Ranchi paan vendor’s sons crack IIT-JEE

Their ranks in the IIT-JEE may not secure them a seat in one of the IITs, but that’s not the most significant part of their story. Born to poor parents, for Vicky (20) and Vivek (19) it’s their grit and determination, coupled with their father’s support, that helped them crack the Joint Entrance Examination. They have made their mother Rita and father Binod Verma, owner of a paan shop at Kutchery Chowk here, proud. The brothers recall how they studied in the flickering light of a lantern, after helping their father in the shop during the day.

Members of the Kahar (OBC) community, Vicky and Vivek have secured 6,649 and 5,160 rank respectively in the all-India merit list. “Our father has a caste certificate. But we do not want to get into an IIT through reservation quota,” says Vivek. In the quota list,Vicky and Vivek are placed at 902 and 832 rank, respectively.“My father was a drop-out. Hence, he wanted us to study and we did not let him down,” says Vicky as he talks about his father, a matriculate. “Our school was 5 km away; we either cycled or walked,” adds Vivek.

They secured more than 85 per cent marks in their class XII examination. “They were very naughty,” says Talat Shamin, their teacher at Guru Nanak School. “But both of them were studious and since they managed their time well, they excelled in all the subjects.”

Though Binod’s income was limited, he always encouraged his sons to study. “He never hesitated to borrow money to buy us books or arrange for a tutor for us,” says Vivek.

Look beyond the IITs

The Telegraph,Careergraph:Specialised government technology colleges provide an education as good as that in the IITs, discovers Smitha Verma

