The Times of India - Comedy of Errors

The Times of India has done it yet again. They are so used to publishing errors in their paper that one tends to believe that it is edited and copy proofed by a bald monkey.

The latest in the series of errors, The Times of India has written in a report about Bachelor's of Information Technology (BIT). I happened to be one of the few lucky ones to have passed out of BIT and I thus know the hard facts and figures :-)

Following is clipping from The Times Of India, Delhi Edition, published on Monday 7th June 2004...

[QUOTE] DU wears down students, BIT by techno BIT

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Delhi University (DU), in the last few years, seems to be on a roll for introducing new courses. One such course was the four-year Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) that the University introduced with much fanfare and then scrapped. The last batch of the ‘ill-fated’ course passes out this year. The ride wasn’t easy for these 400-odd students, to say the least.

Firstly, the students have actually studied a course that does not have the approval of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). As such, they are not qualified engineers, despite having studied to be software engineers. Moreover, due to the same glitch these students cannot study any engineering course of the post-graduate level.

Their only option, in terms of higher education, is to pursue an MSc in Computer Science. This, however, does not inspire these students much. ‘‘What after an MSc in Computer Science? We aren’t sure if it’s even close to the next logical step,’’ said a disillusioned student of the BIT course from DCAC.

The BIT course was introduced in about 25 colleges as a self-financing course. The fee ranged between Rs 18,000 to 25,000 per year depending on the college. In 2000, an entrance test was held for the BIT course batch that is now passing out. The other three batches that have passed out under the BIT banner were actually students of BSc (Computer Science) who had been upgraded to BIT. In 2000 itself the controversy over the course began, resulting ultimately in the course being discontinued.

The UGC gave its approval only for the three batches that had already been upgraded and for the one batch that had been admitted on basis of the entrance test. AICTE refused to give even these four batches its endorsement. [ENDQUOTE]

Now the article is here, how about an explanation from me, Saurabh Garg, a BIT alumnus from Maharaja Agrasen College, Delhi University. I joined the course in 1999 and passed out in 2003.

TOI: ...Moreover, due to the same glitch these students cannot study any engineering course of the post-graduate level...
Saurabh: I would beg to differ here. I am in contact with students from BIT/BIS doing their M.Techs from places as big as IIT-Kanpur and MS from places like USC, Sony and what not in the US. There are people who are studying in Australia and UK and are pursuing their majors in Engineering. If an M.Tech in Computer Science is not any engineering course of the post-graduate level, would someone please tell me what category those courses fall into? Or may be MS from an American University does not sounds like any Engineering Course of the Post-Graduate level because The Great Times of India somehow has turned desi?

TOI: ...Their only option, in terms of higher education, is to pursue an MSc in Computer Science...
Saurabh: Nopes, as stated above this paragraph, people are pursuing M.Techs and MSs and other Engineering courses. Another thing to mention here would be students who are into BIG Management Schools like IIM-A, IIM-B, IIM-C and other smaller schools like FMS, IIFT, MDI, XLRI. I believe according to The GREAT Times of India, MBA (or PGPM) is not considered higher education. Oh, by the way, I would be joining MDI Gurgaon this year and its higher education as far as my knowledge goes. I would like tomention here that YES, BIT students were denied admission to MBA programme of IIT Kanpur but thats the only IIT in India and infact one of the very very few educational institues to have denied admission to BIT students. But again somehow they accept BIT/BIS students for their M.Tech program but not for MBA.

TOI: ...said a disillusioned student of the BIT course from DCAC...
Saurabh: I would love to know the name of the disillusioned student. He clearly is out of touch with his seniors and peers.

TOI: ...In 2000, an entrance test was held for the BIT course batch that is now passing out. The other three batches that have passed out under the BIT banner were actually students of BSc (Computer Science) who had been upgraded to BIT...
Saurabh: YES (finally they seem to be correct on something), the 2000-2004 batch was admitted after the Entrance Test for admission to fours year BIT/BIS. BUT the previous three batches starting from 1998 were ALSO admitted on the basis of tests. The only difference is that the test for the previous three batches was conducted for admission to BCA and BSc (Hons.)Computer Science and after admission (on the basis of the test) they were upgraded to BIT and BIS respectively. I have got the hall ticket of the admission test (that never took place according to some Newspaper). And just for the information students of BSc Computer Science were upgraded to BIS not to BIT (as someone has mentioned in a report). May be in the dictionary of The Great Times of India, BIT and BIS are equal and are synonyms?

The link BIT Recognition should clarify a few things.

I am not questioning the source of data and their integrity and knowledge but I am trying to question why can't they verify the data before they publish anything? Doesn’t being a newspaper more responsible thing?

If they keep going at this rate, I believe they would soon publish something like "Bush is actually a Muslim like Osama and Saddam'.

Or is it that I am missing the entire purpose of The Times of India? May be the paper is not meant to be taken seriously, or may be they want to help people start their day with laughter, or may be they want the paper to the unofficial handbook of the ignorant or may be News for Dummies?

Enuf of Times Bashing I guess. In the coming times, I would be digging up more bloopers and the history behind The Times of India.

END (Last edited on 8th June 2004, 1000 Hrs IST)

Keywords for Search Engines: The Times of India, Newspaper, India, BIT, BIS, Delhi University, Bloopers, Media, Sauarbh.
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