Thursday, November 21, 2013
Sufi Music: Tum ne jab Zulf e Pareeshan ko Savara
Sufi Music: Tum ne jab Zulf e Pareeshan ko Savara: Tum ne jab zulf-e-pareeshan ko savara ho ga sadqa-e-husn ghataon mein utara ho ga Aap ki chashm-e-karam ka jo ishara ho ga auj p...
Indian science adviser caught up in plagiarism row
Apology for small oversight has been misinterpreted, says adviser.
K. S. Jayaraman
24 February 2012
Bangalore
Article tools
Rights & Permissions
India's science adviser C. N. R. Rao has apologized for not noticing some copied text in a paper published last year.
JAGADEESH NV/EPA/CORBIS
A cut-and-paste job by a PhD student has embroiled co-author C. N. R. Rao — science adviser to India’s Prime Minister — in controversy.
The paper, by Rao and materials scientist Saluru Baba Krupanidhi at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, along with two of their students — Basant Chitara and L. S. Panchakarla — explored the use of reduced graphene oxide and graphene nanoribbons as infrared photo detectors and was published online by Advanced Materials in July last year1.
But three sentences in the introduction and a description of an equation had been copied verbatim from a paper published in Applied Physics Letters in April 2010 (ref. 2), with the source referenced. Chitara says he was responsible for the error, and has “sincerely apologized”. He says he had intended to modify the sentences later but forgot.
Rao says that he did go through the paper before it was submitted, but missed the problem. “Usually I write the entire paper but in this case, I had gone through mainly the results and the discussion.”
Krupanidhi says that he and his co-authors became aware of the mistake only when the editors of Advanced Materials drew their attention to it after the paper had been accepted and published online. The duplicated text was picked up using common plagiarism detection software.
Related stories
India investigates Bt cotton claims
Plagiarism plagues India's genetically modified crops
India to propose regulatory body to curb misconduct
Rao says that he wrote to the journal offering to withdraw the paper, “but the editor felt the work to be important and should be published with an apology”. The journal published the paper in its December 2011 issue with an accompanying apology3. Rao says that the apology was interpreted by Indian media to mean that the entire paper had been plagiarized.
“This should not be really considered as plagiarism since the scientific work is completely ours and the results are new,” says Rao.
Lack of training
Young researchers need better training to avoid such problems, says Rao. “All graduate students should be taught how to communicate in science,” he says. “They need improvement in writing and related skills.”
Rohini Muthuswami, a biochemist at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, who runs ethics classes agrees. “Lack of awareness about research ethics and lack of language skills lead students to plagiarize,” she says. “Writing assignments must be a mandatory part of as many courses as possible to enhance students' confidence in their ability to express themselves in writing.” No institution in India currently offers formal ethics courses, she says.
T. A. Abinandanan, an engineer at the Indian Institute of Science, says that the practice of duplicating information is deeply ingrained in Indian education. “Right from school our students are encouraged to take material from books and websites and use it in their charts and lab notebooks. In written answers, verbatim reproduction from textbooks is even rewarded with higher marks,” he told Nature. “Thus, when students start doing research, they have so much of this attitude to unlearn. This unfortunate case provides us yet another opportunity to redouble our efforts in training our students.”
Nature doi:10.1038/nature.2012.10102
Apology for small oversight has been misinterpreted, says adviser.
K. S. Jayaraman
24 February 2012
Bangalore
Article tools
Rights & Permissions
India's science adviser C. N. R. Rao has apologized for not noticing some copied text in a paper published last year.
JAGADEESH NV/EPA/CORBIS
A cut-and-paste job by a PhD student has embroiled co-author C. N. R. Rao — science adviser to India’s Prime Minister — in controversy.
The paper, by Rao and materials scientist Saluru Baba Krupanidhi at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, along with two of their students — Basant Chitara and L. S. Panchakarla — explored the use of reduced graphene oxide and graphene nanoribbons as infrared photo detectors and was published online by Advanced Materials in July last year1.
But three sentences in the introduction and a description of an equation had been copied verbatim from a paper published in Applied Physics Letters in April 2010 (ref. 2), with the source referenced. Chitara says he was responsible for the error, and has “sincerely apologized”. He says he had intended to modify the sentences later but forgot.
Rao says that he did go through the paper before it was submitted, but missed the problem. “Usually I write the entire paper but in this case, I had gone through mainly the results and the discussion.”
