From the Editors' Desk Quality of Engineering Education in India

Fro m the Edito rs' De sk Quality o f Engine e ring Educatio n in India It’s a known fact that e ngine e ring graduate s have a strate gic and long-te rm im pact on productivity growth in industry and se rvice se ctors. To produce sophisticate d industrial products and se rvice s that are com pe titive in the global m arke t and to re a lize t he ‘Ma ke in India ’ init ia t ive , India will ne e d a re a lly h igh n u m b e r o f w e ll t r a in e d a n d e xt r e m e ly q u a lifie d e ngine e ring graduate s. “In our count ry, e ngine e rs are not able t o com e up ve ry fast . We (engineers) are not taking enough efforts to keep ourselves up-to-date . Engine e ring colle ge s or institute s that we have in the country, according to m e , are producing ve ry sub-standard quality of engineers,” – Quoting our ‘Metro Man’ E.Sreedharan from one of his lectures , as reported in the Hindu Business Line. Le aving aside the IIT’s & NIT’s which have be e n consiste ntly p ro d u cin g q u a lit y e n gin e e rs, w e h a ve m o re t h a n 3 0 0 0 engineering colleges, mostly in the private sector. The paradox in the syste m , is that while m ost of the se private e ngine e ring co lle ge s p ro d u ce su b -st a n d a rd e n gin e e rs, t h e m a jo rit y o f those com ing out of the IIT / NIT syste m e ithe r go abroad or d ive rt t o Ma n a ge m e n t st u d ie s o r In fo rm a t io n Te ch n o lo gy related jobs. Thus creating a big void of good quality engineers of Me chanical, Ele ctrical, Ele ctronics, Civil, Che m ical, Mate rial Science and other traditional engineering background to cater t o t he core se ct or which is so crit ica l fo r t h e n a t io n ’s in d u st ria l, in fra st ru ct u ra l a n d d e fe n s e b a ckb o n e . Se v e r a l s u r v e y s h a v e revealed that alm ost 50% of t h e st u d e n t s gr a d u a t in g fr o m t h e s e p r iva t e e n gin e e r in g co lle ge s a r e u n e m p lo ya b le w h ile 30% could be m ade e m ployable afte r spe cialize d training. In short, we produce annually about 1 . 5 m illio n e ngine e ring graduate s who co m e o u t o f t h e syst e m R.A. Mashelkar delivering B. Himatsingka Memorial Oration, 2018 (See page 7) which has no conside ration K. Muraleedharan, S.P. Mukherjee, Malay Ghosh, Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay & Asis Chattopadhyay at the Inaugural Session of International Conference (See page 6) of quality control. Engine e ring e ducation today has be com e m ore of a busine ss rat he r t han an e ducat ion plat form . But e ngine e rs of such qualit y are re ally of no gre at use for t his de ve loping country, hungry for innovations to ove rcom e the m yria d s o f ch a lle n ge s b e in g fa ce d in e ve ry se ct o r a n d t o transform this country into a ‘m ode rn and de ve lope d’ one . What ails this e ducatio n syste m ? Th e re a re se ve ra l fa ct o rs im p e d in g t h e q u a lit y o f t h e e n d p r o d u ct , i.e ., gr a d u a t e e n gin e e r s fit t o sh o u ld e r t h e re sponsibility by ge tting gainfully e m ploye d or be com ing an e ntre pre ne ur thus cre ating value contributing to the GDP of the nation and also creating a market for further employment. Most of t he se a re we ll known, he nce , I will pre se nt a brie f sum m ary of the ke y one s. Lack of qualit y t eachers – Mo st e d u ca t e d e n gin e e rs jo in te aching as a profe ssion not be cause of passion, but be cause the y have faile d to ge t a job in the industry. CONTENTS l Quality o f Engine e ring Educatio n in India/ Edito rial 1 l Quality Assurance in Big Data Analytics/ K. Muralidharan 2 l Zinc and Its Critical Ro le in Hum an…/ L. Pugazhe nthy 4 l Am azing Mathe m atics l IAPQR Ne w s 6 l List o f Ne w Me m be rs 5 l Laughte r, the He aling Balm 10 l Le tte r to the Edito r 10 l Tho ught Fo r To -day 12 11 Lack of Innovation – St ude nt s m ust be give n the space and scope to think and innovate , to que stion and com e up with so lu t io n s. Th is a p p lie s t o b o t h sch o o l e d u ca t io n a n d h igh e r e d u ca t io n . Th e abilit y t o apply t he conce pt s le arnt ,t o constantly develop innovative things and find solutions to com ple x proble m s are t h e m a in fa ct o rs wo rkin g b e h in d t h e quality of an e ngine e r. Lack of skill based education – The lack of in-de pt h unde rst anding of t e chnical inform ation, lack of clie nt-handling skills a n d in s u fficie n t kn o w le d ge a cr o s s d o m a in s in clu d in g q u a lit y, p r o je ct m anage m e nt, cost analysis, m arke ting, analytics e tc. are the m ajor skill gaps . It is o n ly wh e n t h e y e n co u n t e r t h e re a l wo rld p ro b le m s d o t h e y re a lize t h e ir we akne sse s. Lack of Com m unication and Soft-Skills – Institutes do not make an effort to ensure that the stude nts de ve lop the ir skills in a w h o le s o m e m a n n e r w h ic h c a n contribute towards clie nt-handling and te am com m unication skills. Disrupt ions and e xpone nt ial growt h in fie lds like ne twork and com m unication, b io t e ch n o lo gy, n a n o scie n ce , h igh p e rfo rm a n ce co m p u t in g a n d Art ificia l Inte llige nce are challe nging the age old s y lla b u s b e in g f o llo w e d in o u r e ngine e ring colle ge s thus cre ating a big gap be twe e n the m arke t ne e d and what the Indian education system is equipping it s s t u d e n t s w it h . Th e t r a d it io n a l education sector in India has not evolved at the sam e pace as the industry. The e xpe ctations that the Industry have from their potential recruits and the skills that e ngine e ring graduate s bring in, do not m atch. [We invite sugge stions from the re ade rs as to what could be pragm atic solutions to the proble m s raise d he re .] (Surajit Mukhe rje e ) Me m be r Board of Editors 2 l Communique : January - March 2018 LEAD ARTICLE Quality Assurance in Big Data Analytics K. Muralidharan The Maharajah Sayajirao Unive rsity of Baroda, Vadodara 1. Intro ductio n Alm o st a ll o r ga n iza t io n s (b u sin e ss, se rvice s and m anufacturing) ope rate in a n e n vir o n m e n t ch a r a ct e r ize d b y d yn a m ic m a rke t fo rce s a n d cu st o m e r d e m a n d s. De re gu la t io n , co n so lid a t io n a nd incre a se d co m pe t it io n a re fo rcing them to re-evaluate their technology and b u s in e s s p r o ce s s e s . Th e ch a n gin g r e gu la t o r y d e m a n d s , t a r iff is s u e s , e nvironm e ntal conce rns, and he alth and safe t y issue s cont inue s t o put pre ssure o n t h e se o rga n iza t io n s. Th e n e e d a n d u rge n cy o f d e ve lo p in g st a t ist ica l a n d analytical skills among executives for data a n a lys is , s ix s ig m a a n d p r o je c t m anage m e nt im ple m e ntation has be e n r a p id ly in c r e a s in g in c o r p o r a t e e n v ir o n m e n t f o r e f f ic ie n c y a n d e ffe ctive ne ss. Big Data Analytics is going to be the ne xt frontie r for innovation, productivity, and competitive advantage. ‘Big Data’ is often de fine d as m ore data m ade possible by t he int e rne t and e ve ry t im e som e body u se s a wire le ss d e vice (Fra n ks, 2012; Du m b ill, 2012; Go b b le , 2013; Ku d yb a , 2015). It is all about tapping into dive rse d a t a s e t s , fin d in g a n d m o n e t izin g unknown re la t ionships, a nd t he re fore , co m p le t e ly a d a t