EIGHT PROBLEMS IN INDIAN EDUCATION

EIGHT PROBLEMS IN INDIAN EDUCATION Alonzo Spang The accompanying article was adapted from a speech given by Alonzo Spang at the Wyoming Indian Education Conference in Lander, Wyoming, in the fall of 1969. Mr. Spang is well-known In Arizona and western Indian education circles, and has contributed to theJournal of American Indian Education several times. HISTORICALLY, three systems have served the educational needs of Indians: Bureau of Indian Affairs schools, parochial or mission schools and public schools. Recently, through the Office of Economic Opportunity, the tribes themselves established a fourth school system, primarily in the Headstart Program. These systems—still involved in attempting to better the lot of the Indian—have had much experience in providing programs to meet Indians’ needs and have been in the business of education on and off reservations for many years. In spite of what they have attempted and of what contributions they have made, acute problems exist in the Indian education field. And Indian education will not progress, develop or evolve into a dynamic field unless the problems inherent in it are identified and solved. In an analysis of the situation, I have categorized these problems into eight broad areas, from "lack of money" to "too many instant Indian experts." Lack of money. By far one of the most pressing problems is the unavailability of money or inadequate funding of Indian education programs or systems. The demand far exceeds the supply, and available monies are only for the most basic educational needs of the students . . . "the traditional curriculum." Very small amounts, if any, are available for innovative programs and ideas. Without adequate funding, the ideology and philosophy of Indian education become so many words. The concept of Indian education faces a bleak future characterized by stagnation, insensitivity, inadequate facilities and personnel. Is this what we educators wish to be contented with? The irrelevant curricula. just what do we mean by the often-repeated phrase, irrelevant curricula? My definition is that it is schools not doing their job in meeting the needs of their students—especially Indian students. This area encompasses four necessary corrections. An Indian student presently is subjected to an educational system geared to the needs of the non-Indian student without any concern to unique problems and background of the Indian. Yes, the Indian must live in the white man’s world, but if he is to become a productive member of the human race, the schools must develop programs to meet his needs. The American school curricula stresses values in direct contrast with the values held, in varying degrees, by the Indian. Such highly esteemed values as agressiveness, competition, individual personal gain, out-smarting your fellow man, and verbal ability and agility are taught the non-Indian youngster from the time he is able to comprehend. These values become the foundations of the American educational system. Thus, the Indian student is thrown into a foreign situation—he has no experiential background comparable to it and consequently, retardation is "built into" the educational program as far as the Indian is concerned. Another aspect is the stress of the English language in the system. If educators would recognize that the English language is not the mother tongue of most Indian students, educational programming could become more relevant, meaningful and rewarding to the Indian student, If curriculum experts would include courses reflecting the positiveness of the Indians’ contributions to the greater society, another correction would be made. It is not difficult to understand why the average Indian student has a negative self-concept: he is taught in a foreign classroom, by a teacher who is literally a foreigner, and in a foreign language that he comes from a people who were bloodthirsty, marauding killers, and that the only good Indian is a dead Indian. Correct this image by eliminating these teachings, and replacing them with more positive characteristics. Education has directly contributed to the destruction of the institution of the family among Indians: To illustrate this engulfment rather than bridgment of parent and child, let me give the following example. Fifth graders are studying the atom or atom bomb and its effect on society as a whole. If the Indian child seeks to understand the concept of the atom more fully in an inquiry at home, he will discover that his parents are unable to help him gain that understanding because there is no concept paralleling the atom in the Indian language. Instead of help or clarification, the child may receive some type of scolding. In the case of the non-Indian child, the parents may not know the answer, but they have other resources to which to turn—a neighbor, a set of reference books, a nearby library. Thus, the Indian child begins to question the intelligence of his parents, and when this happens, the parental role is threatened and weakened. This weakening continues as the child progresses through school because the parent falls further behind, as he is not keeping up with his child. Destruction of the family institution is therefore hastened. Lack of qualified Indians in Indian education. By far the most glaring problem is the acute shortage of qualified Indians in Indian education. Materialistic gains, incentives and opportunities entice the qualified Indian educator away from this challenging field. There is much hard work and many challenges in Indian education: isolation, poor or inadequate facilities, eager but academically deprived students, but one’s ingenuity, creativity, patience and forbearance are put to a real test in facing these and other challenges. If Indian education is to meet the needs of the students, if it is to have the sensitivity required, if it is to be dynamic and viable, it must have more qualified Indian educators—it must reach the stage wherein it will challenge the Indian educator to take up arms to join its ranks and to improve its lot. Insensitive school personnel. It is tragic that this exists in the 20th Century. Too many administrators and teachers are not knowledgeable about the American Indian. Whether it is attributable to apathy, indifference or design does not lessen the problem. If school personnel are truly educators, it behooves them to learn about the people they are teaching: To fail in this task is to fail to educate. The burden of this responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of the educator, and the exercise of that responsibility is long overdue. Differing expectations of education programs. As noted in the section on irrelevant curricula, the American educational system is foreign in concept, principle and objective to the Indian student. The thinking, attitudes and experiences of the non-Indian are the base of the value structure rather than the aspects of Indian culture. Thus the educational perspectives of the Indian are not considered. The Indian views education as providing him with immediate practical skills and tools, not a delayed achievement of goals or as means for a future gain. Lack of involvement in and control of educational matters. The Indian has not been able to express his ideas on school programming or educational decision-making. When they have been expressed, his participation has been limited and restricted. If problems in Indian education are to be resolved, the Indian citizen must become involved. He needs to have more control in the programs to which his children are exposed, to have a say in what types of courses are in the curriculum, to help hire teachers, to establish employment policies and practices, and all of the other responsibilities vested in school administration—that of being on a Board of Education. There are working examples of Indian-controlled school boards. These dynamic systems point up the fact that Indians can handle school matters. It is time that more Indians became involved in such control. Difficulties of students in higher education. Colleges and universities need to establish programs which can deal effectively with the problems and needs of the Indian student—if he is to remain in school. In general, the Indian student has an inadequate educational background as he may have been looked upon as less than college material in high school. He has unusual adjustment problems and usually inadequate financial help. It is time that more colleges and universities attempt to solve these development factors and provide a more successful educational experience for the Indian student. Too many instant-Indian education experts. To the detriment of Indian education and its growth, each day sprouts more "instant Indian education experts," who do more damage than good. Usually, these experts have all the answers: they have completely identified the problems and have formulated solutions, but they leave it to the Indian to implement. Again, the Indian is given something to implement which he has had no part in formulating. These experts usually depend on superficial, shallow studies done in one visit to a reservation or school, or they depend on one or two conferences with Indians who have little or no knowledge of the critical problems confronting the Indian generally. Indian education can well do without these experts who cannot be reasoned with or who feel they know what is best for the Indian. There may be other factors which contribute to the problems of Indian education, but these eight areas are, I think, contributing to the situation wherein Indian education is not realizing its full development.

