Once again we are out from the list of top 200 universities around the world. Recently QS World University Ranking 2011 released the list of world's top Universities with Cambridge, Harvard, MIT, Yale, and Oxford listed in top five. Among Indian Universities IIT Delhi, IIT Mumbai, and IIT Madras were placed on 218, 225 and 281 rank respectively; last year the ranks were 202, 287 and 262 respectively. 

QS World University Ranking is one of the world's three most prestigious and recognized ranking list. The assessment is done on the basis of quality of research, academic excellence, and employers goodwill. University ranking has been controversial since long as it as different ranking lists have different order for same institution. The reason behind this difference is unavailability of  standard measures and model.

Some well known institutions like IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Roorkee, Delhi University, Pune University, Mumbai University etc. failed to find their place in the list.

Many may argue as it makes no difference what list says because Indian institutions are capable enough to fulfill the requirement and desire of employers as well as students. Such arguments can not be entertained in the era of globalization specially if India is being counted as second fastest growing economy of the world.

If we think deliberately, one of the reason behind being successful and powerful economies of the world is world class higher education facility. US, Japan, China, UK, France, Germany, South Korea like countries can be connected easily for a series of examples in support of above statement.

In 21st century industrial development has a strong relation with financial capital, modern technologies, innovations and talented human resource. All these factors have been liberated from the boundary of the nations because of globalisation. One can easily find these factors in abundance in the countries having capacity to attract. Similarly the migration of capital, talent, technology and innovation from insensitive countries can be seen easily.

Research and analysis work is one of the most common and prior activity in the world class education and institutions. According to famous academician Philip G. Altbach there is an extensive requirement of research universities in every country in order to increase participation of knowledge for the economic development. These universities follows traditional Humboldt Model for the search of knowledge.

The list of top Asian University (QS World University Ranking 2011) bestow little respect for India including few more names, still we are lagging far behind countries like Japan, China, South Korea, as their 57, 40 and 35 institutions are listed. It must be noted that 60 years ago India and China were on same level in higher education.

As research mode for PG and Ph. D programs requires more resources in comparison, so can be operated only with the support from Central Government. India Private Sector and State Governments have not shown any interest in this regard (except some announcements only). We have a fresh example from my state Bihar, where ambitious Nalanda University project is under disputes.

In 11th five years plan Govt. of India aimed to establish 30 new Central Universities, 8 new IITs, 7 new IIMs, 37 new Engineering Colleges, and 373 new other colleges at district level. For this around Rs. 80,000 crore were spent. Most of institutions started officially but any expectation of functionality at par with national standard (forget International) is still a dream of many.

On the ground of contemporary policy it is almost impossible to establish world class institution, as for its execution it will need a policy which can insure intellectual liberty, integrity and accountability of students and faculties involved in research. New policy for the entry of foreign universities and corporate in the higher educational sector is still in the files of ministries. We need a national policy with value like transparency, integrity, accountability, sustainability, decentralisation , diversity and an architecture that may convince and attract our academicians working in top universities across the globe and bring them back.

It may look like a dream to establish or upgrade 50 Universities like Nalanda and Takshashila by 2031 but not an impossible task for a great nation like INDIA.

There is a big difference in the social and economical framework of Indian and European society there might be several reasons but one of the important is the difference in political temperament of these countries. In India even after 64 years of independence our political ethics is in childhood. We need to have a knowledge driven political system like in most of developed countries of western world.

In today's scenario we have a mindset and see politician as a millionaire; why this happens? Unless you become a millionaire you can't be a politician or if you are a politician you must have at least millions in your account. We must note that MLAs and MPs receive a fixed salary. We all know the showcase of family business and other sources of income is how much trust worthy.

