Category Archives: Education

Alumni to teach success mantras to IIIT-A students/ to budding engineers of IIIT-A

Education, Leaders

An alumni of Indian Institute of Information Technology-Allahabad (IIIT-A) has decided to return to the campus and share secret ‘mantras’ of success with the current crop of budding engineers.

Pratyus Patnaik would train the students into ways of becoming an innovative engineer and a successful entrepreneur. A BTech (IT) of 2003-2007 batch, Patnaik, who is in early 30s, is now regarded as a science prodigy.

Along with his three Indian friends – Jay Srinivasan, Rahul ‘RJ’ Jain and Manish Lachwani – he launched an app-testing startup based out of San Francisco in US-Appurify in April 2012. The technology developed by these engineers caught the attention of US multinational giant Google and led to startup’s acquisition by it in June 2014.

“We have requested Patnaik to visit IIIT-A campus and address current batches of students and he has agreed. We will soon work out other details of the visit,” said dean (academics) Prof GC Nandi. Incidentally, Patnaik had honed his skills under Prof Nandi as a student. “He is a perfect individual to motivate our students to turn into innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs,” he added.

After completing BTech from IIIT-A, Patnaik did his MS from Stanford University, US and is the co-founder and vice-president (engineering) of Appurify Inc.

Appurify lets developers automate testing and optimisation of their mobile apps and websites. It permits wide-scale testing on a big range of gadgets so that developers may catch bugs and other performance issues on devices they can’t test by themselves. Appurify had raised $ 6.3 million from investors, including Google Ventures, thus turning it into an example of Google investing in a company before acquiring it. Data Collective, Radar Partners, Felicis Ventures, and Foundation Capital had also invested in both Appurify’s 2012 seed round and $ 4.5 million from March 2013.

Appurify’s service can simulate a specific mobile network and even simulate what happens if the connection is weak or drops out completely. This feature makes Appurify like an open, software version of Facebook, Ericsson, and Internet.org’s physical ‘innovation lab’ for testing across weak international networks.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / TNN / December 27th, 2014

AMU mourns death of its former VC

Education, Leaders

Aligarh :

Noted educationist and leading Muslim figure Saiyid Hamid, a Sachar Committee member and former VC of Aligarh Muslim University, died on Monday at the age of 94 in New Delhi.

Hamid, who was also chancellor of Jamia Hamdard (1999), succumbed to a cardiac arrest. Born in Faizabad in 1920, he is remembered for his crusading spirit to work for the upliftment and educational development of Indian Muslims.

AMU spokesperson Rahat Abrar, who worked closely with Hamid when he was chairman of the UP Rabita Committee, said, “His life was devoted to the cause of Muslim education. He led to spread awareness and address the educational backwardness among Muslims. In fact, he edited a journal called ‘Nation and the World’, and wrote every word for the community’s development in the social sphere.”

Abrar added, “A visionary, and an institution builder, that is how I would like to remember him (Hamid). Before he joined AMU, the departments would have a chairman for more than 10-15 years. He introduced the rotation system and now there is term to serve. As a staunch believer of education as a tool for change he inspired Muslim youth to pursue higher studies, dissuaded AMU teachers from leaving the country for petro dollar opportunities outside.”

Since Hamid wanted Muslims to take up civil services, he worked hard to establish Hamdard Public School and the University. It was due to Hamid’s purposefulness and vision that UGC agreed to confer deemed university status on Jamia Hamdard.

At the time when Hamid was chancellor of Jamia Hamdard, Zillur Rehman of Ibn Sina Academy in Aligarh was in the academic council. Rehman reminisced: “Hamid sahib had been a bureaucrat and head of AMU. He took decisions keeping in mind political realities of the country, and guided us in difficult times. His way of working was above sectarian, communal and regional considerations. That, along with his speeches and writings, kept us all inspired.”

Syed Zafar Mahmood, AMU alumnus and founder of non-profit organization Zakat Foundation of India, said, “Saiyid Hamid worked for the educational uplift of the deprived. He led educational caravans across north India. Consequently, dozens of new schools were privately established. As AMU VC he chose to side with merit and justice, even taking cudgels with vested interests. In the Sachar Committee, he was a silent contributor of substantial inputs.”

