WEB WORLD

Admissions open: Virtual varsity just a click away

Tamar Lewin

An Israeli entrepreneur with decades of experience in international education plans to start the first global, tuition-free internet university, a nonprofit venture he has named the University of the People.

“The idea is to take social networking and apply it to academia,” said the entrepreneur, Shai Reshef, founder of several internet-based educational businesses.

“The open-source courseware is there, from universities that have put their courses online, available to the public, free,” Reshef said. “We know that online peer-to-peer teaching works. Putting it all together, we can make a free university for students all over the world, anyone who speaks English and has an internet connection.”

About four million students in the United States took at least one online course in 2007, according to a survey by the Sloan Consortium, a nonprofit group devoted to integrating online learning into mainstream higher education. Online learning is growing in many different contexts.

Through the Open Courseware Consortium, started in 2001 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, universities around the world have posted materials for thousands of courses —as varied as Lambing and Sheep Management at Utah State and Relativistic Quantum Field Theory at MIT — all free to the public. Many universities now post their lectures on iTunes.

For-profit universities like the University of Phoenix and Kaplan University have extensive online offerings. And increasingly, both public and private universities offer at least some classes online.

Outside the US, too, online learning is booming. Open University in Britain, for example, enrolls about 160,000 undergraduates in distance-learning courses.

The University of the People, like other internet-based universities,would have online study communities, weekly discussion topics, homework assignments and exams. But in lieu of tuition, students would pay only nominal fees for enrollment ($15 to $50) and exams ($10 to $100), with students from poorer countries paying the lower fees and those from richer countries paying higher ones. Reshef plans to start small, limiting enrollment at 300 students when the university goes online in the fall and offering only bachelor’s degrees in business administration and computer science. NYT NEWS SERVICE

Heavy metal presence in Indian toys causes harm for decades

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: The colourful building blocks or toy houses might keep your children engaged for hours, but the heavy metals they contain could harm them for life. And it’s not just Chinese toys, but Indian toys which are the culprit too.

Welcoming the recent ban on the import of Chinese toys, city doctors and health experts said there was an urgent need to regulate Indian toys as well since as they too contained lead and cadmium, elements which could remain in one’s system for over two decades.

Citing a study conducted in 2006, Dr Abhay Kumar of the Delhi-based
NGO Toxic Links told TOI that they had tested both Indian and Chinese toys in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai and found a high concentration of lead and cadmium. “The lead content for instance was as high as 2,000 ppm as opposed to the permissible limit of 600 ppm,’’ said Dr Kumar. He explained that toy manufacturers often used lead and cadmium as stabilizers in toys, which come into contact with kids’ hands and also enter their system, given the tendency of children to put their fingers in their mouth.

Pointing out that lead is a confirmed neurotoxin (hampers the growing brain of a child), while cadmium is a nephrotoxin (adversely affects the kidney), Kumar said it was important that toy manufacturers adhere to the standards. “While we welcome the recent ban, it is also important that we have mandatory standards for Indian toys.’’ As of now, the only standards existing for toy manufacturers are those set by the Bureau of Indian Standards, which aren’t mandatory.

“The worrying part is that lead and cadmium, whether inhaled or eaten, remain in a person’s system for 20 years,’’ said physician at Jaslok Hospital and retired professor of medicine at state-run JJ Hospital Altaf Patel. He said lead causes intellectual backwardness in children and high blood pressure and aggressiveness in adults.

Lead in toys doesn’t worry city outlets

Priyanko Sarkar | TNN

Mumbai mein aadmi ka bharosa nahin, China item ka kya guarantee denge?’’ says Prakash Singh of Gulshan Toys at Crawford Market. The showroom stores all kinds of toys from China. The economic downturn may have affected business a bit, but the entire brouhaha over toxic elements like lead found in China-made toys, seems but a minor irritant for the city’s toy stores.

Instead, new and more exotic varieties of toys from China have made it to the market. So, for example, if your child is as fascinated by NSG commandos as the rest of the city, then there is an M-40 Commando Sniper gun with small plastic pellets for bullets? Or, if he’s a little less adventurous, then why not give him a heavy-duty truck that senses walls and avoids them and can be controlled from a battery-operated remote? The sniper gun retails for Rs 250 and the truck costs Rs 400 at Crawford Market.