a d r ive n p r o ce s s t e chnique . Da t a it se lf is a re cord of a n e ve nt or a transaction like • A purchase of a product • A re sponse to a m arke ting initiative • A te xt se nt to anothe r individual • A click on a we b link As w e a ll a gre e t h a t e ve ry b u sin e ss p ro ce ss in vo lve s la rge vo lu m e o f d a t a and are available in many forms (variety). Th e sp e e d (ve lo cit y), a t w h ich t h e t e rabyt e s of dat a (volum e ) is acce sse d, re co rd e d , d isse m in a t e d , a n d u se d fo r furthe r analysis are now be com ing a big ch a lle n ge fo r a ll d e cisio n m a ke rs. Th e p ro b le m is fu rt h e r e sca la t e d b y t h e u n ce rt a in t y a n d va ria t io n s in vo lve d in e ve r y p r o ce sse s. He n ce t o m a ke a b u s in e s s p r o ce s s s m a r t , w e n e e d analytics. In a sim ple way, a big data can be de scribe d as Big data = Transactio ns + Inte ractio ns + Obse rvatio ns In fut ure , all organizat ions are going t o face data explosion problem. Automated d a t a co lle ct io n t o o ls a n d m a t u r e database technology lead to tremendous a m o u n t s o f d a t a st o re d in d a t a b a se s, data ware house s and othe r inform ation re posit orie s. He nce , t he re is a ne e d t o conve rt such da t a int o knowle dge a nd in fo r m a t io n . An y d e a r t h o f p r o p e r t e ch n o lo gy a n d a n a lyt ica l t o o ls w ill ha m pe r t he e nt ire pro ce ss o f de cisio n m aking. Howe ve r, the ne w inform ation t e ch n o lo gy is m a kin g it p o ssib le fo r com panie s to capture , store and analyze ream s of data to extract valuable m arket and custom e r knowle dge . 2. Ne ce ssity o f Quality in Big Data Analytics Th e m o st im p o rt a n t ch a lle n ge fo r Big Data Analytics is to e nsure the quality of the data, the tools used for analyzing the d a t a , a n d t h e in t e rp re t a t io n o f t h e analyze d re sult s. Most of t he t im e , t he dat a are unst ruct ure d and t e xt ual. The a b ilit y t o a cce ss a n d a n a lyze su ch a m assive flow of dat a in re al t im e could transform m ainte nance practice s, which consum e a huge am ount of ope rational re source s. To achie ve such a vision, the ch a lle n ge go e s b e yo n d ga t h e rin g a n d st oring huge am ount s of dat a. In m any case s it was so labour int e nsive t o pull t o ge t h e r in t o a u se a b le fo r m a t fo r statistical analysis that it was never done b e fo re . Tim e ly in t e rve n t io n o f d a t a mining tools, appropriate designs, related to change m anage m e nt, ince ntive s, and p e o p le a cco u n t a b ilit y is ve r y m u ch e sse ntial for sim plifying this. The best way to bring quality in the data analytics is to integrate technically strong q u a lit y p h ilo so p h ie s like Six Sigm a o r Le a n Six Sigm a m e t h o d o lo gie s in t h e d a t a a n a lyt ic p ro ce ss. Six Sigm a is a structured, project-oriented, data-driven a p p r o a c h a n d m e t h o d o lo g y f o r e lim inating de fe cts in a proce ss – from manufacturing to transactional and from product to se rvice . It is a m anage m e nt p h ilo s o p h y a t t e m p t in g t o im p r o ve effectiveness and efficiency. It is uniquely d r ive n b y c lo s e u n d e r s t a n d in g o f custom e r re quire m e nts and re inve nting b u sin e ss p r o ce sse s a n d w o r ks w it h DM AIC ( De f in e -M e a s u re -An a ly z e Im prove -Cont rol) p h ilo so p h y (Sn e e , 1999; Harry and Schroeder, 2000; Eckes, 2 0 0 0 ; Co r o n a d o a n d An t o n y, 2 0 0 2 ; Pande e t.al. 2003; Dine sh Kum ar, 2008; Schroe de r, 2008; Muralidharan, 2015). Le a n Six Sigm a is a m e t h o d o lo gy t h a t re lie s on a collaborative te am e ffort to im prove pe rform ance by syste m atically re m oving waste and re ducing variation. It com bine s t o e lim inat e various kinds of waste in the proce ss. As p o in t e d o u t b y Fo ga r t y (2 0 1 5 ), co n s o lid a t in g Le a n Six Sigm a w it h advanced analytics is an effort to become e v e n m o r e e f f e c t iv e a t t a k in g im p ro ve m e n t p ro je ct s t o a n e w le ve l. Sin ce , w e a re livin g in a n e ra o f t h e ‘in t e r n e t o f e ve r yt h in g ’ a n d t h e p r o life r a t io n o f Big Da t a in t h e com m e rcial world pose s challe nge s for both methodologies and technicians. The co m b in a t io n o f Le a n Six Sigm a a n d advance d analytics go hand in hand due t o t h e ir p ro ce ss o rie n t e d n a t u re a n d rigo ro u s se a rch fo r t h e t ru t h in d a t a . Mo re o ve r, t he se pa ra digm s co m bine d will yie ld im p ro ve d re su lt s o ve r t h e ir se parate application. In particular it was note d that advance d analytics could be use d in the Me asure and Analyze Phase o f t h e DMAIC im p ro ve m e n t p ro ce ss. Du rin g t h e m e a su re p h a se a fo cu s o n a d va n ce d st a t ist ica l t e ch n iq u e s go in g beyond the sim plistic control chart could re a lly a llo w b u sin e sse s t o u n d e rst a n d how a proce ss is working. 3. Applicatio n are as Cust o m e r Pro filing a nd Se gm e nt a t io n, Cu st o m e r Life t im e Va lu e An a lyt ics, Customer Sentiment Analytics, Customer Sa t is fa c t io n An a lyt ic s , Ca m p a ig n M a n a ge m e n t An a lyt ics, Fo re ca st in g An a l y t i c s , U t i l i t y An a l y t i c s , Telecommunication Data Analytics, Super m a rke t da t a Ana lyt ics, Tra nspo rt Da t a Analytics, Fraud Analytics, etc., are som e of t he a re a s of Big Da t a Ana lyt ics. Any proce ss associat e d wit h t he se busine ss areas generate huge amount of raw data a n d e q u a lly ge n e ra t e u n u t ilize d a n d u n st ru ct u re d d a t a u su a lly t e rm e d a s wastes in Lean Six Sigm a philosophy. See h o w t h e se ct o rs like Ba n kin g, Fin a n ce and Insurance are swimming through the d a t a e ve ry d a y. By so m e e st im a t e s, organizations in all se ctors have at le ast 100 te rabyte s of data, m any with m ore t han a Pe t abyt e s of dat a. Eve n scarie r, m a n y p re d ict t h is n u m b e r t o d o u b le every six m onths of operation. The three ke y te chnologie s that can he lp you ge t a h a n d le o n b ig d a t a – a n d e ve n m o re importantly, extract meaningful business value from it, are • The Inform ation m anage m e nt for big data, fa c e d b y b u s in e s s , in d u s t r y a n d go ve rn m e n t e n t it ie s. Th e o ft -q u o t e d McKinse y & Com pany re port fore te lls a shortage of up to 190,000 worke rs with d e e p a n a lyt ica l skills a n d 1.5 m illio n m anage rs and analysts to m anage data proje cts (as pe r ye ar 2015 e stim ate s). A la rge num be r o f t he se wo rke rs will be holders of bachelor’s degrees in statistics. Ultim ately, Big Data and Six Sigm a are all St at ist ical infe re nce base d st udie s, and therefore, Statistical study is vital for any q u a lit y im p r o ve m e n t a n d d e cis io n m aking. Big data analytics is transforming the way co m p a n ie s a r e u s in g s o p h is t ica t e d inform ation te chnologie s to gain insight fro m t h e ir d a t a re p o sit o rie s t o m a ke in fo rm e d d e cisio n s. Th is d a t a -d rive n approach is unpre ce de nte d as the data colle ct e d via t he we b and social m e dia is e scalating by the se cond. In the future w e w ill s e e t h e r a p id , w id e s p r e a d im p le m e n t a t io n a n d u se o f b ig d a t a analytics