on Tuesday, August 2, 2011

For the sake of quicker results

Mangalore University VC details the reforms process

The Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore University, T.C. Shivashankara Murthy, has completed more than a year in office.

Since he took charge on March 3, 2010, the University has executed examination and academic reforms and is improving its infrastructure. He spoke to The Hindu EducationPlus recently about this process. Here are excerpts of the interview.

Q: Which are the main student-oriented examination reforms done in the last one year?

A: We now issue computer-generated examination admission tickets. Each such admission ticket contains a photograph of the student with his/her signature, signatures of the Registrar (evaluation) and principal of the college, and the time table of the course for which the student is appearing.

We have done away with issuing multiple answer sheets to students. Instead, only one answer book is being issued. The answer books have bar coded stickers which ensure the confidentiality of a student who appeared for an examination. Coding, decoding and recoding are done using bar coded stickers.

Form A (on which an evaluator enters marks after valuation) has been replaced with OMR sheets. There are no more ledger books having details of marks of students. They have been replaced with computer-generated ledger sheets.

How do the ledger sheets help?

Ledger sheets contain details of marks of students. The University sends a copy to each college with the marks cards. In case of clarification, colleges can refer to the ledger sheets. Earlier, college authorities had to come to the University to look into the ledger books for clarification.

What about announcement of results?

Now we have been able to declare results within two to five days after completing the regular evaluation of a course. Revaluation of results is being announced in a month. Earlier, announcing revaluation results used to take eight to 10 months.

Which are the other examination reforms?

A central valuation method has been adopted for evaluating answer scripts of postgraduate examinations. Under this, postgraduate teachers cannot take answer scripts home.

Both internal and external evaluators have to evaluate them at a designated place in the University. Earlier, the method was adopted for evaluating answer scripts of undergraduate examinations.

We will revise our examination manual. A committee had been constituted for the purpose. The manual has not been revised since the University was constituted under Mysore University.

We will have our own examination manual.

Could you tell us about major academic reforms?

We introduced the choice-based credit semester system for postgraduate courses, except four, from 2011-12.

It helps students to handle inter-disciplinary subjects. Mobility of students to study choice-based subjects between colleges offering postgraduate courses and between colleges and the University will be allowed.

The University gave affiliation to 14 new colleges in 2010-11. In 2011-12, it gave affiliation to two new colleges and in addition has recommended affiliation for six new colleges.

It has brought out a comprehensive prospectus for admission to post-graduate courses.

New courses have been introduced in the University College in Mangalore and Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa College at Madikeri.

Both are constituent colleges of the University.

What about research and infrastructure development?

Different rating agencies have ranked the University from the first slot to the 24th slot in different research areas.

The University is building a Pareeksha Bhawan, a building to house different study centres, a humanities block building and a building for commerce courses.

The University has received grants from the Union government and the University Grants Commission for research activities.

It is planning to open a Kannada Adhyayana Samsthe.


Expanding its horizon in engineering research

Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute offers assistance to industries in the form of feasibility studies, research, training, and consultancy.

Mechanical engineering is one of the most versatile disciplines among the wide spectrum of engineering studies. Some of the areas in mechanical engineering such as production automobile, aeronautical, marine, industrial, tool and die engineering have developed as independent full-fledged disciplines. Any industry requires inputs from mechanical engineering. There is substantial research work in the diverse fields of this broad discipline.

We import a lot of technology. It is estimated that mechanical engineering technology accounts for nearly half of the total technology imported. This points to the need for intensive research in this discipline, for ensuring self reliance. A key player in the field is the Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI), Mahatma Gandhi Avenue, Durgapur – 713209. Web site: www.cmeri.res.in.

CMERI

CMERI, which was established in 1958, is the apex R&D institute for mechanical engineering, under the aegis CSIR. The institute facilitates innovative studies utilising Indian talent. It is poised to expand its horizon of research activities so as to steer the country forward in cutting-edge and sunrise fields. It offers assistance to industries in the form of feasibility studies, research, training, and consultancy.

The institute aims at product / process development, import substitution, export promotion, waste recovery, quality control, and standardisation. It tries to provide complete technology package comprising design and manufacturing know-how, consultancy, and training. CMERI has an extension centre at Ludhiana, the Mechanical Engineering Research and Development Organization (MERADO).

Let us look at the various activities of research and development undertaken by the institute.

Robotics and mechatronics: CMERI has expertise in the field of robotic systems, control engineering, and other related areas.

It has undertaken the development of a vacuum mopping system for spilled heavy water for atomic power plants.

It has developed the first indigenous 60kg payload SCARA Manipulator. The first indigenous remotely operated vehicle for a depth of 200m for the Department of Ocean Development, Government of India, also came from this division.

Energy and process plants: The institute conducts studies in the broad field of thermal and fluid engineering. It offers technical support to the industries.

Heat power engineering: The essential focus is on process design and development in the area of thermal / fluid systems in power and process plants, drying for agro industries, and advanced energy conversion. Other areas of work includealternative energy, fuel cell, hydrogen generation from biomass and other sources, and application and improvement in drying system for grains and seeds.

Process plant engineering:Design, development, installation and commissioning of different kinds of process plants. Executing national mission programmes. Life assessment of process plants structures.

A significant contribution of the group is thedesign and development of carcass utilisation plant in Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai. Meat is processed as noodles. Tallow is used in the soap industry, bone powder as fertilizer, and the processed meat as poultry feed.

Chemistry and biomimetics: Biomimetics refers to man-made processes, substances, devices, or systems that imitate nature. It involves the application of biological systems found in nature to engineering and technology. The research in the chemistry and biomimetics group focuses on mechanistic studies of thermal reactions in solution, and photochemical studies. Modern kinetic and analytical techniques are applied for elucidating the molecular nature of the investigated reactions.

Some of the other areas are

Use of ion-exchange-membrane materials to emulate the operation of biological muscles

Miniaturisation in the chemical, biological and engineering sciences at both the micro- and nano scales.

Design methods, manufacturing techniques, and analytical methods that can be used to create and evaluate products based on bio-inspired concepts.

Metrology: It is the science of weights and measures, determination of conformance to specification or technical requirements, and development of standards. It hasapplication in all areas of science and technology including automation, robotics, space, and satellite communication. Metrological accuracy is an essential requirement for quality assurance.Any testing and calibration activity depends on good metrology.

The metrology laboratory of CMERI is a leading test centre recognised by the Bureau of Indian Standards for carrying out testing and calibration work. CMERI has links with national standards of the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, which is the custodian of measurement standards. The high level of professional competence and stringent adherence to procedural norms ensure excellence in the service provided by CMERI in the field of dimensional metrology. Further, the laboratory has accreditation, from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration of Science and Technology, Government of India, in dimension, mass, density, and volume. It gives timely and cost effective solutions to industries.

Tribology: This is the science of the mechanisms of friction, lubrication, and wear of interacting surfaces that are in relative motion. Bearing and lubrication in machines are the major tools that help to fight the problems from friction.

Even centuries ago man had evolved bearings, though of a primitive nature. There are great innovations in the design and making of bearings that have enormous impact on the efficiency of machines.