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Educational System in India

Why is India still a developing country and what is stopping it from being a developed country? This particular question strikes me every time when I read something about India’s education system. I see India’s education system as a stumbling block towards its objectives of achieving inclusive growth.

Let me inform you about certain startling facts. India is going to experience a paradox of nearly 90 million people joining the workforce but most of them will lack requiste skills and the mindset for productive employment according to a report in DNA. India has about 550 million people under the age of 25 years out of which only 11% are enrolled in tertiary institutions compared to the world average of 23%.

I wouldn’t be laying too much emphasis on the drawbacks of India’s public education system because it has been an issue well debated over in the past and the main flaws have already been pointed out before. I will be focussing on how the education system’s failure is leading to another social issue of income inequality and hence, suggest certain policies to improve India’s education system and reduce inequality.

The really critical aspect of Indian public education system is its low quality. The actual quantity of schooling that children experience and the quality of teaching they receive are extremely insufficient in government schools. A common feature in all government schools is the poor quality of education, with weak infrastructure and inadequate pedagogic attention.

What the government is not realising right now is that education which is a source of human capital can create wide income inequalities. It will be surprising to see how income inequalities are created within the same group of educated people.

Hence, it is imperative for the government to correct the blemishes in India’s education system which will also be a step towards reducing income inequality.

