Teachers could lose their jobs for plagiarism

IN CASE OF REPEAT PLAGIARISM OF OVER 60% SIMILARITY, THE FACULTY MEMBERS WILL BE SUSPENDED, EVEN DISMISSED

NEWDELHI: Student researchers who plagiarise may lose their registration and teachers who do could lose their jobs with the University Grants Commission (UGC) approving a draft regulation on plagiarism which will be notified after approval by the HRD ministry.
Plagiarism in higher academia is a huge problem in India and UGC, the apex body of higher education institutions, has been threatening to come out with a plagiarism law for several years now .
It finally approved the UGC (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Education Institutions) regulations 2018 in its meeting held on March 20. HT has seen the minutes of the meeting. The law prescribes graded punishment for plagiarism.

The draft rules for students states that in non-core areas, plagiarism of up to 10% would not invite any penalty while between 10% and 40% would mean students will have to submit a revised research paper within six months.
In case the similarities are between 40% and 60%, students will be debarred from submitting a revised paper for one year. A student’s registration for a programme will be cancelled if the similarities are above 60%. Teachers whose academic and research papers have similarities ranging from 10% to 40% with other papers will be asked to withdraw the manuscript.
In case the similarities are between 40% and 60%, they will not be allowed to supervise new Masters/ MPhil/PhD students for two years and will also be denied the right to one annual increment. In case of repeat plagiarism of over 60% similarity, the faculty members will be suspended, even dismissed.
“I am all for checking plagiarism. We have very lax standards and that is what seems to have prompted government to propose such a law,” said Dinesh Singh, ex-vice-chancellor, DU.

“It would have been better if universities had strong internal mechanisms as in so many other countries,” he said.
India has been witness to several plagiarism charges against central university vice-chancellors and teachers in the past few years. Pondicherry University V-C Chandra Krishnamurthy quit in 2016 after a prolonged stand-off with the HRD ministry, following allegations that she plagiarized large parts of a book mentioned in her resume. The most celebrated case is that of BS Rajput, the VC of Kuamon University, who was a serial plagiarist; eventually, seven Stanford University professors wrote to then President APJ Abdul Kalam about him.
According to UGC, all higher educational institutions will have to develop a policy on plagiarism and get it approved by relevant statutory bodies/authorities and display it on their websites.

In September last year, UGC formed a committee and sought public feedback on a proposed plagiarism policy in September.
“Meantime, a communication was received from the MHRD on implementation of the reforms proposed in a meeting taken by the Principal secretary to the Prime Minister on 16 September 2017 regarding reform in higher education. One of the action points mentioned in the meeting was related to the regulation on plagiarism wherein it was desired that UGC should also consult with IITs and IIMs for uniformity in regulation on anti-plagiarism,” reads the minutes of the meeting.
Many of the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management have stringent anti-plagiarism policies. Some even use software to identify instances of plagiarism in student submissions.
According to UGC, all departments in higher educational institutions will notify a departmental academic integrity panel (DAIP) which will investigate the matters and will submit its recommendations to the Institutional Academic Integrity Panel (IAIP) of the higher educational institution.

Source: Hindustan Times dated 3 April, 2018
Link: https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/teachers-to-lose-jobs-students-their-registrations-if-found-guilty-of-plagiarism/story-mb4ux5npLseZNTIGQYzkGP.html

As ‘plogging’ sweeps through Thane, joggers pick up garbage bags to burn calories in Yeoor forests

THANE: Are garbage dumps and litter deterring you from going on that much-needed jog? Maybe you can try plogging, the latest fitness craze that has descended on Thane.
On Sunday, 200 fitness enthusiasts in jogging shoes and sweatbands, armed with litter collection bags, entered the Yeoor forest range at 6am and picked up trash strewn across the roads while trotting forth. This is perhaps the first plogging movement in the state. The trend is said to have been conceptualised by the Swedes and has been replicated globally thereafter.

The Yeoor drive was organised by NGOs Earthkids Humanity Foundation and Yeoor Environmental Society, with the help of the civic body.

Mayur Jamdhade (28), a coaching institute owner who went with 30 students said, “It was an amazing three-hour ex-perience. We keep talking and reading about the ill-effects of waste and plastic, we got a firsthand experience.” The joggers started from Yeoor Gate and went up to Patonpada area—a 4.5km stretch—picking up plastic, wrappers and whatever waste came their way.

Founder of Earthkids Tarun Gautam, a retired Indian Air Force officer, said, “I was posted at Yeoor Air Force station a few years ago and organized numerous clean -up drives in the green zone. But they were not as effective as they were on a small-scale. A few months ago, I read about plogging and realised that Yeoor sees hundreds of joggers everyday.” “We also hope that this initiative helps curb flooding during monsoon. We plan to hold the drive once a month,” said Rohit Joshi, member NGO Yeoor Environmental Society.

While the drive proved to be successful, NGO volunteers worked round-the-clock for the past two weeks to spread the word. “We went up to each jogger around Upvan in mornings and evenings and explained to them the importance of this initiative. We also reached out to citizens on social media.

While we had 100 registrations, more than 200 turned up on Sunday,” Joshi said.