And for just Rs 5,500, you can get a small version of a scooter which Nissar Ahmed, who owns Toy Factory at Mohammed Ali Road, says is quite a hit with the South Mumbai brigade. These monsters, three feet wide and up to four-and-a-half feet in height, weigh about 20 kilos.

Tech-savvy parents often get plastic mobiles, for Rs 150, for their children to play with from the time they are in the crib. A bucket-shaped gym that allows the baby to jump around is also a huge hit at Rs 750. There are even toys with Chinese names wrapped in dragon designs. A game called Gougou Sentri is a virtual car race between multi-players played via remote along a pre-defined route. Then there are bows with plastic arrows that stick to walls and swords that glow in the dark. Around five to seven pieces of each are sold daily.

Toys come from China via the sea and reach various warehouses across the country, with Kolkata and Chennai the most popular destinations. From here, wholesalers buy them before they reach retailers across the country.

Most retailers feign ignorance about the lead issue while a few say the entire incident is blown out of proportion. The toy sellers have also used the entire incident to increase profit margins. “A Rs 200 toy will now sell for Rs 280. There was no need to raise this issue anyway. China toys are the best. No complaints ever,’’ said another retailer.

Ahmed Jaffer of Famous Toys at Mohammed Ali Road claims: “Some Delhi shops use local plastic products with ‘Made in China’ stickers to sell their products. But everywhere else, only quality China toys sell. Those guys know how to make toys for the current generation at a price that is cost effective for parents. That’s why they will always remain popular.’’

M-40 Commando Sniper gun with plastic pellets Price: Rs 250

Heavy-duty truck Price: Rs 400

TOXIC AND NOW EXPENSIVE

Made-In-China Toys Get About 30% Dearer After The Centre’s Ban As Wholesalers And Retailers Start Hoarding Stocks

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Rs 2,500 cr Total size of toy industry Rs 1,000 cr Organised sector Rs 1,500 cr Unorganised sector Percentage of toys imported from China: 60 % (Source: Toy Association of India)

Holi may not be the same this year if Friday’s six-month ban on toys imported from China is implemented strictly. After all, most pichkaris are made in that country. While Holi is still more than a month away, importers, wholesalers and retailers, worried about the impact that the ban will have on their livelihood, have started hoarding stocks and inflating prices by about 30 per cent.

But toy manufacturers and retailers are divided over the ban. Predictably, those who sell Indian toys are happy, while those whose business depends on Chinese toys are worried they’ll be out of a livelihood.

As a wholesaler says, “Six months is a very long time. I used to sell toys worth Rs 5 lakh a day. My sales have now dried up to Rs 1.5-2 lakh and that too by holding on to the stock. But for how long can I go on?’’

“There hasn’t been a single incident in India of a child either dying or falling sick after playing with Chinese toys. Neither have battery-operated Chinese cars been known to explode,’’ says Imran Mustafa, who imports and sells Chinese toys at Rani Toys, Kolkata. “At least the Chinese toys which arrived in the country before January 24 should be allowed to enter,’’he says.On an average, says Mustafa,a big importer orders 20-30 containers a month. “This ban without giving people any notice and most importantly without a logical explanation — the notification says it is ‘issued in public interest’— has left us wondering what will happen tomorrow.’’

Importer Babulal Agarwal says the ban will not solve any purpose as there are no quality standards. “There is no point blaming a product because it is of a particular origin. If you don’t have standards, you cannot call a product inferior or superior.’’

Not everyone is adversely affected.“We will actually benefit as we manufacture and sell Indian toys,’’says Khursheed Ahmed,from the customer service department of ZP Toys, Andheri. At Kemps Corner’s popular showroom, Toy Kingdom, business won’t be hit much as it has a limited number of Chinese toys.

But there is confusion about whether the ban extends to assembled toys or components as well. A source in the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises says, “By implication, the ban should extend to components. But they may also have uses in other industries.’’ The buzz over toxic elements has also left parents worried. Some are extra vigilant, others oppose a blanket ban. “We may ban Chinese toys, but what if toys from other parts of the world contain toxic substances,’’ asks Anisha Seth, mother of a five-yearold and a three-year-old. “If the government has proof Chinese toys are toxic, I see nothing wrong with the ban. But if the ban is to protect Indian manufacturers, then I don’t think it’s right,’’ feels Hetal Adukia, the mother of a twoyear-old. But many are weeding out Chinese toys from their kids’ closets. “I feel it’s better to spend more on quality toys than expose my children to health hazards,’’ says Alviya Shah, mother of a seven-year-old and a twoyear-old. She has even stopped gifting toys to other kids.