Certain policy measures need to be taken by the government. The basic thrust of government education spending today must surely be to ensure that all children have access to government schools and to raise the quality of education in those schools. One of the ways in which the problem of poor quality of education can be tackled is through common schooling. This essentially means sharing of resources between private and public schools. Shift system is one of the ways through which common schooling can be achieved. The private school can use the resources during the first half of the day and the government school can use it during the second half. It is important to remember that the quality of education is directly linked to the resources available and it is important for the government to improve resource allocation to bring about qualitative changes in the field of education. Common schooling is one of the ways in which government can use limited resources in an efficient way and thus improve resource allocation.

Another reason for poor quality of education is the poor quality of teachers in government schools .Government schools are unable to attract good quality teachers due to inadequate teaching facilities and low salaries. The government currently spends only 3% of its GDP on education which is inadequate and insufficient. To improve the quality of education , the government needs to spend more money from its coffers on education.

Most economists feel that the only panacea to the ills of the public schooling system is the voucher scheme. Under the voucher system, parents are allowed to choose a school for their children and they get full or partial reimbursement for the expenses from the government. But however, the voucher system will further aggravate the problem of poor quality of education in government schools. Such a system will shift resources from government schools to private schools. This will worsen the situation of government schools which are already under-funded. Moreover, if the same amount given as vouchers can be used to build infrastructure in schools then the government can realize economies of scale. For example- The centre for civil society is providing vouchers worth Rs 4000 per annum to 308 girls. This means that the total amount of money given as vouchers is Rs 1232000. If the same amount can be used to construct a school and employ high quality teachers who are paid well then a larger section of the society will enjoy the benefit of education. A school can definitely accommodate a minimum of 1000 students.

I hope government takes certain appropriate policy measures to improve the education system otherwise inequalities are going to be widespread and India’s basic capabilities will remain stunted. Let us strengthen the case for a stronger education system.

The present day education system in India has come a long way and the age old traditions have undergone a makeover to produce an ecosystem that is evolving every single day.

Initiatives like the Right to Education Act have provided an impetus to growth and progress by laying special emphasis on elementary education in India. Combined with policy changes like making child labour illegal the being government is working ensure that the seeds of education are planted in both the rural and less privileged sub-urban areas of the country though there are a number of pressing challenges at hand that hamper the proliferation.

Key Challenges for the Indian Education System

25% of the Indian population is illiterate.

Only 7% of the population that goes to school managed to graduate and only 15% of those who enrol manage to make it to high school and achieve a place in the higher education system.

A few reasons why education in India is given less importance in some areas are as follows:

• 80% of schools are managed by the government. Private schools are expensive and out of reach of the poor.
• More hands to earn remains the mentality amongst many families and therefore little kids are set out to fend for the family over going to school to garner an adequate education, in the most literal sense of the word.
• Infrastructure facilities at schools across rural areas and in slums dispense very poor quality of education.
• The teachers are not well qualified and therefore not well paid and therefore are not willing to work hard enough. This has been a classical Catch-22 problem that the government has been trying hard to fight against.

An Overview Of The Levels of Education in India

The type of education systems in India can be classified as:

1) Pre primary education in India: Pre-primary school education in India is not a fundamental right and is divided into two levels – Lower KG ( for children between 3 – 4 years) and Upper KG ( for children between 4 – 5 years).

2) Primary Education in India: This serves as the link between primary school and elementary education. However, not much emphasis is laid on this level by the prevailing education system and policies in this regard continue to exist solely on paper.

3) Elementary Education: The Government has made elementary education compulsory for children between the age group of years 6 and 14.

4) Secondary Education in India: Serves as a link between elementary and higher education in the Indian education setup, which draws a blank again as far as policy is concerned.

5) Higher Education in India: Under graduate and post graduate level: After completion of secondary education, students can choose fields of their interest and pursue undergraduate and then post graduate courses.

Curriculum Bodies

Catering to the largerst population in the world is no easy task and as the annals of beureaucracy dictate, there are more than 15 education boards across the country.

While some of them are regional, the more interesting ones are listed below:

The NCERT – Apex Body for curriculum:

As far as school education and its functions are concerned, the National Council of Educational Research and Training takes care of all curriculum related matters. Various schools in the country seek technical assistance from this body.

