fund created in the public accounts. And the proceeds of the 2% education cannot be used for any purpose other than funding Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the mid-day meal programmes. So, even if the HRD ministry did not use the entire amount of cess collected in the year, the government wouldn’t be able to divert the money for other purposes. The balance of unused funds would have to show up in the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh.
urmi.goswami@timesgroup.com

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What Aamir thinks ... :)

Education, law and order, judiciary need sharper focus

This is one guest editor of ETwho takes his role way beyond the newsroom. After donning the editor's hat for an entire weekend, kicking off ET’s pre-budget Budgee roadshow, and writing some insightful stories on the state of cinema in India as well as across the border, Aamir Khan now puts together his Budget suggestions to the finance minister. And as can only be expected from the versatile actor, the role he picks isn't the expected entertainment professional, but a very concerned citizen.

THERE are three sectors which I feel we need to give a lot more value to and which certainly need a lot more of our attention. Education, law and order and the judiciary — three basic pillars on which any good society is built and sustained. And when I say value, I mean in every way, including economic.
School education right up to the 10th grade, is where my emphasis for education would lie. For a good quality education across a country likes ours, a lot more money needs to be pumped into the infrastructure, which includes research and development for a modern, far-seeing and holistic method of education. Also, an emphasis on training programmes for educators and of course, a higher pay scale for teachers.
The other two pillars — law and order and the judiciary — are interlinked to some extent. Here again, infrastructure needs to be strengthened. During my research for ‘Sarfarosh’, I discovered to my horror that a lot of police stations were not even adequately funded with money for basics like petrol, stationery and equipment. In such a scenario, how can we expect our police force to function properly? The security, law and order and justice of any society are of prime importance. And this can come about only when the people responsible for law and order and justice are given value and pay scales which ensure that they can lead dignified lives without finding it necessary to succumb to corruption. This includes from top to bottom, policemen, IPS officers, IAS officers, Customs officials, magistrates and judges.

A A M I R K H A N

‘Help child realise dream’

Venus Williams Feels Parents Play Big Role In Development

Prajwal Hegde | TNN

Bangalore: Fast feet, great reach and a huge serve has seen Venus Williams power to four Wimbledon crowns. The former world No. 1, however, has always been more than a great tennis player. The 27-year-old, an avid reader of anything ranging from technology to theatre, also enjoys fashion designing, modelling and collecting antiques.
In an email interview with ToI, the inspirational American touched upon her varied interests.
The way women’s tennis is going, is there room for flair and finesse, or will it be just be all about power like the men’s?
Having power does not necessarily mean there is no finesse. I think that finesse actually enhances your power by keeping your opponent off balance.
Do you have any tennis dreams left?
Yes. I have quite a few dreams left which I would love to fulfil before retiring.
How difficult was it for you to balance growing up and playing tennis?
My parents always taught Serena and I to plan for our long-term futures and have interests that go beyond only playing tennis. I went to a normal high school; I took college classes in fashion and graduated last December. I participated in other activities away from tennis. Looking back, these activities helped me keep my mind fresh and maintain a strong level of excitement about competing and improving on the tennis court.
What is your message to girls who come through tough backgrounds like you, who grow up dreaming of playing tennis, but can’t afford top class coaching?
It’s really a message to parents that regardless of what they can afford or not, it is important for them to stay connected with their child’s development. I don’t think money or the lack thereof would have changed our development. It was our parents commitment that got us to this point.
Who do you consider your toughest rival?
Serena knows my game better than anyone. We have practised together since we started playing. I believe she has more weapons than anyone on Tour.
Of all the dresses you have designed and worn on a tennis court, which is your favourite?
The EleVen collection has been exciting because it is another dream that I am realising. The first time I wore EleVen was at the US Open last year and it was a special feeling to wear outfits that I designed from the initial sketches to actually wearing them on centre court.
Western designers are seeking Indian influences, are you going to be scouting around when in Bangalore?
I always look for inspiration and I expect that being in a beautiful city like Bangalore for the first time will definitely generate ideas.
When you think of India what comes to your mind first?
India’s culture.
After deciding to play in Bangalore have you done any special reading on this country and Bangalore in particular. Other than the tennis are you looking forward to doing anything special here?
I always do research before going to any city for the first time. I have a long plane ride to India from the US where I will have plenty of time to read and finalise my plans.
When Sania Mirza started coming through the draw in international tournaments were you curious to hear about that Indian girl who had made it through?
Sania is a talented player. I recently played her in Australia. She has got huge potential to make it big. Recently we have seen great players come up from various regions and I felt it would be a matter of time before India would produce a top player both in men and women tennis.

My Comments - I remember having a conversation with my dad about a career in music when I was 16. Obviously the answer was a strict no. How can a doctor's child think of a career in music! Engineering has to be the next choice if not medicine as a career. Well here I am. An Engineer who detests engineering subjects [partly due to the teaching methodology and outdated syllabus - i have immense love for physics and maths].