AMU will remain closed on Tuesday to mourn Hamid’s passing.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Agra / by Eram Agha, TNN / December 29th, 2014

Institute of Science fetes botanist who found coal in Andhra

Education, Leaders, Science & Technology

Nagpur :

The finding of 3000 million tonnes of good quality coal reserve in Andhra Pradesh a few months back by Omprakash Sarate, a scientist from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany in Lucknow, continues to bring appreciation and laurels for this botanist who originally hails from Nagpur.

Since Sarate did his doctoral research in the Institute of Science in palaeopalynology and coal petrology, the Institute felicitated him on Monday for his finding that has brought not just the Chintalapudi district in Godavari valley on the coal map of the entire country. He was honoured by the Institute director R G Atram on behalf of Alumni Association of the Institute and the Botany Society. He had been working in all the lower Gondwana formations of Wardha Valley and Godavari valley coalfields.

Sarate later told TOI that the AP government picked up the finding of coal reserve from his publication in the Journal of Palaeontological Society of India in December 2013. The government noticed the finding in September this year after which it got an independent survey done and was delighted to realize the size and quality of the reserve. “For AP, it is a jackpot as most of the coal reserves of undivided Andhra Pradesh were in Telangana region that is now a separate state,” he said.

Sarate’s study found good quality coal within 500m depth from Somavaram in Krishna District to Rajamundry in east Godavari district. The quality of Chintalapudi coal as compared to the Ramagundam and Talcher was better, especially its calorific value was much higher. Most of the coal is located between Aswaraopet, Chinthalapudi and Jangareddy Gudem fall in West Godavari district. The reserves are good for thermal generation as well as for steel plants.

Explaining palaeopalynology, Sarate said 10m of grass trough in a region generally got converted into 1m of coal got converted into carbon only due to bacterial and fungal activity. This initially must have resulted in brown coal and on compaction got converted into lignite that metamorphosed to coal. All this coal is about 260-270 million years old and was formed due to cold and humid conditions prevailing in the area.

Since these are deep seated deposits there could be even coal belt methane at the bottom. It will be possible to extract them only through underground mining.

Dr Surekha Kalkar, head of botany department, gave introductory remarks and introduced the guest. Atram explained how a particular kind of pollen grain can form the basis of presence of coal. Former Institute director M T Bharambe, M R Thosar, president of Alumni Association and Prof P S Jakhi, Incharge and secretary of the association also spoke . Roshani Singh, secretary of Botanical Society, conducted the programme.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Nagpur / by Snehalata Shrivastav, TNN / December 30th, 2014

CAT result puts Lucknow topper on cloud 99.99

Education, Records, All

Lucknow :

It is said that children who do not have parents lack guidance and are unable to excel in their academic career. But 22-year-old Shashwat Mishra who just completed his engineering from Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur has proved this wrong. He is among few in the country who have scored 99.99 percentile in the Common Aptitude Test (CAT) 2014, results of which were declared by Indian Institute of Management Indore on Saturday. While Shashwat’s father died of an illness two years back, his mother met with an accident when he was four years of age.

A Lucknow boy, Shashwat is a chemical engineer who is presently working in an analytics firm in Noida. On his success, he said, “Since past two decades, I have Iived with my uncle in Lucknow and my aunt has been like mother to me. They have guided me everywhere. I am indebted to them for bringing out the talent in me.”

When TOI called him around 7.30pm, he was bubbling with happiness. “I was shocked when my teacher called me to inform. I was expecting a good percentile, but not 99.99. I am on cloud nine today,” said Shashwat speaking on phone from Delhi. He was heading towards a cousin’s place for a bigger celebration.

He said, “It was very difficult to get to a webpage as the CAT website was crashing every minute.”

Though he is not sure of the specialization, Shashwat is inclined towards marketing and operations from IIM-Ahmedabad. When asked why Ahmedabad, he said, “IIM Ahmedabad is the best.”

Shashwat did his schooling from City Montessori School, Rajendra Nagar and then St Anjani’s Public School, Lucknow. He scored 94.3% in class X and 91.6% in class XII.

He started prepare for CAT when he was in final year engineering. “It was tough to balance the two. But it was not impossible. Final year, there was not much pressure from college,” he said. After graduating from IIT in April, he joined a management coaching for test series. “Students serious for CAT should identify their own weaknesses and strengths. Mock tests help in analysing the grey area which you can improve on,” said Shashwat.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / December 28th, 2014

Mahila Vidyalaya may become India’s 1st women’s univ

Education, Records, All

Lucknow :

State government on Wednesday promised to extend full cooperation in turning Mahila Vidyalaya PG College into the first women’s university of north India, said chief secretary Alok Ranjan after inaugurating the platinum jubilee programme of the college on Wednesday.

