... is back in the news.
Through a blog -- Freedom for Science -- written by card-carrying members of Ayyadurai Fan Club. The blog has also made public the report by Ayyadurai and Sardana (check the side bar of that blog). The really juicy bits that led to Ayyadurai's dismissal (he claims that he resigned) are in Chapter 7. The report is also noteworthy for its atrociously sappy (and shall I say, 'unprofessional' -- see below) 'Dedication.'
In Heather Timmon's NYTimes story on how expats who choose to return to India find stuff here to be "inefficient" and "unprofessional". And the poster child for that stereotype-laden story is none other than Ayyadurai, whose saga at CSIR occupies over a third of it.
[Do make sure to read Timmons' report all the way to the end, to learn a bit more about DG-CSIR's unique skills in handling journalists!]
I have only one comment: Ayyadurai may have a "fistful of American degrees," but his tenure at CSIR was a disaster. For someone who was hand-picked by the top honcho, he had every opportunity to make his job a success -- but he botched it. As Timmons' story reveals, "Within weeks, he and his boss were at loggerheads." [See also Ayyaduraii's report -- with its 'Dedication', the stuff in Chapter 7, the stupid 'historical time-line' in Chapter 1. If that damned thing is not unprofessional, I have to wonder what is...]
When outsiders fail in their jobs, it's natural for some of them to blame the environment, the 'inefficient' and 'unprofessional' culture of the natives. Timmons has been rather uncritical in peddling the stereotypes mouthed by those who failed in their jobs, fled, and now use martyrdom as a mask.
Also in a Nature - India article -- Innovation Demands Freedom [free registration required] -- penned by Ayyadurai himself.
38 Comments:
Well, you seem to be very unobjective --- do you work for Brahmachari? Shiva asks for an open public forum --- it seems like you are missing the point. Heather Timmons by the way has one of the highest credibilty. It seems like this blog is run by people who are paid for by CSIR and Brahmachari. Am I missing something --- the nature of your tone makes me feel that.
Ha, one wonders what went on in Brahmachari's mind. Turning up two hours late and then threatening to complain to NYTimes when being interviewed about inefficiency and bureaucracy is... unique indeed. His irony detector must be broken. Yeah, perhaps the article pandered to stereotypes. But isn't DG-CSIR's attitude in this case shockingly callous? If you have points in your defense, say it, or say no comment and don't schedule an interview! Why go after the reporter in that fashion?! He isn't doing anything to dissipate those stereotypes... quite the opposite.
Well, here's what's funny. ToI has retold that story verbatim, with no cross-reference to the past reports of his involvement with CSIR and the controversy it created. Now this is what is called a memoryless process.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/indians-abroad/Expat-Indians-find-it-tough-to-return-home/articleshow/5286531.cms
So much is so sad in this story.
Ayyadurai comes off as (1) obviously charlatan (2) a PR genius.
Brahmachari comes off as (1) a bad judge of people (for hiring a snake-oil salesman) (2) pompous, officious, at best bureaucratic, at worst plain stupid.
Science in India comes off as (1) screwed (2) screwed.
If Ayyadurai is a professional, I am the President of The Republic of Mars. His report is self-serving and it does not contain anything which comes within a hand-shaking distance of being fresh and novel. Anyone can say privatise everything and there will be a bunch of jokers in the sidelines to egg him or her on.
Nevertheless, his statements about the state of affairs at the CSIR Headquarters are more than true. The DG and the top officials are surrounded by a clutch of nodding zombies, who will come to life only when their position is threatened. Genuine scientists of the organization keep well clear of the Headquarters and its poisonous air.
@Ankur: That ToI piece is syndicated from NYTimes.
his nature article is very true
Are you a card carrying member of DG-CSIR's fan club?
Annon 7 and annon 8, are you card carrying member of Ayyadurai fan club or his marketing/PR agents. Or are you Ayyadurai himself.
I checked out Shiva's report. What a sad one it is! Even a B. Tech project report will be better written (and better formatted). Obviously, Shiva's report is written in one day, perhaps before the date of submission. So MIT PhDs can also be bought??