State Government Boards: Since 80% of the schools in India are managed by the government, this is the board under which the most children in India get enrolled. The Board of Secondary Education across major states has achieved its objectives of developing various systems.

CBSE: The Central Board of Secondary Education which falls under the purview of the Central Government is a board of education for both public and private schools in India.

ICSE: The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations Board is a non-governmental and private education board for education in India.

NIOS: Established by the Government of India and the Ministry for Human Resource Development in 1989, the National Institute of Schooling Board aims at providing quality education in rural areas in a inexpensive manner.

Cambridge International Exams/IB: International Baccalaureate or Cambridge International Examinations offer international qualifications to students. This is a recent phenomenon in various parts of the country and is mostly offered by upmarket schools and the like.

Islamic Madrasah Schools: These schools may be either controlled by the state government, run autonomously or may be affiliated with the Darul Uloom Deoband that is in the Sahranpur District of Uttar Pradesh.

While there are a number of drawbacks of the education system in India, a number of efforts are being made to create awareness and action for education in India.

Efforts like the Sarva Shisksha Abhiyan aim at making education and good quality of life for today’s children possible by providing community owned school systems. Another indicator of a brighter tomorrow is the Right of Children to free and compulsory education. Large investments in the education system truly make us believe that the children of India will get off the streets and start making education their mainstay for a successful life.

Like with most things we are exposed to today, there are two sides to the education system in India – both good & bad which has made it a subject of many essays and a lot many discourses.

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Understanding the impact of fall in rupee

It was probably one of the most volatile weeks for the rupee. The Indian currency fell past 51 per dollar on Friday for the first time in nearly 32 months. A weak trend in equity markets where foreign institutional investor participation is low. The overall demand for dollars has remained high.

During the week, the rupee lost 2.4 per cent, its biggest weekly slide in eight weeks. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency resumed lower at Rs. 51.05/06 per dollar as against last close of Rs. 50.90/91. During the day on Friday, it dropped further to Rs. 51.41 a dollar before ending at 51.34/35 a dollar.

Currency dealers say the sustained dollar demand from banks and importers in view of firm dollar trend overseas and weak domestic equity markets are resulted in depreciation of the value of rupee.

So far in 2011, the rupee has plunged 14 per cent this making it the world's third-worst performing currency after the Turkish Lira, which is down 17 per cent, and the Kenyan Shilling that has lost 15 per cent. It is the worst performing Asian currency and the worst among all G- 20 countries.

So how does a weak rupee impact you and me?

For individuals, foreign travel gets expensive to the extent of the rupee fall. Overseas education, electronic items, goods and services imported are all expensive by 14 per cent. In case of companies, borrowing costs surge if there is no currency cover.

In case of companies, unhedged positions on external commercial borrowings have resulted in an erosion in profitability. Ranbaxy Laboratories, a large drug exporter, reported forex losses of Rs. 592 crore while Bharti Airtel, the largest cellular operator, lost Rs. 251 crore. Jet Airways, Tata Power, Shree Renuka Sugars are other companies that have reported losses due to the volatility in the forex markets.

In general, it is bad news for importers and good news for exports.

For a country like India that imports 70 per cent of its fuel it would translate into a fatter import bill for oil companies and would add to their losses.

If rupee continues to slide, then oil companies may be forced to hike petrol prices again to compensate for their losses.

A weaker currency also fuels inflation and keeps foreign investors away from stock markets.

This year foreign investors have bought only $677 million of Indian equities against $29 billion worth of net buying in 2010.

But a falling rupee boosts India's exports making them more competitive against China specifically helping sectors like software, garments and leather goods. However, India is not an export-oriented nation like Taiwan, Korea or China. Exports account for about 20 per cent of GDP while in China, exports contribute 35 per cent.

The central bank can intervene to arrest the slide. Analysts have criticized the hands off policy of the central bank. Rajeev Malik, senior economist at CLSA argued that RBI is talking too much about not intervening in the currency market.

“In RBI's case on rupee it is almost like it is an advertisement to the rest of the world that look 'if you want to short currency come to India'. I don’t know of any central bank that would openly go on saying that look we will not intervene, at a time when globally things are so uncertain,” he said.