Reduction in wear can bring down wastage of materials as well as loss of energy. The consequent savings will enhance the economy in the operation of plants and machinery. The significance of this process may be appreciated, if we remember that nearly one third of the world's resources are being wasted in overcoming friction in one form or another. Tribology applies operational analysis to problems of great economic importance such as reliability, maintainability and wear of technical equipment ranging from household appliances to spacecraft. Many cases of machine break-down, failure, and stoppage are associated with interacting moving parts such as gears, bearings, couplings, cams, and clutches. These vital issues are constantly subjected to studies and analysis that lead to desirable solutions to various problems in industrial operations.

Manufacturing technologies: Hard prototypes have to be made for product development with high grade capability for manufacturing precision.

The development of reliable components is also important.To facilitate these, CMERI has equipped its workshop with state-of-the-art machinery. Equipment including advanced CNC machines and heat treatment furnaces helps to carry out research in this area. The manufacturing facilities are adequately supported by design, metrology, foundry, heat treatment services.

Spin casting and investment casting: The institute has modern foundry facilities with computerised operation.The rapid prototyping system helps the RP models to be converted quickly into functional components. Spin casting and investment casting assist in producing net-shape and near-net-shape functional components in the desired ferrous and non-ferrous metal specifications.

Casting that is ideally suited for producing intricate and precise components of small batch size is available.


It's a new, improved CAT

Non-engineers and those with weaker English skills may benefit, say experts

The Common Admission Test (CAT), the qualifying exam for admissions to the Indian Institutes of Management, is arguably among the toughest and most popular exams in the country. Known to spring surprises in format, questioning patterns and number of questions – understandably, to retain the edge in these times of coaching centre chains – this time, the IIMs have decided to announce changes in pattern in advance.

The tweaks are minor; yet, experts welcome it as a move towards a better examination process. The changes, as announced by the CAT committee, have to do with time and section topics. First, candidates are being given an extra five minutes to take the same number of questions. Unchanged at 60 questions, however, the number of sections has been changed from three to two, which means each section will consist of 30 questions.

A more important change, and one that will call for some realignment of approach and strategising for the examination, is that a section-wise timer system will be introduced. That is, candidates will not have the freedom of moving back and forth between sections and will have to complete each section within 70 minutes.

The regrouping of topics into two sections may not make an obvious change to students. However, experts point out that this is fairly significant given that section-wise cut-offs do play a significant role in the admission process.

What the IIMs have done is taken the third section, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, and clubbed it with the two other sections, Quantitative Ability and Verbal Ability. So, in the new format, the two sections will be Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation, and Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning.

So, while an increase in the duration of the exam will hardly matter since the exam is a comparative process, the rejuggling of sections may be seen as a positive sign by some students. For instance, the fact that Quantitative Ability (a section that requires higher and deeper mathematical skills) will now be clubbed with Data Interpretation will mean that the emphasis will be taken off higher mathematics, points out Ajay Arora of the Triumphant Institute of Management Education.

Presure is off

“Similarly, for students from the hinterland, whose English skills may not be as good, having that clubbed with another section means it takes the pressure off them. After all, section-wise cut-offs are important. This new format could end up benefitting these students, and thus increasing the diversity of students making it to the IIMs,” he explains.

While there is nothing different content-wise, Mr. Arora points out that some amount of reorientation while practising could take candidates a long way. That is, when they take mock tests, they must time themselves to ensure they stick to the section-wise cut-offs. “That is something that students who are preparing for CAT will have to get used to. But in some sense it makes their task simpler, for now they do not have too many decisions to make on which section to go for first.” As for choosing the least time-consuming questions first, that's a strategy that will remain important even within the sections.


Final year students can also take CAT

I am pursuing my B.Tech in Biotechnology. I am in the final year. Am I eligible to take CAT this year?

The eligibility criterion for CAT is graduation, though final year students of various bachelor's degree courses can also take the test. However, you will be admitted into the course, only if you clear your graduation with at least 50 per cent marks and fair well in the different stages of selection process of the specific institute.

Along with IIMs, there are several other institutes that require CAT score for admission into their MBA/ PG Diploma programmes in Management. You have to apply to them separately. Getting a good CAT score is only the first successful step towards securing a seat in a good B-school.

A typical selection process includes group discussion and personal interview also.

Some institutes consider marks obtained in the qualifying examination and work experience also as assessment factors.

So you have to keep all these in mind during your preparation for the exam.

Also give a thought to what specialisation you would like to go in for. Though you are eligible for all the common specialisations like HR, finance, marketing or IT, coming as you do from a biotechnology background, you have the option to take up MBA in Biotechnology. The following are some institutes offering the course:

Amity Institute of Biotechnology, New Delhi offers MBA Biotechnology. The eligibility criterion is graduation in Life sciences with minimum 50 per cent marks. For details, log on to www.amity.edu

The Department of Management Science of the University of Pune, Pune (www.pumba.in) also offers this course.

The eligibility criterion is Bachelor's or Master's degrees (in Biology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Botany, Chemistry, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Microbiology, Zoology). The admission is based on score attained in AIMS Test for Management Admission conducted by Association of Indian Management Schools. For details about the same, log on to www.atma-aims.org. The candidates selected through the test are also assessed at group discussion and personal interview.

I have done my B.Tech in Computer Science and now working as a senior network engineer. I have seven years of work experience. Now I want to study further and do an MBA. Can you give me any suggestions as to what course and institute should I opt for?

As you have seven years of work experience you must have a fairly good idea as to what kind of career you want to pursue in future. An MBA degree qualifies you to assume higher and more managerial roles in an organisation. If you do well in your MBA and learn all that the course has to offer you, you can succeed easily in any new role and grow quickly in your career.

With your kind of work experience, you are eligible to take up either a full time MBA or an executive MBA. You can purse the course either full-time, part-time or in distance mode.

Make a choice based on your requirements and convenience. Personally, I feel that you should go in for an Executive MBA from a good institute as you already have the requisite work experience.

The following are some of the courses you can consider:

Osmania University, Hyderabad offers MBA in Technology Management. For details log on to www.osmania.ac.in

Symbiosis Centre of Information Technology, Pune offers MBA in IT Business Management. The eligibility criterion is graduation. The admission is based on performance test, and interview. For details, log on to www.scit.edu

Anna University, Centre for Distance Education, Chennai offers MBA with Technology Management as specialisation, in distance mode.

The eligibility criterion is graduation in any discipline. The admission is based on performance in the entrance test. For details, log on to www.annauniv.edu/cde/

Alagappa University, Directorate of Distance Education, Karaikudi offers MBA in Project Management. The eligibility criterion is graduation in any discipline. For details, log on to www.alagappauniversity.ac.in. Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai offers Executive MBA. The eligibility criteria are graduation in any discipline with at least 50 per cent marks and minimum three years work experience in an Executive capacity, post graduation. The admission is based on personal interview and group discussion. For details, log on to www.nmims.edu

Some more institutes offering Executive MBA (or equivalent programmes) are SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai (www.spjimr.org), Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad (www.imt.edu) and Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad (www.ipeindia.org).

TMI Network


Oxygen molecules detected in Orion constellation

For the first time, molecular variety of Oxygen has been discovered in space in Orion constellation of stars which forms clouds.

