No more black robes, Mumbai University will now graduate to traditional Indian wear

TNN | Sep 17, 2019, 08.25 AM IST

MUMBAI: Indian traditional wear will replace black ceremonial robes and hats at Mumbai University’s convocation this year. A university-appointed committee will also recommend the use of comfortable fibre instead of the synthetic ones used currently.

Aimed at promoting Indian culture, the proposal to do away with black robes, floated by a member, was accepted by the university in its management council meeting last week. The experts’ committee, comprising designers and textile engineers, will be appointed on Wednesday. The university is planning to introduce the new attire at this year’s convocation ceremony, scheduled in October-end or the first week of November.


Apart from the black robes and hats for gold medallists and top rankers, a sash is also currently used for graduating students. The dignitaries, including chief guests, the vice-chancellor and university officials participating in the convocation procession, wear cream-yellow robes. These will also be replaced with the new attire.

Several universities across India are slowly replacing colonial-era ‘western’ robes with traditional Indian clothes for convocation ceremonies following a central directive. In June, the University Grants Commission issued a circular emphasising, not for the first time, “the use of ceremonial robes made of handloom fabric which will not only add to the country’s pride, but also be more comfortable in the hot and humid weather”.

Varsity panel all set to select comfy, desi wear

Closer home, IIT-Bombay switched to Indian wear a few years ago. Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), too, replaced the robes with Indian wear—sarees and salwar-kameez for girls and kurta-pyjama for boys—two years ago. Several state governments have already made Indian wear mandatory for convocation ceremonies.


Vice-chancellor of Mumbai University Suhas Pednekar, who accepted the proposal in the management council meeting, said the experts committee will recommend three to four designs, of which one will be selected. “The idea is to introduce something that will go with our Indian culture and ensure good-quality, comfortable clothes are worn at the convocation. The decision will be entirely based on suggestions made by the experts committee,” he said.


A senior university official said affiliated colleges will have the freedom to choose the attire for their students. “The robes are not comfortable, and the hats fall off most times. There have been complaints about use of poor-quality material in making robes, which adds to the discomfort,” the official said. The committee will be asked to make two suggestions—one for students and one for the dignitaries.


For the past few years, colleges too have been conducting their own degree distribution ceremonies and many of them rent out the black robes and hats for students.


Senate member Pradeep Sawant said the idea had been under consideration from January this year, when the convocation ceremony for the 2018 graduating batch was held. “When a discussion on the schedule for the convocation came up in the management council meeting, a member floated the proposal again. It was unanimously passed and accepted,” Sawant said.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/no-more-black-robes-univ-will-now-graduate-to-traditional-indian-wear/articleshow/71158995.cms (Accessed on September 17, 2019)

Company Profile: LinkedIn Corporation

LinkedIn homepage
Type of business	Subsidiary
Type of site	Social networking service
Available in	Multilingual (24)
Founded	December 28, 2002; 16 years ago Mountain View, California, U.S.
Headquarters	Sunnyvale, California , U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Founder(s)	Reid Hoffman Allen Blue Konstantin Guericke Eric Ly Jean-Luc Vaillant
Key people	Jeff Weiner (CEO)
Industry	Internet
Products	SlideShare
Employees	14,000 (2019)[1]
Parent	Microsoft Corporation
Subsidiaries	Learning Connectifier
Website	www.linkedin.com
Alexa rank	23 (12 July 2019)[2]
Advertising	Google, AdSense
Registration	Required
Users	630 million members (June 2019)[3]
Launched	May 5, 2003; 16 years ago
Current status	Active

Company History

2002

LinkedIn starts out in the living room of co-founder Reid Hoffman. LinkedIn's founders are Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly and Jean-Luc Vaillant.

﹀

2003

In late 2002, Reid recruits a team of old colleagues from SocialNet and Paypal to work on a new idea, and six months later, LinkedIn is officially launched. Growth is slow at first—as few as 20 signups on some days—but, by the fall, it shows enough promise to attract an investment from Sequoia Capital.

﹀

2011

LinkedIn celebrates its eighth anniversary, and becomes a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. President Obama partners with LinkedIn for a town hall on job creation and economic growth.

﹀

2013

LinkedIn turns 10 and reaches 225 million members. Company is growing at more than two members per second, with member milestones across the globe.

﹀

2016

Microsoft completes acquisition of LinkedIn, and our next play begins. Joining forces with Microsoft will accelerate our mission to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful, and ultimately help create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.

