Tamil Nadu CM Stalin announces USD 1 million prize for decoding Indus valley script

Synopsis
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin offers a $1 million prize for deciphering the Indus valley script, emphasizing its Dravidian roots and historical significance. Further, he announced a grant for a research chair and annual awards for scholars to boost the study of Indus culture.

Read the full article at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/tamil-nadu-cm-stalin-announces-usd-1-million-prize-for-decoding-indus-valley-script/articleshow/116969619.cms?from=mdr

UGC Develops A System To Evaluate Institutes Based On NEP 2020

The progress made by the HEIs in implementing the NEP 2020 will be considered while granting privileges and entitlements.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) is planning to develop a system to evaluate higher education institutions (HEIs) based on the implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. In some of the UGC regulations, grades/scores obtained in NAAC accreditation are taken as criteria to make HEIs eligible for certain privileges/entitlements.

In line with this, the commission has invited suggestions/feedback from the stakeholders/public to draft document which may be submitted through the Google form available at https://forms.gle/xY6avHXGfKXJuwBk8 

An official notification by the UGC reads, "It has been decided to develop a system to evaluate HEIs based on the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020. The progress made by the HEIs in implementing the NEP 2020 will be considered while granting privileges and entitlements under various UGC regulations. To facilitate this, a two-step evaluation process has been developed, and specific parameters have been identified to determine the allocation of points."

A higher education institution may be required to pass through a two-step process. In the first step, an institution needs to fulfill the mandatory requirements called 'qualifiers,' followed by 'quantifiers, where the HEI will have to reply with 'yes' or 'no' to a series of questions based on the initiatives of NEP 2020 and the UGC Regulations. 

The assessment will be based on the data/evidence to be submitted by the HEI. Submission of false evidence and or any wrong declaration by HEl will lead to the rejection of the application and any other action as deemed fit by the UGC.

The two-step evaluation is as follows:

1. Eligibility Qualifiers: These will be the mandatory benchmarks that an HEl needs to fulfill in order to become eligible for the grant of privileges/entitlements.

2. Quantifier Parameters: The eligible HEI will be evaluated on the identified parameters and the grant of privilege/entitlement will be determined on the basis of the points obtained by the HEI.

An HEI will be mandatorily required to attain the qualifier benchmarks to become eligible for submission of an application to obtain a privilege or entitlement to be granted or conferred by the UGC. HEI will also be required to submit evidence in support of achieving a benchmark parameter. 

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/education/ugc-develops-a-system-to-evaluate-institutes-based-on-nep-2020-7396880

DST along with AICTE announces undergraduate courses for quantum

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) in collaboration with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) announced a dedicated curriculum at the undergraduate level, to create a thriving quantum-trained ecosystem in India as part of the National Quantum Mission.

Professor Ajay K Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to Govt. of India said that the curriculum will integrate theoretical knowledge with hands-on lab experience, aiming to deepen graduates' understanding of quantum technologies through a minor program in the subject at undergraduate level. Highlighting the progress made in the National Quantum Mission, Prof. Sood emphasised the importance of this initiative to align with the goals of the Mission in order to create a quantum-ready workforce for the country’s technological advancement and global leadership.

The National Quantum Mission from the Government of India is a decisive step in accelerating the nation’s research and technology development in this field. Such research and technology development will require a highly skilled workforce through immediate initiatives in teaching and training.

The curriculum will help impart training for developing this workforce to enable them to reach global standards, and simultaneously address the multi-disciplinary needs of quantum technology development -- from basic to applied research.

Professor Abhay Karandikar, Secretary Department of Science and Technology said that the announcement of this curriculum marks a significant step in building a quantum-ready workforce. ‘It is designed for undergraduate students to establish a strong foundational and advanced knowledge base keeping in mind the diversity in the institutions, and will enable all engineering students irrespective of their disciplines to undertake UG minor in quantum technologies from their third or fourth semester.” he added.

“For the success of the program, training of teachers and basic lab infrastructure will also be required. National Quantum Mission will support creation of teaching labs in some select institutions and will work with AICTE for faculty development,” Prof. Karandikar pointed out.

Prof. Karandikar urged institutes to adopt the curriculum proactively and also students to recognize the importance of integrating quantum technologies into research, education, and innovation strategies.

