VISA EXTENSION - INDIA - PROCEEDURE AND GUIDELINES

If you live or work in India and you are looking for the proceedure for extending your current visa to afford you more time to complete your purpose of visit, then you may want to be careful with the website(s) you visit because there are lots of websites purporting to be visa and travel agencies who may ask for money where there MAY BE absolutely no fee - Yes, absolutely no fee.

For avoidance of any doubts, it is advised that anyone seeking to extend a subsisting visa within India should log on to the efrro official website and follow the simple steps specified on the visa extension form.

You will have to complete the application form for visa extemsion ( it is advised that the individual be present in India at the time of completing the application). The office would typically reachout to you via the email address you provided when registering on the frro portal. They may request additional documentation depending upon the nature of the susbsisting visa or where necessary.

Once your submitted documents are vetted and deemed satisfactory, you may be required to make some payment - especially in the case of a research visa. Note that there is no payment as of date for extension of other categories of student visa.

At every stage of your application, you may communicate with the frro office through the official website for any clarifications you may require. Be ware of predatory websites that may purport to be "accredited" agents of the frro office and may charge you a fee in the name of helping you apply for your visa extension. You can do it all yourself through your official account on the official  efrro official website

I wish you the best of luck!

Ph.D in India Vs. Ph.D in Nigeria - A Contemplation

 

Kosi Emmanuel Chukwujindu - During Ph.D in India - 2021

A PhD in any field of study is a rigorous self-undertaking that usually involves a lot of sacrifice on the part of the scholar.  The entire process leading up to the award of a Doctorate degree in any discipline is structured to ensure that the researcher makes a real contribution to knowledge in that field.

Often times, what we consider as the task at the beginning of our expression of interest to undertake a PhD research changes many times during the process and it helps to have proper guidance and a tailored program of work.

Speaking of proper guidance, it is expected that a Ph.D. research scholar must be guided by a supervisor who him / her self have earned their own doctorate in a related field. As a Nigerian who had enrolled for a Ph.D. study in Nigeria for six(6) years before deciding to leave the country to pursue the same degree abroad, my experience has been tough but I have learnt a lot for which I am immensely grateful.

In this post, I share the highlights of my experience as I can't help comparing conditions of study in both countries.

1. IMPROVED LECTURER'S ACCESSIBILITY 

In Nigeria, I had a hard time accessing my supervisor, he was of the Professor cadre and this meant he was only in school on scheduled days. If you didn't catch him on any of those, then you had to wait till the next time. It's different here in India. The Professors are always on seat and willing to discuss your work anytime. This was a real consolation to me because now I knew I only had to focus on the progress of my research and not bother about chasing the guide, since he's always on sit.

2. INFO/EXPOSURE TO LATEST RESEARCH TOOLS 

In my university in Nigeria, because the lecturers are not very accessible, it's harder to grab guidance on what best research tools are there and how best to combine them. There seems to be a certain "darkness" surrounding this and sometimes one would almost conclude it appears they are not very hands-on with the tools, themselves. This makes it tougher for research scholars in Nigeria to compete with their global counterparts. In India however, I found most research guides had practical current knowledge of research tools and software applications. We were literally thought the use of simulation softwares during the coursework part of our first year. 

This was a huge departure from my African background where if you learnt to use any software at all, you either enrolled for a private lesson at a private tutor place or you got a friend to show you privately, practical exposure to research/simulation software never came from my supervisors.

3. FEWER DISTRACTIONS

The biggest challenge I faced while enrolled as a Ph.D. research scholar in Nigeria was my own inability to focus on the research due to multiple distractions from other engagements such as my very demanding private practice, family, and lecturing. It was easy to drift off from the research when you had a thriving Architecture practice and a demanding lecturing job. I figured if I would make any headway with my PhD work, then I had to get away from all the distractions and the only way to do so was to leave the country to the greatest surprise of everyone, to go somewhere I can focus and finish off the research and probably get better supervision. I had to leave and I had to do so quickly!

I realized PhD research was in itself a full time engagement.

4. NO STUDENT LEVIES

In Nigeria, it was common to have the students levied by lecturers and the school for buying research related equipment for the department. One time we had to pay NGN5,000 each in order to procure a new set of public address system and projector for the department seminar room. The condition was that whoever did not contribute this sum, would not be permitted to present his work in the seminar room and ofcourse you could forget about getting any objective feedback on your work.