My opinion - make every children realize their individual passion. Don't stop there. Help them convert the dream into reality. [and don't worry, i am pursuing a side career in music :)]

The Future of Education in India...Sandeep R. Sharma

The problem with Education in India is that people look at it as a business opportunity. I don't blame people for doing so. I myself had considered it for a couple of years. Today, I wish to create a system where education right from the childhood to professional level, is free for all - irrespective of the colour of skin or the name of his/her god; the quality being the top most priority. However it would be a huge lie if i said that I don't wanna make money out of it. Obviously i would want to keep everyone around me content. Though the system I have in mind wouldn't cheat students of lakhs of rupees in the name of quality.

Lets look at the basics. Why does a student [his/her parent] pay for education? A child is provided with teachers and a supposedly good learning environment, along with other facilities like library, labs, competitive opportunities, picnics, educational trips and of course lots of friends for socializing.

Not so long ago, I attended one of the best schools in Thane [a city near Mumbai - India] - St. John The Baptist High School, and for all the above facilities we were charged around 25 rupees a year approximately. This was just 10 years ago [mid 90's], the school being government aided. My friends in private unaided schools used to pay any where between Rs. 6ooo to Rs. 20000 a year then. I don't think anyone of us or the parents of students had a problem with the fee. It was worth it.

I never thought much about the fee and quality of education in municipal schools in my city until i graduated. Thinking about the history of these schools and the number of students who have attended these inferior schools run by government in tier 1 cities leaves me depressed. How can such a vast quality gap exist in the same city at almost the same fee?

A few years later, most of my friends and i were in professional colleges [mostly engineering] chugging out anywhere between Rs. 10000 a year to Rs. 250000 a year [leave alone the countless coaching classes and crash courses students take up - i wonder why they call it a crash course]. I don't recollect a single friend saying the fee was worth it. None of these professional colleges - the IITs, VJTI, Somaiya, S.P. Jain, Fr. Agnel or their counter parts in medical courses delivered the quality we expected. Irrelevant subjects, faulty and faithless assessment system [i have seen students miss out on a year or opportunity to study at a good foreign university due to faulty results in final year university exams] , zero [i absolutely mean it] knowledge professors [we had professors with lesser attendance than the most frequently absent student], non-functional or just-on-paper labs were just a few of the problems we faced through out the four years of higher education. I wonder on what basis is the fee charged. There wasn't a single subject that I couldn't have mastered on my own or in a small study group of friends, without the help of any professor. In fact we would have utilized the study hours in a better manner.

Its really sad that at the end, hundreds [hundreds at least under Mumbai university- the ones i surely know about] of students feel they wasted a good part of their youth in these wastelands termed as colleges. I call them wastelands cause I strongly believe that they offer nothing at all. I learned more while surfing on the net, reading up articles on free educational websites, e-books, patents and chatting to fellow students around the world than i did in the four years of engineering [of-course a major part of the chat was non-academic :)]. Students studying mechanical engineering for four years took up jobs in IT companies - building softwares instead of machines, even worse - working in night shifts in BPOs [call center]. And these aren't just one or two cases. I am talking about hundreds of engineers.

However the scenario in the medical colleges is slightly better with respect to the quality. I guess many people would not completely agree with me on these statements. Try taking to a fresh engineer from Mumbai university.

Anyways, coming back to the issue - what can be done to improve the quality and make it affordable to the masses?

1. The government should provide free education to each and every child up to H.S.C [grade 12]
2. The current assessment methodology has to go away - we are sick and tired of mugging up things. The present assessment forces students to memorize pages after pages without being genuinely curious about anything. We don't want knowledge banks that can't think. What's the use of a person who knows the entire atomic chart upside down, but can't think of innovative chemical processes for eliminating pollution? The assessment methodology has to change to one that promotes questioning out of curiosity, rather than answering by mugging.
3. Improve the quality of teachers across India - very few teachers adopt practical, hands-on and activity based learning. Reading out of a text book, dictating definition and loading the students with homework can't be the way forward. We need lakhs of teachers who can inspire the students. We need them to make the students fall in love with the process of learning. Learning can't progress without it being fun and as addictive as a game. The stress should be more on learning rather than teaching. We need private players for grading the teachers. Merely a B.Ed. is not enough.
4. Provide compulsory and free counseling to each and every child.
5. For higher education, the students should be given credits, which they start to repay once they start earning. These can be low/zero interest loans which will be equal for all categories - open and reserved. This will partially help in resolving the issue of reservation. This would imply that the student studies today without pay a single paisa and pays later at a rate proportional to his/her pay which would again depend upon the quality of education received.
6. Lastly - needless to say, the red tape and the corruption needs to be thrown out. We need a super transparent system. Let the students have free access to databases, checked answer paper - still better - have online tests [if its online the assessment can be more dynamic and well regulated - a weekly test across all the colleges under the university, which lets the student know where he/she is with respect to others every week.]