Dr. Ajai Chowdhry Chairman MGB, NQM said that while this course will help in developing manpower in quantum technology in the country, internships should also be started in parallel to create more value for the students.

Professor T G Sitharam, Chairman All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) highlighted that this is a new beginning in quantum revolution to leverage the potential of quantum technology to create impact in society. “Our curriculum is ready and hopefully it will be included from next July session in all top institutions,” he added.

While institutes of national importance have begun programs to this end, expanding such training to a larger pool of institutes across the country can enable the nation to tap into the vast resource of students who can then participate in the mission to accelerate its progress towards its goals. The course would be taken up for implementation by AICTE approved institutions across the country.

The course structure includes all four verticals of Quantum Technology -- Quantum Computing, Quantum communications, Quantum sensing and metrology, Quantum materials and devices. The proposed curriculum constitutes a minimum of 18 credits with both theory and lab courses. Each course amounts to 3 credits (1 credit translating to 1 in-class contact hour per week for a theory course or 1 session of lab for 3 hours for a lab course), thereby making the minor program span a minimum of 6 courses.

Faculty Development Programs in the areas of Quantum Technologies are also proposed to be carried out to enable them to do justice to the goals of the minor program. Such sustained teacher training efforts will also enhance the quality of the training imparted to students over the years leading to long-term benefits and enable India to become a world leader in this field.

Apart from this course, National Quantum Mission in collaboration with AICTE is also planning to support creation of labs to aid teaching in the areas of quantum technologies, writing of books for the course and quantum awareness programmes.

Proposed structure of the program:

Minimum credits to fulfil – 18

• A 3.0.0 course has 3 theory lectures per week and considering an average length of 14 weeks for a semester,

• A 3:0 course amounts to at least 36 hours of lectures (considering holidays, exam days etc).

• A n:m lab course has n hours of lectures and m sessions (3 hours each) of lab per week.

Source: https://dst.gov.in/dst-along-aicte-announces-undergraduate-courses-quantum

Draft data protection rules include deletion of social media accounts upon death, unless relatives are nominated

Social media profiles of deceased persons may be deleted after prolonged inactivity under the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025; the parent Act provides users with nomination facility in the event of death

This essentially means that social media companies, e-commerce firms, and online gaming companies — the three types of enterprises outlined specifically in the Rules — will have to proactively delete inactive accounts.

A key provision of the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 could lead to the disappearance of the social media accounts of the deceased. According to Rule 8(1) of the draft Rules, which have been issued for public comment, “A Data Fiduciary … shall erase such personal data, unless its retention is necessary for compliance with any law … if, for the corresponding time period … the Data Principal neither approaches such Data Fiduciary for the performance of the specified purpose nor exercises her rights in relation to such processing.”

This essentially means that social media companies, e-commerce firms, and online gaming companies — the three types of enterprises outlined specifically in the Rules — will have to proactively delete inactive accounts, a provision which may erase public facing social media accounts of individuals who have died in recent years. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a recent interview that the Rules may have a two-year timeline for compliance, and consultations around this issue are ongoing.


In the past, social media platforms have had to contend with the issue of dead users when planning purges of inactive accounts. In 2019, the erstwhile Twitter announced that old accounts that had not been used in over six months would be removed after some warnings, and their usernames would be made available. Public outrage ensued from relatives of deceased users, in addition to concern that notable accounts of public personalities would disappear from the platform. Under Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter in 2022 and renamed it X, the policy resurfaced, and accounts started disappearing in May 2023.

Meta has a process in place to memorialise accounts of the deceased in accordance with the wishes of relatives. “It’s our policy to memorialize an account for someone who has passed if a valid request is received,” the company says in a help page for Facebook. A “legacy contact” can be added by a user when they are alive in order to pass on control in the event of their demise. Similar provisions exist for Google Accounts.

The Rules formalise such arrangements, as does the parent Act. “A Data Principal shall have the right to nominate, in such manner as may be prescribed, any other individual, who shall, in the event of death or incapacity of the Data Principal, exercise the rights of the Data Principal in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder,” the DPDP Act says.

However, users are not required to nominate someone in the event of their death, and may choose to have their accounts disappear. “Keep in mind that if the account holder requested to have their account permanently deleted after they pass away, we will remove their account once we’re made aware they have passed away,” Facebook says on memorialisation.