Ranjan also said the government is implementing several schemes to make cent-per-cent and employment-oriented education for girls. “Providing technical education to women, more progress could be brought in the society and the state,” said Ranjan.

On the occasion, college students danced to film numbers. Another group of students performed to Indian classical music. The performances were enjoyed by the audience.

Mahila College began platinum jubilee celebrations of their degree college by holding an inter-collegiate festival ‘Tarangini’ on December 22 and 23. Students of various degree colleges, including Lucknow University participated in dance, elocution, JAM, quiz, flower decoration, poster making, debate, performing arts, essay and mehndi competition.

In the series of celebrations, the college has organised a fete on December 25. Also, an in-house rock band headed by Karishma Agrahari, a second-year BA student along five others will perform. This will be followed by a panel discussion on ‘Linking Education with Employability’ on December 26. Union home minister Rajnath Singh will attend the valedictory session on December 27.

Former V-C of LU Roop Rekha Verma, a 1961 alumnus, said “In my time, there was more open space. I remember when I visited my college years after graduation and saw many new buildings on the campus. I was a bit saddened then.”

Recalling the good old days, Verma said, “My principal late Kanchan Lata Sabbarwal was a strict disciplinarian. She had a notion that if any student argued with any teacher or principal, it was an act of disobedience. Since I was a hosteller, once, I gathered courage to argue with her on extremely restricted timing for us to go out for shopping. She got very angry with my behaviour.”

INFO

Humble Beginnings

Mahila Vidyalaya started in a rented house in Aminabad, Lucknow in 1895

Initially, it began as a small school named ‘The Hindu Girls School’

The school’s own building at the present site was inaugurated on March 9, 1921 by then education minister in United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, C Y Chintamani

Mame of Hindu Girls School was changed to Mahila Vidyalaya on February 26, 1922

In 1928, Mahila Vidyalaya was recognised for High School, in 1932 for Intermediate

In June 1939, degree section began here

In 1952, college started B Ed and in 1962, science faculty started. In 1983, B Com classes began and in 1985 BA & BSc in home-science was started

In 2004, Mahila Vidyalaya came up to PG level with MA in home-science

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / home> City> Lucknow / TNN / December 25th, 2014

Pearl Academy hosts discussion on the future of design education in Lucknow

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education
(L-R) Jyoti Manral, Mark Warner, Nidhip Mehta and Lei Cox
(L-R) Jyoti Manral, Mark Warner, Nidhip Mehta and Lei Cox

Well-known design institute Pearl Academy hosted a discussion with design academicians from around the world on the ‘Future of Design Education.’ The two-day confluence was aimed at stimulating and inspiring participants to foster innovation and creativity in their learning environments.

Global thought leaders and design educators like John Thackara, founder/director of Doors of Perception, MP Ranjan, design thinker, Aditya Dev Sood, founder and CEO of Center for Knowledge Societies and Colin Renfrew, pro-VC and Dean, Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), along with budding professionals from the design world, participated to deliberate on four key themes:

micro and macro trends in the design education and professional landscape
pedagogy of the future
curriculum of the future
learners of the future.

Appreciating the academy’s initiative ‘What’s Next’, Claudio Moderini, director, design, Domus Academy, Milan, said, “This is a great initiative as the creative economy needs design thinkers. A discourse around the future of the learner and the pedagogy of tomorrow is truly the need of the hour.”

Sharad Mehra, CEO, Pearl Academy, said, “Design education in India has matured to a point where it can imagine and contribute within a wider scope and take on complex problems. Design faculty needs to be introduced to a variety of backgrounds and exposure to innovate and new-age tools and methods to provide effective solutions to issues of the society.

Through this two-day World Cafe Style Confluence, we are investing our efforts into sensitizing and informing the design educators about these sweeping changes. With four keynote speakers, eight mentors, 96 participants and eight conversation tables, the confluence concluded with powerful and game-changing ideas with the potential to transform design education going forward.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / December 22nd, 2014

7 startups visit IIT-BHU campus

Business & Economy, Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Varanasi :

Startup companies dominated the 6th day of placement season at the Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU) on Saturday.