In India, I havent paid a rupee for anything departmental asides my tuition and exam fees. Everything is taken care of by the department and maintained by the school authority. This was also a relief.

5. HIGHER GLOBAL BEST PRACTISE AWARENESS

As they say, PhD degree is the highest academic degree obtainable and it is a globally recognized academic venture. Coming to India helped me refine my research to take a global perspective on the research questions I was trying to find answers to. 

6. BETTER QUALITY OF RESEARCH OUTPUT

For some reason Nigerian scholars abroad seemed to be producing richer quality of research output in many disciplines compared to our colleagues in Nigeria. This is a personal observation and I am still unsure why it is so. I think there is no pressure to compete international scheme of things at home in Nigeria, this has a negative effect on researchers ambitions. We settle for whatever can get us past the degree, even if its not relevant anywhere else. 

Also, I saw a metric somewhere that rated research publications from Nigeria, Kenya South Africa and the United States. In terms of economic impact of research, Nigeria scored zero. This points to the fact that in Nigeria, it's either the government does not rely on research output for making economic decision or the research output do not have any immediate or midterm economic relevance. This should be looked into.

7. EXPOSURE TO OTHER INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Doing research while surrounded by a diverse community of co-researchers and scholars naturally lifts your threshold for excellence.

Subscribe to this blog for more of such discussions and leave a comment below if you find any more differences or think differently about something I've highlighted here. Would be glad to discuss

THE IMPACTS OF DUPLICATE OR OVERLAPPING PUBLICATIONS

Duplicate or overlapping publications is a situation where an author publishes the same body of work in its entirety or at least 2/3rd of the original work in multiple journals in order to increase his or her publication count.

Authors and researchers are usually caught in such situations due to pressure to publish or pressure to obtain certain privileges from their academic institution or grant agency. 

There are several drawbacks associated with this kind of unethical research conduct and they include: 

i).  Redundancy : 

this means that there are multiple publications with the same content and value, hence there is no real progress made, They are all saying the same thing. They do not help the future readers or researchers to make positive progress in subsequent works, they only keep repeating the same old knowledge into many places.

ii). Waste of Time : 

Such a practice amounts to a waste of the author's time as well as the reader's time. This is because research is dynamic and every day new knowledge is expected to emerge in every discipline. However, an author who takes to redundant, duplicate, or overlapping publications is actually wasting valuable research time which would otherwise have been channeled to discover new knowledge in the given research area.

iii). Confusion: 

Where multiple publications are made of the same literary content, it tends to cause confusion to the editors, reviewers, and researchers who struggle to identify if there is any new knowledge in the multiple publications. This ultimately leads to confusion because in the end they may be forced to retract some of the publications which may have already been cited by other researchers who did not realize that the works were duplicated or overlapping.

iv). Poor Literary Development of The Scholar :

When a research scholar resorts to duplicate or redundant publishing, he or she fails to develop his / her literary prowess and this ultimately leads to poor quality of researchers who may not be well fitted for technical positions in life and career paths where they belong.

v). Public Loss of Trust in the Parent Organisation : 

Any organization whose members are identified to consistently indulge in duplicate or overlapping publications will eventually lose the trust of the public or funding agency. It is therefore the responsibility of such organizations to ensure that they set up a research and publication ethics committee to vet and approve research works coming from members of their organization in order to ensure quality and guarantee adherence to ethical standards. Also, it is important for such organizations to retract any identified duplication or overlapping publications without recourse to who it is.

EXPLAINING THE USE OF PLAGIARISM SOFTWARE IN RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS

Source : clipartstation.com

A plagiarism software is a computer application that is designed to identify and quantify the extent of "external material" or "similarity to external material" that is contained in any given literary work. 

Plagiarism is a serious and unpardonable misconduct when it comes to academic publishing. It is a situation where an author presents part or whole of another authors work within his own work as if it originally belonged to him and goes ahead to publish same into public domain without making citation or reference to the origin or source of the material.

