IIT Bombay takes a step towards carbon capture, launches a national centre

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February 8, 2022

Mumbai, Maharashtra

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, with collaboration and funding from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology has established the National Centre of Excellence in Carbon Capture and Utilization. According to the official statement from IIT Bombay, this is the country’s first such centre that is funded by the Government of India. It was formally sanctioned in December 2021.

Director IIT Bombay Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri said that the decarbonization of ‘hard-to-abate’ industries would require outstanding efforts to achieve the net-zero goals. “IIT Bombay has undertaken leadership to address science and engineering grand challenges and develop their end-to-end solutions. The National Centre shall explore and unlock the potential of CCU technologies to lead India in this potential sunshine industrial sector to evolve as a circular carbon economy.

He added, “Last year, the IIT Bombay team brought laurels to the country by winning the prestigious X-PRIZE Award, supported by the Elon Musk Foundation for ‘demonstration of carbon dioxide removal’, announced at the Sustainable Innovation Forum at COP-26,”.

The new centre’s main goal will be to understand the role of CO2 in the global environment and mitigation strategies of the CO2 emitted from the industrial and energy sector ranging from advances in capture technologies to subsequent utilization of captured CO2. The essential part of the centre will be priority case studies, experimental investigation, and simulation in different aspects of CCU, as well as decision-making tools for process optimization and policy development

Pandemic has shown the possibilities of digital transformation : Aditya Berlia

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February 8, 2022

Aditya Berlia is the Co-promoter of Apeejay Education Group. Apeejay Education Society (AES) is a leading education group committed to providing quality education from Pre-nursery to Doctorate level. He spoke to Digital Learning Magazine.

How do you see the use of technology, specifically digital technology, in the last two years ?

Covid-19 has pushed everyone to experiment with technology like never before. It has shown us both the possibilities and the limits of digital transformation with the current state of art and context. For the next few years, the focus for governments and organisations will be to learn from these experiments and quickly build on their gains. With the learning of limitations, we are seeing more confidence in digital technologies and a drive for innovation based on now expanded use cases.

Also read: Aditya Berlia: Safety of all stakeholders our priority

Do you think that the education sector has been able to sail through even during the pandemic because of the active use of technology?

Active technology for those who had the luxury helped bridge much of the gap, but most students, especially those dependent on government and low cost institutions, were left behind. The great lesson has been to demonstrate to parents, students, and regulators the possibilities of blended and online learning, demonstrate its efficacy and change their mindset on how modern education can be delivered.

Have we seen a boom in the use of technology to conduct online classes? Do we see online replacing physical classes ?

With two years of experience, the thought process has become more nuanced. There are specific learning goals and materials that are even better taught online than offline, while others still require physical classes as standard. The ability and manner in which students learn and their access to structured home life also plays a significant role in determining the success of online versus physical. It is doubtful that one would replace the other. Instead, we will see a more blended approach on the one hand and more field-specific inroads of online learning.

There is a strong demand to make curriculums industry ready and also, an enabler to create more job givers than job seekers. Your views.

The greater struggle is for the industry to communicate to future students and their parents what fields and types of education they value and that will thrive. There are enough excellent courses directly linked to the industry that exist but are going empty because there is a mismatch between industry needs and students’ understanding of those needs.

Do you think digital technology has shrunk the world and brought the best mentors closer to the students, bridging the barriers.

Deep comfort with technology has enabled mentors, speakers, and teachers to cross significant geographical barriers. By freeing up travel time and cost, institutions and students have access to a broader pool of expertise. However, at the same time, there needs to be concentrated effort to train these new mentors and enable them to be more productive and involved in the lives of their mentees, even if they are far away.

The NEP is equipping to lead in the fourth industrial revolution : Raj Mruthyunjayappa

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February 8, 2022

Raj Mruthyunjayappa is the President (India), Anthology Inc. He has a masters degree in Computer Applications from Mysore University. He also has an honorary doctorate in Management from Ecole Superieure Robert de Sorbon, France. He spoke to Digital Learning magazine about innovations in education.

What has been the biggest innovation in the education sector during the pandemic time?

Three critical aspects of education – teaching, learning & engagement – have changed in more ways than one could have anticipated, during the pandemic. Institutions across the globe stepped up & looked at ways to solve these problems. This has led to several innovative solutions centred by technology in the past 24 months. We have also seen increased interest and willingness towards cloud-based solutions. We see clients investing time and resources on technology-led solutions to manage learner enquiry, customer service, automation of learner enrolment relying heavily on marketing automation.

How do you think the use of technology is upskilling the students and making them more industry ready?

Guidelines from the National Education Policy (NEP) are acting as a harbinger of change in India’s educational ecosystem, equipping us to lead in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The pandemic, on the other hand, has accelerated the evolution of higher education space towards the Education 4.0 paradigm. The twin development has set on course a new upskilling regime that would make students more industry ready in future. Upskilling is an essential part of the overall transformation across the globe. As it stands right now, some institutes have seen an evolution from offline classrooms to online to hybrid models of teaching and learning. However, technology will play an all encompassing and important role in every sector. Technology skills are quickly becoming essential skills that one requires to succeed. This can be through greater reliance on predictive analytics to understand the pulse of the industry and learners to create the right interventions at the right time to drive suitable upskilling. We see institutes seeing dramatic results with their investment in technology and continuing to invest further into areas that currently may not even be in the radar for the education sector.