*just before the date of submission.
*MIT PhD degrees also can be bought.
:)
Where can we download the above mentioned report from...
Thanks,
Varun A.
@anon9 anon7 here. i am not a fan of ayyadurai thank you. but i wouldnt like to suffer his fate, since i am certainly not an mit graduate, and have no access to either nyt or nature or any other commercial media outlet. and thats the sad case with everyone but the dg's coterie in csir. i do not know ayyadurai and i dont care if he sells snake oil or sends spam emails claiming to give 1 million dollars. what i do know (as does anyone else) is that his allegations are true, and anyone who calls a spade a spade will suffer the consequences. and i suspect his coterie is deftly skirting the real issue here by launching ad hominem attacks on the messenger.
Abi,
I suggest you to read the Nature India article by Shiva one more time carefully. You will gain lot of material for investigative journalism and reporting specially "the audit enquiry on TCGA" and "major fire at CSIR headquarter".
Brahmachari is already successful in having control on Indian journalists. It was his wild attempt to control NewYork Times journalist.
Considering science produced and economic impact, CSIR India is completely a nonentity in the world. OSDD project is nothing but media hype in India, similar to that of the IGVdb project. IGVdb main article was submitted to Nature but was rejected by reviewers last year and finally published in the journal of genetics published by Indian academy of science (However in Brahmachari’s website it is still displayed as submitted article 132, how shameless!!!).
Shiva’s every word in chapter 7 of CSIR tech report is true. Dr. PM Bhargava of CCMB, an insider of CSIR completely supports that.
Abi,
I suggest you to read the Nature India article by Shiva one more time carefully. You will gain lot of material for investigative journalism and reporting specially "the audit enquiry on TCGA" and "major fire at CSIR headquarter".
Brahmachari is already successful in having control on Indian journalists. It was his wild attempt to control NewYork Times journalist.
Considering science produced and economic impact, CSIR India is completely a nonentity in the world. OSDD project is nothing but media hype in India, similar to that of the IGVdb project. IGVdb article was submitted to Nature but was rejected by reviewers and finally published in journal of genetics published by Indian academy of science (However in Brahmachari’s website it is still displayed as submitted article 132, how shameless!!!).
Shiva’s every word in chapter 7 of CSIR tech report is true. Dr. PM Bhargava of CCMB, an insider of CSIR completely supports that.
Indian civil service, Indian foreign service is riddled with Bramcharis. Just write an email to any of them or to an Indian embassy you will find out soon that they do not respond. Even PM's office does not give a damn about public . Shiva needed to visit San Francisco Indian Embassy and would have been rudly awakened. Boss lady does not take calls, emails or any other form of communications.Staff threatens to call Police if you make serious inquiry. She is Spending 100% of time in self indulgence.I pity the people of India. Shiva should not hold his breath for a response from PM. Younger readers may not be aware that when Dr. Manmohan Singh was finance minister she visited Santa Clara county to solicit funds for India's development (foreign exchange crisis)and at that time he promised to fix the Babu's in the Goverment. Deacades later you will hardly find any one who will say Indian Babu's mentality has materially changed. Indian in India have oa false sense of ego. They are best in everything. Truth hurts. How many Nobel price for sciences was awareded to scientists in India since Independence. I rest my case.
Ignore typos in prior comment etc.
Anon # 16: Absolutely true. Once I met Consul General of India, Houston(he is no more in Houston)and told him how nobody picks the phone, answering machines are full, crappy scribbles/over writing on passport and all. But he was in denial. Typical of these babus!!!
You may be aware that "most" of the cell phones in India do NOT have voicemail feature. I have heard that voice mail costs extra in India. Why? I feel we Indians lack accountability which includes returning calls. So, why need voice mail feature? This lack of accountability has permeated through the entire India (people, IAS, IFS, IPS, all Babus, Politicans, Scientists, Academia). Is there any solution to fix it?
I have seen so many of my IIT classmates now as babus who are part of this bureacracy. System have changed them too. I dont buy their excuse of political interference (though partly true).
