11 Jan 2019

IIT-Kharagpur to launch artificial intelligence certification course

According to a top official, The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur will launch a six-month Artificial Intelligence (AI) course at three centres in the country. The Institute’s Director, Partha Pratim Chakrabarti told reporters that the certified programme is aimed at strengthening India’s talent pool in Machine Learning and AI.

He said thousands of new jobs were being created in AI sector every year with AI growing at 10-15 per cent on annual rate and there was need to have more skilled people in the AI sector. He added “AI is the future which will more invade our lives in the coming days.”Head, Centre for Artificial Intelligence, IIT Kharagpur, Sudeshna Sarkar said, the course with 300 students will consist of 16 modules – each having 12-hour duration.

Chakrabarti said the courses, which will begin from March this year will be offered at IIT Kharagpur’s Kolkata facility, Kharagpur campus and at a rented premise at Bengaluru.

Around 2 lakh jobs in AI are expected to be created by 2020 in India, Sarkar said. She said the classes will be taken by IIT Kharagpur faculty, reputed academic institutions and industry experts.  Sarkar explained that there will be 60 per cent from the IIT faculty and academics and 40 per cent from industry who will be teaching the students in the 16 modules. The demand is getting higher in AI in the country than the total number of AI-skilled professionals and there was a need to bridge that gap. The course modules have been carefully designed to cover mathematical and algorithmic foundations, AI fundamentals and statistical and machine learning methods.

 

She said  “The courses will have a blend on fundamental theoretical principles as well as hands-on component and industry use cases and students will have the opportunity to work on live projects. Every course module will be based on assignments and exams and a certificate will be awarded based on successful completion of the modules. It will be rigorous.”

The students will be selected competitively from working professionals and senior students. Tools and platforms will be introduced to make the students, from working professionals and senior students, technologically competent and ready for jobs.

The AI course, application for which commenced on January 2 for screening and shortlisting, will start from March 10, this year.

Source: Indian Express

Share this
11 Jan 2019

Punjab govt schools to trumpet alumni success to boost admissions

The Punjab Education Department is turning to well-placed alumni from various government schools help boost students’ strength in the new academic session. Admissions for nursery classes in government schools are on, while those for other classes will start in a couple of months. The Education Department has asked all the heads of government schools in the state to identify best-placed students of their respective schools who are working in the field like medical, engineering, defence, civil services and contact them to put their pictures on school websites.

Schools have been instructed to invite such students for annual functions of the schools and to organise alumni meets.

Secretary, Education, Krishan Kumar said “When people will get to know about such alumni who have achieved big things in their lives after studying from the government schools, they will change their perception about these schools and come forward send their children to these government schools.”

He added: “When private schools can publish the list of the achievers from their schools to make public aware about the standards of their schools then why can’t we do so.”

Sources said that these alumni meet will also give students a window to contribute to their schools in various ways, including in improving infrastructure or giving financial assistance to poor students.

Source: Indian Express

Share this
11 Jan 2019

Private school in Delhi asks EWS students to apply for admission again

Parents of EWS students at a private school in Dwarka are a worried lot after they received a circular telling them that their wards are required to apply anew for admission to Class III.

On November 27, 2018, parents of Class II students given admissions in EWS seats in Her Dreams Queen’s Valley Junior School received a notice, citing a DoE circular, saying that admissions for EWS seats from Class II onwards will be conducted centrally. “You are, therefore, advised to apply online…,” read the notice.

The department order that the notice refers to states that EWS admissions from Class II onwards for private schools built on government land will henceforth be conducted through a centralised online application and draw of lots like in entry-level classes.

The school concerned — operating up to Class II — is the junior wing of Queen’s Valley School. According to parents, they had been earlier told their children would be automatically promoted to the main school.

The All India Parents Association wrote to the CM requesting a clarification on the DoE circular, alleging that the school’s notice “misread” it as it “relates to fresh admissions in Class II onward…”

In a separate case, parents of Class VIII students admitted to EWS seats in Air Force Bal Bharti School received a notice saying that the school is required to provide free and compulsory education only up to Class VIII.

But according to advocate Ashok Agarwal, the school, which stands on land given at a concession by the government, is legally bound to provide free education to EWS admits till Class XII.

 

Source: Indian Express

Share this
11 Jan 2019

JEE Main 2019 Day 3 analysis: Students say Chemistry easiest, Physics toughest

JEE Main 2019: The cut-off is expected to go high, according to experts as students are finding exams to be easier than last year. Many questions directly from NCERT class 11 and class 12 books. For session 1 of Day 3, Physics remained the toughest and lengthiest of all sections.

JEE Main 2019: The third day of the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) shift one has concluded and the second shift began from 2:30 pm. Students who have appeared for the January 10 first shift found Physics section difficult . While Mathematics was considered easy to moderate, Chemistry was considered to be easiest by the students.

Students informed that mathematics was not only tough but also lengthy. Many questions in each section were directly from the NCERT books of class 11 and 12, as per students. The expected cut-off will range between 72-77 marks.The day 2 of the JEE Main exam was similar to the first day’s. The overall difficulty level of the paper was moderate. The Physics section was logical with difficulty level between moderate to tough. Mathematics section was between easy to moderate. The Chemistry section was easy as compared to the other two sections.  Experts opined that Some questions in Physics and Chemistry were simple and directly picked from NCERT.They added that ,In Physics and Mathematics sections, few concepts and questions were repeated from day 1. Therefore students are advised to go through day 1 and day 2 exam analysis before appearing for future slots. Considering the papers of past 3 slots, the cut-off is expected to be in the range of 80 to 85.”

Some candidates have faced glitches during the JEE Main online exam.

 

Source: Indian Express

Share this
10 Jan 2019

JNUSU slams ICC clean chit to Prof Atul Johri

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) condemned the university’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) for giving a clean chit to Professor Atul Johri, who has been accused of sexual harassment by eight women students.

On January 9, The Indian Express reported that the ICC had said Johri posed no threat to the complainants, and suggested that he may need protection as he was threatened by them.

Stating that they will protest outside the ICC office Thursday, JNUSU president N Sai Balaji claimed: “Our criticism of the ICC is consistently being proved right… From day one, the V-C has been trying to protect Johri. It was only after continuous protests and pressure from the Delhi High Court that the V-C was forced to form a committee through the ICC, where they tried to use every mechanism to try and divert the enquiry process. (This report) sets a dangerous precedent for the whole gender justice movement. We stand with the complainants.”

Srabani Chakraborty, member of the erstwhile Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment, said: “If it was an institution like GSCASH (probing the case), when there were multiple complainants, certainly some weightage would have been given to their testimonies.”

“There are multiple complaints and to set them all aside completely and give the accused a clean chit is unacceptable… It’s absolutely outrageous that they said that it is the accused… who needs protection,” she added.

Johri’s counsel Amit Anand Tiwari had said they “will request the HC to set aside its earlier direction so that he can be reinstated in his administrative posts”.

Source: Indian Express

Share this
Click Me