across the organization and the in d u s t r y . As it b e c o m e s m o r e mainstream, issues such as guaranteeing p r iv a c y , s a f e g u a r d in g s e c u r it y , e stablishing standards and gove rnance , and continually im proving the tools and te chnologie s would garne r atte ntion. • High-pe rform ance analytics for big data, and • Fle xible de ploym e nt options for big data. The se ke y te chnologie s warrant the use o f so m e q u a lit y a sse ssm e n t t h ro u gh Qu a lit y Fu n ct io n De p lo ym e n t (QFD), De signe d fo r Six Sigm a (DFSS), KAIZEN philosophies and m any other techniques used in Six Sigma project implementation. According t o John Sall, co-founde r and e xe cutive vice pre side nt of SAS Institute , USA, “Big statistics” is the te rm that de al with a lot of data and statistics that are im portant and significant. Be ing able to t a ke Big Da t a a n d t u r n it in t o “Big st a t ist ics” is im p o rt a n t fo r ge n o m ics, indust ry a nd busine ss. It is a fa ct t ha t , t h e in d u s t r y h a s r e c o g n ize d t h e incre asing im portance of the practice of statistics to solving the complex problems 4. Six Sigm a Analytics Wh e n sp e a kin g o f Big Da t a , o n e m u st consider the source of data. This involves t h e t e ch n o lo gie s t h a t e xist t o d a y a n d t h e in d u s t r y a p p lica t io n s t h a t a r e fa cilit a t e d b y t h e m . Th e se in d u st r y a p p lica t io n s a re p re va le n t a cro ss t h e re a lm o f co m m e rce a n d co n t in u e t o p r o life r a t e in c o u n t le s s a c t ivit ie s in clu d in g Ma rke t in g a n d a d ve rt isin g; He a lt h ca re ; Tra n sp o rt a t io n ; En e rgy; Re t ail e t c. Analyt ic m e t hods can range from simple reports, tables, and graphics t o m ore st at ist ically base d e nde avours t o q u a n t it a t iv e - b a s e d m e t h o d s . Th e re fo re , w e a d vo ca t e a six p h a se s t r a t e gic, t a ct ica l a n d o p e r a t io n a l fra m e wo rk IMAVVI (Initiate-MeasureAnalyze-Validate-Verify-Im plem ent ) o f Six Sigm a Analytics in the following way: Communique : January - March 2018 l 3 • Initiate: Initiate the ne e d for Big Data analytics proje ct, proje ct attribute s and obje ctive s. • Measure: Ide ntify re le vant data variable s and m e asure pe rform ance of the proce ss; what is the proble m be ing addre sse d; why is it im portant and inte re sting? e tc. • Analyze: Identification of sources of inacceptable variations, justify the use of advance d m ultivariate te chnique s, te stre te st the hypothe sis, re -visit and re -inve nt the im ple m e ntable solutions e tc. • Validate: Validate strategic processes on the basis of analysis and outputs, gain insight from outputs. • Verify: Verify the operational objectives as per the solutions obtaine d, if ne e de d go to the pre vious ste ps for validation of the obje ctive s and de rive policy im plications. • Im plem ent : Im ple m e nt tactical solutions and m ake inform e d de cisions. Whe n it com e s to proble m solving and proce ss optim ization, t he st a t ist ica l t o o ls a nd Six Sigm a t o o ls co uld be t he ke y t o turning Big Data into manageable inferences. Hence, Six Sigma An a lyt ics o ffe r s sm a r t p r o ce sse s co u p le d w it h fo cu se d t e chnology and act ionable de cisions. The above fram e work the re fore assure s a good am ount of quality in data analytics if is done with accountable pe ople , proce ss and te chnology. 5. Co nclusio ns Bu sin e ss An a lyt ics, Da t a b a se An a lyt ics, Da t a Min in g, Da t a Science, Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA), Knowledge Discovery of Data (KDD), Statistical Analysis, Quantitative Analytics, We b mining etc. are the other synonyms used for Big Data Analytics. Big Da t a is kn o wn in m a n y n a m e s a n d p e rce p t io n s. All b ig, m e d iu m a n d sm a ll o rga n iza t io n s, R&D in st it u t io n s, u t ilit y se rvice stations are running from pillar to post to im ple m e nt a n a lyt ics in t h e ir b u sin e ss p ro ce sse s. Un fo rt u n a t e ly, m o st busine sse s have m ade slow progre ss in e xtracting value from Big Data. And some companies are attempting to use traditional data m anage m e nt practice s on Big Data, only to le arn that the old rule s no longe r apply. Probably that is the re ason; Big Data An a lyt ics in t o xica t e s t h e CEO’s, Se n io r M Ds, M a n a ge rs, Exe cu t ive s, IT p ro fe ssio n a ls, Aca d e m icia n s, Co n su lt a n t s, w o rke rs a n d so o n , a like . It a d d s va lu e t o t h e ir p ro file , co m p e t it ive e d ge a n d im a ge , a n d a b o ve a ll t h e d e ce n cy o f profe ssional skills. For a CEO, if Big Data Analytics is a tool for business growth, then for an executive, it is a way of enhancing care e r path. It is a ne w discipline in the re ckoning, and is he re to stay for a long tim e . (For re fe re nce s, re ade rs m ay cont act t he aut hor at his e -m ail id : m uralikustat@gm ail.com ) IAPQR is grate ful to ..... Pro fe sso r S. P. Mukhe rje e , Pro fe sso r H. S. Ray, Pro fe sso r B. Das, Pro fe sso r S. B. Bagchi , and Pro fe sso r Asis Kumar Chatto padhyay fo r the ir ge ne ro us co ntributio ns to diffe re nt funds o f IAPQR during the pe rio d unde r re vie w . 4 l Communique : January - March 2018 Zinc and Its Critical Ro le in Hum an He alth L. Pugazhe nthy Exe cutive Dire ctor, India Le ad Zinc De ve lopm e nt Association, Ne w De lhi Zinc is an e sse nt ial e le m e nt for good he alt h in individuals. More ove r, it is the m ine ral in which pe ople are m ost like ly to b e d e ficie n t . Tra ce e le m e n t s a re fo u n d in b o d y in m in u t e quant it ie s, wit hout t he m none of t he body’s vit al che m ical re act ions could t ake place . The t race e le m e nt zinc he lps t o form the enzymes that enable proteins to become the ‘building blocks’ of ne w ce lls. De ficie ncy can le ad to various syndrom e s with im m une disorde rs, disturbance s of live r, disturbance s in se xual de ve lopm e nt , dist urb wound he aling and cause skin d ise a se s. Zin c is, t h e re fo re , e sse n t ia l fo r gro wt h , se xu a l d e ve lo p m e n t a n d go o d h e a l a n d a lso h e lp s t o d e cre a se susce ptibility to infe ction and prom ote s wound he aling. Zinc has be e n shown to have be ne ficial e ffe cts on m uscle stre ngth and e ndurance and in raising the thre shold of fatigue . De rm a t o lo gist s in Swe d e n h a ve su cce ssfu lly t re a t e d skin ailm e nt s wit h zinc supple m e nt s. In som e inst ance s, pe ople who suffe re d from se ve re acne , and who had found that no other treatment had helped, noticed that after taking a special preparation of zinc sulphate their skin condition had improved within 4 we e ks and continue s to ge t be tte r. Owing t o t he incre a se d public co nce rn a bo ut he a vy m e t a l such as lead and cadmium, commonly found in the atmosphere o f m o st in d u st ria l a n d in t e r-cit y a re a s, scie n t ist s a re n o w showing a gre a t e r int e re st in t he t ra ce e le m e nt zinc which ca n h e lp t h e b o d y n o t t o a b so rb t h e se m e t a ls. At o m ic a b so r p t io n sp e ct r o m e t r y is t h e p r e fe r r e d m e t h o d fo r de te rm ining zinc and give s value s with good re producibility. Th e a ve ra ge a d u lt h u m a n (b o d y we igh t o f 70kg) co n t a in s be t we e n 1.4 and 