Scholars Avenue 2009oct31

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THESCHOLARSAVENUEIIT KHARAGPURSTOCTOBER 31 2009

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The iofthe Tiger

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Exclusive

am reaches Ayodhya after his having been scrapped in protest, dust and oil, and threateningly t hem e, Samudra Manthanepic vanvaas and war with except on an apologetically small obstructive structures structures (cont inuing KGPs long-running

RRavana; the city of Ayodhya, scale by a single hall of residence, of bamboo and structures of flesh affair with themes from Indian

in anticipation and in celebration of and that too, much after Diwali. and blood. As the days ticked by, the mythology), while the Rangoli topthe return of its great hero, is lit up. activity in each hall reached a prize was bagged by RP, which cameDiwali, a collective memory of that frenetic peak, finally then, the big up with a pixelated (101,000 ofSo when halls geared up to doce le brat io n an d a p op ula r day arrived. The big moment came, them) image of Mother Teresa. LLRIllu this year, something wasendorsement of the triumph of the diyas were lit, the judges from and SN got silver and bronzediscovered. Almost every hallgood against evil. Illumination and Kolkata were shown around in each respectively for both Illuminationfound it an uphill struggle due to theRangoli , an institutes tribute to this hall, and in each , th e main and Rangoli.vacuum created last year. One lostfestival of lights, an affirmation of workforce stood beneath tent s andyear means a lot to an educationalspirit of the youth and a testimony behind chataispraying, and waitinginstitute where the basic nature of Post result s, Diwali nightto the idiosyncracies of KGPians. for a good show, of which they weretalent is transitory; where expertise, brought with it mixed reactions (to

only able to catch the end.if not handed down from senior to say the least), and the usual post-IlluIllumination a.k.a Illu is back. To junior soon, brings us back to the adrenaline rush was witnessed on

say that the relevance of Illu is Stone Age, so to speak. Hence Illu Witnessing this extraordinary the campus.debatable is an understatement. should have died. Did it? celebration, the judges were leftKGP likes nothing better than to astounded and asking for more. All of us may have differentindulge fresh brains into the age old On night s befo re Diw ali, views on Illu, but just how big a partdiscussion about the merits and walking out of the hall in the This year, the Illumination Illu plays in KGP life cannot bedemerits of Illu. But last year we evening meant being confronted by ho no ur s wen t t o RK, who underestimated. Heres to a tiringalmost witnessed the death of Illu, blaring music, student s smeared in performed a repeat of their 2006 and exhilarating Diwali!

Pan IIT 09 also observed the launch luminary judges. Umang Gupta,of the first ever IIT alumni pink Co-chair of the board of directors,pages database. This initiative is Pan IIT and CEO, Keynote Systems,aimed at enabling the cross- while congratulating the winners,pollination of business ideas among said, They have helped to make theregistered alumni and budding IITs in India one of the most eliteentrepreneurs with their fellows. educational institutions in the

w o r l d t o d a y . The three days of the eventThe winners of the first annualdelivered an amalgam of nostalgia,Pan IIT American Leadershipnetworking and entertainment.Awards, honouring exceptionalWhile panel discussions wereachievements and contributions toconducted by day, the nights boreAmerican society by IIT alumniwitness to a fashion show, a sketchwere felicitated in a ceremonycomedy and musical galas, starringgraced by eminent speakers such as

popular artistes like Kailash Kher.former American President BillClinton and business visionariesfrom Americas leading corporations IIT KGP startup Lalaland Storeincluding Caterpillar, Cisco and ( ) was theMicrosoft Research. The 2009 Pan official merchandise partner of PanIIT winners were selected from IIT 2009.over 200 nominees by a panel of

www.lalalandstore.com

he 45th Inter IIT Aquatics Visit our website for detailed resultsmeet was held in IIT Kanpur of the meet.T from 1st to 5th October,

2009. This year IIT Kanpur Notably, however, half ofcelebrates its golden jubilee too, Kharagpur's team and almost all themarking 50 glorious years of its participants from IIT Madras andexistence. IIT Kharagpur won IIT Delhi among others were struckbronze in the overall boys' aquatics by food poisoning during the course

standings and silver in the overall of events. One particular shopgirls' standings. Chirag Fialoke was selling sandwiches and burgersadjudged best swimmer with four located near the swimming poolgolds and a silver to his name. He reportedly sold contaminated food.smashed all previous timings with a As a result, most of the IITs exceptnew Inter IIT record in the 200m Kanpur failed to put to test theirfreestyle event. Fresh blood in the full-strength squads. Kanpur'sform of a first year, Darshan Varier, athletes probably knew better thanbagged four silvers promising to trust the local cuisine daysbrighter outcomes in the future. before the meet.

I l l u 09

Back This Diwali With a Bang

Pan IIT Summit

Inter IIT Aquatics

an IIT is a global umbrellaorganization representingPalumni from all Indian

Institutes of Technology campuses.CBS 60 minutes has described IIT asHarvard, MIT and Princeton all puttogether. Alumni from t he IITs havemade a significant impact in theirchosen professions not only in Indiabut also in the United States,Canada, Europe, and Asia,occupying positions of leadership attop universities, leading researchinstitutions, at small and largecompanies, in government, and at

non-profits.

th thFrom 9 to 11 October 2009,

IIT Alumni from all over the worldmet in Chicago at the annual Pan-IIT conference. The agenda of theassembly comprised severalinformative workshops, discussionson current affairs and networkingopportunities to meet withinnovators and entrepreneurs alike.

www.scholarsavenue.org

Annual Pan-IIT Conference at Chicago

Lifetime Achievement Award:Dr. (Late) Rajeev Motwani,Professor of Computer Science,Stanford University

Academic Excellence Award:Dr. Pradeep Khosla, Dean,College of Engineering, CarnegieMellon

Corporate Excellence Award:Ms. Padmasree Warrior, ChiefTechnology Officer, Cisco

Entrepreneurial AchievementAward: Dr. Suhas Patil ,Chairman Emeritus Cirrus Logic,Chairman Digite and CradleTechnologies

Technology Leadership Award:Dr. Ravi Sethi, President, AvayaLabs

Pan IIT Winners

T h e y h a v ehelped to make

the I ITs inIndia one of them o s t e l i t ee d u c a t i o n a linstitutions int h e w o r l dtoday.
http://www.lalalandstore.com/http://www.lalalandstore.com/http://www.lalalandstore.com/


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2 CA R E E R S AV E N U E THE SCHOLARS A V EN U ESATURDAY , OCTOBER 31 ST 2009

TEAM SCHOLSAVE

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website provides the latest campusnews through our coverage of eventsas they happen.

Executive Editors

Anup Bishnoi, Deepak Cherian,Mithun Madhusudan

Editors

AVN Murthy, Bharath Bhat,Dheeraj Golla, Mayank Kedia,Pallavi Jayannavar, SiddharthPrabhu, Siddharth Singh

Asst. Editors

A b h i r a j i k a A , A m i y a

Adwitiya,Arvind Sowmyan,Ratan J S, Tiyasa Mitra, Vijay,Sumeet Mohanty

Reporters

Achyut Bihani, Chirag Tibrewal,Deepesh Kumar , Hr idyaRavimohan, Indra Saha, MahtabSoin, Parth Govil, Rishabh Poddar

Entrepreneurship Fundamentals

Entrepreneurship is a very bottom-upprocess. It doesnt start from a research report.Entrepreneurship starts from understandingpeoples needs and finding solutions for them.

a standardized test for it, though tell you what they know - you might be in place one year, and goneWhat standardized test would Bill should get a job. And if everyone in the next. Businesses have to makeGat es pass that other people your family is exactly the same way, sense on their own - not because ofwouldnt? But I think if you had it is going to sound like a consensus. some government regulation.

spent some time with Bill Gates TSA: Are social enterprises similar, inbefore he started Microsoft you The other thing that mostly goes some respects, to clean technologywou ld have guessed he was unsaid is that there is a lot more start-ups?entrepreneurial. money in the American economy ,

particularly with the venture IS: No, social enterprises areTSA: So in entrepreneurship you work capitalist community that exists different. Social enterpr ises arewith a person and identify his skills. there. basically non-profit organizations

