The following article was contributed by Prof. Debasis Mishra of the Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi as part of a campus recruitment initiative for an Master of Science programme in Quantitative Economics. For a very well written paper on the subject by Prof. Mishra with illustrative examples from the real world, click here.

What is Quantitative Economics?

Quantitative economics is a field of study where mathematics, in particular optimization, statistics, algorithms and complexity theory is used as a tool for analyzing and designing economic systems.

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A Bangalore based start up, Capillary provides mobile based customer management solutions, meaning it helps businesses understand the needs of and effectively communicate with their customers through mobile services. One of the co-founders of Capillary, Krishna Mehra (06, RK, CS) shares his experience with us.
TSA: Firstly, a hearty congratulations on winning the Qualcomm Business Plan Competition. We, at The Scholars’ Avenue are indeed very proud of your achievements and would like to narrate your success story to our readers.

Krishna Mehra: Thanks for the chance to interact with people through The Scholars’ Avenue. It really feels privileged, especially since The Scholars’ Avenue was actually started right in front of our eyes, and it’s great to see it moulding public opinion in the institute.

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Don’t let the IIT faculty strikes fool you. For the academically inclined, IIXs are still the best.

T. A. Abinandanan is a Professor in the Department of Materials Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He writes extensively on a wide range of topics concerning higher education in India, particularly the IITs, IIMs, IISc and such other institutes. His writings can be found at http://nanopolitan.blogspot.com .The Scholars’ Avenue thanks Dr.Abinandanan for contributing this article.

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The stalwart of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Professor T K Basu retired recently leaving behind a rich legacy from his time here at Kgp, first as a student and then as a professor. Professor Basu also taught at IIT Bombay and later served as the head of the Center of Educational Technology which was instrumental in developing the video courses for Kgp students. Now busy in another professional sphere at Kolkata, The Scholars’ Avenue managed to catch up with Prof. Basu on his farewell visit to the Institute, unearthing some candid moments and a lot of nostalgia.

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Professor Ikhlaq Sidhu, founding director of UC Berkeley’s Center for
Entrepreneurship & Technology and an authority on the process of innovation and technology management, visited our campus recently. In this exclusive interview, he shares his insights on entrepreneurship in India and abroad, why enterpreneurship should be taught in companies and a lot more. ,

TSA: Do you believe entrepreneurship can be taught, or is it something one is born with?

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(For pictures, quotes and a more comprehensive insight, download a pdf of our issue here)

As our faculty moans about the seemingly insulting pay scales, who really stands to lose?
Is it our teachers, who can always leave for greener pastures?
Or the MHRD coffers?
Or much worse, a system called IIT?

He is a B.Tech in Computer Science from IIT Madras, obtained a doctorate from the University of Maryland, and is presently an Associate professor at IIT Kanpur. With several years of teaching experience, quality research publications in prestigious journals like Euro physics and a book to his credit, Dr Mahendra Verma’s resume seemingly boasts of an impeccable record. Well, apparently the Government of India seems to think otherwise.

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The Scholars’ Avenue wishes to thank the faculty member who contributed this very excellent article. In deference to his wishes, the article is anonymous.

I am a through and through mediocre person except for occasional bouts of intelligence exhibited typically during leap years. Matters could have been far worse but for the fact that God, in the from of guru, interfered with my life, and guided me as if I was a confused sheep. I carry lasting impressions of some of these great human beings who helped me steer my life and instilled vague love for science and engineering and teaching using which I am able to survive in this greatly bewildering and intimidating world and also make ends meet. At this juncture of pushing very late forties, an inner call tells me, I must make public my reverence and gratitude for these people. (more…)