Senior bureaucrat Nidhi Chibber has been appointed as the chairperson of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in the wake of senior-level bureaucratic rearrangement effected by the Centre. Chibber, a 1994 batch IAS officer of Chhattisgarh cadre, is currently Additional Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries. In an order issued by the Personnel Ministry, Nidhi Chhibber is being appointed as the Chairperson of CBSE in the rank and pay of Additional Secretary to the Government of India. Chhibber has done MA in History and has also obtained LLB degree. Apart from this, she has pursued PG Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights.
Apeejay Education and AWS announce National Education Policy Accelerator Program (NEPAP)
Apeejay Education, an academic institution in India established for more than 50 years, and Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company, today announced the launch of the National Education Policy Accelerator Program (NEPAP), an initiative to enable academic institutions in India to align with the technology requirements documented in the Government’s National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020). This is the first program in India to support the technology transformation of education institutions as per the NEP 2020.
The NEP 2020 aims to strengthen India’s education sector that directly contributes to the country’s growth and development, demonstrating the need to integrate technology in education to improve learning and teaching at all levels. The accelerator program will address two key tenets of the NEP 2020 – on the extensive use of technology in teaching, learning, education planning, and management; and in the creation of open, interoperable, evolvable, public digital infrastructure in the education sector to support multiple platforms and point solutions. The accelerator program will guide academic institutions on multiple aspects of the NEP 2020. It will support academic institutions by conducting digital innovation workshops to focus on identifying and prioritizing unique challenges of the academic institutions, and co-building solutions or proof-of-concepts (POCs) using technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). AWS will drive these workshops based on the Amazon Working Backwards innovation methodology, which uses design thinking to identify and define a customer-focused problem or opportunity and develop prototypes.
“Academic institutions in India need to reach the digital maturity advised by the NEP 2020, and take advantage of the latest technologies to modernize their systems, address evolving learner expectations and demands, and achieve operating cost savings,” said Aditya Berlia, co–promoter, Apeejay Education. He adds, “There is a clear need today to help institutions identify and define problem statements, develop digital solutions, test their efficacies in fail-safe environments, and scale the solutions for the benefit of the education sector.”
IIM Calcutta announces 13th batch of executive programme in HR Management
The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta has announced the launch of the 13th batch of the Executive Programme in Human Resource Management with Emeritus. The one-year high-impact programme offers candidates to advance human resource management capabilities through live online and a four-day on-campus immersion at IIM Calcutta. Applications are open till May 19 and the programme will commence on June 30. “Human resources in India is expected to grow by 9.8% this year, adding close to 100,000 jobs for qualified professionals. To meet the growing demand of professionals looking to make a high-growth career in HR, we have designed this programme to help participants advance their people management skills to enhance consumer-oriented business growth strategies,” shares Amit Dhiman, professor and programme director, Human Resource Management, IIM Calcutta.
The executive programme in Human Resource Management has an industry-aligned curriculum intended to help learners build a sophisticated approach to managing talent and would help leverage employees’ potential to meet business priorities. It also entails to equip participants with a customer-oriented view of managing human resources across acquisition, retention, competency mapping, job evaluation, fit analysis, and HR analytics.
iQuanta acquires Knowledge Library Test Prep to focus on CUET, IPM
One of the leading CAT online institutions in India iQuanta, acquired Knowledge Library Test Prep (KLTP) under AnubhavRakheja.com, is mentoring students for their options after grade 12th. The aim of the new UG test prep vertical will be to provide consistent mentorship and relevant content for CUET, IPMAT, and other after 12th management entrances, CLAT, and other law entrances.
Indrajeet Singh, Founder & CEO of the parent company iQuanta, and Anubhav Rakheja have been appointed as the directors of the new vertical under iQuanta, i.e. iQuanta School Test Prep. Singh is also the founding member of Knowledge Library Test Prep (KLTP) and holds experience of over 16 years in the test prep industry. iQuanta’s entire team of more than 100+ academicians and 50+ product managers are to be employed under the novel after the 12th prep vertical. The company said this vertical will be directed towards providing complete guidance to students aspiring for admission into respected colleges like SRCC, LSR, IIM, NLUs, and IITs post schooling. iQuanta envisions to provide a boost to KLTP’s idea of providing complete guidance services to students enabling them to make an informed choice after 12th for UG admissions.
