REAL HEROS: Bus conductor plants trees across TN!

For LEED Consultancy / IGBC Certifications, Green Building Design, Green Homes, Green Factory Buildings, Green SEZs, Green Townships & Energy Audits - www.greentekindika.com

CNN-IBN / Updated Aug 12, 2011 at 11:29am IST.

Coimbatore: A bus conductor in Tamil Nadu has planted over 1 lakh trees across the state in the last 25 years. The conductor M Yoganathan is known as the Tree Man of the south. Yoganathan is a regular on the S-26 bus that runs on the Marudamalai-Gandhipuram route in Coimbatore. He has been a bus conductor for the past 25 years and is always on the go.

"I can do all these things only because I am a conductor, if I do any other work I have to work for the whole day. In this it's just half a day of work," he said.

His love for nature grew when as a student he would often sit and write poems under the shade of the trees of the Kotagiri forests while visiting his sister. But with this, his intolerance towards those who were destroying the green cover, also grew.

"I used to protest cutting of trees. I would go block the paths of lorries carrying the trees. I used to live in Nilagiri then. Before 1987 there used to be a lot of tea factories there. A huge number of trees from nearby forest areas were hacked down. After 1987, we staged a huge protest condemning these activities," he said.

But even as Yoganathan fought the timber mafia, he knew that the only way to change perceptions was through education.

Yoganathan has visited 2872 schools and colleges in every district of Tamil Nadu. He shows the students his slides, gathered over the years, some gifted to him by wildlife photographers, pictures of rare flowers and plants that are vanishing.

Telling his story, Yoganathan explained, "In carrying out my activities, I rubbed many people the wrong way. Timber traders used to beat me up. People used to pick fights with me for no valid reason. This hurt me so much that I entirely gave up all my activities for a while. But I couldn't stay."

Full Story at,

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/real-hero-bus-conductor-plants-trees-across-tn/175069-3.html

Australia keen on upgrading education ties with India!

For LEED / IGBC Certifications, Consultancy, Green Building Design, Green Homes, Green Factory Buildings, Green SEZs, Green Townships & Energy Audits - www.greentekindika.com

K. Venkataramnan, The Hindu / CHENNAI, August 6, 2011.

Chris Evans, Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations, Australia, at an interview with “The Hindu” in Chennai on Wednesday. Photo: S.S. Kumar.

Visiting Minister says they should move towards joint degrees, credit transfers to boost student mobility

Australia and India are moving towards a collaborative framework in education, under which universities from both countries will award joint degrees, recognise each other's qualifications and have mutual transfer of academic credits.

At the same time, Australia is keen on leveraging its vast experience and expertise in vocational training to fill the huge gap in the availability of skilled personnel in India.

Australia's Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations, Christopher Evans, who visited the country in the past few days, mainly in connection with the first meeting of the Australia-India Education Council (AIEC), feels that his country's engagement with India in the education sector is not just about Indian students studying in Australia but also about Australians pursuing part of their academic programme in Indian institutions.

“One of the barriers has been the lack of recognition of each other's education and credit transfers. So, if someone comes from India and studies in Australia for six months, they may not get recognition for their Indian degree and vice-versa. We have identified this as a key thing we have to fix, because increasingly universities are interested in joint degrees,” Mr. Evans told The Hindu in an interview here.

“I am very keen on getting Australian students to study for about six months abroad, as it will open their eyes to the world. That is why, credit transfer is important. They will come if they know it counts for their degree, but not if their six months' work is not credited,” he said.

Citing the example of The Energy and Resources Institute of India (TERI), New Delhi, and Deakin University, Australia, establishing a BioNanotechnology Research Centre in Delhi, he said the two institutions had a successful joint programme, and more such partnerships were in the offing.

Skills transfer

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Full Story at,

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2328706.ece

FDI IN HIGHER EDUCATION: "Safeguard against poaching by foreign institutions"!