It is the dream of all engineering aspirants to get admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) but very few actually make the cut. If you fail to clear the exam, take heart; there is no need to get into just any engineering college. A bouquet of technology institutes offer courses that are in much demand. The starting salaries might not be as high as those IITians get, but with a bachelor of technology (BTech) degree from these institutes, you’ll be set on a career path to rival that of any IITian. Abhijit Mukherjee, senior professor, S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Calcutta, agrees. Mukherjee, who was a professor at IIT Kanpur for years, believes that for a large number of students from the urban middle class, life after school is all about getting into the IITs. “But they — as well as their parents — are simply not aware that institutes such as the Indian School of Mines University (ISMU) in Dhanbad are as good as the IITs. Besides, in recent times, they have introduced a lot of fresh job-oriented courses,” he says. “I wish parents would take an informed decision while choosing educational institutes.” Choices galore Just like the ISMU, a handful of other institutes offer coveted BTech degrees in subjects as varied as mining and petroleum engineering, leather technology, plastics technology, dairy technology and aerospace engineering. Institutes such as the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT) in Allahabad, Gwalior and Hyderabad also offer courses in such popular subjects as information technology, computer science, and electronics and communications engineering. “Students presume that only the IITs have the best infrastructure,” says S. Sugumar, chief manager (technical), Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI), Chennai. “Also, the high salary offered to IIT graduates during campus recruitment makes students presume that there is nothing beyond the IITs,” he adds. But the institutes that offer specialised courses have state-of-the-art infrastructure and fully equipped laboratories to train students in their respective disciplines. Institution speak Take the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Niper), Chandigarh. It offers postgraduate degrees in pharmaceutical sciences to students with a science background. Besides the master of technology (MTech) and master of pharmacology (MPharm) courses, Niper also offers an MBA in pharmacology and a PhD in various disciplines. “Students at Niper are recruited by the pharmaceutical industry, intellectual property rights firms and consultancy agencies,” says P. Ramarao, director, Niper. “There is a need to look at alternatives beyond the IITs,” says Uma Shankar Tiwary of IIIT, Allahabad, which offers a BTech degree in information technology and electronics and communications engineering. According to him, it is the lack of technical higher education institutions in India that leave students with little choice. Some institutions have realised the need to expand beyond their specialised disciplines. ISMU was set up in 1926 on the pattern of the Royal School of Mines, London, to teach mining engineering and applied geology to students and thus provide manpower to the minerals industry. “Our institution has now become a full-fledged university offering courses in mechanical, environmental, computer and industrial engineering, apart from integrated MSc and management programmes,” says Kampan Mukherjee, dean, academics, ISMU. “Very few youngsters are aware that there is a huge demand for skilled professionals in the booming space industry,” says B.N. Suresh, director of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram. “To address the talent crunch at the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), the IIST was set up in 2007,” he adds. Mukherjee laments that because of sheer ignorance even brilliant students ignore these institutes and opt for private institutes. “Some of the private institutes are really shady, with poor infrastructure and only a handful of permanent faculty members. Most of the government-run technology institutes, on the other hand, have a proven track record. Moreover, many of the old institutes like the ISMU have been revamped recently,” he adds. Admissions to these institutions are based on various parameters like the joint entrance examination, interview and group discussion (for management programmes). While the ISMU and IIST recruit students through the IIT joint entrance examination (IIT-JEE), institutions such as Niper and Cental Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (Cipet) conduct their own entrance exams. CLRI admits students through an entrance examination conducted by Anna University and admission to the IIITs is through the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE). Placement & perks Alkesh Patel, a 27-year-old postgraduate in intelligence systems from IIIT, Allahabad, works as a product manager for the news and entertainment portal rediff.com. “My work involves automating processes, aggregating news and studying the latest development in my sector,” says Patel, who feels that the high stress level is the only disadvantage of his job. According to him, an MTech graduate can earn up to Rs 10 lakh per annum at entry level while a mid-level position commands Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakh per annum and a senior person can aim for Rs 25 lakh per annum. Students opting for undergraduate mining courses find employment at Indian and foreign companies and the average salary ranges between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 8 lakh per annum. “The salary that a postgraduate from Niper earns at the beginning of his career ranges from Rs 2 lakh per annum to Rs 12.5 lakh per annum,” says Ramarao. CLRI graduates are paid on a par with those in the IT industry and the salary ranges between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 7 lakh. “Leading leather and chemical companies like Clariant, TFL (German manufacturing company) and BASF (German chemical firm) recruit our students,” says Chandra Shekhar, head, education training department, CLRI. Students can even diversify and join allied industries. “I have partially deviated from my career path but nevertheless I am involved with my subject from a global perspective,” says Viswanad Bhomi, a senior business analyst at E-Value Serve, a knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) firm in Gurgaon, who joined the firm after completing PhD in pharmacology from Niper. LEARNING HUBS National Dairy Research Institute The main campus is in Karnal, Haryana, with two regional centres in Bangalore and Kalyani, West Bengal www.ndri.res.in Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai Founded in 1948, CLRI is a central hub in the leather sector with work area spanning academic programmes to testing, research and designing leather products www.clri.org Indian School of Mines University, Dhanbad This institution of international acclaim offers a host of programmes such as BTech, MTech, MSc Tech, MBA, MPhil and PhD www.ismdhanbad.ac.in Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology, Chennai Established in 1968, Cipet offers doctoral, postgraduate, graduate, and diploma programmes in plastics technology www.cipet.gov.in Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram IIST offers BTech courses in avionics and aerospace engineering and physical sciences. It offers MTech in softcomputing, RF and microwave communications, and applied and adaptive optics www.iist.ac.in

Class 12 marks may become critical for IIT admission

Times of India:Marks scored in the Class XII board examinations are likely to become a key determining factor in addition to the performance in the nerve-wracking Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for admission into the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) by 2011

In a couple of months, a pan-IIT committee constituted by the union human resources development (HRD) ministry to suggest reforms to the JEE is expected to submit its report recommending ways and means to factor in the marks scored by students in higher secondary examinations while preparing the IIT merit list. A meeting of all IIT directors and JEE representatives held in Chennai over the weekend discussed the proposed changes.

The proposal comes amidst widespread concern among top academicians over the current IIT admission system which is entirely dependant on JEE scores and ignores academic performances in board exams. The inherent weakness of such a system is that the IITs have been able to largely attract only students who have been "conditioned for the JEE" by high profile coaching centres in Kota and Hyderabad. Such students who lack "raw intelligence", as described by IIT Madras director M S Ananth in the past, are sometimes at sea after entering the campus.