KLTP, now managed by iQuanta, has earned a niche in India in schools like DPS RK Puram, DPS Vasant Kunj, GD Goenka, Sardar Patel, Birla Vidya Niketan, Vidhya Jyoti Jindal, Sanskriti and Mody School.
IIM Kozhikode and National Commission for Women launch professional programme for women entrepreneurs
Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode and the National Commission for Women (NCW) have collaborated to offer professional training to aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs and provide a boost to their entrepreneurial ventures. The partnership provides an opportunity for them to undergo professional training to unveil their entrepreneurial career as well as a chance for existing women entrepreneurs to augment and scale up their businesses with professional mentoring. This collaborative online training programme will be designed and executed by the Centre of Excellence for Social Innovation (CESI) of the B-school in association with NCW and MyGov.in.
To make the programme accessible, it will be offered bilingually in english and malayalam. Ambitious women entrepreneurs can now choose from two programmes namely Foundation Programme in Entrepreneurship and Advanced Programme in Entrepreneurship, that has been designed in view of their current careers and skill sets.
Ashoka University signs MoU with Max Healthcare to study complex diseases
Ashoka University has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Max Healthcare Institute Ltd (MHIL) to initiate long-term, high-quality research collaborations on clinically relevant diseases.
The collaboration which is one of-its kind project undertaken by both the institutions, entails to build a joint research program on genome analysis and data analysis including AI, ML and deep learning of various genetic and life-style diseases like cancer, asthma, diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, kidney problems, autoimmune diseases, chronic metabolic disorders and the like. The partnership aims to advance interdisciplinary research to foster the development of lifesaving prevention, treatment and management tools and solutions against the diseases that are a public health priority in the country. With the collaboration, Max Healthcare will provide its expertise in clinical research in human subjects and will serve as the clinical center for data and/or sample collection from individuals who would agree and give their written consent to volunteer to share their data for the purpose of research studies. On the other hand, the University will provide its expertise in data analysis, biomedical research and public health expertise in data collection, data analysis and sharing in research. It will further ensure access to a vast network of scientists, academicians, data analysts, public health experts, students, clinical data, equipment technology platforms, core facilities and engagement with relevant industries, start-ups, innovation centers.
The University is also geared to conduct a series of structured joint workshops, mentoring programs and academia-industry interactions for capacity building and formulation and conduct of research and publications using the technology and information gathered from joint projects. On the signing of the MoU, Prof. Malabika Sarkar, Vice Chancellor, Ashoka University, said “This is a critical milestone for Ashoka. As a University committed to health research as one of its major focus areas, this collaborative agreement which will enable research with clinicians and the opportunity to train a large number of people to help the nation to systematically support healthcare is an exciting step forward. With excellent academic programmes at various levels at Ashoka, I am confident that our collaboration with Max Healthcare will further strengthen research, education and training in health science research at Ashoka.”
Josh Talks raises $3.5M from Ankur Capital, intends to meet India’s skill aspirations
Josh Talks, one of India’s largest regional content and upskilling platforms has announced that it has raised $3.5 million in a round led by Ankur Capital. Other marquee investors such as Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm), Vaibhav Domkundwar (Better Capital), Vineeta Singh (SUGAR Cosmetics), Ritesh Agarwal (OYO), and Ankur Warikoo (ex Nearbuy), have also participated in the fundraise.
The Gurugram-based company aims to refine its product with the sole objective of making Josh Skills the preferred social learning platform for Bharat. It also aims to experiment with new product lines catering to the growing aspirations of the Tier 2 and Tier 3 users in India. Co-founded by Supriya Paul and Shobhit Bangra in 2015, Josh Talks uses its platform to generate content in the form of short talks and videos covering a range of stories from a myriad of sectors including entrepreneurship, sports, arts, and activism. The company leverages the power of storytelling to build solutions for the next generation of internet users while enabling them to unlock their potential.