On Sunday, two civic waste collection vans were filled up with the litter collected by these enthusiasts. “Yesterday, the municipal corporation arranged for waste cans. However, when I go daily, there are barely any. Those that exist are overflowing. Civic bodies should add more bins and speed up waste pick-up process. The movement will succeed if government and citizens come together and replicate it everywhere,” said Vikram Khade (34).

Speaking about the relationship between fitness and environment, international marathoner Dr Mahesh Bedekar said, “Sportspersons always participate in green initiatives as they know environment impacts health. While plogging is a fairly new concept, athletes have been known to take up green initiatives. But I do not know how many want to stop and pick up waste.” The drive also had its share of entertainment as some groups performed song and dance.

Source: The Times of India dated 3 April, 2018

Link: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thane/as-plogging-sweeps-through-thane-joggers-pick-up-garbage-bags-to-burn-calories-in-yeoor-forests/articleshow/63588142.cms

‘Tech is not going to replace teachers anytime soon’

John.Sarkar@timesgroup.com

As a founder, an angel investor and a mentor, Zishaan Hayath is a prominent figure in the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem. After graduating from IIT-Bombay in 2005, Hayath worked with ITC and Opera Solutions. In April 2008, he co-founded a phone commerce marketplace, Chaupaati Bazaar, which was acquired by Future Group in 2010. While working for the new entity, he came up with the idea a learning app after realising that students spent enormous amounts of money on coaching classes. 
For details, visit: https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F04%2F01&entity=Ar02100&sk=168B79B9&mode=text%20- 

Source; The Times of India dated 2April, 2018

Good Reads: March 2018

GOOD READS – AN INITIATIVE OF SFIT LIRC

(CURRENT AWARENESS SERVICE)

“Good Reads” is a monthly alert service, initiated by SFIT LIRC for all the students and staff. This service provides a list of most recent articles which would be of interest to all. The objective of this Current Awareness Service is to keep abreast of the recent happenings in the fields of science and technology.

33. Modelling and Simulation of Grid Connected SPV System with Active Power Filtering Features by J. Saroha, G.Pandove and M.Singh

Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Vol. 99 No. 2, February 2018

34. Wavelet transform based filter to remove the notches from signal under harmonic polluted environment by S. Das and V. Ranjan

Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Vol. 99 No. 2, February 2018

35. Meet 25 women entrepreneurs and business professionals who are taking the world of innovation and leadership by storm

India Forbes, Vol. 10, No. 6, March 16, 2018

36. Scientific Roundup 2017

Science Reporter, Vol 55, No. 1, January 2018

37. Smartphones: changing paradigms by Prashant Raghav, Sonam Choudhary and Kirti Bansal

Science Reporter, Vol 55, No. 3, March 2018

38. Localization of Sensors by Base Station in Wireless Sensor Networks by P. Parwekar and S. Rodda

Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, Vol 77 (2), February 2018

39. Programming of an Industrial Robot using Demonstration and Soft Computing Techniques by P.M. Khandekar, S.S. Chiddarwar and A. Jha

Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, Vol 77 (3) , March 2018

Machine Learning can transform education

India needs a massification and vocationalization of higher education at a cost that only online learning can do. This needs machine learning

Last Published: Mon, Mar 26 2018. 12 42 PM IST

Indian online education is held back by regulatory cholesterol that distinguishes between distance and online education. Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint

Futurist Arthur C. Clarke wrote, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” The magic of software (giving data and rules to get answers) is often confused with the magic of machine learning (giving data and answers to get rules) but it is machine learning not software that is transforming the world of computer chess.

