IT czar Sam Pitroda has been appointed as the Advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Infrastructure, Innovation and Information (three Is). Sixty-eight-year-old Pitroda, who was appointed to the new post on Tuesday, will have the rank of a cabinet minister. Pitroda, who is also the chairman of the high-profile National Knowledge Commission, will advise Singh on integrating information communication technology in the sectors of infrastructure, health, justice and information. 'We look at organising integration of national knowledge network and broad band connectivity for better service delivery to the citizens,' said Pitroda.
IGNOU inks pact with SACON bird conservatory
The Indira Gandhi National Open University's (IGNOU) Chair for Sustainable Development (CSD) has entered into a pact with the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) to offer programmes in the area of Environmental Impact Assessment and Ornithology. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed by the Registrar of the university U.S. Tolia and Dr. P.A. Azeez on behalf of SACON in the presence of Prof. Latha Pillai and Prof. P.R. Ramanujam, Pro VCs of IGNOU, offers a six month programme called PG Certificate in Environmental Management System and a year-long programme called PG Diploma in Environmental Impact Assessment and Management for students through online mode. SACON is an organisation under the Ministry of Environment and Forests mainly working towards the conservation of nature and natural resources with birds. The courses are expected to be launched in April 2012.
Green Data Initiative through University alliance
The University of Melbourne, Monash University and RMIT University today announced an innovative collaboration with Fujitsu Australia to develop a shared data centre that will make a significant contribution to cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The data centre, to be built in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs, will cut energy use through improved data centre design and the shared use of the latest energy efficient technology. Greenhouse gas emissions from the ICT sector are forecast to increase from 2 % in 2009 to 6 per cent by 2020 as a proportion of global total emissions, according to Fujitsu's research report 'Green ICT: The State of the Nation.' The facility will serve some 200,000 students and staff
WTO issues to receive lectures with support of DTU
To provide budding managers a low down on WTO, its functioning, major WTO agreements and issues of present day concern as well of those of future, Delhi School of Management (DSM), the on-campus B-school of Delhi Technological University (DTU) organized a lecture on Tuesday on 'Relevance of WTO for Trade and Industry' by A. B. Menon, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India. The lecture was the part of Special Invited Lecture series to provide the management students of DSM a face-to-face interaction with the leading experts from the industry and Government organizations.
In his address, Menon spoke about the principles of WTO and how it is endeavoured to promote mutually beneficial trade relations without favouring any nation(s) and protecting the interests of both developed and developing member countries. Menon informed that market dynamics and industrial forces of some developed countries have begun to play a major role in determining their trade links with other countries and here it becomes the responsibility of the partnering countries to ensure that the interests of their own local industries and workforce are not adversely affected by any such collaboration. He also spoke about the top trading sectors across the world and how remanufacturing of products is emerging as an important trade area. The objective of DSM is to prepare managers of 21st century having a perfect mix of technology temper and managerial acumen to work in the globally competitive technology-intensive environment.
October to see Young Computer Scientist Competition
Sri Lanka Association for the Software Industry (SLASI) – the national organization representing the Software Industry in Sri Lanka and a member of Federation of IT Industry and Services (FITISS) along with the Ministry of Education has made elaborate arrangements to conduct the Young Computer Scientist Contest 2009 for the 8th consecutive year in October. The Young Computer Scientist (YCS) competition is modeled on the lines of Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA). The YCS competition gains more significance this year as 2009 has been declared as the Year of English and Information Technology in Sri Lanka by His Excellency the President. This year's YCS Competition 2009 provides an impetus to the national initiative for ICT and English, with the noble objective of harnessing and exposing the computing talents of school children at early stages and encouraging them to develop their talents and earn recognition for their innovations.
The winners of the YCS 2008 competition gained international exposure in participating in the Asia Pacific ICT Awards held in Indonesia, and the efforts of the organizers and sponsors were amply rewarded when the Sri Lankan winner of the YCS 2008 competition was adjudged as the winner of the Gold Award at the Asia Pacific ICT awards ceremony. The YCS competition is open for two groups of students – aged 10 to 16 the junior category, and 17 to 20 years, the senior category. The selection process is based on an initial assessment from a panel of judges, followed by a presentation/ demonstration by the students and a final judgment by the same panel selected amongst industry and academia. SLASI believes that many hidden IT talents can be discovered from this year competition too. The previous YCS contests mainly attracted participation from computer enthusiasts from Colombo schools. The highlight of this year's competition which has been organized with the collaboration of the Ministry of Education has increased the participation from rural schools where the new national level IT initiatives are helping more and more rural schools to produce high-caliber computer enthusiasts.
ULearn receives commitment from Tolley
Education Minister Anne Tolley made a commitment to provide all schools with access to ultra-fast broadband at ULearn today. ULearn09 is an educational conference in Christchurch focusing on innovative teaching and learning for the 21st century that attracts about 2000 delegates and features 400 national and international speakers. Christchurch-based educational research and development organisation CORE Education runs ULearn 09, which started today and ends on Friday (October 9). Minister Tolley told the 2000 delegates the Government was committed to providing ultra-fast broadband to all New Zealanders, and lifting educational achievements for all students.
