GOvernment in Education

Industry, IIM alumni against govt’s control plan - The Times of India: "Right from rejecting a proposal to set up an IIM-A campus in Mumbai to restraining the director from travelling abroad to attend international conferences, the book highlights several issues of governance at the premier management institute. Eminent personalities like Infosys founder and former chairman, board of governors at IIM-A, Narayana Murthy, chairman of Ahmedabad University and IIM-A Society member Prafull Anubhai have contributed to the book 'Nurturing Institutional Excellence: Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad' by IIM-A alumni dean Vijaya Sherry Chand and visiting faculty T V Rao. "The HRD Ministry had stipulated that the director needed permission from the ministry every time he had to travel abroad. The permission was not easy to get and invariably came at the last minute. The directors of the IIMs were restrained from travelling abroad by this rule for over three decades. As a result, the country has been the biggest loser," writes Murthy in the book."

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Can Googling be racist?

Can Googling be racist? | Arwa Mahdawi | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "A recent study of Google searches by Professor Latanya Sweeney has found "significant discrimination" in ad results depending on whether the name you're Googling is, statistically speaking, more likely to belong to a white person or a black person. So while Googling an Emma will probably trigger nothing more sinister than an invitation to look up Emma's phone number and address, searching for a Jermaine could generate an ad for a criminal record search. In fact, Sweeney's research suggests that it's 25% more likely you'll get ads for criminal record searches from "black-identifying" names than white-sounding ones."

So what does this mean exactly? Does Google have some sort of racial profiling tool inlaid into its algorithms? Well, not exactly. Google hasunequivocally stated that it "does not conduct any racial profiling" and the research paper itself admits that it's probably not as insidious as that. Rather it posits that the demographic discrepancies probably come from "smart" algorithms which adapt ad placement based on mass-user habits. In short, writes Sweeney, the results raise "questions as to whether Google's advertising technology exposes racial bias in society and how ad and search technology can develop to assure racial fairness".

Woah – did someone just claim that society is racially biased? Hold the front page. While the Harvard study makes some interesting points, the research is also a telling case of digital dualism – the idea that online and offline are separate and distinct realities. This may have been true decades ago when the internet was something you "dialled-up" in order to check AltaVista for deals on VCRs, but it is now woefully outdated. Most people now see the virtual world as simply a reflection of the real world. Indeed, a report published this year by the Government Office for Science proclaims that: "The UK is now a virtual environment as well as a real place."

Irish remain big users of cheques - The Irish Times - Tue, Feb 05, 2013

Irish remain big users of cheques - The Irish Times - Tue, Feb 05, 2013: "Ireland remains one of only a few European Union member states that still use cheques for regular payments, according to a new survey from the Central Bank, despite the high charges.

According to the analysis, Ireland ranks behind France as the second most intensive cheque user in the EU, with 20 of the 27 member states having effectively eliminated cheques. In these countries, usage is down to two or less cheques per person per year, while Ireland’s average is 19 cheques.

A study from the European Central Bank estimates that a cheque costs around €3.55 when all costs are included.

“For a small business this cost includes the 50c stamp duty on each cheque, bank charges and postal charges, not to mention the time it takes for staff to process cheque payments.
Further, there is strong evidence that cheque usage is a contributor to Ireland’s ‘late payment’ culture. Unless we move from the ‘cheque in the post’ culture, the problem of late payments will remain,” Ronnie O’Toole, programme manager of the National Payments Programme said.
"

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Paying for reasonable services versus lining one's pocket- good service or insurance?

Ryanair must pay accommodation, meals and other - The Irish Times - Fri, Feb 01, 2013: "Ryanair must pay accommodation, meals and other expenses to passengers who were affected by the 2010 volcanic ash cloud, the European Court of Justice ruled yesterday.

In a decision that could have implications for the airline industry, the EU’s highest court said the airline must pay meals, accommodation and transport, and “means of communication with third parties” for passengers who were affected. However, it is exempt from paying statutory compensation.

Ryanair said the decision would lead to higher fares for passengers, and warned that airlines were becoming “the insurer of last resort” in cases where delays are “entirely beyond the airline’s control”.

‘Regret’

“Ryanair regrets the decision of the European court, which now allows passengers to claim for flight delays which are clearly and unambiguously outside of an airline’s control,” the airline said in a statement.

The airline also pointed out that travel insurers were exempted from liability by claiming the event was “an act of God”."

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