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Showing posts from January 5, 2014

IIT-Kharagpur hopes Arvind Kejriwal attends the alumni meet

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Arvind Kejriwal The alumni meet of the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur (IIT-K) beginning January 17 may be attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who graduated in mechanical engineering from the institute in 1989, the alumni cell said Saturday. "This year, the 1989 batch will be celebrating its silver jubilee. We have sent a formal invitation. We are hopeful he would be coming to meet his batch mates arriving from across the country and even abroad," said Aditi Sharma, general secretary, Students' Alumni Cell. Besides the 1989 batch, the institute is also hosting the golden jubilee and ruby jubilee of different batches, with over 250 IITians expected to attend. The West Bengal unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has undertaken a membership drive across the state is also hoping to cash in on Kejriwal's visit and planning to organise a mass meeting in the city. "The membership drive is in full swing and it will really get a bi

IIT Delhi to open 2 New campuses in Haryana

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IN HARAYANA The state of Haryana is expected to have two new Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campuses set up by the premier IIT Delhi. These campuses are expected to be set up in Sonipat and Jhajjar areas, as per the officials of the institute. The new campuses will conduct Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Chemical Engineering programs.  The Campus in Sonipat will be focusing on Executive MBA and Faculty Development programs. On the other hand, the campus in Jhajjar will be situated near the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) campus and will be collaborating with AIIMS in the fields of Biological Science, Pharmacology and Chemical Engineering.  The Institute is also planning to launch a Centre for Cyber Security at Delhi and a Science and Technology park in the Sonipat campus, the officials said.  Recently, IIT had arranged an alumnus meet.  IIT Delhi   acted as the host for the meet from various batches which was organized in order to increase the al

Devang Khakhar gets second term as IIT-Bombay director

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Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) Director  Devang Khakhar  has been given an extension after his term came to an end. He was first appointed as the director of the institute in January 2009. Devang Khakhar A committee comprising J J Irani, former managing director, Tata Steel; Rodham Narasimhan, former director of Indian Space Commission; M M Sharma, eminent chemical engineer; and Anil Kakodkar, nuclear scientist, gave its approval for the extension. Anil Kakodkar is also the chairman of the IIT-B Board of Governors. “The committee found his performance as director outstanding and recommended his reappointment to the Ministry of Human Resource Development for the President's approval,” said Indu Saxena, registrar, IIT-B. Khakhar’s first-term performance was assessed on several parameters such as building the institution as a global brand and research hub, introduction of new academic programmes, faculty retention and development, academic, administrative and fin

Inspiring movies to study

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Five movies that’ll inspire you to study:- 1. The Pursuit of Happyness Starring – Will Smith This movie will inspire you from the core. It portrays the story of a man, a normal man, no super powers nothing, just like me and you. The movie, based on a real story, revolves around the struggle of the main character, when nobody stands by him, not even his wife, but his knowledge, persistent nature, and willingness to study. It teaches us that, when darkness comes around, not even your shadow withstands, but the wisdom and morals that you’ve acquired till date. Best Quote :   ” Don’t ever let somebody tell you, you can’t do something. You got a dream..you gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you, you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period. ” 2. Udaan Starring : Rajat Barmecha, Ronit Roy, Ram Kapoor An intelligent Indian movie, after a long time of spicy mainstream cinema. This movie tells the story of a boy(Raj

Life in BITS-PILANI

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Bits-Pilani is one of the most reputed engineering colleges in India. It resides in a lazy small hamlet in Rajasthan, less than an hour away from Haryana border called Pilani. If you are planning to come to bits, you do not need to know much about Pilani except its bus stand for that’s as deep as you would like to go in the town. Besides, everything being available at campus, there is neither need nor fun in venturing outside except maybe a few trips to Sarla and Nutan a month. While Sarla is the only decent restaurant (cum bar) outside the campus, Nutan is a favourite hangout of students for tea (and maybe, a bit of smoking)! Laden with lush green lawns and an impressive tree cover, Bits campus is a delight for the bird watchers and nature lovers. Also, with modern constructions merging into traditional architecture, walking around the campus is sure to be an enriching experience! Clock tower: Towering above all                                                       