We need to have a very strong leader at the TOP to make things happen. Our political system does not even allow open debate on issues between top leaders. Our politicans escape every issue by saying "no comment". They are answerable to public. No comment is not an acceptable answer.
TA
Hey guys, if you need to see the height of fraud, see this
http://www.vashiva.com/vashiva/nmarticle.html (the image with header Nature)
while the original article is in Nature India
http://www.nature.com/nindia/2009/091201/full/nindia.2009.346.html and his resume claiming it
S. Ayyadurai, Commentary: Innovation Demands Freedom, Nature, December, 2009.
Fraud of the first degree !!
Shiva Ayyadurai = example of greedy stupid NRI
master salesman (snake oil or herbal crap !!, it does not make a difference)
fraud of first degree (thanks anon for pointing the link out here
I wonder why such IDIOTS who have lost their money in US come back to heckle people back home. Neither do they have any "Indianness" left, nor do they love their contrymen.
Great going shiva !!
" inventor of one of the world's first e-mail systems "
Holy crap :)
Thanks for pointing to the full report on the Blog Freedom for whatever..
Anybody out there who has checked research trainee reports ? have we improved so much in the last few years or has MIT degraded to this level ? I expected a master's degree holder from MIT to have at least the commonsense to decide how and what to write.
Well, good for entertainment !!
PS: Probably the freedom guys should get some ads on the blog, given that the report would gather some real hits coming in (maybe registrations to their holy sermon too !!). Probably Shiva et al, can also advertise of registrations. C'mon man !!
Excerpts from the Ayyadurai Nature (India) article
I am willing to be part of an open forum with CSIR \u2014 televised live, available real-time
on the internet \u2014 to review all documents and interactions leading to my appointment
and resignation.
says a lot about this guy and his sole motive .. money !!
After going through the entire article, seems there is only one thing one could ask..
Any psychiatrists in Boston ?
Guys, visit the new and repackaged www.vashiva.com and probably you should be peeking into the future of self advertisement.
To be frank I have not seen somebody marketing himself with falttery. Better not drown in it man !!
Anonymous 19
I was unable to understand where the fraud is, the article is really published in Nature India as commentary by Shiva.
Anonymous 20-24,
Why you guys are so scared about an inquiry commission against Samir Brahmachari and Shiva. We all should know the truth. Real truth is that all cats from Brahmachari's bag are now out. He is trying his best to hide those from public by threatening news reporters from NewYork times to Star news and already purchased other Indian news reporters. At the same time Brahmachari’s sycophants are working hard by passing some lame comments in different blogs to cover up his guilt and distract common people from main issues related to a feudal regime in CSIR headquarter.
English Translation of a famous bengali poem for DG-CSIR Samir Brahmachari and his sycophants:
======================================
The King (DG-CSIR??) Without Clothes
Nirendranath Chakravarti
============================
They can all see the king is naked, yet
They're all applauding.
Everyone is shouting, "Bravo, bravo" ---
Some from custom, some from fear,
Some who have pawned their own wits to others;
Some are parasites, some
Supplicants, suitors, frauds.
Some really think the royal robe's so fine
It's there though you can't see it;
At least it may be so.
Everyone knows the story.
But in that story,
There wasn't only the flattering crew
Of out-and-out cowards, opportunists, fools,
There was a child as well :
A truthful, simple, courageous little child.
That fabled king has now stepped out in state
Upon the highroad of reality.
Again there gathers
A crowd of sycophants;
Again, each moment, they break out in applause.
Only I do not find
That little child today among the crowd.
Where is he gone ? Has someone
Thrust him from sight in a secret mountain-cave ?
Or has he, playing
With grass and earth and rocks, fallen asleep
By a distant lonely river,
Or on some plain, under a shady tree ?
Go find him,
Find him no matter how.
Let him once more before the naked king
Stand fearlessly.
Let him once raise his voice above the applause
And ask :
"King, where are your clothes ?"
=============================================
Original poem “ulongo raja” by Nirendranath chakravarti
Translated by Sukanta Chaudhury
An english translation of a famous bengali poem for DG-CSIR Samir Brahmachari and his sycophants
===============================================
The King (DG-CSIR??) Without Clothes
Nirendranath Chakravarti
----------------------------------------
They can all see the king is naked, yet
They're all applauding.
