Google just got more serious about India

Pichai is in India along with eight Google vice-presidents, including those for Search, YouTube, Maps, and Android among others. (Sanjeev Verma/ HT Photo)

---

After days of anticipation, the real reason of Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s visit to India has come to the fore. Fortunately, it was not about one single thing, but about many small initiatives that go to show that, Google just became more serious about India.

Sundar Pichai took the stage to explain in detail, and piece together, the announcements made in the course of last few months and their relevance to India. Real time cricket scores and videos by early next year, an expansive new campus in Hyderabad and an aggressive ramping up of recruitment in India were among a host of initiatives.

The tech giant also unveiled two new projects to boost its penetration into India’s vast rural and semi-urban hinterland.

The first is Project Loon -- a network of high-altitude, internet-beaming balloons that will help connect towns and villages with no access to cables or an optic fibre grid – which has already ruffled regulatory feathers in India. Although Loon ran into regulatory issues, Google’s spirit seems indomitable in connecting rural India to the Internet.

“We run two separate initiatives in India to get more people online. We have a programme named ‘Internet Sathi’ where we partner with Intel and Tata Trust to help women with bicycles who in turn go and educate other women in many villages. This project is running as a pilot in 1,000 villages in three states,” Pichai said.

The Mountain View-based company runs also runs another initiative which helps more women get online -- Helping Women Get Online. “The pilot project is now going national where we are aiming to get women online in 300,000 villages in three years which is half of Indian villages,” added Pichai.

The second is an upgraded translation service called Tap to Translate, which provides real-time translation into almost a dozen Indian languages as you type, and works across all applications on Android devices.

The tech giant is also working to make search easier by incorporating multiple Indian languages in its voice recognition software, making it work for slower networks typically found in India and tailoring search for local interests like cricket and Bollywood.

“When I joined google in 2004, we had only 2 offices in India. Today, we have 4 offices and 1500 people. We are hiring both in Bangalore and Hyderabad,” said the company’s Chennai-born CEO Sundar Pichai, delivering the keynote address at the Google for India event.

“What inspired me to join Google was the fact that Google search worked the same whether you were a Stanford professor or a poor kid in a small Indian city. This country has given me and Google so much that I hope we can give back much more to India in the months and years ahead.”

Pichai -- who became Google’s top boss in August after the company became part of a larger firm known as Alphabet Inc -- also pointed out that the company was focusing on the next billion people to come online, enumerating the company’s drive in including Indic languages in its software and enabling 400 railway stations with WiFi.

After decades of lagging behind the Digital revolution, India has now emerged as a hot destination for global software majors due to its lucrative market of middle-class professionals and a billion people still off the web, many of whom have logged online in recent years due to a mobile phone boom.

“In October, searches from mobile overtook desktop for the first time globally. But in India, they crossed the desktop in May 2013 because you guys are way ahead on mobile,” said Tamar Yehoshua, vice-president of Search.

The company also focused heavily on increasing its web footprint in India and across the world, over half of whose population is still off the internet grid.

“We are working to hopefully bring Project Loon to India in rural communities where there are very few people connected to the internet. We want people who come on to this network to not just take small leaps but soar,” said Marion Croak, vice-president of Access.

“The solutions that are born in India are going to revolutionise the way we solve problems around the world, because it’s such a challenging country to work in.”

The 43-year-old alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, is the latest tech leader to visit India over the last 12 months after Alibaba’s chairperson Jack Ma, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Pichai is in India along with eight Google vice-presidents, including those for Search, YouTube, Maps, and Android among others. He is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, finance minister Arun Jaitley and telecommunications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday and will interact with students at the Sri Ram College of Commerce on Thursday.

Last year, Pichai visited India to launch Android One, a program in which the world’s largest search engine partnered with Indian handset makers Spice, Micromax and Karbonn (and later Lava) to sell low-cost $100 devices that ran the latest version of Android.

The Android One phones supported seven Indian languages out of the box, including for dictation and voice commands. They also feature local news publications and magazines in the Google Play Newsstand.

