2 months ago
June 1, 2010
Bloggossurrection
I am gonna be resurrecting my old blog. While this blog will be news commentary, the resurrected one will be a more personal blog. Enjoy. :)
CBSE GPA system
The CBSE boards decided to change the normal marks and percentage system to the grade point average(GPA) system this year. It is a move that should be welcomed with open arms and that every education board should follow.
With the GPA system differences in a couple of marks are not highlighted and a consistent all round performance is promoted. You score anywhere between 91-100 and you get an A1 grade which is the top most grade. Score A1 in all subjects and you get a 10 point CGPA, which is awesome!
Many parents, teachers, principals and even students are confused regarding how the percentile ranking works. Like it was mentioned in the news paper that a child was perplexed that she got 10 points and yet had a 97.6 percentile.
For those who don't know what percentile ranking is: A percentile rank of X% means, that X% of students who appeared for that exam scored below you.
Now coming to that child's doubt. Your course has 6 subjects. Each subject is given a priority. One probable priority order is: Maths, Science, English, 6th subject, Social, 2nd language. So if you have got the same GPA then your marks in Maths are used as a tie breaker. If Math marks are same, then Science marks are compared. So on until you get a difference. On the off chance that all marks in all subjects are same, I think you are ranked alphabetically or randomly. Thus even though you have 10 point CGPA, unless you got 100 in all subjects, your percentile rank will be lower (than someone who topped the highest priority subjects).
Hope this clarifies the doubt. Also hope that all other education boards take this step and convert to a CGPA system. With so many people scoring 9+ points, the concept of toppers is not there. With no toppers, no advertisement of toppers, less pressure from parents and the school on students and hence less suicide amongst students. Everybody wins.
With the GPA system differences in a couple of marks are not highlighted and a consistent all round performance is promoted. You score anywhere between 91-100 and you get an A1 grade which is the top most grade. Score A1 in all subjects and you get a 10 point CGPA, which is awesome!
Many parents, teachers, principals and even students are confused regarding how the percentile ranking works. Like it was mentioned in the news paper that a child was perplexed that she got 10 points and yet had a 97.6 percentile.
For those who don't know what percentile ranking is: A percentile rank of X% means, that X% of students who appeared for that exam scored below you.
Now coming to that child's doubt. Your course has 6 subjects. Each subject is given a priority. One probable priority order is: Maths, Science, English, 6th subject, Social, 2nd language. So if you have got the same GPA then your marks in Maths are used as a tie breaker. If Math marks are same, then Science marks are compared. So on until you get a difference. On the off chance that all marks in all subjects are same, I think you are ranked alphabetically or randomly. Thus even though you have 10 point CGPA, unless you got 100 in all subjects, your percentile rank will be lower (than someone who topped the highest priority subjects).
Hope this clarifies the doubt. Also hope that all other education boards take this step and convert to a CGPA system. With so many people scoring 9+ points, the concept of toppers is not there. With no toppers, no advertisement of toppers, less pressure from parents and the school on students and hence less suicide amongst students. Everybody wins.
May 28, 2010
Sigh!! Stupid Kids!!
Relevant news article: Two Class X girls succumb to burn injuries
Now this is getting totally out of hand!! Previously kids would suicide when they failed. These two girls committed suicide because they weren't first in their class. I mean the reasons for suicides are crossing the outer bounds of ridiculous-ness.
I shall reiterate what I wrote in a prior post:
Getting marks in school or being a topper in school is as useful as a sweater in a desert. (If you are gonna remark how cold deserts are at night and the sweater is useful, then i'm gonna kick you.)
Being a topper in school or college is just a reflection on your ability to by-heart things; and, the only thing useful in the real world, is how good you are at doing things practically, and how much common sense you possess. Jaago Society, Jaago!!
Now this is getting totally out of hand!! Previously kids would suicide when they failed. These two girls committed suicide because they weren't first in their class. I mean the reasons for suicides are crossing the outer bounds of ridiculous-ness.
I shall reiterate what I wrote in a prior post:
Getting marks in school or being a topper in school is as useful as a sweater in a desert. (If you are gonna remark how cold deserts are at night and the sweater is useful, then i'm gonna kick you.)
Being a topper in school or college is just a reflection on your ability to by-heart things; and, the only thing useful in the real world, is how good you are at doing things practically, and how much common sense you possess. Jaago Society, Jaago!!
Maoist menace
Relevant news article: 'Maoist' blast derails 13 coaches of Express train, 20 dead
I wonder how many people need to be killed before someone actually considers doing something about the Maoists who are terrorizing our country from within. In the past month alone they have killed over 150 people, derailed 3 trains and have caused massive disruption of peace in the north eastern states.
Indian government should take an example from the Sri Lankan government. The way they quashed the Tamil Tiger Rebels showed that for them, the nation's integrity is more important than everything else.
Why can't the Indian armed forces perform a similar operation, and destroy the Maoists once and for all??
Human right activists campaigning for "No military action against Maoists," should introspect on whether they(activists) are truly Indians. Rather, whether they are even humans in the first place! Stop defending the killers, you MORONS!!
I vote for an all out military strike against the Maoist incursion. We have a huge military and air force strength and the latest equipment; getting rid of Maoists will be a piece of cake. Its only the politicians who back these Maoists that are hindering the process.
I wonder how many people need to be killed before someone actually considers doing something about the Maoists who are terrorizing our country from within. In the past month alone they have killed over 150 people, derailed 3 trains and have caused massive disruption of peace in the north eastern states.
Indian government should take an example from the Sri Lankan government. The way they quashed the Tamil Tiger Rebels showed that for them, the nation's integrity is more important than everything else.
