State launches its open schooling board

Paakhee Jain dropped out of school last year in Class VII. A state-level badminton player, she wanted to concentrate on her chosen sport but the month-long training sessions were taking a toll on her academic life and the school was not too happy with her low attendance.

On Thursday, Paakhee along with two other children and education minister Vinod Tawde in Pune launched the online registration for admission to Class V and VIII of the Maharashtra State Board of Open Schooling (MSBOS).

“The students who take admission in these courses will have to complete 20 contact sessions in their respective study centres before appearing for the examination, which will be taken twice in a year,” said Subhash Rathod, state coordinator, MSBOS. “There are 543 study centres across the state and students must compulsorily pass in at least five subjects as per the norms of the board to qualify in the respective levels and move on to next stage.”

The registrations will be on till January 31 and the onetime registration fee is Rs 1,000. “This includes the registration as well as study material cost. The centres have appointed teachers who will conduct study sessions on second and fourth Saturday and Sunday depending on the time table. Currently, the study material is available in English, Marathi and Urdu. If there is a demand, we will include other languages too. The study material for Class X and higher levels is being made and once it is done, registration for those classes too will start,” said Rathod.

Tawde said that suggestions were being taken for improvement from parents and NGOs. He said that all good suggestions would be incorporated to make the working of the board better.

Tawde also said that the long-pending teacher recruitment process in schools would start soon and private aided schools would be given a choice of five candidates per seat to choose from.

“The five candidates would be chosen based on merit and it will be compulsory for the management to take the video of the entire interview. This will bring transparency in the process,” he said.

He also said that the recruitment of teachers to colleges would start soon. Tawde refused to give a timeline, saying the process of finalising the rosters was in progress and soon after that the recruitment would start.

Tawde: Nat’l open learning course not considered equivalent to CBSE or SSC

State education minister Vinod Tawde said the National Institute of Open Schooling certificates were not considered equivalent to those of other boards like the CBSE or SSC at an event in Pune on Thursday, going on to add that people felt these certificates were “below grade”. Tawde was speaking at the launch of the Maharashtra State Board of Open Schooling (MSBOS) on Thursday. Countering Tawde, regional director of National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), Pune, Saumya Rajan termed the statement an act of mudslinging. Rajan said there was no comparison between a central and a state board. TNN

Source: The Times of India dated January 11, 2019

St Xavier’s to open finance lab, award students with cash for studying in library

KOLKATA: Concerned over the diminishing habit of extensive reading and research, St Xavier’s College (autonomous), Kolkata, has decided to award three students spending maximum hours at the college library. The students will be handed over certificates, cash and mementos.


“The library can accommodate 300-400 students at a time. To encourage and inculcate reading habit among students, we have decided to introduce the incentives. Three students from undergraduate courses across all disciplines will be considered for the award,” said principal Fr Dominic Savio. The library at the college remains open from 7am-7pm.

The college is also set to open a new state-of-the-art ‘finance laboratory’ on the Park Street campus. “It will be the first of its kind in any college in Bengal. It is a research laboratory for students with finance specialization and commerce. It can also be used by accounting and finance faculties and researchers. It will have all major data on finance and economics. Databases like Prowess, Capital Line, India Stat, Bloomberg, etc, will be made available at the new finance lab. This will help in training in statistics, operational research and allied areas,” Savio said.

He pointed out that St Xavier’s College is known for its commerce section. “We have more than 3,500 BCom students. The commerce graduates and those majoring in finance have been doing well and mostly go on to become chartered accountants or pursue MBA. At the finance lab, all data needed by accounting and finance students will be readily available. There will be online interaction with stock exchanges and other agencies. Those who want to pursue further research will benefit from the rich collection of journals,” Savio added.

St Xavier’s College, Kolkata, will start new post-graduation courses in 10 more subjects in the next two years, as a part of its expansion programme. The college is going to offer MA courses in English, political science and Bengali at the Raghabpur Campus from 2019 academic session. It will also start MEd, if possible. “In the academic year 2020-21, MA in sociology and history, and MSc in chemistry, statistics/data science, economics will be started. PhD programme in computer science will commence from the academic year 2019. For all the PG courses available at the college, there are plans to start PhD programmes after two years.

