LIRC@SFIT

The Book Exhibition 2025, held on the 20th and 21st of January, brought together a rich collection of more than 1500 books from renowned publishers and authors. The event was an opportunity for students, staff, and faculty members of St. Francis Institute of Technology to engage with the latest publications across various genres, review new titles, and recommend books to enrich the library’s collection. The exhibition provided an open platform for the entire institute fraternity, offering a diverse selection of fiction, non-fiction, self-help books, academic texts, and newer editions of popular titles. The event was aimed at enhancing the library’s resources while fostering a culture of reading, learning, and knowledge-sharing within the academic community.   Inauguration of the Book Exhibition by Rev. Bro. Shantilal Kujur, Director, SFIT     Bro. Joy Kurien, Deputy Director, SFIT                    Dr. Sincy Geo...

Why did the implementation of smart cities bypass local government and depend on Special Purpose Vehicles? What has happened to the mission in Shimla? The story so far: Almost a decade has passed since the Indian government announced the concept of “smart cities” as the new lighthouses of urbanisation. The June 2015 announcement of 100 smart cities aimed to create models of urban development. However, these lighthouses of urbanity have now been relegated to the annals of India’s urbanisation history. The smart cities initiative was based on the Internet of Things (IoT), a framework that works well in advanced capitalist countries where basic utilities are already in place. In contrast, in India, where basic services are still out of reach for many, “smart cities” essentially mean providing fundamental amenities to residents. The plan included two key components — pan-city proposals which includes IT-enabled services like mobility and waste management; and Area-Based Development (ABD) w...

New data protection rules boost transparency, yet compliance gaps persist The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, mark a new phase in data privacy in India. These rules, developed under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA), 2023, aim to strengthen the protection of personal data, enhance individual rights, and set clear operational guidelines for data fiduciaries (entities that determine the purpose and means of processing personal data). The DPDPA Rules, 2025, provide much-needed clarity (‘hits’) in several areas, strengthening data protection and transparency. One significant aspect is the emphasis on clear notices from data fiduciaries, ensuring that individuals are informed about the purposes of data collection, data categories, and their rights, including consent withdrawal and complaint mechanisms. The rules also enhance data principal rights by granting individuals the ability to access, correct, and erase data, as well as withdraw consent, with fiduciaries...

Since India’s first-ever book fair was held in 1918 in the city, the Kolkata Book Fair has grown in both scale and significance. At book fairs, one can see people strolling from one stall to another, searching for author-signed copies, unique covers, classic editions, and perhaps a tempting 10 per cent discount. For book lovers, it is a magical time of the year when book fairs spring up across the country, including Kolkata. The boi mela, or book fair, holds a uniquely special place in the hearts of Bengalis. More than just a marketplace for books, it is deeply rooted in the city’s legacy of reading, intellectual exchange, and knowledge-sharing. Moreover, Kolkata boasts the honour of hosting the country’s oldest book exhibition, a cornerstone of its vibrant cultural landscape. Origins of book fair in Colonial India In their 2021 work Anthology of Significant Events in Indian Art & Socio-Cultural History 1850-2015, Roop Narayan Batham and Nimisha Kesarwani highlight that India’s fi...

Donald Trump withdraws US from WHO: Why did Trump walk out of the WHO? How much of the agency's funding came from the US? What happens to US experts working on the WHO's schemes? We explain. United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw from the World Health Organisation (WHO) on his very first day in office. The order said the reasons for withdrawing were WHO’s “mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic”, “failure to adopt urgently needed reforms”, “inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states”, and for continued demand of “unfairly onerous payments from the United States.” Read the full article at:  https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-global/under-trump-us-withdraws-from-who-impact-india-9791574/