Innholdsfortegnelse for May 30, 2016 i India Today

One of the most difficult decisions in a young student’s life is selecting the college they want to study in. A decision made harder with the astronomical cut-offs for most top colleges. Simple percentages are no longer enough. The battle is now fought on decimal points. This intense competition is part of the awesome race for excellence. Quality education, however, is not just about cut-offs and percentages, nor about finding a better career path. It is not even about livelihood, it is about life. The deluge of results over 90 per cent would suggest our education system is robust and our standards extraordinarily high. Cold numbers are hard to argue with, but they also tell a more troubling story. About an education system so focused on marks that it sometimes…

The UK abolished criminal libel in 2010 as anachronistic. Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore are exceptions. But India doesn’t need to be in their company The right to freedom of speech and expression has been guaranteed as a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) of our Constitution. Like all fundamental rights in our Constitution, this precious right is not absolute. It can be reasonably restricted, as is evident from Article 19(2), which envisages imposition of restrictions inter alia on the head of defamation. Right to reputation is also guaranteed as part of the fundamental right of personal liberty in Article 21 of the Constitution, as expansively interpreted by the Supreme Court. Hence no one can claim a fundamental right to defame a person. This was recognised by the Supreme Court in its recent…

The India Today Group’s Best Colleges survey was conducted by The Nielsen Company between December 2015 and April 2016 to determine the best undergraduate colleges across 13 disciplines—Arts, Science, Commerce, Engineering, Medicine, Law, Mass Communication, Fashion Technology, Fine Arts, Business Administration, Computer Application, and Education, which has been included for the first time this year. For the Arts, Science and Commerce streams, colleges were surveyed in 18 major cities— Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Coimbatore, Patna and Dehradun. For the other 10 streams, colleges from across the country were included. In the first phase, secondary research was done to generate a comprehensive list of over 2,850 colleges. After the final list in each stream came through, senior faculty in each…

The essence of St Stephen’s college is captured on the wall behind the principal’s desk. Adorning it is a photo of Charles Freer Andrews, flanked by photos of a college doorkeeper and water-bearer from the 1930s on either side. Andrews was a Christian reformer and professor at the college, known for being instrumental in convincing Mahatma Gandhi to return to India from South Africa, whereas the other two holding this significant space were simple people who exemplified the spirit of service. This dedication towards serving society and country, without discrimination, defines the vision St Stephen’s holds for its students and what it has consistently maintained in its 135 years of existence. So what are the ingredients that make for a centre of excellence like St Stephen’s? It’s a healthy mix…

Ever since I was a teenager, I always dreamt of setting up a business of my own. At the age of 17, I decided to skip college education in favour of starting my own company. I don’t underestimate the strengths and benefits that come with formal education. Besides accelerating the process of learning, it provides opportunities to network, and also enhances aspects of your personality. But it was never a choice for me. I was brimming with ideas and enthusiasm, and didn’t want to be hindered by academic goals. My early idea was a hotel-aggregation platform—but once I travelled and stayed in over a 100 hotels and B&Bs to understand customer problems better, I realised that the real issue is not the discoverability of these hotels but the (lack of)…

“The litigation life takes persistence and dedication, be prepared for an investment of six to 10 years before it gets financially rewarding. “ Justice doesn’t just happen—it takes intelligence, grit, sometimes leaps of faith to help create it. Justice and its imperfect expression in law is a necessary condition of human existence. Laws are passed often without regard to constitutional principles. There are imbalances in the system; with the number of judges, policemen and witness protection resources we have per capita of population, rule of law can be somewhat thin on the ground. Bringing the two closer together is the reason for my being a lawyer. Law can be a high-impact profession. Whether winning damages against Spice Jet for discriminating against a disabled person or a tax matter that has…