While atomic oxygen has been long known in warm regions of space, previous missions looking for the molecular variety — two atoms of oxygen bonding together — came up largely empty—handed.

NASA’s Submillimetre Wave Astronomy Satellite and Sweden’s Odin mission have both searched for molecular oxygen and established that its presence is much lower than expected.

Paul Goldsmith, NASA’s project scientist at Jet Propulsion Lab, California, and an international team of investigators went looking for it with European Space Agency’s Herschel project, according to a NASA statement.

They used Herschel’s HIFI far—infrared instrument and targeted Orion, where they reasoned that the forming stars would heat the surrounding gas and dust.

Using three infrared frequencies of the instrument, the Herschel Oxygen Project team was successful. They found one molecule of oxygen for every million hydrogen molecules in Orion.

“This explains where some of the oxygen might be hiding,” said Goldsmith.

“But we didn’t find large amounts of it and still don’t understand what is so special about the spots where we found it. The Universe still holds many secrets,” he added.

Oxygen, in all its forms, is the third most abundant element in the Universe and a major ingredient of our planet.


Bacteria can destroy toxins in polluted groundwater

Bugs can safely destroy dangerous toxins in groundwater, leaching from solvents in plastic effluents.

A trial by researchers has shown that they could be used to clean up similarly polluted sites anywhere in the world by injecting them into the polluted source.

The trial involved cleaning up chlorinated solvents that leaked many years ago from a former Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) chemical plant into the Botany Sands Aquifer in Australia, creating large plumes of contaminated groundwater.

“With present technology, it was expected that it might take decades or perhaps centuries before these toxic solvents are removed from the aquifer,” said associate professor Mike Manefield at the University of New South Wales, who led the research.

“Our tests showed that these bacteria effectively breathe these pollutants the way we breathe oxygen,” added Manefield, according to a New South Wales statement.

“It’s a big step forward. These cultures represent a greener and cheaper tool we can use to clean up some of our contaminated sites,” he added.

Researchers collected bacteria occurring naturally in the Botany aquifer and isolated three bacterial communities that live off the breakdown of pollutants, including the first one known to degrade chloroform — a possible carcinogen that has been banned in consumer products.


Don’t fear the penguin - there’s a Linux package for every taste

The Linux computer operating system turns 20 in August. But, despite having reached that fine age (in computer terms), it remains on the fringe, with relatively low usage levels.

Mostly, it has suffered from its reputation for being complicated, with many thinking it’s exclusively for geeks and nerds who know each line of code by heart.

But the reputation is undeserved. Linux hardly makes any special demands on users and is about as simple to use as Windows or Mac OS.

Indeed, the most daunting prospect with Linux is choosing between the variety of versions available — and the ability to dive beneath the user interface and get deep into the software, if you’re so inclined.

There are other hurdles for Linux, which uses a penguin as its symbol. Most computer users find it a step too far to switch to Linux when their computers come pre—installed with Windows, says Novell manager Holger Dryoff. “Personally, I haven’t used anything but Linux on my computer since 1994.” Novell has close links with one of the classic Linux versions, OpenSuse, which basically consists of the core of the system, along with a few other freely distributed programmes.

Suse, the affectionate name of OpenSuse’s predecessor, “did the pioneering work for the distribution of Linux in Germany,” says Nils Magnus, co—founder of Linux Day.

If you understand Windows and want to switch, OpenSuse is the way to go, thanks primarily to the accessible graphical interface from KDE.

But OpenSuse is no longer the most popular Linux variation. That honour belongs to the Ubuntu project, founded in 2004 and now with an estimated 25 million users worldwide.

Its version 11.4, for the first time, no longer comes standard with the Gnome desktop, but a new interface from Unity. The launcher is no longer at the bottom, but on the left, leaving more space on displays — which predominantly use a 16:9 ratio — for contents running from the top to the bottom of the screen.

“This is a new and very interesting attempt to design the desktop differently than before,” says Magnus.

Ubuntu is a version based on Debian, which has been around since 1993 and also consists predominantly of freeware. Other versions include free commercial programmes like Acrobat Reader.

“Debian is clearly the biggest Linux line,” says Ladislav Bodnar, who operates the website distrowatch.com. “The latest version requires eight DVDs.” The most compact Linux that still contains a graphical interface is Tiny Core Linux, which takes up all of 11 megabytes. Bodnar, a Slovakian Linux aficionado, lives in Taiwan and has 689 versions of the software in his database. Of those, 323 are still actively managed and under ongoing development.

“More than ever, there’s this heated debate about the graphical user interface,” says Bodnar, explaining trends in the Linux scene.

Ubuntu’s Unity desktop, a well as the new Gnome Version 3, orient themselves more towards use on a touchscreen.

“They can also be used on a desktop or a laptop, but they demand a radical rethink of expectations.” That has forced a lot of Linux users to consider alternatives, says Bodnar, like graphically intense user interfaces such as Xfce or LXDE. “Of course, there are naturally those who like the new desktop design from Unity or Gnome 3.” Installing software and downloading updates has become simple with most versions.

“All big distributors are coming along with package management,” explains Magnus. Finding appropriate drivers is no longer a problem either. There’s support for all kinds of hardware, from USB sticks to UMTS modems or even finger touch sensors on notebooks.

Magnus recommends Ubuntu, OpenSuse or Fedora — produced by Red Hat for home use — for beginners. “Debian is not so useful for first—time users,” he says, noting that this modularly built system can sometimes be complicated to install on a PC.

The variety of Linux versions is especially useful for specialists, who tend to use their computers for specific tasks. That means there’s Edubuntu, an Ubuntu version for students, or Mythbuntu, for recording videos. Backtrack also relies on Ubuntu, as it provides special tools for security checks of computer networks.

Even if using Linux doesn’t require any particular computer knowledge, it’s still fun to play with software like the thorough word processor Emacs, which offers a lot more options than Microsoft Word.

Of course, sometimes things don’t always work right away. But that, says Dryoff, “naturally creates an urge to get it working.”



Smartphone goes a notch up

Thanks to DailyData, it can be your personal physician always on call

Smartphones can do many things. Now, thanks to the DailyData application, it can even double up as your personal physician always on call.

The application, which can be used globally, is available at http://www.getdailydata.com/Help/GettingStarted. Registration is necessary, and invites are sent out for it to be installed and used.

“We understand that there is a whole ecosystem of applications to monitor health out there,” says Anmol Madan, a Ph.D. from MIT Media lab, and who is one of the founders of Ginger.io. “But DailyData works differently. Think of your phone as a proxy for your behaviour. Your calls, SMS and emails, all indicate how active you are on the phone.”

He continues: “My earlier research [on modelled large-scale human behaviour data using statistical and pattern recognition methods] has proved that this behaviour changes when the user is not well or is symptomatic.” For example, a person about to go into a state of depression will isolate himself and stop calling the number of people he used to call earlier, or he will call only certain numbers.

Working on this principle, Ginger.io first creates a baseline model of a user's mobile-phone activity and looks for the variations. When digressions are detected, it sends out alerts like ‘Are you okay?' It is aimed at healthy folk who want to monitor their wellness as well.