Android One eventually rolled out in 11 countries, but it never really took off. Google sold about three million Android One phones in all but negligible compared to the growth of Android around the world. Google, however, is tight-lipped about plans to reboot Android One.

The Mountain View-based company has also been silent on net neutrality, a polarising issue that has been the subject of fierce debate in India this year. Google supports net neutrality in the United States but it has not said that publicly in India.

A report in the Economic Times said that the company was planning to roll out its own Free Basics-like zero-rated service in India but put on the back-burner after seeing the backlash against Facebook’s Internet.org.

Source: The Hindustan Times dated 17 December, 2015

Admission to IITs, NITs: HRD Ministry gets positive feedback for JEE makeover

The ministry had made the report of the Ashok Mishra Committee public last month for further consultation with stakeholders. The deadline for sending feedback was November 30.

In what could lead to major changes in the admission process for IITs and NITs, the HRD Ministry has received positive public feedback on recommendations of a government-appointed panel, including introduction of a compulsory SAT-like aptitude test for aspirants, no weightage to school board marks and a single entrance exam.

The ministry had made the report of the Ashok Mishra Committee public last month for further consultation with stakeholders. The deadline for sending feedback was November 30.

According to sources, of the 100-odd responses received by the government, 67 have supported the removal of weightage given to Class XII marks at the time of admissions and nine have opposed the suggestion. Similarly, 23 are for introduction of a national-level aptitude test for engineering aspirants and two against it. Twenty-six respondents have favoured a single entrance examination — instead of the current two-tier test — for admissions to IITs, NITs and other centrally funded institutes.

Although the ministry has not taken a final decision, the feedback could push the government to announce another makeover for the admission process at the top engineering schools. However, no changes will be introduced for 2016-17.

The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) underwent a series of changes in 2013 after the then HRD Minister Kapil Sibal convinced engineering schools to give weightage to a candidate’s school performance. This was done to help students focus on their school education and wean them away from coaching classes. But a review by the institutions three years later showed the decision had made little difference to the coaching industry, in fact it increased its influence.

Both IITs and NITs are now in favour of scrapping the weightage to Class XII marks. The Ashok Mishra committee was set up to study this proposal and also the feasibility of conducting a single entrance test.

The panel also suggested that the candidates should take an aptitude test to prove their inclination for science and innovative thinking. Passing this test will be a prerequisite for appearing for JEE. The test, designed to reduce the coaching culture, could be offered two or more times in a year.

Source: The Indian Express dated 16 December, 2015

Jalandhar girl wins prestigious Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE award

Jaspreet Kaur with the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Award in Jalandhar on Friday. (HT Photo)

Jalandhar girl Jaspreet Kaur has won the prestigious Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE award for her idea on “Colour Coded Thermometer”. She was one of the 31 students who bagged the award out of the 28,000 entries received by National Innovation of India (NIF), an autonomous body of the department of science and technology, which gives the award every year to students with innovative and original ideas.

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Award is a national competition of original technological ideas and innovations by children up to class 12 or those out of school up to the age of 17 years. The competition is organised by NIF in association with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Honey Bee Network, other state educational boards and other partners every year to promote creativity and originality among children.

Jaspreet, a class 10 student of Police DAV Public School, while explaining the idea said, “In my idea, one can find temperature using colours in thermometer. If a person has low body temperature then it shows blue light; if it is on the higher side then it shows red light and if the body temperature is normal then it shows green light. This thermometer will be helpful for those people who do not know how to check temperature on a thermometer.”

Jaspreet was awarded by President of India Pranab Mukherjee on November 30 at a function organised at IIM, Ahmadabad. When asked about the experience of meeting the President, an elated Jaspreet said, “I was on cloud nine after receiving the award from him.”

Planning to opt for non-medical stream in class 11, Jaspreet added that adopting scientific and rational approach towards life was need of the hour and people must adopt science in their lives.

It must be mentioned that the students of the school have been getting this award for the last seven years. The school has made a “Honeybee Club”, taking inspiration from honeybee philosophy of National Innovation of India. It collects innovative ideas and sends it to NIF for the IGNITE competition every year. The awards of IGNITE competition are announced every year on October 15, which Dr APJ Abdul Kalama’s birthday, which is celebrated as the Children’s Creativity and Innovation Day by NIF.