These are few of the numerous ideas that i keep talking about with my friends, colleagues. While writing this I went down a depressing memory lane and the the vision for future that i have had are super optimistic considering that I live in India. May be I dream too much. But I dare!

The issues of higher education in India - Source - The Economic Times!

The missing edge: Reforming higher education Fifteen years back a Swedish steel company quoted Rs 30 crore for selling a technology to Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL). Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bangalore and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras analysed the process and their elementary analysis revealed that the technology was not up to the mark. The next day the price dropped to Rs 15 crore. “Such is the power of higher education,” says MS Ananth, director, IIT Madras. Unfortunately, higher education in India has lost its edge. There is little innovation — thanks to too little investment, ill-devised regulatory framework, and lack of relevance. None of these problems are difficult to fix and at least one step towards all this was taken last week. The government decided to invite suggestions to revamp the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). In some ways, AICTE’s approach symbolises many of the wrongs. It is opposed to joint degrees by Indian and Western universities (Mumbai based B-school SP Jain’s tie-up with MIT was turned down). Its criteria to grant recognition to universities have been described as very restrictive. The requirement of 25 acres of land for campuses has made it almost impossible for institutions to start operations in large cities. But at the same time it has given persmision to many universities that operate out of just a few rooms. If you thought AICTE is the long and short of it, think again. There are more than 12 statutory professional councils. The problem is not with the number, but with the fact that most of these organisations are regulators — they look at the quality of inputs. No one measures the quality of institutes. Checking for quality This approach needs to change. Mr. Ananth says, “There is no such thing as control. It is only on paper and gives rise to corruption.” A way out could be by having a body for accreditation rather than control the colleges. This will ensure that students are not cheated on standards. Something on the lines of ABET, an accreditation body in the US, that is a recognised accreditor for college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology. The difference between accrediting and regulating is that the former guarantees the quality in institutions already up and running whereas regulators have the power of starting institutions. Some might argue that decentralising power might dilute the quality in education. This problem can be resolved by granting autonomy to each one of the 16,885 colleges operating in India. While accreditation shall evaluate the academic qualifications or standards of an institution, autonomy will make the entities responsible to impart quality education. At the moment, colleges with widely diverging quality levels are affiliated to the same university. “The colleges offering high standards suffer in the bargain as the students from both good and bad colleges receive the same degree,” adds Mr Ananth. The way to weed out the bad would be to let investment flow to those institutes that are delivering high-quality students. Says Nitin Potdar, partner at law firm J Sagar Associates, “We need special education zones not special economic zones.” In the last two years, Potdar has been approached by four big foreign universities looking to start operations in India. Non-transparency and ‘licence raj’ in the system, says Potdar, drove these institutions away. Traditionalists have been vehemently opposing foreign education, fearing it might lead to commodification of knowledge. Worse still, other feel that Western countries will follow their economic model and produce ‘technical clerks’, who in turn will pander to their demands. India doesn’t have a choice, unfortunately. The present expenditure on education by the Centre and states is Rs 91,000 crore. Another Rs 7,000 crore IS collected through education cess (3.32% of GDP). Singapore spends 4% of its GDP on education. Though there is an increase of 150% in central spending on higher education in 2007-08 (at Rs 6,354 crore over Rs 2,550.50 crore this year), the fact remains that India will continue to lag behind its Asian counterparts. Currently India spends 0.5% of its GDP on education. This needs to go up to 1.5% of GDP. Also, Rs 100,000 crore per year is required for Vocational Education & Training. The government isn’t coming up with this amount. Who is afraid of FDI? The suspicion about foreign investment upsets Krishan Khanna, chairman and founder of iWatch, a National Citizens Movement for Transforming India. Pointing towards people walking in the lobby of the posh Hilton Towers in Mumbai, Khanna says, “These folks aren’t affected by the state of higher education in the country as they can afford to pursue foreign education. Until the sector is open to investments, people will have to resign to the sub-standard state of higher education in India. Goddess of learning, Saraswati, will have to be deregulated and unchained, like the Goddess of wealth Lakshmi was in 1991.” Education is perhaps going through the same phase as insurance, print media and real estate a few years ago. After years of opposition, FDI was finally allowed in these sectors. In India, nearly 160,000 students go overseas to pursue higher and technical education. This results in a foreign exchange out flow of about $10 billion per year. “This amount is sufficient to build 40 IIMs or 20 IITs per year! Further rationing of higher education seats allows a few people to corner the market and that leads to a black market and the menace of capitation fees,” adds Khanna. Other countries that have allowed foreign investment have benefited immensely. Dubai, a dwarf compared to India, has already taken steps in this direction. Four years ago, Dubai opened its doors to international training centres, professional centres and HR companies. Dubai Knowledge Village’s (DKV) partners include diverse nationalities such as Australians, Indians, Pakistanis, Iranians, Russians, Belgians, English and Irish. Further, DKV has 100% foreign ownership and tax exemption. Take another instance, Singapore has established itself as a regional hub providing quality education at a much lower cost compared to the US. As a result it has above 66,000 international students representing over 60 nationalities. The presence of 7,000 multinational companies in Singapore offers unique industry networking and employment opportunities. If similar models are thought of in the Indian context, infusion of FDI will ensure Indian colleges leverage the technology, infrastructure and expertise of the foreign schools like Harvard, Wharton, London Business School and INSEAD. Letting in