Sunday, May 22, 2016
Monday, May 9, 2016
TOI editorial: specimen
Dangerous Laughter: Ironically, on World Cartoonists Day humour is beleaguered by intolerance and bigotry
Not long after Enoch Powell made his infamous ‘rivers of blood’ speech in which he foretold of a Britain caught up in civil strife because of immigration, mainly from the Indian subcontinent, Punch magazine carried a memorable cartoon which lampooned racism. It showed two obviously Asian gents walking down a London street lined with Irish pubs outside which drunken men engaged in brawls. The caption had one Asian saying to the other in a Cockney accent: “Bleedin’ furriners”.
Far more succinctly than a studious monograph the cartoon underlined the senselessness of xenophobia and racial stereotyping. It also showed that, in a free society, there is no issue so close to the knuckle that it cannot be lampooned with salutary effect. Contrary to Aristotle’s views, it is not tragedy so much as comedy which produces catharsis, the healthful purging of the negative emotions of fear and hatred. And of all the many forms that comedy might take, perhaps none drives home its point as pungently as does the cartoon.
However, in an ironic development, the cartoon finds itself endangered even as we observe World Cartoonists Day today. The first colour cartoon strip, The Yellow Kid, made its debut on this day in 1895. Celebrating its 121st birthday, the cartoon finds itself besieged by the malevolent forces of religious and ideological bigotry and intolerance. The murderous attack by extremists on the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had featured a cartoon which purportedly hurt religious sensitivities, is only one of the increasing acts of violence targeting humour and satire. Closer home, cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was jailed on sedition charges a few years back. Since then sedition has become all too common a charge to fling at political dissenters, as happened most recently with JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar.
Intolerance is another word for totalitarianism, political or religious. Indeed, the darker the clouds that gather about us, the more in need than ever are we of the illuminating torch of laughter to help us find the path to sanity and a unifying sense of our common and imperilled humanity. The more dire the danger, the more we need the protective shield of humour, like the cartoon which shows a condemned man facing a firing squad who turns down the offer of a last cigarette because smoking could be injurious to his longevity.
Technology Vision 2016 from Accenture
Winners in the digital age do much more than complete a technology checklist. They know their success hinges on people. Understanding changing customer needs and behaviors is, of course, hugely important. But the real deciding factor in the digital era will be the ability to evolve corporate culture. That means not simply taking advantage of emerging technologies but, critically, embracing the new business strategies that those technologies drive.
You can’t solve this challenge just by consuming more and more technology. Nor, as some fear, by replacing humans with machines. Instead, enterprises must focus on enabling people – consumers, employees and ecosystem partners – to do more with technology. That demands a digital corporate culture enabling people to continuously adapt, learn, create new solutions, drive relentless change, and disrupt the status quo. In an age where tech is grabbing the limelight, true leaders will, in fact, put people first.
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Cosmic Gall: Excerpt included in Syllabus
Cosmic Gall
John Updike
Neutrinos they are very small.
They have no charge and have no mass
And do not interact at all.
The earth is just a silly ball
To them, through which they simply pass,
Like dustmaids down a drafty hall
Or photons through a sheet of glass.
They snub the most exquisite gas,
Ignore the most substantial wall,
Cold-shoulder steel and sounding brass,
Insult the stallion in his stall,
And, scorning barriers of class,
Infiltrate you and me! Like tall
And painless guillotines, they fall
Down through our heads into the grass.
IEE Syllabus and scheme
B. TECH. I /II
SEMESTER
CODE: HAS-111
SUBJECT
NAME: Interactive English
for Engineers (IEE)
NO. OF
CREDITS: 4
SESSIONAL
: 40
L T P THEORY
EXAM : 60
4 0 0 TOTAL : 100
NOTE: Question paper has two parts. Part-1 has 10 questions each of 2
marks. It covers the entire syllabus. Attempt any four questions out of six
from Part-2.
Objective:
It aims to inculcate interest towards literary pursuits and creative
writing in students. Their imaginative faculties will be harnessed for the
purpose of originality and ability to think independently. Furthermore, the aim
is to enhance their critical thinking and develop aptitude for formal writing
and oral discussions. They are guided and given exercises to improve their
vocabulary during the course, simultaneously through classroom and lab
exercises the students gain confidence in their own ability to express their
thoughts and articulate ideas.
Unit –I- COMPREHENSION
& COMPOSITION
Excerpt
from John Updike’s Cosmic Gall;
Paragraphs/Essays; Unseen Passage & Comprehension exercises derived from
features, articles and editorials; exercises in creative writing and
impromptu/extempore speech; Anecdotes/stories; Deconstructing & Re-framing
Quotes; Verse composition;Dialogue-writing; Story-building and storyboards;
travelogue
Unit-II-TECHNICAL
WRITING
Format
of Long Reports, Interoffice Memorandum, Format and layout of a typical
business letter; Covering letter and Resume; Analytical and Descriptive
writing.