"We hope to devise a methodology to compute a normalised class XII cut-off eligibility score for each educational board (CBSE, ICSE, and State Boards). If it is approved, only students who have scored this cut-off mark would become eligible to appear for the JEE and consecutively for admission," IIT Madras deputy director V G Idichandy, who is heading the committee, said on Monday. The present eligibility norm of an aggregate score of 60% in Class XII determined by the IIT standing council, as opposed to 85% recommended by a JEE review committee four years ago, is considered too low a benchmark.

"We are collecting data on Class XII results of the past four to five years from different boards in all states to base our recommendation on. Much will depend on how we compute an acceptable method to normalise the marks scored in different boards. You have nearly 40 boards of education in India," Professor Idichandy said.

However, the more difficult part will be to convince authorities of all the boards to declare Class XII results within a specified timeframe every academic year.

"This will be crucial for us as we have to base the JEE on the Class XII results. I personally think that this is where a common school board, at least at the level of higher secondary education, which has been proposed by the HRD minister Kapil Sibal, will be of help in determining any all-India merit list," he contended.

Idichandy acknowledged that the JEE cannot be abolished "but we want to give as much importance as possible, for the performance of students at the school level" in the IIT admissions.

Click Board should not be neglected ! for more details!

IIT medical school with US partner

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is set to throw open its doors to medical students by 2011.

The institute signed a memoran- dum of understanding with the University of California, San Diego, today on sharing technical expertise and other resources for a medical school and hospital to come up on its campus.

The country’s oldest IIT will also be the first tech school to offer bachelors, masters, doctoral and post-doctoral degrees in medicine and surgery. Director Damodar Acharya said the project would kick off with a 350-bed hospital, which should be ready by 2011.

The school will come up following the Medical Council of India’s clearance. “We can announce its intake capacity after we get the MCI clearance,” said an official.

Both the medical school and the hospital will draw on technical expertise from California University. The collaboration will include faculty, student and resident exchange programmes and jointly supervised clinical trials.

“Most people give up biology when they opt to study engineering and those who want to become doctors drop math. But there can’t be progress in medicine without technology. Our aim is to bridge the gap,” said Acharya.

The US varsity will assist the IIT in formulating the curriculum for the undergraduate and postgraduate courses so it meets the accreditation requirements in both India and America. “We will now have to draw up the road map and execute the project in a time-bound manner,” said Tom McAfee, its dean of clinical affairs.

Initial estimates suggest the project will require an investment in excess of Rs 200 crore. “We want to use the public-private partnership model and have had talks with various players in the healthcare industry,” Acharya said.

The IIT had earlier planned a medical research centre and laid its foundation stone amid fanfare in 2007, but the project remained a non-starter. Following the death of third-year student Rohit Kumar this March and allegations of negligence at the institute’s crumbling BC Roy Hospital, the authorities promised an overhaul of the facilities.

“The project will be a boon not only for the students but also for the region, where healthcare facilities are primitive,” said a third-year student.

IIT- A Dream of Thousands!

One warm day in May 1984, Venky Harinarayan sat down to take the entrance exam IIT-JEE to the school of his dreams.Although he had ranked first in his high school class and had studied for nearly a year to prepare for this test, as soon as he opened his exam book, he began to sweat.All the years as a curve-busting computer whiz kid seemed to lead up to this moment.He only needed to score 50 out of 100 points to guarantee his admission. But suddenly this seemingly lax criterion appeared all but impossible.

His eyes sifted through a litany of seemingly impregnable questions –about Bernoulli’s principle, Doppler’s effect, Lorentz`s forces, ionic equilibrium and combinatronics-things that would never appear on SAT in a million years.Nothing in his life had prepared him for this.

“It was extremely stressful. I just looked at the thing and not even a single question made sense to me. I thought,’ Boy, I’m going to flunk this thing,” recalls Venky.