2.30 g of zinc, as com pare d wit h 4.2-6.1 g of iron and 81-230 m g of coppe r. Zinc de ficie ncy m ay re sult fro m a n u m b e r o f fa ct o rs, t h e m o st o b vio u s o n e b e in g a n inade quate die t. Eve n in We ste rn countrie s, food stuffs m ay oft e n cont ain only sm all am ount s of zinc. The World He alt h Orga niza t io n ha s re co m m e nde d a da ily int a ke o f 15 m g o f zinc for t he a ve ra ge individua l pe rson. Without this intake, the body will contain insufficie nt zinc. Intake is via food, wate r a n d a ir. It s a b so rp t io n is e q u a l w h e n t a ke n a s oxide , ca rbona t e , sulpha t e or m e tal, but as sulphide and as m ixe d Fe Zn -Mn o xid e it is e xcre t e d p ra ct ica lly unalte re d. Lo w le ve ls o f zin c h a ve b e e n fo u n d in patients with heart disease, liver disease, som e cance rs, ulce r and in wom e n who a re pre gna nt , bre a st -fe e ding or t a king oral contrace ptive s. Zinc appe ars to play an important role in regulating hormonal change s in the body that re late to m any of the side effects experienced by woman o n t h e co n t ra ce p t ive p ill, a n d d u rin g premenstrual and menopausal problems, e g., de pre ssions, brit t le finge rnails and thinning hair. An intake of 15mg/ day of zinc in suitable fo rm is re co m m e nde d fo r a dult s, wit h a n a d d it io n a l 1 5 m g / d a y d u r in g p r e gn a n cy a n d 1 9 m g / d a y d u r in g lactation (6 m onths). Be ne fits attribute d to zinc supple m e nts have include d such dive rse ite m s as re duce d body odor, le ss acne and some relief of persons suffering from chronic prostrate inflam m ation. Infe rtility and im pote nce toge the r with a la ck o f se x d r ive h a ve a lso b e e n attribute d to low le ve ls of zinc, as have a lo ss o f t h e se n se o f t a st e a n d sm e ll, lack of growth, night blindness, im paired w o u n d h e a lin g, s kin d is o r d e r a n d diarrhe a. Modern refined food contains much less zinc than food in the old days and several nutritionists believe that a ‘normal diet’ is not necessarily a healthy diet. For most pe ople , a high-zinc die t would re quire a conside ra ble a da pt ion of t he ir norm a l food intake and pe ople m ay not wish to e a t t o o m u ch n o n -ve ge t a r ia n fo o d be cause the y are trying to cut down on animal fats. While vegetable-based diets may contain as much zinc as those based o n m e a t , p ro h ib it ive ly la rge a m o u n t s w o u ld n e e d t o b e e a t e n in o rd e r t o o ve rco m e t h e p ro b le m o f a b so rp t io n . The intake from wate r is lim ite d e ve n if it co n t a in s 5m g/ lit re . A h u m a n b e in g drinks approx 1.5L of liquid pe r day and there is a further intake of 1.5L of water in fo o d st u ffs, wa t e r o f o xid a t io n a s a metabolic product etc., According to the re co m m e n d e d va lu e , fo r 1.5L o f flu id d ru n k, in t a ke w o u ld o n ly b e a ro u n d 7.5mg zinc, while coffee, tea and alcohol ca n in h ib it t h e b o d y’s a b so rp t io n o f zinc. A su it a b le a lt e r n a t ive m a y b e zin c supplements, although everybody should be care ful t o che ck t he am ount of zinc co n t a in e d in t h e se p re p a ra t io n s. Fo r e xa m p le , m o st m u lt ivit a m in s sa y t h a t they contain zinc, but usually the quantity is ve r y s m a ll a n d u n d e r c e r t a in cir cu m st a n ce s is b o u n d w it h o t h e r substances that prevent much of the zinc be ing absorbe d by the body. Anyone who fe e ls t hat he or she could be suffering from zinc deficiency or could b e n e fit fro m t a kin g zin c su p p le m e n t s should consult e ithe r a doctor or a local pharm acist , as form ulat ions cont aining m ore zinc are available . Co m p a r e d w it h n o r m a l zin c n e e d s, in cr e a se d a m o u n t s m a y b e n e e d e d during pe riods of rapid growth, such as e m bryonic life , pre gna ncy e t c. Inde e d, so m e scie n t ist s in d ica t e t h a t t h e re is m u c h m o r e s e n s e in g ivin g zin c supplements to pregnant woman instead of iron. Othe r groups who m ay be short of zinc intake are old pe ople or those on a re st rict e d food budge t , at hle t e s (zinc is lo st t h ro u gh e xce ssive sw e a t in g), a lch o h o lics a n d fa m ilie s w h o re ly o n conve nie nce foods. List o f Ne w Me m be rs A. Patro ns l Profe ssor Basude b Barm an AA-15, Se ctor-I, Salt Lake City, Kolkata 700 064 B. Life Me m be rs l Mr. Sunil Kum ar Sharm a Flat-1, Block-21 South Easte rn Railway Colony Garde n Re ach, Kolkata 700 043 l Dr. Indrajit Mukhe rje e B-77, Old Multistoried Building, Lake Side IIT Bombay, P.O. Powai, Mumbai 400 076 C. Annual Me m be rs l Mr. Avadhanula Sridhar Flat No. 401, Dronam Arcade Railway Ne w Colony Visakhapatnam 530 016 l Dr. De bashis Sarkar l Dr. Lakshm ikanta Datta 20/ 4/ 3, Shastri Nare ndranath Ganguly Road P.O. Santragachi, Howrah 711 104 Me chanical Engine e ring De partm e nt Asansol Engine e ring Colle ge Asansol 713 305, We st Be ngal l Dr. Manik De 145, Jodhpur Park Kolkata 700 068 Communique : January - March 2018 l 5 IAPQR NEWS l Inte rnatio nal Co nfe re nce o n Ne w Paradigm s in Statistics An int e rnat ional Confe re nce on New Paradigm s in Statistics for Scientific and Industrial Research was organize d by IAPQR joint ly wit h CSIR-Ce nt ral Glass & Ce ram ic Re se arch Inst it ut e (CGCRI) during 4-6 Ja nua ry 2018 a t t he la t t e r’s pre m ise s a t Jadavpur, Kolkata. The Inaugural Se ssion starte d at 10:00 hr on January 4 with ce re m onia l light ing of la m p. In his we lcom e a ddre ss, Dr. K. Murale e dharan, Dire ctor, CSIR-CGCRI, obse rve d that Statistics h a s a b ig ro le in t h e p ro m o t io n o f scie n t ific a n d in d u st ria l research. He added that speedy innovations could be facilitated by e ffe ctive utilization of e xisting and ne w statistical tools that are com ing up to m e e t the incre asing challe nge s of scie ntific and industrial research. Professor S. P. Mukherjee, Chairm an, Orga nising Com m it t e e , pre se nt e d a n out line of t he pla n of t h e Co n fe re n ce , a n d b rie fly t o u ch e d o n t h e gro wt h o f t h e d iscip lin e o f St a t ist ics o ve r t h e d e ca d e s, a s a lso o n it s im portance as a re se arch m e thodology. The re upon, Profe ssor Ma la y Ghosh of Unive rsit y of Florida , USA, in his ina ugura l addre ss, obse rve d that Statistics today is not a m e re tool, but h a s o f la t e b e co m e a n in t e gra l p a rt o f re se a rch in a p p lie d discipline s. He pointe d out that bio-inform atics, de ve lopm e nt o f n e w d ru gs, fin a n ce e t c. a re t h e n e w d o m a in s w h e re st at ist icians would have a bigge r role t o play in fut ure . The Ke y-n o t e a d d re ss wa s d e live re d b y Pro fe sso r Sa n gh m it ra (Contd. Pg. 8) A section of gathering during the Inaugural Session of International Conference. 