Adrift in school | Dev Lahiri

The silly season of the board examination results is once again upon us. Boards will vie with each other in doling out 90 per cent-plus to their candidates. Social, electronic and print media will overflow with congratulatory (and sometimes self- congratulatory) messages and interviews. Teachers will thump themselves on the back for their “outstanding results”. Schools will go ballistic advertising their “toppers”.

Yet behind the razzmatazz of this marks jamboree, lie some uncomfortable questions that need to be answered. First of all, what of those who did not make it to this elite club? What about those children, who, for reasons well beyond their control, are left struggling on the margins with mediocre or poor results — or even failure? Are they not entitled to a future?

How many of the teachers congratulating themselves would have identified and spent time with students struggling with some learning disability? How many teachers would even recognise the problem of a learning disability?

More fundamentally, how many schools would even admit any student identified as being so disadvantaged?

Let us not even begin to talk about the issue of other disabilities that thousands of our children suffer from. What kind of a culture are we evolving where the disadvantaged are ignored? I remember that when I started an “Assisted Learning Programme” in a boarding school that I headed in the early ’90s to help such students, one of my governors warned me against admitting “mentally retarded” children.

And what do these 90 per cents actually reflect? No one can deny that most students work very hard to achieve these results. The fact that they survive this joyless system is indeed a tribute to their resilience.

The fact, however, remains that the system is so hugely “content driven” that all that the marks reflect are a student’s ability to absorb and spew content, and the teacher’s ability to “teach to the test”. Have schools and teachers taught their students to make connections between what they have learnt in one discipline and what they have learnt in another? Between, say, math and music? Have they taught students to think creatively and critically, to work in teams, to assume leadership, to research and reference, to communicate effectively?

After all, these are the skills required in the real world. Have they excited their students about the business of learning? And I am not even touching upon values such as respect for others, empathy, integrity, gender sensitivity. Teachers, before you get carried away by your “success” please do not forget the steroid of the tuition market without which even that 90 per cent, flawed as it might be, would have remained a distant dream.

Let us not also overlook the reality of the manner in which the examinations are administered. Has anyone, for instance, done an audit of the examiners? After all, the examiners come from the pool of schoolteachers and I dare say that, by and large, that is not a very distinguished catchment area.

The reasons for this are manifold. Teaching, particularly schoolteaching, is not exactly a first choice career option for most. I once asked an assembly of parents in my school how many of them would encourage their son to be a schoolteacher or indeed their daughter to marry one. No marks for the correct answer!

The levels of motivation, not surprisingly, tend to be generally low. To compound the problem, teacher training is something that is largely ignored in our country. Promoters of schools, anxious for quick returns on investment, generally consider spending on teacher training a waste of precious resources.

It is worrisome that we have yet to create an institute with the same brand equity as an IIT or IIM. And ironically, it is the schoolteacher who prepares all the entrants for the IITs and IIMs and indeed for all other professions. It is also well-known that dishonesty is rampant in our examination centres. So how valid are these results?

The sad truth is that school in our country is less about “education” and more about “certification”. Where in any enlightened society is a child virtually “boxed in” as early as grade nine and forced into either “Commerce”, “Science” or god forbid “Humanities”? And never the three shall meet!

A child’s mind should be set free — free to explore and to discover the connections between all the beautiful, and indeed ugly, things he or she learns about this universe. In a very interesting article on the world-famous mathematician Ken Ono, in this paper (‘Prime Obsession’. The Indian Express, May 8) Amruta Lakhe quotes Ono on the relationship between him and his mentor Basil Gordon. “He was the Hardy in my life (a reference to the relationship between Srinivasa Ramanujan and G.H. Hardy). I couldn’t wait to start working on theorems but he didn’t let me anywhere near a math formula for months. We went biking, played the piano, and opened our minds to classical music.”

“Then on one of their expeditions”, Lakhe writes, “Ono was struck by the beauty of a particular sunset and mentioned it to Gordon. Gordon replied that Ono was now ready to do math.”

Unless our school education system, among other things, learns to open up the minds of our children to the fascinating universe they dwell in, it will never really impart an “education”, and will never really prepare them to be “weapons polished and keen” who will help build a new and more equitable and just world order.

The writer retired as principal of Welham Boys School, Dehradun.

- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/board-examination-results-cbse-indian-education-system-schools-in-india-2797571/#sthash.xXNXD0sy.dpuf

Prime Obsession | Amruta Lakhe

Growing up, Ken Ono hated math. It didn’t help that he had an extraordinary talent for it. Brought up by strict disciplinarians and a mathematician father, Takashi Ono, he rebelled against his Japanese upbringing in America. He threatened to run away from home, fail school and never study math again. That was until his father received a letter from the great mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan’s widow, Janaki.

“The letter thanked my father for his contribution in building a statue of Ramanujan after his death,” says Ono, 48, over the phone from Atlanta. “I had never seen my father cry before. He hadn’t shed a tear when his parents had passed away. But the passing of Ramanujan had meant something to him.”

Ramanujan had dropped out of school twice and never believed in formal education, but yet, he was Takashi’s god. It gave Takashi the strength to believe in his rebel son. “Because of Ramanujan’s story, I was given the permission to go find my own.” That was Ono’s first encounter with Ramanujan, but as he would find out, it was a first of many.

Ono travelled the world, but finally came back to math. Today, an eminent mathematician, he specialises in number theory, integer fractions and modular forms, areas of Ramanujan’s study as well. In 2011, he cracked the finite formula for computing partition numbers, a 500-year-old problem. He has delivered TED talks on how to imbibe mathematics into everyday life. His book, My Search for Ramanujan: How I learnt to count, is a glimpse into the shadow that Ramanujan cast on Ono. Between mentoring young mathematicians and understanding black holes, Ono recently found time to be an associate producer and math consultant for The Man Who Knew Infinity, the movie based on Ramanujan’s life, and give math lessons to actors Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons.

On the set of the movie, Ono’s job was to make the film stay true to the life and time of Ramanujan, a drop-out math genius from a village in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, who braved all odds to become a Mathematics Fellow at Cambridge University in the backdrop of World War I.

From his office in Emory University, where he works as an Asa Griggs Candler professor of mathematics, Ono talks about working on a Hollywood set. “I helped with the art design to make sure that Ramanujan’s three journals looked authentic and taught Patel and Irons how to behave like mathematicians in the 1900s: how they’d walk, talk and study,” he says.

Ono worked on tweaking some key points in the script. In one scene, Ramanujan’s mentor and partner GH Hardy asks Ramanujan to return with actual proofs and not just results that the Indian mathematician was so used to handing in. Hardy is seen telling Ramanujan, “It’s not that I don’t believe you; I don’t think you understand how you got there.” “It was very important that the actors said those lines. Hardy and Ramanujan were different mathematicians. Hardy operated systematically while Ramanujan had flights of mathematical fancy. Hardy pushed Ramanujan to prove his work and that was an extremely important detail.”

Another of Ono’s responsibilities was to explain the unusual mathematician that Ramanujan was. “As seen in the movie, Ramanujan was intuitive about math. He loved formulas and equations but often couldn’t explain them. Mathematicians today try to find solutions to existing problems. He was never trying to find solutions, but often stumbled across a formula. He was more of an artist or a musician, extremely creative in his work.”

Because Ramanujan was different, he could never explain where his mathematical insights came from. He claimed that Hindu goddesses put the formulae in his mind. “Ramanujan made important mathematicians understand the presence of a larger power, whether it was God or something else. He made them understand that we are just explorers of infinity. We do not invent formulas. We just find the right words to explain them,” says Ono, who is a church-goer and a believer.

There’s an unconscious sense of resonance in the way Ono’s and Ramanujan’s lives took shape. To begin with, the World Wars played a significant role in both their lives. While Ramanujan moved to Cambridge ahead of the World War I, Ono’s family in Tokyo was a victim of World War II. “My father moved to the United States after Tokyo was bombed. But since US helped in the rehabilitation of Japan, he was offered the chance of a better life at Princeton University,” Ono says.

The memories of Pearl Harbour were fresh in their minds when the Onos arrived to make a life in a white neighborhood in America. “We grew up in an environment of racial tension. My brothers and I were brought up extremely sheltered,” he says.

Later, in his initial years as a mathematician, he met Basil Gordon and formed their-own Hardy-Ramanujan relationship. “He was the Hardy in my life. I couldn’t wait to start working on theorems but he didn’t let me anywhere near a math formula for months. We went biking, played the piano and opened our minds to classical music.” After many months, on one of their expeditions, Ono was struck by the beauty of a particular sunset and mentioned it to Gordon. “He replied that I was now ready to do math.”

