Farmers or Mamta: Voices from Singur

Posted on August 28, 2008 by indra

Who says Mamta represents the farmers’ voice? As reported, farmers said,

“Didi should have agreed to (Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s) talks proposal. She made a mistake – there is no harm in holding talks.”

“If the government can provide a job for my son, we can think about its proposal. How long can we live in uncertainty?”

Who says Mamta bothers about the people at large? Why should an expressway serving as bloodstream of the country’s economy be blocked causing problem and loss for truckers and drivers and ultimately inflation when she is not ready to talk with the government?

Let us hear what the truck drivers say,

“Nearly 80,000 drivers and cleaners in 20,000 trucks have been spending sleepless nights without food and water on the road since August 24. We will incur a loss of Rs 200 crore as goods in the trucks have already perished.”
“We will request the leadership to open at least one lane of the expressway.”

“HM needs 2,800 machine parts to manufacture a car. Many trucks carrying these machine parts are held up in Durgapur and Asansol areas. We will keep two of our business units closed tomorrow. We hope the Durgapur Expressway will be open to traffic soon.” The factory of Hindustan Motors near Uttarpara has suspended work and has asked its employees not to come.

But Mamta is authoritarian and autocrat. Her lone voice is supreme. She threw out Ajit Panja and others who wished to raise independent voice. And people support her and all this because of their disenchantment with leftists. Mamata is resorting to same way of getting her demand as leftists did in past. She is still not showing any hint of yielding:

“We will put up road blocks across the state for two hours from 3pm on Friday. This is our way of protesting against the government’s refusal to return 400 acres to farmers.” “The entire state should know what sort of suffering the unwilling farmers of Singur are being put through by the state government.”

“Either Nano rolls out and agriculture stays or Nano stops rolling but agriculture stays.” “I have pointed out that I am ready for talks, provided 400 acres are returned to the unwilling farmers.” http://www.indianexpress.com/story/353584.html
Buddha is ready to negotiate and give everything but the 400 acres of land.

Buddha is still hopeful. “We are ready to give a package to those who have no livelihood.” “It is not possible to bypass political parties. A good number of them (landowners) are absentee landlords. Some of them don’t have papers. But a few of them are opposing politically. So it has to be resolved politically.”

The work at the construction site of Tata Motors has slowed down significantly and there is hardly any chance of getting the plant operative by September end or before Durga Puja as announced earlier. Workers and also officers are scary to enter the plant. Those inside are afraid of revenge action in future by Mamta’s party men or goons. For the spectators from far and near, it is a big Indian Tamasa. However, many domestic or MNC competitors must be happy seeing Nano getting delayed right at birth as inauspicious beginning. Media abroad is full with this news. Business Week has covered the story.

Mukesh Ambani is the only who have come out against the Mamta’s agitation as harmful for India. Mukesh boldly and very rightly considers ‘Nano’ Project as one of national importance.

I have only one question if the state police can handle the protesters in Kashmir or Jammu and treat their action of law and order as serious, why can’t Mamta’s action be treated as anti-national, obstructive and against the interest of the country? Why can’t she be put behind bar for getting the supply line of the country choked? And what Buddha is afraid of? At least Singur will not bring any sympathy even from the voters for Mamta.

Now perhaps the people of the country must understand and appreciate that this old way of protest will not only make big FDI in India unattractive but it will also lead to investment drain with most of the Indian industrial houses going abroad in the era of globalization for investment. Let people decide if India is ready for a big role in world economy with its brand of politicians?
—

Singur Total

Posted in indian politics, industry | Leave a comment

Demoralizing Democracy

Posted on August 26, 2008 by indra

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee again invited Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee for direct talks with him to discuss any issue on the deadlock concerning the Tata Motors small car project. “I am ready to discuss everything. We can’t let Tatas move out of West Bengal.” Mamta, holding an indefinite protest in Singur rejected the request and is adamantly sticking to her demand for the return of 400 acre taken from “unwilling farmers” for the Tata plant. Nothing better can be expected from a politician who says, “If other states are inviting you, please go there.… But can you leave with Tata Centre? Can you leave with Tata Indicom?” And there is an Amar Singh, an opportunist of the first order to back, “”If others are calling, please go. West Bengal will say, goodbye, ta-ta.” Perhaps Tata was better advised not to meet her.