But like every other fear-wracked student taking the exam across India, Venky knew his future rested on this grueling 3-part mental torture course better known as IIT-JEE !!

He knew he had to beat out tens of thousands of eager high school students.

Despite feeling at a complete loss, he managed to navigate his way through the arcane. And six hours later, he had nailed the spot I the arguably most competitive, influential undergraduate school in the world, the Indian Institute of Technology. Not only did Venky pass the exam, he placed an astounding 40th in the country. With this ranking, he got a coveted spot as a computer science major at the IIT campus in Madras.

Flash forward to the summer of 1998 when Amazon.com had purchased an e-commerce software company named Junglee for $180 million.

That day, Venky Harinarayan, along with four other Junglee co-founders (also IIT Graduates), became an overnight multi-millionaire!!!

The Indian Institutes of Technology are a group of seven autonomous engineering and technology oriented institutes of higher education established and declared as Institutes of National Importance by the Government of India.

IITians have achieved success in a variety of professions, resulting in the establishment of the widely recognized Brand IIT.

“ IIT and Microsoft do have a lot in common, an optimism about the future, a belief that fundamental science will let us solve some of the toughest problems that mankind faces, a belief that we can provide better tools than ever before and that we’ve really just scratched the surface.” ,states Bill Gates, the co-founder and chairman of Microsoft.

IIT is a dream of thousand of students out there, but to turn this dream into reality calls for rigorous preparation and strong determination.

The determination and focus of the student is something that only he can take care of but as far as the right preparation is concerned, there is always professional help which a student can go for.This is the reason that coaching classes in India are gaining such a great momentum and every IIT aspirant considers taking professional coaching classes a necessity. Miracles happen. You just need to have the right attitude and preparation to make it happen! To get a step closer to realizing your dreams of getting into IIT click just don't think any more just go for it.

'IITians don't rule the world'

"Happy Independence Day"

Here's an Indian whose has proved that the sky is not the limit!

Dr Amitabha Ghoshwas the only Asian on

NASA's Mars Pathfinder mission. At present, he is a member of the Mars Odyssey Mission and the Mars Exploration Rover Mission.

During the Mars Pathfinder Mission, he conducted chemical analysis of rocks and soil on the landing site. The simple and unassuming 34-year-old planetary geologist has won several accolades, which include the NASA Mars Pathfinder Achievement Award in 1997 and the NASA Mars Exploration Rover Achievement Award in 2004.

In Mumbai for the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, he spoke to CorrespondentManu A B about his work at NASA and his vision for India.

Could you tell us about the Mars mission?

One of the spacecraft (Spirit) sent as part of the Mars Rover mission has completed one year while the other (Opportunity) will do so on January 24. The Rovers have carried out detailed scientific studies of the Red Planet. We have got some incredible results.

We have found clouds, frost, spectacular sand dunes and even evidence of water on Mars.

What is it being the only Indian in the Mars mission?

I have never thought about being 'the only Indian' in the mission. You only think that it is very exciting to be at the frontier (of space exploration).

What are your views on space research activities in India?

The Indian space research programme is one of the best in the world. But our activities are mostly book-based. I am not undermining it in any way but we can do better. India can collaborate with NASA on scientific projects.

We are a force to contend with but that doesn't mean we can't do better. We should not be satisfied with what we have achieved. The dream of a better tomorrow should drive us to greater heights. You cannot afford to be complacent in any field.

How can we develop our science and technology sector?

It should be treated as a business. There should be more private participation. We must have an external review to evaluate the system and make changes as science and technology can take the country forward.

We must check brain drain. About 80,000 students migrate to the US for further studies, and settle there. They find the facilities much better abroad. We need to reverse brain drain by enhancing and upgrading institutes in India.

Tell us about your journey from India to NASA.

It has been an intriguing experience. I was keen on geologic research data interpretation and solar system formation. During my geological research days in India, I had slept in railway stations while traveling to various places.