The attempt at emulation becomes more apparent in Ono’s recent work. He expanded Ramanujan’s theory of partition congruences and made significant headway into Maass forms. He now uses many of Ramanujan’s theorems to understand black holes and string theory. Ono’s car also bears a license plate with the famous Hardy-Ramanujan number: 1729.

Ono may be one of the most important mathematicians of this generation. Yet, on his website, there’s not a single picture of him next to a blackboard. There’s one on a bike, another on a surfboard, because he is a professional marathon bike racer, surfer and triathlon champion. “Sports keeps me sane. It stimulates the mind endlessly. But I need to hit the road again. Promoting the film has made me gain 10 pounds,” he says.

But why did it take a Hollywood film to get Ramanujan some attention ? Ono says it is because the work of a genius takes time to recognise. “Even though Ramanujan published 37 papers, it has taken people 60-70 years to discover the implications of his work. For instance, we are now understanding that his work could be used to understand black holes. He began a path, showed us the way. We’re just discovering where it leads. He was not a scientist, he was a mathematics prophet,” he says.

Amruta Lakhe is a freelance writer in Mumbai.

- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/prime-obsession/#sthash.OL9Rgq4c.dpuf

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 as recommended by T K Vishwanathan Committee was recently passed by Indian Parliament. Hailed as second biggest reform after GST, this code is significant because of followings :

> Overlapping jurisdictions of laws and lack of clarity in their provisions had made Indian Insolvency resolution framework a legal quagmire. This new code offers an effective and consolidated approach which will make resolution process timebound (180-270 days) and cost effective.

> Economic Survey 2015-16 notes that Indian economy is facing "Chakravyuh" challenge. Although business failures are inevitable in any economy but what makes that economy resilient is recovery rate which in turn requires strong winding up process. In this context, this code is significant.

> As an important pillar supporting ease of doing business, this code would be significant in freeing up and channelizing credit to productive sectors and attracting FDI (as lack of exit sometimes hinders entry too).

> Although not a magic wand of NPA problem but it would help significantly in destressing commercial banks.

> This code privatizes insolvency resolution process So hopefully efficiency would be there.

But there are some challenges too :

> Setting up of necessary institutional infrastructure like insolvency professionals (IPs), Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India ect will take time.

> Abjudication agencies (NCLT and DRT) are also facing problems. Like NCLT is yet to be set up and DRT is overloaded with case pendencies.

> Parliament Committee noted that furnishing the performance bond may deter IPs and IPAs from entering the sector.

Although its working is yet to be witnessed, passing of this code even in dysfunctional Parliament is great start.

new amendment to DTAA

Double taxation is the levying of tax by two or more jurisdictions on the same declared income (in the case of income taxes), asset (in the case of capital taxes), or financial transaction (in the case of sales taxes). Mauritius has a DTAA with India and its tax rates in own country are too low. This ensures firms operating from Mauritius have to pay minimal tax for investments in India thus serving as tax haven for tax evaders.
Implications of new amendment to DTAA
a. It would prevent round tripping of capital wherein a foreign firm used to invest in India through establishing shell or paper companies in tax haven having DTAA with India.
b. Boost in revenue: Capital gains tax will help boost fiscal revenues and reduce fiscal deficit in line with FRBM act.
c. The DTAA amendment would provide a level playing field for all international investors, irrespective of domicile,that would help enhance India’s attractiveness as an investment destination in the long run.
d. It would also ensure India’s conformity to OECD and G20-led guidelines on combating base erosion and profit shifting. In 2015, the OECD had spelt out a series of measures countries needed to take to curb abusive tax avoidance by multinational enterprises — including steps to tighten double taxation avoidance treaties.
e. These steps would bring forth a predictable tax regime and avoid cases like vodafone capital gains tax case.A predictable tax regime is precursor to attract investment.
The amendment is a step in right direction to remove the ill conceived agreement misused hitherto by foreign investors.

मैं चाहता हूँ

मैं चाहता हूँ
तुम जहाँ हो, वहां रहो
जैसे हो, बने रहो
लाख कोशिशें करूँ में
समझाने की
अपनी बात मनवाने की
तुम ना पलटना.

अपने इरादों से,
अपने विश्वास से
या कि किसी अविश्वास से ही.

