The IITs were created to lead innovation and technology development movement in India. However, they are still a long way from being recognised as world class. Kinkini Dasgupta Misra tells us what could be done to foster creativity, innovation and excellence in shaping the institutes and how IITs could drive India’s social, economic, and technological transformation. Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are recognised the world over for their academic excellence. The IITs are known for dedication of their faculties and for the strong motivation and work ethics of their graduates. Many IIT graduates hold important positions in academia and industry…
Author: oiop
WE know him better as the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan community. He was born as Lhamo Dondrub on July 6,1935. Tenzin Gyatso is the shortened version of his religious name. At the tender age of two, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama and was formally enthroned as the 14th Dalai Lama in 1950. Following China’s invasion of Tibet and the brutal repression of Tibetans in 1959, he fled to India with his retinue. He set up the Tibetan government in exile at Dharamsala. Loosely translated, ‘Dalai Lama’ means ‘ocean of wisdom’.…
Unless there is public outrage against transportation problems in Mumbai, and a display of vision, courage and leadership from the government to address these issues, sustainable transport in the city will remain a holy grail, writes Rishi Aggarwal. As India urbanises, the one issue which has really been haunting cities is that of transportation. It is an issue which affects everyone (and this has to be emphasised) first hand. Cities cannot perform at their optimal capacity without a good transport infrastructure in place and this is a matter of significant concern for the economic growth of the country since most…
ONE morning, a book salesman called at the house of Mr. James Watson, a rich businessman from New York, and would not leave till Mr. Watson had bought a copy of the book he was selling, Early Christian Martyrs. Shorty afterwards, Mr. Watson left for work, taking with him the book he had bought and which he now regretted buying. When he returned in the evening, his wife informed him that she had purchased a book from a salesman. Mr. Watson flew into a rage when he saw the book. “That rascally salesman sold me the same book this morning!”…
Step into a town where dream fabrics have been woven for centuries. Whether it is the vibrant Paithanis in gold zari and silk, the rare Mashru or Himroo, originally known as ‘kamkhwab’ or ‘little dream’, the looms of Paithan taluka in Maharashtra have kept these heritage textiles going even today. Meet 60-year-old Sainath, whose skilled hands create beautiful heirlooms saris day-in-and-day-out or walk into the home of elderly Mohammad, one of the last five people in the area who know how to make the Himroo, a 600-yearold craft, in this excerpt from ‘Beautiful Country – Stories From Another India’, by…
Mumbai is far from its dream of modernising the city on the lines of Shanghai, and a major reason for this is the lack of coordination between the various agencies involved in overhauling its transportation system, says A.V.Shenoy. A decade ago, there were talk in nearly every forum on Mumbai development about remodeling Mumbai on the lines of Shanghai city. A number of committees visited Shanghai, the largest Chinese city to learn about its development model. However, even today Mumbai has not taken any steps towards modernising the city on the lines of Shanghai, the reasons for which are many.…
S.Sriraman talks about the distinctive problems in Mumbai’s transportation and why they cannot be solved at least the way it is now being attempted. While transport has a major role in influencing the location of cities, it has had an even more significant role in defining city shapes and sizes. The concentration of population, employment and activities in urban areas to a great extent is due to transportation. The cities have outgrown themselves and reached a stage when the transport system is hindered in its effective functioning. It is against this background that an attempt is being made to analyse…
Jagajeevan Neelakandapillai was a former programme officer with Kudumbashree Mission and former general secretary of the Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP, also known as the People’s Science Movement). Currently, he works with the department of health, Government of Kerala and continues to be a key Resource Person (RP) for the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) – Community Based Organisations (CBOs) Convergence Project of Kudumbashree. In an interview with Anuradha Kalhan, Neelakandapillai tells us how Kudumbashree has been Kerala’s highly effective poverty eradication mission. In what capacity and for how long have you been associated with Kerala’s Poverty Eradication Mission Kudumbashree (KS)?…
One has to be lucky to see a tiger in every other reserve, but really unlucky not to see one in Bandhavgarh. But, the tiger is lord of his domain and not ours to command. Our jeep bumps off the road, negotiates the low height of the hillock and grinds to a halt. From this vantage point, we scan our surroundings, like a hawk on a perch. We readied our cameras on tripods, to roll into action the moment we sighted our target. It has been opined that one has to be lucky to see a tiger in every other…
The Original Screenplay Authors : Dinesh Raheja and Jitendra Kothari Publisher : Om Books International Pages : 254 Price : Rs.595 In 1984, noted film maker Vijay Anand spoke about a book he treasured – Ten Best Hollywood Scripts, which he said was compiled from the shooting scripts. He then lamented the lack of bound scripts in the Hindi film industry, and that we had lost some treasures. Prophetic words, indeed. The initiative launched by Vidhu Vinod Chopra to publish the original screenplay of three of Guru Dutt’s films – Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Chaudhvin Ka Chand, and the yet…