Attack on Gen Brar

One fails to understand as to how naive can a person be to target a functionary of the government for an act carried out in discharge of ones duty. Could the Gen have moved the troops and attacked the Golden temple on his own? He moved just because he was ordered to do so. A soldier never questions his superiors. As long as the plans or strategies are worked out the officers give their views as well as their perception, but once the final decision has been taken then no questions are asked. It is the duty of one and all to follow the orders and that is the culture in the Defense Forces. Under the circumstances it is totally unfair to target the Gen. It is to request all not to disturb a retired veteran and let him lead a peaceful life. What the gen has done is nothing but an act carried out as part of his duty.

Disrupted Parliament

PM asks people to reject BJP for disrupting the house. The question is the reason valid enough? Why could the Govt not cancel the allotments order an inquiry as demanded, thereby gaining moral ground and at the same time leaving the opposition speechless. The nation is so fed up with new scams coming out in the open one after another that they are clueless as to what should they do.
There was a time when railway minister offered to resign on the issue of a train accident and now there are scams running in lacs of crores and still people are sticking to the chair.  The PM has himself played in the hands of theses seasoned politicians to erode his stature and reputation.
In case the opposition had not disrupted the house then this coalgate would have been found itself under the carpet.
The accusation of the ruling party is totally baseless and reflects insensitivity towards the Nation and the people.

State of Army

The developments of the past are hurting and painful for the old timers. There are many of us who have been joining the forces since generations. One may ask any one as to why did one join and prompt would come a reply for discipline / it is tradition / for serving the country / my great grand father / grand father / father are from forces and so is going to be my son.
Look at the state of affairs now the list of personnel who have shamed this noble, reliable and trust worthy institution to shame is growing by each passing day. The differences between offrs and soldiers reaching a show down was never heard of except during foreign rule.
The effect of growing degradation of values in and around us is slowly taking so far immune institutions into its folds. It is high time the custodians of this extremely efficient, dedicated, loyal, trained, disciplined force take some concrete steps to arrest this degradation of customs, ethos, values, etc which have been cultivated over years.
We are sure any half hear ted effort will dig a grave for this institution. There is an urgent need to carry out brain storming sessions, introspection, immediate addressing to the personal issues of troops etc. The sitations must be faces upfront and matters resolved rather than trying first aid approach.
 

13 Years After Kargil War

An article by Gen VP Malik, Ex Chief.

13 Years After Kargil War

General (Retd) V P Malik

The strength of a military force lies in the quality of its human resource, weapons and equipment, and its morale. There is no better time to reiterate this than now, exactly 13 years after the Kargil war.

Twenty days after taking over as Army Chief, while addressing the Prime Minister and his CCS colleagues in a Combined Commanders’ Conference (October 20, 1997), I had described the state of the army as ‘the spirit is strong but the body is weak’, and then proceeded to indicate the high deficiencies of arms, ammunition and equipment.

In March 1999, just before Kargil war, I wrote to Defense Minister George Fernandes stating “The army is finding that major acquisitions get stymied for various reasons and a feeling of cynicism is creeping in. By and large, the prevailing situation is that nothing much can be done about the existing hollowness in the army. By denying essential equipment, the armed forces would gradually lose their combat edge which would show adversely in a future conflict...”

And then in May 1999, despite the Lahore Agreement, Pakistan surprised us strategically and tactically. Before melting of the snows, Pakistan Army units lodged themselves on several heights in Kargil and Southern Siachen sectors to dominate the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh highway. When the fog of war cleared and reality emerged that the intruders were not Mujahideen but Pakistan Army units, the whole nation was shocked.

During the war, while briefing the media, a journalist asked me as to how the army was going to fight in the face of its severe weapons and equipment shortages. My spontaneous reply was: ‘We shall fight with whatever we have.’ Someone from the Ministry of Defence complained to the Prime Minister about my statement. He asked me whether I should have made such a remark. I explained that my response was to a direct question from a journalist. Any attempt to cover up the true state of affairs would have conveyed an impression to the army rank and file that their Chief was indulging in double talk. If that happens, they would lose confidence in me.

To get away from long faces and depression in New Delhi and to boost my own morale, I went to the Kargil and Siachen front and addressed troops regularly. Interacting with them and seeing their commitment and motivation, I would get re-assured.

When the Prime Minister asked a wounded Garhwali soldier in Srinagar hospital what can he do for him, the response was “I want to rejoin my battalion as soon as possible” and “Please get us some lighter weapons and equipment so that we can climb mountains much faster.”

The spirit was strong; the morale high. We were confident that we would throw the intruders out from Kargil and Siachen sectors. And if the situation demanded, we could also attack across the border.