Talking about the fundraise, Co-founder and CEO of Josh Talks, Supriya Paul, said, “”Over the last two years, we have doubled down on two things – growing our distribution across 10 languages and creating a product that monetises this distribution network. With the new capital, our goal is to expand our offerings, strengthen our executive team and take Josh to every household in India.”
IIT Madras avails computer science courses to the public
IIT Madras has taken up the initiative to make its high-quality courses in computer science available to everyone. The faculty from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering has built a portal containing the core courses that can be accessed by educational institutions, students and others who are interested. The objective of the initiative is to fulfil the vision of Prof. V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, who envisions to make high-quality education accessible to rural India.
The core computer science courses that are available on the portal — http://nsm.iitm.ac.in/cse/ are on programming, data structures, computer organisation and algorithms. Also, each course has YouTube recordings of live lectures taught to the students at IIT Madras during the pandemic.
Speaking about this initiative, Prof. C. Chandra Sekhar, Head, Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), IIT Madras, said, “The recordings of live lectures for CSE core courses at the undergraduate level and the graduate level, by the faculty of the department are expected to be helpful to the students in engineering colleges to learn the underlying concepts and principles of the subjects of these courses in the right manner.” He adds, “It will also be beneficial to the teachers in engineering colleges to get to know how to effectively teach the important and fundamental subjects in computer science and engineering and how to equip the students with the problem-solving skills. It is hoped that the portal will be used to improve the quality of teaching and learning the CSE core subjects in engineering colleges in India.”
Computer science is one of the most promising engineering disciplines in India, especially in the IITs, and interests the students. Although a large proportion of students apply for this stream in IITs, there are only a limited number of seats available in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
PM Modi supports hybrid learning in view of implementation of NEP
Prime Minister Narendra Modi backs hybrid system of online and offline learning in view of implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. He has observed that a hybrid system of learning should be developed to avoid overexposure of technology for school-going children. Besides this, PMO further remarks that students have been allowed to pursue two academic programmes concurrently as per UGC Guidelines and a big push to online learning with HEIs is being allowed to run full-fledged online courses with the permissible limit of online content being raised to 40%. He stated that multi-linguality is being promoted to remove language-related challenges in academic attainment.
Also Read:- PM Modi to inaugurate 11 new medical colleges in Tamil Nadu
In an official press release, the PMO revealed, “The databases maintained by Anganwadi centers should be seamlessly integrated with the school databases as children move from Anganwadis to Schools. Regular Health check-ups and screening for children in schools should be carried out with the help of technology. Emphasis should be laid on use of indigenously-developed toys to develop conceptual skills in students. He also recommended that secondary schools with science labs should engage with farmers in their area for soil testing to create awareness about soil health.”
EdTech Startup Explore Interactive Receives $1M in Research Funding
Explore Interactive, an EdTech company that develops STEM-focused games for children, has announced that it has received $1 million in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding from the National Science Foundation. The West Lafayette-based startup has been granted $75,000 from Elevate Ventures through the state of Indiana’s SBIR/STTR Phase II Matching Program. Besides funding, Explore Interactive has tied up with Mascot Hall of Fame in Whiting to bring its STEM-based educational content to students. Established in 2017, Explore Interactive uses augmented reality to teach Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) concepts to elementary students. The company’s first product in the planned MindLabs series allows students to work together on engineering and circuit design challenges.
Remarking on the funding and partnership, Amanda Thompson, CEO of Explore Interactive, said, “This funding will allow us to both build compelling content and bring augmented reality together with the engineering design process for the first time for young students. We are also excited to partner with the Mascot Hall of Fame to reach a wider audience through combining our interactive AR platform with the museum’s engaging approach to STEM through sports and entertainment.” Karen Anaszewicz, Executive Director of Mascot Hall of Fame, said, “We are thrilled to embark on this project which we see as a way to reach a broad and diverse group of students while fulfilling our mission to spark creativity, promote fun and engage in our communities throughout the world with our model of combining science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) educational principles and sport mascot entertainment.”
Explore Interactive is supported by America’s Seed Fund SBIR grants from the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. The company is based at Purdue University’s Research Park.