Dr Rashmi Vij, principal, Police DAV Public School, said the school always inspired the students to think differently and to bring innovation in their ideas. “The participation of students from Punjab schools in such prestigious competitions is very thin and it must be increased. I will write a letter to the chief minister to encourage everyone to take part in such competitions,” she added.

Source: The Hindustan Times dated 15 December, 2015

US university launches APJ Abdul Kalam grant

The University of South Florida (USF) in the US has launched the President APJ Abdul Kalam Postgraduate Fellowship “to honour him and his vision” for Indian graduate students seeking to pursue a PhD degree in at least 14 subjects and disciplines.

Aanchal Bedi from HT Education spoke to Ralph C Wilcox, USF’s provost and executive vice-president.

Here’s an excerpt:

What is the purpose of your visit to India?

Our engagement with India has seen an upward swing in the past few years. The number of applications and enrolments from India have multiplied — from about 200 to 800 this year. During my visit, I met our Indian partners to take the relationship to the next level, interact with Indian students planning to study at USF and catch up with some of our alumni. There is one more purpose also, which is perhaps closest to my heart, ie to launch the President APJ Abdul Kalam Postgraduate Fellowship. We instituted this fellowship to honour him and his vision.

Tell us more about the fellowship.

The student award will be offered to an Indian graduate student seeking to pursue a PhD degree in the following subject and discipline at the university: applied anthropology, applied physics, business PhD programmes, cell biology, microbiology and molecular biology, chemistry, computer science and engineering, engineering, criminology, integrative biology, marine science and psychology.

The fellowship provides a tution fee waiver for up to four years, a stipend of $18,000 over the nine months of the fall and spring semesters ($2,000 per month) for up to four years. The provost’s office will pay a nine-month stipend for the first year with the department/college contributing a teaching/research assistantship for an additional three years. The total stipend amount will be payable by USF once the scholar is enrolled at the university for his/her first term. All other costs such as airfare, housing at USF, etc will be met by the awardee.

What are the new developments at USF that are specific to India?

The most recent ones would be our College of Engineering’s development of the “NEWgenerator” for India, which converts waste into nutrient fertilizers, renewable energy and clean water, providing a modular and self-sustaining machine that operates completely off-grid, requiring no water, power or sewer system.

Please tell us about significant recent/upcoming partnerships with Indian institutes as well as industry partnerships for research etc.

The collaborations already in place are in the areas of public health, management and engineering. Our partners include Delhi Technological University, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Manipal University, Government Medical College in Surat and several others.

Similarly, on one hand we have Indian students coming to study at USF each summer for the past six years, and on the other we have been sending American students to the Infosys campus in Mysore to learn from their faculty.

Last year, 15 USF students visited Arunachal Pradesh to engage with projects of the Research Institute of World’s Ancient Traditions, Cultures and Heritage (RIWATCH), which has been recognised by the United Nations as a Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development. We are planning a similar trip in 2016 as well.

Click here for details and online application forms. The deadline to apply is March 1, 2016.

Source: The Hindustan Times dated 15 December, 2016

FYI I Mumbai Univ students can soon create bank of verified documents

Mumbai Univ students can soon create bank of verified documents

Mumbai: Taking a step towards digitisation, Mumbai University (MU) will soon be part of a global document authentication network that will allow alumni and students to create a repository of verified documents. 

The process will allow alumni and students to send certified and authenticated documents electronically to their future employer, embassies for processing of visa or to institutions where they seek admissions for higher studies. The current process takes over two months and is expensive for students settled abroad.

A recent RTI query had revealed that MU received 274 fake degrees for verification by employers.

The global network, powered by the technology firm, myeasydocs, will have embassies, 100 foreign institutions, government offices and 1,000 employers through background check companies for corporates in their database and can be used by students during job hunts, admission to institutes of higher education or authentication for visas. The database will be expanded soon.

