Well, I dont think anybody would forget the person. Richard W Franke is his name. He is releasing a book on Kerala (to add on to his other books on various aspects of Kerala).
Here are the details
Title: STRIVING FOR SUSTAINABILITY: ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS AND DEMOCRATIC INITIATIVES IN KERALA
Authors: SRIKUMAR CHATTOPADHYAY & RICHARD W. FRANKE
Page: http://www.chss.montclair.edu/anthro/strivingforsustainability.htm
For those who dont know Franke, he has a homepage here and his collection of links on kerala can be found here
Looking forward to the release of the book (just as you).
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Kerala - A model of Economic Equality (Web Article)
I happened to see a very interesting article on "Too Much" (A commentary on Excess and Inequality). It talks about all things which we boast, but is a very unbiased commentary. It talks about how Kerala has failed in attracting capital for large projects, but has survived through redistribution.
As weblinks often die pretty soon, I post the entire text of the article at http://www.cipa-apex.org/toomuch/articlenew2006/March6a.html here. Highlighted are portions of the commentary which are significant, according to me.
------------------------------
An India Americans Seldom See
Economic growth isn't doing much to help average Indians. Economic equality could. So suggests the past quarter century of history in Kerala, India's most equal state.
Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram says the new budget he unveiled last week will help fix all this, by promoting economic growth. “I believe that growth is the best antidote to poverty,"the Harvard-trained Chidambaram proclaimed.
But economic growth, counters Delhi University political scientist Neera Chandhoke, ''does not necessarily lead to social development." What does?
The experience of one state within India suggests an answer. That state, Kerala, has conquered disease and poverty — and illiteracy and discrimination against women and girls — better than any state in India. And the secret to Kerala's success? Equality. Kerala has done more to share income and wealth fairly and widely than any other state within India.
Kerala, by every conventional measure of economic growth, rates as a poor place. Until recently, Keralans averaged less gross domestic product per person than the Indian average. The comforts conventional economic growth delivers — cars, air conditioners, washing machines — grace only a small percentage of Keralan households.
But on the only measure that “ultimately matters” — “the nature of the lives people can or cannot lead,” a formulation introduced by Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen — Keralans have created a society that outperforms much of the rest of the world. People in Kerala lead lives that are long and healthy, in vital, safe, tolerant communities.
The numbers document Kerala’s achievement. Morocco, a nation about equal to Kerala in population, generates about three times more wealth per person than Kerala. But people in Kerala, on average, live ten years longer than Moroccans. Colombia, another similarly sized nation, generates four times Kerala’s wealth. But babies die in Kerala at less than half the rate they die in Colombia.
Kerala and California also carry about the same population. California, of course, overwhelms Kerala economically. California generates seventy-three times more growth per person than Kerala’s. But Kerala, not California, enjoys more social peace. In the 1990s, about two hundred thousand inmates packed California’s jails and prisons. The number of full-time prisoners in Kerala: five thousand.
Within India, Kerala boasts the lowest rates of malaria and cholera and the highest rates of access to doctors, nurses, health clinics, and hospitals. Within the world, Kerala boasts a literacy rate that tops the average of all other low-income nations — by an amazing 40 percent.
And the literate in Kerala, unlike most of the rest of the low-income world, include girls as well as boys. In 1994, 93 percent of high school-age girls in Kerala were enrolled in high school, more than three times the rate in the rest of India and the world’s poor nations.
The people of Kerala owe their good fortune, their outstanding quality of life, partly to the accidents of geography. On the west, Kerala stretches along the Indian Ocean. This long coastline has always left Kerala open to new ideas from abroad, everything from Christianity to communism.
Meanwhile, on the east, mountain ranges have kept Kerala somewhat separate from the rest of the South Asian subcontinent. These mountains, together with the sea, helped create a land where divergent peoples — Hindus, Christians, Muslims, and Jews — have lived side by side, in tolerance, for generations.
In this heady atmosphere, intolerance — and exploitation — would not go unchallenged. In the nineteenth century, Kerala saw massive protests against the indignities of India’s caste system, an outrageously rigid hierarchy that subjected people in the “lower orders” to life-long humiliation.
In the 1930s, inspired by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, small but significant numbers of Kerala’s wealthy Brahmins, all born at the opposite end of the caste hierarchy, began “renouncing their privileges and giving up their lands.”
About the same time, all across Kerala, grassroot networks of landless tenants were organizing for thorough-going land reform. They would later elect, in 1957, India’s first communist-led state government, and this new government would quickly enact sweeping land reform legislation.
But the legislation would not go into effect. India’s central government promptly dismissed the ministers who would have been responsible for its implementation. Kerala’s peasant associations would not be intimidated. They kept up the pressure, and comprehensive land reform would finally come about, fourteen years later, in 1971. The reform would give about 1.5 million former tenant families title to their first property.
Over the next two decades, under steady pressure from peasant groups and trade unions, elected governments in Kerala, communist and noncommunist alike, would enact still more wealth-redistributing reforms.
Kerala’s minimum wage became India’s highest. Stiff tax rates on the wealthy, meanwhile, helped underwrite the free and low-cost distribution of basic services. Keralans, by the 1990s, were paying no charge for a minimal level of electrical power. In state-supported stores, Keralans could buy everything from rice to batteries at subsidized prices.