BEAUTY IS IN SIMPLICITY It's easy on the eye and breezy in appeal, ideal ingredients for a perfect meal. This dining set-up put together by newly launched lifestyle brand Nicobar, shows us how to dress up a table without unnecessarily cluttering the space. Pale summer colours, interesting motifs like pinapples, elephants and guppys against white and lime, make you want to dine here. Don't miss the khullar glasses and beautiful stoneware. Guppy Shup ₹550 (mugs), ₹950 (quarter plate), ₹1,250 (noodle bowl); Malabar ₹950 each (round dish, square platter), ₹2,400 (rice platter), ₹950 to ₹2,400 (curry bowls); Cushions from the Ber Ber Collection ₹650 to ₹850; Verandah striped dinner napkins ₹1,800 (set of six); Striped block printed placemats ₹550 (set of two); Lotus Aqua Candy Striped Kulhar ₹850; Pebbles ₹250 each;…

Girivihar, Mumbai’s first mountaineering club, has for the past 11 years been organising open international climbing competitions in Navi Mumbai. This year, they finally won the approval of the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) to host a World Cup—India’s first. The event provides a huge opportunity to Indian climbers and Siddhi Manerikar, the only contestant from Mumbai, wasn’t going to let it go easily. Having taken up sport climbing as a 14-year-old, she has competed in 22 competitions, including four international ones, over six years. This one, on home ground, is certainly a special one for Manerikar. Q. What do you like most about sport climbing? A. When I’m not climbing I feel something is missing, and when I do climb, I have only one thing running through my…

MAY 16, 2016 Decoding the BJP strategy of dredging up the AgustaWestland scam “AgustaWestland may well go the Bofors way. But the BJP’s interest would have been served if this instance of defence kickbacks gets them a second stint in 2019 just as Bofors helped V.P. Singh come to power in 1989.” KRISHNA BALRAJ SAHAY, Patna Behind the Sharif Image Much like in India, the privileged in Pakistan have been using tax havens while presiding over a desperately poor country, where the tax burden is borne by the salaried and working classes (Panama Heat on Sharif). Nawaz Sharif’s family, including three of his four children, has often been accused of corruption, money-laundering and tax avoidance by political opponents. They have allegedly acquired vast sums of money from steel, sugar, paper…

TRADING PLACES President Pranab Mukherjee will start his May 24 China visit in Guangzhou, the country’s manufacturing capital and not in Beijing, as is usually the norm. The focus is a business summit with China’s biggest state-run firms. While presidential visits are often as much about pomp, China is keen to show outcomes. Delhi, meanwhile, hopes to push investment ties with a wealthy province that accounts for a quarter of the $71 billion two-way trade. FOREIGN HAND The BJP state lea dership in Uttarakhand is upset with the failed attempt to dethrone Harish Rawat’s government. Fingers are being pointed at the external hand behind the failed operation, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, the lea der from MP who reportedly conducted ‘operation topple’ without keeping the state unit in the loop.…

Afew weeks ago, I received a phone call from an excited former student who had just completed his PhD in mathematics in the US. He had landed his first job as a research scientist at the famous M.D. Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas. There is nothing unusual about this. This was almost a repetition of another scenario from two years ago when another former student landed his first job at the renowned Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine straight after his PhD in mathematics. I have begun to notice that the world is becoming increasingly receptive to young people who have a mathematics qualification. Another young PhD in mathematics is doing exceptionally well at a financial firm in London. Two other young individuals with similar backgrounds are doing exceptionally…

“Good engineers can be developed if one big attitudinal issue is solved—feeling good about working on shop floors or on construction sites “ Indians have a competence that few have. This comes from their strong aptitude for math, the ability to conceptualise and spatial ability. Spatial ability is the ability to think 3D, to visualise what a two dimensional image looks like in three dimensions. Product engineering services in India, so far, has been restricted to mainly basic and detailed engineering and in some cases front end engineering (FEED). But Indian engineers are capable of making a mark in conceptual engineering where ASME standards are defined or redefined. But there is another breed of engineers that is missing. They are those who love the shop floor, have a “do it…

Last year, the Symbiosis Centre for Media and Communication (SCMC) organised online contest Mad Hat for applicants to its entrance test. Eight students won a three-day sponsored trip to the institute, where they could live on the campus and experience the place first-hand. And this was before the entrance test results were even announced! A few months later, the institute sent six of its students to the International Advertising Association. Here, they had a chance to meet social media expert Simon Kemp, Cindy Gallop of the famous TED talk MakeLoveNotPorn, NITI Aayog’s Amitabh Kant, Sachin Tendulkar and Shah Rukh Khan. Little wonder then that SCMC sits pretty as the best college in its stream for the fourth year in a row. Located in Symbiosis’s Viman Nagar campus in Pune, it…