Dont you think it is different from that make money (laughs). In socialengineering in that way? To be fair, though, students in the entrepreneurship, instead of making

a donation, you teach a person torofessor Ikhlaq Sidhu, founding make money and keep some of thatdirector of UC Berkeley's Center money for yourself.P

for Entrepreneurship & Technologyand an authority on the process of The big problem social enterprisesinnovation and technology face is that they are never suremanagement, visited our campus whether they are businesses orrecently. In this exclusive interview, charities. They are confusedhe shares h is ins ights on whether to reinvest their profits or

entrepreneurship in India and to put it into the social good. If theyabroad, why entrepreneurship should US too are not immune to this reinvest all t hat money, t heybe taught in companies and a lot IS: Yes. In engineering you are given problem. After all, if you were a basically become businesses, while ifmore. a problem on paper with all the venture capitalist, who would you they put it all into the social good,

specifications you need, and you give your money to? Two-three they risk becoming less competit ive.TSA:Do you believe entrepreneurship produce an output. Engineering is stu dents with an idea or ancan be taught, or is it something one is narrow in that way, unlike the real established team of people with TSA:Any final word of advice to IITborn with? world which is so much less three big businesses behind them? students?

structured. Once you enter a job youProf. Ikhlaq Sidhu: I think the truth find that it is no longer like school: TSA: You attributed the dearth of IS: India needs more people to beis somewhere in between, in the no one is giving you an assignment to aspiring entrepreneurs in India to the entrepreneurial. That is the onlysense that everyone can be more complete. lack of mentorship. Once mentorship type of change that will make theentrepreneurial than they are. is available, will the number of country more efficient at ut ilizing itsEntrepreneurship is essentially a students wanting to start their own resources and ultimately make itstyle of thinking and from that point TSA: What is the difference that you companies grow exponentially? more competitive. We need a muchof view, it can definitely be taught. perceive between student start-ups in greater percentage of IIT students

India and in the USA, such as at UC IS:Absolutely. And I would use the who decide that at some point in

You could also ask, Can engineering Berkeley? term role-models along with the their career, they will be able to pickbe taught? In a way, yes it can. But word mentorship. For instance, if an opportunity and very effectivelyuse it to run their own business.engineering is taught to people who IS: At one level, there is no all your (IITs) role models are Nobel

have an ability to learn engineering. difference. Student s from both Prize winners, then everyone in IITYou never reach all your goals. But ifFor example, youve been selected Berkeley and IIT are smart, have all is going to aspire to win a Nobelyou set them t oo low, you dont(into an IIT) because you showed an kinds of different ideas, and try all Prize. On the other hand, if youreach any of them. India needs someapt it ud e for cert ain sub jec ts kinds of new things. .Just like in IIT, invite 10 speakers every year, each ofmore people with big goals.be liev ed t o be re le van t t o not every student who passes out of whom shares experiences about

engineering. If someone has great Berkeley starts a company. how to start a company and make itaptitude to begin with, he is likely to successful, you are going to see anachieve more with what is taught to The difference is in the number of increase in t he number of peopleh i m . I n t h a t r e s p e c t , students who believe they will start who want to emulate that success.entrepreneurship is no different a company. In IIT, it is probably a And the more such people you havefrom any other subject. small fraction. In Berkeley and in a in society, the faster this number is

lot of leading US schools, it is a very going to grow. And I think you canTSA:Do you think there is a way of large fraction: one of three. In IIT, I see t hat beginning to happen in

judging a persons aptitude for would guess that fraction would be India.entrepreneurship? somewhere in the range of one out

of fifty. In the US, even though it TSA: What do you think about theIS: I think it is possible t o not ice may be only 5 per cent of those, one prospects for clean technology start-p e o p l e w h o se e m v e r y out of three go on to start their own ups, especially student start-ups inentrepreneurial. There are always company; at least you start with a India, given the lack of legislationspeople who dont seem to give up pool of one out of three students. On and subsidies that encourage sucheasily; people who look for other the other hand if you start with a ventures?ways if they are not satisfied with pool of one out of fifty, you end uptheir work. with far fewer start-ups. IS: Well, I dont t hink you should

rely on large amounts of funding orI like to think that the process can The second difference is in the on government regulations for thestart with one conversation or by an environment. In the Silicon Valley, success of a clean technology start-observation made by a single person. for example, start-ups are all around up. Even in the US, the amount ofEntrepreneurship is a very bottom- you. Your neighbours work for one, money you would need to start suchup process. It doesnt start from a your parents probably did too, your a company would be enormous. Inresearch report. Entrepreneurship fathers friend just started one... there clean tech, a lot of money is investedstarts from understanding peoples is not hing myst er iou s abo ut in the beginning on intellectualneeds and finding solutions for them. entrepreneurship. Therefore, t he propert y and th at int ellectual

In a way, it is an extremely applied amount of mentorship available is property is usually absorbed into anform of engineering: more applied much greater. existing business, and only thosethan some bod y giving you a large existing businesses are capableproblem to solve, because it is so If you are a student in India and you of funding the rest of it.unconstrained. intend to start a company in future,

the problem is whom to go to. If As for subsidies, though they mightSo there are certainly some skills your parent s didnt start a company, influence the R&D activity within awhich would mark out people as how will they advise you? What will company, a business model cannotentrepreneurial. I dont think there is they tell you? They will probably be built around a subsidy. A subsidy


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NE W S AV E N U ETHE SCHOLARS A V EN U ESATURDAY , OCTOBER 31 ST 2009 3

t has now been six months since the hospital is still rather low, but itIthe fateful sequence of events of is as yet unclear to what degree ofMarch 22nd last year. A life was lost, medical care we can expect. Theretempers had risen to boiling point, is a vast difference between a

mistakes were made, and several government clinic, which has itspromises were tossed about by the own set of guidelines, and aadministration to bring matters privately owned hospital. As Prof.back under a semblance of control. Gautam Sinha (Chairman, BCRTH)So the question that begs asking is - asks in a concept paper to allhave things changed after such a stakeholders, "What exactly is thismassive shake-up? How fares BC hospital expected to deliver?" As theRoy Technology Hospital, half a pr imary medical cen tre of ayear after pledging to undo half a university, BCR Hospital has tocentury of apathy? decide what degree of medical aid it

can or cannot provide - is itUp on examin ing pr ogress expected to provide facilities for

report s circa April 2009, it is trauma, cardiac, surgical, bronchial,heartening to note that the facilities orthopaedic care, etc. - and thenand amenities at the hospital have budget accordingly. The currentindeed been vastly revamped focus of the administration is on(although some measures arguably formulating such a charter of

should have been in place decades d el iv er ab le s. U n t il su ch not do anything unless someone puts self-restraint in voicing ourago); for instance, students finally fu nd am en t al qu es t io ns ar e it in writing or at least writes a mail to grievances is keeping action fromhave 24x7 access to free medicine. answered, though, any further me. If an ambulance is delayed, is the being taken.Specialized staff has been recruited measu res under tak en by th e driver himself going to contact mefor radiology, pathology, emergency hospital merely amount to applying and say 'I came 40 minutes late'?" A d d i t i o n a l l y , h o s p i t a lcare, et c. New doctors and nurses band-aid. The hosp it al has a feedback form administ rat ion is concerned abouthave been appointed, and new next to the registration desk which the undue load on the emergencyambulances have been introduced is ch ecke d per son ally (and ward, often for trivial ailments such

Back to the Patient(for a more detailed progress report, immediately acted upon) by Prof. as sore-throats and colds. It is hopedlog onto www.scholarsavenue.org). Sinha and the Medical Advisor, Dr that students would make use of the

Perhaps instead of constantly SK Ganguli. However, thus far very Out -patient Department (OPD)pointing fingers, it is high time weHowever, it is still hard to gauge few complaints have actually been whenever possible so that thetried making good use of what weif medical care on campus is "good lodged despite all the stories of emergency ward is available whenhave. Prof. Sinha adds, "Neither am Ienough" - for where exactly does medical negligence floating around there really is one.omniscient nor am I prescient. I canone place the bar? Public opinion of in the wings. It appears our own

to discuss how and why IIT underprivileged people in and probability, a School of Medicine, aKharagpur is proceeding in the around Kharagpur. That is the spirit Resear ch fac il it y, a Pu bl icdirection of medical education and of this venture - Health for all is the Healthcare Facility and a center forresearch. Application of technology goal. T he aim is t o make Biomedical Engineering. The nextin medical education has assumed a t ech nology avail abl e to t he six months will see a lot ofposition of immense importance common people and develop a development related to this project.and me di cal ed uc at ion and responsible healthcare system, withtechnology must go hand in hand for the socio-cultu ral aspect as a majordevelopment of a more modern concern.

