The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

CAMPUS
‘Give the future generation a conducive environment to excel’
Gaurav Choudhury

The future of India will be carved out by the youth and if allowed to function in an appropriate and conducive atmosphere, there is enough potential amongst them to pitchfork the country among the top nations of the world, said the Editor of ‘The Tribune’, Mr Hari Jaisingh, to a group of newly admitted students of journalism at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in New Delhi.

“Indian youth is doing remarkably well in the United States and I have no reason to believe that those in India are in any way inferior to their counterparts in developed countries,” Mr Jaisingh said while speaking at the customary orientation session of new students held every year by the YMCA.

It should be the endeavour of the government that the right opportunities are created “for the youth to flourish”. “It is a matter of concern that the same people are outstanding performers in the West in their chosen areas of profession. Maybe, they had several frustrating experiences emanating from certain inherent systemic deficiencies,” Mr Jaisingh said.

“Not only the government, but also academic institutions, schools, colleges and employers have a role to play in this respect,” Mr Jaisingh said, who was the chief guest on the occasion.

Nation building is a long-drawn-out process and any society, which does not put a premium on honesty, sincerity and merit, is bound to falter on the road to progress and development.

“It is imperative to impart transparency and accountability in the system and civil society, and the media has an important role to play,” he said.

On the role of the media, Mr Jaisingh said that the recent Union Cabinet decision to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in print media, will change the “very structure of ownership composition in Indian newspaper industry”.

Credibility, speed and the accuracy of facts at which they are disseminated are the cornerstones of a good newspaper, he said.

Citing the instance of ‘The Tribune’, he said that the strength of this newspaper was that unlike many of its contemporaries, “the Editor is still the Editor”.

“We are not guided by any political or business interests. Instead, a strong value system has been built within the organisation over the last 122 years of the newspaper’s existence,” he said.

The year 2002 happens to be the 75th year of YMCA, New Delhi. From its rudimentary beginning in 1927, the centre today boasts of imparting education to 2,500 students in various disciplines. There are over 17,000 YMCA centres and three billion members worldwide, with its headquarters in Geneva.

MIT courses on net

Professors and lecturers at the Massachusett Institute of Technology (MIT) have agreed to post on the Internet free of charge, the contents of the courses at the prestigious university. It will greatly benefit the students and institutions, particularly those involved in higher education and research.

Apart from the contents of the courses at the university, lectures, tests, assignments, textbooks, reading materials, bibliographies, simulations, experiments, demonstrations and study programmes, will also be posted on the Internet.

In a few years, 2,000 MIT courses will be available (for non-commercial use), starting with about 50 courses to be put online in the next few months.

The project, mainly funded by the William and Flora Hewlett and Mellon foundations and MIT, will cost about US $100 million over the next decade.

“We need to understand better the needs of the universities in other countries and in particular, those in developing countries. We want to make sure we get their input and eventually their feedback in what we publish so that our efforts go into something that is truly useful,” executive director of MIT’s Open CourseWare Project, Anne Margulies said.

MIT’s long-term goal is to get other institutions to follow its example, without necessarily copying its model.

“The programmes success will be judged by how many universities can persuade their teachers to put their own courses online,” MIT’s Academic Computing director, Mr Vijay Kumar said.

Medical studies

Debrecen, the second largest city in Hungary after the capital Budapest, has the largest university in Hungary, with 24,000 enrolments each year.

Speaking to newsmen here in the Capital, Prof Gaspar, director, English Programme and Prof Paragh, vice-dean for Education, at the University of Medical School of Debrecen, Hungary, said that higher education in Debrecen started in the 16th century.

The modern university of Debrecen, with a medical school, was founded in 1912.

The university has been recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The University of Medical School of Debrecen, Hungary, has nearly 500 international students, including 150 students of Indian origin. International students from the USA, Norway, Iran and Israel are also enrolled at the university.

The duration of the General Medical

Programme and Dentistry Programme is six years and five years respectively.

The language of instruction for international students is English. A preparatory one-year Basic Medicine Course is also available before the main programme. At the end of their studies, medical students are awarded M.D. degrees and diploma. For dentistry students, the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery is also awarded.

