Varsities should send teachers on sabbatical leave for pursuing research: UGC panel

Universities and colleges should develop action plans to send mid-career teachers on sabbatical leave for pursuing research and writing, a panel set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) has recommended.

The four-member committee on “Promoting and improving quality of research in Indian universities and colleges” headed by professor P Balaram, former director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, recently submitted its report to the commission.

“The UGC should encourage and support state universities and affiliated colleges to put in place a rigorous but generous program that would offer sabbatical leave to mid-career teachers for pursuing research and writing books and monographs which consolidated accumulated original research knowledge,” the panel said in its report.

The report said mid-career national level sabbatical awards on a competitive basis for a year may be introduced enabling 50-100 faculty-members to pursue research which may also provide an opportunity for faculty to build collaborative contacts with major national and international institutions.

“Such opportunities must be mandated in both public and private institutions,” the report said.

Developing classroom pedagogy, curricula and system of assessment, promoting academic integrity, remedial teaching, encouraging vernacular languages, use of technology and media platforms and policy internships, are among the other recommendations made by the committee.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/varsities-should-send-teachers-on-sabbatical-leave-for-pursuing-research-ugc-panel/story-4M0Wgrtmh6uYy83T4W5AVO.html (Accessed on August 7, 2019)

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UGC committee recommends four-year undergraduate courses to boost research

The NEP panel led by former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan, which submitted its report to the new HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', has recommended re-introduction of the four-year course as part of the undergraduate reforms

A University Grants Commission (UGC) panel has recommended the introduction of a four-year programme from the current three-year undergraduate course for promoting and improving quality of research in colleges and universities. The development comes five years after the controversial Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) was scrapped.

Apart from the four-member committee of the UGC, an HRD Ministry panel working on the new National Education Policy (NEP) had also recommended a transition to four-year UG course.

 “Increase the number of universities offering the four-year undergraduate programme, with a strong research component to provide the pipeline for good quality students for the doctoral programme,” the committee, headed by professor P Balaram, former director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, said in its report, according to PTI.

 “Also, the existing two-year MA and MSc programs should have a research project with a requirement of typically 6-10 credits. It may be important to stop undergraduate programmes that are limited in scope (for example in specialised subjects like Biotechnology or Bioinformatics ), as they provide training only in specialised subjects,” the report further said.

“All full-time undergraduate programmes must be broad-based. Professional and vocational courses that facilitate jobs should be run separately as Diploma courses,” the report added.

The Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) introduced by the Delhi University under the previous vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh was scrapped by former Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani.

The NEP panel, led by former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan, which submitted its report to Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, has recommended re-introduction of the four-year course as part of undergraduate reforms.

 “Both three-year and four-year courses will be allowed to co-exist, but with multiple exit and entry options. The four-year programme will provide for greater rigour and allow students to conduct research optionally,” the NEP draft said.

“Students will graduate with a four-year Liberal Arts Science Education degree with Honours, or may graduate with a B Sc, BA, B Com or B Voc after completing three years with a suitable completion of credits within their subject,” it said.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/education/ugc-hrd-panel-recommends-4-year-ug-courses-5877265/ (Accessed on August 6, 2019)

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US scientists announce 3D heart printing breakthrough

US scientists have successfully built functional heart parts out of collagen using a 3D bioprinter, a breakthrough they say could one day create entire organs.

Their technique, which was described in the journal Science on Thursday, replicates the body's own complex biological scaffolds that provide the structure and biochemical signaling organs need to function.

"What we were able to show was you can actually 3D print a heart valve out of collagen, and they function," Adam Feinberg, one of the paper's co-authors told AFP.

Previous attempts at printing these scaffolds, known as extracellular matrices, had been hindered by limitations that resulted in poor tissue fidelity and low resolutions.

Previous attempts at printing these scaffolds, known as extracellular matrices, had been hindered by limitations that resulted in poor tissue fidelity and low resolutions.