After my post graduation in applied geology from IIT Kharagpur, I wrote a letter to a professor at NASA expressing a desire to work at the space agency.

I made certain suggestions; in fact, it was a critical letter. In India, you can never imagine criticising your professor.

My suggestions were approved, while I got an opportunity to work at NASA.

I think one requires luck and to put in sincere effort to achieve one's goals. Being in the right place at the right time is also important.

What is the state of space research in India?

I don't want to make controversial statements. All I can say is India is not at the frontier of space research. We have made commendable progress but there is a long way to go. We can do much better. I would be glad to be of help in any way. Investment in research is investment in imagination. It is a matter of national pride and internal recognition. We need to allocate more funds to enhance research and development work.

Do you see more Indians taking up subjects like space research?

Definitely, provided two essential requirements are satisfied. People and resources must come together to create solutions.

In India, no training is imparted on the practical aspects, even if it is something as simple as solving traffic problems in cities. When it comes to theoretical education, Indians are in a good position but lag behind in coming up with innovative solutions.

Merely learning from books is not going to solve any problem of this country. The 'thinking process' is very essential. Indians need to think out of the box to rise further in any field.

We need good educational institutes like IITs and IIMs, but IITians don't rule the world. You must remember that Microsoft co-founder (Bill Gates) does not have a college degree.

Youngsters must look around for role models and see what it is that they are doing right. Individuals must make use of their inherent strengths to succeed.

What is your vision for India?

I feel there India has a great future. We have world-class companies. Today, companies like Infosys can be compared with world leaders like Oracle. Like the Information Technology revolution, we can have a science or space revolution. We have the potential to bring about revolutions in other sectors as well.

Can India have something like NASA?

(Mumbai South MP) Milind Deora also asked the same question. It is good that young MPs are thinking along these lines. The answer is: Yes, India can. All it requires is the right kind of investment, infrastructure, people and support from the government. I told Deora that if need be, I can submit a proposal to help get the process started.

I think "He made an important point when he said.Bill doed not have an degree for himself..and a lot comes from within , the inside strength rather than just the book education which Indians are exposed so much to, rather than the practical aspects of it. It makes sense to say that invest more on imagination and infrastructure. And being an IIT Aspirant I feel pity on the title of this passage. Dr. Amitabh just meant that for being successful u doesn’t need to be iitian and hear it is put as a heading just to get the attention. He wants to mean that its your determination that counts to bring success . To me that some people hate the iitians being successful and talk of every mouth. Is this the right attitude??. "

How does a negative belief work? A negative belief is like an obstacle

How Beliefs Really Work and How You Can Benefit from this Understanding

For example, suppose you are asked to speak to a group of 200 people. If you believe that you are not good at speaking, then you will not be self-confident. As a result, when you stand up and talk, you will lack the power, you will assume that you are not speaking well, and you will yourself feel bad. That will have bad effect on your speech. The result will be that you will not be satisfied with the speech. And this will confirm to yourself that you are not good at speaking in public.

There is a loop. A negative loop. This loop helps maintain the negative belief.

The positive beliefs work in the same way. They make positive loops and that maintain the positive beliefs.

How to benefit starting today

Start today to spend a few minutes in the morning to repeat to yourself the beliefs you want to have or you want to become stronger within yourself.

"Greatness always comes easily to those who are willing to acknowledge their human frailty and yet keep trying and taking action."

Beliefs are Not Just in Your Mind But in Your Body Too

Your body knows what your mind thinks. And it acts accordingly. It means that a belief is not just an idea, it is in your body and your mind.

When you are happy or you believe in achieving success in whatever you are doing, that thought is conveyed to your whole body. Your body is more energetic and less tired. When someone is unhappy and sad, his body is slow, dull, and tired.

In summary, your brain conveys your thoughts and beliefs to your body. If you think "I will succeed", your brain tells your body to get ready and expect success. If you think "I will fail", the brain tells the body "Do not even try, there is no chance of success."

The secret: "Work hard to build powerful, empowering beliefs that energize your mind and body to push you ahead of others towards success."