“The inflation gets hurt a little bit but our imports would be restrained and exports would be encouraged because of the fall in the rupee,” said Rajiv Kumar, secretary general of Ficci.

The global uncertainty has meant a lot of volatility in currency markets but the rupee's fall has been dramatic. Market was abuzz with speculation that the Reserve Bank has probably asked public sector banks to release dollar to arrest the fall in rupee, so it remains to be seen what will happen to rupee in the coming days.

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Neutrino experiment repeat at Cern finds same result

By Jason Palmer

Neutrinos travel through 700km of rock before reaching Gran Sasso's underground laboratories

If confirmed by other experiments, the find could undermine one of the basic principles of modern physics.The team which found that neutrinos may travel faster than light has carried out an improved version of their experiment - and confirmed the result.

Critics of the first report in September had said that the long bunches of neutrinos (tiny particles) used could introduce an error into the test.

The new work used much shorter bunches.

It has been posted to the Arxiv repositoryand submitted to the Journal of High Energy Physics, but has not yet been reviewed by the scientific community.

The experiments have been carried out by the Opera collaboration - short for Oscillation Project with Emulsion (T)racking Apparatus.

It hinges on sending bunches of neutrinos created at the Cern facility (actually produced as decays within a long bunch of protons produced at Cern) through 730km (454 miles) of rock to a giant detector at the INFN-Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy.

The initial series of experiments, comprising 15,000 separate measurements spread out over three years, found that the neutrinos arrived 60 billionths of a second faster than light would have, travelling unimpeded over the same distance.

The idea that nothing can exceed the speed of light in a vacuum forms a cornerstone in physics - first laid out by James Clerk Maxwell and later incorporated into Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity.

Timing is everything

Initial analysis of the work by the wider scientific community argued that the relatively long-lasting bunches of neutrinos could introduce a significant error into the measurement.

Those bunches lasted 10 millionths of a second - 160 times longer than the discrepancy the team initially reported in the neutrinos' travel time.

To address that, scientists at Cern adjusted the way in which the proton beams were produced, resulting in bunches just three billionths of a second long.

When the Opera team ran the improved experiment 20 times, they found almost exactly the same result.

Continue reading the main story

• Listen to Radio 4's In Our Time: The Neutrino

"This is reinforcing the previous finding and ruling out some possible systematic errors which could have in principle been affecting it," said Antonio Ereditato of the Opera collaboration.

"We didn't think they were, and now we have the proof," he told BBC News. "This is reassuring that it's not the end of the story."

The first announcement of evidently faster-than-light neutrinos caused a stir worldwide; the Opera collaboration is very aware of its implications if eventually proved correct.

The error in the length of the bunches, however, is just the largest among several potential sources of uncertainty in the measurement, which must all now be addressed in turn; these mostly centre on the precise departure and arrival times of the bunches.

"So far no arguments have been put forward that rule out our effect," Dr Ereditato said.

"This additional test we made is confirming our original finding, but still we have to be very prudent, still we have to look forward to independent confirmation. But this is a positive result."

That confirmation may be much longer in coming, as only a few facilities worldwide have the detectors needed to catch the notoriously flighty neutrinos - which interact with matter so rarely as to have earned the nickname "ghost particles".

Next year, teams working on two other experiments at Gran Sasso experiments - Borexino and Icarus - will begin independent cross-checks of Opera's results.

The US Minos experiment and Japan's T2K experiment will also test the observations. It is likely to be several months before they report back.

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Lemon Power- Generate Electricity from Lemon

