Promoters of ‘Made-in-China’

Posted on November 4, 2011 by indra

As reported recently, ‘From fancy lights, lampshades, Ganesha and Laxmi idols to crackers and other such sundry items, the market in India is surging with Chinese products and consumers seem to be making a beeline to buy these attractive and cheap items.’

And who are the promoters of this trade and threat for the local manufacturers, particularly the small ones, and artisans? They are the same unscrupulous traders who oppose Wal–mart and who opposed Reliance Retails to come up in Noida and other towns of UP. Unfortunately, the political parties are with them. Why do Indians become an easy prey to anything that is ‘foreign’? Here is an example.

IITs have created a brand and respected image even in US.

Instead of sustaining, developing and innovating an India brand and creating an exemplary image, a government panel of great educationists including some from IITs is visiting China to study their world class universities to improve IITs and its working.

I don’t envy China but I pity on Indian mindsets. Builders of Nalanda, Bikram Shila and Taxshila had not copied their models. India is already 60 plus years as Independent nation, perhaps older than China. How long will this inferiority complex of intellectuals of the country continue? Are these done for benefiting the nation or to serve petty personal interests of those involved, be it the traders or the professors?

And who all constitute this class of traders? They are the same traders who fake products, live saving drugs or adulterate food items. Do they not constitute those like that great professors of IIT Kharagpur who runs its own private institute from the famous campus?

While many like me keep taking pride in Presidency and IIT, those who can make it great try to damage it? How can India be a super knowledge power or great economies with most of those who matter have vested personal interest?

India can’t be a great nation by depending on the imported sanitary towels, papers and apples from China? It will have to manufacture and grow it in the country, as many are trying for it. Indians as consumers must support it and not go for those glittering and shining products in name of liberalization and globalization.

No one will rise against US or UK if they restrict entry of Indians and Indian goods in name of various restrictions because of its violations of the rights decided or framed by them. And again all those violations come from the same traders or the community of profit seeking leeches.

Why don’t some NGOs or rightists raise their voices against the trade practices that harm the artisans and local petty manufacturers, if they can do that against allocation of mines and acquisitions of land for building factories and roads?

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Halloween: Some lessons for Indian Farmers

Posted on November 1, 2011 by indra

Sunday was Halloween and Halloween all the day. Halloween means pumpkin. One can find all regions dotted with pumpkin patches. Yamuna had a query. Has it got something to do with farmer? She says she smells of a pre-diwali ritual in rural Bihar in Halloween. I can’t say anything affirmatively. Here is a statement from web.

“Long ago, the Celts of the British Isles used cross-quarter days to mark the beginnings of seasons. Winter began with Halloween, or as they called it, Samhain.”

“Halloween marked the transition between summer and winter, light and dark — and life and death. On that one night, according to folklore, those who had died during the previous year returned for a final visit to their former homes. People set out food and lit fires to aid them on their journey — but remained on guard for mischief the spirits might do.”


I started the day with putting a note in face book. It remembered my mother and her liking of pumpkin, Kumhra. She used to grow one or two plants in her courtyard using the roof for its growing. Output was so huge that she could go on giving them to all whom she liked or who asked for it. Some were sent to even relatives in other villages to serve the marriage party. There are many such plants that can sustain a small family. I don’t know why it is not grown and marketed in our poor country.



On Saturday, we visited a pumpkin patch and bought three pumpkins for $16. One can notice the ad in the photograph. A day before, Shannon had gone along with Emma to a farm. KID r Kid, the daycare school of Emma and Zach organized it. As I could understand, the farmer got paid $10 for each visiting person. Shannon was complaining that the farmer would have at least arranged for toilet facilities for those kids. With bus load of kids coming from three different schools, the farmer made good money may be up to $500-600, and the kids got firsthand knowledge of the farm, cattle, and perhaps farm equipment such as tractors. It is win-win for everyone. I am sure the farmer could have marketed some product of daily domestic use.