Because research is a continuum, it is expected that future researchers fall back on already existing body of knowledge for guidance and direction while conducting their own original research which will in turn lead to their own original new found knowledge. However ethical guidelines for research, mandates the researcher to make proper declarations wherever he has borrowed material from another author. This would ultimately contribute to and enrich the existing body of knowledge in the given research field.

However since it has been observed that researchers frequently fail to declare the borrowed contents in their works, the plagiarism software tool is applied while reviewing articles in order identify any such similarities between the current proposed publication and existing database of knowledge.

HOW IT WORKS

i). Submission : 

First the author submits his proposed literary work to a given journal or group of editors who call for papers or are desirous of compiling new knowledge in the given field of interest. The submission is required to be made in a soft copy (editable).

ii). Plagiarism check : 

The group of editors or reviewers usually have an in-house software application installed on their computer or available online where they pass the softcopy proposal through in order to check it for any possible similarities between existing database in the given field. The software is usually designed to read through the entire proposal and check it against the existing published works that have been catalogued in its memory. 

iii). Plagiarism quantification : 

The software usually presents the result of its check in terms of number of phrases, sentences and paragraphs that bear significant similarity to existing publications known to the software. This number of similarity occurrence is calculated a s percentage and usually only 10-15% of similarity is allowed. Literary works bearing similarity beyond 15% may require further human investigation to determine and establish possible plagiarism.

iv). Acceptance or Rejection : 

Based on the results from the plagiarism quantification by the software, the group of editors will either accept or reject the submitted proposal and will advice the author to make adjustments accordingly and resubmit for further evaluations.

Plagiarism detection software works as a safeguard for original content and serious writers, to protect their creative properties from literary thieves.

IN THE WAKE OF AN UNDESIRABLE WAR - NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE EXAMINATION (P.P.E) VS. ARCHITECTS REGISTRATION COUNCIL OF NIGERIA ARCON (A.C.P)

The Nigerian institute of Architects N.I.A professional practice examination P.P.E held in two diets annually has just been concluded for the year 2017. No other exams organised by the institute will be held in the year 2017. In the wake of the growing impasse between the veteran examination conducting body and its national cousin; the Architect's Registration Council of Nigeria ARCON,  mixed feelings engulfed almost every examinee this year. The disagreement which has been described by many as everything including 'embarrassing' is rumored to be hinged on major administrative, tribalist and financial related prejudices. 

The Nigerian Institute of Architects, N.I.A set up in April 1960 has been the body responsible for pre-qualification of candidates and conduction of professional practice competence examination in the country, while the Architects registration council of Nigeria had hitherto relied on her for advice on successfully qualified candidates to be furnished with a practice license and a seal. This meant that once one scaled through the notoriously revered N.I.A exams, he/she was expressly admitted by ARCON and is deemed qualified to practice the profession of Architecture within Nigeria.

While this bi-laterral qualification requirement/proceedure had been questioned by many due to its rigorous nature, it had been accepted to be the 'norm' for over twenty (20) years.

Sadly, this amiable,

ARCHITECT?...HAS YOUR HP PAVILION G6 KEYBOARD STOPPED WORKING?

by Kosi Emmanuel Chukwujindu 

HP-PAVILLION G6, KEYPAD LOCKED

might sound funny but, it happened to me.  first I thought it was a joke, I tried typing  harder, till i was hitting the keys hard and it still wasn't working. Then it occured to me there was a problem. 

what was it? 

someone had been trying out wrong passwords on the system which apparently locked the keyboard as a defense mechanism - The day before , I had left my PC in the care of a neighbor who was visiting with his younger brother. In my absence, the kid was the culprit.

I went online and found a gracious blog where the problem had been solved and documented. I tried it exactly how it was prescribed and it worked. 

click here for information on how to solve "HP PAVILION G6 KEYBOARD STOPPED WORKING" problem.

NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE PROGRAM - ARCHITECT

by Kosi Emmanuel Chukwujindu

from right: Geometrix studio head aikay,kosi, anele, mamman salaudeen

The one year national youth service program NYSC - is an initiative by the federal government of Nigeria to help integrate graduates of the country into the workforce. It requires the graduate to serve the nation under any parastatal of the government at a state other  than that of his origin for a period of 12 months. This interstate arrangement ensures that young people from different ethnic backgrounds mix-up, exchange and learn social values.