﹀

2017

LinkedIn launches largest desktop redesign since company's inception. This complete overhaul of our technology architecture ensures we deliver a simplified LinkedIn experience that's faster, easier to navigate, and more intuitive.

﹀

2018

LinkedIn launches LinkedIn Talent Insights – our self-serve data tool that taps into the LinkedIn network to empower companies with the insights they need to hire quality talent. LinkedIn Talent Insights delivers talent analytics on workforce planning and sourcing strategies including what city to open your next office and how your employer brand compare to your peers.

Sources: https://news.linkedin.com/about-us#company-history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LinkedIn
(Both websites accessed on September 16, 2019)

Tomorrow: LinkedIn for Students - Resources

Gravitational waves detected for first time from newly born black hole: Study

Gravitational waves detected for first time from newly born  ..

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/71109701.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Why over 50% seats in engineering colleges are vacant across states

Meanwhile, all seats in the in the 23 colleges of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) have been filed in the current academic session 2019-20

Over fifty per cent seats in engineering colleges across India are vacant. With 80 per cent unoccupied seats, Odisha tops the chart while West Bengal has 60 per cent vacant seats in engineering colleges.
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According to AICTE chairperson Anil Sahasrabudhe, out of the 14 lakh engineering seats available across the country, only 10 lakh students took admission. “A committee, formed last year to draft a plan regarding engineering education, found that the number of seats available outnumbers the demand,” Sahasrabudhe told indianexpress.com.


80% vacant seats: Why few takers for engineering seats in Odisha, WB

There were no takers for around 27,000 seats in the government and private engineering colleges in Odisha this year. Out of the 34,223 seats for students in various engineering colleges, only 20 per cent of them got filled.

Odisha Private Engineering College Association (OPECA) secretary Binod Dash blamed the job markets for this dismal statistics. “The fall in engineering seats is due to a lack of interest among students in pursuing B.Tech courses as there are fewer jobs available in the field. “In the last five years, only 30 per cent students got placement,” Dash said.

However, a professor from the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology criticised the curriculum and education pattern of the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT). “The curriculum followed by the BPUT is quite outdated and students, after clearing their Bachelors, failed to get jobs in their desired sectors,” said the professor on the condition of anonymity.

In West Bengal, over 60 per cent of the engineering seats remained vacant this year as only 10,525 students took admission in engineering courses.



There are over 32,700 seats on offer in various engineering colleges in West Bengal. This year, a total of 22,175 seats remain vacant, as compared to 16,000 last year, according to the registrar office of WBJEEB.

“The middle-rung engineering colleges had hardly any takers this year. Over 18,000 seats went vacant in private engineering colleges, which is a 30 per cent more than last year’s 13,375,” said a WBJEEB official.

According to Chiranjib Bhattacharjee, head of the engineering department, Jadavpur University, 261 seats remained vacant. “Several candidates, who had locked the seats during the counselling process, did not turn up for admission,” explained Bhattacharjee.

Among all courses in Jadavpur University, maximum seats remain vacant in mechanical engineering at 29, followed by civil engineering at 28. According to data available on the varsity’s website, 13 seats are vacant in the architecture course, chemical engineering – 21, computer science and engineering – 16, construction engineering – 16, electrical engineering – 27, electronic and telecommunication engineering – 11, food tech and biochemical engineering – 8, information technology – 22, instrumentation and electronics – 14, metallurgical engineering – 7, pharmacy – 12, power engineering – 13, printing engineering – 10, production engineering – 14.

Meanwhile, all seats in 23 colleges of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) have been filed in the current academic session 2019-20. There are 13,604 undergraduate seats at the IITs.

In 2018, 118 seats at IITs had found no takers while 110 seats remained vacant in 2017, 96 seats in 2016, 32 seats in 2015, three seats in 2014 and 149 seats in 2013.

Over 50% seats in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra go vacant

Over 70,000 qualified candidates opted to skip admission in Andhra Pradesh colleges. Around 60,000 candidates took admission in various Engineering colleges this year out of the 1.32 lakh candidates who had qualified EAMCET (Engineering, Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test) this year. Similarly, 52 per cent seats of engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu remained vacant.