Farmers in India must also emulate and innovate on the potential for rural tourism and look for the guests who can add to their earning. It can create some employment too. The villages near the metros and other bigger cities with large number of rich private schools have this opportunity. There can be hundred and one ways to create some business activities in rural India that improves the engagements of the people there.

Someone can pioneer and create a museum of the evolution of the farming over the years in his plot of land with exhibits of say, various ways followed over years for irrigating the land.

Petty farmers in US as in India or for that matter of any country are poor. They look for adding to their earning. Here is a story.

Lafranchi runs a dairy in the tiny western Marin County hamlet, and fluctuating milk prices had put his livelihood at risk. So a little more than 10 years ago, he turned to an organic farmer to help convert a flat parcel of land into a field of pumpkins and other vegetables.

Every autumn, Lafranchi’s land bursts with the colors of the harvest and the sounds of happy children picking pumpkins, going on hayrides, getting lost in mazes and bouncing in an inflatable jumper.


And in afternoon, the Harmony community had organized a Halloween Parade. I joined it with Emma and Shannon. Anand couldn’t as Zach was asleep at home. There was a good gathering, but unfortunately the function lacked organization. Someone would have taken lead and planned the function.

Surprisingly, a large number of those attending the function were from India. I met with few. But I don’t know why the Indian youths are hesitant to have social contacts. This was a good opportunity to have it, but I didn’t see anyone trying for it. Everyone was just mute spectator.

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How could IITs produce a Steve Jobs or a second CP Raman?

Posted on October 31, 2011 by indra

Since NR Narayana Murthy and Jairam Ramesh raised the issue of the falling quality of the graduates coming out of IITs, there had been many columnists who have referred to their comments. But the deterioration is almost widespread in every institution.

However, all these years I have pondered why Indian engineers have not proved themselves as great technocrats, great designers of products the world need in millions, why have they not set up their own private laboratories and design firms. A question just haunts me: How could IITs produce a Steve Jobs or a second CP Raman? Here are my observations on actions to be taken by IITs.

1. Set questions for entrance examinations where the coaching centres are not much of assistance and lose its ground. Discourage multiple attempts. Don’t insist for a minimum marks in every subject if a student is exceptionally brilliant in any subject of his interest. Insist on aptitude for science and technology. Let the system select real talented stuffs rather than marks scorers.

2. Take a bond from the students joining engineering courses that makes them to pursue the MBA only after at least five years of experience of working in industry and not straight from the college of engineering. Discourage the technocrats from preparing for UPS examination. Let that be for those from general humanity and science streams.

3. Provide either research or teaching assistantships to at least 30% deserving and willing students so that they start appreciating the importance of teaching and research. Emphasize on the industrial applications of the theoretical education of the subjects taught through design, manufacturing and quality control management in every branch of engineering.

4. Encourage, assist and keep the laboratories open 24 hours for the talented students who wish to experiment, innovate or create something new.

5. Make the student select final project selection in third year and encourage him to seriously pursue it to make the project a worthwhile research and some sort of innovation.

6. Tie up students with some companies of his interest and let him spend time in that. Discourage the engineering students with intense aptitude in technology and scientific work from joining certain unrelated industries just for a lucrative pay package, particularly the financial institutions.

7. Encourage those in industry with academic interest to visit, interact, even work with the institutions and if found really suitable encourage them to join the faculty even at higher grades.

8. However, most importantly the faculty must be encouraged to keep constantly building its quality level through research, and interactions with the latest trends in the industry and research labs. Appraise the faculty members on basis of the students’ ratings, research papers, and innovations or entrepreneurships.

One may agree or not with my views. But the country needs to make IITs contribute in technology in significant manner. It must act in that direction with no excuses.

Unfortunately, main weakness or the parameters of low quality of these new graduate engineers are related to their inability to communicate in English in desired manner and to take up the responsibility of corporate jobs assigned straight out of the college. While the former is due to the very poor standard of teaching of English in 12 years of schooling and the engineering college not taking up the task of making up the deficiency through special extra classes, the later can’t be overcome unless the industry participates extensively with the institutes. All the years the industry used to have a training period extending to two years for making the graduates learn what he is expected to do in the specific industry.

