10 Days. 1000 Books : International Book Giving Day

10 Days. 1000 Books : International Book Giving Day

14th February is Valentine's Day. But did you know that it is also International Book Giving Day? 

International Book Giving Day’s focus is on encouraging people worldwide to give a book to a child on February 14th.

Pratham Books is collecting 1000 books in 10 days as a run up to the International Book Giving Day. We are making some book love potion and we need your help to create it.

BOOK LOVE POTION

1. Find a campaign on Donate-a-Book that needs some book love potion.

2. Add a dash of your book love* to the mix (Rs.250 = 6 books, Rs.500 =12 books)

3. A book parcel gets created by Pratham Books and sent to a library across India.

4. Children open your book love parcel and dive into a magical world of stories.

Can we collect 1000 books in the next 10 days? Let's together convert the 'joy' of reading to a 'love' for reading. Donate-a-Book today!

*If you are trying to make a donation from outside India, please email donateabook(at)prathambooks(dot)org with details of the campaign you want to donate to. 

Illustration by Ben Newman for International Book Giving Day.

Source (e-link): http://blog.prathambooks.org/2016/02/10-days-1000-books-international-book.html

BOSS OS: Government of India to roll Bharat Operating System Solutions to replace Microsoft Windows

After experiencing uncountable attacks on major government websites by Chinese hackers, various liabilities have been revealed of Indian Cyberspace. Taking some vital steps against cyber-attack, Indian Government is all set to launch its own operating system. The new operating system is an updated version of India’s own OS dubbed as ‘Bharat Operating System Solution’ or BOSS.

A senior official of Indian Government told that the new and updated operating system, BOSS OS will replace all other operating systems available in the market and will be made available by this month end.

It is considered that new operating system will be giving tough competition to other operating systems like Microsoft Windows, which is currently dominating Indian operating system market.

The newly and highly improved version of operating system, Bharat Operating System Solution (BOSS) is developed by Pune-based organisation ‘Centre for Development of Advanced Computing’ (C-DAC).

Other organisation like Gujarat Technological University (GTU), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), etc. were also involved in the development of new OS, which can support all major Indian languages.

During its three-month trial, Indians own operating system BOSS has effectively and efficiently defended cyber-attacks from various attackers, which include malicious attacks planted by Indian Army for its testing.

Success in trials makes BOSS fit for the fully secure network, which is demanded by Indian Government for its security and integrity.

The latest version of BOSS, which is soon to be released is code-named ‘Anoop’ and will be the successor to BOSS 5.0 code-named as ‘Anokha’.

The new operating system will be having 3.14 GNOME and desktop environment version 3.4. It will be featuring the latest Kernel 3.16 and will support Intel’s architecture 64-bit/32-bit, 32-bit Intel GPU as well as 3D desktop and many more features.

The latest version of BOSS will be having an on-screen keyboard, which will support all major languages of India. C-DAC has included some other features like Unicode 7, Ocra Screen Reader, E-speak and Magnifier, these additional features are added for visually damaged people so that they can effectively use the system.

Indian Government will be also launching next version of operating system called EduBOSS, which is designed for teachers and students and will be having all essential educational tools and applications required by students of primary, secondary and higher levels.

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-