n 18th August, 2009, officials healthcare system in India.Oof IIT Kharagpur and the An important aspect which canUniversity of California, San Diego The co nc ep t of med ical be developed is Telemedicine or anHealth Sciences (UCSD) signed a education to be introduced in the outreach program for the wholepreliminary agreement, with the IMC is rather ground-breaking region. With improved technology,prior approval of the Ministry of when compared to other Indian cost can be lowered to a great extentH u m a n R e s o u r c e s a n d medical institutes. Technology will and rapid dissemination of medical

Development for setting up of an be integrated to a large extent in knowhow can be investigated.Inter national Med ical Cent er medical education and a new(IMC) on land provided by IIT curriculum will be developed with A Public H ealth EducationKharagpur. The IMC will comprise a more clinical approach and an Facility will also be set up with theof a School of Research and increased usage of simulation, help of the Public HealthcareMedicine and a 300 bed state-of- ma th emat ical mo de ling, and Facility of India to take care ofthe-art hospital. art ificial intelligence as tools for paramedical staff and nurses so as to

teaching. The delivery of medical ensure proper healthcare.UCSD, one of the best Medical educat ion will involve theory,

Schools in USA, is a highly Model-Based Practice and Hospital- The process is now at an initialrespected name in the areas of Ba se d Pr a c t i c e ( C l i n i c al stage, with the planning and strategyclinical service, m anagem ent , Experience). being chalked out for the future.e d u c at i o n an d r e se ar c h . The Undergraduate MBBS coursesCollaborat ion wit h th em will Research in technologies and may commence as early as 2011. MS,facilitate the setting up of a new Biomedical engineering is another MD, PhD and post doctorateapproach to medical education in aspect which will be developed. degrees will be provided in theIndia and there may be an opt ion for Medical and engineering students future as well. Initially, the IMC will

joint accreditation in the future. can work closely in related fields start with fifty UndergraduateTh ere wil l be n o finan cial and contribute to research and student s but th e plan is totransactions. Research collaboration projects for the development of eventually increase student strengthwill include faculty, student and healthcare technologies. to 750.resident exchange programs and jointly supervised clinical trials. Also, a major reason for setting A 55 acre region has been

up a medical facilit y in IIT earmarked, adjacent to the IITA meeting was held with the Kharagpur is to make healthcare campus for setting up of the Health

top medical experts of the country f a c i l i t i e s a v a i l a b l e f o r Park, which will have, in all

Vikram Buddhi, an IIT graduateand former research scholar atPurdue University has beenlanguishing in a US jail for threeyears now, accused of posting hatemessages against George Bush. Hisfather, Subbarao Buddhi has beenfighting a lone legal battle but t o noavail; so much for freedom andthe American justice system.Somnath Bharti, IIT Alumnus said,"The judge did not follow theprotocol. The judge is duty-bound toinstruct the jury on the law, whichthe judge refused on record."Sympathy has transformed to ragenow as this bright Mathematicsscholar, who had also won anaward for best lecturer atUniversity of Purdue, is stuck in jail for what is so clearly anexaggerated interpretation as athreat to the national leader andwhich might well have been aresult of internet hacking in thefirst place. Having had enough,IITians have now joined hands infighting for justice. With severalIIT alumni under the umbrellaorganisation PAN-IIT trying topressurize the US government tosee reason, we at The ScholarsAvenue sincerely hope the youngscholar is served with justice.

Hated with injustice

Great ExpectationsAs BC Roy Hospital finally gets the upgrades it needs, it tackles some existential questions

KGP - UCSD Medical


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4 GUESTAVENUE THE SC H O L A R S A V E N U ESA T U R D A Y, O CTOBER 31 ST 2009 THE SC H O L A R S A V E N U ESA T U R D A Y, O CTOBER 31 ST 2009 5GU ES T AV E N U E

It was my first year as a NationalService Scheme (NSS) programofficer at IIT Kharagpur. Thestudent team I supervised calleditself Vivek, the conscience. At ourteam1 meetings, several memberswanted to do something for thechildren serving the campuscommunity in hall canteens, cycle

sheds, food joints etc. Beingstudents themselves, the membersthought that the best way to servethese children was to empowerthem by providing basic education.A survey began and informationlike this started flowing in theteams googlegroup:

At Tikka, I came across two kidsSonu and Bijoy who expressed theirwillingness to study( when they arenot on duty), but their masters didnot permit them, but they said that

they could int roduce me to a lot of other kids who do not work, and hav e never beento school, there were many of them. I found two kids at a tea stall; HariomPatra(12) and Ridaya. Th eir parents/mast ers have no objection regarding theireducation and are pretty fervent about thi s. Hariom Patra lost his father longagoand has a blind mother and a little sister (I think she too can come) to feed and takecare of, in abject poverty, thus explai ningwh y he could never go to school. I also wentto Vegies and found a kid named Obhi, and his master has given a go-ahead for thevery same, but the problem is that he is about fifteen years old, although he has neverbeen to school.

At a team meeting, we decided to have a number of teaching centers. The ideawas to have at least one such center within easy reach of every child. We decidedto provide every kid with a study material pack that included, among otherthings, multipurpose books, copies, colour pencils, drawing book etc. We alsodecided to give them toffees every time they come to study.

The team also considered other options available for the cases where theemployer is not willing to let these children visit the study centres. There weretwo distinct categories children employed inside student halls and thoseemployed outside student halls. The opinion was that the employers inside halls

can be persuaded, if necessary, by citing child labour laws. Trying somethingsimilar outside the hall, where the stu dents dont have much say, may risk theemployment of the child and we do not have any alternate plan for that situation.The IIT campus is an island of great economic activity amidst a rural setting. If akid loses his job here, it will be very difficult for him to get one outside thecampus.

The work started. Here are few lines from an NSS volunteer.

Yesterday (On Sunday 18/ 1), we taught two boys who work in Aza d hall canteen.Their names are Samrat Singh and Bisu Si ngh. They were pleasantly surprised whenwe gave them the folder, stationery and t he toffees. It was heartening to see the smiles

on their faces and to know thatthey liked the gift. Then, we asked them about their daily routine, their families andtheir pastime activities. Their homes are in Midnapur but they stay with their masterat his residence and go back home once a month. Samrat had attended school for amonth while Bisu hadn't gone to school ever. As it was the first day, we taught themhow to write their names. Samrat just needed some brushingup as he had lea rnt itearlier. He can write his name in Bengali too. We asked them to write their names

five times by next week. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed the experience and arelookingforward to next week's meeting.

After some progress we wanted to have aone day meeting of all the students at theRural Development Centre. We hadcompetitions, prizes, fun shows, food etc. tomake the event memorable. Scrolling back, Ifound the following message posted on thegroup by t he student-in-charge.

On the basis of the mail sent after the meetingof 7thFebruary we have decided that there are all together twenty students in our coachingclasses and we have prepared our budget accordingly. If there is any change in thenumber of students, please inform us immediately so that we can modify our budget.

Also get the permission from the master about attendi ngt he function when you go toteach this weekend and inform in this thread only.

The event was organized well. It was a great to see these children working outproblem s and their student instruct ors getting nervous about their studen tsperformance like parents waiting outside the hall during examinations. Theevent ended with a prize giving ceremony where there was a prize for every child.We always got whatever support we asked for from NSS Coordinators and NSSHead and other NSS Program Officers.

At times we were disappointed. One day this message was posted on our forum.

The children Bisu and Samrat who we used to teach have left their job at Azad hallcanteen. The owner of the canteen told us that a new kid would be coming in their

place. They used to stay at Balrampur at their owner's place buttheir home is somewhere else. I think they mentioned Midnaporebut Im not sure about it because they told us that they go therevery rarely. Now since they have left, we are not sure about theirwhereabouts.

There was a discussion about providing a rehabilitationpackage for these twenty odd children working in the campus.

A monthly contribution of twenty rup ees from each studentmember would be enough to put them in a decent hostelproviding academic opportu nities.