6 l Communique : January - March 2018 Partha Sarathi Lahiri & Asish Sen Gupta conducting the workshop on survey sampling. l 46th Fo undatio n Day Obse rve d Th e 46t h Fo u n d a t io n Da y o f IAPQR wa s ce le b ra t e d o n 6t h Fe bruary 2018 at St. Xavie r's Colle ge pre m ise s. The program m e st art e d wit h an int roduct ory addre ss by Pro f. S.P. Mu kh e rje e d w e llin g o n t h e ge n e sis o f q u a lit y m ove m e nt in India st art ing wit h a se rie s of le ct ure s on SQC de live re d by Prof. W. She wart at Pre side ncy Colle ge , Calcutta in 1948, t hrough t he form at ion of Indian Socie t y for Qualit y Co nt ro l t he sa m e ye a r unde r t he st e wa rdship o f Pro f. P.C. Mahalanobis, with its e ve ntual dissolution in 1973 and birth of t wo offsprings–IAPQR in Kolkat a unde r t he le ade rship of Prof. P.K. Bose, and Indian Association for Quality and Reliability in t he t he n Ba nga lo re He na rra t e d a t le ngt h t he a ct ivit ie s take n up by IAPQR since the n. Aft e r Pro f. Asis Ch a t t o p a d h ya y in t ro d u ce d Pro f. Sa ib a l Chattopadhyay, Dire ctor, IIM, Calcutta, The latte r starte d his Foundation Day Le cture with conce pt of Online and Ble nde d Le arning Re volut ion, by e xpanding t he abbe riviat ion MOOC as Massive ly Ope n Online Course s. He we nt on to e laborate on how ove r the re ce nt ye ars the re has be e n a significant shift in busine ss school m ode l, both in the We st and the East, from t radit ional classroom approach t o online e ducat ion, de spit e cha lle nge s fro m t he bigwigs like Ha rva rd, St a nfo rd e t c. He pointed out that the web platform s have opened up the scope for fre e knowle dge in m anage m e nt e ducat ion, albe it a lit t le charge for asse ssm e nt . He quot e d e laborat e ly from t he t wo books Rethinking the MBA Business Education at a Crossroads (Datar, Srikant e tal/ Harvard Busine ss Pre ss, 2010) and From Higher Aim s to Hired Hands : The Social Transform ation of Am erican Business (Contd. Pg. 8) Group photo of a section of delegates at the International Conference on New Paradigms in Statistics l Wo rksho p o n Surve y Sam pling Gurucharan Manna & S.P. Mukherjee conducting the Workshop on Survey Sampling l B. Him atsingka Me m o rial Oratio n B. Himatsingka Memorial Oration (2018) of IAPQR was delivered by Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, former DG, CSIR and currently, President, Glo b a l Re se a rch Allia n ce , Ch a irm a n Na t io n a l In n o va t io n Foundation, and National Re se arch Profe ssor, on Fe bruary 21, 2018 at t he Me ghnad Saha Audit orium of CGCRI, Jadavpur. The event was organised in collaboration with CGCRI and India Carbon Ltd. Kolkata. The program m e starte d with we lcom e addre ss by Dr. B. B. Jh a , t h e se n io r-m o st scie n t ist o f CGCRI, h igh ligh t in g Dr. Mashe lkar's m any audable achie ve m e nts as the DG, CSIR. This followe d Ge ne ral Se cre t ary Prof. Asis Chat t opadhyay's brie f address dwelling on the current activities of IAPQR. Thereupon Pro f. S.P. M u kh e rje e , m e n t o r IAPQR, sp o ke a b o u t t h e m u lt ifa ce t e d p e rso n a lit y o f t h e fo u n d e r m e m b e r La t e B. Him a t singka , his le a ding role during t he form a t ive ye a rs of IAPQR, a s a lso in pione e ring t he ca lcina t ion indust ry in t he country. He also touched on the human qualities of Himatsingka as a great philanthropist. Prof H.S. Ray, VP, IAPQR and a former colleague of Dr. Mashelkar in CSIR fam ily, therafter introduced the spe ake r touching upon a fe w pe rsonal ane cdote s. A one-day workshop on some Recent Issues in Survey Sampling wa s o rga n ise d o n 9.3.18 in co lla b o ra t io n wit h Pre sid e n cy Unive rsity at the APC Ray Auditorium of the Unive rsity. Afte r a brie f inaugural se ssion chaire d by IAPQR Chairm an Prof. S.B. Bagchi, and addressed by Prof. Biswajit Roy and Prof. So u ra v De y o f Pre sid e n cy Un ive rsit y, a n d IAPQR Ge n e ra l Secretary Prof. Asis Chattopadhyay, the Workshop spread over two technical sessions addressed by resource persons on topics not e d a ga inst e a ch : Prof. Pa rt ha Sa ra t hi La hiri (Sm a ll Are a Est im a t io n ), Pro f. Asis Se n gu p t a (In t e rim Esh im a t e s fro m Annual Surve ys), Prof. S.P. Mukhe rje e (St rat ifie d Sam pling : Re ce nt De ve lopm e nts) and Dr. Gurucharan Manna (Proble m s Re late d to Pane l Surve ys). Be side s, the re we re pre se ntations from two surve y organisations : Mr. Tapas Sanyal from NSSO and Avishe k Guha of DGCIS. 36 p a rt icip a n t s fro m t e a ch in g in st it u t io n s a n d su rve y organisations participate d. Dignitaries on dais during B. Himatsingka Memorial Oration, 2018 Dr. Mashe lkar starte d his talk on the topic Gam e Changing Innovation by thanking IAPQR Pre side nt Rake sh Him atsingka, his e lde r brothe r Mr. Dipak Him atsingka, Prof. S.P. Mukhe rje e and the Director, CGCRI for inviting him to deliver the memorial ora t ion. Him se lf a Pa dm a Vibhusa n, t he spe a ke r fe lt ha ppy that in the pursuit of reinventing, India could launch a powerful national innovation m ove m e nt in 1999 to prope l into the ne xt m illennium . He strongly felt that the letter I in India, IIT's, CSIR, indust ry, e ve n in individua ls should st a nd for INNOVATION and not im itation and inhibition. (Contd. Pg. 9) A section of gathering at the B. Himatsingka Memorial Oration, 2018. Communique : January - March 2018 l 7 (Contd. from Pg. 6, Col. 1l) Ba n d yo p a d h ya y, Dir e c t o r , In d ia n Statistical Institute , Kolkata, on the topic ‘Co m p u t a t io n a l Me t h o d s fo r So lvin g Pro ble m s in Life Scie nce s’. In he r t a lk, she drove hom e the point that although t h e id e n t ifica t io n o f t h e in fe ct o r ge n e was an uphill task, the tools of statistical bio-informatics have successfully reduced t he le ve l of se arch for t he bioscie nt ist s and have he lpe d a lot in ide ntification of t h e t a rge t ge n e s. Sri Sit e n d u Ma n d a l, Se n io r Prin cip a l Scie n t ist , CSIR-CGCRI introduce d the Inaugurator and the Ke ynote spe ake r to the audie nce . A Souvenir Volume, incorporating the abstracts of pre se ntations in the Ple nary a n d o t h e r Te ch n ica l Se ssio n s, a s a lso o t he r pe rt ine nt info rm a t io n re ga rding t he Confe re nce , was form ally re le ase d by Professor Malay Ghosh. Professor Asis Kum ar Chat t opadhyay, Joint Conve ne r, propose d the Vote of Thanks. There were altogether 9 plenary talks by e m ine nt scie ntists. The spe ake rs and t he ir t opics we re as follows : Profe ssor Bim a l Ku m a r Ro y, In d ia n St a t ist ica l In st it u t e , Ko lka t a (Se cre t Sh a rin g a n d Matroids) ; Profe ssor Rahul Mukhe rje e , Indian Institute of Manage m e nt, Kolkata (Causal Infe re nce and Finite Population Sam pling); Profe ssor A. S. Kolaskar, The Ne o t ia Un ive r s it y, Ko lka t a (Bio inform atics) ; Dr. Ajit Ke m bhavi, IUCAA, Pune (De e p Le arning in Astronom y); Dr. Indrajit Sanyal, Ericsson Global Se rvice s (SDN + AI + Clo u d = A Po w e r fu l Co m b in a t io n fo r IOT a n d Dig it a l Tr a n s fo r m a t io n ); Pr o fe s s o r Sa m it Ch a t t o p a d h ya y, CSIR-IICB (Ge n e s funct ions t hrough chrom at in abnorm al re m o d e lin g a n d ge n e re gu la t io n in ca n ce rs) ; Dr. Arp a n Pa l, TCS, Ko lka t a (Internet of Things), Dr. Sandipan Sarkar, IBM India (Art ificia l Int ge llige nce ); a nd Pro fe sso r Ba n i Ma llick, Te xa s A & M Un ive r sit y, USA (Ba ye sia n Big Da t a Classification). Be side s, 63 invit e d and cont ribut e d pape rs we re pre se nt e d in 21 Te chnical Se ssio n s, o rga n ize d in p a ra lle l, sp re a d o ve r t h e 7 st re a m s—Bio -in fo rm a t ics, 8 l Communique : January - March 2018 SQC & Re lia bilit y, St a t ist ics in Fina nce , Ma ch in e In t e llige n ce & Allie d To p ics, Statistical Me thods & Infe re nce , Ecology & Environment, and