Is it a democratic protest? Perhaps, by the definition it is. But can the politicians appreciate and answer how should the country develop itself with such so-called democratic protests? Many and me too mightn’t have agreed with the selection of location in Singur. But once the government has agreed, the work has gone so far, a tight schedule for starting the production has firmed up, the vendors, many of them pretty small ones, have invested and deployed it scarce resources to start supply and the whole lot of customers are waiting for the product, no one must have any right to carry on with such protests. It is entirely an anti-national act and terrorists’ approach against development. It just called be called a democratic protest.

Tata Motors have done a wonderful job to complete the major construction of a complicated high-tech capital-intensive manufacturing facility for large scale automobile manufacturing in a short time of less than two years against the natural disturbances such as water logging as well as human problem created by regularly organized protests near around the plant and many physical damages to obstruct the progress too. Can the people at large appreciate the mental torture of those working inside the boundary wall under the threat of the protesters? Let me tell from my experiences that under the threatening clouds of such protests and agitations, the rumours reign, people deployed get demoralized, the cost escalates, the productivity deteriorates, and creativity vanishes, problem solving becomes difficult, and the quality of work being undertaken becomes causality and doubtful. How can a country aspiring to be a powerful global economy operate under this political system? Should this be tolerated? And if yes, for how long! Should the next generation not take the stage and throw these unscrupulous politicians out in the Bay of Bengal?

Work at the Tata Motors small-car project remained affected with majority of contract workers staying away because of the siege. With hardly a month for Vijya Dasami, there is hardly any hope that Nano will get into the hands of customers?

But I am ashamed that Bengal and its people can’t find an answer for this chaos created by individualist egos and the resulting adventurous ways of creating hold up for projects. It is the same rotten system that has caused hold up for Posco, Tatas and many others in Orissa, Chhatisgarh, and Jharkhand.

I have another question. Where are the 1000 odd unwilling and affected people of Singur? Why is Mamta projecting her own demand as their wish? As reported by many, most of the farmers of Singur don’t want the project to be obstructed. But their voices are insignificant in present political system.

I still pray for a miracle to see the project starting production fast. Is it not a black spot on the country and its system that Nano, a globally recognized purely Indian innovation is to face this fate? But perhaps in India any thing can happen.

It is bad luck India.
——
Ref:Full Singur Stories

Posted in indian politics, industry | Tagged | Leave a comment

Privatization and Education

Posted on August 25, 2008 by indra

Every sector of Noida around my residence has good private schools for up to Class XII- Kothari International, Khaitan, Ramagya, Ryan International, Millennium, and many more such as Amity, DPS, Cambridge, Bal Bharati, DAV, Army, Lotus Valley in sectors at some distance. Whenever I drive around Noida to Haridwar, Bulandsahar, or Agra, I find scores of private professional colleges on both sides of the highways. According to Dr. Kavindra Rai of BHU who visited me recently after admitting Ishita, his daughter in mechanical engineering of IEC College of Engineering, Greater Noida has 200 private professional institutes. Almost all over India, one can notice this development. As estimated, India in private sector has 140 medical colleges with a total students’ capacity of 70,000, 1,200 engineering colleges with 1,440,000 students capacity and 300 schools of business management with students’ capacity of 90,000.

Here are some data on private education sector:

·India’s 75,000 private schools account for just 7 per cent of total institutions and enroll 90 million students. About 129 million go to public schools. 142 million students are still not in the system. Is it not a great challenge and potential business?

·India has nearly 370 universities and 18,000 colleges, 500,000 teachers and the third-largest system in terms of enrolment with more than 10 million students. India certainly needs more as Japan with its nearly 128 million people, has 684 universities, and USA with 300 million people has 2,364 universities. NKC has recommended 1500 universities.

·According to analysts estimate, the education industry-Kindergarten up to Standard XII (called K-12, for short), coaching classes, business schools, etc.- to be worth $40 billion, with a potential 16 per cent fiveyear CAGR as per the CLSA report.

···1. The marker size of the pre-school level (i.e., for children aged between two years and four years) is estimated at around $900 million.
···2. The primary education business is valued at $20 billion.
···3. At least 20 million children take some form of tuition outside the classroom.

·As per an estimate, the demand for the paraphernalia around education is huge: textbooks (worth $2 billion annually), stationery ($1.3 billion) and learning aids such as CD-ROMs ($120 million) all recording exponential growth.