Also, there are plans to start BSc (Hons) course in psychology from 2020,” the principal said. Among the other initiatives, the college has installed an anti-plagiarism software to check unauthorized copying in dissertations, researches, etc.

The 12th convocation of St Xavier’s College (Autonomous) Kolkata will be held on January 16, which will be the 159th Foundation Day of the Institution. Jadavpur University vice-chancellor Suranjan Das will be conferred the Nihil Ultra Award on the occasion.

The St Xavier’s College (Calcutta) Alumni Association (SXCCAA) has decided to open new chapters in North Bengal and South Africa.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/st-xaviers-to-open-finance-lab-award-students-with-cash-for-studying-in-library/articleshowprint/67446915.cms (Accessed on January 11, 2019)

UGC cell formed to cull dubious journals headed by Savitribai Phule Pune University staff

In May, the UGC had disqualified 4,305 journals out of 32,659 from its list of approved journals owing to their dubious nature

Located in the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) campus, the cell will be headed by Shubhada Nagarkar, assistant professor, department of library and information science, SPPU.

The University Grants Commission’s (UGC) National Cell for Journal Analysis to weed out dubious journals was inaugurated by UGC’s vice-chairman Professor Bhushan Patwardhan on Saturday.

Located in the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) campus, the cell will be headed by Shubhada Nagarkar, assistant professor, department of library and information science, SPPU.

In May, the UGC had disqualified 4,305 journals out of 32,659 from its list of approved journals owing to their dubious nature.

This action followed a study published in the March 25 issue of Current Science journal which had reported a spurt in the number of predatory and dubious journals offering ‘pay and publish’ services to gullible authors.

Patwardhan said that the incidence of research articles published in poor quality journals is very high in India, which has adversely affected the academic reputation of the country. “The UGC national cell in the SPPU will analyse all such journals and then the UGC will give final approval,” he said.

The UGC national cell will have representations from four zones with the north zone represented by the Jawaharlal Nehru University, south zone (Hyderabad University), west zone (Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda) and Tezpur University in the east zone.

In November, the UGC had formed a consortium of academic bodies to prepare and maintain a list of credible journals.

This consortium which is a body of over 20 council members such as Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) and Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR), will recommend the list of journals to the monitoring committee of the UGC cell for further action.

 Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/pune-news/ugc-cell-formed-to-cull-dubious-journals-headed-by-savitribai-phule-pune-university-staff/story-nGk5uhmw59DNzNOhkcuUmJ.html (Accessed on January 11, 2019)

GOOGLE'S NEW INTERPRETER MODE TRANSLATES YOUR CONVERSATION

OVER THE PAST year Google has been making its virtual assistant, the eponymous Google Assistant, more capable of handling what might usually be awkward or onerous conversations. Need to make a dinner reservation by picking up the phone and speaking to a real live human being? Google Assistant can do that for you, as creepy as it might seem. Need to screen a call that you suspect is from a spam caller, for the 27th time that day? The Assistant will take care of that too.

Now Google is trying to outsource another human-to-human interaction: the kind that occurs between a person who works in hospitality and a guest who speaks a different language. A new feature in Google Assistant, called Interpreter Mode, turns the virtual assistant into a real-time language translator between two people who are trying to chat in the same physical space. It starts rolling out today on Google-powered smart displays and smart speakers.

The company showed off the new feature to members of the press in a late-night demo in Las Vegas, hours before the CESshow doors officially opened. A concierge at Caesar’s Palace, one of the early beta testers of the feature, was approached by a German “tourist” (really a German-speaking Google employee) and asked about show tickets. The concierge turned to a Google Home Hub and, using voice, prompted the Assistant to go into German interpreter mode. The concierge and guest had a back-and-forth conversation, with the Assistant translating, and tickets were procured.

THE WIRED GUIDE TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

During a demo with WIRED, the Assistant mistranslated at one point—though the translated text also appeared on the seven-inch smart display, so both men were able to use context clues to figure out what the other was asking. (Humans! So clever.) The conversation also didn’t feel completely frictionless, since the Assistant takes a second or two to translate in between each person’s remarks. But the brief interaction we saw still pointed toward a future in which Babel fish\–like translators exist at any kind of service desk where language could potentially become a barrier.

