Jul 18, 2004 02:58 PM
3442 Views
(Updated Sep 08, 2005 02:31 PM)
'''warwick university confers doctorate on venu srinivasan'''.
It was like just any other news for me since these days universities are conferring doctorates on actors, industrialists e.t.c for the merits unknown to us but appreciated by them and news papers publish it as their moral responsiblity since conferring doctorate is no small thing infact.
But I was plesently surprised to know that in this case my preconceived notion is completely wrong. TVS motors chief Mr venu gets PHD from Warwick University.
Warwick university is the partner of tvs motors in automobile engineering for past fifteen years. It is the supplier of modern technology to tvs motors which embarked ''doing it by its own '' instead of depending on foreign partners. TVS has spent over 10 million ponds in that university for its various projects including tvs victor and the current heart throb tvs centra.
And against this background the said university is conferring doctorate on venu srinivasan chairman of tvs motors for his reaserch initaitive in automobile industry (Developing new models instead of buying established models from big players like Suziki,Honda).
While this news made me happy that one two wheeler company in india dreamt big and has'' done it ''without foreign partners, the same patriotism makes me feel sad to find that no university in india is capable of delivering such goodies.
The big question is why not ??? and the bigger question what is to be done to improve the affiars cropped up.
With omnipresent deemed and doomed universities I think it is difficult for Govt also to recognise good universities and support them. But why not encourage industry - university partnership through tax initiatives by Govt.
Yes, recently govt has levied 2% education cess on tax on all central taxes. My appeal to govt is that the corporates who spend the same 2% for sponsoring research in any university shall be exempt from that cess.
This is because industry can aptly recognise good universities and will start partnering with them than govt collecting that money and messing up the job of distributing it among universities.
Can we hope atleast in some point of tme, (why not by2020 !) some foreign company will collaberate with one indian university for research in a world class product.