In Kerala, a total of 50 per cent engineering seats remained vacant though the total number of private colleges affiliated to the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University reduced to 147 from 152 in the 2017-18 academic year. This year, 24,451 seats out of the total 49,571 seats remained unoccupied.
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The admission process for the Bachelor of Engineering (BE) closed this year in Maharashtra, with 50 per cent of the admission. There are no takers for 24,344 seats in Mechanical Engineering, and 14,002 seats in Civil Engineering, as per the data shared.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/education/engineering-day-over-50-seats-in-engineering-colleges-across-states-went-vacant-know-why-aicte-india-org-wbjeeb-nic-in-5993630/ (Accessed on September 16, 2019)

Mandatory certification for engg faculty soon, says AICTE chairman

He was speaking at a national conference on innovation in higher education, conducted by Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI), here on Saturday.

Published: 15th September 2019 04:46 AM | Last Updated: 15th September 2019 04:46 AM | A+A A-



AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe and governor Banwarilal Purohit at conference on Saturday | R Satish Babu
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: All engineering faculty and aspirants may soon have to undergo a mandatory eight-module teacher certification programme, said Anil Sahasrabudhe, the chairman of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). He was speaking at a national conference on innovation in higher education, conducted by Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI), here on Saturday.

The modules include passion for teaching, creating new curriculum, using Information and Communication Technology, classroom interaction with students, examination methodology, honing innovation and creativity, and administrative and leadership training, among others, he said.

“For teaching in a school, you currently need to have teachers’ training. Whereas, higher education faculty just needs a Ph.D. They do not have any pedagogical training,” he said, adding that many technical educators lack the ability to train students efficiently.

The certification will also include an industrial training to help teachers understand the industrial skill demands. “Teachers will have to spend time at an industry, the way students do an internship. After this, they must implement all their learning for a semester at a college to get their certificate,” said Sahasrabudhe.

Further, the certificate will be mandatory for existing faculty as well as to apply for promotion, he said.
Sahasrabudhe announced that the Ministry of Human Resource Development will soon launch a B.Tech programme on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science. He encouraged other universities to include courses like AI, Data Science, Internet of Things and Block Chain among others into the existing curriculum.

He said that all universities should revise their curriculum every year, to suit the real world needs. “The revision should be continuous and meaningful. We cannot be outdated in a world rapidly transforming everyday.”

Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2019/sep/15/mandatory-certification-for-engg-faculty-soon-says-aicte-chairman-2033880.html (Accessed on September 16, 2019)

NATGRID wants to link social media accounts to central database

The ambitious National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) project wants to link social media accounts to the huge database of records related to immigration entry and exit, banking and telephone details among others.

The project, initially started in 2009 with a budget of ₹2,800 crore, is an online database for collating scattered pieces of information and putting them on one platform. At least 10 central agencies like Intelligence Bureau (IB), Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and others will have access to the data on a secured platform.

The proposal has received resistance from the intelligence agencies, whose officials fear that linking the social media accounts to sensitive government data could expose the system to “trojan attacks.”


Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the progress of NATGRID at North Block on Thursday.

The project gathered pace in 2016, when the NDA government appointed an IB officer Ashok Patnaik as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). After Mr. Patnaik retired, NATGRID is now headed by IAS officer Ashish Gupta.

Mr. Shah was given a presentation on the present status of NATGRID but no decision was taken on structural issues.

An official explained that NATGRID links intelligence and investigation agencies.


The 10 user agencies will be linked independently with certain databases that would be procured from 21 providing organisations and include telecom, tax records, bank, immigration, etc. to enable the generation of intelligence inputs.

“Linking the database to social media accounts could jeopardise the entire exercise as it could be exposed to unknown virus attacks from open source Internet,” a senior government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Intelligence agencies had also earlier opposed the NATGRID itself amid fears that it would impinge on their territory and possibly result in leaks on the leads they were working on to other agencies.

An expression of interest (EOI) issued by NATGRID in 2017 had said “NATGRID is intending to set up an Entity Extraction, Visualization and Analytics (EVA) system that would collect and analyse information available from various data sources.”

While NATGRID’s data recovery centre in Bengaluru has been constructed, its office complex in South Delhi is nearing completion.

In January, NATGRID revived its EOI to select a System Integrator (SI) to provide a software solution, recommend hardware specification for running the solution and integrating and implementing the composite EVA solution. The EOI specified that the company bidding for the project should have a turnover of at least ₹1,600 crore.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/natgrid-wants-to-link-social-media-accounts-to-central-database/article29402252.ece

Quality of growth matters: Higher growth will happen when its composition and spread improves, not merely the topline

Last month, global investment strategist Ruchir Sharma set the dovecotes aflutter when he declared that for countries like India, “5% (GDP growth) is the new 7%, the appropriate aspirational standard.”