Amazing "social" dancing robots in Shaastra 2014

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The ‘social robots’ engage the elderly, helping them combat social isolation and mental conditions such as dementia. They can also tell the weather, read the paper, send emails, make calls or remind you to take your medicines. Developed by IIT-D alumnus, they are integral part of many Australian households At a hall full of students at IIT-Madras on Tuesday, as two baby-faced, chubby, big-eyed robots dance to Lady Gaga and old Bollywood songs, ‘emoting’ with green, red and yellow lights and subtle body movements, the audience cannot help but join them in shaking a leg. These robots, exhibited at the institute as part of its technical fest, Shaastra 2014, are here with a purpose. Designed by Rajiv Khosla, an IIT-Delhi alumnus, these ‘social robots’ — Charles, Sophie, Matilda, Betty, Lucie and Jack — are an integral part of many households in Australia. They engage the elderly, helping them combat social isolation and mental conditions such as dementia. Mr. Khosla heads th

IIT invited to open centre in Malaysia

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On the occasion of 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas on 08 January 2014, Malaysia invited the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) to open a branch on its land, which has nearly two million people of Indian origin. While addressing at the occasion in Delhi, Malaysian Federal Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, Datu Seri G Palanivel, extended invitation to IIT to set up a branch in Malaysia. He further said several students from Malaysia come to India to get degrees in dentistry, engineering and medicine and some of the Indian educational institutions have already opened centers there. Palanivel, the president of Malaysian Indian Congress, was the chief guest at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.  During the addressing session, he said that his country would like to work in hand with India in the area of biodiversity. While finalizing a draft bill for natural resources and benefit sharing, the Malaysian government learnt from the Indian experience on the implementation o

IIT-JEE Mains and Advance to be one exam from 2015

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IIT-JEE Mains and Advance to be one exam from 2015 The year 2015 will be an easy year for all engineering students as the All central government-funded engineering schools, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), will choose students through a common entrance examination in 2015.   JEE Mains and JEE advance which are two separate exams will be merged from next year HR ministry has decided. IITs across India have already been informed about it. According to government ruling, all engineering colleges will have to conduct common counseling for students in 2014. Candidate who wants to get into IITs needs to crack JEE advance whereas all the government funded technical schools, including the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) use JEE Main scores for admission. 

IIT-Saarang to open with a bang today

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SAARANG 2014 'Saarang', the annual cultural fest of the  Indian Institute of Technology-Madras  (IIT-M) is all set to enthrall crowds for four days beginning Wednesday. One of the largest college cultural fests organised by students in the country, the 2014 edition of the fiesta, being held in association with The Times of India, promises to be bigger.  Saarang will have a plethora of events from morning till midnight , ending every day with a big bang at the institute's open air theatre .The festival is expected to get close to 80 ,000 footfalls this year . The ISO-certified fest will have more than 50 events, 20 workshops, five professional shows and a series of lectures and video conferences. The event opens with performances by violin duo Ganesh- Kumaresh and Odissi dancer Sonal Mansingh . The attractions of the 40 edition this year include performances by musician brothers Salim-Sulaiman and singer Benny Dayal Major events like 'The Rock Show' and Saarang

IIM Raipur to host first international conference on social media marketing

The Indian Institute of Management ( IIM )  Raipur  is organising the first ever International conference on  social media  in business (ICSM) in the state capital of Chhattisgarh. “The conference will be organised on 10th and 11th January 2014,” the institute spokesperson said. The social media has created abundant opportunities for the business world – be it in strengthening strategic relationships, building of brands or in providing innumerable opportunities to bring people with common interests together. The peer communication through social media is a new form of consumer socialisation. The deliberations in the conference will throw light on the profound impact the medium has on the style of doing business, the spokesperson said. The purpose of this conference is to bring together a host of academic and industry stalwarts in an effort to understand and address the evolving medium of digital communication – the Social Media.This unique conference includes four power- packed panel

