Blockchain for Internet of Things

Leveraging blockchain's distributive properties to create trust, accountability.

IoT solutions using blockchain can be built to maintain a continuously growing list of cryptographically secured data records protected against altering and updates.

Such distributed systems will make our planet smarter, more productive, and open up a colossal scope of opportunities.

To read more, https://www.tcs.com/content/dam/tcs/pdf/technologies/internet-of-things/abstract/Blockchain%20for%20the%20IoT.pdf

Measuring the impact of AI: How 13 Global Industries use Artificial Intelligence

Source: https://www.slideshare.net/tataconsultancyservices/measuring-the-impact-of-ai-on-13-global-industries/ (Accessed on January 11, 2019)

Book Bank for FE to BE students

LEARNING AND INFORMATION RESOURCE CENTRE
BOOK BANK FACILITY FOR FE TO BE
The library is providing the “Book Bank” facility for FE to BE students
Dates & Timings are as mentioned below :
CLASS DATE TIMINGS BE 14/01/2019 12.15 pm to 1.00 pm / Lunch Break (as applicable) TE 15/01/2019 12.15 pm to 1.00 pm / Lunch Break (as applicable) SE 16/01/2019 12.15 pm to 1.00 pm / Lunch Break (as applicable) FE 17/01/2019 12.15 pm to 1.00 pm / Lunch Break (as applicable)
The “Book Bank” system works as under:
1) A maximum of 2(two) books can be issued.
2) They are requested to pay an amount of Rs.20/- for the books which are “Donated” by many gracious people and Rs. 50/- for the remaining books which are purchased by the LIRC.
Students are requested to return the book on or before 15/07/2019; failing which a fine of Re.1 per day (inclusive of holidays) will be charged.
Students are requested to note the following:
1) DO NOT disfigure (markings, tear, underline etc.) any of the books; failing which you would be liable to pay Rs.100/- per book and/or replace the book.
2) It is expected that the students maintain the books in good reading conditions.
3) Book Bank facility is available to the valid SFIT library members only.
4) Return the books on or before the due date.
The list of books in the Book Bank will be made available on the college library web page http://www.sfitengg.org/library > List of Book Bank Books.
STUDENTS WILL BE PROVIDED BOOKS ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS.
Sd/-
Ms. Chinmayee Bhange
Librarian

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)