The students of Bangalore University are demanding a refund of fees paid for re-valuation as their marks have been modified after re-valuation. Most of the universities including Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) Belagavi, Pre University Education department and Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) have the policy of refunding the fees if the marks are changed after the revaluation.

Now students of Bangalore University are demanding for the same and saying it is their money that was paid for no mistake of theirs. “We understand university not paying us back the money in case of marks not changing after re-valuation. But when marks are changed and it is proved that it was a mistake on the part of the evaluator, why do we have to pay for it?” question the students.

BU charges Rs 1,200 for photocopy and revaluation per subject. “If the examination department fails to consider our request (refunding the amounts), we will meet the Vice Chancellor,” the students said.
“I had applied for re-valuation in three papers in which I had failed. After revaluation, I have got more than 35 marks which is the minimum marks that we require to pass the subject. But, the university has not refunded my money. I had secured less marks not because of my performance, it was because of evaluators mistake,” said a student.

Officials of the university said there was a practice at the university to refund 50% of the fees paid for revaluation as per old regulations in case marks have changed. “As students are not claiming it, the authorities are not bothered and it has to be placed before Syndicate,” mentioned a senior BU official.

Express News Services

Over four decades after he began his scientific engagement with gravitational science, Professor Abhay Ashtekar is set to receive the prestigious Einstein Prize conferred by the American Physical Society (APS).

The prize for 2018, which carries an award of $10,000, is scheduled to be announced on October 23. Its citation reads: “For numerous and seminal contributions to general relativity, including the theory of black holes, canonical quantum gravity, and quantum cosmology.”

Ashtekar is professor of physics, Evan Pugh Professor, Holder, Eberly Chair, and director of the Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos at the Pennsylvania State University.

“The prize is special because is it the highest honour bestowed by APS in the broad area of gravitational science. The first Einstein prize was awarded jointly to Peter Bergmann and John Wheeler, who introduced general relativity to American universities by creating research groups. Perhaps because the first award often sets the tone, subsequent prizes have come to recognise ‘lifetime achievements’. So the news was deeply satisfying,” Ashtekar told IANS in an email interview.

Ashtekar’s passion for physical sciences started while he was in high school in India. “At first I knew only Marathi literature –that is my mother tongue, and was the medium of instruction until I was 11. Then was exposed Hindi and English literature and realised how deeply literature is tied to specific cultures. What is considered great in one language or context could well be mediocre in another. At the same time, I learned Newton’s laws and universality of gravity — what makes the apple fall on earth also makes the planets go around the sun. This was stunning by itself,” he said.

What he found most remarkable was that, unlike art and literature, which are “so tied to human conditions”, Newton’s laws transcend both. “It was striking to me that the same Newton’s laws are taught and admired in India as in China, Japan and the West.”

“Later, in college, fundamental physics seemed to me to be the deepest and purest way to pursue understanding of Nature (the external world). In graduate school, I chose to work in general relativity, cosmology and quantum physics because that is where the most fundamental questions about space, time and the nature of the physical universe are discussed,” he said.

Somewhere along the line, he also recognised that although one of the main four forces of nature, gravity is the weakest, yet it is so crucial to the way the universe formed and exists.

“Gravity has two key features that other forces do not share. Unlike the weak and strong force, it is long-range and therefore key to the large-scale structures and phenomena. Electromagnetic force is also long-range. But because electric charge comes with both signs, the force can be both attractive and repulsive.

“Large bodies like the sun and planets are all electrically neutral and so they don’t exert any electromagnetic force on one another. The dominant force between such bodies is therefore gravitational,” he explained.

After receiving his Ph.D. in 1974 from the University of Chicago, Ashtekar went on to hold influential positions in France, Canada and India. His biography on the National Academy of Sciences, to which he was elected a member in 2016, describes him as someone “best known for initiating the Loop Quantum Gravity programme by introducing new variables to simplify Einstein’s equations, for analysing the very early universe using Loop Quantum Cosmology, and for his contributions to the study of the asymptotic structure of space-time and gravitational waves in full non-linear general relativity”.

After such a long career in a diversity of physics disciplines, he said science is currently in the “truly golden age for gravity”. “Until about the mid-1960s, general relativity had remained isolated from mainstream science — a pristine and beautiful theory, to be admired from a distance.

“The paradigm has shifted completely and relativistic gravity has moved to centre stage of physics and astronomy. Through the big bang, black holes and gravitational waves, we realised that the universe is not a calm, peaceful place that the astronomers believed it to be in much of the 20th century,” he pointed out.

“There are highly energetic explosions sourced by strong gravity that have shaped the history of our universe. Thus, relativistic gravity has completely overhauled our understanding of the cosmos,” he said.

“The deepest puzzles in fundamental physics today are at the interface of general relativity and quantum physics. What really happened at the big bang? What is the end point of the quantum evaporation of black holes? How do we incorporate gravity into the unified theories of all fundamental forces? It is clear therefore that gravity will continue to dominate research in physics and astronomy in the coming decades as well,” he said.