डटे रहना
जहां हो,
जहां रहना चाहते हो.

क्यूंकि
अगर धुर उत्तर ही है
तो भी तुमने चुना है
या धुर दक्षिण ही
तो भी तुमने ही.

लेकिन कोशिश करना
कि जो चुना है
वो सही हो.

इरादे किसी की हत्या के न हों,
मेरी भी नहीं.

ये ऑफिसियल कवियों का दौर है और विनोदकुमार शुक्ल की बनियान में छेद है.

सींखचों में बंद रहे कबूतर
जबतक आज़ादी के प्रतीक रूप में
नेता ने हवा में नहीं उड़ाये.

सैनिकों का खून सुर्ख लाल था
उनकी माँ का दूध सफ़ेद
पत्नी के आंसू में नमक
नेता की खद्दर फक्क सफ़ेद थी.

मेरे आगोश में सफ़ेद घर
बुदबुदाता है गौरैया की कहानी
जो अब घौंसले बनाने नहीं आती

उसे नहीं पता गौरैया विलुप्त हो रही है.

'प्रश्न खड़े करो'
सातवीं की किताब में लिखा है
'मेडिकल ही क्यों करना?'
नहीं पूछा, कोटा में सत्रह साल की
आत्महत्या करने वाली लड़की ने.

आत्महंता अपराध है,
शिक्षा हमें कातिल बन रही है.

जंगलों में आग क्यों फैलती है
जानवरों को आता है
पत्थर घिस के आग लगाना
खुद जल जाना.

आदमी शर्म से कभी खुद जला है?

सुना है,
सिर्फ दो लाख होने थे
मानव धरती पे.

हम चार लाख गुना ज्यादा हैं.
गणित ने हमें रैशनल बना दिया है.

ये ऑफिसियल कवियों का दौर है
और विनोदकुमार शुक्ल की बनियान में छेद है.
कविता अबतक चीथड़ों में है.

'शर्माजी का लौंडा' दो लाख रूपये महीना कमाता है.
अख़बार ने मेरी कविता पे एक ढेली भी नहीं दी.

तुम्हारे लिए

मैं चाहता हूँ
तुम उन जगहों तक जाओ जहां तक मैं नहीं जा पाया.
उन पहाड़ों पर
जिनपे मैं चढ़ना चाहता था
और उन खंडहरों में भी
जिनमें मैंने रात बिताने के सपने देखे थे.

जानता हूँ
आसान नहीं है
अपने मन का करना और मन माफ़िक चलना
मैंने भी घुटने टेके हैं.
मैं चाहता हूँ
तुम न टेकना-
भले ही मैं ही क्यों न रोकता रहूं
तुम्हें करने से कुछ.
लेकिन तुम करना-
वो जो तुम चाहते हो.

हर कोई तुम्हें
अपने किसी साँचे में ढाल के
कुछ बनाना चाहता है.
तुम मत बनना.

हर कोई चाहता है
कि उसके कहे सा तुम करो.
तुम मत करना.
किसी की नज़र में बुरा होना बुरी बात नहीं,
अपनी नज़र में खटकना बुरा है.

किसी के पैरों के ज़िंदा निशाँ पे मत चलना.
ख़ुद की राह चलना,
काँटों से मत डरना.

दुनिया अर्ध-सफल लोगों से भरी पड़ी है.
ये लोग बड़े तार्किक हैं
और अपनी सुना सुना के
तुम्हारे समझने-करने की शक्ति क्षीण कर देंगे.
या तो तुम्हें अपने सा बना लेंगे
या अपना सबऑर्डिनेट.

तुम अपनी राह चलना
भले हार जाओ.
ये बेहतर है
अर्ध-सफल लोगों के गीले निशानों पे चलने के.
उस राह तुम अधूरी सफलता से आगे नहीं जा सकते
जो तुम्हें ताउम्र कचोटती रहेगी.

तुम चलना
जहाँ तुम चाहो
तुम जाना
जहाँ मन हो
तुम करना
जो चाहो.

तुम करना
जो किसी ने करने का नहीं सोचा
और न कोई तुम्हारे सिवा कर पाएगा. 