Directional Statistics & Astro-Statistics. On the last day, a Panel Discussion on Ch a lle n ge s in Na t io n a l Su rve ys w a s organize d in m e m ory of Profe ssor P. C. Mahalanobis on the occasion of his 125 th b irt h a n n ive rsa ry. Th e p a n e list s we re Profe ssor Bikas Kum ar Sinha, Profe ssor Asis Se n gu p t a a n d Pro fe sso r Pu la ke sh Maiti. Profe ssor S. P. Mukhe rje e was the M o d e r a t o r . A go o d m a n y r e a l life p ro b le m s fa ce d d u rin g n a t io n w id e s u r ve ys w e r e d is cu s s e d a n d s o m e gu id e lin e s fo r o ve rco m in g t h e se fro m the pe rsonal e xpe rie nce of the pane lists and the m ode rator we re provide d. The se ssio n w a s sp o n so re d b y t h e In d ia n Statistical Institute , Kolkata. In t h e Va le d ict o r y Se s s io n t h a t followe d som e participants m ade a fe w obse rva t ions on pe rsona l e nrichm e nt s a n d t h e ir e xp e ct a t io n s fr o m t h e Co n fe re n ce . Re p re se n t a t ive s o f t h e Orga n ise rs a lso a t t e m p t e d t o id e n t ify som e of the gaps be twe e n the planning and the outcom e s achie ve d. In a ll 120 d e le ga t e s fro m d iffe re n t parts of India and some foreign countries pa rt icipa t e d. The re we re 15 de le ga t e s from Bangladesh, 3 from USA, and 1 each from Canada and Botswana. The re we re a large num be r of de le gate s from CSIRIICB, ISI, IIMs, IITs, ISM, NIT and a host o f In d ia n Un ive r s it ie s . In d u s t r y participation, too, was note worthy, with de le gate s from IBM India, TCS, Ericsson Global Se rvice s, Novartis and Tata Ste e l at t e nding t he Confe re nce . A st all from the publishing house M/ S. Springe r India d is p la y e d s o m e r e le v a n t t it le s inform ative to the participants. Ta t a St e e l, Ja m sh e d p u r a n d t h e De part m e nt of St at ist ics & Program m e Im ple m e nt a t ion, Gove rnm e nt of We st Bengal provided financial support for the program m e . Th e Co n fe r e n ce e n d e d w it h a n o pt im ist ic no t e o f a sse m bling a ga in in so m e n e a r fu t u re t o d iscu ss n e w e r paradigm s in Statistics that would push fo rwa rd t h e fro n t ie rs o f scie n t ific a n d industrial re se arch furthe r in the ye ars to com e . (Contd. from Pg. 6, Col. 2) Schools a nd t he Unfulfille d Prom ise of Ma n a ge m e n t a s a Pro fe ssio n (Ra ke sh Kurana/ Prince t on Univ. Pre ss) t o drive hom e his point that traditional 2-yr./ Full t im e / Re sid e n t ia l Pro gra m m e s a re fa st b e in g r e p la c e d b y 1 yr / p a r t t im e / Exe cu t ive MBA' s a n d a h o st o f Ma st e rs de gre e s in discipline s such a s Finance & Marke t ing. He also dwe lt on the transformation of American Business Schools from training grounds of general m a n a ge r s t o in st it u t io n s t h a t t r a in p ro fe ssio n a l in ve st o rs a n d fin a n cia l e n gin e e r s . He r e m a r ke d t h a t t h e m anage rs are be ing incre asingly vie we d a s m e r e a ge n t s fo r m a r ke t s , a n d m a n a g e r ia l a u t h o r it y h a s n o w de le gtim ise d and we ake ne d the ce ntral just ifying rat ionale for t he e xist e nce of busine ss schools. The re upon t he spe ake r gave a brie f history and the current status of distance e ducation in India, pointing out that the we b -b a se d m e d ia p la t fo rm s h a ve t h e pot e nt ial t o t ransform t he m se lve s int o virtual unive rsitie s. With a lot of private b a ckin g, t h e sce n a rio h a s ch a n ge d : earlier students would look up to premier busine ss schools; now busine ss schools are at t e m pt ing t o re ach out fast t o t he s t u d e n t s t h r o u g h e m e r g in g w e b platform s. Sp e a kin g a b o u t go o d p ro sp e ct s o f Indian digital re volution, he touche d on the course, focus, source, cost and status of several MOOCS such as Coursera, edx, Udacity, Khan Acade m y, Ude m y, Pe e r 2 Un ive rsit y e t c., a n d t h e e ffo rt s b e in g g e a r e d b y e lit e In d ia n b u s in e s s inst it ut ions a nd t he Govt . t o ca pit a lise on the growing we b te chnology. He also d iscu sse d a b o u t va rio u s w e b -b a se d sch e m e s su p p o rt e d b y Go vt . o f In d ia , su ch a s NM ECT b y M HRD in 2 0 0 9 ; Swayam , Unite, Brihaspati at IIT, Kanpur, Spoke n Tut orial Proje ct of IIT, Bom bay a n d NPTEL b y IIT' s, IIM ' s a n d IISc, Bangalore . Quoting from the Re port on All India Surve y on Highe r Education 2010-11 by MHRD (2013), the speaker predicted that a la rge se ct io n o f t h e st u d e n t s a t t h e gradut ion in India, would look forward to we b te chnology in future . He then discussed at length the efforts o f IIM , Ko lka t a t o p r o m o t e o n lin e m a n a ge m e n t e d u ca t io n . IIM, Ko lka t a offe rs 20 program m e s e ve ry ye ar in 170 ce nt re s lo ca t e d in 70 cit ie s in India , in ble nde d m ode with 80% online and 20% t h r o u gh ca m p u s visit s fo llo w e d b y o n lin e / o fflin e a s s e s s m e n t . He a ls o highlighted the four generations of startu p e xp e r im e n t a t io n s in w e b -b a se d e ducat ion . He re fe rre d t o t hre e books at the end of his talk for supplementation : The Innovat e r’s Dile m m a (Cla yt o n Ch rist e n se n ), The Age of the Platform (Ph ilsim o n ), a n d The W ave Rider (Ajit Balakrishnan). Pro f. Aya n Ch a n d ra o f St . Xa vie r's Colle ge propose d a vote of thanks. About 80 atte nde e s we re pre se nt. (Contd. from Pg. 7, Col. 1) He highlight e d India's growt h curve using Global Innovat ion Inde x : Ranke d 62nd in 2011, 81st in 2015, 66th in 2016 and 60th in 2017. He also pre se nte d the changing face of STI in India as a rising curve. He recollected there was emphasis o n in d ivid u a l e xce lle n ce (1 9 3 0 -5 0 ), fo llo w e d b y se lf-re lia n ce . (1950-70), changing into te chnology de nial drive s S & T (1970-90), turning into IP ge ne ration a n d glo b a l co m p e t it io n re gim e (19702010), and pre se ntly having e m phasis to attain global S & T le ade rship (2010-30). Dr. Ma sh e lka r, h im se lf a Fe llo w o f Royal Socie ty, opine d that the challe nge before the country was to float a journey from m ind to m arke t place . He re fe rre d to launch of portable computer Simputer in 2001 a nd t a ble t Aka sh in 2011 from India. He quot e d Bruce St e rling of Ne w York Tim e s m agazine ce rtifying that the m ost significant innovation in com pute r t e ch n o lo gy in 2 0 0 1 w a s n o t Ap p le ’s gle a m in g t it a n iu m p o w e rb o o k G4 o r M icro so ft ' s w in d o w s XP. It w a s t h e Simputer intended to bring the computer re volution to the third world. The speaker then m oved on to Indian in n o va t io n a s a st o ry o f p le a su re a n d pain. Ple asure , be cause Indian Pharm a Company invented a new chemical entity for he a d a nd ne ck ca nce r. Pa in, a s t he in n o va t io n is fo rce d t o sh ift clin ica l re se a rch t o e xp e n sive US d u e t o t h e challenges with Indian regulatory system. Dwelling on the changing Indian STI Policy Fra m e work sce na rio he re m a rke d t ha t St art ing from Scie nce Policy st at e m e nt (1 9 5 8 ), p a ssin g t h ro u gh Te ch n o lo gy Po licy Re so lu t io n (1983), S & T Po licy (2003), S & T and Innovation Policy 2013, the STI Policy has been redefined in 2018 as ASSURED STI Policy. He explained that in t h e w o r d ASSURED, A im p lie s