All these reforms, notes environmental author Bill McKibben, helped create “a state with some of the most equal wealth distribution on Earth.” (Read this in tune with this)That suited average families in Kerala quite nicely. But outsiders, particularly outsiders with power and wealth, considered Kerala hostile territory.
Industrialists avoided Kerala. They were not about to situate manufacturing plants in a state where wage rates ran three times the Indian average. Kerala, as a result, would not — could not — “grow” in standard economic terms. Without capital to fund ambitious “growth” projects, no giant manufacturing plants would soar above Kerala’s tropical forests.
Joblessness, on the other hand, would rise, to levels that topped the average unemployment rates elsewhere in India. But Kerala did not crumble, as conventional growth economics would have predicted. Kerala, instead, developed. Kerala’s left leaders may “have failed to spur economic growth,” as a 1998 Atlantic Monthly analysis would observe, but “they have been singularly successful at implementing development through redistribution.”
Indeed, between 1973-74 and century's end, only three states in India registered significant decreases in the percentage of their people living in poverty. Kerala led the way, with a poverty rate plunge from 60 percent in the early 1970s to 13 percent by the year 2000. Over those years, poverty rates in Kerala fell over twice as fast as poverty rates in India overall.
So which way for India in the future? India — and the world — might want to study Kerala's recent past.
---------------------------------------
Although this article suggests a lot of things, it conveniently ignores discussing about a lot of things
-> That joblessness isnt an economic problem, but more of a social problem (Money flows in from outside)
-> How long can "development through redistribution" last? Is it a model that can stand the test of time?
-> How much was the gulf money involved in the poverty rate plunge from 60% to 13%
Well, the author had no reason to discuss these issues, but then, never had any strong reason to avoid these things too.
But yes, Kerala Economic Equality model has been a success till now and we can still continue to boast. But this presents an entirely different picture. Mebbe, we have reached a point, where we have to seriously think about many issues. One thing that evrybody would perhaps agree would be that, we would like to retain the first place in terms of Economic Equality.
As weblinks often die pretty soon, I post the entire text of the article at http://www.cipa-apex.org/toomuch/articlenew2006/March6a.html here. Highlighted are portions of the commentary which are significant, according to me.
------------------------------
An India Americans Seldom See
Economic growth isn't doing much to help average Indians. Economic equality could. So suggests the past quarter century of history in Kerala, India's most equal state.
Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram says the new budget he unveiled last week will help fix all this, by promoting economic growth. “I believe that growth is the best antidote to poverty,"the Harvard-trained Chidambaram proclaimed.
But economic growth, counters Delhi University political scientist Neera Chandhoke, ''does not necessarily lead to social development." What does?
The experience of one state within India suggests an answer. That state, Kerala, has conquered disease and poverty — and illiteracy and discrimination against women and girls — better than any state in India. And the secret to Kerala's success? Equality. Kerala has done more to share income and wealth fairly and widely than any other state within India.
Kerala, by every conventional measure of economic growth, rates as a poor place. Until recently, Keralans averaged less gross domestic product per person than the Indian average. The comforts conventional economic growth delivers — cars, air conditioners, washing machines — grace only a small percentage of Keralan households.
But on the only measure that “ultimately matters” — “the nature of the lives people can or cannot lead,” a formulation introduced by Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen — Keralans have created a society that outperforms much of the rest of the world. People in Kerala lead lives that are long and healthy, in vital, safe, tolerant communities.
The numbers document Kerala’s achievement. Morocco, a nation about equal to Kerala in population, generates about three times more wealth per person than Kerala. But people in Kerala, on average, live ten years longer than Moroccans. Colombia, another similarly sized nation, generates four times Kerala’s wealth. But babies die in Kerala at less than half the rate they die in Colombia.
Kerala and California also carry about the same population. California, of course, overwhelms Kerala economically. California generates seventy-three times more growth per person than Kerala’s. But Kerala, not California, enjoys more social peace. In the 1990s, about two hundred thousand inmates packed California’s jails and prisons. The number of full-time prisoners in Kerala: five thousand.
Within India, Kerala boasts the lowest rates of malaria and cholera and the highest rates of access to doctors, nurses, health clinics, and hospitals. Within the world, Kerala boasts a literacy rate that tops the average of all other low-income nations — by an amazing 40 percent.
And the literate in Kerala, unlike most of the rest of the low-income world, include girls as well as boys. In 1994, 93 percent of high school-age girls in Kerala were enrolled in high school, more than three times the rate in the rest of India and the world’s poor nations.
The people of Kerala owe their good fortune, their outstanding quality of life, partly to the accidents of geography. On the west, Kerala stretches along the Indian Ocean. This long coastline has always left Kerala open to new ideas from abroad, everything from Christianity to communism.
Meanwhile, on the east, mountain ranges have kept Kerala somewhat separate from the rest of the South Asian subcontinent. These mountains, together with the sea, helped create a land where divergent peoples — Hindus, Christians, Muslims, and Jews — have lived side by side, in tolerance, for generations.
In this heady atmosphere, intolerance — and exploitation — would not go unchallenged. In the nineteenth century, Kerala saw massive protests against the indignities of India’s caste system, an outrageously rigid hierarchy that subjected people in the “lower orders” to life-long humiliation.
In the 1930s, inspired by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, small but significant numbers of Kerala’s wealthy Brahmins, all born at the opposite end of the caste hierarchy, began “renouncing their privileges and giving up their lands.”