the corporations The next step would be to let the private sector play a greater role. In the global context, India is lagging behind in terms of number of universities it has. While Japan has 4,000 universities for its 127 million people and the US has 3,650 universities for its 301 million, India has only 348 universities for its 1.2 billion people. Since the government has primary and secondary education to fund, the sensible thing to do would to let the corporations take a crack at this opportunity. In Japan, 75% of all higher education institutions are privately held, in India this percentage is around 30%. And most of the successful private educational institutions here have one thing in common — regulatory hurdles they all have managed to overcome. To be fair, some companies have enetered this sector and roughed it out. Vedanta University CEO V Krishnan recalls being questioned on the large piece of land acquired for the university. Authorities thought that 6,000 acres was a huge chunk for this fully residential university. “We made our intent clear that we are not looking for any sops or incentives and that the land has been acquired at more than market rate from the public. Of course there will be delays and regulatory hurdles. But being Indians, we understand the challenges here,” says Krishnan. Vedanta has eight colleges including schools of arts and science, engineering and law colleges, schools for management, medicine, design and architecture, education and communication and has received a generous grant of $1 billion from Anil Agarwal. The university that claims to have research in its DNA will see its first batch graduate in 2009. By 2010, the entire university will be fully operational with a capacity of 100,000 students. Krishnan hopes that companies like Infosys, Tatas take active part in this direction too. “What I have seen is anything big and good you start others follow. The demand for higher education, research is very high,” he adds. Apart from the recent entrant Vedanta University, the veterans like ICFAI and Manipal University are grappling with the same regulatory issues. Manipal University, a deemed university that started with a medical college in 1953, has 24 colleges now. Not only will it set up four more campuses in India with an initial investment of around Rs 100-130 crore, it has plans of going global. The fact that the small town of Manipal has become an education hub for domestic and international students is a testimony to the university’s success. Manipal University vice-chancellor Dr R P Warrier says, “Regulation has to be good and it has to facilitate the growth of higher education rather than restrict it.” Likewise, the 24-year old ICFAI has 19 business schools, six engineering colleges with an annual student intake of 5,000. According to ICFAI chief academic officer Dr V Pandu Ranga Rao, there are two basic challenges the University faces. “Firstly, multiplicity of regulators makes things very difficult and delayed. Secondly, an even bigger problem is the shortage of quality faculty,” he says. There is a clear mismatch between the demand for skills and the supply to the market from the universities. Darlie Koshy, director, National Institute of Design (NID), supports the competency study group adopted by Chile. Under this, the budget is divided among education sectors in the order of importance of the industry it is relevant to. Of the 440 million youth currently employed, around 58% are in the service sector, 28% are in the manufacturing sector and another 15% are in the agriculture sector. Therefore the allocation for education should be in this order too. “At a time when we talk about country being driving by design and innovation, there are none of these in the budget. There are 400 design schools in India, but there are around 30,000-40,000 such schools in China,” says Mr Koshy. Keeping it all relevant How relevant is the higher education in India? While China has 500,000 vocational schools, training about 60 million people per year, India has about 12,000 centres, training about 3 million people per year. In his speech on Independence day Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the government will soon launch a mission on vocational education and skill development. “We will open 1600 new industrial training institutes (ITIs) and polytechnics, 10,000 new vocational schools and 50,000 new skill-development centres. We will ensure that annually, over 100 lakh students get vocational training which is a four-fold increase from today’s level,” Mr. Singh said. This looks like a good way out as the archaic courses in the system have generated many unemployed youth. The example of polytechnics producing engineers is the most obvious in this context. However, The Institute of Charterd Accountants of India (ICAI) has come forth and made some amendments. Unlike in the earlier years where people would pursue CA during college, from last year onwards students are encouraged to pursue the profession from class 10 onwards by seeking provisional admission. Says ICAI president Sunil Talati, “Right after class 12 a student can take common proficiency test (CPT) (something like CAT). So from now onwards its not mandatory for a CA to be a graduate.” NIIT, a private player in the field of IT education and training is another such example. Leveraging on its robust IT systems and sensing the demand for education programs for working professionals, NIIT launched NIIT Imperia in 2006. Under this program, NIIT has tied up with IIMs (Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Indore) to bring the latter’s executive management programs to 15 centres in 12 locations. NIIT Imperia has extended its offerings and reach to Tier II towns including Bhubaneswar, Nagpur, Vishakhapatnam and Chandigarh too. Further NIIT has established Institute of Finance, Banking & Insurance (IFBI) to develop talent pool for banking and financial services sector. It has partnered with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Yes Bank to expand its offerings for the banking sector. NIIT IFBI has also partnered with ICICI Securities and ICICI Prudential for developing manpower for insurance sector. There is no sure-shot formula for reforming higher education. Change in government policies and FDI infusion in the sector may bring about wonders but what is also needed is a change in the way society thinks. We need an environment that nurtures both knowledge and skills. Thus the polytechnics shouldn’t produce engineers who don’t find employment. Rather, they should do what they are best at doing — producing skilled workforce. As Mr. Ananth puts it across, “Education has one use — survival. There are two type of survival skills. The first is for individuals and that involves vocational courses, something like training for call centres where the job description is laid down and is targeted to a market. The second is meant for civilisation. And this happens through higher education.” India would do well to heed these words. (With inputs from Mailini Goyal)