While other health applications usually need data to be fed in manually, DailyData collects the information automatically. This can be supplemented by data (regarding changes, if any) entered manually. Data sent across can be viewed on either android phones or in the users' account of www.getdailydata.com. Updates are made at frequent intervals.

The product uses only a few KB of data, so there aren't significant increases in mobile costs. Privacy is one aspect to which the creators paid a great deal of attention. “Data is sent to our secure servers for analysis and encrypted for greater security,” says Madan.


All India bank strike on August 5

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), the umbrella organisation of nine trade unions, has called for a nationwide strike on August 5, for demands relating to the banking industry.

UFBU convenor Shyamal Karmakar said their demands include non-privatisation of nationalised banks, no reduction of government stake in public sector banks and no merger of banks, among others.

The unions have been in continuous dialogue on these issues, but there has been no response from the management or the Indian Bank Association, he told reporters in Kolkata on Tuesday.

If the government persists with this attitude, then the agitation would be intensified, he added.


Education reforms hit a roadblock

The Kerala State Higher Education Council is in a limbo and awaits reconstitution by the UDF government. And the fate of a slew of reform measures proposed and initiated by the council is hanging fire.

The Kerala State Higher Education Council which was born on March 16, 2007, is today a ‘lame duck' entity. Unable to take any new initiatives or take substantive continuing action on any of its old initiatives, the council awaits a reconstitution.

It is understood that the council officials have repeatedly notified the government that the body's term has come to an end. At a recent press conference in Thiruvananthapuram the Education Minister P. K. Abdu Rabb said in reply to a question that the council would be “reconstituted soon.”

In keeping the council in a limbo what the present United Democratic Front government is also doing is to keep in limbo the much needed reforms in the higher education sector in Kerala.

The government is also yet to make clear whether the council would be an instrument, a hub, for such reforms as it was under M. A. Baby's education department. If indications emanating from the UDF are correct, the government may go in for a comprehensive overhaul of the very laws that govern the operations of the council.

For long, the UDF has charged Mr. Baby with politicising higher education and has also insinuated on many occasions that the committees set up by the council to study and report on various aspects of higher education had political agendas to fulfil. In 2010 when the LDF government decided to seek an all-party consensus for the implementation of the reports of these committees, only the Jacob Tharu committee which recommended reforms in the examination structure and practices of universities met with approval from the then Opposition.

“We asked the LDF government to immediately implement the Jacob Tharu report. Why did Mr. Baby not do so? Now, I don't think the UDF government is in any way bound to implement that report. I feel that new committees may be set up to study these issues and the UDF government may implement the recommendations of those committees. The KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala has made it very clear that the LDF government had politicised the education sector and that we cannot abide by initiatives arising from such politicisation,” said G. V. Hari the member secretary of the UDF expert committee on education.

While in the Opposition the UDF pilloried the report of the Anandakrishnan Committee which was set up to review the acts of Kerala's universities. The then opposition had termed this report as being wishy-washy and inconsequential. The UDF argument was that the acts and statutes of each university should have been looked at independently and then amended wherever necessary. The question is, would the UDF government — with its wafer-thin majority in the Assembly — feel bold enough to undertake such a review?

To be fair, the UDF expert committee has stressed the need for reviewing the laws that govern universities. The committee has also called for freeing colleges from the archaic affiliating system, for giving them more autonomy and for insisting on “self-accountability.” A committee document — reportedly submitted to the government — calls for creating a “climate for systemic changes” in universities. It is understood that the document also speaks of the need for reforming the way vice chancellors and other key officers of universities are selected.

But then, the stand of the UDF when in the opposition was that the Kerala State Higher Education Council had no mandate to even look into possible reforms of the acts and statutes of universities. So then which agency would the UDF now turn to for suggesting such reforms? Would the government set up committees outside the council or would the laws of the Council be reworded? Either way the government has not given any indication, yet.

What is more, would the UDF government try and arrive at an all-party consensus in the case of such reforms? If yes, what imperative would the LDF have to agree to any or some of the reform measures suggested by an UDF committee? What is to prevent the LDF from saying that the UDF has “politicised” the higher education sector and that it, in turn, would seek to undo what the UDF may now do?

Would not the recommendations of a UDF committee meet with same fate as that of those set up by the present council.

In other words, what guarantee is there that Kerala would see the emergence of a bi-partisan education policy; something it badly needs and surely deserves? More importantly, it is not clear what checks and balances the UDF plans to put in place to ensure that its own committees do not work to a political agenda.

At the all party meeting convened by Mr. Baby the Opposition wanted to know why the LDF did not consider having a unified act for all universities. It was the former education minister Nalakath Soopy who repeatedly asked why an unified act was not considered. Would the UDF now consider such an act? After all it is Mr. Soopy's party the Indian Union Muslim League which has with it the education portfolio now.

In such a politically charged atmosphere the UDF's education bosses may be tempted to look at the Thanu Padmanabhan committee report on reforming postgraduate education in a favourable light. This report was not accepted by the council as it was “not in sync” with its broad reform framework. For that very reason — sadly enough — these recommendations may appear politically correct to the UDF.

Teacher education

The expert committee set up by the KSHEC to suggest reforms in teacher education has also submitted its report. Among other things the committee suggested extending the duration of the B.Ed. course, institution of integrated programme, the introduction of a full-semester internship, and an enhanced role for the general education department in the teacher education sector.

This committee recommended three models of teacher education for Kerala; a one-and-a-half year model where there would be three semesters, a modified version of the two-year model suggested by the NCTE or a four-and-a-half years long B.Ed programme. The last, integrated, model will have nine semesters of which the first six will be done at a regular arts and science college and the last three, in a teacher education college.

What about these recommendations? Does the UDF see in them too, a political agenda? If not, why cannot these recommendations be looked at seriously and considered for implementation? Surely reforms in teacher education — which in turn would impact the shaping of millions of young minds — are no less important that rewriting university laws?

The bottomline regarding reforms in the higher education sector appears to be that the UDF wants to invent its own wheel; re-study everything that the present Council's committees studied. So far, the UDF's education committee has not directly been involved in any discussions on possible reforms in this sector. This committee's report on reforms in the higher education sector is due for publication any time now.

It remains to be seen whether this report would form the bedrock of possible UDF reforms in Kerala's higher education sector and whether the academics who worked to prepare this report would make it to any council or agency tasked with implementing these recommendations.



Sensex tanks over 223 points in opening trade on global cues

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex plummeted by over 223 points in opening trade on Wednesday to trade below the 18,000-mark on continued selling by foreign funds and retail investors, spooked by the continued uncertainty in global markets.

The 30—share barometer, which lost 204.44 points inTuesday’s trade, slid further by 223.32 points, or 1.23 per cent, to below the 18,000—level at 17,886.57 in the first few minutes of trade today.

Similarly, the wide—based National Stock Exchange Nifty index moved down by 70.70 points, or 1.29 per cent, to 5,385.85.

Stocks of realty, capital goods, auto, finance and IT companies remained under pressure, dragging down the Sensex.