Collagen, which is an ideal biomaterial for the task since it is found in every tissue of the human body, starts out as a fluid and attempting to print it resulted in puddle of jello-like material.

But the scientists at Carnegie Mellon University were able to overcome these hurdles by using rapid changes in pH to cause the collagen to solidify with precise control.

Watch:How do 3D printers work? (Deutsche Welle)

How do 3D printers work?

"That's the very first version of a valve, and so anything that we engineer as a product will actually get better and better," Feinberg said.

The technique could one day help patients awaiting heart transplants, but it will need to validated through animal testing and eventually human.

"I think more near term is probably patching an existing organ," such as a heart that has suffered a loss of function through a heart attack, or a degrading liver, said Feinberg.

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-in/health/health-news/us-scientists-announce-3d-heart-printing-breakthrough/ar-AAFeBf4?li=AAgfYGb

LIRC @ A GLANCE: JULY 2019

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LIRC AT A GLANCE AS ON 31/07/2019
Name of Library Software: LibSuite 6.5
U.G. BOOKS Total Titles: 10411 Total Volumes: 27212 Editions : 337 Ref.Books : 3466(UG= 3175 PG=291 )	P.G. BOOKS Total Titles: 292 Total Volumes: 1187 Editions : 02
Books in the BOOK BANK: 1443	Faculty Publications: 305 E-Books : 55
Doctoral Theses : 10 Project Reports: 1799	CDs: 3134 VIDEO DVD: 64
PERIODICALS Total Journals for UG = 39 UG Courses: 37 (National) UG Courses: 02 (International) Total Journals for PG = 10 PG Courses: 10 (National) Total Subscribed Magazines: 19 Technical : 07 Non-Technical Magazines: 12 Total Gratis Magazines: 8 Technical : 02 Non-Technical Magazines: 06	E-PACKAGE : IEEE/IET Electronic Library (IEL)The full-text of IEEE content published since 1988 with select content published since 1872 from: IEEE journals, transactions, and magazines, including early access documents IEEE conferences IET journals IET conferences IEEE published standards IEEE Standards Dictionary Online
Membership of: IIT Bombay Library National Digital Library
Area: 482.39 Sq. meters	Seating Capacity: 260

ALL
Summary of Library Visit count (Duration from 2019-07-01 00:00 to 2019-07-31 23:59)
Month	Total Members	Visited Members	%	Unique Members	%
2019/7	1976	2843	143.88	903	45.7
STAFF
Summary of Library Visit count (Duration from 2019-07-01 00:00 to 2019-07-31 23:59)
Month	Total Members	Visited Members	%	Unique Members	%
2019/7	164	144	87.8	73	44.51
STUDENTS
Summary of Library Visit count (Duration from 2019-07-01 00:00 to 2019-07-31 23:59)
Month	Total Members	Visited Members	%	Unique Members	%
2019/7	1812	2699	148.95	830	45.81
INFT
Summary of Library Visit count (Duration from 2019-07-01 00:00 to 2019-07-31 23:59)
Month	Total Members	Visited Members	%	Unique Members	%
2019/7	546	1014	185.71	294	53.85
CMPN
Summary of Library Visit count (Duration from 2019-07-01 00:00 to 2019-07-31 23:59)
Month	Total Members	Visited Members	%	Unique Members	%
2019/7	553	701	126.76	239	43.22
EXTC
Summary of Library Visit count (Duration from 2019-07-01 00:00 to 2019-07-31 23:59)
Month	Total Members	Visited Members	%	Unique Members	%
2019/7	518	705	136.1	221	42.66
ELEC
Summary of Library Visit count (Duration from 2019-07-01 00:00 to 2019-07-31 23:59)
Month	Total Members	Visited Members	%	Unique Members	%
2019/7	83	182	219.28	38	45.78
MECH
Summary of Library Visit count (Duration from 2019-07-01 00:00 to 2019-07-31 23:59)
Month	Total Members	Visited Members	%	Unique Members	%
2019/7	112	83	74.11	31	27.68