About the same time, all across Kerala, grassroot networks of landless tenants were organizing for thorough-going land reform. They would later elect, in 1957, India’s first communist-led state government, and this new government would quickly enact sweeping land reform legislation.
But the legislation would not go into effect. India’s central government promptly dismissed the ministers who would have been responsible for its implementation. Kerala’s peasant associations would not be intimidated. They kept up the pressure, and comprehensive land reform would finally come about, fourteen years later, in 1971. The reform would give about 1.5 million former tenant families title to their first property.
Over the next two decades, under steady pressure from peasant groups and trade unions, elected governments in Kerala, communist and noncommunist alike, would enact still more wealth-redistributing reforms.
Kerala’s minimum wage became India’s highest. Stiff tax rates on the wealthy, meanwhile, helped underwrite the free and low-cost distribution of basic services. Keralans, by the 1990s, were paying no charge for a minimal level of electrical power. In state-supported stores, Keralans could buy everything from rice to batteries at subsidized prices.
All these reforms, notes environmental author Bill McKibben, helped create “a state with some of the most equal wealth distribution on Earth.” (Read this in tune with this)That suited average families in Kerala quite nicely. But outsiders, particularly outsiders with power and wealth, considered Kerala hostile territory.
Industrialists avoided Kerala. They were not about to situate manufacturing plants in a state where wage rates ran three times the Indian average. Kerala, as a result, would not — could not — “grow” in standard economic terms. Without capital to fund ambitious “growth” projects, no giant manufacturing plants would soar above Kerala’s tropical forests.
Joblessness, on the other hand, would rise, to levels that topped the average unemployment rates elsewhere in India. But Kerala did not crumble, as conventional growth economics would have predicted. Kerala, instead, developed. Kerala’s left leaders may “have failed to spur economic growth,” as a 1998 Atlantic Monthly analysis would observe, but “they have been singularly successful at implementing development through redistribution.”
Indeed, between 1973-74 and century's end, only three states in India registered significant decreases in the percentage of their people living in poverty. Kerala led the way, with a poverty rate plunge from 60 percent in the early 1970s to 13 percent by the year 2000. Over those years, poverty rates in Kerala fell over twice as fast as poverty rates in India overall.
So which way for India in the future? India — and the world — might want to study Kerala's recent past.
---------------------------------------
Although this article suggests a lot of things, it conveniently ignores discussing about a lot of things
-> That joblessness isnt an economic problem, but more of a social problem (Money flows in from outside)
-> How long can "development through redistribution" last? Is it a model that can stand the test of time?
-> How much was the gulf money involved in the poverty rate plunge from 60% to 13%
Well, the author had no reason to discuss these issues, but then, never had any strong reason to avoid these things too.
But yes, Kerala Economic Equality model has been a success till now and we can still continue to boast. But this presents an entirely different picture. Mebbe, we have reached a point, where we have to seriously think about many issues. One thing that evrybody would perhaps agree would be that, we would like to retain the first place in terms of Economic Equality.
Non-Hindus and Temple Entry
Of late, we had this controversy on Sri Lankan Prime Minister Rajapaksha's visit to the Guruvayoor temple. Mrs. Rajapaksha was (supposedly) a Christian before marriage and hence, the authorities discovered (after 20-odd days were past after the visit) that there was a grevious crime that has been committed. They were thinking of having 20 days of Pooja after a shuddhikalasham (or something of that sort) and so on and so forth. I dont know what actually happened after that.
This sort of a thing asks us to rethink. We have been boasting of being very highly developed socially, and also that we are among the most secular states in India.
For instance, some other things that have happened have a connection to this
1-> Yesudas wasnt allowed to enter Guruvayoor temple, and hence had to sing outside
2-> Kalamandalam Hyderali wasnt allowed into many temples, although a few allowed him inside.
I somehow feel that the rule "non-hindus should not enter temples" is extremely communal and barbaric. The common excuse given is that "non-hindus" may not follow the usual practices such as bathe before going to a temple and so on. But well, if that be the reason, why not put such things explicitly; why a communal tinge to in the niyamam. I know people who are "non-hindus" but believe in offering prayers at any place of worship; and interestingly, they frequent temples too although they know that they are committing an offence. Whatever be the reason, denying entry to Yesudas seems like going back a couple of centuries.
This sort of a thing asks us to rethink. We have been boasting of being very highly developed socially, and also that we are among the most secular states in India.
For instance, some other things that have happened have a connection to this
1-> Yesudas wasnt allowed to enter Guruvayoor temple, and hence had to sing outside
2-> Kalamandalam Hyderali wasnt allowed into many temples, although a few allowed him inside.