However, I am not concerned with that. The students when once enter an engineering college; they must learn the subjects of his branch of engineering well. That is the responsibility of the college. It’s hardly happening. Without the basic knowledge and the urge for knowing more and more of the subject, one can hardly contribute with innovations.

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Ramayana: AK Ramanujan, Tulsidas or Camille Bulke<

Posted on October 29, 2011 by indra

Last fortnight a controversy got wide coverage in media. It related to an essay of AK Ramanujan, ‘Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation’, that was part of undergraduate course in history of Delhi University. The university authority suddenly decided to drop it. It’s was not clear who behind this immature decision. Was it the rightist student union? Alternately, it might be a proactive decision of the university. I do agree that the teachers would have been consulted.

I read the essay on web. It is well written one with research and good intention to tell the readers about the various Ramayanas and some interesting stories therein. The essay is not meant for those who consider it just as a religious book and worship its characters. Some fundamentalists, who can’t appreciate the finesse of the commentary, may raise objections and even protest and even ask for withdrawing it.

It is unfortunate that while writing about Ramanujan’s essay, none of columnists be it Dileep Padgaonkar, Swapan Dasgupta, Pratik Kanjilal or Mukul Keswani has mentioned about the work of Father Camille Bulke. Interestingly, Ramanujan has referred to the work of Camille Bulke.

Perhaps the first time I read Camille Bulke, it was many years ago during my school days. I went through Father Camille Bulke’s on Ram Katha that was actually his PH.D research thesis. It was interesting to learn how the Rama Story, known to us till then as one written by Balmiki and then in Awadhi by Tulsidas, evolved since Vedic era of ancient India. Camille Bulke‘s book, ‘Râmakathâ, Utpatti aur Vikâsa’, got published first time from Allahabad, 1950. Bulke has provided the details of the Ramayana story in Vedic literature as well as in ancient Buddhist and Jain literature. Bulke has also mentioned extensively about the Rama’s story prevalent in the literature of other parts of India and South East Asia. Bulke’s book is even till today might be the best written research work on Rama story.

Interestingly Bulke was a Belgian but loved Indian culture, learnt Hindi, got master in Hindi and then PH.D from Prayag University. Till his death he was head of Hindi department of Ranchi University. For lovers of Ramayana, his book is to be a must read one. It is unfortunate that the book has not been translated and published in English. I wish Sahitya Akademi or some other institution does it.

Ramayana that most of North Indians read and know are of Valmiki who wrote in the Epic in Sanskrit and Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas that over the years the book became the most sacred religious book for every Hindu family, particularly in North India. However, I came across at least two more Ramayanas. With my education in West Bengal, I came to know of Kirtibas’s Ramayana in Bengali. We read and sang another very popular Ramayana in modern Hindi with Urdu words also. It was Radhesyam Ramayana and had many episodes totally different than those in Tulsidas’s Ramayana.

Tulsidas created an ideal character of Rama and Gandhiji talked of Ramrajya based on what Tulsidas had written. However, Tulsidas also has clearly mentioned about the numerous stories written about his hero, Ram- ‘Hari Anant harikatha ananta’.

I use the existence of this large number of the Ramayanas as the evidence of Rama being a historical figure rather than mythological one. I don’t think there is any other epic in any language that became so widespread.

According to Dileep Padgaonkar, many versions of Ramayana enriched the epic. I agree. A rational Indian must read every good literature that enriches our knowledge.

I wish DU reintroduce the essay.

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Ethical Practices and Corruption

Posted on October 25, 2011 by indra

How can a person or a group of activists fight against the enormous resources of the government? Particularly, Congress, with few unscrupulous lawyers, some sycophants as its leaders and some media persons with vested interests to support, is creating a chaos or confusion for the citizens of India. Particularly, the news about the Kiran Bedi’s way of making money for some institutions that he nourishes has been over blown for the same reason. None in the Congress party including its head relished Anna’s movement against corruption and its mass appeal. Whatever is getting into media are the stories of the vendetta of varying type.