·As the wired classroom is going to transform education in the years ahead, analysts estimate its market to worth $30 million at present and with the potential to be an $800-million market. Interactive whiteboards, appliances for assessment, laptops, Internet, and related accessories are in huge demand. Business houses, startups, NGOs, and many are trying to cash on the rise of education.

·The preparation institutes for students wanting admission in IITs, MBAs, medical colleges and civil services are pulling in $1.7 billion a year.

·The market for vocational training soar is estimated to be worth $1.4 billion a year.

·Training for BPOs is another area of demand with a $40 million potential.

·PE and VCs last year invested more than $90 million in Indian education companies, against the $17.5 million they invested in 2006.

·According to the CLSA report estimates that over the next four years (i.e., 2012), the entire education space would be worth nearly $70 billion (some predict it to be of $170 billion), with nearly 40 per cent of the urban children going to pre-schools and some 90,000 private K-12 schools. Among colleges, there would be an addition of 800 engineering, 300 MBA and 60 medical schools in the country.

Education is big market. Many private companies have come up to fill the gaps in education sector and going is so good that many aspire to be at least a billion dollar big in the next few years. StudyPlaces, Tutor Vista, Brainvisa, Career Launcher, New Horizons, India and Everonn systems are some of them. Manipal Group, Amity, Rai University and many have become mass scale graduate manufacturing companies. Fund raising is no problem. And these companies are investing impressively. Educomp Solutions is looking to invest around Rs 800 crore. New Horizons is aiming to put in Rs 100 crore.

All good teachers with a little entrepreneurship mindset can go for tutoring on line. Tutor Vista, set up in 2005 has now 800 teachers across 29 Indian cities and has over 10,000 students on board.

Established companies such as Infosys, HCL, and many are having huge facilities to train the employees. Some are tying up with ITIs and colleges to provide specialized skill training. But professional skills development companies are also emerging perhaps mushrooming.

Technology is assisting education in many ways to deliver better education to the children. NGOs are helping to improve the quality of teaching in schools away from the metros.

The whole task of educating and skilling India’s human resources presents huge potentials for teachers, scientists, technocrats and entrepreneurs. But the numbers at the bottom of the pyramid being largest, the solutions are to be innovative and affordable, IIT and IISc are working on a Rs 400 or $10 laptop beside Anil Ambani Group getting into ‘one laptop for every child’ initiative. The wave must cover all habitations, and also include those in higher age group who had not been lucky enough in their childhood.

There is hope of brighter days- Tamaso maa jyotirgamaya

Posted in education | Leave a comment

Nano Episode: A Shame for the People of West Bengal

Posted on August 23, 2008 by indra

“I’ve made a major investment here … to move will be at a great cost to Tata Motors and to shareholders.” “(But) there is a concern about our people, a definite concern about not being wanted.”

“It is for Calcutta (Kolkata) to decide if we want to be an unwanted resident or a good corporate citizen of West Bengal.” “We cannot operate in this environment.” “If West Bengal wants us, we will be very very happy to stay and be part of the state’s development.”

“I have a very soft corner for West Bengal. But now I have the feeling that Tatas are unwanted in West Bengal for whatsoever reason.”

“If anybody is under the impression that since we have made the investment, we will not move – then we will move to protect our people.”

“I cannot bring our people and family to West Bengal if they are going to be beaten, if there is going to be violence.”

Ratan Tata has made all these remarks to answer the questions from the press while he was in Kolkata today about Nano. Singur is certainly the bone in the neck for Tata. But what is happening today in Singur is nothing new to me. All my life in Hind Motor I saw the same happening. And that’s why I had wondered when Tata decided to locate this plant for a new car that can revolutionize the manufacturing sector and particularly auto manufacturing globally in West Bengal. Perhaps he wouldn’t have imagined the nuisance value of Mamta with Buddha totally sold for the project.

Mamta unfortunately is obstinate. She has refused to budge. She wants ‘Ratan Tata to concede her demand for return of 400 acre forcibly taken away from unwilling farmers.’ She doesn’t loose anything. Bengal will loose. But it hardly matters for her. She calls Tata’s statements as blackmail when for even a layman it must clear that it is she who is blackmailing. She knows with so much of investment (Rs.15 billion i.e. $375 million) already gone in the project and a timeframe for the start of commercial production announced, it would be tough for Tata to withdraw and go to some other plant. Most of the facilities are dedicated to Nano. Other manufacturing facilities are already short of capacity.