Sixty-eight years after Independence, more than a century after this icon first appears in the public political imagination of the nation, we are being asked to swear our allegiance to the idea of Bharat Mata afresh. As this demand presses upon us, refusing to admit any debate or dissent, it is time to ask— who is this mythic figure of the motherland; how and when did such an image come into being; in what context did such a figure take on its political charge as a mobilising symbol of mass nationalism? These questions need to be addressed with a new urgency. For, there is nothing natural or given, and certainly nothing timeless, about this imaging of the nation in the form of a woman, both human and divine. There is…

Theatres of Democracy By Shiv Visvanathan Published by HarperCollins India Pages: 421 Price: Rs 699 Marooned in Sonepat in an exotic cluster, like a flock of flamingos in the desert, are a number of universities—schools of agriculture, law, architecture, the social sciences, business, and liberal arts. It’s an incongruous setting. Sonepat is only an hour-and-a-half or so away from Delhi but ramshackle, a small rural town with not much to recommend it besides this odd outcrop of campuses. In an empty classroom at the O.P. Jindal University, its slick, sprawling grounds sprinkled with kids in shorts, standard student attire from Seattle to Sonepat, the INDIA TODAY photographer is staging a tableau. Before the stillness of the photograph, though, all is prefatory bustle. Shiv Visvanathan—a social scientist and garrulous public intellectual;…

On a day like any other in 1997, Anurag Kashyap, then an upcoming writer working with Ram Gopal Varma, met four struggling actors on Platform No. 1 of Andheri railway station to persuade a distressed Rajpal Yadav to not give up on his Bollywood dreams and leave the city. Yadav would stay back and later get a career-resurrecting role in Kashyap-penned Shool (1999). It was also the first time Kashyap met Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Of the many gifts Kashyap has given Indian cinema, perhaps one of the finest is the actor from Budhana, Uttar Pradesh. The director discouraged the National School of Drama graduate from acting as a waiter in Shool; Siddiqui needed the money so he did the bit part. “I knew his background and how much he had invested,”…

KEEPIN’ IT SHORT Those pert 140 character comments on the issues of the day did wonders to keep him relevant. Now Shirish Kunder, the director husband of filmmaker Farah Khan, tries his hand at another nifty format, a short film, Kriti, with Manoj Bajp ayee, Neha Sharma and Radhika Apte. BIRD ON A WIRE Count on Sonam Kapoor to use the Cannes platform to bring to light a young, talented Indian designer. Delhi-based designer Rimzim Dadu, 30, was the talk of the town after the Neerja actress wore her creation—a black-and-blue sari made out of molten wires. “I’ve been hearing from people all over the world who want to get their hands on it,” says Dadu, who likes to deconstruct and reassemble fabric. “It’s great that people are more accepting…

No 1 On to the Floor JUNE 18 SEE The first India Open Latin Ballroom DanceSport Championship will showcase over 200 competitors and dance athletes of all ages battling it out and exhibiting authentic dance forms. AT Experimental Theatre, NCPA WEBSITE dancesportmh.com No 2 Live Time JUNE 4 SEE Popular English satirical podcast, Audiomatic’s Our Last Week featuring Anuvab Pal and Kunal Roy Kapur will be staged for the first time at NCPA’s annual Cheer! Festival. The podcast typically has the comedians attempting to “make sense” of the last week’s events. AT Experimental Theatre, NCPA No 3 Men Can Dance JUNE 19 DO A special Father’s Day workshop titled Kathak For Him will have Kathak guru Aparna Mishra break popular stereotypes and get grown men dancing to her tunes. The…