Looking back, however, I cannot help wondering that if we had the required quantity and quality of weapons and equipment; would Pakistan Army have dared to attack us in Kargil or would we have suffered that many casualties?

How has the situation changed today?  Let me deal with the weapons and equipment state first.

On 12 March 2012, former Chief of Army Staff wrote a letter to the Prime Minister ruefully informing him that the army’s air defense weapon systems were obsolete, the infantry was deficient of crew served weapons and lacked night fighting capabilities, and its tank fleet was devoid of critical ammunition. He alleged that there was ‘hollowness in the procedures and processing time for procurements as well as legal impediments by vendors’.

For the military and informed strategic community, there was nothing new in this letter. The surprise was that none of our worthy politicians, bureaucrats or media persons owned up that this was a chronic problem which had dogged the nation for decades. The Government had failed to rectify it.

Publication of this letter in the media created a furore in the Parliament and outside: less due to its serious strategic implications, more because a classified letter from the Army Chief to the Prime Minister had been leaked.

What about the military spirit?

In the recent past, we have witnessed an unhealthy row over the age of the last Army Chief, attempted bribe to purchase Tatra vehicles from BEML, and the deep-lying suspicion of the military over movement of some units for training near Delhi. The last mentioned incident reflects the lack of trust that continues to bother officials in the Government after 65 years of independence and after what the armed forces have contributed for the nation.

There is deep discontent among the armed forces veterans and widows. They feel cheated over pension disparities and anomalies. As a result, they have been organizing rallies, fast unto death agitations, and surrender of war and gallantry medals to the President to draw public and political attention. Less visible is the unhappy feeling among serving soldiers over automatic promotion and up gradation rules that the civil services have managed to secure for themselves. The general impression is that the political leadership takes little or no interest in the armed forces’ welfare and to protect their hierarchal status in the government and society.

A few days ago, the Prime Minister announced a Committee under the Cabinet Secretary to look into these anomalies and grievances. Against all organizational norms, the Committee had only civil secretaries as members; no representation from the military.

The Government may have forgotten Kargil war but in military history, it will go down as a saga of unmatched bravery, grit and determination. The army responded with alacrity and with its characteristic steadfastness and perseverance. How will it fight the next one? Not differently. Because the Indian soldier is a remarkable human being: spiritually evolved, mentally stoic and sharp, physically hardy and skilled. And his institution remains proud of its traditions of selflessness, devotion to duty, sacrifice and valour.

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THE END

Technology in Education

Concluding - E learning has come as a boon for the teaching fraternity, the learners as well as the parents. It is invasion of computers in our day today life that has conquered the distance as well as time. Now just by a click we can get in touch with anybody anywhere in the world. Not only that we can lay hands on any reference material that we want to. The learner can now learn at his own pace, at his own convenient time and also courses of his own choice. The learner can evaluate and monitor his understanding of the content and restructure his strategy. The learning management system enables the parents and the teachers to study the learning and understanding pattern and decide on corrective measures and strategies. This mode of learning enables the student’s world over to keep in touch with each other and understand the culture and conditions of learners in other parts of the world. The students can themselves help each other and create a unified world which will give a boost to the development of better society. Let us incorporate this latest technology and trend in our day today learning process to ensure better learning in an healthy environment and help the learners in stress free learning.

Technology in Education

E learning if planned and executed can turn out into a very effective tool of learning. The learning module for each topic/sub topic should have all the vital ingredients to complement the efforts of the teacher. The world around us is three dimensional and so the application of 3-D brings the real 3-D world within reach of the learner. The learner gets well researched condensed material to study. The availability of E content enables the learner to make selection of topic timing of viewing at his own convenience. Not only this, the learner can repeatedly view the content till he has understood the concept. After going through the content the learner can carry out self-assessment to monitor his progress. This is an excellent option for a slow learner for it avoids embarrassment in the classroom and adds to his self-confidence. In addition this gives the learner a feeling of being in command. The learning objects also include simulations that help the learner to practice the content. The interactive nature of simulations ensures that the learner is no more a silent listener. The links provided help the learner to explore the topic beyond the confines of the course. The hyperlinks ensure that the learner does not have to open up different books, dictionary etc., for reference. All these advantages make E learning most desirable tool of learning which overcomes most of the barriers of communication.

Technology in Education

We know that we have five senses, hearing, tasting, seeing, listening and feeling. The most important point the developers must keep in mind is that learning becomes concrete if more senses are involved the learning. When we talk of animations it covers some of the features advocated by Edgar Dale. But the content developers just do not stop at animation they have further added simulations, quiz, text, web links, Key words, glossary etc., to make a wholesome package.