What do you think can be the best way of incorporating technology in the curriculum?

There are three broad areas where Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) need to adopt technology for better results – Learning, Teaching and Engagement. All three areas require technology as the backbone to successful solutions. The solutions that institutes use should enable them to incentivise learners to pick up more than basic technology courses and modules along their learning journey with the institute.

Can you share some best practices of use of technology in School & higher education?

We have seen clients across the globe using technology to innovatively increase learner acquisitions and enrolments, enhance value provided to learners thereby increasing retention and improved employability ratios in their institutes. Technology has made every aspect of HEIs more user friendly, enabling decision makers with faster access to data. The current mode of operation offers a lot more to the entire education community in terms of efficiency (think usage of resources – Human and Infrastructure), improved outreach (does not matter where the learner or the teacher is) and collaboration (efficient use of resources). From the onset of the pandemic our clients across the globe have transformed smoothly to online and hybrid models of learning, teaching and engaging with minimal or no downtime, if any.

DU’s ‘centenary’ gift to ex-students – a chance to finish degrees

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February 7, 2022

New Delhi

This is Delhi University’s centenary year gift to its alumni. The University of Delhi (DU) is providing its ex-students a chance to finish their degrees this year. However, this option will not be available to all former university students. The decision was approved by the council in a special meeting which was organised mainly to discuss the centenary celebrations.

As a part of the celebrations for DU’s centenary year, DU has decided that students who could not take two or three papers can sit for their exams and complete their degrees. This option will not be available to students who dropped out in the first or second year. It may be noted here that Delhi University will be beginning its celebrations for ‘centenary year’ from May 1 this year. Several events will be lined up throughout the year and the celebrations will conclude on May 1, 2023.

Also read: Delhi University begins classes for UG first-year students today

Giving details about this ‘chance’, DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh said, “The executive council has approved the proposal. We are calling it a ‘centenary’ chance. Students who could not complete their degree for some reason can come and give their papers and earn their degree from the university,”

The students will be given two ‘centenary’ chances to appear for the exam, first around September and October, and second, around March. Prof. Yogesh added, “There will be a separate registration for them, and students who could not take two-three papers can sit for their exams.”

Karnataka government launches self defence programme for girl students

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February 7, 2022

Bengaluru, Karnataka

Aiming to empower the girl students, the Karnataka state government has launched ‘Obavva Art of Self Defence Training’. This is a self-defence training programme for girl students in schools and colleges. 50,000 girls will be benefited from the programme. The launch ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. In his address, Bommai said that the Home Department has been instructed to use Police Training Schools to provide self-defence training to women. The programme was organised by the Social Welfare department.

Elaborating about the programme Bommai said, “An ambitious programme is being charted to provide self-defence training for 50,000 girls students in Backward Classes and Social Welfare department hostels. It has been aptly named after the historical warrior Onake Obavva.”

He said that there is a strong need for such programmes to train women to stop harassment. “Several laws have been passed, programmes formulated and funds spent to stop harassment and atrocities on women. But there is a need for imparting self-defence training to them. The rogue elements could be taught a lesson if women are trained in self-defence.”

The Chief Minister also added women’s safety is primal. “Good programmes have been formulated through boarding schools of the state for women’s protection. This programme should go on throughout the year. All the programmes would be integrated and a new programme would be implemented for women’s safety,” he added.

He added, “We all have read the courageous story of Onake Obavva. Karnataka is proud of its legacy of such courageous women. Kitturu Chennamma, Belavadi Mallamma, Onake Obavva, these women were more courageous than men. They are our inspiration.” The state government would also provide education, employment and inspiration to achieve the top spot in the country by the time the state would celebrate 75th Rajyotsava”, he stated.

Celebrating Higher Education Leaders

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February 7, 2022

Education should be enjoyable and sustainable: Prof Anil Sahasrabudhe

The NEP is equipping to lead in the fourth industrial revolution : Raj Mruthyunjayappa

Pandemic has shown the possibilities of digital transformation : Aditya Berlia

Higher Education steering through the pandemic cloud

Employers need to prepare syllabus for better employability : Rajesh Agarwal

NEP has the potential to make India ‘Vishwa guru’ : Dr Pankaj Mittal

Virtual labs should be utilized for practical demonstration of theories : Prof AM Rawani

Leading School in Online Teaching Practices

Blockchain technology all set to revolutionize the education ecosystem

Hybrid learning is the future : Dr Madhu Chitkara

Education sector has shown excellent flexibility during the pandemic- Dr Prasheel Suryawanshi

Institutions should empower young people to work towards sustainability

Webinars became the best tool in pandemic : Prof RV Raja Kumar

The transformation from offline to online has been a productive : Mr. Aman Mittal

Digitally enabled teaching learning is the main focus – Prof. Lalit Kumar Awasthi

Technology trends can encourage a holistic learning environment : Prof Janat Shah

JNU gets its first woman VC with Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit taking over

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February 7, 2022

New Delhi

Professor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit from Savitribai Phule Pune University has been appointed as the first woman vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). She will succeed Professor M Jagdesh Kumar as the VC of JNU. Professor Kumar has been appointed the chairman of UGC.