New Trends in Education!

Next on your screen: trigonometry

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Ever imagined your dad cajoling you to watch TV a day before exams? That’s the way learning and last-minute revision is set to go with education channels and distance learning programmes offering content to suit every student’s needs.
Currently, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) operates Gyan Darshan, a channel that caters to pre-schoolers, and primary, secondary and college students. Content is contributed by IGNOU, University Grants Commission, and National Council for Education Research and Training.
To reach more students, IGNOU will soon start two more channels, GD-1 and GD-2. They will be placed on the DTH platform of DD, Direct Plus. IGNOU vice chancellor V N Rajashekharan Pillai said students would be able to avail of the new facility at home and unlike Gyan Darshan, it would enable live interaction.
Private channels are also offering similar services. Topper, a recently introduced freeto-view channel on DTH, airs courses and runs two ‘exam special’ episodes too on a daily basis. Currently, IIT (Bombay) also runs free live classrooms for engineering students across the country.
Similar initiatives are also being undertaken at the school education level. While Edusat — a distance education programme via satellite — has reached government schools, private initiatives are also seeing students adopt newer techniques for studies. The Academy, an online portal of MBD Alchemie, that offers online studies, crash courses, tests and solves queries raised by students, has seen almost 6,000 class X and XII students register for online classes.

Sim City - Version - Mumbai!

This project really excites me. Am gonna keep a track of how the railway engineers tackle the numerous problems in their way.

DREAM MACHINE

The Idea Of Running A-C Trains On Elevated Tracks Is Not As Implausible As It Seems; But Finances May Be A Problem