Google already offers near-instantaneous translations on the web and on mobile with Google Translate. And when it released its wire-free Pixel Buds headphones a couple of years ago it introduced the concept of language translation in near real time, with the tap of a button. That same translation feature later came to all Google Assistant–optimized headphones. But that doesn’t always work so well; primarily because it’s an isolating experience, and only the person wearing the headphones hears the translation. And Google Translate requires you to open an app first.

The Interpreter feature is launching today as a small pilot at a few hotels; one in New York, another in San Francisco, and Caesar's Palace in Vegas. It will support 27 languages to start, and will be available only on the Google Home Hub, Google Home speakers, and third-party Google Assistant displays.

Google also said that the Assistant would now work within Google Maps, so you can use your voice to reply to texts or send your ETA while you’re driving. Amazon’s Alexa, meanwhile, has appeared in literally dozens of new products so far at the show, ranging from lighting kits to “smart” beds to a voice-controlled toilet.

While CES is primarily a place to gape at new hardware, tech giants Google, Amazon, and even Apple (which doesn’t exhibit at CES) have been sucking up a fair amount of air in the room with their software announcements—further proof that the platforms that enable these connected products are just as important as the gadgets themselves.

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/google-assistant-interpreter-mode/ (Accessed on January 11, 2019)

E-books are convenient, but do not give the true experience of reading

It is a huge challenge for a writer to remain motivated in spite of repeated rejections from book publishers

Christopher C. Doyle imitates the writing style of his favourite authors. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/Mint

Gurugram-based 52-year-old Christopher C. Doyle is a CEO coach who runs The Growth Catalysts, a consultancy working with business leaders.

Doyle started writing really early in life and he wrote about schoolmates, friends and teachers. His parents encouraged him to read a lot—they ensured he always had a supply of books to read—and to write. The trigger to write his first book came when he started making up bed-time stories for his two-year-old daughter. However, he never managed to get it published. Eventually, he began to write another story for his daughter, which brought together elements of mythology, history, and science. That book, grew into The Mahabharata Secret, eventually published in 2013 by Om Books.

Day job vs writing

In the last five years, he has written five books including The Mahabharata Quest series published by Westland in 2014. In April 2018, Westland released the first book of his new series, The Son of Bhrigu (The Pataala Prophecy book 1), a fantasy thriller series set in modern times.

Though Doyle is a prolific writer, he does think writing can’t be a full time occupation. “I really enjoy running my company and the work that I am engaged in. It is immensely satisfying. Giving it up totally is very difficult,” he says. The second reason is that—at least for now—he would not want writing to be his bread and butter. Writing is a passion and he wants it to stay that way. “Somehow, I cannot see that working for me. Maybe someday I will write full time, but not now,” he says.

Writing rituals

“Quite honestly, I don’t have any rituals,” he says.

Kindle vs paper

Paper, any day, wins hands down for Doyle. According to him there’s something about a physical book that an e-book just cannot replicate, even though e-books are very convenient. “I read three to four books at the same time, and e-books would be extremely convenient while travelling. E-books are also easier to book-mark, highlight and add notes when I am researching. Yet, the feel of paper, the smell of the book, the ability to physically turn the pages cannot be matched by e-books,” he says. Incidentally, even his notes while researching are handwritten in notebooks, not on his laptop. “And, of course, you can’t build a library with e-books! I love being surrounded by books. My study, where I write, is lined with bookcases stuffed with physical books. I really cannot imagine being in my study with bare walls, and all my books on my Mac or my Kindle,” he adds.

A writer’s challenge

Getting published was the biggest challenge. Publishing The Mahabharata Secret took five years, after multiple rejections. “It was a huge challenge to remain motivated and be persistent in pursuing my dream in spite of rejections,” he says. Secondly, becoming an author is a challenge as it involves not just writing but also editing, marketing, travelling for promotion of the book, and being active on social media. He also has a club on his website—The Quest Club—which now has over 10,000 members and he interacts with them and uploads all kinds of interesting content exclusively for them. That takes time, as does research. “Finding time for all of this, while running my business is a big challenge,” he says.

Reading right now

“Since I am researching for a book right now, I am reading stuff related to that,” he says.