Mamta would have asked for whatever she thought as a good compensation for the farmers instead of sticking to one point agenda of giving back the land to the farmers. I am sure it is not the wish of the farmers too. If Mamta withdraws and Tata deals directly with the farmers, the issue can be resolved in just five minutes. But Mamta will not allow that to happen. Unfortunately, it is the battle with CPM that she wishes to win to rule the state. It’s Chanakya type resolve to take revenge from Buddha more so from CPM that humiliated her many a time in the past. Unfortunately, CPM because of its dreaded cadre force has become unpopular. And Congress is trying to take advantage of Mamta’s popularity by going on her side after the leftists withdrew the support for its government at the centre.

For years, even when she was with Congress, I considered Mamta always a fickle minded and immature politician, perhaps no better than Uma Bharati. Perhaps lately she is nurturing the ambition of Mayawati. I wish with time she would have been a mature politician to think a little more about Sonar West Bengal. A project of Nano’s importance must have been a welcome at cost of the sentiments of 400 individuals.

Why the sane people of West Bengal are deaf and dumb? Why can’t they tell Mamta that they are not with her obstinacy in this case at least?

I feel ashamed to see this downfall of West Bengal and its intelligent people who were strong willed to protest against a right cause. Should I assume that the people of West Bengal don’t want Nano to be produced from West Bengal and the district of Hooghly becoming a Detroit of a sort?

Will soft-spoken Tata meet Mamta and try once more to salvage the situation? May be, the meeting can soften her. I pray to Saraswati (Goddess of Learning) to change Dr. Mamta’s mind. Will Brahma help us as he used to do in good old days?

Posted in indian politics, industry | Leave a comment

Tata Motors’ Nano Dream and Miserable Mamta – Some Afterthoughts

Posted on August 23, 2008 by indra

What Prakash Karat did to Man Mohan, Mamta is doing to Buddha. It was Indo-US Nuclear deal there, here it’s Buddha’s dream to revitalize West Bengal’s image as industry-friendly state with Tata Motors Rs 1600 crore ‘Nano’ manufacturing plant. In both cases, the nation’s interest remained the causality. Man Mohan Singh could manage the trust win with Amar’s tricks and formulae. Unfortunately, there is none to do that for Buddha. However, is there someone who can save the situation? Can Ratan Tata with his management skills and wonderfully attractive personality mesmerize Mamta? Only time can answer this question.

I am sure Tata Motors will come out with Nano from Singur itself. But then I am also sure Tata Motors must have a fallback strategy, though it denies. Very soon in future, Tata Motors can have another plant in perhaps Gujarat, Orissa or Tamil Nadu, this time near a port dedicated for export.

I shall like to go back to the downfall of Hindustan Motors near Singur. Though a poor management was the main cause, but the union played the role of a catalyst in accelerating the downfall.

It happened with many industrial establishments in West Bengal. Managers got gheraoed, and assaulted, investment stopped, and any productivity raising drive was opposed. Union leaders started running the show and the supervisors got demoralized. It was CPM then. It is Mamata’s Congress now. And this war is for supremacy between left and Mamata will be at the cost of the prosperity of the state and its people. Trinamul Congress has presented the first significant opposition to the 31-year leftist rule in West Bengal. But why should few wins in local elections make Mamata so mad, there are miles to go? She would have shown magnanimity and agreed for this plant keeping her options for future projects open.

While Tata threatens to withdraw, the Left Front staged a massive rally around the factory site in Singur. But Mamta is not ready to concede and is expected to go ahead with indefinite siege of the Plant. Buddha still hopeful about peaceful agitation.

How can with all these protests and agitations outside the boundary wall and a lurking fear of misbehaviour or assault, the employees of a new plant keep on working and solving the teething and complicated technical problems to productionize the manufacturing lines? Unfortunately, Mamta can’t understand that. In an ideal case for a country like India and a state like West Bengal, all the political parties would have ensured a congenial atmosphere and provided all assistances to the manufacturer to get the commissioning fast. Tata Motors is already late in putting Nanos in market. The auto lovers of world over are eagerly awaiting and so watching the development. Should it not be criminal offence against the nation and punishable too?

Let Mamata as well as Buddha understand clearly the damage has been done. Industrial houses will be hesitant hereafter to commit investment, even when Mamata occupies the CM’s chair. Tata Motors will never dream to have any expansion in Singur plant and will set up another plant in better location and surely in other state. One can only be sorry for such a state of madness.
 And who will be looser? Only the people of West Bengal. Is Ratan repenting today about his decision that he took with all good and honest intention to pull up West Bengal.