Asked whether physicists in India are producing world-class research, Ashtekar said: “There are extremely talented physicists in India who are making first-rate contributions to pure physics in areas I have first-hand acquaintance with. I am particularly pleased by the ‘LIGO-India’ project that is now placing India firmly in the front ranks of international efforts. The Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune, in particular, will play an important role in the major discoveries that will be made with the international network of gravitational wave observatories between 5 and 10 years from now. In this area India is ahead of China, for example.”

“My colleagues in other areas of physics, on the other hand, tell me that this is not the case in their field; that there is a lot of good research but not enough ‘great’ research that gets published in the most visible journals,” he said.

Kailash Satyarthi, the Nobel laureate and advocate for children’s rights, has called for the adoption of a legally-binding international convention outlawing online child sex abuse and pornography, an evil that has proliferated into a $8 billion curse of the digital age.

“We are demanding an international convention against child sex abuse, and online pronography that should be supported by a new global task force — an inter-agency, inter-governmental task force — to combat child trafficking, child pronography, online child pornography and sexual abuse,” he said in an interview to IANS on Thursday.

Child pornography and sexual abuse using digital technology are growing unchecked without such an UN convention into a $8 billion-industry, he said.

When governments shut down such websites, they sprout elsewhere because there is no international regime to control them effectively, he said.

He also demanded the creation of an international database and registry of child traffickers that would be hosted by Interpol and connect national and international law enforcement enabling access to comprehensive and timely information to crack down on traffickers and networks.

“It’s very sad and rather strange that in spite of all the technological advancement the world has been able to make and make so fast, we are not able to control the organised crime of human trafficking and that has become a $150 billion industry,” he said.

“The traffickers move around and they use some of the most modern equipment and they are so fast”, while “the police in most countries are still using some of the old methodologies in tracing them”, he said.

These were among the demands made by a group known as Laureates and Leaders for Children that comprises of eminent global citizens, Satyarthi said.

At their summit in Jordan in March they adopted the “Dead Sea Declaration” which includes these demands, as well as others to protect children.

Panama’s President Juan Carlos Varela, who is a member of the group, presented the demands to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, Satyarthi said.

Satyarthi, who founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan, a movement against child labour, shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani advocate for girls’ education.

There are still about 152 million child labourers around the world, Satyarthi said.

“It is not true to say it is only a problem in developing countries, it is very much here,” and to say otherwise “would be a hypocrisy”, he added.

In the US, where he said he has been working with anti-child labour groups for more than 15 years, there is no law against children being made to work in agriculture, he said.

Children, including many of Latino ethnicity, work on tobacco farms in the US because of the lack of legal protection for them, he said.

There has been remarkable progress though against child labour in India, he said. According to government statistics, the number of child labourers has gone down from 12.3 million 15 years ago to 4.3 million now, he said.

(IANS)

The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Thursday directed varsities and higher education institutions across the country to observe September 29 as “Surgical Strike Day”.

Talk-sessions by ex-servicemen about sacrifices by the armed forces, special parades, visiting exhibitions and sending greeting cards to pledge their support for armed forces, are among the activities prescribed by the commission for the celebrations.

“The NCC units of all universities should organise a special parade on September 29 after which the NCC commander shall address them on the modalities of protection of the borders. The varsities may organise a talk-session calling ex-serviceman to sensitise students about sacrifices made by the armed forces,” the UGC said in a communication to all vice-chancellors on Thursday.

“A multimedia exhibition will be organised around India Gate on September 29. Similar exhibitions may be organised in states, union territories, important towns and cantonments across the country. The institutions should encourage students and faculty members to visit these exhibitions,” the letter added.

The commission has suggested that the students shall pledge their support for armed forces by writing letters and cards which may be produced in both digital and physical format.

“The letters and cards should be shared with PRO Defence and PIB for publicity across various media,” the UGC said.

In the first such action, India carried out surgical strikes on September 29, 2016, on seven terror launch pads across the LoC with the Army saying its special forces inflicted “significant casualties” on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

PTI

In a daring move, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has decided that the government schools will now use English as a medium of instruction.

A 1000 schools will switch to teaching in the English medium on an experimental basis, Kumaraswamy informed.

“When I announced it in the Budget, there was protest from the usual suspects. Some self-appointed custodians of the Kannada language had come to me with a huge delegation opposing it. But, I have decided to ignore them in the larger interest of the rural poor, who need to know English. We can’t deprive them of the English language and the opportunities it opens up to them. More than 90 per cent of those protesting has their children studying in English medium schools. I don’t bother about such things,” he said.

Announcing that the government will be sending its school teachers abroad for training, he said that a total of Rs 1000 Crore will be invested for this and the infrastructure development of the schools.

The political parties are divided over this issue, with the BJP as well as their coalition partner, the Congress, opposing HDK’s decision.

(PTI)

Veteran actor Dilip Kumar, 95, was on Wednesday admitted to a hospital here due to chest infection, but he is recuperating, said a family friend.

The actor is at the Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, Bandra.

Faisal Farooqui, who tweets on behalf of the thespian, gave a health update on the ailing actor via Twitter.

“Saab has been admitted to Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital as he was bit uneasy due to a chest infection. He is recuperating. Requesting your duas and prayers,” Farooqui tweeted.

