Editor,
First of all, I congratulate the entire staff of The Shillong Times on its Platinum Jubilee. Apropos the report in your daily on the ‘Smart City Project’ and Govt’s intent to come up with infrastructural development projects such as Shopping Malls, Parking Lots, etc., at Barik Junction (ST Aug 12, 2019), which presently also houses the PWD Office, I wish to make known my views on the matter through your esteemed daily.
First, why not the Govt. of Meghalaya show its seriousness by inviting a panel of expert engineers, urban planners, and architects from leading agencies to study the feasibility of constructing a ‘fly-over’ and to utilise the space at Barik Junction for decongesting traffic rather than announcing its intent for a commercial project through media at the same site, which I believe will only add to an already congested city.
In place of such a proposal which Govt is keen to promote in the guise of the ‘Smart City Project’, I believe, a ‘fly-over’ at the proposed site will be of great help to ease the traffic congestion at Barik Point Junction and adjoining areas. Barik Junction today acts as an intermediary point that connects many arterial roads, links roads connecting localities and even the main premises that house many offices of the Govt. of Meghalaya, and numerous other institutes, schools, college and even residence and localities that are linked and inter-linked through Barik Point Junction. Hence the fly-over is an imperative. Moreover, the steep rise in vehicular traffic at the same junction has made daily commute a pain and eyesore. Lack of space to widen the main arterial roads and link roads has only worsened the situation. Let’s not forget that Barik Point Junction witnesses a traffic nightmare on a daily basis.
Therefore, I am of the view that proposing a ‘fly-over’ as part of the ‘Smart City Project’ at Barik Point Junction will greatly benefit Shillongites. If given a serious thought, such a proposal would come in handy and act as a great relief to the daily commuters, apart from providing a life-line for long-term measures to help decongest traffic within the city’s main area. This also has its up-side in fulfilling a long-cherished dream of Shillongites to have their very own ‘fly-over’ right at the heart of the city. Rather than focusing on the commercial aspect of Shopping Malls, I am of the view that a ‘fly-over’ is a do-able, practical and a welfare measure with long-term benefits, especially considering the fact that available space within the city area is already sparse.
It is therefore imperative that the Govt. should show its seriousness and intent to come up with a visionary planning methodology for urban development, rather than proposing something that is only of commercial value and less of welfare. In fact a shopping mall will only cut the lifeline out of Shillong city area. Of course, nothing should stop short if the Govt shows the will, intent, and seriousness on the matter, given the resources at its disposal. A proposal as such would only help contribute towards making Shillong city a liveable place that we can take pride in.
Yours etc.,
Pynshai Shynret ,
Shillong-4
CBSE for Class XI faces a big BUT
Editor,
Listening to a low decibel rumour that cannot be hushed up any longer, I visited a friend whose grandchild studies Class XI Science, to find that in the 2019-2020 session the CBSE text is being followed. Sadly, Class IX students could not enjoy the same as too many precious months from May to September have passed by. It was in the last week of June when I, wishing to help my grandchild’s friend of one village school, looked through the MBOSE Class IX text to discover fanciful write ups, laughable experiments and grave conceptual errors. Thus two precious months with a few holidays are wasted. We now land in a tangle of uncertainty as to the correct future of our children. Classes IX and X would continue with erroneous texts, Class XI would enjoy Part I and Part II, but with the same teachers who had failed miserably to detect errors and Class XII this year with old stuff, worse than IX and X and XI. So during exams the correct questions would somehow be set. Our students relying on MBOSE texts would give correct answers as per the book which are actually wrong answers universally. Worse the examiner with MBOSE text would grant full marks.
As far as Class XII text by V.K. Mehta and Rohit Mehta are concerned, their coverage right from Electrostatics to Alternating currents, to Dual nature of light, Atoms and Nuclei is very scanty. For Electronics and Electro-magnetic radiation there are 98% errors and some theoretical explanations on antennas and demodulation are wrong and laughable. Sadly students would commit and vomit the same in the examination halls. Where are our teachers with post graduate degrees in Physics? As far as Class IX and X teachers are concerned I can very well understand their problems as in CBSE schools the teachers for Class IX and X are all post graduates. For the parents of students without Science background, I can give some easy ideas. MBOSE Class IX text is a single text of size 24 cm × 17 cm of 545 pages. CBSE Class XI text has two parts with a total of 411 pages but the size of Part I and II is 28 cm × 21 cm, with down to earth explanations, clear diagrams and 8 to 9 solved problems for each topic covered with blue colour.
A more difficult problem cleverly done by examiners usually comes in JEE and NEET exams. The beauty is that in no single year ever has the identical problem of selecting the cream of Science students for Engineering and for Medicine happened according to merit. Last week this had created a huge controversy on account of nepotism.
There is a misunderstanding on the relations between Physics and Mathematics. Let us take the Class IX fundamental concept of momentum. Mathematicians would say mass × velocity. In Physics it is much more and it depends on the wisdom of a teacher to give the example of Oliver Hardy colliding with Stan Laurel, the skinny fellow. Albert Einstein mathematically showed E=mC2. He had to throw his equation to Oppenheimer, Neilh Bohr (for critical mass), Fermi Szilard, Eugene Wigner-et-al to develop the atom bomb, fearing Hitler’s success across Europe. In this connection credit has to be given to Adolf Hitler who little dreamt of a weapon of mass destruction though one needs a heart of stone not to criticize him on his attempt to liquidate the Jews.
Every year we are losing the cream of Science students to Medicine, Engineering, Agriculture, Biotech, etc. Unless we create some incentives for teaching Science, I am afraid we will suffer even more. My colleagues in college who are still teaching can read the signs. My last question to the Education Minister on, “Who approved the books?” was never answered, for, seemingly he does not understand democracy where parents of students have every moral right and responsibility to question. Let us hope better sense prevails. The next question to the Education Department is whether they have gone through each and every page of the Physics text books before sealing the deal with the publishers. This has devastated our children’s zeal to achieve in life which is a basic right according to the Constitution.
Yours etc.,
- Passah,
Ex HOD Electronics Deptt,
St Edmund’s College