Posted in indian politics, industry | Leave a comment

Mamta Mercy and Nano

Posted on August 22, 2008 by indra

Tata Motors’ ‘Nano’ has suddenly and certainly put Indians’ innovation capability at higher platform along with the best in world. Many articles by western economists in media and their presentations at International conferences refer to ‘Nano’ as symbol of this emerging economy that many perceive as a prospective superpower. CK Prahalad is certainly one of those dreamers. Nano is very much a product for the bottom of the pyramid. Many think Nano can bring about a revolutionary change in manufacturing sector in a globe starving with fuel crisis. There are others too.

Karl Ulrich is Wharton professor of operations and information management and Kevin Dehoff, a partner at Booz & Company. One interview with strategy+ business on ‘High- leverage Innovation-Lessons from the Auto industry’, went on as follows:

Strategy+business: One of the things that we are seeing from Tata, in particular, is innovation at the bottom of the pyramid, if you will, stripping a car to its very basics. That is cost-in-manufacturing innovation.

Ulrich– I think that the Tata vehicle is going to be fascinating to watch because I think there will be Americans who will say, “Why can’t I have a $2,000 car?” And it will force us to really confront what is the minimal requirement on personal transportation. When the vehicle starts to approach the price of a nice mountain bike, you start to say, “Maybe I don’t need a 6,000-pound vehicle with a global positioning system in it to get to the grocery store.” So I think that innovations in the developing markets will actually have some repercussions in the Western and mainstream markets.

Strategy+business: It would be interesting to see how and if Toyota responds to Tata.

Dehoff: I think that that’s a challenge for Toyota in terms of how they take that successful product development model that I mentioned and globalize it. Right now it’s a very successful model; it’s largely a centralized model that works out of Tokyo. I believe that one of their challenges going forward is how do we replicate that model around the world.

Knowledge@Wharton: Karl, going back to your point about American consumers reacting to the [Tata] Nano. What roles do users or customers play in automotive innovation, and is the role growing?
Ulrich: Well it is interesting because users often can play many different roles. In some industries they can be innovators themselves.


It’s certainly a compliment to India’s innovative might.

Tata Motors is readying to start trial production of the Nano in Singur, famous by now in India and abroad less for the location of the manufacturing plant of Nano and more for the Mamata-led agitations against the acquisitions of the fertile agriculture land of petty farmers ffor Tata Motors plant. It may starts from September 1. The suppliers of auto parts are eagerly looking for the potentially huge business. And millions of customers including women, students and even farmers are waiting to see the little machines all around them. But an element of uncertainty hangs over because of the Mamata’s Trinamul Congress threatening to go ahead with an indefinite siege of the site from August 24. Can’t Ma (Mata) show her mamata (motherly kindness to Tata Motors dreams and the country’s pride? Why can’t Mamta Didi appreciate the prosperity of the region that the plant can bring about in the region? Why is so obstinate? Does she wish Tata to come to her and beg for it?

Let Mamta ask for all that she wishes to provide to the farmers or affected ones as compensation, but not create a situation that emanates a poor image of the state to the local as well as foreign investors. Let the Leftists only take the credit of hijacking prosperity of the state, as I am sure West Bengal unionism will not give up its traditional way of working for making every one poor.

—Latest
‘Worried’, Tata flashes Singur alert

Posted in indian politics, industry | Leave a comment

Car Engine Undergoes Innovational Transformation

Posted on August 20, 2008 by indra

To keep the global warming under check and for making the cars fuel-efficient and green, perhaps the maximum contribution can come through innovations in power train or engine. Engine being mechanical unit with many parts with combustion chambers as the nerve centers, a combination of mechanical features, close tolerances, surface finishes, and better materials can make the difference. However, the use of electronics and computerized control can further improve the fuel efficiency as well as emission.

On one hand the trend seems to turn to electric or hybrid cars with some trying to convert the hybrid with plug-in capability. However, the innovation works in old technologies are also fighting back. So new hybrid systems, fuel cells and electric motors will be chasing a moving target. The internal combustion engine will be getting better too. Some recent improvements are as follows:

1.Supercharger forces more air into the combustion chambers of engine. A new dual-speed supercharger provides its highest boost at low speeds, and thus gives the car a huge 40% increase in torque, or pulling power. The supercharger developed by Antonov Automotive Technologies, a British company, is purely mechanical and uses planetary gears to change speed. As claimed, it could be used to reduce the size of a car’s engine by up to 50%-so it would use less fuel and produce fewer CO2 emissions, but still provide good performance.