I am sure Anna never selected all in so called team following any criteria or according to a clear cut mission document. I was myself surprised when I saw Agnivesh and Medha Patkar in that. Naturally, the difference of opinions of Prashant Bhusan and Santosh Hegde who are renowned persons in judiciary system is because of their own personality and status.

But should a century old party that was once led by legendary persons who won for the country its freedom adopt the mean methods to be in power? Will it save it for long?

Let us come back to Kiran Bedi’s air ticket billing and Kejriwal’s bond for study leave. I knew a senior executive of a private company who was officially allowed to travel by air in first class. He traveled regularly by economy class. The travel agent paid him the balance. Years ago, for the business trip abroad, the executives used to get lump sum daily allowances in dollars based on position. They used to save through various means and buy goods for the family members at home or took off for some more days for holidaying. I know also some who collected the money this way and financed the education of his son abroad. How many in public and private companies bill for the actual expenses against their annual travel facilities or medical bills? Those, who do that, claim it as perks and as compensation for the hard work they do for their organizations. Were or are they all corrupt? What should be the punishment for MPs or ministers who keep outsiders on rent in their government provided huge residential complexes?

Will the reporter of Indian Express look into these practices in its own group, find out and report if its senior executives don’t follow these means to save? How much that the reporter himself charges from the media that is not genuine?

Kiran Bedi, under attack over charging her hosts business class for economy class travel offered to return the excess money collected. She would not have done that. The subject requires debate. It also requires that every organization puts in place a clear design of system where if these practices are considered wrong, one just can’t do it.

And now something on Kejriwal’s issue. I myself signed an agreement for serving 7 years in my first company. I was to undergo training for two years. It just ensured me a fixed increment for those years. It was a totally one sided agreement to create a fear in the employee to remain in the company. Many had signed the agreement. Later on many left. The company couldn’t win a single case. I am sure Kejriwal’s bond must be a similar one. If he served for the stipulated period after the training, none can hold him back under any law and perhaps the human right.

And why didn’t the government or the reporter in question came out with these revelations for so many years?

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US and India: Expectations of Mutual Respect

Posted on October 23, 2011 by indra

US is certainly not the same that used to be in years ago, neither is India. While US economy is badly on decline with its middle class in trouble and all the jobs disappearing fast. It has maximum number of the Nobel laureates, but that hardly provide any solace. Media provide a glimpse of American worries and so do the residents. Solutions are known but the possibility of its execution is bleak. Many a times, the democracy is considered as cause as well as curse. India, by default (?) is an emerging power, a big market, and has a great history of diversity and tolerance.

I was here in the months when US was excited about Obama getting elected as its President. This time here I find the euphoria dead. What the Americans think is totally different considering what the American administration does.

It was just a chance that I came across the wonderful article of Fareed Zakaria, How to Restore the American Dream in ‘Time‘, Oct. 21, 2010. I have been reading ‘America Needs Jobs‘ series in ‘Huffington Post’ too, as that is what perhaps India needs too. And so come my viewpoints here.

I find the problems and solutions for both US and India similar. Both suffer from a government system that provides no hope. But the private sectors and people can also be saviours. Both must shun the total dependence on China for everything that a household needs. Both must have a special thrust on manufacturing. Nano of India could have flooded the global market and India would have taken a lead at least with its one product. US car manufacturers still can quench the thrust of car crazy Americans. Both could have created or recreated a moral boost to its manufacturing sector. But it is still to happen. I don’t know if it will happen at all. Americans are almost hindered percent dependent on the Chinese for its wares as I see in every store that I visit. India too is unfortunately heading towards that fast. Many a times I wonder who is doing a better job for US-Mr. Mr. Obama or the Iranian gentleman who left Nokia and opened the popular food outlet in the nearest mall from our residence and has employed a number of Americans.