Project to Make a Battery From a Lemon 18-gauge copper wire (smaller gauge will work too, but 18-gauge is stiffer) Wire clippers Steel paper clip (Some people find that a 2-inch strip of zinc works better) Sheet of coarse sandpaper Lemon Help from an older friend or an adult Have your older friend or an adult strip 2 inches of insulation off the copper wire. Clip the 2 inches of bare wire with the clippers. Straighten out the paper clip and cut about 2 inches of the straightened steel wire, or use a 2-inch piece or strip of zinc. Use sandpaper to smooth any rough spots on the ends of the wire and paper clip or piece of zinc. Squeeze the lemon gently with your hands. But don't rupture the lemon's skin. Rolling it on a table with a little pressure works great. Push the pieces of the paper clip and the wire into the lemon so they are as close together as you can get them without touching. Moisten your tongue with saliva. Touch the tip of your wet tongue to the free ends of the two wires. You should be able to feel a slight tingle on the tip of your tongue and taste something metallic. The lemon battery is called a voltaic battery, which changes chemical energy into electrical energy. The battery is made up of two different metals (the steel paper clip and the copper wire). These are called electrodes, which are the parts of a battery where electric current enters or leaves the battery. The electrodes are placed in a liquid containing an electrolyte, which is a solution that can conduct electricity. In a solution of water and an electrolyte, like the acid in the lemon, an excess of electrons collects on one end of the electrodes. At the same time, electrons are lost from the other electrode. Touching the electrodes to your tongue closes the circuit and allows an small electric current to flow. A single lemon produces about 7/10 of a volt of electricity. If you connected two lemons together, you can power an inexpensive digital watch (uses about 1.5 volts). (Use a length of thin, flexible wire to connect the silver wire of one lemon to the copper wire of the other lemon. Then attach thin wires from the other two wires in the lemons to where a battery's positive and negative poles connect to power the watch.) The tingle felt in your tongue and the metallic taste is due to the movement of electrons through the saliva on your tongue. Note About Lemon Energy We've had some students do this project and then try to use the lemon "battery" to light a small flashlight's light bulb. The lemons did not work. Why? The reason is that the lemons produce only a very small current (about one milliamp). This is not enough electric current to light the bulb. Even with multiple lemons, the amount of current flowing through the wire is not enough. Though the voltage is high enough (1.5 volts with two lemons), the current is too weak. But it was a great experiment! Even if an experiment doesn't work, it helps us to understand how things work. Good work!!!

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4G In India By 2012?

There are many arguments floating on the web about India being the technology dump-yard for the western countries. The technologies that are outdated are often launched as new in Indian and sub-continents. Whether this is true or not for all technological advancements, but in mobile communications it is definitely true. However, it looks like 4G (Fourth Generation Mobile Services) will arrive sooner than expected in India. The prime reason for quicker launch of 4G is said to be its economical nature which is very important in highly price-sensitive markets like India.

We earlier mentioned that Reliance group led by Mukesh Ambani may make a foray into mobile communications market in India and will be the first one to launch full fledged 4G service in India. Industry insiders have mentioned that existing services can be upgraded to 4G using currently available infrastructure and it will offer cost benefits to the subscribers. The 4G testing might be rolled out later this year or early next year as the technology has already arrived in India.

We, however, have our own doubts about the 4G launch in India. The 3G is still not properly launched and it has its own issues with connectivity, speeds and uninformed customer care representatives. The broadband penetration is very south of what it would have been.

However, there is no harm in being optimistic about 4G services launch. Sooner or later, 4G will come to India. We only hope it should arrive before world starts thinking about 5G. Your take on this, please?

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Reliance 4G Tablet For Rs. 5000! RIL & DataWind To Bring World’s Cheapest 4G Aakash Tablet In India

Alright! It looks like Indians are rolling up their sleeves to beat China in producing the cheapest tablets ever! The latest news on B-S says that Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and DataWind – the company behind Aakash – World’s Current Cheapest Tablet (Just Rs. 3k, baby!) are teaming up to bring world’s cheapest 4G tablet to Indians. The estimated price of this new 4G tablet would be between Rs. 4000 – Rs. 5000 (~$100). If the companies are successful in launching the tablet at ‘that’ price, it would be a quarter of the price of tablets being offered by global electronics giants. We’ve a solid reason to believe that Indians would see 4G in India because Reliance is alreadygetting ready to launch 4G services in India by 2012 by the second quarter.

Reliance & DataWind Rolling Up 4G Sleeves. Tablet Coming Soon!