Market experts said the bearish trading sentiment at home mirrored the weak trend on other Asian bourses in early trade today, following overnight losses in the US market as fears about the health of the global economy were renewed by poor economic data that overshadowed a congressional deal to raise America’s debt ceiling to avoid a first—ever default.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell by 1.97 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei by 2.21 per cent this morning. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2.19 per cent lower in the previous session.


U.S. Senate passes budget deal

The United States Senate put an end to months of partisan impasse on Tuesday, passing a landmark budget agreement to raise the debt ceiling and sending the measure to the White House for President Barack Obama's signature just hours before the government's borrowing authority was set to run out at midnight.

The bipartisan vote was 74-26, a margin that belied the intensity of a fight that has left both parties bruised and exhausted.

With the ambivalent support of congressional leaders in both parties and Mr. Obama, the compromise, which passed the House with bipartisan support on Monday night, averts a potential default on the government's debt and provides for increases in the debt ceiling to be phased in, with compensating budget cuts, lasting beyond the 2012 elections.

Enactment of the legislation would signal a pronounced shift in fiscal policy, from the heavy spending on economic stimulus and warfare of the past few years to a regime of steep spending cuts aimed at reducing the deficits so far, without new revenues sought by the White House.

“Make no mistake, this is a change in behaviour from spend, spend, spend to cut, cut, cut,” said Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican-Tennessee, as the debate began on the Senate floor.

But the fight, which is only half over until a second round of deficit reduction is completed over the next five or six months, also exposed deep ideological schisms between and within the political parties, and tarnished the images of Congress and the President alike.

And the fight left many lawmakers on both sides deeply uneasy, including Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat-Illinois, and the assistant majority leader, who said he had consulted with the Senate chaplain over his vote, because “from where I stand it is not the clearest moral choice.”

“Plan will hurt”

Liberal critics say the plan will hurt an already limping economy.

Despite the tension and uncertainty that has surrounded efforts to raise the debt ceiling, the House vote of 269-161 was relatively strong in support of the plan, which would cut more than $2.1 trillion in government spending over 10 years while extending the borrowing authority of the Treasury Department. It would also create a powerful new joint congressional committee to recommend broad changes in spending and possibly in tax policy to reduce the deficit.

Scores of Democrats initially held back from voting, to force Republicans to register their positions first.

Then, as the time for voting wound down, Gabrielle Giffords, Democrat-Arizona, returned to the floor for the first time since being shot in January and voted for the bill to jubilant applause and embraces from her colleagues. It provided an unexpected, unifying ending to a fierce standoff in the House.

Although the actual spending cuts in the next year or two would be relatively modest in the context of a $3.7 trillion federal budget, they would represent the beginning of a new era of restraint at a time when unemployment remains above 9 per cent, growth is slowing and there are few good policy options for giving the economy a stimulative kick.

Deep fissures exposed

The negotiations exposed deep fissures within both parties. In the end, 174 Republicans and 95 Democrats backed the deal, and 66 Republicans and 95 Democrats voted against it.

But Republicans and Democrats alike made clear they were not happy with the agreement, which was struck late on Sunday between the leadership of Congress and Mr. Obama.

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, acknowledged the unrest as the Senate prepared to follow the House in voting.

“Neither side got what they wanted, but it is the essence of compromise,” said Mr. Reid, who said most senators “realise the situation we're in and the alternative.”

House and Senate Republicans, too, raised objections, saying the proposal fell short of what was needed and invested too much power in a new special joint committee that would be charged with finding $1.5 trillion or more in future cuts by Thanksgiving after a first round of $1 trillion called for in the legislation. — New York Times News Service


NDA government blamed for appointing Kalmadi

UPA in damage control mode after another CAG report

Faced with embarrassment in the form of another Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the Commonwealth Games 2010, the government on Tuesday hit back and blamed the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for the appointment of Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi as Chairman of the CWG Organising Committee. In a damage control exercise, Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Ajay Maken made a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha on the issue. He said that the CAG report had not been officially tabled in Parliament and he was not in a position to comment on its contents.

The statement comes on the heels of media reports that despite the recommendations of the Group of Ministers, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) chose to nominate Mr. Kalmadi as chairman of the Organising Committee. However, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government maintained that the door for this was opened by the previous NDA government.

Mr. Maken blamed that government for having signed the Host City contract — bypassing the Delhi government — which led to all kinds of problems and chaos in the run-up to the Games.

Mr. Maken's speech was interrupted frequently by agitated Opposition members. The Chair asked Mr. Maken to lay the statement on the table.

Putting up a spirited defence, Mr. Maken, while speaking outside the House, said the current PMO led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had nothing to do with the appointment of Mr. Kalmadi as chairman. “There were only two options — either to scrap the CWG or to go with the Host City contract, which was signed by the NDA regime in November 2003.”

The Minister said the CWG management protocol clearly stated that the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) shall form the Organising Committee.

No other option

“When the protocol gave all powers to the IOA to form the OC, then there was no other option. Second, the Host City contract should have been signed by the City government, Delhi government in this case. It should have been passed by the city Cabinet, Delhi Cabinet in this case,” he said..

The Minister questioned the approval, by the Cabinet of the NDA government, of the contract, which was signed by the then Sports Secretary. “Once it was signed by the Union government, it was binding on the Union government which could not have gone back [on it],” Mr. Maken said.

Lashing out at the Opposition for making a hue and cry over the issue, he said members of these very political parties were part of the General Assembly of the IOA which elected Mr. Kalmadi. “All Opposition parties who are making a hue and cry now, they were part of that. They were members of the General Assembly on November 1, 2004 even before Mr. Kalmadi was appointed Chairman of OC by the Union government,” the Minister said.

“The IOA General Assembly had passed [a resolution] and recommended that Mr. Kalmadi should be appointed the OC chairman by all these people cutting across party lines. So, I think, the BJP or the NDA should first look at their own record. It was decided during their time,” he said.

“By one stroke, it took away from the Union government any residual, amending or discretionary powers that could have been exercised in emergent situations to salving any wrongdoings,” he said.

Mr. Maken charged the NDA government with failure to scrutinise and thoroughly verify the contract and said any viable alternative to the provisions was neither explored nor suggested.

The Minister maintained that by not making the Delhi government a signatory to the contract, the Union government directly stepped into providing the letter of support for the bid to host the CWG in Delhi and meet the deficit between revenue and expenditure fully without any budgetary constraint.

“The CAG report is not officially out and I do not even know what its contents are. I am sure all these things would be debated in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).”


U.S. students hail subsidy for veterinary care in India

“Backyard rearing of country chicken plays a vital role in rural economy”

It is interesting to learn that veterinary vaccines and treatment is supplemented by the Indian Government unlike the United States where treating pets and cattle is very expensive, says Julia Treseder, a third year student of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM).

She was here at the Veterinary College and Research Institute for about a week with five of her classmates from VirginiaTech Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine as part of their six week clinical tour at veterinary institutions and clinics in Tamil Nadu.

Julia told The Hindu that another major difference between the countries in veterinary care was the care for animals. “In our country we focus on preventive medication such as detection and vaccination but in India importance is given for treatment,” she added.