For LEED Consultancy, Green Building Design, Green Homes, Green Factory Buildings, Green SEZs, Green Townships,

www.greentekindika.com

Special Correspondent, The Hindu / NEW DELHI, August 3, 2011.

“They have to retain original status and high standards of education”

Expressing concern over the possibility of the Foreign Education Providers poaching into Indian institutions for qualified and experienced faculty, the department-related Parliamentary Committee on Human Resource Development has recommended putting in place adequate safeguards to prevent it.

In its report on the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010, tabled in the Rajya Sabha here on Monday, the committee said that the acute shortage of qualified and experienced faculty in higher educational institutions was causing serious concern. With the coming of Foreign Educational Institutions (FEIs), this was bound to aggravate. The committee said adequate safeguards against poaching, as recommended by the CNR Rao Committee, needed to be put in place and suitably reflected in the Act or the Rules.

The committee also believed that the trend of students going abroad in pursuit of higher standards might not stop with the enactment of this proposed law, but it could be curtailed by ensuring that the FEIs, which set up their centres here, lived up to the expectations of the students. They should, it said, retain their original status and high standards, employ highly qualified faculty and provide the best teaching techniques.

Medical education

While appreciating the concept behind the proposed legislation, the committee said the Bill should include all the modifications made by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to make it more clear and comprehensive. A provision for medical education had to be made to safeguard the interests of the students and other stakeholders.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Full Story at,

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2316677.ece

Parliamentary panel recommends Rs. 1 crore penalty for capitation fees!

For LEED Consultancy, Green Building Design, Green Homes, Green Factory Buildings, Green SEZs, Green Townships,

www.greentekindika.com

Special Correspondent, The Hindu / NEW DELHI, August 1, 2011.

File photo of activists demonstrating against medical colleges demanding capitation fees for management seats in Kolkata - The Hindu Photo Gallery.

The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development has recommended the imposition of a maximum penalty of Rs. one crore on those technical and medical institutions which charge capitation fees from students.

In its report on the Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical Education Institutions, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, tabled in the Rajya Sabha here on Monday, the committee has also recommended that different penalties be imposed for different violations in proportion to the offence, and asked the Department to work out the quantum of penalty on a case-to-case basis and not on a uniform basis.

“A major and minor violation cannot be treated as equal and a uniform amount of penalty for all types of offences is against the principle of natural justice,” it observed, while leaving it for the government to fix the minimum penalty.

It has further held that smaller penalty on institutes charging capitation fee

will not be considered an effective deterrent, going by the high rates of capitation fee charged by them for seats in medical colleges.

Full Story at,

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2313743.ece

ENVIRONMENT EDUCATION WITH SCHOOLS: India's 'recycled' school teaches environmental lessons!

www.greentekindika.com

FOR LIGHT READING, Download your free copy of “My First Beer” Now with the Smashwords Summer/Winter promotion, ending July 31, 2011

@ http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52213

• July 22, 2011 
• Reuters 
• Pune / DC.

On a regular school day, four-year-old Kush Bhattacharya can leave his mathematics class to run barefoot on grass, hide from his friends in a cave made of cow dung and return to recite nursery rhymes in a red bus that doubles up as a classroom.

Kush is a student at the Aman Setu school in Pune, an educational and technological hub three hours drive from Mumbai.

Almost every part of the school premises is made out of recycled material, including roofs made out of old hoardings, walls built from plastic bottles and hand-stitched uniforms made out of eco-friendly 'khadi', or handspun, cloth.

"It isn't a marketing thing, it's what we believe and how we live," says Madhavi Kapur, who started the school in 2008 with just four students. The school now has more than 140 students studying up to grade five.

"We didn't have too much money to begin with, and one of my (former) students, who is an architect came up with the idea of using recycled materials to build the school on a piece of land leased to me by my brother," she said.