Affordable, S implies Scalable, the second S im p lie s Su s t a in a b le , U im p u lie s Un ive rsa l, R im p lie s Ra p id , E im p lie s Exce lle nce and D im plie s Distinctive . Th e re a ft e r, t h e sp e a ke r n a rra t e d 5 m a n t ra s t o a ch ie ve ASSURED a s Le a p Frog to Pole Vault, Juggad to Syste m atic Innovation, Best Practice to Next Practice, Incremental to Disruptive Innovation and Sin g u la r t o To t a l In n o va t io n . He e m phasise d on Le ap Frog t o Pole Vault m a nt ra wit h a n a m bit ion t o pole va ult b e yo n d t h e re a lm o f p o ssib ilit ie s. He inform e d how India has pole vaulte d to Num be r One position in m obile data use with 1000 million GB per month of usage surpassing USA, China, Japan and South Kore a. He said that the growth has be e n so fast that Re liance Jio has re ache d 50 m illion use rs in just 83 days. As a Juggad t o Syst e m a t ic Innova t ion, he inform e d t h a t t h e co u n t ry’s sp a ce o rga n isa t io n ISRO has launched 104 satelites in a single m ission—a world re cord! As fo r t h e m a n t ra Be st Pra ct ice t o Next Practice, Dr Mashelkar cited several e xam ple s of low cost innovations which work for e ve ry one such as the $1 bre ast s c r e e n in g t h a t is n o n e va s ive , n o mammography, painless and requires no spe cialist; Rs. 10 none vasive , no ne e dle Hemoglobin test and portable credit card size le adle ss ECG m onitor to ge t instant ECG in m o b ile a t Rs.5 p e r t e st a ll discove re d by young Indian innovat ors who we re finally awarde d. Dr. Mashelkar said that the Disruptive Innovation com pared to the Increm ental Innovat ion is re volut ionary, ne w t o t he w o r ld , u s u a lly in t r o d u ce d b y n e w e n t ra n t s cre a t e s u n p re ce d e n t e d pe rform ance fe at ure s and cre at e s ne w p r o d u c t s , s e r vic e s a n d m a r ke t s . Exp o n e n t ia l t e ch n o lo gie s su ch a s t h e sensors whose sales increase by folds are causing disruption and as the technology gro w s t h e co st cu rve s a lso fa ll. Dr. Mashe lkar point e d t o sm art phone as a com binatorial of exponential technology whe re t he cost of da t a st ora ge , digit a l im aging and ne t work capacit y re duce d o ve r t im e . Se n so rs a re le a d in g t o t h e Inte rne t of Things. Trillions of se nsors in te ns of billions of de vice s are ge ne rating va st a m o u n t s o f re a l-t im e d a t a a n d se nsing the world like a living, bre athing thing. Re fe r r in g t o Sin g u la r t o To t a l in n o va t io n h e cit e d rise o f Ub e r, Did i, Lyft, Ola e tc as re sults of busine ss m ode l innovation in US taxi industry while high quality cataract and open heart surgeries at incre dibly le ss price s are outcom e of w o rkflo w in n o va t io n s w h e re In d ia is leader. He also referred to the 300 million Pradhan Mant ri Jan Dhan Yojana and 1 billion plus use rs of Aadhar Card and 1 b illio n p lu s s u b s cr ib e r s o f m o b ile t e le p h o n e a s gre a t In d ia n in n o va t io n com binatorial. Dr . M a sh e lka r t h e n d ist in gu ish e d b e t w e e n c u lt u r a l c o n s t r a in t s in in n o v a t io n a n d p e o p le w h o le a d innovation. He said it is usually the experts who dismiss disruptive opportunities and cit e d e xa m p le s o f h o w su ch fo re t e lle rs ha ve be e n pro ve n wro ng wit h pro gre ss of tim e . He haile d the innovation le ade r as one who doe s not know that it cannot b e d o n e ; He is o n e , w h o s e e s w h a t e ve ryone se e s, but thinks of what no one e lse t h in ks. He a d d e d t h a t in n o va t io n le ade rs find opportunitie s whe re othe rs se e n o t h in g, co n ve rt a p ro b le m in t o a n o p p o rt u n it y, se t q u a n t u m go a ls, d rive discont inuit y and be t on risky ide as. Dr. Mashelkar stressed on talent, technology and trust as ke y drive rs of innovation. He d isp e lle d t h e m yt h t h a t In d ia n ge n e s e xpre ss in silicon valle y and not in Indus va lle y. He ra t h e r p o in t e d t o t h e re a lit y that give n challe nge , the y can e xpre ss in Indus valle y too. Communique : January - March 2018 l 9 Dr Mashe lkar said that bold and innovative public procure m e nt policy for a nd of innova t ion wa s a m issing link. In t his re ga rd, he sh a re d h is e xp e rie n ce o f Ne w Mille n n iu m In d ia n Te ch n o lo gy Le a d e rsh ip In it ia t ive (NMITLI) sin ce ye a r 2000 a s In d ia 's b o ld e st public procure m e nt policy for innovation. Starting in public funde d m o d e a t CSIR-NCL t h e risky id e a t ra n sfo rm e d in t o co lla b o ra t ive public-private m ode in the CSIR labs and finally pe ne trate d India's co r p o r a t e s e ct o r in fu ll p r iva t e m o d e . He a ls o a d vo ca t e d de m ocratization of innovation am ong 1.25 billion Indians whom he te rm e d as m any m inds on m argin but not m arginals. Dr. Mashe lkar conclude d his le cture on a vibrant note saying: It is only this innovative India that will signal to the re st of the world, t hat we are not a he sit ant nat ion, unsure of our place in t he ne w global orde r, but a confide nt one , that is raring to go and be a le ade r in the com ity of nations. A 200-strong packe d audie nce liste ne d to the le cture with rapt atte ntion. Me m e ntos we re pre se nte d to the spe ake r on be half on IAPQR, CGCRI a n d In d ia Ca rb o n Lim it e d . Mr. Sit e n d u Ma n d a l o f CGCRI propose d the vote of thanks. l Ho no urs fo r Me m be rs Prof. S.P. Mukhe rje e , Me ntor IAPQR was invite d to de live r a spe cial t alk on Qualit y Assurance in Engine e ring Educat ion during t he 8t h International Conference of the Industrial Engineering and Operations Manage m e nt Socie ty (USA) he ld during 6-8 March 2018 at Bandung, Indone sia. During t he confe re nce , Prof. Mukhe rje e was honoure d with the Global Engine e ring Education Award, 2018 of the Socie ty. Pro f. Asis Kr. Ch a t t o p a d h ya y, Ho n y Ge n e ra l Se cre t a ry, h a s b e e n elected as a Fellow of West Bengal Academy of Science & Technology (WAST) for the ye ar, 2017. Ou r h e a rt ie st co n gra t u la t io n s t o Pro f. Mu kh e rje e a n d Pro f. Chattopadhyay for the ir re cognitions which the y so aptly de se rve d. l Obituary The e m ine nt statistician of inte rnational re pute and form e r Dire ctor o f India n St a t ist ica l Inst it ut e Pro f. Ja ya nt a Kum a r Gho sh, a clo se associate and well-wisher of IAPQR, breathed his last on 30 September 2017 at Purdue , USA. He is survive d by a son and a daughte r. We co n ve y o u r h e a rt fe lt co n d o le n ce t o t h e m e m b e rs o f t h e be re ave d fam ily. May his soul re st in pe ace ! Laughte r, the He aling Balm An Inte rnatio nal Brand? An inmate of a college hostel fell ill and was taken to a physician’s cham be r. The doctor e xam ine d him thoroughly. Finding nothing sign ifica n t ly wro n g, in h is a n xio u sn e ss t o id e n t ify t h e e rrin g e le m e nt re sponsible for the patie nt’s ailm e nt, he aske d: Which soap do you use ? Patie nt : K.P. Nam budiri’s soap. Doctor : Tooth paste ? Patie nt : K.P. Nam budiri’s tooth paste . Doctor : And sham poo? Le tte r to the Edito r De ar Sir, This letter refers to the Dec 2017 issue of Com m unique . Th e issu e m a ke s fo r so m e ve ry in t e re st in g re a d in g, specially the article on attempting to quantify the rather subjective concept