Of this and that and the new education policy

The past month was hectic and terrible.  It was hectic because I was hopping from one meeting to another because of my administrative responsibilities.  It was also hectic because I was trying to complete two manuscripts and one grant.  But all that is behind me and the dahlias are smiling in my garden.  So things are better (except the weather which is hot one week and cold and rainy the next- my parents who are here with me are longing for the salubrious climate of Chennai with 40oC and 100% humidity.)
The past month was terrible because I was finally forced to take a decision which I hoped I never would have to.  I finally put in an attendance register in the laboratory making it mandatory for them to record the time of arrival. 
My first few students were really good. They would get in to the lab by 10 in the morning without any threats. They were responsible.  The current batch of students stroll in by 11, 11.30...at any time they please.  I was very polite with them pointing out that I prefer if they get in the morning by 10.  Then I was angry. I shouted and yelled.  Nothing made any difference.  So finally, I put up the attendance register.  They have to sign in by 10. If they are late for more than 3 days, I will institute punishment.  I feel terrible because I do not believe that I should be wielding a stick. Not when my scholars are adults.  But what does one do when someone does not understand? 
I have not signed an attendance register since I left college.  And now I too am signing it. Sigh.
The government has initiated biometric cards in all its offices.  The staff is upset but what they fail to understand is it is their own callous attitude towards work that has resulted in this scenario.
Finally, I received a mail about HRD initiative on New Education Policy.  It made an interesting read.  A person, in the section on Developing The Best Teachers, some one has poured his angst at the teachers he encountered in his engineering college- a degree that ultimately is worthless because he was taught nothing.
Will something positive come out of this initiative?  I do not know.  On the other hand, the railways have been taken to task because complaints poured in about the delays.  So who knows?

Two recent decisions- and both wrong

Two decisions- one of the Central Government and the other by State Government- and both, oh, so wrong, in my opinion.
The first one of course pertains to the documentary by Leslee Udwin titled India's daughter.  I understand that there were legal issues and my concern is not with that.  Of course if the case is pending before court then it cannot be broadcasted though of course BBC has already broadcasted it. My issue is with the Parliamentarians and the Government.  There was a hue and cry about how one of convict says in the documentary that it takes two to clap and the girl should have been passive while they raped her. In that case, the convict goes on to say that they would have allowed the girl to live.  That entire statement is nauseating but the issue is that most of the men in our country do believe that women are property. At no stage do we teach our boys to respect the girls or  teach them about gender equality.  Of course it always hurts when an outsider points out the unpalatable truth but truth it is. However, the point is that by banning the documentary we are not going to make the issue go away. Already the entire debate is about how Leslee Udwin was allowed to make the documentary rather than about how do we teach our children about gender equality.  Maybe by screening the documentary would have dinned some sense into some people?
The second one is about the banning of sale of beef by Maharashtra government. I really do not see what business it is of the government to regulate what people can eat.  If the Government was so concerned about the welfare of animals, then it would do it good to take a look at how animals are transported for slaughtering. It is a heart-rending scene to see hens tied together carried on the back of bicycle, or being cooped together in a small cage and transported across.  If the Government was so concerned about cows, why don't they take a good look at how they are really kept, especially in cities with no access to air or good food.  I am a vegetarian but I do not see how I have the right to decide what others should eat.