2.Fuel injectors can metre fuel more precisely than carburettors, and variable-valve control can optimise the opening and closing of inlet and exhaust valves to produce more power when accelerating or greater economy when dawdling around town. The same systems are also used in some big and thirsty engines to shut down a few cylinders when driving slowly.

3.The e-Valve system is new development made by Valeo, a French automotive supplier. It uses electromagnetic controls to open and shut valves instead of pushrods operated by a camshaft. As each valve can be operated independent of any other, all sorts of tricks become possible, including shutting down cylinders and switching temporarily from the traditional four-stroke Otto cycle (as developed by Nicolaus Otto, a German engineer in 1876) to a type of Atkinson cycle (an ultra-lean system invented as a rival in 1882 by James Atkinson, a British engineer, but which suffered from a lack of power). As Valeo reckons, on average their e-Valve system can cut fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in a car by up to 20%. It could also be used to make three- and two-cylinder engines that run efficiently and smoothly.

4.Fiat’s new valve-control system, Multiair, uses hydraulics and electronics to optimise valve settings. When combined with a turbocharger (a supercharger driven by exhaust gases). The system can produce a “downsized” two-cylinder engine that can perform like a bigger four-cylinder one, but with fuel savings of some 20%.

5.Daimler’s DiesOtto engine will use a combination of variable valve-control, fuel injection and turbocharging. It can switch between operating as a petrol engine, with agility and power, to operating as a diesel, with economy and torque. The DiesOtto engine starts as a petrol engine with spark plugs igniting the mixture of fuel and air in its cylinders, and remains as a petrol engine when high performance is needed. But at low and medium speeds the engine switches into diesel mode, in which the fuel is ignited by compression and heat alone. A 1.8-litre four-cylinder test version of DiesOtto fitted to a prototype Mercedes S-class saloon produced plenty of power, but also returned an average fuel consumption of 5.3 litres per 100km (equivalent in America to 44.4mpg)-extremely good for a such a big car. The vehicle’s emissions were also lower.

6.Ricardo, another British automotive-engineering company has been working on an engine that can switch from four-stroke to two-stroke running. Two-stroke engines can provide very high levels of torque. Ricardo reckons such an engine could not only improve fuel economy by 27% over a traditional engine but also greatly reduce its size and complexity. And because small engines take up less space in a car, that means there will be more room for occupants, inviting more innovative designs.

By putting all these technologies together, small cars capable of breaking the 100mpg barrier will become possible. Getting more than 80mpg from some small diesel-powered cars is already feasible-with a very light foot on the accelerator. Hybrid cars as available today are still pretty costly. The internal combustion engine remains hot for innovations. Even Indian auto engineers and the research institutions must focus their work on it and help in developing the technologies to improve the performance of the engine.

Two developments indicate the direction in which the car developments wish to move. A new company Tesla Motors is building high performance electric cars. And a huge prize money in Automotive X Prize aims at driving the innovations in auto industry.

It is really exhilarating to know that ISRO is leveraging its expertise in cryogenic technology to design hydrogen fuel cells to store hydrogen, and has teamed with Tata Motors to develop a prototype of a hydrogen passenger car to be launched in the Indian market later this year. Can the synergies of technical knowledge with all the research institutions in the country produce a commercial viable solution for use of hydrogen fuel cells? Can India take a lead in making a breakthrough innovation to find alternative solution to fossil fuels that is causing so much of concern worldwide?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Bihar- what is there to write?

Posted on August 19, 2008 by indra

After revealing all my dreams of a developed Bihar for so many years now, I feel lost and morose. With the tenure of Nitish slipping fast, I try to solace me with a question to me. Why did I think that he would be different? Now I realize my mistake. He couldn’t be, as he doesn’t have a single person in the ministry with an all India image. How can we expect someone to perform a good job if he doesn’t know what his job demands?

I don’t say Nitish didn’t try or is not honest to his work. But his successes are hardly significant for a state, which has remained at the bottom of the states in the country. He has, perhaps, hardly touched the peripheries of the problems pending due to decades of misrules in Bihar. I wish he could move fast on land reforms.