Full Story at,

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/west/indias-recycled-school-teaches-environmental-lessons-202

OPINION: Pranab for private-public partnership in higher education!

For US-LEED, LEED India, IGBC Green Homes, Green Factory Buildings, Green SEZs, and Green Townships: www.greentekindika.com

Have you read, “Mayhem of the Miserables!” available @ US$ 1/- with the Smashwords Summer/Winter promotion, ending July 31, 2011

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52075

And also have a free download of “My First Beer” @ http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52213

AARTI DHAR / The Hindu / KORAPUT (ORISSA), July 10, 2011.

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. File photo - AP.

Drawing attention to the challenges of public funding of higher education, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee advocated the need to design ‘tailor-made’ public-private partnership models, albeit with regulatory oversight of the government. He was delivering the first Convocation address of the Central University of Orissa in Koraput on Sunday.

Mr. Mukherjee said the foremost challenge in the higher education sector in India was also to bring about equity and quality. He pointed to the increasing working age population of the country, and felt that the demographic dividend in the country’s favour for the next three decades owing to declining dependency ratio can be leveraged only if our youth are imbibed with education and relevant skills. He expressed the hope that the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) would contribute to the realization of the advantages of the demographic dividend.

Appreciating the performance of the Central University at Koraput, which he felt had started contributing to the long term benefit for the economic development of the region, Mr. Mukherjee commended the efforts of the new University in launching several need-based programmes particularly for tribal and community development.

Globalisation has a very significant impact on India and it was all the more necessary to ensure relevance of higher education in order to attain excellence, said Mr. Mukherjee.

The Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Orissa Dr. Surabhi Banerjee said the perspective plan of the University was going to define its uniqueness. ``It is not going to be yet another university in the multitude of run-of-the-mill academic institutions. It definitely aspires to become a University with a difference which aims at making a difference in the lives of the people.’’

01) As such both Private and Public Educational Institutions have been playing a vital role, independently, in the Indian Education Sector;

02) Will a public-private partnership brings in better efficiencies and inexpensive education together?

03) Given my own observation of the Indian Education, a ppp Education entity would have high inefficiency levels as well as more expensive!

Full Story at,

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2216443.ece

Gifted Edu programme: TN can take Cue from U.S.!

For US-LEED, LEED India, IGBC Green Homes, Green Factory Buildings, Green SEZs, and Green Townships: www.greentekindika.com

Have you read, “Mayhem of the Miserables!” available @ US$ 1/- with the Smashwords Summer/Winter promotion, ending July 31, 2011

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52075

June 7, 2011 / By N. Arun Kumar, DC, Chennai.

At a time when academicians, private schools and the state government are busy debating over the implementation of uniform schooling system, several countries like Singapore and USA have implemented ‘Gifted Education Programme’ (GEP) which provides flexibility in the teaching-learning process according to the skill set of the student.

What is Gifted Edu programme

Some students have an advanced rate of learning, capacity for remarkably high standards of achievement compared to students of the same age. GEP is designed for these children who can complete the syllabus in a much lesser time. Gifted children are selected based on an entrance test and teachers with special training are recruited by schools to teach them.

With this programme in place, both gifted children (fast learners) and slow learners benefit.

Experts say that children have varying abilities and it is not right to provide the same education to every child and expect them to move at the same pace as their peers.

The intellectually gifted need a high degree of mental stimulation. Mainstream classrooms are not designed to cater to gifted children who might become mediocre, indifferent or disruptive in class.

Full Story at,

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/tabloid/education/gifted-tn-can-take-cue-us-854

AMARTYA SEN: Criticises neglect of elementary education

Have you read, “Mayhem of the Miserables!” available @ US$ 1/- with the Smashwords Summer/Winter promotion, ending July 31, 2011

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52075

Staff Reporter / The Hindu /  NEW DELHI, July 5, 2011.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal conferred a honorary degree of Doctor of Literature on Nobel laureate Prof. Amartya Sen (second from right) at a special convocation of the National University of Educational Planning and Administration in New Delhi on Monday. The others are (from left) Vice Chancellor, NUEPA, Prof. R. Govinda and Chancellor Dr. K.K. Chakaravorty. Photo: Rajeev Bhatt - The Hindu.