Unit –III- SEMANTICS
& SYNTAX
One-word
substitutes, Idioms & Proverbs, Vocabulary building; Crosswords, Sentence
Correction/Editing.
Unit-IV: CORPORATE INTERACTION &
COMMUNICATION
Presentations; drafting
and creating effective presentations; drafting speeches ; taking interviews;
preparing for interviews; brainstorming for Group Discussions, declamations and
debates; , Corporate Dialogue: Conflict-Resolution exercises; Role Play.
COURSE OUTCOMES:
- Students are equipped with a better
vocabulary, confidence to express themselves and must show remarkable
interest in conveying their ideas by the end of the course.
- Students will learn creative writing.
- Students will learn basic formal writing.
- ‘Student-centric’ exercises with the emphasis on interpersonnel communication
skills will give the students greater confidence in their ability to
communicate and persuade.
References:
- National dailies like Hindu, HT, TOI, Tribune (e-versions
available)
- Magazines like NatGeo, Outlook, India Today
- Raman, Meenakshi and
Sangeeta Sharma. Technical Communication. Oxford: 2011
- Wehmeier, Sally .Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Oxford UP.8 th
edition.
- Ghosh, BN. Managing
Soft Skills for Personality Development.Tata McGraw-Hill 2012
- Rizvi, M Ashraf. Effective Technical Communication.
Tata Mc Graw-Hill.2005
- Bretag, Crossman and
Bordia.Communication Skills. Tata Mc Graw-Hill.2009
- Blogs:
Eng_lessons_dj.blogspot.com
- Renaissanceymcaust.blogspot.com
Language Lab (HAS 112)
course
|
Internal: 30 Marks
|
L T P Total
|
External: 20 Marks
|
0 0 2 2
|
Total : 50 Marks
|
CORPORATE INTERACTION & COMMUNICATION
I. Presentations
II. Listening Skills & Language Lab (Practical) Interviews of Isaac Asimov, Richard Feynman, Steve Jobs and other scientists and technocrats. Other inspiring speeches on diverse issues; Audio/Video Lessons and Observation
III. Group Discussions, Corporate Dialogue: Conflict-Resolution exercises; Role Play; Mock-interviews.
IV. Internal Assessment: based on participation, short presentation & performance in interactive exercises: competence gauged through participation in various events organized in the classroom and at university level throughout the semester.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
The Tribune
The acculturation of EnglishSharda Kaushik
“The language I speak,Becomes mine, Its distortions, its queerness All mine, mine alone. It is half English, half Indian, ... —Kamla Das INDIANISMS displaying the local flavour sneak into English as we use it for functional and literary purposes. They surface as variations made to the core variety, Standard British English (SBE). Though these variants are not viewed as superior or inferior to SBE, they are certainly recognised as different. They have earned the local variety its popular label, Indian English. Broadly speaking, Indianisms are evident as pronunciation, word/sentence structure, meaning and style. Not all Indian variants in reference to sentence structure are acceptable, as seen below: 1. Prof. Reddy has given the cheque yesterday. Within SBE rules, the sentence above shows inappropriate use of present perfect tense “has given” in the context of the adverb “yesterday”. The correct sentence will read as “Prof. Reddy gave the cheque yesterday”, the adverb “yesterday” is used with the simple past tense. 2. I am having two brothers. A common usage among Indians, the present progressive form of verb “am having” is not permitted in SBE to show possession. Though the sense the sentence wants to convey is clear, the use of present progressive tense in the given situation has to be avoided. The amended version will read as “I have two brothers” by making use of present simple. 3. The polling booth for the residents is here only. The user’s intention in the sentence above is to draw the interlocutor’s attention to “here” by using the adverb “only”. The location “here” is to be contrasted with “not anywhere else”, implied by the use of “only”. Many users tend to place “only” at the end of sentences excessively since they don’t make use of intonation or pitch variation to show the intended contrast. In SBE, too, “only” is used to show emphasis and contrast but its position within sentences keeps varying, depending upon the word that needs emphasis. For instance, “Only Capt. Kahlon could have rescued so many people.” Here, “only” implies “no other person”. 4. “Like a gossamer- this web brushed aside by a careless hand, the fragile balance of relations in South Asia has dissolved with frightening suddenness ...” (from a news magazine) The writer has condensed a lot of information in the phrases of the yet incomplete sentence. Packing too much in the phrases and clauses or piling up images makes the text difficult to understand. Such texts defy good, clear communication, a recommended feature of writing these days. Once completed, this long winding text can be rewritten in two or three sentences. The acculturation of English in Indian soil is not the only instance of its kind. In the medieval times, Persian had evolved as Indian Persian (Sabk-e-Hind) through a similar process. But amending Indian variants of grammar in English, if they distort the meaning or fail to serve any purpose, is mandatory for pan-Indian communication and international intelligibility. | ||||||||
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