of employability. There are however, some minor printing errors where A has been mentioned as 'aptitude ' inste ad of 'attitude '. (Line 12 and 13 of the article title d 'Me asuring Em ployability'). The e quation can be he lpful to diffe re nt e m ploye rs ope rating unde r ve ry dive rse circum stance s. It ,ve ry rightly, unde rline s t h e im p o rt a n ce o f a n a t t it u d e , a m e a su re o f a n individual's ove rall willingne ss and e nthusiasm to carry o u t a jo b a t h a n d , w h ich m a y p ro b a b ly h a ve a n underlying connection to the candidate's overall outlook to life . While t he t e rm K, re pre se nt ing 'knowle dge ', m a y be so m e wh a t sim p le t o d e rive b a se d o n t h e a ca d e m ic qualifications of the candidate, the same cannot be said of the te rm S, Skill. Skill is m ore ge ne ric and m ay ne e d t o be furt he r broke n down in orde r t o be quant ifie d. For e xam ple , it m ay be said that Skill is a com bination o f Pro b le m so lvin g, Co m m u n ica t io n , Pla n n in g a n d Organising, Collaboration, IT and Te chnology lite racy. Aga in , a s m e n t io n e d in t h e a rt icle , t h e w e igh t a ge assigne d to e ach will vary from industry to industry and nature of task. For e xam ple Com m unication, Planning, Orga n isin g m a y b e a n e sse n t ia l co m p o n e n t o f a n a d ve rt isin g p ro fe ssio n a l wh ile Pro b le m So lvin g a n d Enquiry m ay be e sse ntial skill attribute s of a scie ntist. Technology literacy would occupy the highest weightage in the Skill form ula for an aspiring IT profe ssional while Collaboration will be the highe st skill re quire m e nt for an aspiring politician. I am sure , the re will be one day whe n data m ode lling a n d a n a lyt ics w ill h e lp u s a t q u ickly a rrivin g a t a numerical number preference for each candidate during t he re cruit m e nt proce ss. This will be of huge he lp in situations whe n e m ploye rs are ove rwhe lm e d by huge num be r of applicants for one job. Th e re is o n e fa ct o r t h a t re m a in s u n t o u ch e d h e re , though. That is the role of intuition or 'gut'. During an in t e rvie w, t h e re is a lwa ys a su b je ct ive ju d gm e n t o r conne ct that the e m ploye r de ve lops with the pote ntial e m ploye e . That 'fe e ling' or intuition ofte n ove rride s all ot he r re a sonings. Howe ve r, how one qua nt ifie s t ha t gut fe e ling is anybody's gue ss! Patie nt : K.P. Nam budiri’s sham poo. Re gards, Visib ly p e rp le xe d , t h e d o ct o r a ske d : Is K.P. Na m b u d iri a n inte rnational brand with m ultiple products? Patie nt : No, No! He is m y room -m ate ! 10 l Communique : January - March 2018 Rajashre e Mitra 22 Jan 2018 Gurgaon Am azing Mathe m atics 98 x9+6 = 888 987 x9+5 = 8888 Natio nal Mathe m atics Day To honour Srinivas Ram anujan’s (22.12.1887 – 26.4.1920) phe nom e nal contributions in pushing forward the horizons of Mathe m atics, Dr. Manm ohan Singh, the n Prim e Ministe r of India, de clare d the ye ar 2012 as the National Mathe m atics Ye ar. Since the n, 22 nd of De ce m be r, the birthday of this se lftaught mathematical prodigy, is celebrated all over the country, as the National Mathe m atics Day. The ide a is to popularise the discipline , particularly am ong the school childre n and the youngste rs, and e ncourage path-bre aking re se arch in the discipline . 9876 x9+4 = 88888 98765 x9+3 = 888888 987654 x9+2 = 8888888 9876543 x9+1 = 88888888 98765432 x9+0 = 888888888 Am azing, isn’t it? The n finally look at this one : 1 x1= 1 11 x11= 121 111 x111= 12321 Kids Scare d o f Mathe m atics? 1111 x1111= 1234321 Are the kids in your fam ily afraid of Mathe m atics, and fight shy of the subje ct? 11111 x11111= 123454321 For the m , he re are a fe w absolute ly am azing m athe m atical m arve ls, which will, for sure , attract the m to this appare ntly dry subje ct. 1111111 x1111111= 1234567654321 Look at this se rie s : We are sure , you are by now convince d that Mathe m atics is not at all that uninte re sting and dre adful! 1 x8+1 = 9 111111 x111111= 12345654321 1111111 x1111111= 123456787654321 11111111 x11111111= 12345678987654321 12 x8+2 = 98 123 x8+3 = 987 1234 x8+4 = 9876 12345 x8+5 = 98765 123456 x8+6 = 987654 1234567 x8+7 = 9876543 12345678 x8+8 = 98765432 123456789 x8+9 = 987654321 Looks inte re sting? We have m ore to offe r : 0 x9+1 = 1 01 x9+2 = 11 (He nce forth dropping the le ft-m ost ze ros) 12 x9+3 = 111 123 x9+4 = 1111 1234 x9+5 = 11111 12345 x9+6 = 111111 123456 x9+7 = 1111111 1234567 x9+8 = 11111111 12345678 x9+9 = 111111111 123456789 x9+10 = 1111111111 What do you say – Mathe m atics is not that dre ary? The n take one m ore ! 0 x9+8 = 8 09 x9+7 = 88 (He nce forth dropping le ft-m ost ze ros) Ram anujan-Hardy Num be r Ram anujan was once re cove ring from his illne ss in a London su b u rb h o sp it a l b e d in Pu t n e y. G.H. Ha rd y, a n o t h e r gre a t m a t h e m a t icia n w h o b ro u gh t Ra m a n u ja n t o in t e rn a t io n a l lim e light , cam e from London t o se e t he ailing m at he m at ical prodigy. With a vie w to stim ulating the m athe m atician in the genius, Hardy casually remarked : See, Ramanujan! The number of the cab I took to come to you – 1729 – is most uninteresting, and I am afraid, e ve n om inous for m e ! What do you say? – Ramanujan retorted almost instantaneously – It is one of the m ost inte re sting num be rs I have e ve r com e across! It is the sm alle st num be r that can be e xpre sse d as the sum of two cube s in two diffe re nt ways! To his astonishm e nt, Hardy figure d out : 1 3 + 12 3 = 9 3 + 10 3 = 1729! Sin ce t h e n , t h e n u m b e r 1729 h a s co m e t o b e kn o w n a s Ram anujan Num ber o r Ram anujan-Hardy Num ber o r e ve n Taxi Cab Num ber! Other Ramanujan-Hardy or Hardy-Ramanujan Numbers having t he sa m e pro pe rt y a re : 4104 ( 2 3 + 16 3 = 9 3 + 15 3 ), 13832, 20683, 32832, 39312, 40033, 46683, 64232, 65728, 110656, 110808, 134379, 149389, 165464, 171288, 195841, 216027, 216125, 262656, 314496, 320264, 327763, 885623890831 = 7511 3 + 7730 3 = 8759 3 + 5978 3 . [To know m ore about Ram anujan, t he re ade r is re fe rre d t o The Man Who Knew Infinity, by Robert Kanigel, Abacus, London, 1999] [Coined by Shikha Chaklanobis] Communique : January - March 2018 l 11 A section of participants at the Workshop on Survey Sampling (See page 7) H.S. Ray, B. Das, S.P. Mukherjee, Bikash Sinha, Asish Sengupta, and Sitendu Mandal at the Valedictory Session of the International Conference (See page 6) A section of gathering at the observance of Foundation Day, 2018. Saibal Chattopadhyay delivering the Foundation Day Lecture, 2018 (See page 7) THOUGHT FOR TO-DAY The e ne m y o f kno w le dge is no t igno rance , but the illusio n o f kno w le dge . –Ste phe n Haw king EDITORIAL BOARD Biswanath Das (Chief Editor), H.S. Ray, S.B. Bagchi, S.K. Ghosh, A. Ghose, G. Banerjee, S. Mukherjee Published by the General Secretary, Indian Association for Productivity, Quality & Reliability, BB-239 (First Floor), Sector-1, Salt Lake City (Off. PNB Bus Stand), Kolkata 700064. Phone : 91-33-2334 6234 / 6233, Fax : 033-2334-6234 E-mail : [email protected], Website : www.iapqr.org, Printed by Soumen Traders Syndicate, Bally, Howrah BOOK POST PRINTED MATTER If undelivered, please return to : Indian Association for Productivity, Quality & Reliability BB-239 (First Floor), Sector-I, Salt Lake City (Off PNB Bus Stand), Kolkata 700 064