Asides this sociological dimension, there is also an economic implication to this. During the service year,  the young graduates are subjected to rigorous enterpreneur training programs which aim at imbibing the need to be self employed as a remedy to the un-employment rocking the nation. 

For graduates of Architecture, who want to pursue a career in the field, the service year is a time to gain relevant experience in the profession. One should endeavour to get into an insightful Architecture firm where he can build a future after the service year.

I was attatched to Geometrix consultants and builders ltd. Abuja during my service year. It was a very educating experience. I had the opprtunity to participate in two MAJOR projects The first is the ENSIBUM market; Enugu where I took active part in the design stage, presentation, and now the construction. The second is the Oranto international hotel project Enugu. This particular project afforded me the opportunity to meet a very influential politial figure - Chief Dr. Arthur Eze. He was interested in investing in the hospitality industry and Geometrix was priviledged to be his consultants. with guidance of my principal consultant Arc Uche J. Uche, I developed the initial deaign concept and produced the renderings for the presentation. I accompanied him to the said presentation and am still involved in its construction as the assistant project cordinator.

Generally, my service year was full of  enlightening experiences. I attended a lot of meetings  with my principal and some alone. I collaborated with project Engineers on site, surveyors and artisans. The pay was argood. I also started my own: MealsWorth Restaurant & Bar. and I thank almighty God for all this, I know his hand is in my sucess and he has more in store for me.

For the younger ones coming up  and planning to make a good time out of their service year, I say be dilligent, keep working smart, and trust in God. he wont fail you!

COIMBATORE AIRPORT PROJECT

       When functionality meets technology, the marriage of reason and resource. From the abstraction of a bird signifying flight, this master piece stands out as simple and elegant!

Designed for Coimbatore, the southern hub of India's textile industry, It reflects the vernacular Architecture of Exposed Concrete, interwoven in glass. creates the perfect landing spot for tourists and business travelers as well as it leaves a warm signature in the heart of the departing traveler to which he longs to return.

design software:

produced with Revit Architecture 2012 (student version)

MAKING OF MODEL SATELLITE TOWN FOR ABUJA (SECOND REVIEW)

HERE COMES THE MASTER PLAN

SALIENT FEATURES
·    Phased development, having sustainable districts at each phase
·    elimination of the traditional grid iron pattern and its attendant thorough fare traffic
·    and replacement with the super block model.
·    provision of private as well as communal green spaces
·    shared communal facilities encourage social interaction and are cheaper to maintain
·    turn to alternative revenue sources
·    car-less community thus less carbon emission = cleaner air
·    cultural   promotion through football
·    provision of well connected service roads, cycle and pedestrian ways
·    a fine blend of the garden city concept, and the neighborhood planning concepts with Le-corbusiers centralized business district model

HOW DO YOU FEEL ON A DESIGN REVIEW DAY

 So how do Architects really feel just before a presentation..what am I thinking just before its my turn. Is it confidence, too much of it or less of it. is it fear of getting Bashed or is it calmness?
For most it is either of these sometimes and at other sometimes a combination of them, in a random order.

You are sure you have done your homework, but you are not sure how  the client would receive it. would it be ecstacious satisfaction or sad disappointment, would he throw arms around you in joyous praise of the work or frown at your beautiful ideas?
For me, its a mixture of those feelings. But what is common with us all is that before the meeting, we always feel confident.

Such was the case right here today.

The second review on the Abuja Satellite Township project, Spirits were high, we all peered critically at each others works.
however there seemed to be a dive in the mood after the review, egos had either been shattered or boosted!
Envy sets in, momentary depression happens some how you feel you have been misjudged or under-graded.
But you take a resolve to go back and do more work and bounce back stronger!!
..to be continued

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

..to all those truly loving hearts,to all those commited and faithful hommies,
to all those lovely ladies who truly deserve our care..and to all the beautiful and handsome young fellows who are better off alone..
and to all d cheating partners,its never too late to treat him/her better.

 

Also wishing all the team at Cadrightgroup India and Nigeria as well,

the entire staff at Geometrix Consultants and Builders ltd. Abuja,

The homely people at Great marks Nigeria ltd.,Awka,

and all the students and Staff of SRM University, School Of Architecture and Interior Design, Chennai, 

........ I WISH U ALL A HAPPY VALENTINES DAY...........