“India is still paying quite a heavy price for this”

India needs to broaden its base in the spheres of education, healthcare and women's equality to foster economic growth, said Nobel laureate Amartya Sen after receiving a honorary degree of Doctor of Literature from the National University of Educational Planning and Administration here on Monday.

Speaking at the special convocation, Prof. Sen was as vehement in demanding an equitable status for women as he was in seeking reforms in education and basic healthcare.

“India does have many achievements in the success of a relatively small group of privileged people well trained in higher education and specialised expertise. Yet our educational system remains deeply unjust. Among other bad consequences, the low coverage and low quality of school education in India extracts a heavy price in the pattern of our economic development,” he said.

He said though the economy may be doing much better than before in many different ways, India is still paying quite a heavy price for having a far less educated general labour force than countries like China. “India has great difficulty in competing in a whole range of simple products, the making of which requires basic education including elementary gadgets such as clocks and calculators, even computer hardware, in which China excels, and which were among the mainstays of the earlier ‘East Asian Miracle',” he said.

Critical of the neglect that elementary education has been subjected to since early Independence, Prof. Sen said though India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's vision for technical education resulted in a boom that has ensured institutes of excellence like the IITs, his attitude towards primary education is “lamentable.”

True, not only primary education, we have been, grossly, neglecting primary health & child Nutrition, which would, severely, affect the future growth of our Country!

Full Story at,
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2159413.ece

INDIA's LITERACY DRIVE: AP fails to learn its lessons!

LEED Consultancy, Green Building Design, Green Homes, Green Factory Buildings, Green SEZs, Green Townships.

www.greentekindika.com

Have you read, “Mayhem of the Miserables!” available @ http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/52075

• June 22, 2011 
• DC.

• 
  

June 21: At the recent launch of the “ enrollment drive” programme in schools coinciding with the beginning of the new academic year on June 13, the Chief Minister, Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, said he was ashamed to admit that Andhra Pradesh’s literacy rate lagged behind all the other stat`es in south India. In fact, AP is competing with Jharkhand for a place at the bottom of the literacy ladder.

The huge dropout rate in government schools in the state poses a major challenge to the government, but one it seems in no hurry to accept. The state has an unacceptably high dropout rate of 46.21 per cent at school-level. Out of every 100 students who were admitted to class I during 2000-01, only 54 reached class X in the last academic year in 2010-11. The dropout rate is higher in the case of students belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, primarily due to poverty, which forces them to work at a very early age. In the case of STs, the dropout rate is a whopping 72.66 per cent, while in the case of SCs, it is 49.68 per cent. More girls drop out of school among STs — 73.77 per cent — as opposed to 71.61 per cent in the case of boys. The dropout rate among SC boys is 49.68 per cent, and 49.67 per cent in the case of SC girls.

Five districts in the state have recorded a dropout rate of more than 50 per cent between the academic years 2000-01 and 2010-11. Mahbubnagar, known for large-scale migration of labour, has the highest dropout rate of 59.97 per cent, followed by Kurnool with 57.44 per cent. Medak recorded a dropout rate of 56.87, Prakasam, 55.65 and Guntur recorded a dropout rate of 53.07 per cent during this period. Two districts each from the Telangana and the Andhra regions figure in the list of five districts with the highest dropout rates, the other being a district in Rayalaseema region.

There is no dearth of lip-service to Primary Education and Health, but when it comes to some concretised results, the lowest of budgetary allocations are made and the little granted funds too are allowed to lapse due to rank apathy of the Administration!

Full Story at,

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/hyderabad/ap-fails-learn-its-lessons-877