Extra marks for practising yoga, says school education minister Vinod Tawde

MUMBAI: Students will be given extra marks for practising yoga, said state school education minister Vinod Tawde.

After attending a yoga workshop by Baba Ramdev on Wednesday, Tawde tweeted: "Urged students to benefit from Yoga, Students practicing Yoga everyday will be awarded extra marks like of Sports." A circular was also sent to schools about the yoga camp. While it was not mandatory for students or teachers to attend it, the circular suggested schools make best use of it.

But teachers are not happy. "It is okay to encourage students to perform yoga as it may have advantages but... once marks are attached to an activity, some might misuse it. That's what is happening to additional marks given for playing sports; students are forging certificates," said a teacher from a south Mumbai Marathi medium school.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Extra-marks-for-practising-yoga-says-school-education-minister-Vinod-Tawde/articleshow/50674288.cms

Agra tea vendor’s son brews bright future for himself as CA

A roadside tea stall in New Agra, known for its ‘kadak chai’, now has a new identity. The son of its owner, Vishnu Agarwal, has qualified to become a chartered accountant.

The results of the CA (final) exams were announced on Sunday, bringing good news for Manoj Agarwal (22). Manoj is one of Vishnu’s six children (two sons and four daughters) and assists his father at the tea stall.

After studying till Class 8 at a local school in Agra’s Nagla Padi area, Manoj joined MD Jain Inter College where he chose the commerce stream to study till Class 12. He scored 77 per cent in the UP Board exams.

“The turning point came when my teacher, Ishwar Chand Sharma, suggested that I go for chartered accountancy as he was confident that I would clear the exams,” Manoj said.

“I discussed the idea with my father and he supported me. After that, my schedule was such that I studied for at least seven to eight hours a day and assisted my father in the evenings besides attending coaching classes,” he added.

“My father is my inspiration as he has worked hard and has never let us feel any financial difficulties. Now, I look forward to joining a multinational company as a CA,” said Manoj, who also helps his brother who aspires to become a CA like him.

The proud father, Vishnu Agarwal, had moved to Agra from Mathura in 1997 to work in a hotel and later opened his tea stall on the roadside in the New Agra market. While elated over his son’s success, he intends to continue running his tea stall.

“My customers admire the quality of my tea,” said Vishnu with a smile. “I look forward to my younger son also becoming a CA,” he added, while preparing tea for his customers.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/noida/agra-tea-vendor-s-son-brews-bright-future-for-himself-as-ca/story-8j3fegAKy2wGO5jxLYtowN.html

Stentorian Inter College Debate Competition

Stentorian Inter College Debate Competition

The St. Francis Institute of Technology is holding the very first Stentorian Inter College Debate Competition (SIDC) organized by 'The Stentorian' team.

'The Stentorian' is a group of students organizing events & workshops related to literary arena. The main objective of SIDC is to serve as a motivational event where learners can exchange their experiences and opinions.

Details

Date & Time	30th January, 09.00 am to 05.00 pm 31st January, 09.00 am to 02.00 pm
Venue	St. Francis Institute Of Technology, Mount Poinsur, S.V.P. Road, Borivli (West), Mumbai 400 103.
Prizes	1st Prize            : Rs. 5000/- 2nd Prize          : Rs. 3000/- Best Speaker  : Rs. 2000/- Certificates of participation shall be given to all participants Note : Best Speaker not necessarily from Winning Team

Every Team should have only 2 Members. We request the teams to register online through the link

http://tinyurl.com/stentorian-debate-sfit

This Registration would be confirmed only if the Team reports on the aforementioned venue on 30^th January 2016 at 08.30 am.

On confirmation, each team has to pay Rs. 100/-.

You can also refer the SIDC Brochure for more details through this link

(Brochure)

Should you have any queries, please refer the given contact details

Jainam Gandhi                                                                                 Preetika Shetty

Email ID: jainamtgandhi@gmail.com              Email ID: preetika96@gmail.com    

Contact: 091-9320180822                                             Contact: 091-9819240736

HP introduces Device-as-a-Service (DaaS) for Indian enterprises

HP DaaS was first implemented with Maruti Suzuki in India, with a focus on empowering their sales force with tablets that come with interactive content and serve as an on-ramp for customer information.