CBSE LATEST PAPER PATTERN CHANGE 2014

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2014 brings good news for those who are bad at learning by rote. Central Board of Secondary Education is planning to load papers with all the formulas required to answer the questions. The board is planning question paper reforms in order to make these more application-based in a bid to discourage rote learning. It has already introduced Open Text-Based Assessment from 2013-14 for classes IX and XI as part of its question paper reforms. It will now extend it to classes X and XII from 2014-15. CBSE has set up subject committees, each comprising 2-3 experts, to work on modalities of the question papers for classes XI and XII. The question papers will mostly be application-based and not ask students to show derivation of formulas. "Instead the formulas, themselves, will be given on the question papers and all the student must do is identify the right one to solve the problem," said a senior CBSE official. For science and commerce subjects, too, formulas will be gi

Indian kids spend too much time at school?

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The average eighth grader in India spends a cumulative 130 hours more in school in an academic year than his or her peers in an OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) country, reveals an analysis of global data. In other words, Indian secondary students pack in nearly 21 days of six-hour classes more than those in advanced countries . The issue of ideal school hours is being heatedly debated ever since the Maharashtra government held up the Right to Education Act mandating that schools needed to adhere to certain minimum hours of instruction time. The act requires students from first to fifth grade to spend 200 days involving 800 instructional hours in school and those from sixth to eighth standard to receive 1,000 instructional hours over 220 days. In contrast, OECD primary and secondary students spend 749 and 873 hours on compulsory education on an average. Primary school students in India are better off than their secondary counterparts, but still spend 51 hou

Participant injured during Robowar at IIT-B

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A battle between two robots at IIT Bombay’s annual Techfest on Sunday afternoon left the designer-operator of one of the machines with multiple fractures on his face.  One of the robots broke down midway, sending a part flying into the air and hitting the operator Saquib Shaikh (19), a third year student of Electronics and Telecommunications at Saboo Siddik College, Byculla. Robowar has been one of the biggest attractions at the Techfest. The lack of safety gear and the open arena erected on a weak wooden base are being blamed for the incident, which involved two robots — Dr Golu and Mojo-jojo — both designed by two teams of Saboo Siddik College.  A student said,“It was not close to any international level arena. Even smaller colleges in the country provide better venues for such competitions.” An expert said, “While a helmet should be mandatory for operators, arenas must be made of bullet-proof glass and should be covered on top to avoid any such accident, especially because robots

AAP can teach a lesson or two in management: IIM-Indore chief

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The newly-appointed Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Indore Director is impressed with the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) political achievements within a very short span of time. AAP's stunning debut in Delhi Assembly election, with in a year of its formation, holds many interesting management lessons, said Rishikesh T Krishnan today, a day after he took charge as IIM-Indore Director, while talking to reporters. Krishnan said he will ask his students to mull over what they can learn from the success of AAP, which has formed its Government in Delhi with the support of Congress. The IIM-Indore Director concurred with a suggestion that Delhi Chief Minister and AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal may be invited to the institute to share experience of his party's short but highly successful political journey. "This is a very good idea. I will support the students if they invite him to the institute." Talking about his task ahead, the 49-year-old D

Parental pressure, lack of long-term goals trouble IIT students

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Is the industry losing interest in employing students from Indian Institute of Technology ( IIT ) , who have traditionally been seen as the smart lot among the millions of engineering and technology students in the country? No, says the industry, teachers and students, though there several are issues to be addressed. One of them is the lack of informed decision making on the part of the students while selecting jobs. This, according to a panel discussion in IIT-Madras, is often due to pressure from parents. Another pressing issue is better salaries being offered to undergraduates than to those who have completed their Masters. The numbers do not support the apprehension on the employability of the IITians, says Babu Viswanathan, advisor, training &  placement , IIT-Madras, who moderated the panel discussion on the Employability of IITians held as part of Shaastra, the student-run annual technical festival of the IIT – Madras. About 1,425 students registered for placement this ye