Krupanidhi says that he and his co-authors became aware of the mistake only when the editors of Advanced Materials drew their attention to it after the paper had been accepted and published online. The duplicated text was picked up using common plagiarism detection software.
Related stories
India investigates Bt cotton claims
Plagiarism plagues India's genetically modified crops
India to propose regulatory body to curb misconduct
Rao says that he wrote to the journal offering to withdraw the paper, “but the editor felt the work to be important and should be published with an apology”. The journal published the paper in its December 2011 issue with an accompanying apology3. Rao says that the apology was interpreted by Indian media to mean that the entire paper had been plagiarized.
“This should not be really considered as plagiarism since the scientific work is completely ours and the results are new,” says Rao.
Lack of training
Young researchers need better training to avoid such problems, says Rao. “All graduate students should be taught how to communicate in science,” he says. “They need improvement in writing and related skills.”
Rohini Muthuswami, a biochemist at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, who runs ethics classes agrees. “Lack of awareness about research ethics and lack of language skills lead students to plagiarize,” she says. “Writing assignments must be a mandatory part of as many courses as possible to enhance students' confidence in their ability to express themselves in writing.” No institution in India currently offers formal ethics courses, she says.
T. A. Abinandanan, an engineer at the Indian Institute of Science, says that the practice of duplicating information is deeply ingrained in Indian education. “Right from school our students are encouraged to take material from books and websites and use it in their charts and lab notebooks. In written answers, verbatim reproduction from textbooks is even rewarded with higher marks,” he told Nature. “Thus, when students start doing research, they have so much of this attitude to unlearn. This unfortunate case provides us yet another opportunity to redouble our efforts in training our students.”
Nature doi:10.1038/nature.2012.10102
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Ex-IPS officer Sreekumar files defamation case against Modi
Comment Share Text size: A A A
November 19, 2013 17:28 IST
Former Gujarat Director General of Police R B Sreekumar, who had taken on Narendra Modi on fake encounter issue, on Tuesday filed a defamation and conspiracy case against the Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate and other party leaders, accusing them of launching a malicious campaign against him by raking up the two-decade-old Indian Space Research Organisation spy case.
The ex-police officer, who has filed nine affidavits in the Gujarat riots case and was heading the intelligence wing in the state in 2002, also accused Modi of ordering him to tap the phone of former Gujarat CM Shankar Singh Vaghela. The latest allegations come close on heels of the controversy over Modi's aide Amit Shah allegedly ordering surveillance of a woman in Gujarat in 2009.
Comparing Modi to the villain 'Duryodhana' in the epic Mahabharata, Sreekumar said he has filed a defamation case against Modi, BJP chief Rajnath Singh and party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi. Besides, scientist Nambi Narayan, who had reportedly termed the cop as a 'CIA agent', has also been named in the case.
"They indulged in extreme vilification campaign, malicious propaganda against me continuously by raking up a case closed by the National Democratic Alliance and the subsequent United Progressive Alliance governments and also the Supreme Court," Sreekumar told reporters in New Delhi.
A case of defamation and conspiracy has been filed against the BJP leaders in the Patiala house court, advocate Brijesh Kalappa, who accompanied the former IAS officer, told reporters. "The hearing in the matter is listed for November 21," he told PTI.
The BJP had alleged that Sreekumar had levelled charges of fake encounters against the Modi government as a quid pro quo for the UPA dispensation giving him a clean chit in the ISRO spy case.
Sreekumar on Tuesday claimed that he became persona non grata after he started to report against the BJP "controlled" government in Gujarat after Modi took over as the chief minister.
"Don't pursue power through communalisation and unconstitutional methods," he said, hitting out at Modi. Sreekumar said he refused to act on the phone tapping direction of Modi, as he did not have any report against
Vaghela necessitating such an action.
Kalappa claimed that attempts were being made by the BJP to paint Sreekumar in the black only with a view to see that bulk of his evidence in Zakia Jaffery's petition is trashed, verdict on which is expected on December 2.
Comment Share Text size: A A A
November 19, 2013 17:28 IST
Former Gujarat Director General of Police R B Sreekumar, who had taken on Narendra Modi on fake encounter issue, on Tuesday filed a defamation and conspiracy case against the Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate and other party leaders, accusing them of launching a malicious campaign against him by raking up the two-decade-old Indian Space Research Organisation spy case.