Even Zakaria is shore about the denial/delay mode of the American visas to the brilliant bests from different countries of the world graduating from the best professional colleges in the country causing a clear reverse brain drain. I wonder if US would love to retain people like Zakaria or wish them to leave for creating jobs for Americans. Should a country that pioneered globalization think in that narrow manner instead of focusing on finding out the real solutions to providing best education and skill to its students and creating the right kind of jobs in million for them? I don’t think the subject is in the priority list of Obama, though thousands of highly US educated persons of foreign origins are living an uncertain future with their American dreams.

Interestingly, as reported, Indian firms are investing almost as much here in the US as their American counterparts are in India. Prominent Indians, such as Ratan Tata, Anand Mahindra, Narayan Murthy, and Nandan Nilekani are donating huge funds to the American universities. India keeps American high tech manufacturing sector busy with its billions of dollars worth of orders. American business still shows more interest in China and American governments in Pakistan. I was surprised to know that US still has problems in exporting the equipment, even machine tools with dual use technology to India. Can Obama and his visit bring a change and make the Indians feel more comfortable with America? Many don’t expect much.

It would have been better if India and Indians stop expecting and focus on building its own strength in manufacturing sectors and R&D as China did. I wish Americans and particularly, its government could understand India and Indians better and treat them with respect. How can one go on expecting American authority humiliating Indian dignitaries under the excuse of security or doubting the visits of Indian experts in US with question marks?

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Corruption Cases:Mercenary Media’s Wrong Priorities

Posted on October 22, 2011 by indra

‘Indian Express’ doesn’t agree with Kiran Bedi’s explanation about the air bill that must be in thousands only. Unfortunately, the same newspaper dare not publish some real investigative piece on the day-light and outright loot of the biggest state of the country by its ruler that must be running into hundreds of thousands crores rupees annually. As per one estimate, every day’s collection is somewhere near one thousand crores through the state machinery that is dedicatedly working for only this sole purpose. Just Noida and Yamuna Expressway would have contributed more than few lakh crores to the kitty.

I came out after a long time to go up to PVR, Spice in sector 32 of Noida for a movie last week. For all these years, I didn’t see much activity in the sector. A mall building had come up in one corner but it was occupied by some offices. Amar Singh during Mulayam era had laid foundation for the administrative office complex of Noida Authority, but it never came up and as I heard it was shifted to another location. In news papers I had seen ad with master plan for developing the area as a Connaught Place of Noida. At the extreme end, only colourful building of Adobe Inc. USA came up. For a long time I thought that was a hotel.

I was surprised and shocked to see the whole of the land of one full sector meant to be for a city centre getting boundary wall all over starting from the last stop of metro to the stadium. A journalist friend informs that the whole land has been awarded to just one builder for Rs 6500 crores. And can one guess what the builder will do in the sector? To my query against an ad, one agent quoted Rs 68 lakh for a studio flat of 805 square feet in one of the skyscrapers coming up on the land. How much money in cash would have gone to the M-Fund?

In the Noida extension land deal that was very much in media, the builders had to pay Rs 6000 per square metre to M-fund. It was still profitable as Noida Authority charged only Rs 6000 per sq mtr when they could sell the same for a fabulous amount to the customers.

As one lead media man writes, ‘Mayawati has emerged as the great dictator of Uttar Pradesh, someone who controls India’s most populous state with an iron fist.’ None dares to raise any voice against her decision on her pet projects, be it the monument of Rs 685 crore in Noida or of multiple of that amount in Lucknow. Why are only just few builders getting all the properties or big projects, be it Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, Yamuna expressway, or India’s F1 race track? Some say, ‘now it is not a commission, it’s decided on major share offered in the business for the icon of the dalit.’