He based his growth pessimism on the emergence of four Ds – deglobalisation, depopulation (a shrinking global labour force), declining productivity, and a debt overhang as big as the one in 2008. Almost on cue, India’s GDP number for the first quarter of 2019-20 (April-June) fell with a thud to 5%.

Few Indian economists will agree with Sharma’s formulation, for if India has to accept 5% as the new aspirational benchmark, there is little chance of providing jobs to our still growing working age population. According to estimates made in the Economic Survey 2018-19, even though the rate of growth of the working age population is slowing due to the fall in total fertility rates across states, the projected annual increase in the working age population during 2021-31 will be 9.7 million, before falling further to 4.2 million in the following decade. In short, till at least 2041, the overall size of our working age population will keep growing, even if at a steadily slowing pace.

So, we do need higher growth. However, the choice is never a binary one, between slower and faster growth. Some nuance is lost in this kind of thinking, for we need policies that improve the quality of the growth, regardless of whether we grow at 5% or 7% plus.


Illustration: Chad Crowe

Since it is impossible to predict global growth conditions, demographics and productivity even a couple of years hence, what we need are all-weather policies that ensure good outcomes regardless of the actual GDP growth number. For the last decade or more, the economy’s employment elasticity has been falling. The 12th plan estimated it at 0.19, and Azim Premji University’s ‘State of Working India 2018’ put it at 0.1. An elasticity figure of 0.1 implies that for every 10% growth in GDP, employment grows only 1%.

During the Vajpayee years, despite lower growth, employment grew by nearly 60 million between 1999 and 2004. In the next five years, and especially in the boom-boom UPA-1 years, employment growth was just a few million.

This does not imply that fewer jobs were created in the UPA years; just that fewer people were willing to work at the wage rates available. This is consistent with the sharp fall in poverty rates during the UPA period, which made many women drop out of the workforce – and the trend continues.

This leads us to two broad hypotheses: The quality of jobs in the Vajpayee era was poor, but jobs at those wages were aplenty even with low growth. The quality of growth in the UPA era was poor, which is why even at rising wage levels, people were dropping out of the workforce.

For policy makers, the message should be clear: Don’t focus on just growth, but on its subcomponents. It is possible to have high growth with very few worthwhile jobs, but it is equally possible to have good quality jobs even with lower growth. This means not just macroeconomic policies, but microeconomic ones matter.

All economists would agree, for example, that we need factor reforms (freeing land and labour markets) and agricultural market reforms. Only if we free the markets for agri-produce will farmers benefit from increased productivity by, first, catering to a bigger national market and then to a global market. If this does not happen, every bountiful harvest will lead to a crash in prices and farm misery – precisely our story over the last few years.

In the last decade or more, we had jobless growth because capital markets were liberalised before the labour and land markets, as a result of which employers liberally used capital and automation when humans could have been employed in larger numbers.

We invested in capital intensive sectors like petroleum refining, when more job creating sectors like apparel, furniture and leather works should have been encouraged with easier labour laws. We focussed on subsidising agriculture because politicians loved to play sugar daddy to farmers, when the focus should have been on policies to create more non-agricultural jobs, especially in urban areas, to absorb the workers who want to leave low-income agriculture.

We need the right kind of urbanisation policies – which means allowing land prices to be driven by real demand and supply, and not artificially constrained by arbitrary building laws and zoning rules. But land reforms and rational building laws cannot happen without getting politicians out of the way. It is no secret that most politicians hold their ill-gotten wealth in real estate, and they resist a fall in prices since this would destroy their wealth.

Similarly, foreign investment in job creating sectors will come only if our legal system works faster. The World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report showed India’s ranking rising to 77 from 100, but our performance in two vital areas – enforcing contracts (rank 163 among 190) and registering property (154) barely budged. Without the ability to buy property and enforce contracts, two big job-creating sectors – construction and real estate – will simply underperform.

The short point is this: If we want to improve the lot of our citizens and create worthwhile jobs, we need to focus on the micro reforms involving specific sectors. Higher growth will happen when the composition and spread of growth improves, and not merely the topline. The quantum of growth is less important than its quality.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/quality-of-growth-matters-higher-growth-will-happen-when-its-composition-and-spread-improves-not-merely-the-topline/