2This reminds me of the effort put in by Vinayak, an IIT kgp alumnus . He was

3visiting our campus on his way back to Kolkata from Amlasole, a tribal village inthe same district as IIT kgp, West Midnapore. This village recently becamefamous for a wrong reason death due to poverty. Shabar tribes living there haveno access to basic amenities of life. Even food is not available everyday and thuseven the little children have to fast. Education and healthcare are distant dreams.There were a few children from those villages accompanying Vinayak to become

4a part of Parivaar , a home for the homeless. The group consisted mostly of girls,

Indias future in t he making. This pictur e seems to me symbolical of the changesthat are coming to India. While the IIT and the IITians have done quite wellbetween 1956 and 2009, the same cannot be said about the area as a whole.Unlike other IITs, IIT kgp is not in a metro city. That is why the differencesbecome all the more glaring the academic opportunity and the bright fut ure ofstudents inside IIT and the lack of the same in its neighbouring villages that forceschildren to drop school and serve the IIT community in some form of the other. Itcertainly should not make us proud.

As I type this article, a current third year student, a former member of NSS teamVivek, (NSS is a program for UG 1st and 2nd year only) enters my room. He

5wants to discuss few important t hings about an initiative named TeachKGP .Four of them have started this program and want to continue the effort from thepoint their batch of students left NSS. They want to teach the children workinginside the campus as laborers thrice a week by taking the help of the currentbatch of NSS volunteers. The other day, in a discussion with a studentrepresentative, we were wondering whether there will be sufficient correlationin IIT KGP campus to seek help from a city based NGO. Earlier I attended a

7meet called by Jagruti. I was surprised to see a number of efforts by differentstudent groups. Stray children at Kharagpur railway station were the target of onesuch group. It was great to know t he effort of Goonj. I believe that the IIT KGPstudent body, Technology Students Gymkhana has an important role to play tosustain these efforts and this enthusiasm.

A thought process and some work have started. The initiative is yet to reach itscritical mass. It will do so only when the wider IIT KGP community starts takingnote of it. When we all show that we care, we share.

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http:/ / teamvivek.50webs.com/index.htmlhttp:/ / www.alumni.iitkgp.ernet.in/ july06/offbeat.htmlhttp:/ / gskgp.blogspot.com/2008/ 03/ afternoon-with-vinayak-our-alumnus-and.htmlhttp:/ / www.parivaar.orghttp :// vsc.iitkgp.googlepages.comhttp:/ / gyws.org/activities/teach%20kgp.htmhttp:/ / gskgp.blogspot.com/2008/ 03/social-initiative-iitkgp.htmlhttp:/ / gskgp.blogspot.com/2009/ 03/being-heard.html

Child Labour

and Campus

Life

rof. Goutam Saha (AssociateP r o f e sso r , D ep a r t m en t o f E l ec t r o n i c s an d El ec t r i ca lCommunications Engineering) is aNational Service Scheme programofficer at IIT-Kharagpur. Hedescribes in this article the effortstaken by his team to educatechildren working in and aroundcampus.P

How often have you been to Vegies or Chhedis, where youve been servedyour meal by a child of barely 10 years of age? Ever stopped to think whatsort of education they receive or what sort of future awaits them?Currently, on campus, there are around 20 children in the age group of 8-15 years who works nearly 40 hours a week at various eateries and shopsaround campus. Most of them are primary school dropouts. Four of ourundergraduate students, in collaboration with Gopali Youth WelfareSociety, have taken the initiative to launch a programme calledTeachKGP, which aims to tackle the problem of illiteracy among thesekids and curb child labour on campus. Initially, a six-months course,comprising of lessons on how to read and write in a language that they

comfortable with, mostly Bengali and Hindi, and simple mathematics (inEnglish), will be conducted. The course will also have complementaryactivities in sketching, drawing and storytelling that will incorporatemoral education and general awareness in a fun and imaginative way. Ifyou, who have been fortunate enough to receive a good education, feell i ke j o i n i ng t h i s c a us e , p l e a s e v i s i t t he w e bs i t e(http:/ / www.gyws.org/activities/teach%20kgp.htm) or contact MikeshUdani at [email protected] (09331026922), Sourav Das [email protected] (09432289658), Anurodh Vyas [email protected] (09733739827), or Koushik Das atkoushikk [email protected] (0 9474822629).

Teach KGP

the most vulnerable in oursociety. This organization wasstarted by Vinayak and some ofhis friends using their privatetuition money. Can we do

something similar for thechildren in the areassurrounding the campus?Can we create a zone

surrounding the IIT kgpcampus where every child getsher education at least up tosecondary level? This mightprevent them from seekingwork and also empower themfor the future.

Here are excerpts from messages in the team Vivek mail group.

visit ed a locality just outside the campus, where all the milkmen who supply thecampus with milk reside. Many of their child ren do not go to school and might benefit

from our program.

This post is for all those who are supposed to teach the group of children just outside

the campus (Milkmen Area). We have plannedto visit the mentioned area on Jan 21st(Wednesday) at 16:00 hrs. Those who do nothave any problem with the timings can confirm

their presence by replyingto thi s post. We willassemble in front of RK Hal l sharp at 16:00 onWednesday. We will all go to the area and doour job...

Soon a study center started functioning there.

Inspired by Vinayak and his mentors, the young monks of Ramakrishna Mission,volunteers of Vivekananda Study Circle5 (VSC) at IIT Kgp initiated activities inthis direction. Besides UG students (as found in NSS) this group is moreinclusive, having PG students and many faculty members like me on its rolls.While UG students stay away from the campus for the summer as well as wintervacation, the services of PG students are available for a longer period. VSC isquite methodical in its approach. Here are excerpts of messages from VSCgooglegroup. The target was to visit a village named Soladahar within few metres ofthe IIT boundary w all, 10 minutes cycle-ride from the IIT Prembazaar Gate alongthe canal to the left hand side.

We have a set of questions in a pre-formatted table; we will go to each house of thatvillage and ask a member of that family to answer the questions. Accordingt o theiranswer, we will fill up that table. We have finished almost half of the village earlier.So if the number of people conducting this survey increases, we can divid e ourselves

into small groups and do this job much more quickly.

Of about hundred landless Lodha tribal families residing inSoladahar, the most educated is a Class VIII drop-out. Most ofthe adults are serving as laborers or house maids in the IIT kgpcampus. Nobody from there holds a Government job in spiteof the special opportunities provided by the Government forthe tribal people. This is because of the lack of education and

awareness. Currently there are six students from classes V toVII, still attending school in another village. The guardians wetalked to are willing to educate their children but do not havethe means or do not know how to go about it. VSC is starting

an education hub there and the villagers are very enthusiastic. NSS volunteers areparticipating in this effort.

The first prime minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the first everconvocation address of the IIT system (1956) said, Here in the place of that HijliDetentio n Camp stands the fine monument of India, represent ing Indias urges,the same cannot b e said about the area as a whole. Unlike ot her IITs, IIT kgp is notin a metro city. That is why the differences become all the more glaring the

...we taught two boys who work in Azad hall canteen. Their namesare Samrat Singh and Bisu Singh. T hey were pleasantly surprisedwhen we gave them the folder, stationery and the toffees. It washearteningto see the smiles on their faces and to know that theyliked the gift....
mailto:[email protected]://www.scholarsavenue.org/http://rimibchatterjee.net/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.scholarsavenue.org/wordpress/impacthttp://void%280%29/http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=6NcIJXTlugchttp://in.youtube.com/watch?v=AJtE8afwJEg&feature=relatedhttp://in.youtube.com/watch?v=AJtE8afwJEg&feature=relatedhttp://in.youtube.com/watch?v=6NcIJXTlugchttp://void%280%29/http://www.scholarsavenue.org/wordpress/impactmailto:[email protected]://rimibchatterjee.net/http://www.scholarsavenue.org/


5/9

6 SPECIAL FEATURE THE SCHOLARS A VENUE SATURDAY , OCTOBER 31 ST 2009

Adieu!

TSA: As is well known, yourassociation with Kharagpur goes rightback to your student days, whatmemories do you have of that time?

TKB: I was a student at IITKharagpur from 1963-70 and was aboarder of the Patel and JCB halls ofresidence. I was the Mess Secretaryat Patel for two years at a time justbefore the Green Revolution when

there was acute scarcity of food inIndia. Kharagpur shaped me as anindividual and helped me build myconfidence. I remember those usedto be highly taxing days with 37periods over five and a half days. Wehad both open and closed bookexams in a trimester system. Iremember having 12 theory papersin my third year.