Bihar recently got an accolade of appreciation from no less a person than Sonia Gandhi for its success in installing user-friendly RTI model. Nitish jumped in sky with it. However, his own DM could put one man into prison for asking some embarrassing information, and another information seeker was asked to pay Rs 6 lakh for documentation cost.

Bihar has got few institutes of excellence such an extension of BIT, Chanakya Law University, Chadragupta Institute of Management, IIT and Institute of Fashion Design all in Patna. Perhaps very soon Nalanda University will start operating. All these institutes will certainly change the image of Bihar. However, it will not help the students of Bihar very much. Where are the professional colleges, ITIs and polytechnics that are required in hundreds to take care of the population of the students in Bihar? Look at Andhra Pradesh that I knew as laggard during our IIT’s days. It has now 685 engineering colleges. Why can’t the state look into the reasons that don’t attract any investor to come in Bihar, when other states even Orissa are getting hundreds of private engineering colleges? Can one imagine total drainage of the state’s money going to other states where most of the boys and girls are going for their engineering and other professional education? Why are these institutes mushrooming in other states but not in Bihar?

The whole country is buzzing with activities in SEZs and manufacturing clusters, in construction for hospitality sector, retail and tourism. However, the technocrat CM and his party head outright rejected the concept that has been universally accepted by all states. Are they the only socialists or the messiah of the farming community of Bihar? Sugar industry and food processing could turnaround the economy of some region. However, new entrepreneurs are still shy of coming in Bihar. Perhaps, because of a system called ‘rangdari’ or poor work culture of the people.

Railways projects at Chhapra and Madhepura, if executed properly, could propel Bihar as a significant player in manufacturing sector because of the vendors that it may breed. But it is getting delayed because of the who-takes-credit tussle of Lalu and Nitish. And who knows after the next election, if Lalu remains to pursue the project?

NREG Scheme could have helped Bihar significantly but for the corruption. Bihar wanted to make the workings of the scheme more transparent by e-enabling it. However, it has got stuck with certain confusion. While the Bharat Nirman is electrifying all the rural habitants in the country, Bihar’s performance is dismal because of the bitter fights between the ministers in Delhi and that in Patna.

What does news such as ‘Bihar clears investment proposals worth Rs 71,289 crore‘ say, when nothing is visible on the ground?

I wish the people of Bihar find a way out through praying the Gods, but as judiciary proclaims even Gods can’t bring about the desired change.

Why are the people so helpless?

Posted in bihar, governance | Leave a comment

Professors Entrepreneurs

Posted on August 18, 2008 by indra

During my school days, my grandfather used to talk about Dr. PC Roy and his Bengal Chemicals. Prafulla Chandra Roy was perhaps one of the first professors in India who was also a successful entrepreneur. I don’t know why many did not emulate his examples. Perhaps, it was because India was not free. Somehow professors consider themselves great by saying they don’t worship the Goddess of wealth. Another reason might be the investment needed rather lack of funding for all these years even for good ideas. One had to be from a rich family to start a business.

While I was n USA in 2005, I came across a story of a reputed scientist who had established one of the largest commercial research laboratories in US. It is immensely interesting that Dr RA Mashlekar, the former Director General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), in his article, ‘The art of being World- Class‘ in Business Outlook’s Independence special with ‘India- Making of a Superpower’ as main theme refers to two professors who are also two of the greatest living scientists-cum-successful entrepreneurs: Professor George Whitesides from Harvard University and Professor Robert Langer from MIT.

Whitesides is the highest-cited living scientist in the world today. He has scaled the highest peaks of excellence in fundamental scientific research. At the same time, he has floated companies based on his research, whose combined market capitalization is about $20 billion. Langer from MIT has over 700 scientific research papers and over 400 patents. His pioneering research has earned him the Fellowships of the US national science, engineering and medical science academies-the only individual to achieve this feat. He too has floated a number of companies. He recently won the 2008 Millennium Technology Prize, considered the Nobel Prize in technology.

What is so special about Whitesides and Langer? Both Whitesides and Langer have done great science; have created great applications, which, in turn, have created great jobs and wealth for their country. In India, we seem to treat Saraswati and Lakshmi differently. We need to learn to see the route to Lakshmi through Saraswati. Academics from research-led universities lay the foundation of this route.