According to in charge, Training and Placement Cell, IIT-BHU Anil Kumar Agarwal, seven startup companies, including Clavileno Capital, Sygmoid Analytics, Lexinnova, Spytech and Pentium, visited the campus for placement. Mainly software companies visited the campus in first four days but the fifth day was dominated by core engineering companies for hiring technocrats in the field of civil, mechanical and electrical engineering.

In first five days, 400 students of IIT-BHU were offered jobs with the highest compensation of Rs 2.02 crore to a student by Oracle US.

On the 5th day, Reliance, Vodafone, Orbees Medical, Freescale Semiconductor and Career UTS visited the campus on Friday, while 10 companies including Fire Eye, Oyo rooms, and Tata Motors had turned up on the fourth day on Thursday.

Meanwhile, after a strong 650 hirings in just five days, the placement drive at IIT-Kanpur slowed down on the weekend with some 25 students receiving job offer letters on Saturday.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / TNN / December 07th, 2014

This prodigy awaits recognition

Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features

A talent youngster of the city awaits recognition at a time when IIIT-A is leaving no stones unturned to make the 7th science conclave successful.

In the by-lanes of Kydganj locality of the city resides 14-year-old Dinesh Dwivedi, who has never been to schools but still imparts coaching to students, inspiring to crack IIT, CPMT, AIEEE and other examinations. This wonder kid, who has been awarded Young Achievers Award, easily solves questions of mathematics, physics and chemistry, impart tuitions to aspiring IITians along with those preparing for CPMT, AIEEE or for that matter even those pursuing BSc and MSc.

Hailing from Khiwali Kalan village of Koraon Tehsil, Dinesh imparts free coaching in a small rented room in Kydganj. Although his small classroom has just few takhat (wooden cot) and chairs, but in the last two years Dinesh’s guidance has produced 25 IIT’ians, 15 were selected for CPMT and 32 students have cleared AIEEE. In all, he teaches 280 students in batches daily.

This ‘guruji’ of budding engineers and doctors is in search of a teacher who could let him appear in intermediate examination so that he can become district magistrate, his childhood ambition.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / by Rajiv Mani, TNN / December 05th, 2014

Web portal bridge for Indo-US study group

Business & Economy, Education, World Opinion

Lucknow:

Consolidating US-India ties, Lucknow University in a first-of-its-kind initiative will offer add-on courses in ‘American Studies in India’ from January. Students, both under and post graduate, opting for these courses can also connect with their American counterpart via a web portal which was launched by the department of English and Modern European Languages, Lucknow University in collaboration with Public Affairs Section, American Embassy on Tuesday.

The web portal would strengthen and promote American studies in Indian universities and colleges. Project coordinator Nishi Pandey said the forum would be interface with American students offering more content and database.

Launching the portal, director American Center and assistant cultural affairs officer, American Embassy Emily White stressed students and teachers use the American Centre Facebook page as medium for exchanging cultural and educational interests.

White said India studies is already a part of curriculum in many American universities and relevance of American studies in Indian colleges is important. Students opting for the certificate and diploma courses may study America’s history, geography, political developments, economy, foreign policy and international relations. “There will also be courses in American literature, feminism and gender issues and culture,” said Pandey. The courses were designed by experts from India and US over a period of five years.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / December 02nd, 2014

Fun time for batch of 1964 at IIT-K

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

The ‘batch of 1964’ arrived on the IIT-K campus with their spouses to celebrate the Golden Jubilee reunion on Saturday. None of them was ready to waste a single moment as they went around the campus reliving the nostalgia. A total of 43 alumni participated in the meet. The batch had a strength of 225.

The reunion officially began with the lighting of lamp by IIT-K director Prof Indranil Manna in the presence of Prof Manindra Agarwal and Prof Prabhat Munshi. However, for the alumni fun started as soon as they reached the campus on Friday. They got group photographs clicked and shared experiences of life with current students. The former students were excited to see a sea-change at IIT-Kanpur. Many of them claimed that several new buildings have come up on the campus.

Sumant Sareen, who is currently settled in Dubai, said, “It is pleasing to come back to IIT-Kanpur.” He said that the institute had changed a lot in these years and lots of infrastructure too had come up. His batch-mate Padma Jyoti accepted, “Institute has undergone a massive change.”

The institute said that the ‘batch of 1964’ has been quite successful within India and abroad. The institute administration mentioned that these ex-students would leave the campus as role models for students with whom they interacted not just as their seniors but as well-wishers interested in their successes.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kanpur / TNN / November 24th, 2014