I somehow feel that the rule "non-hindus should not enter temples" is extremely communal and barbaric. The common excuse given is that "non-hindus" may not follow the usual practices such as bathe before going to a temple and so on. But well, if that be the reason, why not put such things explicitly; why a communal tinge to in the niyamam. I know people who are "non-hindus" but believe in offering prayers at any place of worship; and interestingly, they frequent temples too although they know that they are committing an offence. Whatever be the reason, denying entry to Yesudas seems like going back a couple of centuries.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Academia Industry Interaction - On the Search for Viable Models for Engineering Colleges in Kerala
We had this discussion on academia-industry interaction in Kerala going on in a yahoo group of which I am a member and which includes some of the best visionaries involved in academia/administration that Kerala has ever produced. Below is the mail that I posted to that group, and which includes a good (non-comprehensive) summary of industry-academia relationships in more famous T-schools in India
-------------------------------------------------
Let me introduce myself as a graduate (MTech) student in the Department of CS&E, IIT Madras. I have always felt that Computer Science departments have opened up newer ways of industry interaction, which largely benefits the academia rather than the industry. Let me use this mail to list down the ways of industry interaction practised (and those not practised) by CSE @ IITM (and possibly, CSE across IITs) so that people could comment on what kind of interaction could be worked out in academia in Kerala.
Here, many of the labs have projects which are either sponsored by ISRO or that are being done by the ISRO (and such governmental organisations). This, I feel, is the kind of industry interaction which has been practised for years in Indian academia. For instance, I happened to talk to a faculty member from Sri Chithra Institute (Tvpm - http://www.sctimst.ac.in) and he said that industry interaction at his institute if mostly by means of collaborative and funded projects. I may be wrong in generalising, but i feel this to be the conventional mode of industry interaction.
With the coming of private MNC giants into India, CS&E departments have been finding out ways of getting those people involved. Some of the kinds of interactions happening in CSE, IITM (many of them may exist in other departments as well) include
1-> External Registration Programmes - Industry people coming into the department for external registration programmes. These are similar to the part-time BTechs in Kerala, but for the fact that these external registration programmes in here are mainly for research. For instance, a person working with IBM Research can register for an External PhD (with two advisors - one from the institute and another from the organization), spend a couple of semesters at the institute and then do the rest of the research work in his organisation. This happens for PhD and MS programmes.
2-> Industry Visitors - Most of profs in here keep in good touch with their amunini working in various places. So when they come to India, they inevitably mail their old advisor regarding this, and the latter invites them to give a lecture. There have been lectures where people describe their research (redo the presentation of their most recently published research work) or rather just talk about their organization and it's larger vision. This happens very often.
3-> Collaborative Projects - Many profs in here work as consultants for various projects in the industry. For instance, one of our profs works with a team in Intel (and makes frequent visits to their place) whereas another is the main member of the crypto group @ Microsoft Research India. Microsoft Research India infact has a lot of such people, who infact have a designation at the Microsoft Research in addition to their faculty position at their institute. Collaborative projects involve the usual procedure of signing an MoU, but most of them are very exploratory in nature.
4-> Industry Visits - Something reverse to 2 also happens. Like, for instance, while I was dong my internship last year with IBM Research, there were a couple of profs from IIT Bombay who visited IBM Research to deliver lectures. Those things happened because those guys had their students working in IBM Research.
5-> Internships - It goes without saying that internships are an inevitable part of industry-academia relationships. Here we have a 3 month summer vacation, wherein students go in for internships. Academia in Kerala work more of less haphazardly and hence, the dates of the vacations are not very predictable. I badly wanted to do an internship while doing my BTech @ Model Engineering College, but that did not materialize because I couldnt give the industry people a guarantee that I would be available for 2 months at a stretch (the exam timetable was uncertain and is usually prepared by the university in the last minute)
6-> Courses Offered by Industry people - This has not yet materialized in IIT Madras. IITM plans to build something called a research park wherein plug-n-play space would be leased out to companies. As per the draft formulation, companies setting up office in the research park would have to offer courses (read subjects) @ IIT Madras for which they would be given credits and a minimum amount of credits have to be earned if the company wants to retain its office space in the research park. I know that there are guys in IBM Research (New Delhi) who offer courses in IIT Delhi. Further, I heard that Oracle had offered a full semester course in some college in Bangalore. Our academic setting, where there is little flexibility in the curriculum doesnt allow for such a thing to happen. I guess, we should introduce more electives and let colleges propose electives according to the faculty (industry or academia) available at that time
7-> Industry Grants and Awards for Faculty/Student Conference Travel - This is something that is motivated by the strong urge on the part of the industry to maintain a good relationship with the academia. As elsewhere, profs here get an international conference travel support only once in 3 years. But they actually travel much more frequently, partly due to project funding, and partly due to Industry grants. For instance, IBM provides a funding of 2 lakhs every year to the department for conference travel, which can be administered internally by the department. Further, Microsoft has supposedly sent a huge sum for the first time to the institute just like the IBM funding. Further, IBM, Google, and Microsoft provide travel awards to students getting papers accepted in prestegious international conferences.
8-> An Incubation Center - I personally know that IIT Delhi incubation center enabled the formation of very good start-ups in recent years with very good co-operation from the industry. I am not quite sure whether it is due to an incubation center, but have heard that a company called GDA Tech works within the campus of the Rajagiri Engineering College in Kakkanad, Ekm.