Once the student uploads his documents and selects his university, officials (exam controller's office in case of marksheets and degree certificates) will search the document in their database and verify it. The verified document will then be sent to the employer/embassies/higher education institutes, selected by the students. Thomas Tharakan, chief financial officer of the technology firm, said, "If the university searches for the document manually, it may take little more time. If the documents are digitally available with the university, it can be done within a day." Since the verification process in institutes of higher education in the country are not stringent, the system is more useful for admissions to overseas universities. The verified document will remain in the student's personal account and can be accessed multiple times.

Vice-chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh said, "Many institutes are part of it but we will be the first major university to adopt the technology. We will start it on a pilot basis and then extend to all students. It will be an initiative in support of the Centre's Digital India campaign." He added, "This will ease many issues related to documents, especially those we attribute to human error. Students will spend very little time getting their documents authenticated a cheaper."

Source: The Times of India dated 9 December, 2015

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Mumbai-Univ-students-can-soon-create-bank-of-verified-documents/articleshow/50097338.cms

LIRC Annual Feedback Survey - 2015

Mumbai school students explore coding, ‘language of future’

Sharmila Ganesan Ram,TNN | Dec 5, 2015, 11.42 PM IST

MUMBAI: It's not that Nimesh Haldankar hates cats. It's just that he can't help smiling every time his hammer thwacks a feline head that dares to peek from a bin. "I prefer dogs," admits the shy 13-year-old who recently created this wicked computer game with a few other dog-loving boys from his school. "It's easy," says Haldankar, showing you how to train the Garfield-like orange cat waiting onscreen to draw a 100 circles as a start.

First, you drag the ready pink block that says "Repeat" into the instructions panel. Then you place the yellow block that says "Move forward" inside this pink block. Enter the relevant numbers--repeat 99 times and move forward 360 degrees, for instance--and press go. At the end of its assignment, the cat's smile is still intact and so is Haldankar's, even though he spent his Diwali vacation learning what grown-ups call "coding".

Seated in the computer lab at Juhu's Vidyanidhi High school, Haldankar and a few other students from grades six to eight are exploring a free playground called Scratch, a software that helps them learn the basics of coding through a drag-and-drop programming block approach. So far, students have created enough games and animations in this software to unwittingly offer their supervisor, Varsha Bhandari, an insight into gender. After front-bencher Divya Nair finishes showing off her onscreen Diwali greeting card that boasts a moving flame, Bhandari says, "The girls like dance games while the boys like to show things like plane crashes and skulls."

But this vacation batch would not have made it this far in Scratch had their school not signed up for something called 'Hour of Code' last year. Launched in 2013, 'Hour of Code' is a global campaign run by Code.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to demystifying computer science for students and underrepresented groups such as women. "Don't just buy a new video game—make one," Obama urges in a video on behalf of the campaign.

The idea here is that coding need not always look like a bunch of nerdy men in spectacles entering green semicolons on their screens. So, every December, during the Computer Science Education Week, which this year runs from December 7 to 13, students in over 180 countries learn how to code through Code.org's fun, hour-long tutorials created in collaboration with engineers from Microsoft, Google, Twitter and Facebook. Here, Angry Birds, Disney princesses, Star Wars characters and even Minecraft's Steve and Alex help break down things like 'repeat loops' for those between ages of four and 104. The graphical interface is similar to Scratch and the puzzles get more challenging as you progress.

Last December, as the only participant from Mumbai, Vidyanidhi school, saw a bunch of students ingesting code as they instructed Frozen's Anna to draw a snowflake or adjusted the speed at which an angry bird reaches a pig through a maze. "Since these tutorials were like games, kids were vying to finish first," recalls Nidhi Poddar, academic head at Vidyanidhi Info Tech Academy (Vita), who ran the workshops. Irrespective of their speed, though, the students received a certificate each at the end of the week.

There are benefits to introducing computer science early, says Savita Thakur, director of Vita. That is perhaps why, in its bid to help nurture budding app and game developers, Vidyanidhi school is conducting free week-long 'Hour of Code' workshops from December 7 to 12. Students from other schools and even adults who may be interested are free to register. After all, "coding," says Thakur, "is language of future".

https://csedweek.org/

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Mumbai-school-students-explore-coding-language-of-future/articleshow/50059402.cms?