Why doesn’t the judiciary or the crusaders of RTI speak out and act? And where will all the wealth accumulated in this manner be used? I would not have bothered if it would have gone to uplift the aam dalit of the state, if the money would have ensured a good dwelling for all dalit families or provided special coaching for the 100% of the dalit students specially girl students or on their healthcare. Unfortunately the whole of the wealth getting collected is for an individual. No one knows how will the person use it? Will it be for winning the general election by paying each and every voter with a lakh of rupees each?

It is unfortunate that neither the opposition parties nor corruption crusaders such as Kejriwal, Ramdev or Anna talk about this open corruption and accumulation of black money with any precedent like it. Media has gone mercenary. It will keep quiet for a cost.

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Job Openings in Plenty, But No Takers

Posted on October 20, 2011 by indra

Many a times I doubt if the government really wishes to create jobs. Is it sincere about its skill training programme? Should it follow the text book solution for every problem facing the nation? Can’t the unemployed youth be trained through some innovative but practical routes?

As per a recent news report, about 15% of the transport fleet in the country with strength of 8, 00,000 is inoperative, because of shortage of drivers. Every truck requires at least two drivers or perhaps three. A driver is needed also for three-wheelers as well as for a large number of cars too. Can’t the country even train drivers who don’t necessarily require being very much educated?

As reported, India is the largest manufacturer of three-wheelers (444,000 in 2009-10) and the eighth largest commercial vehicle (0.53 m in 2009-10). India, the largest tractor manufacturing country (around 1/3 of global output) added around 370,000 units in 2009-10. All these vehicles require drivers. The owners of the luxury cars certainly employ drivers. As estimated, even one third of the car owners need drivers. Thus India may be requiring more than a million trained drivers every year. And all these may get a remuneration of much more than the BPL limit. Where are the trained drivers to fill up the vacancies getting created every day? Who trains them? Why don’t Mayawati or Nitish Kumar ask the unemployed youth in their states to get themselves trained as drivers and get employed instead of seeking a job of orderly or bearer in the government offices?

I do doubt if the Corporate India is taking any initiative to provide this service for its customers by training sufficient number of drivers as well as the people who are to maintain it. I am sure they could have done that easily. Think of the total number of dealers of auto manufacturers in the country and many other independent maintenance shops. The manufacturers can easily use their services to train drivers and maintenance men for repairing the vehicles. And the service providers could have added the facilities for training without much investment and increased their earning by charging the required fee.

Similar steps by the manufacturers of other products of mass use can train many more unemployed young men of the country. Infrastructure and construction companies can certainly get together for this cause to train the young men required for the sector. It surprises me to know that in a nation with population of more than 1 billion we do not have sufficient plumbers, masons, carpenters or electricians.

With a lot of thrust on infrastructure such as road, power, construction, the requirements are bound to keep on increasing.

I wish the CII, Assocham and other small entrepreneurs take initiative on large scale. Adding skill will never go waste. One day, pretty soon, every Indian must need to know driving, if India keeps its thrust on GDP growth.

Will government find some logic behind the issue raised here and do something to solve the acute shortage of the skilled manpower?

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India and US: Business of Education

Posted on October 18, 2011 by indra

More than a hundred thousand students took admission in US universities last year. It was certainly not only because they all didn’t get admission in good colleges in India. Few might have got a good scholarship too. But the majority of them would be paying the cost themselves. Either their family would bear it or in some cases they might get financed by some banks. I wish the majority of them would have joined good universities that certainly provide better education.

Why couldn’t the corporate India that all the time keep on complaining about the quality of graduates coming out of Indian educational institutes establish some world class universities seeking collaborations with the best in the field worldwide as they do in their core business? Perhaps the main reason was the government policy. However, there are some exceptions. I remember one at least and that is BITS, Pilani.

As it seems, the government may come out with some reform and allow the collaborations and business with profit in education sector too. Recent Indo-US summit for cooperation in higher education may pave the way. It was interesting to read a speech of Hillary Clinton in the conference.

“Last year, we welcomed over 100,000 students from India to pursue college or graduate-level study here. But we think the opportunities for collaboration are even greater. And, particularly, we want to see more American students enrolling for academic credit at Indian institutions.”

