LIRC@SFIT

The two will collaborate in research which will use AI and Machine Learning to study issues relevant for business and public policy The partnership will also jointly introduce a new executive programme New Delhi: The Indian School of Business (ISB) and Microsoft India announced a new partnership on Friday to take forward their shared vision for an AI-empowered India at an event in Hyderabad. Through the creation of the AI Digital Lab, the two organizations will collaborate in research which will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to study issues that are relevant for business and public policy. In addition, the partnership will also jointly introduce a new executive program titled “Leading Business Transformation in the Age of AI" in October 2019 which will equip business leaders with tools and strategies to transform their respective organizations to AI-driven organizations. The rapid development of AI implies that the ability of business leaders to creat...

At present, 24 per cent of a worker's basic pay is deducted - with 12 per cent each counted as employer's and employee's share - towards the EPF savings The government has proposed to reduce the contribution made by employees towards the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), in a move to increase take-home salary. The government wants to reduce the rate of contribution — part of the employee’s share — for a class of workers depending upon age, income or gender, without changing the contribution from the employer’s share. The proposal is part of the proposed Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Bill, 2019. The ministry has also proposed providing an option to workers to switch between the ... To read the full article, please visit: https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/take-home-salary-may-rise-under-new-employees-provident-fund-law-119082700033_1.html#targetText=The%20government%20has%20proposed%20to,to%20increase%20take%2Dhome%20salary.&targe...

Complete skeleton formed in Andhra Pradesh using remains of several of the giants washed ashore It was like a jigsaw puzzle for the young wildlife biologist looking at the skeletal remains of dead blue whales washed ashore on the Andhra Pradesh coast. But he found a way to put them all together. All in just two months. Where the parts were missing, he used plaster of Paris and put in stainless steel and screws to configure a life-size skeleton of the endangered species. In 2017, Kumpatla Balaji, an Andhra University alumnus, launched a project to use the skeletal remains to form the blue whale, replicating its natural anatomy structure. He was spurred to do so, after experts were unable to fit the bones collected from the Machilipatnam coast. Mr. Balaji is a research scientist at the Coringa Marine Museum in Rajamahendravaram city, where the 32-ft-long life-size blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) skeleton he engineered is being preserved and on public display since early 2018. “Dozens...

On new ULIPs, the minimum sum assured will be less than 10 times the premium IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) issued a notification on new regulations in ULIPs (unit linked insurance plans) and traditional insurance policies, a few weeks back. Of the several changes, the move to reduce the minimum sum assured (SA) in ULIPs and a guaranteed surrender value for traditional policies from the second year, were prominent. Source:  https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/portfolio/personal-finance/did-you-know-life-insurance-rules-have-changed/article29252624.ece  (Accessed on August 29, 2019)

Around 85,000 employees added on net basis, highest in six years The Indian information technology (IT) industry added a record number of employees in the April-June quarter (first quarter, or Q1) of the ongoing financial year, with around 85,000 new hires. This is the highest-ever net employee addition by the industry in a single quarter in six years, according to a recent report by equity research firm CLSA. Industry experts are of the opinion that the spurt in recruitment happened as IT services firms went aggressive on hiring in anticipation of a strong demand environment. This was supplemented by healthy hiring in onsite locations, triggered by ... To read the full article, please visit: https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/it-industry-on-hiring-spree-adds-record-number-of-employees-in-q1-119082500648_1.html  (Accessed on August 29, 2019)

Stearic acid-coated fly ash surface can be made to behave like rose petals or lotus leaves. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad have developed a cheap waterproofing material by coating fly ash, a waste by-product from coal-based thermal power plants, with stearic acid, which is a surfactant. While fly ash is extremely water-loving (hydrophilic), it turns into a highly water-repelling surface once coated with stearic acid. The stearic acid has a hydrophilic part called the head and hydrophobic portion called the tail. While the head of stearic acid which is hydrophilic binds to fly ash particles, the water-repelling tail remains free. Numerous free hydrophobic tails of stearic acid makes the fly ash surface water repellent. Fly ash varies in size from 100 nanometres to a few microns and can thus provide surfaces with different roughness based on the size of the particles chosen. The stearic acid-coated fly ash surface can be made to behave like one of the ...

In his monthly radio address ‘Mann ki Baat’, the prime minister said when the country observes the 150 birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, “we will launch a new mass movement against use of plastic”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged people to observe the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi this year as a day to make India plastic-free and exhorted municipalities, NGOs and the corporate sector to come up with ways for safe disposal of accumulated plastic waste before Diwali. The call for a mass movement came days after Mr. Modi’s Independence Day’s address in which he had urged people to shun ‘single-use’ plastic to protect the environment. In his monthly radio address ‘Mann ki Baat’, the Prime Minister also urged people to participate in the annual ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’ or ‘the quest for cleanliness is service’ campaign, which will begin on September 11 this year. “This year, on October 2, when we celebrate Bapu’s 150th birth anniversary, we shall not only de...

MSU accepts UGC changes for PhD Read more at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/70883487.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

A government official said on condition of anonymity that the panel will prepare draft amendments to existing anti-ragging regulations to add ways to curb bullying and also prepare an action plan to implement them. The University Grants Commission (UGC) plans to form a high-powered panel to suggest norms to curb bullying in colleges and universities and to come up with an implementation plan. (HT FILE) India may soon have an anti-bullying policy in schools and colleges to combat a menace that is increasingly rearing its head in schools and colleges across India, especially with students from diverse social and economic backgrounds increasingly studying together. The policy will be framed for colleges first. The University Grants Commission (UGC) plans to form a high-powered panel to suggest norms to curb bullying in colleges and universities and to come up with an implementation plan to put them into practice, according to an order the higher education sector regulator issued rec...

Students feel the varsity is stimulating the 'copy-paste' culture among the students by not abiding the UGC policies. Mumbai University In May this year, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had sent a notice to the University of Mumbai (MU) regarding detection and prevention of plagiarism manual. This letter was in response to a complaint sent by a PhD student of the varsity, citing the problems students are facing when it comes to writing and preserving their thesis or dissertation. However, as per Shodhganga – a digital repository of the thesis by UGC – from the year 2010-18, MU has uploaded only 122 total thesis meanwhile Savitribai Phule Pune University in the same period has uploaded 1,243 thesis. Students feel the varsity is stimulating the 'copy-paste' culture among the students by not abiding the UGC policies. "Technically, if you upload a thesis on Shodhganga, if it has any plagiarized substance in it, it will draw a red line on it which will refrain ...