Knowledge Week 2020

Knowledge Week 2020

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Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University organised a week long Knowledge week from 3rd Feb to 8th Feb 2020. In this Knowledge Week, renowned speakers like Swami Dharmabandhuji, Dr, Anish Chandarana, Jay Vasavada, Dr. Jay Narayan Vyas, Swami Brahamavihari and Dr. Jagdish Trivedi interacted with students on topics like Youth and Nation, Health, Social Media, Economics, Human Values and Literature.

Knowledge Week 2020 from Dilip Barad

Day 1: 

Day 2: 

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Day 6:

India Vision 2020

Rabindranath Tagore’s Vision

India Vision 2020 - as envisioned in 2002

 

In 2002, the Planning Commission of India, Government of India, published a Report on India Vision 2020. This poem was used to give direction. The report mentions:

"It is indeed a challenge to formulate a cohesive vision for India in 2020. Therefore, we thought it appropriate to seek inspiration from one who had a clear vision and possessed the gift to articulate it in a manner that has inspired the hearts and minds of countless Indians. The vision articulated by Rabindranath Tagore is all encompassing in every sense. In Annexure I, we identify eight components of the vision reflected in the following poem and attempt to translate them in operational terms for India Vision 2020." 

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high.

Where knowledge is free. 

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments 

By narrow domestic walls. 

Where words come out from the depth of truth. 

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection. 

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way 

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit. 

Where the mind is led forward by 

Thee Into ever-widening thought and action.

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. 

Rabindranath Tagore

The vision articulated by Rabindranath Tagore is all encompassing in every sense. It has laid down what he considered to be the basic constituents of the “heaven of freedom”. We can identify eight components of this vision reflected in the poem quoted earlier, which we can attempt to translate into operational terms for India’s vision 2020.

Where the mind is without fear – Peace and security, internal as well as external, is the first and most essential foundation for the nation’s future progress. Fearlessness can only be attained when this security extends to cover, over and above our physical safety, our social rights and economic well being, to eliminate all forms of vulnerability and discrimination.

Where the head is held high – Self-respect and self-esteem are the psychological foundations for the development of individuality and individual initiative, which are the means through which the nation builds its strength and fulfils its aspirations. The nation prospers through the development and flowering of all its citizens as individuals. Health, education and employment opportunities for all, and awareness of our rich spiritual and cultural heritage are the essential bases for fostering self-respect and self-esteem. 

Where knowledge is free – Development takes place when people become aware of opportunities for advancement and acquire the knowledge needed to convert those opportunities into practical accomplishments. Knowledge in the form of education, technology and access to a wide range of information is a catalyst for individual and social progress. The free flow of knowledge is the basis for a free and prosperous society. 

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls – The spirit of globalisation which is rapidly reshaping the world today cannot be better expressed. The accelerated flow and exchange of trade, capital, technology, information and people will create unprecedented opportunities for the progress and prosperity of all countries that can transcend the narrow confines of national boundaries. India can however realise its full potential in the wider world only when it is internally united, surmounting all the centrifugal forces that overlook our common heritage and accentuate our differences. 

Where words come out from the depth of truth — Integrity, honesty and trustworthiness are the essential foundations for a successful democracy and a prosperous society. Both good governance and commercial success demand rigorous standards of transparency, accountability and reliability in word and action. 

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection – Prosperity is the result of productivity and efficiency which require the highest level of productive skills, technological excellence and human effort. 

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit – Nations develop by choosing the best the future has to offer, while being willing to discard outmoded ideas and behaviours that retard future progress and even threaten to undermine the country’s unity and strength. 

Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action – Education, innovation and creativity are the ultimate driving forces for the continuous advancement of scientific knowledge and material accomplishment. These threads from. Rabindranath’s poem are the vital strands from which a fulfilling vision of India 2020 can be woven.

Source:
This is taken from Report of the Committee onIndiaVision 2020, Planning CommissionGovernment of IndiaNew DelhiDECEMBER, 2002
The image of Rabindranath Tagore is from this article. The article is worth reading. It is on -

5 Reasons why Rabindranath Tagore was Ahead of His Time

Workshop by KCG on NME-ICT and role of ICT in Higher Education

Knowledge Consortium of Gujarat (initiation of Department of Education, Govt. of Gujarat) organised one day workshop on 7^th June 2010 to orient university and college teachers towards National Mission of Education through Information and Communication Technology (NME-ICT) – a multi-crore project set in motion by Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India.

The resource persons were invited from IIM-A, IGNOU and Delhi University. I was pleased to be one of the resource persons among such an elite class of educationist. I made presentation on 'How some web 2.0 tools can be used in Continuous Internal Assessment and prepare ePortfolios of students, institutes and teachers'.



As I have to reach at Amhedabad Management Association, Ahmedabad before 9 am, I left Bhavnagar sharp at 6:20 am. The weather was cloudy and windy.
The mornings are normally very cool and breezy on the highway towards Ahmedabad. But this morning was gloomy and dark – reminded of the environment created by Shakespeare for the encounter of three witches with Macbeth and Banquo.

I feared not witches, but equally ill-omened rain and cyclone.
I drove Zen-Estilo at its highest speed. I cannot run it faster than 160 KMPH. The small cars have their limits.

I was not able to escape the cyclonic wind and torrent of rain. Soon I was amidst tumultuous outpouring of waters from the sky and tempestuous storm.




Fortunately, I did not confront any ill-incident and reached AMA safely and before time.



The AMA campus was fully drenched in rain and presumed a resemblance to newly wed bride. Each and every leaf of the trees, shrubs, bushes and grass were glowing with blissful glisten.



AMA is one of the most appropriate venues for such academic gatherings. They have fully equipped auditorium and have facilities to manage all the logistics required for seminar, conferences and workshops.

As I reached a bit early, I got chance to take snaps of the simple, sober and orderly kept auditorium.

I enjoyed sharing my experience of using some of the web tools for specific purpose like Continuous Internal Assessment and ePortfolio.
The gist of my presentation was to share an idea regarding internal assessment of students in semester system and use of ICT. With appropriate integration of Web tools (ICT), the teacher can make the classroom live, interactive and full of active participation from students.



It can open vistas of multiple communication channels in the (virtual) classroom which is normally one way communication (Teacher to Students) in traditional mode of teaching. It can also bring transparency to the internal assessment system as all the assignments, presentations and test records with comments of teachers are available of websites and accessible to everybody. All the students can see what their peers have done and parents can also tract the academic records of their students. This activity of taking learning on the web platform can lead into auto-generation of ePortfolios of not only students, but also of the teacher and the institute. It can be of great help to students when they are out in job market. It can be helpful to teachers in their self appraisals and to the institute, in academic evaluation by external agency like NAAC or ISO. The session ended with some inquisitive questions from the participants.