9->Marketing style Initiatives from the Industry - Although not very prevlent in IITs, some product companies offer free licenses and to their costly products (which is commonly opposed by the intellectuals by the argument that the aim is to brainwash the students to believe that their products are better). Further, apart from giving free licenses, they also give free training to use the product. Some companies organise workshops (which are actually training programmes) to popularise the technology or product that they use. For instance, we had the wireless communication giant, Qualcomm, organise a CDMA workshop in IIT Madras a couple of months back. Of the various kinds of industry-academia interactions, I feel that this is the only one, which can be argued against meaningfully. But yet, the students get to use industry-standard products and this may be of help to reduce the strength of the allegation that academia seldom works with real problems/systems
I dont know whether all these things listed above already exist in Kerala academia. I strongly feel that we should have
1-> A more or less stable academic calendar which enables students to plan their internships
2-> A flexible curriculum with a lot more elective courses
3-> A good alumini interaction (technical interaction) wherein any alumini would be able to come the department and deliver a lecture if he wants to convey something worthwhile. In my college, (Model Engineering College), industry lectures were so rare that when there was one, everybody rushed in as if to see something new happening. I guess industry lectures should become the order of the day. Profs who have friends in the industry should invite them frequently to make the students aware of the current trends in the industry.
4-> Opportunity to do research as a part of their BTech project. When I wanted to do some research as a part of my BTech project, people were looking at me as if i am doing some outrageous activity (and as if i am very eccentric) 5-> An incubation center per a cluster of colleges.
I would very much like people to comment on which among the above are viable in our academic setting as of now. If so, could **** (with the help of its highly influential people such as *** and ********) do something that could make a difference.
Best Regards
Deepak
---------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------
Let me introduce myself as a graduate (MTech) student in the Department of CS&E, IIT Madras. I have always felt that Computer Science departments have opened up newer ways of industry interaction, which largely benefits the academia rather than the industry. Let me use this mail to list down the ways of industry interaction practised (and those not practised) by CSE @ IITM (and possibly, CSE across IITs) so that people could comment on what kind of interaction could be worked out in academia in Kerala.
Here, many of the labs have projects which are either sponsored by ISRO or that are being done by the ISRO (and such governmental organisations). This, I feel, is the kind of industry interaction which has been practised for years in Indian academia. For instance, I happened to talk to a faculty member from Sri Chithra Institute (Tvpm - http://www.sctimst.ac.in) and he said that industry interaction at his institute if mostly by means of collaborative and funded projects. I may be wrong in generalising, but i feel this to be the conventional mode of industry interaction.
With the coming of private MNC giants into India, CS&E departments have been finding out ways of getting those people involved. Some of the kinds of interactions happening in CSE, IITM (many of them may exist in other departments as well) include
1-> External Registration Programmes - Industry people coming into the department for external registration programmes. These are similar to the part-time BTechs in Kerala, but for the fact that these external registration programmes in here are mainly for research. For instance, a person working with IBM Research can register for an External PhD (with two advisors - one from the institute and another from the organization), spend a couple of semesters at the institute and then do the rest of the research work in his organisation. This happens for PhD and MS programmes.
2-> Industry Visitors - Most of profs in here keep in good touch with their amunini working in various places. So when they come to India, they inevitably mail their old advisor regarding this, and the latter invites them to give a lecture. There have been lectures where people describe their research (redo the presentation of their most recently published research work) or rather just talk about their organization and it's larger vision. This happens very often.
3-> Collaborative Projects - Many profs in here work as consultants for various projects in the industry. For instance, one of our profs works with a team in Intel (and makes frequent visits to their place) whereas another is the main member of the crypto group @ Microsoft Research India. Microsoft Research India infact has a lot of such people, who infact have a designation at the Microsoft Research in addition to their faculty position at their institute. Collaborative projects involve the usual procedure of signing an MoU, but most of them are very exploratory in nature.
4-> Industry Visits - Something reverse to 2 also happens. Like, for instance, while I was dong my internship last year with IBM Research, there were a couple of profs from IIT Bombay who visited IBM Research to deliver lectures. Those things happened because those guys had their students working in IBM Research.
5-> Internships - It goes without saying that internships are an inevitable part of industry-academia relationships. Here we have a 3 month summer vacation, wherein students go in for internships. Academia in Kerala work more of less haphazardly and hence, the dates of the vacations are not very predictable. I badly wanted to do an internship while doing my BTech @ Model Engineering College, but that did not materialize because I couldnt give the industry people a guarantee that I would be available for 2 months at a stretch (the exam timetable was uncertain and is usually prepared by the university in the last minute)
6-> Courses Offered by Industry people - This has not yet materialized in IIT Madras. IITM plans to build something called a research park wherein plug-n-play space would be leased out to companies. As per the draft formulation, companies setting up office in the research park would have to offer courses (read subjects) @ IIT Madras for which they would be given credits and a minimum amount of credits have to be earned if the company wants to retain its office space in the research park. I know that there are guys in IBM Research (New Delhi) who offer courses in IIT Delhi. Further, I heard that Oracle had offered a full semester course in some college in Bangalore. Our academic setting, where there is little flexibility in the curriculum doesnt allow for such a thing to happen. I guess, we should introduce more electives and let colleges propose electives according to the faculty (industry or academia) available at that time
7-> Industry Grants and Awards for Faculty/Student Conference Travel - This is something that is motivated by the strong urge on the part of the industry to maintain a good relationship with the academia. As elsewhere, profs here get an international conference travel support only once in 3 years. But they actually travel much more frequently, partly due to project funding, and partly due to Industry grants. For instance, IBM provides a funding of 2 lakhs every year to the department for conference travel, which can be administered internally by the department. Further, Microsoft has supposedly sent a huge sum for the first time to the institute just like the IBM funding. Further, IBM, Google, and Microsoft provide travel awards to students getting papers accepted in prestegious international conferences.