Canadian DataWind was instrumental in development of the Aakash Tablet which got world’s attention for being the world’s cheapest tablet. The company develops wireless web access products. Mr. Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of DataWind confirmed to the B-S that they are in primary talks with RIL to develop a 4G tablet at a very economical price. He further said that it is possible to fit TD-LTE chipset in the tablet while keeping the costs low. Reliance Industries have denied any comments on this development. There are several speculations on the Internet that Reliance is already prepared to disturb the markets by trying to become the first network operator in India to roll out 4G services and very cheap wireless access devices to connect to 4G networks. Tuli further informed that they’re working with a manufacturing partner located in Hyderabad to develop the devices.

This story is both important and interesting as hell! First of all; if Reliance is successful in launching cheap 4G services in India – it IS definitely disturbing the markets. However it’s important for the company to make sure that they implement the technology correctly. 3G is yet to be fully functional (call drops, poor signal, poor range, hugely varying connection speeds and frequent disconnections, <add to the list) and 4G takes a step ahead. At the same time, having a partner like DataWind that promises tad cheap 4G tablets is actually a very big boost for RIL. We’ve noticed that there’s a huge interest among buyers for the Aakash tablet, despite its quality. With 4G in place – we are sure these tablets will sell like a hot cake.

We’re keeping an eye on this developing story. We know you are excited. Tell us your opinion through comments below.

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Vodafone VStore – The Mobile Application Store Introduced In India

Vodafone India as of late has introduced  its new Vodafone Mobile Application Store, named VStore. Powered mobile app provider Appia (earlier known as the PocketGear), this store extends thousands of free and premium applications to its customers. This runs on applications all over 2G and 3G. It also boasts of games specially modified for Android, Java, Symbian and BlackBerry devices, assuring a one-stop shopping experience for the operator’s 145 million subscribers.

Apart from the local content provided by the likes of Hungama, India Games, Nazara and Spice, the store even has Vodafone-branded apps like Portfolio Tracker, Vodafone TV and Chhota Comics to offer. Even accessing this store is easy. This VStore can be activated only with a GPRS enabled device. All the customer has got to do is text <VStore> or <Apps> to 111 from their GPRS enable handsets and click the url that they receive in reply. Or the customer may even log in the Vodafone Live homepage.

With so many applications running on their mobiles, the customers can go through the desired information quickly and easily. They may even entertain themselves when and where required with just a click on their phones. If the VStore promises to be a great mobile app store, well, we may just be looking at the next best thing set to hook us all up with our handsets.

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India’s Google4Doodle Contest Won By 7 Year Old From Noida

The Google4Doodle contest received a tremendous response, and a 7-year old Varsha Gupta from Noida has emerged the winner. This competition attracted more that 1,55,000 entries from all over the nation, which were then screened out to 44 semi-finalists, and then the winner was named.

The award-winning doodle!

“India’s gift to the world”- this was the theme of this year’s contest, and Varsha’s entry was titled “Indian Musical Instruments”, and the doodle will be displayed on the Google home-page on the eve of Childrens’ Day, i.e., 14th of November. Varsha won herself a certificate, and also a technology starter kit that boasts of a laptop, one-year internet connection plus a Rs. 2lakh technology grant for the school she studies in. You can see all the finalists’ doodles here: www.google.co.in/doodle4google.

This is what little Varsha had to say about her award-winning doodle–

“India is a land of different cultures. In India, music plays a very important role. India has given many musical instruments to the world. Goddess Saraswati plays Veena, God Shiv plays Damaru. According to our mythological stories musical instruments used to be played on all the occasions. Even during war musical instruments were played. Lord Krishna’s flute is known in the whole world for its magical music. In modern days Mr. Zakir Hussain is world famous as Tabla Maestro and Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma is known as a great Santoor player all over the world”.

Apart from the national winner, three group winners were also awarded. They were selected via online voting scheme, where Indians voted for the doodles they considered worthy. The finalists in this category are :

Group I - Shibajyoti Choudhury from Jamshedpur was awarded the group prize for his doodle called “Developing excellent India and World”

Group II - Abhinav R. from Coimbatore was awarded the group prize for his doodle called “India’s contribution to the world – Tradition”

Group III - Nishi Bordia from Indore was awarded the group prize for her doodle called “India’s gift to the world – India itself”.

All these group winners were given a Technology-starter kit. We wish many more such contests keep happening in India which would tap the creativity of such little minds and keep the spirit of healthy, creative competition going. We congratulate all the winners of the contest and also wish luck to each and every participant taking part in this contest. Keep up the good work guys!