Most favoured authors

In fiction, he admires Isaac Asimov, Jules Verne, H G Wells, Robert A. Heinlein, J R R Tolkien, Arthur Conan Doyle, Greg Bear, Robert Jordan, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Walter Scott, Thomas Hardy. In non-fiction, Graham Hancock, Brian Greene, Andrew Collins, Yuval Noah Harari, Christopher Lomas, Robert Knight, Robert Schoch, Michio Kaku, Graham Phillips, Gerald Durrell make it to his list.

Doyle tries his best to follow the example of his favourite fiction writers in his writing and tries to emulate the meticulousness and thoroughness of his favourite non-fiction writers in his work.

Author at Work is a series that follows the lives of part time writers who hold a corporate day job.

Source: https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/xYrcYF1LbVv5REYDL8EmJP/Ebooks-are-convenient-but-do-not-give-the-true-experience.html (Accessed on January 11, 2019)

UGC grants autonomy to 8 colleges in Maharashtra, state tally rises to 68

From the next academic year, the new autonomous colleges can introduce their own curriculum and assessment method. All the institutes had scored 3.51 or more out of 4 during their last assessment by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC),

The University Grants Commission (UGC) recently granted academic autonomy to eight colleges in Maharashtra, of which three are from Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The number of autonomous institutes in the state is now 68.

Dr Bhanuben Mahendra Nanavati (BMN) College of Home Science, Matunga, became the first college affiliated to Shrimati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey (SNDT) Women’s University to get autonomy. Similarly, Hansraj Jivandas College of Education, Khar and Changu Kana Thakur (CKT) College, Panvel, were granted autonomy. Both the institutes are affiliated to the University of Mumbai (MU).

All the institutes had scored 3.51 or more out of 4 during their last assessment by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), which made them eligible for autonomy without undergoing scrutiny by various UGC committees.

From the next academic year, the new autonomous colleges can introduce their own curriculum and assessment method. They can also seek Rs 5 crore grant from Rashtriya Uchchatar Shikshan Abhiyan (RUSA) — a funding agency under the Centre.

“The objective behind seeking autonomy was to enhance our existing programmes as per industry needs, focus on skill development, modify assessment system, introduce online courses and need-based programmes,” said Shilpa Chirankar, principal, BMN College.

Sidheshwar Gadade, secretary, Janardhan Bhagat Shikshan Prasaran Sanstha, which runs CKT College, said the institute will offer a new curriculum for undergraduate and postgraduate courses at one go.

“We don’t need to make drastic changes to the existing Commerce curriculum. But curricula for Science and Arts will be updated. Also, we’ll allow 40% marks for internal assessment as compared 25% by the varsity. We’ll intend to strengthen and revise our diploma and certificate courses,” he said.

According to the state project directorate of RUSA, five more colleges from Maharashtra are likely to get autonomy by January-end.

“We are trying making colleges understand the benefits of autonomy. We want to create islands of excellence,” said a RUSA official.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/ugc-grants-autonomy-to-8-colleges-in-maharashtra-state-tally-rises-to-68/story-2tdmawVkAR7OBuZ7Jry7yM.html (Accessed on January 11, 2019)

Online portals for pre-loved children’s books are a hit

Websites sell pre-owned children’s books at a fraction of the original price

Anisha M. Shah is an avid reader and wanted her two-year-old son to develop the same love for books. As the pile of books kept increasing, so did the cost of buying them: there came a stage when Anisha started to feel the pinch. But determined not to let money come in the way, she soon stumbled on pre-owned books that could be sourced online at far lower prices. Once she had hit upon this solution, she wanted to help other parents too.

In December 2017, Anisha decided to step into the business of sourcing second-hand books (or ‘pre-loved’ books, as she calls them) and selling them online. Love for Books, her Facebook page, was an immediate hit. “Most of the books I was looking at are imported from the U.K. As I explored, I realised that most of these books are either not available in India, or, if available, are very expensive. But I could get pre-owned books at one-third or one-fourth the original price,” Anisha says.

To read the full article, visit:

https://www.thehindu.com/books/online-portals-for-pre-loved-childrens-books-are-a-hit/article25901014.ece