So far, computer chess programs codified the actions of the best human players and inevitably pivoted around the strategy of “material”, wherein the number and value of pieces mattered most. But recently, AlphaZero playing Stockfish counter-intuitively sacrificed a bishop for a pawn. Reports suggest AlphaZero taught itself chess from scratch in just four hours by playing against itself and rejected human rules developed over centuries.
As it started with only the basic rules, researchers suggest that its lack of knowledge of human chess history may have enabled AlphaZero to see the game in a fresh way. We’d like to make the case that machine learning is transforming online education, but Indian online education is held back by regulatory cholesterol.
Before diving into online education, let’s reflect on challenges in education. Knowing must shift to learning because Google knows everything. Metrics need shifting from inputs to outcomes because only money is not working. Differentiation and personalization are not about making things easier for children but making learning accessible by tapping into motivations and abilities. Assessment needs to shift from annual exams to regular feedback. Teachers knowing content is not the same as their ability to create learning.
There is an element of eat your spinach in education, but schools largely work for front-row students. Lifelong learning needs a continuum between prepare, repair and upgrade. Employability is an objective. Timetables are an industrial-era model of one size fits all that blunt choices and learner agency. Most importantly, if you think formal education is everything, then just look at the president of the US.
Many educators agree online learning can transform education, but they don’t know how. Textbook and PowerPoint repackaged e-learning—the digital equivalent of paving the cow path rather than building a highway—mean that, so far, online offerings have not been able to blunt the obvious downsides of physical classrooms (one size fits all, huge costs, uneven teacher quality, etc.) despite obvious advantages (teaching with different speeds to people with different backgrounds and different starting points, class of one, cost, on-the-go, on-demand, crowdsourced, gamified, etc.).
We believe that the massification of machine learning could be the missing ingredient—enabling personalization, flip classrooms, rethinking assessments, enabling non-conventional credentialing, etc. Personalization via intelligent tutor systems that track “mental steps” and modify feedback, exercises, explanations and intervention to promote self-regulation, self-monitoring and self-explanation would revolutionize engagement.
A recursive and real-time meta-analysis of learning outcomes across students, cohorts, schools would considerably improve the efficacy of flip classrooms (where classrooms are used for discussions and students finish the lecture and learning in advance). Natural language, computer vision, and deep learning could answer student questions.
These systems are infrastructure to improve the signalling value of non-conventional or micro-credentialing, which in turn would discover the cognitive, behavioural and affective preferences for each learner. The biggest impact would be in assessment by moving it from an event to a process and reducing its labour intensity; for instance, tools like Sochobots, Lingolens and Gradescope use computer vision and machine learning to grade students’ work (even stuff like essays).
However, Indian online education is held back by regulatory cholesterol that distinguishes between distance and online education. E-commerce would never have happened if financial regulators had insisted on separating the offline and online. UPI/BHIM have gone from 0.1 million transactions in the month before demonetization to 140 million last month; they will reach a billion in a year. Payments for Indian consumers are almost free (marginal cost), while in the US regulations have protected margins for private platforms.
India’s regulatory issues include hubris (the ability of regulators to anticipate all situations), micromanaging (including defining the type of web links on your website) and continuous lobbying because of poor state capacity to effectively regulate, supervise and enforce. It is too late for evolution; we need a revolution under which universities do not require permission to launch any online courses.
Regulators can prescribe broad guidelines with a policy objective of creating biodiversity and innovation in business and operating models that would tackle the difficult trade-off between cost, quality and scale. Like with most treatment of regulatory cholesterol, this revamped regulation would be accompanied by improved supervision and strengthened consumer protection. But drunk-driving is not an argument against cars and regulations that ban or make online education difficult are silly.
Einstein once said that if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid. Physical classrooms—because of the limitations of time and space—often make this error. India needs a massification and vocationalization of higher education at a cost that only online learning can do. This needs machine learning. But before that we need changes to our regulatory cholesterol.

The writers are with TeamLease Services and Schoolguru Eduserve, respectively.

First Published: Sun, Mar 25 2018. 11 38 PM IST

Source: LiveMint dated 26/03/2018

Swachh Bharat elective course introduced

The students pursuing the course will be given two credits for 15 days (100 hours) summer internship under the CBCS.

To read more more, visit https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/270318/swachh-bharat-elective-course-introduced.html

Source: Deccan Chronicle dated 27/03/2018

Partaking in Clean India may give students bonus credits

Joining the initiative will be a great learning experience for students, says UGC

• DNA (Daily News & Analysis) Mumbai Edition
• 27 Mar 2018

The University Grants Commission ( UGC) has asked all universities and colleges to consider offering academic credits to students for participating in the government’s much touted Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

The commission in its meeting earlier this month had approved providing two credits like any other ‘Elective’ under Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) to students in higher educational institutions undertaking 15 days (100 hours) summer internships under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan activities.

“In this summer internship, it is expected that students will not only participate in overall cleanliness in villages or slums but would also help in setting up systems for sustaining cleanliness and sanitation efforts under the campaign . These efforts are expected to provide a great learning experience in Indian context to students across the country and would help in improving overall quality of education,” a UGC communication to varsities read.

The commission

has asked varsities and their affiliated colleges to consider implementation of this elective course from the forth- coming summer session and give wide publicity so that vast majority of students opt for this elective course.

“It is informed that UGC guidelines for Swachh Bharat - Swastha Bharat Scheme have enabling provisions for universities and colleges to collaborate and to come out with ways to make the Mission possible,” the UGC letter read.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has extended the date till 4 April for admissions under the 25 per cent quota of the Right to Education (RTE) as the first phase of the lottery happened recently.

The BMC claimed that out of the 3239 candidates, only 602 candidates were admitted in private schools till March 22. Initially, the last date for taking admissions under the RTE was till March 23 (Saturday). However, many parents were upset as schools have been refusing to give admission to their children, citing issues of reimbursement from the Maharashtra government.

After the suffering parents complained incessantly, the BMC education department decided to extend the date of RTE admissions in private schools.

Heena Khan (name changed), a parent said, “The school allotted to us is saying that they never registered for the online admission process and hence cannot give us admission.” Another parent, Aslam Shaikh (name changed), said, “They are shooing us away in such a way like we are beggars. The school principal of an Andheri-based school where my child got admission said that they have not opened an orphanage to offer admissions to our kids.”

Education official from the BMC said, “If schools refuse admission under thequota, then the BMC education department will issue them notices of de-recognizing their schools.”

Source: Daily News and Analysis dated 27/03/2018

Source Link: https://www.pressreader.com/india/dna-daily-news-analysis-mumbai-edition/20180327/282059097547225