Devraj Dasgupta | TNN

The idea floated in Lalu Prasad’s railway budget — about exploring the option of running air-conditioned trains on elevated Mumbai Central-Virar tracks — may sound too daunting an engineering challenge but experts say it can actually be made to work in Mumbai. What these experts — from both private and public sectors — are more worried about is the project’s financial viability.
The railway budget admitted that expansion of the existing suburban network would not be sufficient to handle Mumbai’s growing commuter traffic; so it proposed a pre-feasibility study for a 55-km elevated corridor for air-conditioned trains between Mumbai Central and Virar. RITES, a railway consultancy agency, will prepare the report.
RITES executive director D Swaroop refused to go into details of the study: “It is too early to say anything.’’ But a senior Delhi Rail Bhavan official said an elevated corridor above the existing tracks was actually a good idea as there would be no problems of removing encroachment and acquiring land. “But then such a project will have to pass over existing bridges, flyovers and railway signals and electrification equipment,’’ he said. So it will have to come up at a height of at least 18-20 metres above the existing tracks.
The budget proposes a public-private-partnership model and private players, therefore, will have to be given major concessions, say officials. “A typical PPP contract gives a private player the right to recover investment over a 30-year period. Indian Railways will have to either allow the private operator to charge high ticket rates or subsidise it with government funds,’’ the senior ministry official said. Air-conditioned services would have fewer patrons and higher running costs, forcing any operator to charge high ticket rates, he added.
But it is the cost of the project itself that has officials more worried. Every kilometre of the elevated corridor in Delhi Metro cost Rs 110 crore three years back, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson Anuj Dayal said. “This includes the cost of civil engineering, signal and telecommunication, electrification and even the trains,’’ he added. The first leg of Mumbai Metro, spanning the Andheri-Versova-Ghatkopar stretch, is going to cost almost Rs 196 crore per km of elevated track just seven metres above surface.
So a replication of the Mumbai model will make the 55-km project cost Rs 11,000 crore right now. The cost will obviously go up with time.
Engineering major Siemens director V Parulekar said advanced technology was there to run trains on high corridors. “Trains are running on elevated corridors in several cities of the world. The only difference in this case is the additional height as the corridor will have to come above the existing infrastructure and this will add to the cost,’’ he said. FROM THE BUDGET
The suburban services are the lifeline of Mumbai.... Even after the completion of (both phases of the) Mumbai Urban Transport Project, suburban services will not be able to meet the demand of the ever-increasing population. There is also a perceived need to introduce airconditioned services in Mumbai. Therefore, we have taken a decision to conduct a pre-feasibility study for the introduction of an elevated fully airconditioned metro service between Mumbai Central and Virar stations on Western Railway.
WHAT’S A PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY?
A pre-feasibility study is a preliminary study undertaken to find out whether it is possible to implement a project or not. This need not go into minute technical or financial details and is followed by the main feasibility study.
THE COST
A-C TRAINS ON ELEVATED TRACKS
Rs 196 crore is needed to construct every kilometre of elevated tracks and then run airconditioned trains on them (Mumbai Metro estimates); this estimate takes into account expenses for everything (from tracks to trains).
SURFACE TRACKS
Around Rs 3.5 crore is needed to construct every kilometre of tracks on the surface; but this estimate does not include the cost of procuring and running rakes. THE PLANS The railway ministry is exploring the possibility of running air-conditioned trains on an elevated track.
THE ROUTE
Mumbai Central to Virar
THE DISTANCE
55 km
OPTION I
Western Railway can construct new tracks which will not necessarily run above existing tracks on the surface
ADVANTAGE
Planners and engineers will not need to take into consideration any of the existing infrastructure that is already there; in other words, when they lay the new tracks, they will not have to bother about existing foot-overbridges, flyovers or wiring coming in the way.
DISADVANTAGE
But stretches where there is no existing railway infrastructure will, in all probability, have other commercial or residential structures. Owners or occupants of these structures almost always go to court whenever there is a move to displace them and litigations have been known to delay projects for decades. Rehabilitation is also a contentious issue.
VERDICT: NOT FEASIBLE
OPTION II
Engineers can build new tracks above the existing railway lines
ADVANTAGE
Very little non-railway land will be needed if the new tracks are built above the existing tracks. So, in one move, railways can do away with the problem of litigations and rehabilitating project-affected persons.
DISADVANTAGE
Planners and engineers will have to keep in mind the existing infrastructure — wiring, foot-overbridges and east-west flyovers — and build above them. Going more than one tier above the existing tracks will automatically raise costs.
VERDICT: COSTLY BUT PRACTICAL

10 Timeless Lessons on Better Thinking

The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.

Winston Churchill

Our thoughts can make or break our life. Use it well, and we will prosper. Use it badly, and we will suffer. Investing on your mind is perhaps the best investment you can make.

I believe we can learn a lot about it from the great minds of human civilization, so I read inspiring quotes from them and extracted some lessons on better thinking. Here are 10 timeless lessons I found:

1. Beware of your thoughts

Our best friends and our worst enemies are our thoughts. A thought can do us more good than a doctor or a banker or a faithful friend. It can also do us more harm than a brick.
Frank Crane

Our mind is a double-edged sword. If we fill it with positive thoughts, it will lead us to a productive and fruitful life. But, if we fill it with negative thoughts, it will lead us to a defeated, inferior life. So watch your thoughts and be careful not to let negative thoughts occupy your mind.

2. Go beyond mere reading

Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare.
Harriet Martineau

It’s easy to read, but it’s not easy to think about what we read and act upon it. That’s why very few people experience what the books’ authors write. If we want to be productive, we should go beyond just being readers to being thinkers and doers.

3. Think more

Few people think more than two or three times a year; I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week.
George Bernard Shaw

Most people do not make conscious effort to think more, but those who do will reap the fruit. While many people spend a lot of time for other aspects of their lives such as their occupation and hobbies, only a few people consciously spend time for thinking.

4. Think at higher level

We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
Albert Einstein

We should improve our thinking ability so that we can think at a higher level. Only by thinking at higher level can we solve the problems we face. Again, doing so takes effort and one way to do so is mind exercise.

5. Be curious

I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious
Albert Einstein

Curiosity is an essential ingredient of great thinking. It gives you a strong desire to know more than most people and makes the journey fun.

6. Be persistence

I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.
Albert Einstein

Thinking requires perseverance. More often than not, we can’t get the desired results as soon as we want it. The road to discovery is long, and only with persistence can we hope to reach the destination.

7. State problems the right way

The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution.
Bertrand Russell

Many people recognize great thinkers through their ability to solve problems, but great thinkers are first of all good at formulating problems. It is their ability to formulate problems that allows them to find elegant solutions.

Here is an example from the book Patterns of Problem Solving:

Hammurabi in Babylon changed the course of history by asking the right question when dealing with the problem of water. Instead of asking how to get the people to the water, he asked how to get the water to the people. This led to canals. The rest is history.