Apart from self-confidence, Igained exposure to differentcultures, languages and personalities.Kharagpur in a way is mini-India.You start noting your limitations,not only in your personality, but inyour culture and daily habits, unlike

in a closed society. I now miss the

competitions that the Gymkhanaused to have in all languages. Evenwith three competitors, there usedto be inter-hall and open IITelocution and music competit ions inlanguages like Punjabi andMalayalam.

TSA: What were your hobbies andextra-academic pursuits?

TKB: I was into cards. I representedPatel Hall in Bridge competitions.After joining the department in1980, I took charge of thedepartment society and introducedBridge competition between thefaculty and students. I looked at thisas a platform to break barriersbetween the students and theteachers, an activity that bothparties enjoyed.

TSA:Back in our October 2007 Issue,Prof S K Som, in his interview as thenew Dean of Academic Affairsopined, Personally, I feel that theacademic performance is not as goodas it should be, especially for theUndergraduate students. This could

possibly be due to loss of interest and

motivation after stepping into IIT.This problem has increased in recenttimes. I have been here for a long time.The love for academics that was seenin students earlier is seen in very fewstudents now. How do you think the

Institute and the faculty can addressthis issue?

TKB: This is not the fault of the

students alone. Now a studentcomes to IIT to get a rubber stampand get a better job, not to become a

good academician. Many studentsaim to go abroad and earn moremoney. These aspirations have beenmoulded by the schools, by theparents and by the society. Even

then I feel that IIT still attracts abright section of students who arecommitted to academics. Now that Iam out of IIT, I can concede that it snot only the students who havegrown to show less inclinationtowards academics. The faculty isalso equally responsible. The facultyshould take more care when they areteaching. On the other hand, if thefaculty member has to publishpapers and bring forward projectsfor promotion, it becomes adistraction from the main job ofteaching. Again, this is not thefacultys fault, rather this is the fault

of the system that has been createdfrom the top which the faculty is

constrained t o follow. Im not sayingthat these things are not necessary,but none of these should serve as asubstitute for teaching. Teaching isprimary.

It is also very important to keepthe students motivated as theystudy. I find that the conventional

timetable schedule system of takingclasses should be broken. Appoint afew more teachers. Researchscholars and M.Tech students shouldbe trained to teach. Pick a few goodstudents early and interest them inteaching. At the same time, let t hemgo on to improve their academicqualifications. Nowadays we wantready-made teachers! Motivation

has to be created at a very early age.Its a wrong selection process thatyou want people of a very high

standard, but you dont give themtime to grow.

TSA: As the head of Centre of Educational Technology, you have

seen the Indian education systemfrom close quarters. Mr. Kabil Sibalhas plans to liberalize the currentuniversity and school system. W hats

your take on such a drastic change?

TKB: I dont supp or t t heprivatization of education at all. Isupport the idea of education totallynationalized. Develop a uniformsyllabus and therefore, a uniformeducation for all. Education shouldbe for everyone- rich and poor freeof cost. Im in favour of an Open-IITsystem- an open education system.Why should there be restrictededucation? After all, IIT is meant forthe country, it is the countrys asset.

Even in MIT, they have a system fortaking in some general students. Ifeel JEE has caused a lot of damageto t he IIT system. With such a largestudent population and a limitednumber of seats, the competitionbecomes very dirty and breaks allkind of ethics, and that is reflected inprofessional lives of students lateron.

I believe that outstandingstudents should be free from othersubject requirements so that theycan pursue their interests withdedication. I am in favour of specialtopic subjects in the final year, ifelectives are being offered. Give a

chance to the students to learn ontheir own and be tested accordingly.We lack the flexibilit y of the Russianand American systems. I fully agreewith Kapil Sibals initiative to nothave any Board examinations in classX. By no examination, I mean noconventional examination. You can

have evaluation on a day to day basis.

TSA: What is your opinion onstudents taking up alternative career

paths?

TKB: I am not against differentcareer paths. For instance, as anelectrical engineer, I myself wouldntmind taking up some aspects of

finance modelling as the skill setrequired is similar though ends maybe different. Technical experts arerequired today in various walks ofadministration. Sometimes, theyare better suited to understand andappreciate various problems.

TSA:Where are you now heading?

TKB: Ive already joined AliahUniversity, which is the latestu n i v e r s i t y s e t u p b y t h eGovernment of West Bengal. This isa university that focuses on theeducation of minorit ies. Im joiningas the Dean of Science andEngineering. This is an institutemodelled on the principles of ourIIT system. I believe that studentsshould be employable as soon asthey pass out. The IIT model issaleable.

TSA: Any final message to thestudents of your alma mater?

TKB: I would like to tell all the IITstudents to have more of creativeactivit ies on campus. Insist on longersemesters and more holidaysspanning the calendar year so thatyou can participate in such activities.These are an essential part of life.Extra Academic Activities should bemade compulsory for all the 5 years.You professional life requires team

spirit which comes with workingtogether and playing games. I wishyou all the best.

Due to constraints of space, wecould not accommodate the entireinterview of Prof Basu. To read theunabridged version, please visithttp:/ / www.scholarsavenue.org .

First and foremost, current examination systemsshould be smashed. When I fail a student, I feelrestless. If a student fails, its the failure of theteacher also as he has not been able to inspire thestudent to study.

We should make at least5 0 % o f t h eexaminations open-b o o k ex ams . T h etendency to cheat willgo. Moreover, this willensure that the studentsare more thorough withtheir course material.

stalwart of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Professor T K Basuretired recent ly leaving behind a rich legacy from his time here at Kgp, first asa student and then as a professor. Professor Basu also taught at IIT Bombay and

later served as the head of the Center of Educational Technology which wasinstrumental in developing the video courses for Kgp students. Nowemployed in Kolkata, The Scholars Avenue managed to catch up with him onhis farewell visit to the Institut e, unearthing some candid moments and a lotA of nostalgia. We present a few excerpts from a long and interesting discussion.

Why should anybodybe deprived of primaryschooling? Don't youfeel the small kidserving tea and washingd ishes in T ikka ' sdeserves as mucheducation as you did?

... if public money isgoing into thei re d u c a t i o n , I I Tstudents must servethe state for at leastfive years...


6/9

TECHAV E N U ETHE SCHOLARS A V EN U ESATURDAY , OCTOBER 31 ST 2009 7

"Life imitates arts far more than art Starting out, I would have loved especially innovative product idea gott en on stage wit h a PPTimitates life", said Oscar Wilde. to have had a garage as my office but or company is getting people to presentation, I would have had no

too bad I live in an apartment. I know about it. Sure, I could blog, failed demo, nothing to worrystarted out building a Facebook tweet, facebook about it - even go ab o u t . W in n in g t h e Be stapplication. DeshkiAwaaz. It was present it at a barcamp. However, Presentation award and gaining thet t he recent TechCrunch50easy to whip out the application in a that still wouldnt reach the scale I adoration of the audience also mayAin San Francisco, it couldn'tfew days and with the Indian wanted to reach to build it into a have been a distant possibility.have been more true for me. I tookelection around the corner it was wildly successful product. How do Ithe stage to demo iMo, my heartthe perfect t hing to launch. The launch this? I started to scratch mybeating with excitement. With 4. Team:We are all good at certainapplication att racted quite a few head. And then I realized that the5000 people watching, this was the things and lack at others. It'susers and generated very interesting answer was obvious. As a voraciousbiggest event of my life. Friends, import ant to have a team wherediscussions on Indian election issues. reader of everything TechCrunch, Ifamily, co-workers watching from everyone complements each otherIt was a thrill to get off the ground so knew that TechCrunch50 wouldall across the globe. And then it and everyone rounds off the team.

happened. The demo failed. It was iMo has a great set of founders and aanyone's worst nightmare come strong ecosystem of well wisherstrue - you could call it a "textbook and fr ien ds w ho se he lp isnightmare". With Eye of the Tiger invaluable.from Rocky blaring on the soundsystem and the audience clapping to 5. Go all out:I experimented with athe beat of the music, I did the first number of ideas till I discovered

