Category: Educational Innovations

Will government support creative communities and young inventors?

Will new budget support creative communities and young inventors? The entrepreneurship and people’s knowledge are two themes, which recur repeatedly in the manifesto of the ruling party. And yet, there has not been any declaration in this regard so far. May be, a considered view is being taken to tap the enormous creative and innovative…

Stolen Childhood: greatest robbery of this century

Stolen Childhood: greatest robbery of this century There couldn’t be a more opportune moment for remembering millions of children who toil in cotton fields, brick making Bhatta, construction industry, roadside dhabas and restaurants and above all, houses of the the elites. Restoring Childhood ought to be the first priority of any civilised nation. Nobel peace…

MOM to Mars: will mangalayan make life of ‘mangli’ girl better?

MOM to Mars: will mangalayan make life of ‘mangli’ girl better? The entire country celebrated the unique achievement of Indian space scientists when in the first attempt, the Mangalayan reached the orbit of Mars. Naturally, the celebration was much deserved. However, every time our public sector scientists achieve extraordinary results without any extra bonus, monetary…

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: building upon past mistakes

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: building upon past mistakes An extremely appreciable focus on providing toilet in every school can be a game changing intervention for improving public sanitation and in directly for educational enrolment and retention, particularly of girls. I also admire the impatience with which central government has started action already through MHRD. However, it…

a tribute to inspired teachers

A tribute to inspired teachers Every year India honours school teachers for their outstanding contribution based on their applications. Should any teacher really be applying for such honours? Shouldn’t it be the responsibility of parents, fellow teachers, educational administrators and others to nominate such outstanding teachers who go beyond the call of duty and nurture…

Theory of green grassroots frugal innovations

There has been a considerable confusion created by many scholars who have not used the terms carefully and therefore, have made the task of cumulation of knowledge difficult.  Honey Bee Network has used the term grassroots innovations for last 25 years in a particular context of informal sector.  For the growth of knowledge, comparative research…

How to attract talented scholars to science

  How to attract talented scholars to science There is a widespread feeling in the country that we are not able to attract the best students to science and if some of them are mobilised, then we work hard not to retain them.  There are several ways in which brain drain and brain drift take…

BRICS by Bricks: need for new values and ethos for BRICS development bank

BRICS by brick: An emerging new pole in the world Recent agreement, among BRICS nations [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] to develop a new development finance institution is a highly welcome step. A unipolar world needed very badly a new pole. India has the opportunity as the head of the new institution to…

Sustaining Frugal green innovations: a new paradigm of empathetic and evocative ecosystem

Sustaining Frugal green innovations: a new paradigm of empathetic and evocative ecosystem Frugality is not just about affordability. Even I had not stressed enough about circularity (that is, cradle to cradle approach of not developing a waste oriented economy) in my earlier talks and writings. It has of course been a core issue in the…

how not to support start ups

there are several problems with these policies: a) unless we decide to invest in student ideas when they are still students, that is, they r in their colleges and not when they join incubators, we will miss a lot of good ideas, b) in situ incubation is the future, off site residential incubator framework is…