Why can't people just work as a politician as we see people working for any MNC, Govt. enterprise, Organisations etc. with full dedication? Reason is obvious, we don't see any promising and sustainable career until getting elected for MLA, MLC, MP etc. We all know it takes long for getting elected as MLA or MP and it is not a permanent post, then on what basis the system has been offering them payment for the period of their service as representative only. The flaw is in the root of the fundamental structure of this system it creates greed for money rather will for service. We all want economical security and for this we work day-night same the politicians do. I don't find any reason why should avoid a chance for being corrupted? They did a struggle for life without any remuneration unless they got elected, and future after next election is in uncertainty so corruption becomes a natural phenomena. In ideal case the struggle should begin with getting a victory in election, struggle for the welfare of masses, struggle for accomplishment of commitments. But scene is opposite, a victory in election means a win over chest of KUBER.

While discussing about politics as a career option, people don't even take a second before shooting the question "How can politics be a career option for a highly qualified youth?" Yes it could be just some changes are needed to be done but not easy to get it done. We must give a passage to talented and visionary youth for the front row of political system. Today either a son of billionaire, a well known criminal with enormous money, a industrialist having almost no idea about middle and lower class life, a successful professional who opted politics as the charm and glamor fascinated him lot, a spiritual or say religious leader, an actor, and last but not the least family of a politician have the passport to enter into politics as they can survive and even easily get elected on the power of money. The chain must be broken as we can see the real time status of our society.

We need to have a national political association (something similar to ICAI, Bar Association etc.) and a fellowship for every politics fellow selected after an examination conducted periodically on state level. We also need to amend our constitutional provision regarding eligibility for contesting in elections, we need to add a mandatory association with the aforesaid political association. We can encourage educated, capable and talented youth for joining politics by providing financial liberty, and this can be done by giving a suitable stipend for their contribution in politics. This thing can be diversified by adding education and research along.

In earlier part I compared Indian political system with western, I agree they also don't have such system but still they have knowledge and facts based politics because of standard of literacy among masses there. We may have satisfactory literacy percentage but the standard of knowledge is unsatisfactory even for educated people mostly in rural areas. And it does not sound logical that we can teach them, but we can make a change in our system until all become of somewhat similar knowledge level.

On the bottom note bureaucrats don't see any direct accountability to public but politicians do. It is rather easy to bring a healthy environment among politicians than among bureaucrat but one thing is sure if one of these get cleaned other will have to follow the path.

The summation of thousands of small happy and sad moments is called life. Sometimes it is easy to take decision, on others it becomes hard. For the same issue we have different set of opinion under different circumstances. We live a large life but in small pieces. It is better to collect and spread smiles often than waiting and planning for bigger surprises occasionally.

In our daily practice we think it is a very small gift and she/he probably don't need it, this is not important for her/him, I will think about something better, it is not the right time, will see some other day, etc. And we lose some of the precious happy moment. It is better to see smile every day than a bigger smile seldom.

People don't like you because what you are but how you behave right at the moment. We don't have a programmed observation and logical conclusion generation capacity. We are human not computers which reflects same result every time we calculate for a set of data. We take input according to our perspective and our mindsets. We analyze things as we want to see them. We get influenced, we get infatuated, we get distorted, we add emotions, we add intuitions, we add imaginations, and many other parameters during our thinking and decision making process.

In love affairs we use to say "the most important thing is we love each other". No doubt this is soul of relationship but I don't think this is most important. In my eyes the most important is how many times you use to distort your line of priority or you leave you zone of comfort for the sake of her/him happiness.

Few says the importance of happiness will go down if it will become a usual factor. They may be right but think, in this way the importance of unhappy moments will go up so you may won't get very upset when next time they knock your door. Life is very small so let's enjoy on regular basis.

“There must be a synchronisation between your ideas and your practices.”

I was waiting for a right time so I can execute some of the own and borrowed ideas since long. But today I am sure that there is no right time for an entrepreneur to start execution. However, seed money is a factor that cannot be avoided.

Recently I have started a small web based business about which I was thinking for last five years. This can be counted as first one for profit.

For non profit initiatives, it is often uneasy to initiate but as you go it become exciting with the fuel called appreciation. People start accepting you and early or late your venture become the only choice of many. In my opinion the best time of learning is the duration before we complete first lap, for me those were most memorable days of my entrepreneurial life.

Once someone told me "Success is directly proportional to struggle." I guess we all agree if we have ever done or tried to do something in the right way.