15 seconds of my demo script of iMo. I have tinkered all my life, butdonning a helmet and zipping up had I not quit my day job, the focusmy racing car jacket t o demo how to and energy to prototype iMo, shareuse an iPhone as a joystick to play a it, submit it to TechCrunch, workvideo game. The demo froze. The with a team, fly to San Francisco andiPhone couldnt connect t o the present it to the world would justgame. I frantically hit connect on the not have happened. Anything that'siphone repeatedly. "Connection worth doing, is worth doing well.Error" flashed across my screen. I got Don't shortchange your ideas, giveoff the stage, equally disappointed them full focus, even if it meansand embarrassed. The opportunity quitting your day job. On this noteof my lifetime and the demo had though, I'd like to thank my parentsbombed! This was not happening. I and family who believed in me and

quickly. However, i wanted to do provide the best possible platformwish I would just "wake up". What let me take this step. I realize thismore. I dug deeper into what I loved to launch the product and tell thefollowed was a truly inspirational may not work for everyone withdoing and it's gaming. One of the world about it. I filled out t heturn of events and what is different set of responsibilities andgolden rules of successful product TechCrunch50 application process.quintessential Silicon Valley and financial commitments and I hopedevelopment is to "Build what you I had to admit much as I was suremore so TechCrunch50. Even you can still make it happen.use". Being a gamer I could really use of the potential of my idea, t he

though the demo was a fiasco, a a video game, I mused. I wrote a process of making it with 1000+complete dud, the judges and 6. Tap into your network: I got helpsimple but addictive video game for companies from across the globeaudience wanted us back. The from a lot of batchmates, KGPiansthe iPhone called SwipeBall. While I ap p lyi ng see me d da u nt in g.Techcrunch50 team wanted us and friends. Murari Tikmani (2k6was developing SwipeBall, I was Nevertheless, Pankaj, Gaurav and Iback, the support from everyone batch) helped us in testing andover-awed by the iPhone as a sweated it out and submitted whatwas incredible. Robin Anil (2k9 batch) did thehardware device and particularly we felt was a strong application

graphics. You can only do a limitedthe developer platform and APIs. including a video of the product. WeLater that afternoon, technical number of things, so tap into yourCouple this with how Apple does a were excited when the applicationglitches fixed, I took the stage again. network.br ill iant job wit h m obi le was short-listed from a fewThe panel of judges included Marcapplicat ions end-t o-end (from thousand to top 200. We had anAndreesen, Paul Graham, Marissa 7. Don't be afraid of rejection: Weenabling development, publishing, interview with the TechCrunch50Meyer, Tony Hseih and Ralf Boetha. would have never been selected ifdownloading, monetization etc), committee and when we learnt weThe demo went flawlessly. we had not applied. If nothing else,and I was completely hooked. I was were selected as a Top 50 company,Everything worked like a charm. I I would have got some experienceparticularly enthralled with some of it was a rush of excitement that Iplayed 3 video games, controlling of the application process. So don'tt he ha rd ware re lat ed API s, will cherish for a long time. We flewthem with my iPhone, changed into think I won't make the cut.especially the accelerometer. Back to San Francisco, rehearsed likethree different costumes and swungduring my days at IIT-KGP, I was crazy and then went on stage anda baseball bat at the judges. The The best part of the last sixinto gaming big time. One day as I did the presentation.

audience loved the presentation and months is that the fun has justwas waving my iPhone at a friend asapplause tore the auditorium as started, the stage is set and soon asa fight gesture, a thought occured, iMo is currently in closed betawell as the "twitterverse". The the product goes live, its time forthat the iPhone was sensing what I and we planning to release it soon. judges had excellent things to say. another round of astoundingwas doing. It was sort of an epiphany TechCrunch50 has already set theAt the awards ceremony, we got the performance!- the proverbial "eureka moment"! stage and the world is watching.award for "Best Presentation". ThereWouldnt it be cool, I thought, if While there is a lot that remains tocouldn't have been a more perfect Himanshu Baweja is the co-founderthese gestures could control a video be done and accomplished, there areend to the conference.The Eye of the ofiMo Controller(for more detailsgame. This would be like a Wii but certain key ingredients of what ITiger was befitting, Rocky had visit www.imocontroller.com). Hewith an iPhone/ iPod Touch! I got t o believed in strongly that havefought back and won! graduated in Computer Science andwork and built the prototype over a brought iMo so far, they are:

Engineering from IIT Kharagpur inweekend with my buddy PankajMy journey building iMo 2006.Meena (now a co-founder of iMo). 1. It's the idea, stupid :No amountstarted six months ago. I quit my job

We showed it to friends and of technical knowledge/ savvy canand decided to venture out on myeveryone loved the idea. Most replace the merit of the idea. If youown and build a company.importantly, I was hooked and I don't believe you will use theHonestly, looking back, I really hadstarted to spend hours playing product, don't bother building it, itno idea I would be doing what I amgames with it. When I realized I was will fail.doing now with iMo - a product thatso addicted to it, I knew others

has gained world-wide buzz. To tell would love it too and that this had 2. Execution: 1% inspiration andyou the truth, I could talkthe potential to become a hit. I 99% perspiration couldn't be moreincessantly about the usual clichdsought advice and mentorship from true. We have toiled and worked forstuff about passion and the love ofGaurav Bhatia (my ex-manager and everything from the coding, testing,entrepreneurship and technologyalso now co-founder of iMo) who p r o t o t y p i n g t o d o i n g t h eand how my thirst for innovationhelped me think through some of presentation.brought me here. Instead, let methe challenges in getting this out for

focus on the essence of whatmass adoption. One of the 3. Taking chances:Marissa Meyersprompted this journey - I lovechallenges for any new and called the presentation gutsy! Had Ibuilding cool stuff!

I played 3 videogames,controlling them

with my iPhone,changed intothree differentcostumes andswung a baseballbat at the

judges.

Its The i Of The Tiger!Himanshu Baweja takes us through his exploits at TC50 and more

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7/9

8 SPECIAL FEATURE THE SCHOLARS A VENUE SATURDAY , OCTOBER 31 ST 2009

IT faculty made history in

ISeptember 2009 when they went

on hunger strike -- not just once, buttwice! Their strikes were to presstheir demands for a bett er deal fromthe Sixth Pay Commission (SPC),and to protest against what theyperceived as an "insult" and "a slapin our face."

In spite of those anger-ladenphrases and industrial protestactions, I am here to argue that theIIXs (where X = T, M, Sc, SER, ....)continue to be among the best -- ifnot the best -- places in India for theacademically oriented among you.The protest by IIT faculty (cheeredfrom the sidelines by others in IIXs)

should not be allowed to block yourview of arguably the brightestpicture in Indian academia.

Before I get to that picture, letme first take care of a blot in it.Almost all IIXs suffer from notinfrequent interruptions in flow ofelectrons, water, and data. Onecould add other problems such aspoorly trained (and poorly paid)support staff. While IIXs willeventually find suitable long-termsolutions, there certainly are work-arounds for each of these problems.Indeed, many scientists haveovercome them to go on to run

world class research groups.

With that out of the way, let'snow turn to what's so great about afaculty job at an IIX, and why theacademically inclined among youshould consider such a job as aserious option. You are probablyinterested in the first thing thateveryone focuses on -- the 'paypackage.' Fortunately, it is also theeasiest t o address.

Here's the bottomline: IIXs areamong the best in the public sector.They beat private academicinstitutions handily. With jobsecurity, autonomy, sabbaticals andthe summer months off, they arecompetitive with private industry

as well. With the option to consultfor industry, you'll have to wonder if

a non-IIX job is even worthconsidering!(See Box)

But that's just the salary, whichdoes not include the 'benefits':allowances (house rent, transport,telephone and internet), socialsecurity contributions (pension orprovident funds, career-end bonus,etc) and perks (medical insurance,leave travel concession, forexample). The value of thesebenefits could easily exceed 50percent of the salary.

And then there is consulting. Itcan give you the satisfaction of

solving some real world problems. Itcan be a great source of ideas forlong t e rm re sea rch . Mostimportantly, it also has the highlydesirable property of giving yousome extra cash! Indeed, every IIXhas quite a few superstars whoseearnings through consulting dwarftheir salaries.

In these days of economic slow-down, pay-cuts, and lay-offs, I'msure it's reassuring to know that

and public sectors): two (or eventhree) months off every summerand a one-year sabbatical leave

every seven years.

As an IIX faculty member,you'll enjoy an advantage over thosein other academic institutions --public or private. Research funding,infrastructure, access to brightstudents, culture of nurturingresearch, travel grants -- on everyone of these parameters, IIXs offeryou a better deal than any otheruniversity or research lab.