Schools connected to ultra-fast broadband will provide a critical initial base to anchor the development of the fibre network, she said. CORE Education's e-learning director Derek Wenmoth said today's announcement would create an environment in which schools can achieve their 21st century aspirations. Because of the lack of fast broadband currently New Zealand schools were behind many other countries in this area. It was also significant that this project has cross Government support. A feature of the ULearn conference is the provision of a wireless 'blanket' across the seven venues used, providing delegates with access to a broadband network operating at 10Gb speeds, providing them with a taste of what will be possible when such a network is implemented through the country. The Minister also made a commitment to join more schools to the national education network trial, and to upgrading school networks including the school door to the school gate.
Ma Foi Consulting Solutions Limited bags UNICEF project
Ma Foi Consulting Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of Ma Foi Management Consultants Limited, bagged the prestigious Human Resources project with United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Jharkhand. Among the several projects undertaken by UNICEF in India, one of the projects is providing support to the state Government of Jharkhand for 8 of their flagship programmes that include Child Development & Nutrition programme, Education, Child Environment, Children and HIV/AIDS, Social Policy, Advocacy and Behaviour Change Communication programmes, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Child Protection and Monitoring & Evaluation. UNICEF is committed to work on human development initiatives across the world especially in developing countries like India. Ma Foi's scope of work in this project includes meeting UNICEF's HR management and consulting needs.
Finding qualified professionals in Jharkhand for these flagship programmes has been a challenge given the current state of affairs in the state. UNICEF India felt the need to hire a Human Resource management firm for its manpower and engaged Ma Foi which won this contract amongst stiff competition from other leading industry players in this space. Speaking about the project bagged, Ajay Mallapurkar, CEO, Ma Foi Consulting Solutions Limited said, 'We are very proud of our association with an international organization like UNICEF and look forward to playing a key role in providing strategic and structural support for their developmental projects.' He added, 'There is a need for more such collaboration between the private and social sectors that will help bolster the community development initiatives in the country.'
NIS LIVE and IMT Ghaziabad partner to offer Executive Programs
NIS L.I.V.E., an initiative of NIS Sparta Ltd., Asia's leading training, education and learning solutions provider, today announced a tie up with the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad
Outstanding New Zealand ICT Teachers Awarded
Microsoft New Zealand today recognised two teachers for outstanding contributions to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education at ULearn, the country's largest conference for educators. Jan Anderson and Steve Martin received the Microsoft Distinguished Teacher Award for their development of innovative approaches to ICT in the classroom. Jan Anderson, ICT Lead Teacher at Methven Primary School, integrated a new Microsoft Xbox game each term into her classroom programme. Steve Martin, Science and Biology Teacher at Howick College, instructed collaboratively using Microsoft Office Live Workspace to create virtual lessons for every learning objective within the Year 9 science course. These lessons were enhanced through the use of Web 2.0 applications and video, accessible by students, parents and teachers at any time.
Anderson and Martin will receive training, hardware, software and a personal kit designed for their teaching methods worth more than $8,000. They will also attend regional and international Microsoft conferences to present their findings and methods to other educators. Previous New Zealand winners of the Microsoft Distinguished Teacher Award, Nathan Kerr (2007) and Deidre Senior (2008) have received international accolades for their use of technology in the classroom. For example, Kerr was invited in June to speak to 1,400 teachers at the National Educational Computing Conference in the United States about 'm-learning,' or presenting video lessons through mobile devices. A panel of education experts selected this year's winners following a written application process. Two other teachers were also recognised as finalists in the Microsoft Distinguished Teacher Awards:
Quality Test passed by New Age schools for poor children
Quality education for the students from economically weaker is still a distant dream at private schools. But at Navyug Schools run by New Delhi Municipal Council, it's become a reality. The National Accreditation Board for Education and Training (NABET), an offshoot of Quality Council of India, has given accreditation to five of the 11 Navyug schools in the city for the quality of education. The schools achieved this honour on September 29 after the assessment by NABET on 50 different parameters including infrastructure, teacher training and monitoring process. The Navyug Schools, which have been accredited for their quality, are located at Sarojini Nagar, Lodhi Road, Moti Bagh, Peshwa Road near Gole Market and at Laxmi Bai Nagar. According to Aggarwal, there are many features of Navyug Schools, which put them on a par with private schools in the city.
Navyug Schools, which are funded by NDMC, have 70% reservation for students whose parents' annual income is less than INR 1.25 lakh. The school runs from classes I to XII and the admission is restricted for the residents of NDMC areas only. The schools do not charge any tuition fee from the students but only Rs 20 per month as miscellaneous charges. The students from EWS category even get the textbooks and uniform free of cost. All students get mid-day meals. And they seem to be far from the horror stories attached with mid-day meals at various MCD schools. The first Navyug School was started in 1973 at Sarojini Nagar for talented students from economically weaker sections. After the students started doing well, NDMC decided to make more such schools. For a better output, even the teachers were kept at a higher grade than other government and private schools.