The ex-police officer, who has filed nine affidavits in the Gujarat riots case and was heading the intelligence wing in the state in 2002, also accused Modi of ordering him to tap the phone of former Gujarat CM Shankar Singh Vaghela. The latest allegations come close on heels of the controversy over Modi's aide Amit Shah allegedly ordering surveillance of a woman in Gujarat in 2009.
Comparing Modi to the villain 'Duryodhana' in the epic Mahabharata, Sreekumar said he has filed a defamation case against Modi, BJP chief Rajnath Singh and party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi. Besides, scientist Nambi Narayan, who had reportedly termed the cop as a 'CIA agent', has also been named in the case.
"They indulged in extreme vilification campaign, malicious propaganda against me continuously by raking up a case closed by the National Democratic Alliance and the subsequent United Progressive Alliance governments and also the Supreme Court," Sreekumar told reporters in New Delhi.
A case of defamation and conspiracy has been filed against the BJP leaders in the Patiala house court, advocate Brijesh Kalappa, who accompanied the former IAS officer, told reporters. "The hearing in the matter is listed for November 21," he told PTI.
The BJP had alleged that Sreekumar had levelled charges of fake encounters against the Modi government as a quid pro quo for the UPA dispensation giving him a clean chit in the ISRO spy case.
Sreekumar on Tuesday claimed that he became persona non grata after he started to report against the BJP "controlled" government in Gujarat after Modi took over as the chief minister.
"Don't pursue power through communalisation and unconstitutional methods," he said, hitting out at Modi. Sreekumar said he refused to act on the phone tapping direction of Modi, as he did not have any report against
Vaghela necessitating such an action.
Kalappa claimed that attempts were being made by the BJP to paint Sreekumar in the black only with a view to see that bulk of his evidence in Zakia Jaffery's petition is trashed, verdict on which is expected on December 2.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Saturday, November 16, 2013
दोस्त ग़म-ख़वारी में मेरी स`ई फ़रमावेंगे क्या
ज़ख़म के भरने तलक नाख़ुन न बढ़ जावेंगे क्या
बे-नियाज़ी हद से गुज़री बनदह-परवर कब तलक
हम कहेंगे हाल-ए दिल और आप फ़रमावेंगे क्या
हज़रत-ए नासिह गर आवें दीदह-ओ-दिल फ़र्श-ए राह
कोई मुझ को यह तो समझा दो कि समझावेंगे क्या
आज वां तेग़-ओ-कफ़न बांधे हुए जाता हूं मैं
उज़्र मेरे क़तल करने में वह अब लावेंगे क्या
गर किया नासिह ने हम को क़ैद अचछा यूं सही
यह जुनून-ए `इशक़ के अनदाज़ छुट जावेंगे क्या
ख़ानह-ज़ाद-ए ज़ुलफ़ हैं ज़नजीर से भागेंगे कयूं
हैं गिरिफ़तार-ए वफ़ा ज़िनदां से घबरावेंगे क्या
है अब इस म`मूरे में क़हत-ए ग़म-ए उलफ़त असद
हम ने यह माना कि दिल्ली में रहे खावेंगे क्या.
-मिर्ज़ा ग़ालिब
ज़ख़म के भरने तलक नाख़ुन न बढ़ जावेंगे क्या
बे-नियाज़ी हद से गुज़री बनदह-परवर कब तलक
हम कहेंगे हाल-ए दिल और आप फ़रमावेंगे क्या
हज़रत-ए नासिह गर आवें दीदह-ओ-दिल फ़र्श-ए राह
कोई मुझ को यह तो समझा दो कि समझावेंगे क्या
आज वां तेग़-ओ-कफ़न बांधे हुए जाता हूं मैं
उज़्र मेरे क़तल करने में वह अब लावेंगे क्या
गर किया नासिह ने हम को क़ैद अचछा यूं सही
यह जुनून-ए `इशक़ के अनदाज़ छुट जावेंगे क्या
ख़ानह-ज़ाद-ए ज़ुलफ़ हैं ज़नजीर से भागेंगे कयूं
हैं गिरिफ़तार-ए वफ़ा ज़िनदां से घबरावेंगे क्या
है अब इस म`मूरे में क़हत-ए ग़म-ए उलफ़त असद
हम ने यह माना कि दिल्ली में रहे खावेंगे क्या.
-मिर्ज़ा ग़ालिब
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)