Finally, the autonomy, thechoice and the flexibility. As an IIXfaculty member, you'll probablyspend 30 to 40 percent of your time

in teaching and related activities.The remaining time is yours, andyours alone -- nobody tells you howto spend it. You could use it forresearch (for get t ing peerrecognition), teaching (for yourstudents' adulation), and consulting(for money, and collaboration withindustrial partners). There are otheracademic pursuits as well: writingbooks and popular science articles,teaching kids in local schools andcolleges, learning about new andemerging fields, etc.What you dodepends only on what you think isright for you -- that sweet spot inthe multidimensional space of

knowledge, scholarship, peerrecognition, money, respect, fame.The IIXs offer you a variety ofactivities to choose from, and theydo not impose any restriction onwhat you could or could not do.

At an IIX, you dance to yourown tune, and not to someinstitutional music. And the Indiangovernment, which is in atremendous hurry to develop India'sscientific and technologicalcapabilities, will help you makeyour tune and your dance better --with research money, withopportunities, with students. I don'tthink you can ask for more -- exceptwhen the future Pay Commissionsscrew up!

S.M. - The representations /negotiations has been going on forquite a while now. The governmentdelayed the implementation of thispay scale by more than a year for nogood reason. Prof. GoverdhanM e h t a h a d s u b m i t t e d arecommendation that fell short ofthe recommendation made by our

ith our Union Ministerclarifying his stand on theW

issue and reaching out to t he faculty,the standoff finally seems to havesubsided. However, the protests andthe manner in which they wereconducted have raised quite a feweyebrows. In an exclusive interviewwith The Scholars Avenue, Dr.Souymo Mukherjee , Board

member, IIT Powaii Facultyfederation, tries to explain thefederations position and gives hispersonal opinion regarding thewhole crisis.

TSA-Many feel that the manner andmethod of protest could have beenbetter. What is your opinion?

Directors and far short of what thef a c u l t y f e d e r a t i o n h a drecommended. We had issues witht h a t a s w e l l b u t t h erecommendation from the ministrywas even below what GoverdhanMehta had recommended and was acomplete shock.

TSA- Mr. Sibal has repeatedly

claimed that most of the protests havebeen financially motivated. If this istrue, then why is the facultyassociation feeling shy to say thatgood financial remuneration is one ofthe most powerful ways to attract topquality talent? Even if it is not, thenwhy should money not be a concern atall? Surely, in todays world,

devotion to the country cannot besolely relied on to attract excellentfaculty!

S.M - Mr. Sibal's claim has beenamply refuted in Karan Thapar'sprogram and in IIT Bombay's GBMresolution in which we haveresolved to forgo the additional RS1500 in AGP (transition from 10500

AGP to 12000 AGP for 40% of theprofessors) in order to safeguard theflexible cadre system that waspracticed in IITs. There is asignificant question of money forincoming people but as said earliernothing much for the people whoare already here.

Faculty StrikeModus Operandi Justified?

How about that faculty job at an IIX?

Don't let the IIT faculty strikes fool you. For the academically inclined, IIX s are still the best.

T. A. Abinandanan is a Professor in

the Department of MaterialsEngineering at the Indian Institute ofScience, Bangalore. He writesextensively on a wide range of topicsconcerning higher education in India,particularly the IITs, IIMs, IISc andsuch other institutes. His writings canb e f o u n d a thtt p:/ / nanopolitan.blogspot.com.The Scholars Avenue thanks Dr.Abinandanan for contributing thisarticle.

Going by the present, post-SPC salaries, you'll start as an assistantprofessor at Rs. 6 lakhs, at the end of your career, you'll be at over 12lakhs. Thus, you can expect to earn about Rs. 30 million -- Rs. 3 crores --over a career spanning 30 years. Or, an average of about Rs. 10 lakhs peryear.

your IIX salary is not only fullyprotected, it'll also (a) keep up withinflation, (b) keep rising (throughannual increments) and (c) seesubstantial jumps every decade orso. To sweeten things even more,IITs are planning to introduceincentives to reward extraordinaryperformance (and I'm sure otherIIXs will follow suit). Let me nowturn to a few relevant comparisons.

As an IIX faculty member,you'll enjoy a couple of features that

are not available to engineers andmanagers in industry (in both public

As an IIX faculty member and this may come as a surprise toyou you'll also enjoy certainadvantages over faculty in USuniversities. First, you don't have topay your graduate students, thegovernment pays them. Moreimportantly, the same research ideahas a far higher probability ofgetting funded in India than in theUS. This means that you'll spendmore of your time on actually doingresearch, than on writing grantapplications seeking that ever-

elusive funding.

D r . S o u y m oMukherjee is a

Board member ofthe IIT PowaiiFaculty federation


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NE W S AV E N U ETHE SCHOLARS A VENUE SATURDAY , OCTOBER 31 ST 2009 9

eeping true to their motive of

Kpromoting entrepreneurship,t h e E - c e l l l a u n c h e d t h eEntrepreneurship Awareness Drive.This massive initiative wasundertaken with the aim ofencouraging the youth of India toembrace the concept of startingones own enterprise. Mrs. RashmiBansal, author of the best-sellingbook Stay Hungry Stay Foolish, wasthe guest of honour for theinauguration on the 29th of August09. The first of its kind, the EADkicked off on the 29th of Septemberin Chandigarh and travelled throughDelhi, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar,Pune, Bangalore, Chennai andHyderabad; finally concluding atKharagpur on the 8th of October.

I n e a c h c i t y , t h eEntrepreneurship Awareness Campcomprised interactive sessionswherein the speakers shared theirexperiences and success stories, andthe audience had many of their

questions and doubts answered.Some of the eminent personalitieswho spoke were Mr. Arbind Singh,Mr. Pramod Rao (co-founder ofeLitWit), Ms. Rama Devi (founderof the Association of LadyEntrepreneurs in Andhra Pradesh)and Mr Mururgavel Jankiraman,Founder of Bharatmatrimony.com.

Not only did the EAD succeedin inspiring many individuals tofollow their dreams of beingentrepreneurs, but it also helpedsome of the host colleges set up theirown Entrepreneurship Cell to fosterindigenous ideas, helping them ontheir way to becoming successfulventures. At the end of the day,initiatives such as this that seek toinspire, encourage and unleash thespirit of entrepreneurship, will playa significant role in assert ing Indiasposition as a major economic power.We wish E-Cell the best in all theirfuture endeavours.

ASHRAESHRAE, the AmericanSoc ie ty o f Hea t ing ,Refrigerating and Air-A

Conditioning Engineers has initiated

its first ever student chapter in Indiaat IIT Kharagpur. The chapter wasinaugurated by Mr. SushilChowdhary, Managing Director,Blowtech India (and also Chair,Student Activities ASHRAE, India)and Mr. Prateek Dutta Roy, EasternRegion Technical Head of BlueStar.

ASHRAE advances technology toserve humanity and promote asustainable world by endorsing

energy efficient designs and greenpractices in architecture.

ASHRAE is relevant to students

pursuing mechanical or chemicalengineering and architecture.Membership in this prestigioussociety helps open up industrialopportunities in the form ofIndustrial Visits, Internships andIndustrial Project Outsourcing,which aims to bridge the gapbetween students and researchersand industrialists.Kryotech, the ASHRAE IndiaStudent Design Competition held

during Kshitij 2009, was the largestevent in India on air conditioningand architecture and included prizemoney of INR 1 Lac. This event is to

include architectural expertise inthe coming year.

Carrier, Bluestar, DLF. TRAN E andDaikin are some of ASHRAEspartners in India, along with leadingthermal sciences and architecturefirms.

The KGP Chapter is headed by Prof.Souvik Bhattacharyya (Dean, SAProfessor, Mechanical Engineering)

and Prof. Kanchan Chowdhuryfrom the department of CryogenicEngineering. Joining this societyrequires a membership fee of $16 to

be deposited in the MechanicalEngineering Department Office.

Further details can be had fromstudent heads Abhinav Shashank(9775502362), Prateek Singhal(9932573509) and Jyotika Gupta(9734428984).

We Are The Championsrijaamyaham, the Zone-4 NASASor the National Association of

S t u d e n t s o f A r c h i t e c t u r ec o n v e n t i o n , 2 0 0 9 , w h i c hsuccessfully concluded at BIT, Mesraon 3rd of October was yet anothersuccess story as IIT KGP contingentmarched its way to victory yet again.

