Aasif Shah's Blog

A few years ago, I attended a workshop on drug de-addiction that was organised by the Department of Psychiatry at SMHS Hospital and J&K Higher Education. The final session was extremely painful. A tall man with curly hair who had a long history of drug abuse was presented to us. In his words, 'I am 28 years old residing in srinagar. I completed my schooling at a reputed school. Things were not going my way. Nearly three years ago, my girlfriend broke up with me  and it went beyond what I could tolerate. My chest swelled with waves of sadness. I was feeling as if my world was falling apart. I lost my enthusiasm for life. I indulged in smoking and went on to consume cannabis. My life began to spiral out of control when I started taking brown sugar. During the course of six months, I spent around 12 lac rupees on advanced drugs. I think I have wasted 28 years of my life'.  The best thing in his short speech was the realisation that he had made a mistake. God knows better if t...

The biggest misfortune today in India is not hunger, poverty, unemployment or lack of development but it is when problems like such remain unaddressed. While on the one hand a gigantic percentage of poor people live on the streets and in pathetic conditions, the so called Indian media is busy with promoting cricket and bollywood celebrities. News like “Big boss Amitab Bachan is suffering from severe fever, dandruff has attacked Shilpa’s hair, Ashwariya has given birth to a baby girl and Sachin is back” remain the breaking headlines in Indian media leaving aside all socio-economic issues of the country. Instead of a watch dog, the media has turned out to be a mouthpiece of few chosen people (less than 1% of total population). The way it performs its services is enough to prove that this particular industry is simply there to make money. If sharukh khan cuts the cake, it will be shown as the breaking news but if a poor man dies of hunger, it will not be even condemned. If katrina has n...

Even after setting up new IITs, IIMs, and Central Universities, the higher education system in India has not come out of crises. The low quality institutions offset the advantages of the premier institutions when it comes to the overall scenario of higher education in the country. It is as if anyone can establish a university with nothing to do with essential prerequisites, ethics and academic standards. When a university/college does not have checks and balances, the collapse of education is inevitable. The book jointly compiled by Dr. Nazir Ahmad Gilkar and Dr. Aasif Shah is an attempt to invite the attention of the academic governance to overcome academic embarrassments. The book is divided into four chapters and spread over 3 plus 144 pages and index at the end. The first chapter Academic Planning Audit discusses about the curriculum planning and development, course structure, applied education, academic best practices, accreditation process, transparency and accountability. ...

What I had learnt in my eight years at Tamil Nadu, I could have never learned in my twenty years at Kashmir.  If I recall my memory, it was 3rd August 2009 when I landed at Chennai airport for the first time for my MPhil registration at Pondicherry Central University. As soon I came out from the airport, I began asking everyone from pedestrians to cab drivers to street vendors that ‘Bhai sahib Pondicherry bus kahan se mile ge’ but to my hard luck none of them could understand my words. I stood for one hour at the road side looking for possible help. In the meantime, I saw a running auto without passengers and like a bat out of hell, I waved at the driver. How to go to Pondicherry University? I asked him to which he replied 'Bus Stand'? No! Pondicherry University I repeated. If I quote his words exactly, he said ‘Pondicherry-aaa, going bus stand wokay, three hour journey, Pondicherry bus YAC, non YAC yavailable'. I sat in his auto and for the entire 30 minutes or so, I enjoy...

The AI arms race between tech giants like the US, China and Russia, points to the possibility that AI can escalate global conflict. Hosting the G20 leaders’ summit later this year is an excellent opportunity for India to demonstrate its capabilities and contributions to information technology and the digital economy. The newest weapons will not be the biggest bombs, tanks or missiles but AI-powered applications and devices which will be used to wage and win wars. India must wake up to the challenge to protect itself against the potential consequences of an AI war. Just recall the conversation between the world’s first human robot Sophia and CNBC’s Andrew Ross, in which he voiced his concerns about advancements in Artificial intelligence (AI): “We all want to prevent a bad future where robots turn against humans,” to which Sophia retorted, “Don’t worry if you’re nice to me, I will be nice to you”. The message was clear: It is up to humans — and nations — how they utilise AI and apprecia...