CAT 2009: A disgraceful truth

CAT remained a dream for around 20 thousand students this year, not because they were not prepared but because organizers were unprepared for this adventure of computerized exam. What I feel is, before you know the shameful truth behind CAT exam you must know the lie told before and during this exam.
FIRST LIE - Every news paper, every channel, even BBC was participant in this lie. They all reported that "CAT is an online exam". At least they should have confirmed the same with organizers. Just the use of computer don't make any exam online and such baseless reporting not only made them feel stupid but they participated in making fool of viewers/readers.
SECOND LIE - In the first three days 20 percent of students were not able to take their exam due to one or the other reason. Prometric, the company responsible for the conduct of exam took an easy way to counter the questions raised that because of virus attacks computers didn't work well. Online word was so much spread by media that prometric used this word to hide their weakness because if it would have been clear that it is not an online exam, no media would have ever accepted or buy this reason of virus given by prometric.
But my simple question is that how these virus reached the computers used for CAT, when these computers not even connected to internet during exam? There has to be an explanation for medium through which virus reached the system, whenever we talk about any such virus attack. Lets have a look on the complete functioning of the exam system. There were local servers connected with all the computers of a room (max 20 or 30). Question papers are uploaded in room servers with which computers are connected. After the exam, all the attempted papers are stored on room servers and then in the evening after both shift exam gets over data of all the rooms (centers) is collected on the main data center placed at IIM Ahamdabad using high bandwidth line(same as in electronic voting) which will be later analysed to prepare result. This is the only reason why preparation of result is taking more than a month time whereas in online exam there are provisions for instant result.
Just think about this - How without being online, 50 labs out of 360 were hit by virus and others were not. Because if it would have been online exam
1) virus must have been in contact with the main server and complete network must be down.
2) Suppose the test is online then there must be an antivirus on the main server and in that case only a new undefined virus can breach the security of server. But this is not the case because CERT( computer emergency response team) of India didnt find any such virus attack in the last 30 days( every major/new virus hit is countered by them on Indian networks)
3) If the test was not online how is it possible that 50 different locations hit by the same virus at the same time without being connected? AND HERE IS THE MAIN STORY
The two viruses named by prometric are 'Nimda' and 'Confikker'. These two viruses are years old and notification regarding these virus was released worldwide by CERT (US) & CERT(India) in 2001 for Nimda & in 2008 for confikker. How is it possible that a big company such as Prometric was unable to handle such old viruses despite the fact that definition of these viruses is included in every antivirus software. So even if we go by the virus theory there is a big question on the ability of Prometric & IIM to conduct such exams.
As interesting is this lie about exam failure, more shameful and dark is the truth behind this game. The game of 200 crore rupees.....those 200 crore which proved to be beneficial for everyone except students. This game started at the time when tender for CAT exam was released. 14 companies worldwide took part in the bid including two Indian companies with good experience in conducting computerized exams of BITS PILANI and MANIPAL. But at last Prometric won this bid in 200 crore for 5 years, how and why are the separate questions whose answer is again a big story yet to be exposed. Anyhow a big amount of 200 crore rupees was given to Prometric to establish its own secure network. But instead of developing its own network Prometric gave this contract to NIIT in mere 55 crore to provide entire network. Which means a 145 crore profit for Prometric just to put question papers in software form because making these papers was the IIM task. Now its turn of NIIT to make profit out of 55 crore and company sublet its work to small & medium level management institutes throughout country in 2-3 lac rupees. For colleges it was a profitable deal as they were getting target customers in the form of unsuccessful students who came to the exam center (colleges). So this was a profitable deal for both parties. Small management colleges normally don't have 100-150 computers in their labs but keeping the profitable deal in mind few colleges hired computers from market. We also recorded our conversation with a computer dealer in Nehru Place who told that a management institute hired 50 computers from them for ten days at a rate as low as 60 Rs per computer. Now you can better understand that how a 60 Rs. computer must have worked. In response to my email, Ramesh Nava,vice president, Prometric has accepted the blunder on Prometric part " The launch of the computerized CAT involved the delivery of exams on 17,000 computers in 361 temporary testing labs. In order to secure such a large number of computer facilities, Prometric utilized the existing networks of computers within the colleges. Unfortunately, delivering the exams using this public infrastructure exposed the administration to a number of viruses and other network contaminants".
Naked truth of this game are those 5000 computers out of total 17000 which were running on pirated windows. 11000 computers were not formatted before exam and used with their existing data on the hard disk and rest was done by 60 Rs rented computers. So the most reputed exam of India became a mockery because of organizers carelessness. As per the latest amendment in the Indian cyber law any such laps in basic security of computer related event are enough to prove the organizers guilty and there are provisions for 5 crore compensation for the participant(students in this case). So if any student approaches the court, organizers will be in trouble.
But do you think this is the whole game? I don't think so because I have never heard so much negative about IIT and IIM in the last 10 years as it was told in the last few months. UPA government after coming to power announced that Education industry of India will now be open for foreign Institutes. But I believe that any foreign institute cant stand the status and image of IIT and IIM, which is there in the mind of Indian students. And here comes the controversies about the selection procedure in IIT, reservation policy in IIT, issue about lack of infrastructure in IIT and at last the black spot on the name of IIM. This sequence of events forcing me to think about the big game going on............
Please don't ask me that despite knowing so much and having all the proofs, despite working in a news channel why I was not able to play this story in media. Because THE TRUTH is very dark and shameful.