Dilip Kumar, one of India’s most iconic actors, has appeared in some classics like “Kohinoor”, “Mughal-e-Azam”, “Shakti”, “Naya Daur” and “Ram Aur Shyam”.

He was last seen on the silver screen in 1998 in “Qila”. He is married to actress Saira Banu.

(IANS)

Institute of Product Leadership organized an “Info session” on the 11th August 2018, at The Ritz-Carlton, Residency Road, Bengaluru.

Institute of Product Leadership is India’s first B-School for technology managers, focusing exclusively on Product Leadership with the aim of transforming technology executives into future product managers and industry leaders.
Product Management has many definitions but most experts will agree that it is essentially the art and science of delivering delighting solutions to real market problems and doing so rather predictably.

The session on Product Leadership and Data Science by Prof. Pinkesh Shah and Tejaswi G was attended by more than 40 working professionals from various domains.
The “Info-session” was aimed at providing a platform to understand the nuances of Product Leadership, which also involves understanding which products to build that can add value to consumers and how Product Leadership is more than just leading a team of product managers.

However, the challenges in product leadership involve finding the product to be market-fit. A successful product is one that is valuable, usable and feasible.
We would like to bring to your notice that Institute of Product Leadership will be hosting a Leadership Summit on the 24th of August, aimed at providing new approaches to Leadership Development and gain insight into future organizations and the HR functions. It will be an opportunity to learn from the best practices driven experiences of top HR and L&D practitioners and thought leaders on what has worked and a chance at focussed networking.
The event will witness Human Resource leaders like Hari T.N (HR Head Big Basket), Bobby Joy (Senior Director Education CA Technologies), UtkarshRai (Author, Speaker, and a Leadership Expert) and many more.

Institute of Product Leadership is India’s first B-School for technology managers, focusing exclusively on Product Leadership with the aim of transforming technology executives into future product managers and industry leaders.

Product Management has many definitions but most experts will agree that it is essentially the art and science of delivering delighting solutions to real market problems and doing so rather predictably.
The session on Product Leadership and Data Science by Prof. Pinkesh Shah and Tejaswi G was attended by more than 40 working professionals from various domains.
The “Info-session” was aimed at providing a platform to understand the nuances of Product Leadership, which also involves understanding which products to build that can add value to consumers and how Product Leadership is more than just leading a team of product managers.

However, the challenges in product leadership involve finding the product to be market-fit. A successful product is one that is valuable, usable and feasible.

We would like to bring to your notice that Institute of Product Leadership will be hosting a Leadership Summit on the 24th of August, aimed at providing new approaches to Leadership Development and gain insight into future organizations and the HR functions. It will be an opportunity to learn from the best practices driven experiences of top HR and L&D practitioners and thought leaders on what has worked and a chance at focussed networking.
The event will witness Human Resource leaders like Hari T.N (HR Head Big Basket), Bobby Joy (Senior Director Education CA Technologies), UtkarshRai (Author, Speaker, and a Leadership Expert) and many more.

With just five minutes in hand, four young Indian spoke at an event in Shiv Nadar University to explain why their policy idea can make the world a better place, which earned them an opportunity to get a leadership training at Cambridge University.

Nine young people at the event at Shiv Nadar University on August 7 gave five-minute speeches explaining why their policy idea could improve the world and demonstrate that they are the leader that could make it happen.

Dharini Suresh, Founder and Public Policy Associate of GrandWay Companies and Women’s Business Incubation Center, from Kerala impressed the panel with her talk on menstrual hygiene while Kumar Kunal Jha, an assistant professor at TISS Mumbai spoke on LGBT community.

Rishika Das Roy, working as consultant at Oxford Policy Management choose climate change as her topic and Gaurav Dnyanoba Somwanshi, consultant at PwC talked on need for having an unique identity.

A total of 450 youths participated in the forum out of which nine made it to the finals. The four winners will become part of a global network of emerging policy leaders along with securing places on Future Leaders Connect, a major initiative run by the British Council — Britain’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

The judging panel included Rupamanjari Ghosh- Vice Chancellor Shiv Nadar University, Tom Birtwistle – British Council Director North India, Professor Partha Mukhopadhyay – Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research and Sunny Sen – Editor, Corporate and Policy, FactorDaily.

The four winners will join other participants from around the world to take part in a nine-day advanced policy and leadership development opportunity, including two days spent with politicians in the Britain’s Houses of Parliament, where they will put forward their policy ideas on combating some of the world’s greatest challenges.

“Through Future Leaders Connect we will help a new generation to understand practical policy development by putting them in contact with the leaders of today and helping them to develop the skills and international contacts they need to make positive change,” Sir Ciarán Devane, Chief Executive, British Council said.

Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Saturday said Delhi students can get the Learner’s Driving License from their college as the government has empowered the Directors and Principals of colleges to issue the document.

“Young and studying in Delhi? You can soon get your Learner’s Driving License from your college itself,” Gahlot said in a tweet.

A Learner’s Licence is valid for up to six months. The initiative will help about two lakh students from various colleges, polytechnics, and ITIs in Delhi.