When the world class facilities in a pretty good number of the hospitals in India established by the private sectors can attract so many of foreigners for treatment in India, why can’t a similar facilities in higher educational institutes attract a large number of students from the developed countries? And that will be a win-win situation. Corporate India must go all out to establish the best educational institutes in specific fields and the government must support it removing all the business hurdles. The students coming in and going out are the best ambassadors of the country. It will certainly make the world a better place.

I was really impressed by the story that Hillary Clinton narrated in course of the speech:

“A few years ago, a small group of American and Indian classmates at Stanford University decided to work together to build a better baby incubator. Four hundred and fifty premature and low-weight babies die every hour, and traditional baby incubators can cost as much as $20,000. So, the students developed the Embrace baby warmer, a portable incubator for use in poor and rural areas that doesn’t require electricity and only costs around $100. After graduating from Stanford, this Indian and American team moved to Bangalore to continue working on their idea and launched their project. And, it’s now in use in hospitals in India and saving babies’ lives. Their goal is to save 100,000 babies by 2013.”

I wish there could be hundreds and thousands of such projects and collaborations among the young men and women of the world.

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IITs- Halo or Reality

Posted on October 16, 2011 by indra

My eyesight has gone bad but I get pleasure in reading. I am going through the latest book of Thomas Friedman who writing gives me pleasure. I am growing weak, though I can walk steadily and quite a distance, so is my plan to visit Hampi and thereafter Aurangabad for Ajanta and Ellora and then Bhopal for Sanchi.

But I get morose where I find my young men failing us. I felt bad about the rise of so called nationalist miscreants and that also with the name of Rama in it. How can a follower of Rama think of attacking a senior advocate? I don’t like this intolerance in young men and those who come out with excuses. Can the young men in China go for such cowardice act and get a bail?

How can a government play with education ministry? Can’t it find another full time minister if Kapil Sibal is required to save the government from telecom mess?

The people get enraged when IITs are criticized. But then IITs must keep its image intact and performance up to the desired level.
I am giving just one instance of the standing of IITs in technology. Look at the list of the 2011 top twelve teams that received medals in International Collegiate Programming Contest that is given below and judge yourself. Where are our IITs or other universities and institution teaching computing to their million of students? And then also many keep on claiming India as IT super power.

• Zhejiang University, (GOLD, WORLD CHAMPION, CHINA)
• University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, (GOLD, 2nd Place, USA)
• Tsinghua University, (GOLD, 3rd Place, CHINA)
• St. Petersburg State University, (GOLD, 4th Place, RUSSIA)
• Nizhny Novgorod State University, (SILVER, 5th Place, RUSSIA )
• Saratov State University, (SILVER, 6th Place, RUSSIA)
• Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, (SILVER, 7th Place, GERMANY)
• Donetsk National University, (SILVER, 8th Place, UKRAINE)
• Jagiellonian University in Krakow, (BRONZE, 9th Place, POLAND)
• Moscow State University, (BRONZE, 10th Place, RUSSIA)
• Ural State University, (BRONZE, 11th Place, RUSSIA)
• University of Waterloo, (BRONZE, 12th Place, CANADA)

It’s not only that Chinese are performing great, see the number of teams from Russia and other communist countries in the list.
While out young men are busy bullying old intellectuals fearlessly, the young men in other countries are busy in doing something to make the country proud. And over the years, the nation has gone down its value preference. How can one expect anything great from the IITians when they after wasting the nation’s money in training themselves as pure technocrats prefer to join the rank of unscrupulous banks and financial institutes and prefer to join administrative services including police services just for money?
If the government doesn’t build right values through the education system, if the parents are busy in making money from anyway right or wrong, how can we expect India to be a knowledge society?

This government keeps on claiming tall about its growth rate after reform. The fact is totally different. ‘China grew faster in the last nine years than India is likely to grow over the next nine.’

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