Jessica Romine said that they had to choose Chile or India for their visit as she added that they opted for India as they were impressed with the one hour presentation made by their seniors when they returned to Virginia after taking part in a similar programme last year. Jennifer Finder finds it amazing to see how quick veterinarians here provide treatment to the animals. She said that in the U.S. they spend more time diagnosing the cause for the discomfort of the animals but observed that the vets here are more concerned about treating and relieving them from their ailment.

Cathryn Doyle who is interested in pursuing higher education in wild life studies exclaimed that she has heard that wild life in India is really wild. “It is not so wild in the U.S. as wild animals could be seen only in the zoos unlike in few parts of India where people see tigers and elephants as part of their day to day activities,” she adds.

She said she was keen to drop into the elephant sanctuary at Top Slip and wild life sanctuary at Mudhumalai before returning.

The team felt that the opportunity to touch the ailing animals, administer vaccines and medicines for different types of diseases and conducting pregnancy tests for some the pets was the striking feature of their tour. They said that they had not done them before.

Backyard rearing of country chicken plays a vital role in rural economy, they said. “It's different,” they said with a smile as they recollected how it looked and behaved. Straying animals was an offence anywhere in U.S. but quite common here, they observed.

During their stay in Namakkal they also took part in the mass contact programme for animals atop Kolli Hills, visited poultry farms, Avian Diagnostic Lab, interacted with scientists, students and professors at the VCRI and at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra.


Birdlike dinosaur fossil may shake up family tree

However, the new findings, if confirmed by additional research, will not undermine the prevailing theory that modern birds descended from dinosaurs.

In the 150 years since its discovery in Germany, Archaeopteryx has perched high on the avian family tree as the earliest and most primitive bird, somewhere near the evolutionary moment when some dinosaurs gave rise to birds. But recent fossil finds cast doubt on this interpretation: Archaeopteryx may be only a birdlike dinosaur rather than a dinosaur like true bird.

Chinese palaeontologists reported in the current issue of the journal Nature that a previously unknown chicken-size 155-million-year-old dinosaur with feathers, named Xiaotingia zhengi, “challenges the centrality of Archaeopteryx in the transition to birds.”

The discovery

Like so many fossil dinosaurs and other life from the late Jurassic period, Xiaotingia was found in Liaoning Province, a happy hunting ground for palaeontologists. The skeleton was embedded in shale, along with the clear impressions of feathers. Scientists who studied the specimen said it was not as striking in appearance as several of the 10 known Archaeopteryx remains, but good enough apparently to contradict conventional wisdom about proto-birds.

The discovery team and other scientists emphasised that the new findings, if confirmed by additional research, would not undermine the prevailing theory that modern birds descended from dinosaurs. The question now is, if not Archaeopteryx, which of many feathered dinosaurs or dinosaur like birds being found is closest to the first bird? Other assumptions about the early evolution of birds, they said, would also need to be re-evaluated.

Xing Xu and his colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing said that their examination of Xiaotingia, in comparison with more recognisably bird skeletons from the same period as well as the 150-million-year-old Archaeopteryx, showed that the new fossils fell short of a place in the avian family. Several of its anatomical traits, like the long and robust forelimbs once thought to be diagnostic of birds, were actually common to a group of dinosaurs known as deinonychosaurs.

Dr. Xu's team concluded that “the most important result of our analysis” is that the anatomies of the Chinese specimen and Archaeopteryx were remarkably similar, meaning that both belonged to the lineage of the meat-eating deinonychosaurs, not the plant-eating early birds. In short, Archaeopteryx presumably was not an ancestral bird. The recent discovery of a tenth Archaeopteryx specimen “greatly improved our knowledge” of its similarities to the dinosaur group and its differences from birds, the palaeontologists said.

Several scientists who were not involved in the research said they were not especially surprised by the findings.

“It may seem heretical to say that Archaeopteryx isn't a bird, but this idea has surfaced occasionally since as far back as the 1940s,” Lawrence M. Witmer, a palaeontologist at Ohio University, wrote in a commentary accompanying the journal article. “Moreover, there has been growing unease about the avian status of Archaeopteryx as, one by one, its “avian” attributes (feathers, wishbone, three-fingered hand) started showing up in non-avian dinosaurs.”

Nor was this report likely to be the last word on the subject. The researchers themselves, among the leading dinosaur specialists in China, acknowledged that their interpretation was sure to be controversial. They conceded that some of their conclusions are “only weakly supported by the available data.” At such an early stage in the dinosaur-bird transition, distinctions among species were often subtle, or “rather messy affairs,” as Dr. Witmer said.

Scientists are expected to take another, deeper look at many feathered fossil animals that have been uncovered in China in the last 15 years. Several of these avian dinosaur species, including Epidexipteryx, Jeholornis and Sapeornis, may then take wing as the new early birds. And relentless fossil hunters are certain to turn up new species.

“This will be frustrating and exciting,” Dr. Witmer said in an interview, noting that — who knows? — the next discovery might tempt scientists to restore Archaeopteryx to its place in the proto-bird flock. “Some of these things may never be entirely conclusive,” he said. “It drives us nuts.”

Since “virtually all our notions about early avian evolution have previously been viewed through the lens of Archaeopteryx,” Dr. Witmer said, “the impact of losing Archaeopteryx from the avian clan is likely to rock the paleontological community for years to come.” — © New York Times News Service


Exaggerating conventions: The Real Inspector Hound

This production is grander than "The Skeleton Woman" as well. Elaborate costumes and sets make it entirely different from anything we have done before, Nayantara Kotian and Prashant Prakash of Quaff Theatre (Mumbai) say.

Directors of “The Real Inspector Hound”, Nayantara Kotian and Prashant Prakash of Quaff Theatre (Mumbai) say the play is a denuding of conventions of the whodunit genre.

It seems as if you have more or less chosen to stay true to the original version of “The Real Inspector Hound”. Given it is so popular and well known, how have you made it your own?

We picked up the play because we loved it for its very unique, astute and unabashed denuding of conventions of the whodunit genre, and the cliches this genre employs to create a mood of heightened suspense. Our production revels in exaggerating these conventions and thereby exposing them.

This play is influenced by cultural and societal upheavals of the 1960s, and its farcical humour plays off stereotypes of the age. How does “The Real Inspector Hound” work in a setting and age completely foreign to its origin?

The '60's was a period of refusing to accept what was norm, and revolutionising thinking in all aspects. Regarding crime fiction, the genre thrived on being extremely formulaic. The crime was conveniently solvable (think Agatha Christie), with perfect explanations being given by the investigator in the archetypal living room. Stoppard went against this norm, finding it too removed from reality. This route that he chose to take — it can be said — could have been due to the societal and cultural upheavals of his time. The play does contain farcical humour, but the stereotypes it plays off are universal and not so very much bound by time and space.

Your first play as Quaff Theatre, “The Skeleton Woman”, won the MetroPlus Playwright Award and showed at our Fest in 2009. This one is very different in form, genre and scale. Was it much more demanding?

“The Skeleton Woman” had a cast of two actors, and “The Real Inspector Hound” has a cast of six more. It does make this production a bigger one. More so, a cast that contains busy actors who are involved not only in other theatre productions, but films as well, made it far more demanding.