8-> An Incubation Center - I personally know that IIT Delhi incubation center enabled the formation of very good start-ups in recent years with very good co-operation from the industry. I am not quite sure whether it is due to an incubation center, but have heard that a company called GDA Tech works within the campus of the Rajagiri Engineering College in Kakkanad, Ekm.
9->Marketing style Initiatives from the Industry - Although not very prevlent in IITs, some product companies offer free licenses and to their costly products (which is commonly opposed by the intellectuals by the argument that the aim is to brainwash the students to believe that their products are better). Further, apart from giving free licenses, they also give free training to use the product. Some companies organise workshops (which are actually training programmes) to popularise the technology or product that they use. For instance, we had the wireless communication giant, Qualcomm, organise a CDMA workshop in IIT Madras a couple of months back. Of the various kinds of industry-academia interactions, I feel that this is the only one, which can be argued against meaningfully. But yet, the students get to use industry-standard products and this may be of help to reduce the strength of the allegation that academia seldom works with real problems/systems
I dont know whether all these things listed above already exist in Kerala academia. I strongly feel that we should have
1-> A more or less stable academic calendar which enables students to plan their internships
2-> A flexible curriculum with a lot more elective courses
3-> A good alumini interaction (technical interaction) wherein any alumini would be able to come the department and deliver a lecture if he wants to convey something worthwhile. In my college, (Model Engineering College), industry lectures were so rare that when there was one, everybody rushed in as if to see something new happening. I guess industry lectures should become the order of the day. Profs who have friends in the industry should invite them frequently to make the students aware of the current trends in the industry.
4-> Opportunity to do research as a part of their BTech project. When I wanted to do some research as a part of my BTech project, people were looking at me as if i am doing some outrageous activity (and as if i am very eccentric) 5-> An incubation center per a cluster of colleges.
I would very much like people to comment on which among the above are viable in our academic setting as of now. If so, could **** (with the help of its highly influential people such as *** and ********) do something that could make a difference.
Best Regards
Deepak
---------------------------------------
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Science and Technology Research Centers in Kerala
We have a lot of S&T research centers in the state.. (it may be noted that only one of them is an engineering research center in the conventional or IT-related engineering disciplines).. i thought i would create a list of them and here it is..
It may be noted here that most of the Research centers perform far better than university departments. Care has been taken to include only those institutes which have established their place in the global research scene of the area in which they specialise in.
Disclaimer: This list is by no means exhaustive. The listing is in no particular order.
Request: If you know of any other research institute in Kerala, please do post it as a comment. I would like to make this list comprehensive as time goes by.
1. Regional Research Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram
Areas of Research: Agroprocessing and Natural Products, Biotechnology, Chemical Sciences and Technologies, Materials and Minerals, Process Engineering and Environmental Technology
Home: http://w3rrlt.csir.res.in/
2. Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram
Home: http://www.tbgri.org/
3. Center for Earth Science Studies, Akkulam, Thiruvananthapuram
Areas of Research: Natural Hazards Management, Earth Science Studies
Home: http://www.cessind.org/
4. Rajeev Gandhi Center for Biotechnology, Poojappura, Thiruvananthapuram
Areas of Research: Animal Biotechnology, Cancer Biology, Environmental Biotechnology, Human Molecular Genetics, Molecular Endocrinology, Molecular Ethnopharmacology, Molecular Reproduction, Mycobacterial Research, Neurobiology, Plant Molecular Biology, Protein Chemistry, Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, Stem Cell Biology
Home: http://www.rgcb.res.in/
5. Sree Chithra Thirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram
Areas of Research: Cardiology, Neurosciences, Biochemistry, Pathology and Radiology
Home: http://www.sctimst.ac.in/
6. Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management - Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram
Areas of Research: Mainly ICT for Development
Home: http://www.iiitmk.ac.in/
7. CochinUniversity of Science and Technology, Kalamassery, Ernakulam
CUSAT has a lot of research centers although I am not very aware of the amoung of research in their agenda.
Listed Below are some of the more prominent ones
Home: http://www.cusat.ac.in/ , http://www.cusat.edu
Some centers:
RUDAT - Rural Development and Appropriate Technology
International School of Photonics http://www.photonics.cusat.edu/
Sophisticated Test and Instrumentation Center http://www.sticindia.com/
School of Environmental Studies
Center for Mangrove Studies
8. Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi
Home: http://www.kfri.org/
9. Kerala Agricultural University, Vellayani
Home: http://www.kau.edu/
10. Center for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram
Areas of Research: Kerala Economy and Society, Population, Development, Industry, Technology, Trade and Agrarian Economic Institutions
Home: http://cds.edu/
Kerala Research Programme on Local Level Development, http://krpcds.org/
11. Center for Water Resources Development and Management, Kunnamangalam, Kozhikode
Home: http://www.cwrdm.org
12. Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, Thiruvananthapuram
Home: http://www.isro.org/centers/cen_vssc.htm
13. Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasargod
Home: http://cpcri.nic.in/
14. Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram
Home: http://www.ctcri.org/
15. Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Ernakulam
Home: http://www.cift.res.in/
16. Central Coir Research Institute, Kalavoor, Alappuzha
Home: http://www.coirindia.org/ccri/
17. Rubber Research Institute of India, Kottayam
Home: http://rubberboard.org.in/rubberresearchinstitute.asp
18. Regional Cancer Center, Thiruvananthapuram
Home: http://www.rcctvm.org/
19. Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode
Home: http://www.iisr.org/
20. Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Ernakulam
Home: http://www.cmfri.com/
21. National Research Center for Oil Palm (Regional Center), Palode, Thiruvananthapuram
Home: http://www.ap.nic.in/nrcop/
22. Indian Cardamom Research Institute, Myladumpara, Idukki
Seems like this institute does not have a web presence
It may be noted here that most of the Research centers perform far better than university departments. Care has been taken to include only those institutes which have established their place in the global research scene of the area in which they specialise in.