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IIT-2012 Admissions::Register Online

Schedule of IIT-JEE 2012 The examination will be held on Sunday, April 8, 2012 as per the schedule given below: Paper 1: 09.00 to 12.00 hrs (IST)           Paper 2: 14.00 to 17.00 hrs (IST) The schedule will remain unaltered even if the above date is declared a public holiday. Type of Examination There will be two question papers, each of three hours duration. Both the question papers will consist of three separate sections on Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. The questions will be of objective type, designed to test comprehension, reasoning and analytical ability of candidates. The answers for each of the questions are to be marked on a separate, specially designed, machine-gradable sheet of paper (ORS – Optical Response Sheet). While answering each of the questions the candidate is expected to darken the bubble(s) against correct answer(s) using black ball point pen only. In some sections, incorrect answers may be awarded negative marks. Eligibility for IIT-JEE 2012 Candidates must make sure that they satisfy all the eligibility conditions given below for appearing in IIT-JEE 2012: Date of Birth General (GE) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) category candidates must have been born on or after October 1, 1987. Those born earlier are not eligible to appear in IIT-JEE 2012. Candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and those with Physical Disability (PD) must have been born on or after October 1, 1982. SC/ST/PD candidates born before October 1, 1982 are not eligible to appear in IIT-JEE 2012.    The date of birth as recorded in the high school/first Board/Pre-University certificate will be accepted. If the certificate does not mention the date of birth, a candidate must submit along with the application, an authenticated document indicating the date of birth. Year of Passing Qualifying Examination (QE) To appear in IIT-JEE 2012, a candidate must have either passed the QE for the first time, on or after October 1, 2010 or appearing for the first time in 2012. Those who are going to appear in the QE later than September 30, 2012 are not eligible to appear in IIT-JEE 2012. The year of passing the QE will be determined based on the examination he/she passed the earliest out of the qualifying examinations listed below. In case the applicant passed more than one QE or attempted successfully same QE more than once, the year of the first successful QE/attempt will be used to determine the eligibility for IIT-JEE 2012. The qualifying examinations are listed below: The final examination of the 10+2 system, conducted by any recognized central/ state Board, such as Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi; Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, New Delhi; etc.   Intermediate or two-year Pre-University examination conducted by a recognized Board/ University. Final examination of the two-year course of the Joint Services Wing of the National Defence Academy. General Certificate Education (GCE) examination (London / Cambridge / Sri Lanka) at the Advanced (A) level. High School Certificate Examination of the Cambridge University or International Baccalaureate Diploma of the International Baccalaureate Office, Geneva. H.S.C. vocational examination. Senior Secondary School Examination conducted by the National Institute of Open Schooling with a minimum of five subjects. A Diploma recognized by AICTE or a state board of technical education of at least 3 year duration. Any Public School/Board/University examination in India or in any foreign country recognized as equivalent to the 10+2 system by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU). In case the relevant QE is not a public examination, the candidate must have passed at least one public (Board or Pre-University) examination at an earlier level. Minimum Percentage of Marks in QE Candidates belonging to GE and OBC categories must secure at least 60% marks in aggregate in QE. SC, ST and PD candidates must secure at least 55% marks in aggregate in QE. The percentage of marks awarded by the Board will be treated as final. If the Board does not award the percentage of marks, it will be calculated based on the marks obtained in all subjects listed in the mark sheet. If any Board awards only letter grades without providing an equivalent percentage of marks on the grade sheet, the candidate should obtain a certificate from the Board specifying the equivalent marks, and submit it at the time of counselling / admission. In case such a certificate is not provided the decision taken by the Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) of IIT-JEE 2012 will be final. Number of JEE Attempts  A candidate can attempt JEE maximum two times in consecutive years irrespective of whether or not he/she passed QE. Those who have attempted JEE in 2010 or earlier are NOT ELIGIBLE to appear in IIT-JEE 2012. Candidates who registered & filled the online application form for IIT-JEE 2012 before 10:15 AM on 31/10/2011 MUST register & fill the online application form once again.   Important Instructions for Filling Online Application Forms Click here for Online Registration

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