State ties up with British Council to train teachers

T o enhance the quality of English language taught in 67,000 state-run schools, the government of Maharashtra has signed a memorandum of understanding with the British Council to implement the English Language Initiative For Primary Schools. Sanjay Deshmukh, state project director of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, and Rob Lynes, director (India), British Council, signed the MoU. 

“This MoU aims to enhance the level of English taught in state-run schools. British Council has selected 300 teachers who will take part in the training,” said Rajendra Darda, minister for school education. As per the state’s 2011-12 economic survey, there are 76,625 primary schools in the state, from which teachers of only 67,000 schools qualify. “Some schools are in remote areas where there could be 2-3 students and only one teacher. As this teacher can’t be sent for training, these schools haven’t qualified,” said sources. 

    According to Deshmukh, “We plan to teach 67,000 teachers, for which we have to train 1,700 master trainers. These trainers would travel across the state to train teachers from these schools, with 40 teachers for each master trainer.” Grace Pinto, MD, Ryan Group of Educational Institutions, said, “If the education minister calls upon Ryan Foundation to undertake this teachers’ training, we will support the Government’s plan. We’d do it as a social activity with the support of our NGO network. It’d be easy for us to implement it as the Ryan group has a network of educational institutions.” 

    VBalasubramanian, director, NES and SVB group of educational institutions, says, “It’s great that the state is taking up this English training initiative. It’s a global language and such efforts were long needed. The education minister’s initiative is commendable.”


Source::: The Times of India, 09-07-2012, p.06. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW

Study suggests social networking websites feed anxiety and insecurity:

Tools for choice and change - Times View
    The findings of a study by the University of Salford, that social networking websites can increase anxiety and make users feel insecure, do not necessarily invalidate the usefulness of these new-age tools of communication. These Web-based applications are not only helpful in staying connected with friends and relatives across the globe – rendering distance and time irrelevant – but can also be leveraged in a variety of ways from product marketing to espousing a social cause. True, concerns such as privacy do exist. But like the internet itself, social media too is an evolving creature, constantly engaged in the process of improvement. And as technology becomes more accessible, greater numbers are expected to join the social media revolution. 

    The main driving force behind social media is its democratic character. It allows users to express themselves in their own unique way. In that sense, online avatars are a virtual extension of the real self, enabling like-minded people to network and share ideas. This was amply demonstrated during last year’s Arab Spring movement across the Middle East and north Africa. From Morocco to Bahrain, youth groups effectively leveraged social networking websites to mobilise support for their pro-democracy rallies and demonstrations. Similarly, protesters in Russia and China too are increasingly turning to social media
to dissent against authoritarian regimes. 

    On the business front there are opportunities galore. By combining old-fashioned word-of-mouth publicity with the reach of the internet, social networking websites can provide a fillip to businesses of all shapes and sizes. It is no surprise then that the same principle is being increasingly exploited by politicians and statesmen to reach out to their constituencies. From Queen Elizabeth II to Mamata Banerjee, those in positions of power have indeed woken up to the utility of social media. At the end of the day, social networking websites are what users make of them. Their success lies in their versatility. 

More trouble than it’s worth Anil Thakkar - Counter View
    The University of Salford study merely provides empirical backing for what many social media users already know from experience. And it isn’t the first study to link social
media usage and feelings of insecurity and anxiety, even depression. There have been a slew of them of late – from the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) warning of a problem called ‘Facebook Depression’ affecting teenagers, to researchers at Flinders University in Australia finding that teenage girls spending long hours on social networking sites are more likely to suffer from self-esteem issues. And a study at Utah Valley University in the US has also shown a correlation between Facebook use and depression. 

    The causes aren’t hard to discern. Our online personalities become an exercise in brand management where the brand is the individual. Thus, most users end up selectively putting information online that makes their lives seem far more interesting than they might be in reality. In a time where a significant number of people are always connected, this leads to a form of constant hyper-competition where they are comparing their lives to the essentially make-believe lives of others via status updates and vacation photos. There are other problems as well. The AAP points out that having the number of ‘friends’ on a person’s profile be clearly visible paradoxically leads to a feeling of isolation when other people are seen to have more. And relationships can also be complicated by online social networking, whether because of personal information that is best kept private becoming public or reconnecting with old romantic partners – something reflected in the growing incidence of divorces where these sites have a role to play. Ultimately, what could have been a useful communication tool has been turned into an online popularity contest. And that has made it more trouble than it’s worth.

Source::: The Times of India, 10-07-2012, p.14. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW

NO WORK ON JULY 11-12

Lawyers gear up for strike

Swati Deshpande TNN 

Mumbai: Representatives of allthreelawyers’ associations in Bombay high court, which have nearly 5,000 advocates, have met Bombay high court Chief Justice Mohit Shah to informhim aboutthetwo-day strikeon July 11-12. 

    The strike call, which is bound to adversely affect many litigants, especially those who require urgent orders, was given by the Bar Councilof India toopposethe Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011, which seeks totake awaythecontrolofBCI over legal education. It is supported by the Bar Council of Maharashtra andGoa andthe Advocates Association of Western India. The Bombay Bar Association has given no specific command to its memberstoobey thestrikecall,but most lawyers, including senior counsel, could be seen discussing the “dilemma” they faced as many “realized” that the strike was “illegal” and would be flouting a Supreme Court order against such strike by legal practitioners. 

    The SChadin the pastsaid at best a one-day token strike by lawyersfor compelling reasons could be condoned. One litigant in court— when told that the HC would be devoid of lawyersfor twodays—said, “If lawyers resort to strikes for issues that can well be addressed by deliberations, it is indeedshocking and a sadday for thejusticesystem.” 

    Several lawyers were in a quandary whether they ought to go ahead with their trip to other benches in Nagpur and Aurangabad for hearings on July 11-12 asscheduledor stay put in the city. The judges will besitting in court asusual.


Source:::: The Times of India, 10-07-2012, p.04. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW