Category Archives: Education

LU to honour famous alumni on foundation day

Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders

Lucknow :

Lucknow University’s 94th foundation day on November 25 will be homecoming for its alumni. To mark the day, LU alumni society will felicitate illustrious alumni who have made a mark in their life and brought laurels to their alma mater. Jharkhand Governor Syed Ali Naqi is likely to be conferred with the lifetime achievement award. Naqi completed his MA from LU.

Those who will be felicitated this year include Khan Masood Ahmed, the vice-chancellor of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti Urdu, Arabi-Farsi University, DJ Narain, the director of Film and Television Institute of India, SWA Naqvi, the director of the National Institute of Oceanography, Rachna Govil, the executive director of Sports Authority of India and NK Verma, the managing director of ONGC Videsh Ltd, Justice Ashwani Kumar Singh, judge, Lucknoew bench of Allahabad High Court.

Masood Ahmed did his BSc (statistics, mathematics and physics) from Lucknow University in 1971 and then MA in economics with advanced statistics and econometrics in 1973.

A 1990 batch of Indian Information Service, DJ Narain is an alumnus of IIT-Kanpur. He was a lecturer of monetary economics at Lucknow University.

Working on the biogeochemistry of the oceans, Naqvi did his BSc in physics, chemistry and mathematics from LU in 1972 and then MSc with specialization in physical chemistry in 1974.

NK Verma joined ONGC in 1980 after completing MSc in applied geology from LU. In 1986, he obtained an MTech degree in petroleum exploration from Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad.

Justice Ashwani Kumar Singh graduated in law from LU in 1978. He was enrolled as an advocate in December 1979 and he practiced mainly on criminal side at Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court. He took oath as a permanent judge in December 2010.

Established in 1920, LU is one of the oldest universities in the state. In the past, the university has honoured some distinguished alumni such as Justice AS Anand, former Chief Justice of India, senior journalist Vinod Mehta, former Union ministers NKP Salve and Harish Rawat and renowned cardiothoracic surgeon Padma Shri Dr Naresh Trehan.


Rajnath to grace occasion

Union home minister Rajnath Singh will grace Lucknow University’s convocation scheduled on January 19. The home ministry has accepted university’s invitation. The university’s degree committee has proposed four names for honoris causa. The names include Chief Justice, Allahabad High Court, Dhananjaya Y Chadrachud; film actor Amitabh Bachchan; singer Anup Jalota and IAS of Gujarat cadre Jayanti Ravi. The committee will finalise one out of these four names.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / November 18th, 2014

3-day Manfest-Varchasva fest begins

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Education

Lucknow:

The three-day Manfest-Varchasva 2014, the annual business, sports and cultural fest was inaugurated at Indian Institute of Management Lucknow on Thursday.

IIM-L director Prof Rajiv K Srivastava inaugurated the fest. The event also witnessed a captivating performance by professional Kathak dancers from Rashtriya Kala Akademi.

Earlier, Manfest, the Business Conclave, and Varchasva, the Sports and Cultural fest, were held separately. This year the two events have been merged, creating a vast canvas of events and offerings catering to all.

The management events such as the Next CEO, Strategica, Stratstruck, Travel Trails and Finesse among others will be held. The cultural events include Hallabol, Antarnaad, Imperio, Inferno, Vivakshita, Vibes, Stairway to Hell and Uttarang.

Miss India International 2013 and Bollywood Actress Zoya Afroz will judge Miss India Campus Princess on Friday. The event will give a direct entry to the winner to the final round of Miss India 2015 auditions in Mumbai.

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam, professor of Marketing at Emory University at USA Jagdish Sheth and former deputy governor of RBI Subir Gokarn are expected to attend the three day event.

Lucknow City Run in which over 2000 individuals will “Run for a Greener Tomorrow” will be held on Sunday.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / November 21st, 2014

Mauritius prez honours BHU’s Bhojpuri centre

Education, World Opinion

Varanasi :

The Bhojpuri Study Centre of Banaras Hindu University was awarded with ‘Vishwa Bhojpuri Samman’ by the president of Mauritius Rajkeswur Purryag at International Bhojpuri Mahotsava organised in Mauritius from October 29 to November 5.

The coordinator of Bhojpuri Study Centre Professor Sadanand Shahi said the award was given to BHU centre for its outstanding contribution for the promotion of Bhojpuri language and literature. After returning from Mauritius, Shahi said the BHU delegation also discussed the issue of establishment of ‘Bohojpuri Diaspora Centre’ at BHU with the President of Mauritius and other leaders.

He further added that during the festival it was unanimously decided that the next International Bhojpuri Festival and Conference will be held at BHU. The event was also attended by Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, UP speaker Mata Prasad Pandey and minister Ambika Chowdhary. Scholars from India, Fiji, New Zealand, USA and other nations also participated in the fest.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / TNN / November 12th, 2014

IIT-K celebrates 55th foundation day

Education

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K), which completed its 55 years of existence on Sunday, celebrated its foundation day. The celebrations witnessed the participation of faculty members, students and alumni of the institute.

On this occasion, the institute administration felicitated its alumni by giving them `Distinguished alumnus award’. While Dipankar Das Sharma of 1977 batch was present to receive the `Distinguished alumnus award’, Jayadev Misra of 1969 batch and Vijay Kumar of 1983 batch were not present. The awards were presented by Prof Indranil Manna, director of the institute and Prof M Anandkrishnan, chairman, Board of Governors, IIT-Kanpur.

The `Distinguished alumnus award’ is the highest award instituted by the board of governors of the institute for its alumni in recognition of their outstanding achievements.

Dr RK Sachan, registrar, IIT-Kanpur informed that the foundation day celebration programmes were held in three sections. He said that the programme began with a lecture delivered by Prof Baldev Raj, director, National Institute of Advanced Studies, who was the chief guest on the occasion. This was followed by distribution of Institute Fellow Award. The three personalities given this award were Prof SG Dhande, former director of IIT, Kanpur, Prof TVS Rammohan Rao, ex-faculty of IIT-K and Prof M Satyamurthy, director, IISER, Mohali. Prof Dhande was not present in the function.

The students present during the celebrations enjoyed every moment of the event. A group of students performed a band on the dias in the main auditorium. The programme ended with the singing of the National Anthem.

Later, Prof I Manna, director of the institute while talking to newspersons said that the institute had planned to celebrate the foundation day on a much bigger scale. “We took a decision to invite school students on the campus on the foundation day and show them the technological advancements and research work done by the institute. But all this will be done in the next foundation day function”.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kanpur / TNN / November 03rd, 2014

IIM-Lucknow & Kelly School of Business joint programme to run 2 batches in a year

Education, World Opinion

Lucknow :

The valedictory function marking the completion of second batch of one-year certificate programme in business analytics for executives (CPBAE) was recently organised, in which efforts of 26 participants were given due recognition. In 2013, Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow and Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, USA started the one year certificate programme.

Speaking on the occasion, IIM-L director Prof Rajiv K Srivastava, said, “We have received encouraging feedback for this programme. Given the demand for the programme both IIM Lucknow & Kelley School of Business, Indiana University have decided to run two batches of Certificate Programme in Business Analytics in a year. The next batch is scheduled to begin from March 2015.”

The programme combines business strategy, business analytical tools and applications of analytics in selected business areas, namely finance, marketing and operations. The purpose of this programme is to develop skills and a mindset for participants that will allow them to identify and seize business opportunities using business analytics tools. The programme has both in-residence and online learning channels.

The programme is jointly taught by faculty from IIM Lucknow and Kelley School of Business, USA and on-campus modules are conducted from IIM Lucknow campus. The ceremony was chaired by the IIM-L director Prof Rajiv K Srivastava, MA Venkataramanan vice-provost for strategic initiatives, Indiana University; chairperson MDP (IIM-L) Prof Jabir Ali along with programme directors Prof Amit Agrahari and Prof Gaurav Garg.

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

When IIT-Kanpur put a Jugnu in the sky

Amazing Feats, Education, Records, All, Science & Technology

Kanpur :
Three years ago, India launched its first nano satellite, Jugnu, made by a team of 45 IIT-Kanpur students. The team, including five girls, made the accomplishment under the guidance of project director Prof NS Vyas of IIT-K. The satellite was launched by scientists of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) through a polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) into the Earth’s orbit on October 11, 2011. Three years later, the little marvel ceases to exist.

The nano satellite, a couple of months ago, had stopped sending the beacon signal to its base station in Isro. The satellite tracking centre that was raised at IIT-Kanpur for tracking the satellite three years ago has also closed down.

Talking to TOI, Prof NS Vyas, currently on deputation to Rajasthan Technical University as vice chancellor, says the nano satellite had outlived its life of six months and while sustaining in the Earth’s orbit, it had performed all necessary functions.

“Jugnu was the most challenging and complex project undertaken by any academic institution post- independence. The students who started with nothing got success in developing a complete satellite in two years’ time. At the advanced stage of the satellite’s development, the students were interacting with Isro scientists at their frequency. The scientists gave equal importance to the students. This was unique,” says Vyas. After a while, the students had started learning from each other by way of discussions and deliberations, he added.

Vyas recalls how the students used to work day and night and eat and sleep on the lab premises. “It was a massive exercise during the golden jubilee celebrations. The students not only designed and developed the satellite but also fabricated it. They had also designed the ejection system for Jugnu”.

Shantanu Agarwal, a former student head of the team of Jugnu, says the nano satellite lost its connection with the ground station and might have converted into debris in the Earth’s orbit. According to him, Jugnu was made for a period of six months but it outlived its life and till last year when its second anniversary of launch was celebrated, the satellite was alive and ticking.

“Jugnu was last tracked by a group of HAM radio professionals from Japan in 2013. Now, it has lost touch with the ground station in Isro”, says Agarwal, who now runs a two-year old start-up in aerospace sciences along with one of his team members from IIT.

Shantanu reminisces how tired students used to fall asleep in the lab while working on different components of the satellite. For all of them, it was a challenge to work on Jugnu while managing their studies.

But no student would ever regret it. Shantanu says it was an experience of a lifetime because as a student it is almost impossible to get a chance to work on a satellite and also to see its launch.

“Working with Isro scientists was a great opportunity for all of us. They never treated us like students but professionals. Our potential was given recognition by the scientists and this is how we ran high on confidence,” says Shantanu.

“At the time of Jugnu’s launch via PSLV C-18 from Sriharikota, we were present there. We had installed and integrated the satellite in the launch vehicle. We were overhwelmed and shouted at the top of our voices when the launch became a success,” says Shashank Chintalgiri with pride. He was a senior member of the student team of Jugnu.

The aim of Jugnu is to develop long-term infrastructure and human resources in IIT-K for future space research programmes in collaboration with Isro.

Vyas however, expresses concern that once technology is developed it should be passed to more users. “The concern is that technology developed dies inside a lab if not put to use. To keep it alive, we need to pass it on to more users,” says the project director for Jugnu.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Abhinav Malhotra, TNN / October 19th, 2014

Quality education helps rustic talent blossom

Education

Surencha (Sitapur):

Class IX student of VidyaGyan (Sitapur), Prashant Singh is a happy-go-lucky boy. He was one among eight students selected for the Duke Talent Identification Program held sometime in Sonipat. Here, students did a three-week course in different subjects.

Son of a farmer in Hardoi, Prashant’s mother is a home-maker. “It (the course) was fantastic. My subject was forensic science. We were given to investigate a mock crime scene. The idea was to familiarise us with a crime scene, how to deal with it and what are the duties and jobs of an investigator,” said Prashant who aspires to become a forensic scientist. He, however, is also determined to create awareness in his village on use of fertilizers for enhancing crop quality.

At the workshop, Nancy Kulshrestha and Anupam Mishra studied social entrepreneurship and mathematical problem solving. Dreaming of becoming an IAS officer, Nancy took to social entrepreneurship because she wants to eradicate poverty in her village. On the other hand, Anupam who wants to be an IIT engineer is set to go back to his village and create awareness on the importance of education.

Class XI student Vaishali Dhariwal (along with three others) from VidyaGyan (Bulandshahr) met Usain Bolt after they won the ‘PUMA School of Speed Award’, India’s first national school-level running meet. “There were over 300 teams. We were nervous and excited at the same time. But when we ran, we saw we were better than others,” said Vaishali from Moradabad.

The batch of class X students at Bulandshahr passed with flying colours too. Around 60% students secured above 90% marks in board exams. Of these, 50% achieved 95% and above aggregate.

“We are seeing promising signs already. Our students, who have never stepped out of villages before they came here, are now travelling overseas,” Roshni Nadar Malhotra, trustee of Shiv Nadar Foundation that runs VidyaGyan schools, which run classes from VI to XII affiliated to the CBSE board.

VidyaGyan is the philanthropic arm of HCL promoter Shiv Nadar. Designed by the finest architects, VidyaGyan School campuses at Bulandhahr and Sitapur have sprawling acreage with state-of-art academic and residential facilities for students. The campus also houses an extensive sports complex with a basketball court on the hostel premises.

In all, there are 1,400 students and 92 teachers. This is targeted to increase three-fold and touch 4,200 in the next five years. Students are admitted after a three-tier selection process.

The SNF boasts of conducting one of the largest private selection and admission processes in India covering 75 UP districts. In 2014, it evaluated 2 lakh students for VidyaGyan of which 300 were inducted.

Students come from families of farmers and daily wagers in rural UP whose annual income is less than Rs 1 lakh.

The foundation has so far invested Rs 400 crore in these schools. The foundation has committed Rs 5,000 crore towards philanthropic initiatives, of which Rs 2,900 crore had already been incurred.

Going places

– 8 students selected for Duke TIP program that provides families and educators with an opportunity to identify and support academically talented students

– 2 students selected for an exchange programme with Brown University

– 1 student selected for an exchange programme with Lee University

– 1 student selected for the AFS YES Youth Exchange and Study Programme. The student has been adopted by a US family and is attending Thomas Alva Edison High School in Minneapolis

– 1 student selected for third annual edition of Doha Goals gathering of All leaders in Sport Forum

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Isha Jain, TNN / October 14th, 2014

IIT-Kanpur adds hope to Moonj craft revival dream

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Science & Technology

Kanpur :

Nineteen-year-old Meena Kumari can now make a moonj basket on her own. She also dreams to be an entrepreneur and revive the dying art of weaving Moonj baskets from grass. Sahana, a moonj craftsperson, wants awareness about this form though her children do not wish to follow the family tradition.

Meena and Sahana’s dreams are fired by a bunch of students of IIT-Kanpur students who are helping them in various ways under an MHRD initiative to revive this famous craft form of Uttar Pradesh, products made of wild grass called “moonj.”

And, as the institute gets immersed in its annual fest – Antaragni – Meena and many practitioners of the art proudly display their skills at a stall on the campus.

Meena was trained in less than three months by students associated with the research lab under IIT-K’s master of design programme.

“Moonj products are simple but attractive and eco-friendly,” said Meena, who studied computer science from an ITI, as she sat knotting the grass in spirals at the stall on Friday.

Naini, a village on the banks of Yamuna in Allahabad, is a major producer of moonj. Moonj and kasa are types of wild grass that grow on the banks of the Yamuna. The grass are found in abundance along the air strip in Kanpur too.

“Moonj is the outer layer of a type of grass called ‘sarpat.’ This layer is peeled off and knotted as it is easy to store and dry. These knots are locally known as ‘balla’. Kaasa grass is dried and wrapped with moonj grass by rolling around kaasa. The motifs of basketry are created by adding colored grass (after dyeing the original grass) in between,” said trainers Pooja Mishra and Jyoti Bahadur of IIT-K.

Nearly 90% of womenfolk in Naini are involved in moonj basket making. “I am making moonj products since four decades. But, my kids do not want to do this as they do not find this lucrative. I am happy that awareness about this craft is growing which will lead to people coming forward to get this form into the mainstream,” said Sahana, a moonj craftsperson from Naini.

Textile designer Neelam Gupta (28) left her job in Delhi to learn moonj craft. “I have seen my mother work on moonj craft since I was six. However, she could not continue as she had myopia and nobody from our family took interest in this craft form. When I got to know about this project, I decided to leave my job and work for reviving moonj craft,” said Neelam.

Moonj coiled grass products are used as containers, food storage devices, coasters and wall decorators. “Moonj craft also has traditional significance as the products are gifted to women in ritual functions and weddings,” said Pooja. Recent additions are cooker cover, bowl stand, glass cover, and cutlery box.

Project in-charge, Koumudi Patil who is a faculty of humanities and social sciences at IIT-K, said: “We are working to develop the community by looking into their frugal technology to promote moonj craft right at the grassroot level. The project aims to take the craft to the mainstream. Artisans will be engaged with the design process as well as entrepreneurship training so that they can earn their own livelihood.”

Besides, students at IIT-K who are part of the project are devising a mechanism to upgrade the technology in order to increase production. “The manual process is time consuming. At times, it takes weeks to design a moonj product. We are trying methods, which can be used in needle movement for knotting the spirals so that the products are masterly crafted. To create a space in the market, we need to increase production without affecting employment,” said Mohit Soni, final year mechanical engineering student involved in the project.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Isha Jain, TNN / October 11th, 2014

Class 8th dalit student ensured school ran despite riot fear running high

Amazing Feats, Education, Inspiration / Positive News and Features

Meerut :

A 14 year boy Abhishek was conferred upon MeenaRatan Award by the UP Government on Wednesday for being able to convince parents of students who had stopped sending their children to a village school at Meerut as the communal tempers ran high owing to Muzaffarnagar riots, last year.

The boy formed a group of six students and knocked the doors of his fellow students’ homes. The award was jointly presented by Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Unicef.

Says principal of Upper Primary School, Kamalpur village, Abdul Samad, “Those days were quite scary. Atmosphere was strife with rumours and parents were apprehensive of sending their children to school. The attendance had dropped to 40 percent. It was then that this boy came with a novel idea.”

Abhishek formed a ‘toli’ or a group of fellow students comprising six students, Hindu and Muslim in equal number to initiate door to door campaign to urge parents not to discontinue the studies of their children.

“My parents are illiterate but I have been fortunate to get the opportunity of receiving education. In no way I could forego that opportunity and I felt the same for my fellow students as well. My school had reached a stage of closing down and we decided to approach our friends who starting skipping school because of the fear of riots.”

Though, a few students still chose to stay away, majority of them turned up. The school has a strength of 225 out of which 117 are Muslims. Abhishek was also instrumental in helping his father quit smoking. He gives all the credit to his teacher Ruchi Shrotriya who has motivated him to create impact in other’s lives.

Abhishek was among 24 children who received the awards for their invaluable contribution on spreading awareness on social issues. Kannauj MP, Dimple Yadav gave away the awards in Lucknow. Abhishek was given tumultuous welcome when he returned to the school after receiving the award.

source:http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Meerut / by Sandeep Rai, TNN / September 26th, 2014

Hindi scholars from Israel honored

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, World Opinion

Gorakhpur:

Hindi scholars from Tel Aviv University, Israel, were honored at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University and Buddha PG College, Kushinagar for their love for Hindi language.

Dr Gendi Shlomper, a Hindi teacher, Tel Aviv University, was in the region along with six Russian students, Alexendra, Adi Ferore, Tal Goraski, Mataj Massika, Yakir Dahari and Ofir Mikhaji, to learn Hindi language and the culture of India.

While speaking at Buddha PG College, Kushinagar, Dr Shlomper said, “For the development of Hindi it is necessary to develop it as a technical language so that the language helps in employment.” “English is important as it is international language but Hindi shouldn’t be ignored. I’m happy that Hindi is now in much use at social media,” Dr Shlomper added. The scholars reached Kushinagar after visiting Delhi, Allahabad and Ayodhaya. They also sang Hindi movie songs at the pogramme.

GDA bulldozes unauthorized shops:

The Gorakhpur Development Authority removed many illegal structures under a drive against encroachment. Three shops at Rail Vihar Colony near Taramandal wer also removed under the drive as the shops were illegally constructed overlooking the GDA norms. It is to be mentioned here that the development authority has served notice to over 850 buildings owners across the district citing objections over violation of norms in the constructions. The erring building owners have filed a review plea before GDA.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / TNN / September 20th, 2014