The diplomas awarded by the university are recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), General Medical Council of UK (GMC), Irish Medical Council and by the USA Department of Education.

Admission is based on entrance examinations in Biology, Physics and Chemistry.

Applicants with results between 80 per cent and 100 per cent are admitted to the 1st year course of the General Medicine or Dentistry Programme.

Those students scoring between 40 per cent and 80 per cent are admitted to the basic Medicine Programme.

The academic year starts in September. Furthermore, the institute claims that the basic tuition fee and additional costs are rather modest. Mr Gaspar further said that personal help is also provided to the students.

New session at DU

The new academic session gets under way at the Delhi University with some light-hearted fun between the students.

The new academic session got under way at the Delhi University amidst unprecedented security arrangements in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling prohibiting ragging in academic institutions.

However, despite the ban, the age-old tradition of welcoming new students to the campus could be seen being put into effect in several colleges.

With stunts, mock shows, enactment of film scenes and impromptu dance numbers, the flavour of ragging was very much present on the campus.

The energy-sapping humidity and searing temperatures did not act as deterrent for the freshers as well as their seniors in some colleges as the process of introduction began on a cordial note.

While it was strictly banned in some colleges such as Hindu, Hansraj and Shri Ram College of Commerce, in others, the freshers got a taste of anything but academic on the first day of their college life.

Resident students, however, are believed to have borne the brunt of ragging. No confirmed reports were available though.

Software seminars

Borland Software Corporation has announced a series of free seminars in Chennai, Pune and Mumbai in conjunction with PCQuest. Aimed at software developers, architects, IT managers and web services enthusiasts, these seminars will unveil the next generation of web services. Some of the key areas that will be covered in each of these seminars are WSDL, SOAP, UDDI, EAI, WebXML and web services.

The seminars will provide the software developer community with effective skills in deploying web services through a live demonstration, using tools such as Apache-Axis/Apache SOAP Toolkit.

These seminars will aim to facilitate the developer community to seamlessly integrate their existing platforms on to web services platform by using the most cost-effective solutions and tools available.

They are also aimed at helping businesses maximise their return on investment without making any structural changes to their existing technological frameworks, thus lowering their total cost of ownership.

School of Engineering

The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), the 16th educational institute of the Rai Foundation, was formally inaugurated last week in a function held at the institute’s Mathura Road campus in New Delhi.

The Vice-Chancellor of Dr B.R.Ambedkar University, Agra, Prof Girish Saxena was the chief guest at the function, while general secretary of BJP UP state unit, Mr Keshor Mehra, presided over the function.

CULTURE

48 models to walk the ramp in Lakme show
Our Correspondent

Neha Dhupia New Delhi, July 17
Fashion shows are not just about clothes. It is also and more so about the bodies and the faces that showcase the creations. A good face and legs that stretch across a mile are the prerequisites that any designer worth his or her salt looks for in the models who are paid to walk the ramp.

For the forthcoming Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW) the designers have already taken their pick as to who will sashay down the ramp in their expensive and alluring outfits. The slender and the suave, wide eyes and droopy lashes, dusky beauties and chiseled cuts, are just some of the features that the Delhi crowds will feast on.

The FDCI has announced the names of 48 models who have been picked to participate in the fashion fair starting August 8. Displaying the pret-a-porter and diffusion collections of over 53 designers will be these 48 models working in three groups of 16.

Models like Viveka Babajee, Sampada Inamdar, Aditi Gowitrikar, Jesse Randhawa, Miss India Neha Dhupia, Vijay Balhara, Rajat Raina and Zulfi Sayeed will walk to well-choreographed moves.

Says the FDCI executive director, Mr Vinod Kaul, “The modelling talent at this year’s mega fashion show matches the mix of the designers’ being showcased. Many are well-known names and for the others it’s a launching pad towards fame. However, both are equally professional and gifted. We, at the FDCI, would like to acknowledge the hard work they will put into the week ahead and bring attention to our designers’ creations”.

The fashion fete will be organised for a week and will showcase through seven days of frenzied activity solo, two-designer or three-designer acts. A schedule of 35 shows is to be interspersed with interactive seminars and workshops on the business of fashion, make-up, style trends and other fashion related topics.