Why can't the Indian armed forces perform a similar operation, and destroy the Maoists once and for all??
Human right activists campaigning for "No military action against Maoists," should introspect on whether they(activists) are truly Indians. Rather, whether they are even humans in the first place! Stop defending the killers, you MORONS!!
I vote for an all out military strike against the Maoist incursion. We have a huge military and air force strength and the latest equipment; getting rid of Maoists will be a piece of cake. Its only the politicians who back these Maoists that are hindering the process.
May 20, 2010
May 17, 2010
News I wish wasn't there.
Relevant news article: Baby dies as coconut falls on head
It is indeed a sad sad day for the couple who had to face this very unfortunate incident. The child, a one n a half month old girl, was sleeping in her mother's lap. The mother was seated outside. A coconut fell from above, straight on the baby's head, and it succumbed to its injuries in the hospital.
I hope the parents and relatives have the strength to bear through this unfortunate adversity.
Relevant news article: Babies sold for a price at Bangalore hospitals
Abandoned babies are being sold for money to parents who want to adopt them. This is indeed a very pathetic practice and the perpetrators of this atrocity should be ashamed of themselves.
According to the law, an abandoned baby should be reported to the police, and handed over to the child adoption agency, from where babies can be legally adopted. However, the greed for money on behalf of the authorities, and the impatience on behalf of parents to go through the adoption process has led to the existence of this social evil amongst us. This should be stopped at once as you never know if the couple you are selling the baby to, is a genuine couple, or someone who employs children for begging purposes.
Relevant news article: Patna: crime @ a mouse click.
Well this is not exactly sad in the same sense as the above posts, but it is sad that such gullible people exist. Let me just make out a list of things that people should keep in mind to avoid getting scammed or hacked.
Hope this helps.
It is indeed a sad sad day for the couple who had to face this very unfortunate incident. The child, a one n a half month old girl, was sleeping in her mother's lap. The mother was seated outside. A coconut fell from above, straight on the baby's head, and it succumbed to its injuries in the hospital.
I hope the parents and relatives have the strength to bear through this unfortunate adversity.
Relevant news article: Babies sold for a price at Bangalore hospitals
Abandoned babies are being sold for money to parents who want to adopt them. This is indeed a very pathetic practice and the perpetrators of this atrocity should be ashamed of themselves.
According to the law, an abandoned baby should be reported to the police, and handed over to the child adoption agency, from where babies can be legally adopted. However, the greed for money on behalf of the authorities, and the impatience on behalf of parents to go through the adoption process has led to the existence of this social evil amongst us. This should be stopped at once as you never know if the couple you are selling the baby to, is a genuine couple, or someone who employs children for begging purposes.
Relevant news article: Patna: crime @ a mouse click.
Well this is not exactly sad in the same sense as the above posts, but it is sad that such gullible people exist. Let me just make out a list of things that people should keep in mind to avoid getting scammed or hacked.
- Do not share your password with anyone.
- Keep a complicated password. Mixture of letters and numbers at least.
- You cannot win a lottery that you never heard of, or entered your name in.
- Do not click on suspicious links. Ex: Check out this site: blah-blah.info
- Do not download attachments from emails sent by strangers.
- Never share your credit card information.
- Periodically scan your computer for key-loggers. These applications keep track of your keyboard activity and mail them to the hacker. Thus your username and password become available to the hacker.
- Install an anti-virus software, which will keep viruses and other pieces of code that attempt to steal private information, away from your system. Regularly update your anti-virus software.
Hope this helps.
Lie your way to success
Relevant news article: Telling fibs a sign of future success in children
Wow, this is some kind of news. :)
If you were good at lying as a kid, the chances of being successful now, and in the future, is higher. You should probably go through the news article, cuz I really found it funny how the kids tried to convince that they weren't lying.
As far as the science and reality factor in this research goes, I agree with it. Its important to be able to lie convincingly at work. For example, say "I will give it a shot" instead of "It can't be done." I know it isn't a very good example of a lie, but I'm finding it hard to get an example even though I am pretty sure I've lied a lot. :P
However, one needs to be able to draw the line when the lie is going out of hand. Lying like crazy is going to do more harm than good. Saying "my mom is not well, and I need to go home" to take the day off is acceptable if used rarely. However, after taking the day off, if you build on the lie and say that "condition is critical" or "have to admit her in ICU" or exaggerated stuff like that (to take another 2 weeks off), then you know you have definitely crossed the line. (You're so far past the line, you can't even see the line. The line is a dot to you. :P 5 points for guessing where this dialogue comes from without using Google.)
Happy lying. :)
Wow, this is some kind of news. :)
If you were good at lying as a kid, the chances of being successful now, and in the future, is higher. You should probably go through the news article, cuz I really found it funny how the kids tried to convince that they weren't lying.
As far as the science and reality factor in this research goes, I agree with it. Its important to be able to lie convincingly at work. For example, say "I will give it a shot" instead of "It can't be done." I know it isn't a very good example of a lie, but I'm finding it hard to get an example even though I am pretty sure I've lied a lot. :P
However, one needs to be able to draw the line when the lie is going out of hand. Lying like crazy is going to do more harm than good. Saying "my mom is not well, and I need to go home" to take the day off is acceptable if used rarely. However, after taking the day off, if you build on the lie and say that "condition is critical" or "have to admit her in ICU" or exaggerated stuff like that (to take another 2 weeks off), then you know you have definitely crossed the line. (You're so far past the line, you can't even see the line. The line is a dot to you. :P 5 points for guessing where this dialogue comes from without using Google.)
Happy lying. :)
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