Crisis in Higher Education Good colleges don’t often confess they are in a mess. But Hindu College—one of Delhi’s oldest and most popular— is doing just that. At first glance, under a late afternoon sun, everything seems the same. Wide corridors with sunrays streaming past backlit brick columns as trendy students engaged in lazy banter lie sprawled on the lawns. But dig deeper. Worry lines crease the forehead of T.C. Arora, accounts administrator, as he thumbs through a stack of balance sheets, thick as an encyclopaedia, in his office. “The first three months of this financial year have already chalked up a deficit of Rs 14 lakh,” he says. Around him, his staff juggles funds, shifting money from “less important” heads (like leave allowance for teachers) to “more important” ones…

BEST OF THE BEST In recent times, college and university campuses in India have made headlines for reasons that go beyond academics. The conflict of ideas and ideologies has taken a violent turn on many campuses, perhaps an inevitable consequence of a tilt in the balance of political power. But that change has not affected the quest for academic excellence, and the results of the India Today Group’s survey of the country’s best colleges this year are a testimony to that. The permanent residency of several institutes in the top 10 lists across multiple streams indicates that excellence becomes a matter of habit. Of course, there are some deviations. The Lady Shri Ram College for Women in Delhi, for instance, has reclaimed its supremacy in humanities. The college, which has…

Who would think that origami and automotive could go together? Or information technology and design. But they do. Automobile manufacturers use origami principles in assembling and installing airbags in cars. Similarly, design thinking underpins technology-led user experience. This is an indication of life today—one that embraces versatility and points to a future that is integrative. So, if you are multidisciplinary—feel good and build on it, and if you are a specialist, it’s time to connect and engage with people with different strengths to improve your perspective. In today’s dynamic world, where digital forms the core, it is necessary to be multi-faceted. From government agencies to businesses large and small, enterprises, research labs to universities, experts who leverage past experience and emerging trends in technology are in demand. So people who…

As young medical students, after graduation all of us became doctors taking care of patients. We had no options other than practising clinical medicine. Today, things have changed. Nearly one of every five of the officers of the Indian Administrative Service are doctors, large number of research scientists in every sphere of life are doctors, every software company is trying to recruit doctors and, of course, doctors make very good hospital administrators and in health insurance claims settlement. Today, medical education and a medical degree have opened the doors to an exciting world of challenges in different spheres of life. In their early years, very few children are clear about their long term interests. So they are reluctant to take up medicine thinking that it’s a dead end job, condemned…

what’s exciting Informal set-up in library, open up to 3 am No dress code, students are free to wear even shorts on campus 100 per cent placement record Students mentor local school students outside the campus In less than two decades since its establishment in 1987, the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) has risen to the top spot among premier institutions of legal education in the country. Only the best and the brightest make the cut here—just 55 of the 40,000 plus that apply to be admitted each year. R. Venkata Rao, 62, professor and vice chancellor of the Bengaluru-based University doesn’t believe in defining boundaries for his students. “They are free to pursue their interests on campus. We have an open culture that makes students want to…

“Silliness and rumourmongering pass for ‘information’ on social media, but as a user matures, he or she learns what to trust and how to verify “ Digital journalism is the consequence of an era where consumers have ceased to be passive recipients of content. Media today is often driven by audiences, in contrast to its earlier avatar, which sought to influence opinion. The demand for digital journalism is growing. Internet penetration and easy smartphone availability/affordability is affecting the growth of vernacular journalism. But, while demand and need expand, there is no certainty about the market. News gathering is a costly business and digital journalism will have to find a way to cover those costs, which cannot be met by advertising alone. One of the toughest challenges is monetisation. Digital advertising…

CARE TODAY AN INDIA TODAY GROUP INITIATIVE India Today group’s social arm, Care Today Fund, has recently completed several activities being implemented under different projects. This update provides details of these efforts. 1 CARE TODAY A/C GANGA FLOODS REHABILITATION PROJECT COMPLETED ACTIVITIES SINCE 2013 • Emergency relief to 300 families • Establishment and running of 10 childfriendly spaces for six months • Construction of 23 dwellings for poor families, • Three Anganwadi centres • A community centre PARTNERS: Save the Children, CARE India, SEEDS and Society for Himalayan Agriculture and Rural Development (SHARD) Following floods in Uttarakhand in June 2013 resulting in the loss of more than 5,000 lives and extensive damage to property, Care Today Fund launched an appeal to support relief and rehabilitation programmes and received Rs 1,42,29,922…

Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party: An Inside Look by Pran Kurup Bloomsbury Pages 127 Price Rs 399 KEJRIWAL’S MANTRAS 1 Believe in yourself even if no one else will 2 Catch volunteers young, empower them with responsibility 3 Don’t get bogged down in details. Focus on the big picture 4 Be open to new ideas, whatever the source 5 Question the powerful, the aam aadmi loves it 6 It’s always the media’s fault There is no room for doubters, haters and baiters in the Kingdom of the Messiah. Ever since he emerged on the political firmament, first as the Man Behind Anna during the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement, Arvind Kejriwal has sparked extreme opinions. This slight, simply dressed man, with a disarmingly direct way of speaking, has…

STEP BY STEP The beauty of this piece from Housefull International is its ability to change from a four-step ladder into a light weight foldable chair. Made from high quality acacia wood, it is sturdy and durable. PRICE ₹8,280 AT www.housefull.co.in FROM LIGHT TO STOOL Titled Muffin (available at Grandeur), you can use this one as a stool, pouf or a light. Since it is made from heat and gas treated plastic composite, it is easy to clean and reatins it shape and form for a long time. PRICE on request AT www.grandeurinteriors.com DESIGNED FOR COMFORT Convert any living space into a spare guest room with the Harlow Sofa cum Bed from The Furniture Republic. This three seater L-section sofa not only opens into a bed it also comes with…

It would not be wrong to call him the ascetic architect. Not because he spends his time chanting or lives in a hut or has renounced the world; but because he spends countless hours meditating on good design, clean aesthetics and beautiful decor. His interiors are fuss free and focus on what is most important, the client’s requirements and his innate ability to create a visual feast by keeping it simple. No wonder—be it an apartment or a bungalow— the results of his design prowess are striking. One look at this 3,500 sq ft duplex in Breach Candy, Mumbai and one understands just what makes architect, interior designer and art collector (his home boasts of specially commissioned works by artists from around the world) Ashiesh Shah so special. Incidentally, he…

PURE BLISS Ananda in the Himalayas, Narendranagar, Uttarakhand ANANDA IN THE HIMALAYAS IS AN EXPERIENCE, it's a place that draws you into its serene arms, pampering you, embraces you, so that you don't wish to leave. Your journey to self-discovery begins the moment you arrive at the retreat—you are greeted by the warm and courteous staff holding a thal who gift you a rudraksh mala—said to sanctify your mind, body and soul. Opt for at least a three-night-four-day package which includes three spa therapies. The Spa at Ananda is world-class, with expert therapists who know exactly how to work on your tired muscles and sore points. With the right pressure and Ananda-special concoctions, you will leave the room feeling like a new, refreshed person. And to make your experience better,…

FITNESS FROM WITHIN Urmi Kothari, 30 Kinetic Living INTEGRATING THE PRINCIPLES OF yoga, Pilates and other sports-based activities, the goal of Kinetic Living, conceptualised by Urmi Kothari, is the use of the body as a tool to transform your mind. “It is not just about achieving fitness or weight loss, but about achieving complete self-awareness which influences your mood, relationship with food and changes in your behaviour,” explains Kothari. Kothari has been working on the concept for close to four years, when she returned to the city after her stint with the Daksha Sheth Dance Company and first began taking one-on-one sessions. She borrowed the guru-shishya model and the discipline from her time in Kerala, but was keen on teaching something that was authentic to her. With a background in…

EFFORTLESS STYLE Abhilasha Mehta As a fashion enthusiast and blogger, Abhilasha Mehta, 33, enjoys experimenting with her looks. “My style is classic and always evolving because I am constantly observing, learning and experimenting,” says the entrepreneur who runs a health foods company called Six Pack Nutrition with her husband. While at work, where she spends time on the factory floor, Mehta chooses Indian wear, “with a slight twist by way of colours, textures or accessories”. Her creativity with clothes shows in the khun pants and jackets she wears for this shoot. Khun is a traditional weave from Maharashtra often seen in saris and blouses worn by women, particularly in maharashtra. MIX-N-MATCH Dressing up, says Mehta, is a creative process and a way of self expression. “Sometimes I like to play…