Disclaimer: This list is by no means exhaustive. The listing is in no particular order.
Request: If you know of any other research institute in Kerala, please do post it as a comment. I would like to make this list comprehensive as time goes by.
1. Regional Research Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram
Areas of Research: Agroprocessing and Natural Products, Biotechnology, Chemical Sciences and Technologies, Materials and Minerals, Process Engineering and Environmental Technology
Home: http://w3rrlt.csir.res.in/
2. Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram
Home: http://www.tbgri.org/
3. Center for Earth Science Studies, Akkulam, Thiruvananthapuram
Areas of Research: Natural Hazards Management, Earth Science Studies
Home: http://www.cessind.org/
4. Rajeev Gandhi Center for Biotechnology, Poojappura, Thiruvananthapuram
Areas of Research: Animal Biotechnology, Cancer Biology, Environmental Biotechnology, Human Molecular Genetics, Molecular Endocrinology, Molecular Ethnopharmacology, Molecular Reproduction, Mycobacterial Research, Neurobiology, Plant Molecular Biology, Protein Chemistry, Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, Stem Cell Biology
Home: http://www.rgcb.res.in/
5. Sree Chithra Thirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram
Areas of Research: Cardiology, Neurosciences, Biochemistry, Pathology and Radiology
Home: http://www.sctimst.ac.in/
6. Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management - Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram
Areas of Research: Mainly ICT for Development
Home: http://www.iiitmk.ac.in/
7. CochinUniversity of Science and Technology, Kalamassery, Ernakulam
CUSAT has a lot of research centers although I am not very aware of the amoung of research in their agenda.
Listed Below are some of the more prominent ones
Home: http://www.cusat.ac.in/ , http://www.cusat.edu
Some centers:
RUDAT - Rural Development and Appropriate Technology
International School of Photonics http://www.photonics.cusat.edu/
Sophisticated Test and Instrumentation Center http://www.sticindia.com/
School of Environmental Studies
Center for Mangrove Studies
8. Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi
Home: http://www.kfri.org/
9. Kerala Agricultural University, Vellayani
Home: http://www.kau.edu/
10. Center for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram
Areas of Research: Kerala Economy and Society, Population, Development, Industry, Technology, Trade and Agrarian Economic Institutions
Home: http://cds.edu/
Kerala Research Programme on Local Level Development, http://krpcds.org/
11. Center for Water Resources Development and Management, Kunnamangalam, Kozhikode
Home: http://www.cwrdm.org
12. Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, Thiruvananthapuram
Home: http://www.isro.org/centers/cen_vssc.htm
13. Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasargod
Home: http://cpcri.nic.in/
14. Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram
Home: http://www.ctcri.org/
15. Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, Ernakulam
Home: http://www.cift.res.in/
16. Central Coir Research Institute, Kalavoor, Alappuzha
Home: http://www.coirindia.org/ccri/
17. Rubber Research Institute of India, Kottayam
Home: http://rubberboard.org.in/rubberresearchinstitute.asp
18. Regional Cancer Center, Thiruvananthapuram
Home: http://www.rcctvm.org/
19. Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode
Home: http://www.iisr.org/
20. Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Ernakulam
Home: http://www.cmfri.com/
21. National Research Center for Oil Palm (Regional Center), Palode, Thiruvananthapuram
Home: http://www.ap.nic.in/nrcop/
22. Indian Cardamom Research Institute, Myladumpara, Idukki
Seems like this institute does not have a web presence
23. Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram
Departments include Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Earth and Space Studies, Aerospace Engineering, Avionics and Humanities
24. Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Thiruvananthapuram
Programmes include Integrated MS Programme (5-years), admissions for undergrad programme through JEE.
Income Disparities in Kerala: KSSP Study
this is an article i came across from somewhere.. i find it very relevant.. btw, i dont endorse many of the views expressed.. having said that, i find the article interesting becos it somehow tells us that, its time for us to stop resting on our laurels, just because there are a loot of things yet to be done
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Top 10 per cent cornering 41 per cent of personal income
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Malayalis might love to think that they have travelled a long way on the road towards building an egalitarian society, but facts appear to suggest otherwise.
Thus, while the affluent 10 per cent of the population corners 41 per cent of the total domestic income generated in the State, the bottom 10 per cent gets only a distressing share of 1.3 per cent. And, despite Kerala's much-touted achievements in the fields of healthcare and education, only 7.5 per cent of youth from poor families are fortunate to enter the portals of colleges, while 36.8 per cent of their peers from the top 10 per cent are fortunate enough to do so. Worse, 54.3 per cent of those aged between 18 and 25 from poor families are jobless while the figure for those belonging to affluent families is less than half that at 24.8 per cent, says a study on the economic status of Keralites conducted by the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP).