Wheat blast

Wheat blast, an agricultural disease, first identified in South America, is caused by the fungus 'Magnaporthe oryzae' which thrives in hot and humid conditions. It poses the following threats:-
1. It can infect huge areas of cultivation resulting in more than 75% yield loss. This loss in agricultural productivity is a major blow to the farmers and to the economy as as a whole.
2. Burning of huge areas if infected standing crops causes environmental pollution. 
3. Contributes towards food scarcity and disease outbreak with disastrous consequences among millions of malnourished people as the disease targets rice and wheat which forms the staple diet of many.
Though India produces blast-resistant varieties of crop, yet it faces potential danger from lurking disease threat as recently reported in Bangladesh. The following measures will help to encounter any adverse situation:-
1.Strict quarantine norms including ban on import of wheat from Bangladesh till their non-infection is authenticated.
2.Exporting blast resistant varieties to South American countries to enable the disease to be uprooted from its point of origin.
3. Directing eastern states of West Bengal and Assam to suspend wheat cultivation in border areas as a precautionary measure.
Active research and developmental activities on the mechanism of the disease causing fungus will help to contain it before it spreads on an epidemic scale.

Women and Religion

Towards the end of the later vedic age , religion became a monopoly of the priestly class and were complicated. It was Beyond the reach of common man, shudras . It denied the salvation to shudras. Sacrifices and rituals became rampant . Women, who enjoyed equal status till Early Vedic Period, were no longer allowed to sit in sabha. They were discriminated in performing religious rituals. This led to the emergence of Buddhism and jainism.

Following facts reveals the discriination faced by women in religious space:
* The Buddhism as a religion evolved out of questioning existing faith and irrational practices. Shudras were allowed to enter into sangha , initially women and insolvent were discriminated upon. After resistance of Ananda women's entry were allowed. 
* Jainism allowed women as head of monasteries. However, maintained that ascetic life was not for women as their nudity was an impediment to their own and others’ salvation
* The Tamil saints Karaikal Ammaiyar and Andal present two different paths to salvation for the woman bhakta. Which was discriminatory. 
* Bhakti and Sufi movement which emerged during medieval time for religious and social reform confined itself on the basis of catse. Women's rights and their religious space was not theme of these movements.

Lack of religious rights along with other rights and perpetuation of patriarchal mind set led further deterioration in the status of women. Later it took the form of evil like Sati. In the 19th and 20th century social reformer like Rjaram Mohan Rai, jyotiba Phule , Ayankali etc gave impetus to movements relating to women's right and dignity.

Our constitution provided equal rights to women that of man. Art 15 provides govt to take affirmative action to uplift the social condition of women. However,despite of all these guarantee, the situation of women ,in religious sphere, is still pathetic in the country. The present women movement regarding temple entry is manifestation of that.

Fight Draught

In distressing times of water crisis, some villages, which have effectively proofed themselves from droughts, stand out. This was made possible by not just constructing irrigation infrastructure, but also managing them effectively.

METHODOLOGY
1. Water Resource Management:
a. Constructing small ponds, bunds, reservoirs, harvest rainwater, recharge groundwater- maintains adequate water for farming, consumption.
b. Calculate, disseminate information on water levels, consumption and rationalising usage, with the help of hydrologists, Panchayats, village committees etc.

2. Ecological Farming:
a. Growing trees, furrows, to increase water holding capacity of farms. Practice drip irrigation to increase efficiency.
b. Ecologically sustainable farming based on water availability, soil health etc. e.g. growing green/black gram, millet, pulses, groundnut, instead of cotton, sugarcane in low rainfall areas. Shift sowing season, crop rotation, inter-cropping, organic farming (using cow dung/urine, neem) etc.
c. Community grazing- ensure adequate fodder, and even fuel e.g. by growing bamboo, dhaman etc.

Thus, farmers not only cushioned against droughts, but also greatly enhanced incomes.

ADOPTING FOR OTHER PARTS
1. Conduct hydrological study, consult and involve local community, for constructing long-lasting infrastructure for irrigation andconservation. MGNREGA ideal for this.
2. Capacity building for water budgeting, managing and sharing resources, planning crops, using fertilisers etc.
3. Ensure awareness and usage of Soil Health Cards for conserving soil nutrition for sustainable agriculture.
4. Promote micro-finance to enable individual infrastructure constructions.
5. Enable a network of “farm schools” (suggested by Prof. Swaminathan) to test, develop, and disseminate new technologies, seeds, practices etc.

Thus, the objective of govt. must be in making villages SMART to make feasible, informed decisions for long-term sustainability.