THE BAN
In a circular dated January 23, 2009, the Centre banned the import of China-made toys for six months, without citing a reason for the same. The ban, notified by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, is seen as related to concerns of the safety of such toys and also as a temporary protection to domestic toy manufacturers reeling under the onslaught of cheap imports.

WHAT IT MEANS
The ban covers wheeled toys, dolls, stuffed toys, toy guns, wooden and metal toys, musical instruments, electric trains and puzzles. There is however ambiguity on whether the ban also extends to toy components sourced from China. The move is expected to hit several wholesalers and retailers who depend on imports from China.

INVISIBLE MAN comes to IIT campus

Chris Phillips Puts On His Clever Coat And Vanishes

Hemali Chhapia I TNN

Mumbai: When Harry Potter put on the robe handed down by his father and turned invisible, you knew it was only special effects. However, the concept of invisibility seemed closer to reality on Sunday. Several students at Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) witnessed Chris Phillips, a faculty member from Imperial College, London, don a “clever coat’’, following which a part of him went invisible on the projection screen.

Thousands of students had lined up outside the lecture hall for this much-awaited discussion by Phillips. A gaudy, floral green table mat made up the background behind the lectern. A camera mounted on a tripod stood on the side. Finally, after an hour’s delay, Phillips took the stage. Lights were dimmed and students watched closely, wary of being conned into any trick. The professor presented a glimpse into his lab; he spoke of the science and the instruments he was applying in his research.

Phillips, who used quantum mechanics to make things invisible, said he was still in the process of working on a cloak that would render a person invisible. “Things are visible because their electrons interact with light. When light, an electromagnetic wave, hits electrons and gets deflected, you see things. To turn invisible, you have to understand light and how it interacts with matter,’’ said he.

According to him, three things can make one invisible—a cloak, a big laser or a clever coat. Back in London, Phillips used intense beams of infra-red light from lasers with special semiconductor crystals. He showed students assembled there a video of how a part of his palm turned invisible when he put his hand in the “invisibility beam’’. Standing behind the lectern, he shot an example, “If I were to develop an invisibility cloak, light waves should not hit me. They should travel around me, but not interact with me. You need a material that will bend light in such a manner.’’

However, the cloak must also allow the wearer to be able see outside. Interspersing his lecture with jokes, Phillips said when Potter had put on his cloak, it did not allow him to see outside. “That is something Harry Potter did not mention.’’

Phillips’ final point in the presentation threw light on the clever coat. “Let me show you how a clever coat works.’’ Soon, the screen only displayed Phillips’ face. His body had been covered by a “clever coat’’. The room was echoing with applause.

Few students, however, realised that a camera constantly projected the backdrop, and before Phillips ‘performed’, he had managed to get a cut-out of the backdrop and had it projected on himself, thus making him look ‘transparent’ or invisible.
Atlas of human history

The greatest history book ever written is the one hidden in our DNA,’’ said Spencer Wells, director of the Genographic Project. In the packed auditorium of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, Wells spoke of how his exploration had led him to believe that “we’re all effectively cousins’’ because Eve—as she is called—lived in Africa roughly 1,50,000 years ago and “it was more a matter of chance than destiny that only her line survived’’. Adam too, he added, “lived in Africa, but only 60,000 years ago’’.

To date, the Genographic Project team has collected about 50,000 indigenous samples and preliminary analysis indicates a population expansion period starting around 70,000 years ago. “Tiny bands of early humans, forced apart by harsh environmental conditions, coming back from the brink to reunite and populate the world—truly an epic drama, written in our DNA,’’ added Wells. In fact, climate change, which is altering our world today, could be responsible for changing migratory patterns after thousands of years. “After hurricane Katrina, many have not returned to their towns,’’ Wells observed.

In India, Wells is working with researchers from the Madurai Kamraj University. “Our genetic markers never disappear; they are passed on from one generation to another,’’ said Wells, who encouraged Indians to participate in the project to understand “who you are and where you came from’’. TNN

INTO THIN AIR: The faculty member of Imperial College in London used quantum mechanics to make things invisible