The study, covering 28,049 persons belonging to 5,696 households spread over the entire State, shows that what the State has witnessed over the last few decades is conversion of the lower middle class into the upper middle class with an accompanying accentuation of the economic disparities among those at the two ends of the social spectrum. According to the KSSP study, the findings of which were released at a news conference here on Thursday, 41 per cent of the Kerala population today comprises the lower middle class and 9 per cent of the upper middle class and the rich, but the major chunk is made up of the very poor and the poor. The per capita monthly income of the upper middle class and the rich is over 12 times more than that of those belonging to the very poor and poor.
The study shows that the incidence of poverty is the highest in Palakkad, Wayanad, Idukki and Malappuram districts, the worst being Palakkad. It also questions the premise that there is no urban-rural divide in Kerala and suggests that when it comes to incomes and economic wellbeing, the villages are really worse off, particularly among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Among the various communities, the situation is bad among Muslims where the poor outnumber the middle class. The sector that provides employment to the largest number of persons is the tertiary sector (52.6 per cent) and the ones who earn the highest incomes are professionals, particularly by doctors whose average monthly income is Rs.22,400.
The study also reveals that the correlation between education and income is quite strong and concludes that the rat race among parents for securing professional education for children is a direct fallout of this. The study also reveals that over the last five years, there has been a massive asset transfer from 91 per cent of the population to the remaining 9 per cent and surmises that this could suggest a major reversal of the gains of the widely acclaimed land reforms in Kerala. The State also had the highest per capita expenditure on healthcare and the poor spend as much as 34.5 per cent of the income to secure healthcare.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Top 10 per cent cornering 41 per cent of personal income
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Malayalis might love to think that they have travelled a long way on the road towards building an egalitarian society, but facts appear to suggest otherwise.
Thus, while the affluent 10 per cent of the population corners 41 per cent of the total domestic income generated in the State, the bottom 10 per cent gets only a distressing share of 1.3 per cent. And, despite Kerala's much-touted achievements in the fields of healthcare and education, only 7.5 per cent of youth from poor families are fortunate to enter the portals of colleges, while 36.8 per cent of their peers from the top 10 per cent are fortunate enough to do so. Worse, 54.3 per cent of those aged between 18 and 25 from poor families are jobless while the figure for those belonging to affluent families is less than half that at 24.8 per cent, says a study on the economic status of Keralites conducted by the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP).
The study, covering 28,049 persons belonging to 5,696 households spread over the entire State, shows that what the State has witnessed over the last few decades is conversion of the lower middle class into the upper middle class with an accompanying accentuation of the economic disparities among those at the two ends of the social spectrum. According to the KSSP study, the findings of which were released at a news conference here on Thursday, 41 per cent of the Kerala population today comprises the lower middle class and 9 per cent of the upper middle class and the rich, but the major chunk is made up of the very poor and the poor. The per capita monthly income of the upper middle class and the rich is over 12 times more than that of those belonging to the very poor and poor.
The study shows that the incidence of poverty is the highest in Palakkad, Wayanad, Idukki and Malappuram districts, the worst being Palakkad. It also questions the premise that there is no urban-rural divide in Kerala and suggests that when it comes to incomes and economic wellbeing, the villages are really worse off, particularly among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Among the various communities, the situation is bad among Muslims where the poor outnumber the middle class. The sector that provides employment to the largest number of persons is the tertiary sector (52.6 per cent) and the ones who earn the highest incomes are professionals, particularly by doctors whose average monthly income is Rs.22,400.
The study also reveals that the correlation between education and income is quite strong and concludes that the rat race among parents for securing professional education for children is a direct fallout of this. The study also reveals that over the last five years, there has been a massive asset transfer from 91 per cent of the population to the remaining 9 per cent and surmises that this could suggest a major reversal of the gains of the widely acclaimed land reforms in Kerala. The State also had the highest per capita expenditure on healthcare and the poor spend as much as 34.5 per cent of the income to secure healthcare.
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Monday, April 03, 2006
Starting off my Blog on Kerala
am not particularly excited about blogging.. but on the verge of completing my second year of NRK (read non-resident-keralite) life, i feel all the more nostalgic about 'god's own country'
and here i plan to blog about my thoughts on kerala.. starting from nostalgic memories, my dream about a developed kerala, the way secularism exists in kerala.. and yes, kerala cuisine.. and a loot of other things related to kerala..
for an intro about kerala for my non-malayali readers.. kerala is a small state (40k sq.km if my memory holds good) in the south-west corner of India housing around 3.2 crores of people.. and yes, u guessed it, the highest population density in India.. called "god's own country".. malayalam being the official language.. a beauty of a place..
i start off with a line from a song which I love a lot "mathiyaakumvarey ivde jeevichu marichavarundoo"
and here i plan to blog about my thoughts on kerala.. starting from nostalgic memories, my dream about a developed kerala, the way secularism exists in kerala.. and yes, kerala cuisine.. and a loot of other things related to kerala..
for an intro about kerala for my non-malayali readers.. kerala is a small state (40k sq.km if my memory holds good) in the south-west corner of India housing around 3.2 crores of people.. and yes, u guessed it, the highest population density in India.. called "god's own country".. malayalam being the official language.. a beauty of a place..
i start off with a line from a song which I love a lot "mathiyaakumvarey ivde jeevichu marichavarundoo"
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