HP Inc has announced that it is offering a new Device-as-a-Service (DaaS) programme, for Indian enterprises. With HP Device-as-a-Service, enterprises and organizations use their PCs like a utility – they pay one price per seat on a monthly basis over a three or four year period. They also get customized services and support from HP, such as PC configuration and software installation, onsite break-fix, data migration, proactive support, while having the ability to upgrade to the latest HP commercial desktop, notebook PCs, and tablets for subsequent contract periods.

HP DaaS incorporates services, support and eventual disposal as part of one overall services agreement. This is different from typical leasing agreements where PC acquisition, setup and maintenance are covered under separate contracts. This means that organizations can enjoy more predictable annual costs and greater ease from having to manage just one contract during their entire PC lifecycle. HP DaaS also covers secure and responsible disposal of PCs, a final phase in the PC lifecycle that is often overlooked and risk the leak of sensitive information.

HP DaaS was first implemented with Maruti Suzuki in India, with a focus on empowering their sales force with tablets that come with interactive content and serve as an on-ramp for customer information.

“Digital transformation is key for businesses to stay ahead of the curve and deliver best-in-class services to customers. Innovative service model offerings from our partners like HP is helping us to transform our customer experience. Each dealer can better identify the options that match the requirements and aspirations of our customers and address their queries more effectively and provide impeccable experience,” said Rajesh Uppal, Executive Director, IT, Maruti Suzuki India Limited.

Source: http://computer.financialexpress.com/news/hp-introduces-device-as-a-service-daas-for-indian-enterprises/15423/

UMass Amherst Computer Scientist to Receive ‘Jewel of India’ Award

January 20, 2016

Contact: Janet Lathrop 413/545-0444

Ramesh Sitaraman

AMHERST, Mass. – Professor Ramesh Sitaraman of the College of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will receive one of India’s highest awards for non-residents, the “Jewel of India,” in a ceremony in New Delhi on Monday, Jan. 25, recognizing his contributions to computer science.

Senior government and Supreme Court officials, cabinet ministers, international ambassadors, scholars and other dignitaries will be on hand as Sitaraman receives the Hind Rattan, Hindi for “Jewel of India,” given each year on the eve of the country’s Republic Day. The award is given by the government of India and the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Welfare Society to approximately 25 individuals of Indian origin selected from a pool of more than 25 million who live abroad.

Sitaraman’s research spans all aspects of Internet-scale distributed networks, including algorithms, architectures, performance, energy efficiency and economics. The award recognizes his role in pioneering content delivery networks (CDNs) that are key to the modern Internet's functioning.

As a principal architect, he helped create the Akamai network, one of the world’s largest CDNs, which currently delivers 15 to 30 percent of all web traffic. CDNs enable web sites to download faster and online videos to play more smoothly with fewer freezes. Today most major enterprises use CDNs to provide better performance for online users.

Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy says, “It is gratifying to see Professor Sitaraman recognized for his innovative research, which has had a far-reaching impact on how people throughout the world access the Internet. Users directly benefit from his research when they use the Internet to read news, watch videos, buy products, play games online or use a social network.”

Sitaraman received a B. Tech. in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and a Ph.D. in computer science from Princeton University.

Source: http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/umass-amherst-computer-scientist-receive-

Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN)

Govt. of India approved a new program titled Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) in Higher Education aimed at tapping the talent pool of scientists and entrepreneurs, internationally to encourage their engagement with the institutes of Higher Education in India so as to augment the country’s existing academic resources, accelerate the pace of quality reform, and elevate India’s scientific and technological capacity to global excellence.

In order to garner the best international experience into our systems of education, enable interaction of students and faculty with the best academic and industry experts from all over the world and also share their experiences and expertise to motivate people to work on Indian problems, there is a need for a Scheme of International Summer and Winter Term. During the ‘Retreat’ of IITs with Minister of Human Resource Development Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani on 29th June, 2014 at Goa, it was decided that “A system of Guest Lectures by internationally and nationally renowned experts would be evolved along with a comprehensive Faculty Development Programme not only for new IITs, IIMs, IISERs but also other institutions in the country.

For more details, please visit the below link:

Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN)

THE J.N. TATA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF INDIANS

Announcement

Applications Can Now Be Downloaded Here

Applications for JN Tata Endowment loan scholarships are now available on this site. You will have to download the form, fill it offline and mail it to us at jnte@tatatrusts.org. Do not send the application by post. Please read the instructions carefully before you start filling the form and ensure that you provide information on all the mandatory fields. Please ensure that you submit a complete form as incomplete forms will be immediately rejected. Please click on the More button below to download the form.

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