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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Trust Reset

As the recent protests over the NEET paper leak showed, India’s examination system has reached a point where incremental repairs are no longer enough. The appointment of a high-powered task force on examination reforms, headed by technology pioneer Nandan Nilekani, is therefore not merely an administrative response to the NEET-UG paper leak crisis but a concrete attempt to rebuild confidence in one of the country’s most important public institutions. Examinations are gateways to opportunity,...

Trust Reset

As the recent protests over the NEET paper leak showed, India’s examination system has reached a point where incremental repairs are no longer enough. The appointment of a high-powered task force on examination reforms, headed by technology pioneer Nandan Nilekani, is therefore not merely an administrative response to the NEET-UG paper leak crisis but a concrete attempt to rebuild confidence in one of the country’s most important public institutions. Examinations are gateways to opportunity, social mobility and professional ambition. For millions of students across the country, a competitive examination represents years of sacrifice by families and the possibility of a better future. When question papers leak repeatedly, evaluation systems fail or allegations of manipulation emerge, the resulting damage strikes at the idea of fairness itself. The crisis surrounding NEET-UG exposed uncomfortable vulnerabilities in the country’s examination infrastructure. The resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the subsequent appointment of Pralhad Joshi with additional charge of the ministry underlined the political seriousness of the issue. But political accountability alone cannot fix a structural problem. That is why the composition of the new task force is a move on the right direction. It brings together expertise from technology, space research, intelligence, education administration and logistics. Nilekani’s appointment is particularly significant. The former Infosys chief executive and architect of Aadhaar has experience in building large-scale digital public infrastructure involving hundreds of millions of citizens. The Aadhaar project itself was born out of a similar challenge: how to create a reliable identity system in a country where leakages and duplication weakened welfare delivery. India’s examination system now requires the same kind of thinking. The committee’s mandate to examine the entire examination lifecycle - from question paper creation and distribution to candidate verification, evaluation and results - is the right approach. The problem lies in multiple weak points where human intervention, poor security protocols and outdated processes can create opportunities for malpractice. Technology will inevitably be central to the solution. Artificial intelligence can help detect unusual patterns, blockchain-based verification can strengthen record security and better data systems can improve transparency. But a secure examination system requires independent oversight, professional management, clear accountability and swift punishment for wrongdoing. India’s National Testing Agency was created to bring efficiency and standardisation to public examinations. Its credibility must now be restored through reforms that are visible and trusted by students. The Nilekani task force has been given the difficult job of repairing that trust. The government has chosen a committee led by people with experience of managing complex national systems. It is a sensible first step. The real test will now be whether its recommendations translate into action.

High-flier who soared the skies, now among the stars

Legendary aviator, extreme sports lover, ex-Sheriff of Mumbai and industrialist, Dr. Vijaypat Kailashpat Singhania – former Chairman Emeritus of the Raymonds Group, passed away here late on Saturday.


He was 87 and is survived by his wife Ashadevi, sons Madhupati and Gautam, daughter Shephali Ruia and their respective spouses, and several grandchildren.


Taking the Raymond Group companies, especially the textiles businesses, to new heights and expanding to beyond clothing under his captaincy, Singhania lived life to the full in the skies pursuing his passion for flying. He set/shattered many records and was honoured with Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan over the years.


On Sunday afternoon, Singhania’s funeral procession led by his sons and other kin, started from his home at Haveli on LD Ruparel Marg and wended its way to the Chandanwadi Crematorium where he was cremated with full state honours later.


Top business leaders and politicians including Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar, Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leaders, aviation enthusiasts and others paid rich tributes to Singhania.


Ease In Cockpit

At ease in cockpit or the chairman’s seat, the soft-spoken Singhania was truly ‘The Complete Man’ – the iconic branding of the apparels giant - when he helmed it for decades, besides wearing multiple hats including as a renowned business honcho photographer, professor and philanthropy, and Sheriff of Mumbai.


Born on October 4, 1938 into a wealthy Marwari business family running one of India’s oldest textile mills, Vijaypat Singhania inherited both, a growing enterprise and the legacy of nationalism with the likes of the Tatas, Birlas, Bajajs and many other business houses – but was a reluctant businessman.


After taking over the Raymond Group at Chairman in 1980 – after diversifying into areas like denim, synthetic, realty, engineering, cement, steel and more – Singhania continued rapid expansion of these ventures, modernizing the production and fortifying brand equity to tackle cut-throat competition in global markets, turning Raymonds, which was bought over by the family in 1944, into an enviable household name.


He stepped down as Chairman in 2000, handed over the baton to his son Gautam Singhania and even transferred his own full 37 pc stake in the group to him – a move which he later regretted, as per his own admission.


First Love

While skilfully handling the nitty-gritties of the corporate world, Singhania also tended to his first love of flying, idolizing American Howard Hughes, the legendary aerospace engineer, aviator, business tycoon, film producer, and Indian magnate, Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, the Father of Indian Aviation, who launched the venerable Air India.


Briefly from 1987, he dabbled in the media by launching a daily, ‘The Indian Post’, but owing to multiple reasons, it was sold to a Gujarat-based publication group but later winded up in 1990.


In 1988, he completed a solo flight of 8,724-kms, in a microlight aircraft from London to New Delhi in 23 days, breaking the previous record of 34 days, and earned a permanent entry in Guinness World Records.


In May 1994, he flew with an American co-pilot Daniel Brown in a Cessna Conquest Aircraft in a "around-the-world-air race" to mark the golden jubilee of International Civil Aviation Organisation and bagged the gold medal. The winning aircraft was displayed for many years at the Nehru Science Centre in Mumbai.


In 2005, he recounted the deadly thrills of his flying life in a book ‘An Angel in the Cockpit: The True Story of a Death Defying Flight Across 5000 miles of Land and Sea’ and later, ‘An Incomplete Life’, his autobiography.


Recognizing his contributions to aviation and high adrenaline sports, the Indian Air Force conferred the rank of Honorary Air Commodore on Singhania, then 67, plus he bagged many more international accolades and honours.


New Record

That year (Nov 2005), Singhania set a world record by ascending to 69,000 feet – or 21.03 kms, nearly three times the height of Mt. Everest - in a hot air balloon, which took off from Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi Racecourse, wowing global aviation circles.


The giant balloon was as tall as a 22-storied building, had 18 burners and he travelled in a pressurised aluminium capsule below to protect him when temperatures plummeted to -93C at that staggering height, before descending from space after five hours, and landed in a Nashik village.


He was decorated with the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award for Lifetime Achievement (2001), Padma Bhushan in (2006), and was appointed Sheriff of Mumbai in 2005.


In his later years, his one son became estranged while he was embroiled in several legal battles with the other son, yet he remained resilient, never compromising on the principles of his life and choosing freedom over dependency, till the end.

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