Inaugurated by world famousArchitect Dulal Mukherjee, who isknown to profess vernaculararchitecture through the medium oflocal folksy arts and crafts and byemploying locally available naturalmaterials in his architecture, thisthree day long inter-collegiate festwas marked by enthusiasm as about250 high spirited budding architectsfrom the 8 guest architecturecolleges of eastern zone, namelyJadavpur University, Kolkata, BESU

Shibpur , CET Bhubaneswar, ABITCutt ak, GCA Guwahati, NIT Patna ,AUCE Vishakhapatnam and IITKharagpur competed with eachother in various events showcasingtheir creative mett le.

The annual Zonasa meet servesas a meeting ground for students

from various schools of architectureto compare and share theirarchitectural know-how and verysuccessfully

demonstrates a n damalgamatest h emultifaceteds o c i o -c u l t u r a laspects ofarchitecture,w h i c h i s r e f l e c t e d i n t h emeticulously designed events thatspan 3 days. Events, broadly classifiedas Formal, the core architecturedesign competitions, Informal,architectural events with a tinge offun and interesting twists and Fune v e n t s ,m o s t l ym u s i c a l ,l i t e r a r y ,dramatic ands p o r t y i nnature wereinterestinglyconceived,making them

challenging and thought-p rovoking.Interestingly, in some of the events,inter-college teams were formed to

c o n t e s t

a m o n g s teach other,w h i c hp l a y e d av e r yinstrumental r o l e i nc r o s s -c o l l e g e

f r i ends h ips in the s tuden tcommunity.

The month long perspiration,anticipation, innumerable tempo-shouts, spouts of excitement andenergy bursts well paid off when IIT

K G Pc l i n c h e dmost of them a j o rt r o p h i e si n c l u d i n gMain designand productdesign ande a r n e d

second stand in the very prestigiousRuebens cup. Extending the KGPlegacy of Dance Choreo, the teamleft the audience and judgesspeechless after a stunning flawless

performance for the Cultural. Kudosto the first years who stayed back forDurga Puja vacations to fine tunetheir Zonasa preparations along withsome seniors to assist and direct.Being the well-knit family that Archiis, final years engrossed inpreparation for CAT and GRE, tooksome time out and made it all theway to Mesra taking an 8 hour

journey just to cheer and encouragethe team.

D e s p i t e a n o u t s t a n d i n gperformance in the previous edition,a very small margin had pushed KGPto the second spot. However, making

no mistakes this time, standing tallwith a grand total of 252, bagging atotal of 15 golds, 12 silver and 5bronze, IIT KGP emerged as themost deserving champions, followedby CET Bhubaneswar and JUKolkata taking the second and thirdstand respectively.

The winning KGP contingent

...The dance rendition by IITKharagpur, in particular, wasspectacular and was declared thebest.

Hindustan TimesSunday, October 4, 2009.

h i s m i d - s e m e s t e re x a m i n a t i o n , 5 1 1student s of Physics- I satT

for the first major onlineexamination of this course.Conducted in the TakshashilaP C L a b s , t h e t w o - h o u rexamination consisted of 26Multiple Choice Questions, andresults were published the sameday.

The main reason for theintroduction of this measure isto try to eliminate the disparityand manual effort involved inevaluation of written scripts. To

this end, Professor Anushree Royof the Department of Physicsand Meteorology worked withmembers of Kgp startup Intinnoto create the online quiz, and toensure the smooth conductionof the exam.

To minimize adoption ofunfair means by students in theexamination, the order of thequestions and the options theycontained were randomlyshuffled and modified. Also, thenumber of invigilators wasincreased. In addition, studentswere forbidden from leaving thelab during the exam. The limitednumber of comput ers caused thetest to be conducted in twoconsecutive batches. This alsomeans that the three-hour

endsems will have to be carriedout in the old-fashioned way, onpaper answer scripts.

In conclusion, i t is apromising initiative which holdsbenefits both for students andteachers.

e-Xamination Entrepreneurship Awareness Drive


9/9

10 BH A A T AV E N U E THE SCHOLARS A VENUE SATURDAY , OCTOBER 31 ST 2009

ow do you feel after a roller time we manage to squeeze inHcoaster ride? A ride full of ups occasional trips to the mall and yetand downs, thrills and slumbers, attend all classes (yes, all of them) joys and sorrows, which gives you and labs.the time of your life and thensuddenly screeches to a halt. It is the We, being the senior-most batchperfect analogy for life at KGP. That and having experienced the actualis exactly how we feel now. college life at KGP, have taken the

onus to start our very own versionsAfter having spent our first year of all major societies and clubs.

at IIT KGP, we finally arrived at Mixed feelings of apprehension andBhubaneswar. A run down minibus excitement overwhelm us as wegreeted us at the station, with a realise th at th e fut ur e andbanner in tow that read Welcome reputation of IIT Bhubaneswar isStudents of IIT Bhubaneswar. It ours to mould.took us through a route that gave usglimpses of the much-awaited citypleasures, but we eventually foundourselves in the outskirts of the city.There stood the desolate SBIapartments, 9 kms from the

Institute. The flats were indeed nice The limited number of students- 3 bedrooms, 2 students to a room; in our college ensures that we arewith a hall, kitchen, dining room, closely mentored by the professors,balcony and a 24x7 WiFi service - who are very affable and almost likeluxury indeed! There are, however, fathers t o us. Although personalno facilities for outdoor and indoor attention from the professors isntgames and no canteens. Added t o something that we always enjoy, wethis is the 11:30 curfew that has to be know that it will be valuable in thestrictly adhered to. long run.

All the drawbacks of staying It is extremely hard not tooutside the city are annulled by the compare Bhubaneswar with KGP,location of our institute. We share but to do so wouldn't be fair. It is anour walls with swanky hotels and entirely different experience. Fromcafes. A five-minute walk to one having a batch-strength of over aside leads to a mall, which has thousand to a college-strength of abecome a favourite hangout for mere 230, from a 1,640 acre campus

students. On the other side is a to one with barely three buildings,shopping centre with snack bars, from rickshaws and Chhedis toreally expensive restaurants (which bikes and Pizza Hut, from anfulfill all our treat-taking needs) and established culture to one that wea pub too! are trying to foster; the transition,

though has been surprisinglyA typical day starts with getting smooth. Even though were living it

up early and rushing to the mess for up here in Bhubaneswar, we cannota hurried breakfast and scrambling help but state KGP is Heaven!after the bus to college. The freshersfollow a rigid 8:30 - 17:30 schedule - C o u r t e s y : A K i r a nand the second year students have a Chakravarthy, Sameep Arora and9:30 - 17:30 schedule, during which Santosh Sabyasachi

Life At IIT BBS

KGP is Heaven!

In light of the recent Nobel Prizedistribution (a particular one ofwhich disturbed the general Peace),we at ScholsAve think its high timeto crown our very own Kgp NobelLaureates.

For their consistently low prices,irrespective of the economicupheaval of the country in the lastcentury, Tikkas bags the NobelPrize for Economics. Be it the 70s orthe present decade, Rs12/ - sufficesfor a full stomach. Special mention

goes to the makers of KGPsubiquitous sauce, for theirinexpensive production throughinnovative use of cucumber t o curbcosts and an efficient distributionmodel that spans every single kioskand restaurant on campus. KGPsauce also boasts a rather uniform(albeit not-very-sauce-like)consistency that brings in an

element of familiarity to any store,further reinforcing its position as areliable brand.

The Nobel Prize for Medicine, asalways, is conferred upon Bhondu-da... s'nuff said.

Ever browsed through the menu atLittle Sisters? Cuisines like GhostMasalaand Ghost Motorpop up atyou, leaving a person wonderingwhether t he name indicates the fateof those who dare to try it. The

literary genius cannot be missed.Hence LS is the proud winner ofthe Nobel Prize for Literature.Special mention goes to the Englishfor Communication lab forattempting to describe the entirelanguage in four syllables or so...dum dee dah.

The Nobel Prize in Physics goes tothe PAN hostels for persistentlydefying the laws of physics bysustaining the load of additionalfloors on unstable grounds. Illuearns a special mention for its novelefforts in efficient conversion ofinspired human labour into fiveminutes of blazing luminescence.

The Nobel Prize for Chemistry goesto ChemTop, attributable to itslocation (Top of the ChemicalEngineering Department) and to

the chemistry that it helps fosteramong the general KGP public(*nudge nudge wink wink*).

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded toall the bongs out there, for theirpioneering work on afternoonsiestas and sugar-overdoze inducedcontentment.

T he K gp N obels

Documents

Scholars Avenue 2009oct31