This sort of learning object caters for most of the essentials of learning process. Having discussed the need for teaching aids and the technology based learning objects which are in tune with the teaching learning philosophy we would discuss their importance of e learning in studying mathematics.

There is a misconception that mathematics is a stale, boring, abstract, difficult etc., subject, on the contrary if the teacher is innovative, thinks out of the hat and incorporates the latest technologies, he can make this lively subject the most sought after one.

The teacher has to take into consideration the wider range, academic readiness, learning approach, and the background of the children while making learning strategies.  He must plan the instructional approach in response to the learner’s needs.

Technology in Education

4.    The topic of Technology in Education is very vast, what I am attempting is trying to share my experience of 40 years in the field of education. During earlier times the only teaching aids which a teacher used, if at all he did, were Chart, chalk board, Overhead projector, cutouts, models etc.  

Edgar Dale (April 27, 1900 – March 8, 1985) was an American educationist who developed the Cone of Experience. He made several contributions to audio and visual instruction, including a methodology for analyzing the content of motion pictures. Born and raised in North Dakota he received a B.A. and M.A. from the University of North Dakota and a Ph.D from the University of Chicago. His doctoral thesis was titled, "Factual Basis for Curriculum Revision in Arithmetic with Special Reference to Children's Understanding of Business Terms." and is pre-cursor for his later work with vocabulary and readability. He was a professor of education at Ohio State University.

In 1933 Dale wrote a paper on how to effectively create a High School film appreciation class. This paper has been noted for having a very different view of adolescent interaction with films than that taken by the Film Control Boards of the time.

Dale's Cone of Experience gives an insight to the planners as to how the process of imparting knowledge and skills can be made lasting and easy.

  

The concept of E-learning, as we would see in our discussion further, has been developed in consonance with the philosophy of Edgar Dale.

Technology in education

4.    At the outset I would like to add that there can be no technology which can completely eliminate teacher from the learning process. What we are contemplating is what is available to a teacher today that he can make use of to make learning effective and lasting. How can the process of learning be made interesting? We can answer this question if we know what are the difficulties faced by the learner, the teacher and the parents.

The young mind is very sensitive to slightest stimulus. The children can focus / concentrate for a short span of time. They tend to forget and in addition they are allergic to sermons/ moral lectures. They like freedom and consider structured learning environment as restriction onto their freedom. They enjoy being with their peer group and are happy when involved in an activity. The barriers of communication are not confined to the ones given above but the list goes on and on. Those of us who are directly associated with the process of learning need to know all that which would make learning interesting, lasting and enjoyable. All the children are / should be treated as individuals, thus a teacher should become something like a doctor. A doctor knows most of the medicines in the market then he makes a suitable choice and administers the same to his patient, similarly we in the teaching line should keep abreast with the latest developments in the technology and then put to use the most appropriate one.

Technology in Education

The e-content is further integrated with LMS i.e., Learning Management System. LMS helps the learner, parent and the teacher in monitoring the progress as well as identifying grey areas and finding course correction requirements.  As far as the learner is concerned he can learn at his own pace and at his own convenient time. He can evaluate learning outcome by attempting quizzes. The learner can go over the content repeatedly till he is through with the module. In case of a slow learner the hesitation of asking doubts in the class can be avoided, which subsequently adds to his confidence. The accompanying simulations help the learner to practice the content in a play way method. Further the videography helps the learner to visualize the abstract facts which was impossible with conventional methods. The very slow processes like germination of seed or growth of living organism, etc., are easily seen and understood. The same is the case with processes which are very fast like flight of projectile etc. In mathematics the topics like three dimensional geometry, constructions, visualizing shapes, mensuration, trigonometry etc., which involve drawing on the board becomes very interesting for the learner if videos are used for explanation.

technology in Education -2

In order to provide our children free and fair chance to learn we need to make sure that they are treated as individuals. They need to be given an opportunity to learn at their own pace, make selection of the courses, decide on the time for learning. We need to make effective use of the latest scientific tools available to meet the aspirations of the children. Once we successfully identify the issues involved and the potential of computers we would be able to use it for their betterment. The development in the field of hardware as well software has made this wonderful gadget, computer a very effective and versatile tool for teaching learning process.

The process of imparting learning through computers is being termed as e-learning [Electronically supported learning].  This technique has revolutionized the learning process and has taken care of most of the barriers of communication. It brings within reach of one and all the experts in the respective fields. The production houses hire the best talent to carry out research and condense the content in manageable modules. The modules have components like videos, simulations, text, quiz, key words, glossary, mind map etc.