This production is grander than “The Skeleton Woman” as well. Elaborate costumes and sets make it entirely different from anything we have done before. Also here, we already had a terrific script to work with.


Memories of Madras – Riders of a bygone era

Buchi Prakash on why the Kolanka Cup is the pride of polo, the game's royal past and the early years of the Madras Polo & Riders Club

The Kolanka Cup is the pride of polo and also Madras. Made of silver and marvellously carved, it stands six feet tall and the Guinness Book of World Records calls it the tallest sports trophy in the world. The polo-playing Raja of Kolanka made this cup and instituted the tournament in the Madras Presidency.

Madras is credited with many firsts in polo. Not all of them are flattering. It can be named for the longest on-field altercation: in the mid-1970s, two players started an argument, during a match at the Officers Training Academy grounds (then Officers Training School), which culminated in polo administrators requesting the offended parties to make peace. French player Lionel McCaire had confronted Nawab Habeeb Jung from Hyderabad: “What's happening? Why did you ride into me?”

“In polo, you can ride at a steep angle!” was Jung's reply. McCaire was not willing to accept that explanation and a strongly-worded argument between the two raged. In protest, the French player got off the saddle and lay on the ground. Entreaties from the organisers failed. It finally took a friendly smile from Jung to resolve the deadlock.

Many of the unforgettable matches from the city were played at the OTA grounds, the grand stage of Madras polo since the late 1960s. The sport came to be enshrined here after taking a meandering course that included sojourns at the Government House and the Chettinad Palace. In the days when polo was played at a ground in the Government House (Adyar), black bucks and spotted deer — which strayed on to the polo field — stopped play more often than the rains. After a few members of the Riding Club of Madras — including A.C. Muthiah, M.A. Chidambaram and my father M.V. Prakash — formed the Madras Polo & Riders Club (MPRC) in the early 1960s desiring to give polo an organisation dedicated to its promotion, games were conducted at the Chettinad Palace. In 1969, MPRC gained access to the OTA grounds to organise tournaments.

In the 1960s and 1970s, MPRC was among groups from South India that were helped by the Race Club through Gymkhana Racing (also known as Gentlemen's Racing), which encouraged amateurs to race with their ponies, making use of the facilities at the Club. The revenue from this event was divided among the clubs engaged in equestrian sports. These races resulted in greater collections than regular ones. Thanks to this novel provision, MPRC could conduct its tournaments without having to look for sponsors. And, it indirectly helped popularise polo in Madras.

BIO BUCHI PRAKASH Born in 1950, he is one of the eminent polo players from Madras to have played for the country and is still the highest handicap player from South India. He has played in 21 countries for private teams. He was the steward of the Indian Polo Association from 1989 to 1993 and again, from 1997 to 1999. Chairman of Carnatic Coast Constructions and Hotels (CCCH), his hotels and businesses have always reflected his interest in horses and polo. In the 1980s, he ran a boutique Horse & Wagon which featured designs named after his ponies. He takes time out in October and November for competitive polo in Jaipur and Delhi with his team, which plays under the banners of Horse & Wagon and Buchi Babu.

I REMEMBER Sergeant Monroe was an unlikely coach and manager of the Riding Club of Madras. The Englishman stayed on in Madras — even after India's Independence — and worked for the Madras Mounted Police. Riding a Matchless bike and sporting a handlebar moustache, he inspired respect in the horse riders and polo players of Madras.


Sehwag's arrival should cheer up the Indians

After a largely cheerless three weeks in England, having suffered heavy defeats and injury-related setbacks, India received much-needed relief.

Virender Sehwag is set to arrive in London early on Wednesday morning before joining the squad ahead of the two-day practice match in Northampton which starts on Friday. Sehwag had been named in the squad when it was selected on July 2 with the provision that he would miss the first fortnight to rehabilitate his shoulder after surgery.

India will hope to have its regular pair of Gautam Gambhir and Sehwag in place before the third Test, scheduled at Edgbaston, Birmingham, from August 10. India captain M.S. Dhoni confirmed that Gambhir, who suffered a bruised elbow when he was hit by a full-blooded sweep at short-leg in the first Test, would be fit.

The next week will be crucial for India, which has a 0-2 deficit to make up. Its squad has a mix of cricketers who have either played too much cricket or too little — the team has therefore appeared both jaded and underdone. England's superiority in fitness and preparation has been obvious, and India, in the next few days, will be racing against time to set itself in order for a turnaround.

To loud cheers, Zaheer Khan bowled a few deliveries on one of the adjoining pitches after the second Test concluded. The extent of his recovery was unclear — he made certain he didn't over-extend himself. The temptation will be to play both Sehwag and Zaheer, but their game-readiness will have to be carefully assessed.

Also on the injured list is Harbhajan Singh. The off-spinner managed only nine overs in the second innings here at Trent Bridge. There has been no official word on the nature of his niggle, but Dhoni and Rahul Dravid, when asked during press conferences, have said it is stomach-muscle injury. Harbhajan didn't seem to be in difficulty when making 46 on Monday. India will need him fit and in better form.

Asked about the injuries that have plagued the team, Dhoni said the injury-management was the best it could be.

You can't really do anything about what happens on the field, was his message. Injuries are a tricky matter needing expert knowledge. Scheduling plays a part, as does the quality of recovery between matches and training sessions.

Considering how important fitness is, the BCCI might want to look at Italian football team A.C. Milan's MilanLab, the world-famous facility with scientists, doctors, and specialist coaches known for their success in injury-management and fitness-enhancement.

Pressing issues

But other pressing issues remain: the nature of wickets at home, the quality of the domestic game and the commitment to long-duration cricket.

India has become and stayed No. 1 almost despite the system because it has had cricketers capable of defining performances. It might still hold on to its spot, but it needs to ask itself if it has done everything it can to be the best in the world.


Polaris launches FT-Grid

Invests Rs.91 crore in setting up a separate business unit

Polaris Software Lab, has launched its FT- (financial technology) Grid, the largest cloud offering with a capacity to cater to 100 million customers (MC). The Grid will enable Polaris to offer its financial technology infrastructure and banking products on a pay-per-use (cloud) model to banks and financial institutions. It will be a ready-to-use platform with industry-standard hardware, middleware, relational database management system (RDBMS) and network connectivity components changing the face of banking globally.

Polaris has created a separate business unit and a wholly-owned subsidiary, Polaris Financial Technologies, for launching this FT-Grid. IdenTrust and IBM have partnered to provide reliable and scalable IT infrastructure for FT-Grid. The company has invested Rs.91 crore for setting up this business unit and it has housed two data centres for this purpose.

Three variants

FT-Grid will be offered in three variants and will cater to three major global markets core banking, capital markets and corporate banking. It has complete enterprise class cloud and solution with multiple features such as virtualisation, scalability, reliability, global reach, 24x7x365 support with vernacular localisation and information security.

It provides services at the customer's door step, said Arun jain, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Polaris Software, at a press conference here on Tuesday.

Jaideep Billa, Executive Vice-President, FT-Grid, said it would enable banks and financial institutions to readily access applications on a robust infrastructure, helping them avail of services on per account/branch a month or equivalent usage-based charges. It would also allow clients to avoid licence procurement and maintenance, reducing costs significantly. So far the product had been implemented in two banks, he added.

IBM would be the platform technology partner for FT-Grid. IBM's virtualisation technology would help drive down the cost of infrastructure while it would provide reliability and scalability to FT-Grid.


England's pace attack good with Dukes and Kookaburra

Bresnan's record — eight Tests, eight wins

The story of the India-England series has been the success of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan.

This trio, apart from the likes of Chris Tremlett, Steve Finn, Graham Onions and off-spinner Graeme Swann, has operated in assorted combinations in recent times and has largely accounted for England's surge in Tests, the Ashes series and against South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies and Sri Lanka.

Individual skill

They have offered ample evidence of individual skill in the manipulation of the Australian Kookaburra ball with a fast disappearing seam and also the English Dukes ball with a prominent seam.

Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff proved competent with the Indian SG Test ball with a pronounced seam during their last two visits to India in 2001-02 and 2005-06.

Anderson has played three Tests in India in a period of three years and has taken 10 wickets, with a six-wicket haul at the Wankhede Stadium in the 2005-06 series. England beat India then by 212 runs.

Clearly England looked upon Anderson to lead the pace pack and subdue the Indian line-up, with Virender Sehwag absent at the top order.

His tally of 12 wickets in the current series is only three behind Broad's 15 and Bresnan's seven in one Test at Trent Bridge.

Since his debut against Zimbabwe (five for 73 at Lord's), Anderson has advanced rapidly to 231 wickets in 61 Tests, going past the likes of Flintoff (219), Steve Harmison (222) and Darren Gough (229) and taking the ninth slot among England's highest wicket-takers in Tests.

More significantly his tally of 142 wickets at 22.83 has contributed to England's victory in 30 Tests, of these 105 (at 21.40) in 22 home Tests.

The 29-year-old Lancashire fast bowler is now behind Freddie Trueman (177, 142), Ian Botham (172, 120) and Harmison (143, 107) in playing a decisive role in England's overall victories and at home in particular.

It's almost certain that he will move ahead of Harmison. He's now figured in three victories against India — Wankhede, Lord's and Trent Bridge. It's been a dream run for Anderson since taking 23 wickets against Pakistan last year; he followed this up with 24 wickets in the Ashes series in Australia, his best in 22 Test series.

England fielded Anderson, Tremlett and Broad for the Lord's Test. Though nagged by heel and knee injuries and poor returns in three Tests against Sri Lanka (eight wkts at 48.75), England and, in particular, coach Andy Flower and captain Andrew Strauss would have no reason to regret backing Broad when they had options in Finn and Bresnan.

Broad had moved on from his one for 84 and one for 50 against India at Mohali two years ago and had become another England seamer to take 100 plus wickets, 18 in the Ashes series of 2009, 12 against South Africa and 14 against Pakistan last year confirming his talent.

His robust half-century and a fiery burst with the ball at Trent Bridge truly knocked the Indians down and won him the third man-of-the-match award in less than two years.

Of his 122 wickets in 30 Tests, 78 (at 24.56) have contributed to England's wins, 57 at 21.61 at home.

Tremlett played his part in the Lord's Test, but a hamstring strain paved the way for Bresnan to come in as the third seamer. Since his debut against the West Indies in 2009, in which he took three wickets in two Tests, Bresnan has played three Tests (in two series) against Bangladesh and taken 11 wickets and two against Australia taking 11 wickets.

Clean slate

On Monday he tore through the India second innings to finish with a career best five for 48 and made sure that his 100 per cent winning record for England in eight Tests remained.

Familiar home conditions may have favoured the England seam attack, but they still had to bowl a disciplined line, smartly vary the length and mix it up with short balls — as Bresnan did against Abhinav Mukund, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh.

Anderson, Broad and Bresnan were able to dismiss half the Indian side. There's hardly been a role for Swann (142 wkts in 34 matches, 85 towards England's wins, 49 at home); it's been an unrelenting combination of pace, swing and seam.


Slice of history

The Aga Khan Palace served as a jail for Mahatma Gandhi, Kasturba Gandhi and other freedom fighters during the Quit India movement.

The Aga Khan Palace is one of the many monuments of historical importance in Pune. Built in 1892 by Sultan Mohammed Shah, Aga Khan III, the palace was donated to the government of India in 1969. Away from the buzz of the city, the palace stands on a sprawling ground covering 19 acres in Pune's Yerwada area.

For the villagers

Sultan Mohammed Shah, Aga Khan III was also the 48th spiritual head of the Khoja Ismaili region. Legend goes that the Sultan built the palace to provide employment to the famine – struck villagers of the surrounding region; so he employed 1000 people, and the palace was constructed in five years. It was built in Rs 12 lakhs. The palace covers seven acres, and the rest is a well maintained garden.

Though largely Islamic, the palace has hints of Italian architecture, with its many arches. This building comprises five halls, and large verandahs.

In the years to come, the palace served as a jail for Mahatma Gandhi, Kasturba Gandhi and other freedom fighters in the Quit India movement. This only added to Pune's long standing association with India's independence movement.

In the honor of Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy, Prince Karim El Husseni, Aga Khan IV, donated the palace to the government of India in 1969.Now the Aga Khan Palace is also known as 'Gandhi National Memorial' because of its close association with Mahatma Gandhi.

On March 3, 2003, the Aga Khan palace was declared a ‘monument of national importance' by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The Gandhi connection

The Aga Khan Palace in Pune occupies a page in the history of the Independence movement in India. The historic session of the All India Congress Committee that passed the Quit India resolution concluded just after midnight of August 8, 1942 at Gowalia Tank Maidan, Mumbai. Soon after, on August 9, Gandhi and several other members of the Congress Working Committee were arrested under Defence of India Rules. Gandhi, along with his wife Kasturba, Secretary Mahadev Desai, Miraben, Pyarelal Nayar, Sarojini Naidu and Dr. Sushila Nayar was brought to the Aga Khan Palace that served as a jail. Gandhi stayed in the Aga Khan Palace until he was released on May 6,1944. It was here that Gandhi's 50-year old secretary Mahadev Desai died of a heart attack six days after their arrest .Gandhi's wife Kasturba died after 18 months of imprisonment on February 22, 1944 because of prolonged illness. The samadhis of both Desai and Kasturba are housed at the Aga Khan Palace, and were built by celebrated architect Charles Correa. On March19, 1943, Sarojini Naidu, was released because of ill health. The earlier version of the Indian national flag was hoisted by Gandhi at the premises on January26, 1943 and 1944. Mahatma Gandhi was released before the end of the Second World War on 6 May 1944 because of his failing health and necessary surgery. Some historians state that the reason he was released was because the British Raj did not want him to die in prison and enrage the nation.After Gandhi's death, a small amount of his ashes were brought to the Aga Khan Palace, and are housed in a tomb in the palace gardens, not far away from Kasturba's Samadhi. The rooms where Gandhi and the others were lodged in now serve as a museum, as a testimony to the struggle of India's independence. Gandhi's belongings dated to the period of his stay are on exhibition too. The Palace is now known as the Gandhi National Memorial too, in honour of Gandhi's association.