Since I started preparation for civil services examinations my family and friends were not looking happy (rather confused). Everyone is thinking that I am currently pursuing the state called idle. If everything will go perfect, It will take two years for the final result of UPSC CSE 2012. Two years is a long time so I decided to complete my master degree along with Mission-2012. After all you must have an answer for the most frequently asked question by everyone or anyone you meet "What are you doing these days?". And "preparation for UPSC" can't be the answer as it is very much similar to "doing nothing".

Management is available in the subject list for UPSC-Mains exam, and I was very much interested in this stream of study. I always think like an entrepreneur and work on business ideas so it has been suggested by many people already.

On 2nd August, 2011 I took admission in 2 year full time MBA course in our beloved college RPSIT. Looking forward for a great couple of years ahead.

Few subjects were helping in GS preparation also, few were of my absolute interest, few had short syllabus, few were easy to understand and answer. And at the last I concluded with an observation that I am wasting my time so I should not bother about optional and prepare for CSAT only for next few months as I am not done with CSAT papers (GS and Paper II) either.

I don't know whether my strategy is right or wrong, but one thing I am sure about is I should not waste my time anymore.

The logic behind this decision was an experience, when I was in first year of my engineering course I was fascinated with papers like Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, Signal Processing and also .NET programming (like most of students) but after three years of study when I was in final year I came to the fact that I can utilize my potential fullest in Java programming and testing and opted it for my early career. The objective behind this story was just to justify my decision of with a reference I had, may be after going through CSAT preparation I become able to choose a optional subject in a better manner. Let's see whether I prove myself RIGHT or WRONG.

I am getting late. For last few of years I was trying to figure out what to do and what not to do. I was damn confused until this morning, but I think it's alright now.

Who am I? I am the one who left his job last week, so a bad employee; one who failed to start few entrepreneurial ventures planned in past couple of years, so a bad entrepreneur; not a good engineer either. Don't take it in wrong way, I am not depressed or even unhappy with my life.

Today after a week long brainstorming session and tons of mental stress finally I decided to put my all effort for UPSE-CSE 2012. And not to engage myself for more than a limit in any other activity including job and few very close to my heart like TEDxPatna and UEN Summit. It looks like I am again on a mission impossible. Let's see what will I bring at the end of this, a surprise for everyone or just an another disappointment for my self and my loved ones.

I was in 11th standard when first time I heard about the IAS, one of my friend told me that IAS is most prestigious job profile in India. But at that time I didn't paid much attention and just heard it and forgot for a long period of time. However I was highly inspired by some of officers of that time. But now the only way left in front of me is to prepare for mission 2012 and win the race. It was not very easy for me to land on such a hard decision at this stage of my career. It is not the first time when I thought about civil service as a career option, I was thinking or say fascinated about it from last one year but never dared to know anything more than the recruitment process. Well, I know many will oppose this decision and may ask me to think again over it like a mature mind and work for responsibilities, but I am sorry as I said earlier it's getting late, exactly after one week on 30th July, 2011 I will celebrate my 23rd birthday and if today I can't decide there will be no better day ahead. And also it does not look feasible for me to work on two lines of priority like preparation along with job or entrepreneurship, as it will become hard for me to deliver my best to any.

If everything will go fine, Anna Hazare will end his fast today by 10AM. Congratulations! we won the fight against our own government. Government accepted our demands ... I beg your pardon, which demands? how we won the fight against corruption? Yet we have miles to go.  People from India Against Corruption forwarded a draft of Jan Lokpal Bill and ended the movement by accepting few of their members in just an another committee yet to be formed for drafting a complete new Lokpal Bill or say Jan Lokpal Bill. What about the draft earlier forwarded, the draft which mobilized millions of Indians to support and stand with Anna Hazare? Now, what's the guarantee that they'll push for a good law in a way better than politicians? We supposed we are fighting for the current Jan Lokpal Bill will be the first draft of the upcoming law. Don't ask me to trust anyone, are you sure, we are not being betrayed by these civil society elites?