8. Emphasize imagination

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
Albert Einstein

Many people pursue knowledge, but great thinkers emphasize imagination. While knowledge allows us to make incremental improvements, imagination opens the way for fresh breakthroughs.

9. Use intuition

The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don’t know how or why.
Albert Einstein

It might be surprising, but rational thinking is not always the best way to think; intuition often gives us better solution. I often experience this myself. After thinking rationally for some time and not finding a solution, I just leave the problem or sleep on it, and all of a sudden a solution leaps into my mind. Not only is this process less laborious, it often gives me ideas with higher quality.

10. Dare to be different

It is not worth an intelligent man’s time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough people to do that.
G.H. Hardy

Great thinkers dare to be different and therefore they think differently. Rather than just following what other people do, they move beyond it and go up to a whole new level. Look at your situation and ask yourself: what is the conventional wisdom for your situation? Then don’t do it, move beyond it instead. This is easier said than done, but that’s what the great thinkers do.

Einstein Says: Check Your Intellect at the Door...

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious,” Albert Einstein once said.

False modesty? Perhaps. But Einstein actually placed a premium on curiosity — not intellect. Why?

Because, he pointed out, “we can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

In fact, he added, “the intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don’t know how or why.”

And so this is why, when it comes to problem-solving and innovation: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

Knowledge is limited. Imagination is boundless.
So next time you sit down to it, check your intellect at the door!

But you should still expect to be wrong, a lot:
“I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.” — Albert Einstein

Understanding the work of Nature [God]...

Animals, plants queue up for online Noah’s Ark

Jonathan Leake

London: Scientists are to release the first draft of an Encyclopedia of Life detailing everything known about all living organisms, from the aardvark to the zebu.
When complete the project will detail all 1.8m known plant and animal species. Each will have their own web page in an online archive that will include photographs, genetic information and distribution maps.
This week will see the release of the first 30,000 pages of the project, which will focus on fish, amphibia, large mammals and birds.
It is regarded by the scientists as a triumph but just a small percentage of the likely final total. “This is a great event,” said Robert May, a former president of the Royal Society who is an adviser to the project. “It will help us to sort out all the different species and create a single consistent database.” Scientists have long dreamt of creating a comprehensive encyclopedia listing all known life, but the volume of data accumulated over 250 years of research left everyone who tried it in despair.
However, the advent of Wikipedia and its revolutionary use of so-called “mash-up” software, to aggregate vast amounts of data from disparate sources, showed researchers how they could achieve their dream. The Natural History Museum of London, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington are just three of the many centres pouring data into the encyclopedia. About 2.5m pages of ancient academic journals, drawings and photographs have been scanned into computers ready for publication.
One possibility is that the finished encyclopedia could also include links to video clips taken from television programmes. This weekend the project won the approval of David Attenborough, the maker of programmes such as Life on Earth and the current Life in Cold Blood. “This is a hugely welcome project and long overdue,” he said.
The science of classifying the natural world began with Carl Linnaeus in 1735. He had promised a classification of every known living thing but by the time he reached his 13th and final edition in 1770 and his original 11 pages had expanded to 3,000, it was still incomplete. SUNDAY TIMES

Incredible Theory.....Amazing Possibilities...

‘Sun will vapourise Earth unless we change our orbit’

Astronomers Suggest Using Gravity Of Passing Asteroid To Nudge The World

New York: Astronomers at the University of Sussex claim to have calculated that the Sun will vapourise Earth in about 7.6 billion years unless our planet’s orbit is altered.
According to them, the Sun’s slow expansion will cause the temperature on the surface of the Earth to rise — oceans will evaporate and the atmosphere will become laden with water vapour, which is a very effective greenhouse gas.
Eventually, the oceans will boil dry and the water vapour will escape into space. In a billion years from now the Earth will be a very hot, dry and uninhabitable ball. The team previously calculated that the Earth would escape ultimate destruction, although be battered and burnt to a cinder. But they did not take into account the effect of the drag caused by the outer atmosphere of the dying Sun.
“We showed previously that, as the Sun expanded, it would lose mass in the form of a strong wind, much more powerful than the current solar wind. This would reduce the gravitational pull of the Sun on the Earth, allowing the Earth’s orbit to move outwards, ahead of the expanding Sun.
“If that were the only effect the Earth would indeed escape final destruction. However, the tenuous outer atmosphere of the Sun extends a long way beyond its visible surface, and it turns out the Earth would actually be orbiting within these very low density outer layers. “The drag caused by this low-density gas is enough to cause the Earth to drift inwards, and finally to be captured and vapourised by the Sun,” lead astronomer Dr Robert Smith was quoted by the ‘ScienceDaily’ as saying.
But, can anything be done to prevent this fate? By altering the orbit of our planet, according to Dr Smith.
He pointed to a remarkable scheme proposed by Santa Cruz University astronomers who suggest harnessing the gravitational effects of a close passage by a large asteroid to “nudge” the Earth’s orbit gradually outwards away from the encroaching Sun.
A suitable passage every 6,000 years or so would be enough to keep the Earth out of trouble and allow life to survive for at least five billion years, and possibly even to survive the Sun’s red giant phase.
“This sounds like science fiction. But it seems that the energy requirements are just about possible and the technology could be developed over the next few centuries,” Dr Smith said. However, it is a high-risk strategy — a slight miscalculation, and the asteroid could actually hit the Earth, with catastrophic consequences. “A safer solution may be to build a fleet of interplanetary ‘life rafts’ that could manoeuvre themselves always out of reach of the Sun, but close enough to use its energy,” he said. PTI