MIT has been a pioneer in commercialization of scientific innovation. ‘One laptop for every child’ is a product coming out of MIT, and there are many. Interestingly, I came across another story of an Indian couple who have helped creating a new MIT organization designed to aid engineering faculty entrepreneurs: The Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation. ‘A $20 million gift from Jaishree and Desh Deshpande launched the center in 2002. Desh Deshpande, who is a member of the MIT Corporation, is revered in New England’s high-tech circles as a cofounder of Sycamore Networks and Cascade Communications, two of the most successful telecom startup companies ever. By funding the center, Deshpande found a way to connect his affinity for spurring technology to market with MIT’s wellspring of innovation. Deshpande hopes that the center’s support will help MIT faculty and researchers address the growing “innovation gap” by moving more technology to market.’

As reported, in a move that would transform knowledge professionals into entrepreneurs, the Indian government plans to allow professors and research scholars to set up commercial entities while being employed in academic institutes. Academics will also be allowed to invest their knowledge and skills to pick up equity stakes in companies. For instance, a scholar may offer his skills and knowledge to a company to pick up equity in it.

I used to visit IIT-Kharagpur till Rakesh, my eledest son was there. A number of times, I went into dialogue with the professors in Mechanical Engineering Department requesting them to interact with industry more closely and make the problems of the industry their subjects of research and innovations. Some how I found them indifferent. They were happy with their computer generated long mathematically loaded papers. I may not know about many professors who have helped product development. As I write this paper I remember only of two professors- Ashok Jhunjhunwala of IIT- Madras and Anil Gupta of IIM-Ahmedabad who are helping commercialization of the innovations.

Why can’t the professors research, innovate and commercialize some products that can create employment and also wealth for them as well for the country? With many products and services in area of technologies not demanding huge investment and presence of many venture capitalists available for funding good ideas, many professors could have joined the bandwagon of entrepreneurs. At least they could have headed institutes of excellence in education sector as doctors such as Devi Shetty are doing. It is unfortunate that the entrepreneurs behind most of the country’s private engineering colleges are hardly from education background. However, I can’t forget at least one enthusiast friend, Dr. Kailash Narayan Singh and his rice mill in Kichha. Kailash after almost whole life in education endeavoured for that entrepreneurship. It may not be a great business, but the zeal requires recognition.

Posted in education, industry | Leave a comment

Engineering Education: Some Questions

Posted on August 16, 2008 by indra

Man Mohan Singh in his Independence Day speech today from the rampart of Red Fort said, “We are establishing 6,000 new high quality model schools, with at least one school in each block. 373 new colleges are being opened in backward districts. We are opening 30 new universities, 8 new IITs, 7 new IIMs, 20 new IIITs, 5 new Indian Institutes of Science, 2 Schools of Planning and Architecture, 10 NITs, and 1,000 new polytechnics. I have called the 11th Five Year Plan our “National Education Plan”.

PM had announced the plan in last year’s speech too. Further, this wish list is not comprehensive. Why did he forget AIIMSs promised? Perhaps, India requires 5,000 polytechnics and a large number of medical professionals such as nurses and technicians.

India requires many more institutes in specialized areas of knowledge. But few questions as usual trouble me.

Why couldn’t Pandit Nehru devoted first few- two or more of his Five Year Plans just for educating India instead of getting into so many areas from penicillin to aircraft manufacturing simultaneously?

Why couldn’t some of the established institutes of technologies such as Bengal Engineering College, Jadavpur College of Engineering, Roorkee Engineering College, and some more such as BHU- Institute of technology, grow to global standard set by the institutes in US?

Why is the brand IIT is stretched beyond limits with so many proposed IITs to make it loose its achievements?

Why are at least over 150,000 of India’s brighter students moving to foreign countries from US, UK, Australia, and even China and are spending $3.5-5 billion in foreign institutions of higher learning every year?

Why couldn’t even some of the IITs become Stanford, Harvard, MIT, or Berkley?

Why couldn’t Delhi School of economics grow to London School of Economic level?

Why is there so much of disparity between different states in number of engineering colleges? According one such list, while Maharashtra is having 558, Tamil Nadu 525, Karnataka 485, and Andhra Pradesh 431, Uttar Pradesh has 241, Orissa 132, and Bihar only 50?

As I understand, there are 1,200 engineering colleges in private sector with total student capacity of 1,440,000 and revenue of Rs 234,000 million. And by 2012, some 800 more engineering colleges will be added. How will the quality of the education be ensured? Will it be left to market to decide?

And still the industries in India are finding it difficult to get employable engineers.

Should these questions not be debated and answered to arrive at a what-to-do plan?

Posted in education | Leave a comment