"Bypassing democratic processes for political expediency, however desirable the outcome, may be detrimental to democracy itself." someone from MKSS stated. Yeah, we are taking a great risk for renaissance of our society, and I am ready to take this risk. Unknowingly we are empowering and encouraging the government for bypassing the democratic process, it may cause undesirable outcome in future.

My only humble request to our civil society elites "Please, Don't Let Us Down".

Jhatropha carcass is an oil yielding plant with vast industrial potential as bio-diesel. Truly the most practical way to achieve prosperity in the rural sector is by cultivation of jhatropha on lands that are underused or unsuitable for conventional agriculture. The cultivation and subsequent cropping of the Jhatropha Curcas, which is the end product, expected from this plant as against woody biomass expected from agro-forestry crops. BENEFITS: Jhatropha plantations ensure proper utilization of our countries resources which are arable land, agro climate and manpower which is grossly underused and underdeveloped. Jhatropha crop one established can withstand any climatic conditions The plantation technology is simple and easy to follow steps that spans over a few years. Suitable to convert millions of hectares of wastelands into cultivable lands. This technology is cost effective and can be easily implemented with least investment. Cattle do not browse this plant so is harm free from animals. Can be grown in rain fed conditions Once established it can give a yield upto 40-50 years Immense source for creating self-employment by taking up the cultivation of the Jhatropha Caurcas. Self employment on a large scale can be used as an effective means for poverty alleviation.

SALIENT FEATURES:

PLANTING:  Single row hedge plantation around boundaries of agricultural fields, the spacing of which should be 2M. * 2M. For double row hedge plantation around agricultural fields the spacing of which should be 3M * 3M and each row and distance between the two rows should be 1 M. and plantation done in a staggered manner. The size of the planting pit should not be less than .45m cube (1.5’* 1.5*1.5). Jhatropha cultivation should not be taken up as a commercial crop wherever it is not possible to dig pits of 0.45m cube i.e. where soil depth is less than .45m. While refilling the pits, stones and boulders should be removed and the topsoil scraped and mixed with about 0.5 kg. Single super phosphate should be added. Fertilizer application @ 250 gms per plant having an N.P.K. (15:15:15) should be repeated at the start of the rainy season every year from the 2nd year of cultivation and onwards which should be completed before May. 

SEED SOWING OR PLANTING TIME: As soon as the rain starts 3 seeds should be sown per pit. Singling should be done at the end of august and one healthy plant should be retained and allowed to grow up to next April when it will be ready for cutting back operation. In the month of May, the plant should be cut back with a sharp cutter at the height of about 0.30m to 0.45m from ground level. Plant should be allowed to grow and put on side branches up to April 2nd year. In the month of May 2nd year each side branch should be pruned by cutting 2/3 rd top portion and retaining 1/3rd of the branch on the plant. This will induce bush formation in an umbrella pattern rather than inducing medium tree like vertical woody growth. The size and shape of the tree so obtained after careful cutting back in the first and pruning in the second year shall felicitate proper seed production and convenience of hand picking of seed.

METHOD OF PLANTING: 3 seeds of Jhatropha should be sown in each pit. The end of august only on plant should retain which is found to be most vigorous.

Direct seed sowing done at the beginning of the rainy season helps in healthy growing of the tap root.

YEAR WISE OBJECTIVE OF MANAGEMENT OF JHATOPHA CULTIVATION: 

IST YEAR: Planting and cutting back, no seed production expected. 

2ND YEAR: Maintenance, protection and pruning, no seed production expected. 

3RD YEAR: Period allowed for establishment and growth of plant. No seed production expected. 

4TH YEAR: Plant expected to produce seed. 

5TH YEAR: The seed production starts increases.

ESTIMATED YIELD OF SEED: 

Yield of air dried seed is about 300-400 kg per acre or 700-1000 kg per hectare on rain fed agricultural lands. Introduction of Jhatropha will go a long way in production of raw material for industries. The Jhatropha oil is environmentally safe, cost effective renewable source of non-conventional energy and a promising substitute for diesel, kerosene and other fuel oils.