http://www.a2zscholarships.com

STUDY HELP

Students start website to end scholarship woes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: This is a world away from the cliched picture of raucous boys turning engineering college hostels upside down. Here, they are quietly huddled over a computer search engine. Every hit leads to a loud hurray—for this information could change someone’s life.
This is part of an initiative by students of the Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), who have put together a directory of scholarships on offer from around the world. Named www.A2Zscholarships.com, the website is has been put together by over 200 students, mostly hostelites at the Matunga-based engineering institute. Currently, the site provides details on almost 500 scholarships for various disciplines.
The site went online early this month and in a span of 21 days, it has already benefited 2,200 students. “From the smallest scholarship to the large ones, this website has been designed so that no deserving student is bereft of education because of lack of finances,’’ said final year civil engineering student Mukund Chandak. This 21-year-old from Nandgaon has benefited from the Ratan Tata scholarship, among many others.
Similarly, many from the rural areas of Maharashtra have managed to carry on with their education because of the largesse from various trusts. “There is so much talent in the hinterland but no one travels beyond the cities. This website will provide information to all these left-out people on resources available from round the world,’’ added another student.
The site’s interface has been designed by a third year student, Rameez Pojee. It allows a student to fill up information about the course s/he desires to pursue, the cost of education, family’s annual income and the marks scored by the student. Once the form is submitted online, a list of trusts that would be willing to help the student pops up.
“There are many trusts that provide a helping hand to the needy students. But at present, there is no way for students to know how to contact these trusts,’’ he added.
Students plan to regularly update this site and currently information of 1,500 more scholarships is being collected. There are no marks set aside for this project nor is this a mandatory activity for these engineering students. But the future engineers are already thinking hard and searching for solutions—those that will touch lives.
toireporter@timesgroup.com

State of High School Education in India...

My View:

Few articles concern me more than ones talking about the success rate? What is success anyway? Is success just mugging up answers and then vomiting them out in examinations? And who gave them the right to say a student is a failure if he or she dislikes this idiotic method of learning by rote. I agree that many schools today are adopting the best methodologies for teaching. But at the end of the day, all students have to do is to mug up pages after pages to pass at the examination, leave alone securing a position in the elite 90+ club [see maa, i am one of the best muggers].

If a student fails, isn't that the failure of the system, failure of the teachers and their teaching methods? Surely it can't be that hard to enthuse a student towards self-learning!

Maharashtra Lags Way Behind - TOI

Hemali Chhapia | TNN

Mumbai: If class X students from across the country were to take a common exam, who would perform the best? Believe it or not, students from Bihar’s madrasa board would stand high, next only to students of the ICSE board in Delhi.
Comparing the performance of educational boards across India, the Human Resource Development (HRD)
ministry has recently released a report on student performance in various states in class X. The results have the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination in Delhi topping with the highest pass percentage of 94.3%, followed by the Bihar state Madrasa Board with a success rate of 91.4%. The Central Board of Secondary Education, Delhi stands at third place with an overall pass percentage of 86.4%. Maharashtra is way down at 57.6%.
The report released last month compares 2005 data across the country. Madhav Chavan, founder of educational non-profit Pratham, pointed out that the findings contradict the “stereotype that madrasas are religious training schools’’. It vindicates “the historical view’’ that a voluntary process of education which involves progressive elements in a society coming forward to educate the backward sections often results in a successful model for formal education, he said.
Unlike other boards which have a large student base, both the ICSE and madrasa boards have lower student populations taking the exam. States like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal have lakhs of students sitting for the class X exam. Peggy Mohan, a linguist and a former professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, pointed out that the madrasa board, being run on a smaller scale, was probably more flexible than such “regimented state boards’’.
However, some experts countered that boards handling lakhs of students see a diverse mix whose results may vary on the basis of several factors. Basanti Roy, divisional secretary of Mumbai, Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, said of the 15 lakh students who took the class X exam in the state, a large population came from the rural hinterland which lacked good teachers. The state board thus enjoyed higher success rates in smaller, urban pockets. Albeit, the argument is thin when seen in a broader light. UP, for instance, had the maximum number of students taking the class X exam—over 25 lakh; yet its success rate stands at 68.3%, way above Maharashtra’s.