Everyone is shouting, "Bravo, bravo" ---
Some from custom, some from fear,
Some who have pawned their own wits to others;
Some are parasites, some
Supplicants, suitors, frauds.
Some really think the royal robe's so fine
It's there though you can't see it;
At least it may be so.
Everyone knows the story.
But in that story,
There wasn't only the flattering crew
Of out-and-out cowards, opportunists, fools,
There was a child as well :
A truthful, simple, courageous little child.
That fabled king has now stepped out in state
Upon the highroad of reality.
Again there gathers
A crowd of sycophants;
Again, each moment, they break out in applause.
Only I do not find
That little child today among the crowd.
Where is he gone ? Has someone
Thrust him from sight in a secret mountain-cave ?
Or has he, playing
With grass and earth and rocks, fallen asleep
By a distant lonely river,
Or on some plain, under a shady tree ?
Go find him,
Find him no matter how.
Let him once more before the naked king
Stand fearlessly.
Let him once raise his voice above the applause
And ask :
"King, where are your clothes ?"
=============================================
Original poem “ulongo raja” by Nirendranath chakravarti
Translated by Sukanta Chaudhury
India is a country which lack leaders and accountability. We have Bhramacharis in every field. Our gentleman, academician and non-political PM who heads CSIR is totally silent. And where is minister for Science and Technology.
Anony 25, Yes that exactly is the fraud. The PDF carries the logo of Nature.com, while the original article is in Nature India. It makes a lot of difference buddy !! Are you a badge carrying Ayyadurai party member or Ayyadurai himself ?
If you think you can cheat and get away with it, you must be mistaken.
Anonymous 28 Does that ring a bell ? you mean to say everybody right from PM to Minister to DG is wrong, and SA is right ? You must be none other that SA himself. stupid to the bone
Anonymous 26/27 and 14/15 Any patterns ? Spend some money and change your keyboard . Probably that should ignite your creativity
I am a scientist working in CSIR for the past 29 years. Shiv ayyadurai report in chapter 7 is true. In CECRI,Karaikudi, TN one mr.Raghavan was appointed as its director in 1998. In his life,he never did any scientific expts; He even could not write 2 sentences in english. But with the help of others, he plagiarised his PHD thesis. 1995 using ISRO project reports, others PhD thesis, books,etc, still the above case is pending in Court. The syndicate committee of madurai University confirmed that he has plagiarised the thesis. But CSIR did not take any action, but protected the corrupt,unethical Raghavan, he is a mechanical engineer looking after a machine shop was made DIrector by CSIR (Mashelkar). CSIR...
Anon 30: see the comment from Anon 32. There are several such instances in CSIR. Silence of the higher authorities (PM, Minister etc.) is not an answer. That does not means they are bad but definitely they are answerable to the people. Accountability starts from the top and not bottom. SA and Bhramachari have both messed up. But dont kill the messenger. Listen to the message at least, if that's true. Even the worst critic of SA would agree about CSIR's operation. Anyone not doing so is stupid and living in denial.
Anon 32 and 33 Probably you have not seen this one against Shiva. Well things are getting murkier, is all what I can say
Anon 34: I just saw the link you recommended. If that is true then DG CSIR should make it very clear and not shy away from the journalists.
Such transparency will help CSIR in the long run. Most likely truth is somewhere in the middle.
Vinod Scaria , yogeswarrao, manju baghe, etc..etc were looting CSIR along with Mashelkar. The trend continues. Truth and honesty have no place in CSIR and its. Anybody dares to bring truth and honesty, their heads will be chopped off. Just putting blame on SA, People at helm of affairs in CSIR can not escape, forget about SA, all the scientists in CSIR knows how CSIR is run. Here in CSIR, dictionery is different; patriotism and science have opposite meanings. We hope these 500 odd MPs could do something. Now they appointed 12 Directors for variuos CSIR labs. In that, how many are bengalis ?.
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