The Outgoing Vice-Chancellor Professor M Jagdesh Kumar stated, “It gives me pleasure to inform that Professor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit from the Department of Politics and Public Administration, Savitribai Phule Pune University, has been appointed as the next vice-chancellor of JNU. She is the first woman vice-chancellor of JNU.”

Born in St Petersburg, Russia (formerly USSR), Professor Pandit has been in the field of education since 1988. She has also been in the research field since 1985. She is a member of several prestigious organisations such as the American Studies Research Institute, Hyderabad, the Indian Association of American Studies, the All India Political Science Association, the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, the Indian Secular Society, etc.

She has also authored books like ‘Parliament and Foreign Policy in India’ (1990) and ‘Restructuring Environmental governance in Asia-Ethics and Policy’ 2003.

‘Happiness’ subject to be started in Madhya Pradesh high schools by the MP government

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February 4, 2022

Introducing happiness as a subject in the syllabus will be a great initiative by the Madhya Pradesh government. They will be adding it to the syllabus for higher secondary school classes from the next academic session. In the year 2016, the MP government was the first one in the country to set up a happiness department. The draft for the books is ready for classes 9 to 12.

Akhilesh Argal, CEO of the Rajya Anand Sansthan (state happiness department) said, “In November 2021, we gave a presentation on the subject to 80-odd teachers or trainers here. The following month, we interacted with 80 students from Classes 9 to 12 for five days and discussed the happiness book draft. Their response to the subject was very encouraging.”

Argal added that the MP School Education Department, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), and others organisations are helping them on the project.

“After giving final touches to the books, they will be sent to the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) for clearance,” he added.

Madhya Pradesh will be the first to roll out happiness subject in the schools. It will be mandatory for classes 9 to 12, Agral said. He further elaborated, During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interaction with chief ministers from BJP-ruled states at Varanasi in December last year, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had given a presentation on the works initiated by the Rajya Anand Sansthan and the state’s plan to introduce happiness as a subject in school syllabus.

The Ministry of Education sends letters to states and UTs with a learning recovery plan and an activity schedule

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February 4, 2022

The Ministry of Education has asked all the states and union territories to prepare a plan to maintain continuity of learning and therefore lessen the impact of the pandemic. The plan should include financial support to students, fund allocation for the primary school teachers to purchase tablets and 20 lakh to each state and union territory for conducting oral reading fluency (ORF) study.

In the letter to the states and union and territories, the Ministry stated, “A comprehensive learning recovery plan (LRP) has been prepared which delineates the action to be undertaken by each stakeholder, indicative annual calendar of activities, existing interventions which can be utilised and additional support with funding as a one-time measure.

“In order to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, there is an imperative need to have an urgent and appropriate strategy to ensure a continuum of learning. We have taken a multi-pronged and holistic approach to ensure that children received suitable support,”

The ministry has also asked the states to include financial support of Rs 500 per head for all students of upper primary and secondary levels, Rs 10,000 per head for 25 lakh teachers at the primary level for tablets, funds for ORF study, financial support of Rs 6.40 lakh non-recurring and Rs 2.40 lakh recurring cost including for tablets for ICT facility in each block resource centre (BRC) and Rs 1,000 per cluster resource centre (CRC) in the annual work plan and allocate the budget accordingly.

In the list by the ministry, some of the activities which are mentioned in the academic calendar with defined timelines are, finding dropouts and out-of-school children from each class and grade. Also, implementation of bridge courses and school readiness module for secondary classes, clustering of schools with private schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas or Navodaya Vidyalayas for learning from each other, creating a district-wise strategy for post-National Achievement Survey (NAS) interventions based on results

Some of the activities which are listed in the academic calendar are to introduce customised training programmes for teachers and ensure delivery of textbooks and uniforms to each child.

UGC appoints JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar as its new chairman

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February 4, 2022

Vice-Chancellor of JNU, M Jagadesh Kumar has been appointed as the next chairman of the UGC (University Grants Commission). The earlier chairman Prof DP Singh resigned after reaching the age of 65. The position of UGC chairman was vacant from 7th December 2021.

The five-year term of Kumar as vice-chancellor of JNU came to an end on January 26. As permitted by the ministry, he was continuing his duties till his successor was chosen. With a background in electronic engineering, he has pursued MS(EE) and Ph.D.(EE) degrees from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras.

Prof. Jagadesh Kumar has been appointed the UGC Chairman for a period of five years from the date of charge of the post or till he attains the age of 65 years. He has been an assistant professor in the Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering for IIT Kharagpur and IIT Delhi as well.

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