Goa students will now get tablets and notebooks for Rs. 25
If you are a student in the smallest state of the country, there is great news for you. Goa has long been one of the forerunners in educating students on technological knowhow and familiarising them with gadgets of the modern day. In the past, the state was the first to distribute free laptops to students and a new scheme will make notebooks and tablet PCs readily affordable for students in the state. The state government has shuffled aside a budget of Rs. 95 crore to purchase nearly 50,000 notebooks and tablet PCs to be distributed among students who register for the scheme. General category students will need to pay Rs. 25 while students in the SC and ST categories can pay Rs. 10 to register for the scheme. The computers will be installed with security so they cannot be misused to visit pornographic websites and other controversial websites but only those that fulfill the purpose of educating students. Students registering for the scheme will also need to submit a no objection certificate from their parents before receiving the computers.
Digigirlz will hopefully help more women join it sector in india
A running joke for most engineering college students is that women are rarely seen on campus. There is some truth in this joke since the number of female students enrolled in IIT colleges amounts for only 15% of the entire student body and the figures are only slightly better in other institutes. But this number is sure to change if Microsoft is able to influence the young Indian women of today. The software giant has launched a programme called DigiGirlz to encourage female students to take up technology and engineering as a possible career choice in India. The programme will allow young women to visit Microsoft’s offices to learn about careers in technology, interact with the employees at Microsoft for a firsthand understanding of working in the sector and participate in workshops for a hands-on experience. In surveys conducted previously, women accounted for only 30% of employees in the IT sector which will hopefully increase after implementation of this programme. The programme was launched in Microsoft’s Hyderabad office in February with a participation of 80 women and will be launched in their offices in the coming months.
Scholarships to increase diversity at ISB
Studying at the Indian School of Business (ISB) can be expected to become cheaper for those opting to apply for their one-year programme (PGP). ISB has made it possible for anyone applying for their one-year course to be eligible for their Diversity Scholarship which aims to improve the diversity of the ISB classroom. 40 scholarships will be given under the category, amounting to a total of Rs. 2.50 crore. The scholarship will cover the sectors of healthcare, government, social service, hospitality, media, fashion, manufacturing, finance, marketing and sales, and technology. There will also be scholarships for women to increase the gender diversity in the class. The scholarship will be awarded subject to past academic record, GMAT scores, personal and professional achievements, essays, etc. and a round of personal interviews for shortlisted candidates.
New Courses Announced at IIT-I
Indian Institute of Technology Indore (IIT-I) is prepped and ready to open its doors to more students with the introduction of new courses. The institute will offer new MSc, MTech and PhD degree programmes at the start of the academic year 2013-14. The new courses offered will include an MSc and a combined MSc + PhD in the chemistry and physics subjects offered by the School of Basic Sciences, PhD in mathematics, MTech and MTech + PhD in communication and signal engineering, production and industrial engineering, computer science engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering at the School of Engineering, PhD in philosophy, English, psychology, biosciences and bioengineering at the School of Humanities and Social Scienes. The last date to send in a hard copy of the application is April 9. The programmes are set to being from July 22.
40 new courses in Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University
Bhimrao Ambedkar University has announced the introduction of many new courses which will begin with the academic year 2013-14. If and when approved, the university will have a total of 40 new courses to offer prospective students. A green signal has already been shown to start offering MSc in industrial microbiology, MSc in food microbiology and toxicology, MSc in nanoscience and nanotechnology, a master’s degree in Hindi, master’s degree in education and MTech in energy and environment with about 35 courses in the pipeline to be approved. The proposed programmes will include MA, MSc, MPhil, PhD, MTech and PG diploma courses. The university has eight existing schools and is also planning on opening two new schools: School for Visual Arts and School for Education. The academic council that met to decide on the approval of the courses has also decided to provide a fee concession of 50% to single girl children, meritorious students belonging to the SC/ST category and those students who come from families that fall below the poverty line.
New PG course in heritage conservation
In an attempt to increase the number of professional conservation architects, three institutes in Mumbai have got together to introduce a new course on heritage conservation and upkeep of heritage structures. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghralaya (also known as Prince of Wales Museum) and Sir JJ College of Architecture have put their heads together to come up with the syllabus committee that has designed the fulltime postgraduation course. The lectures for the course will be held at JJ College of Architecture and the diploma on completion of the course will be awarded by the University of Mumbai. While the course is open to anyone who has completed their graduation and wants to learn about heritage conservation, 60% of the seats will be reserved for professional architects.
Volume 2 Issue 10
